Elsewhere in entertainment and the arts:
Christ Church art
“Contrast, First and Foremost,” abstract representations of shape and color by Little Rock native Mallory Newbern, and “A Nonagenarian’s Selective Views of This World,” oil paintings by Austin Grimes, open with a 5-7:30 p.m. reception Friday at Christ Episcopal Church, 509 Scott St., Little Rock. Covid-19 guidelines will be posted at the door. The exhibition will be up through Sept. 30. Admission to the gallery and reception are free. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.- noon Friday. For more information, email [email protected]
‘NEA’s Got Talent’
For “NEA’s Got Talent,” Northeast Arkansas vocalists, musicians and dancers will perform one number of their choosing for a panel of judges and an audience, competing for Judges’ Choice and Crowd Favorite ($1 votes). Preliminary competition for ages 10-17 takes place at 7 p.m. today at the Forum Theater, 115 E. Monroe Ave., Jonesboro; for ages 18 and up, 7 p.m. Friday. Finals take place 7 p.m. Aug. 3. Grand-prize winners will perform their winning song in advance of a Foundation of Arts fall production and will receive a season pass to FOA First Friday/Original concerts. Admission is free; audience members can choose to vote for $1 per vote, at the events or online at foajonesboro.org. Call (870) 935-2726.
‘Small Works’
The Arkansas Arts Council’s 2021 Small Works on Paper is on display through Aug. 12 at the Arts Center of the Grand Prairie, 108 W. 12th St., Stuttgart. The exhibition includes 38 works by 26 artists from across Arkansas no larger than 18-by-24 inches. The gallery is open with limited viewing hours; visitors should call (870) 673-1781. More information about the exhibition is available at arkansasarts.org.
Youth conductor
Gabriel Bruce is the new conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra has named Gabriel Bruce, orchestra director at Mills University Studies High School and Mills Middle School, as the new conductor and director of the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra, the top tier of the symphony’s three youth performing ensembles. Bruce will work in collaboration with Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Artistic Director Geoffrey Robson — who had been conducting the ensemble — to program music, rehearse, schedule and recruit.
Youth Orchestra auditions are Aug. 30-Sept. 3. More information about eligibility, audition materials and tuition is available at ArkansasSymphony.org or call (501) 666-1761, Extension 116. The 2021-22 Youth Orchestra schedule includes a Spring Residency with violist Jordan Bak, who will solo with the Youth Orchestra April 22, and the annual Side By Side Concert, May 1, in which professional Arkansas Symphony musicians sit side-by-side with Youth Orchestra musicians.
Bruce previously taught orchestra in the Pine Bluff schools and served as music director of the Pine Bluff Symphony Youth Orchestra. A native Arkansan, he played trumpet at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where he received his bachelor of music education degree and studied conducting with then Arkansas Symphony Music Director David Itkin. He also formed the Conway Chamber Orchestra. He received his master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Hartt School in Hartford, Conn.
‘Arkansas Made’
“Arkansas Made: Photographs by Rett Peek,” principal photographer for the second edition of Historic Arkansas Museum‘s recently published “Arkansas Made Vol. I & II,” go on display Friday in the Second Floor Gallery at the museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock. An interview featuring Peek will premiere on Facebook for Virtual 2nd Friday Art Night, 5-8 p.m. Friday. Museum hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the galleries and parking are free. Call (501) 324-9351 or visit historicarkansas.org.
