Music

All programs are scheduled in the Music/Mass Communication Building.

Individual Music Lessons. Students receive one-on-one instruction for 30 minutes each week. Lessons available on bassoon, cello, clarinet, flute, guitar, horn, oboe, piano, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, tuba/euphonium, violin/fiddle or voice. Lessons take place weekday afternoons and evenings. There are 14 lessons per semester and an end-of-semester recital. Lessons begin Aug. 31.

• Ages: 4 and older for violin lessons
• 7 and older for guitar, piano and other instruments
• 13 and older for voice lessons
• Adults are welcome as beginners or continuing students in all areas.

Fee: $280/semester

Organ Lessons – Jared Wilson, instructor

For pianists with two-three years experience. Lessons taught at Madison Street United Methodist Church. The Rieger-Kloss organ, installed in 2001, is composed of more than 3,500 individual pipes, playable from a three-manual console and pedal board. Its magnificent tones, voices and textures enable it to play the liturgy of the church as well as concert literature spanning all major music periods. Students will not only have the opportunity to study on this instrument, but they will also be able to practice and perform on it. Lessons scheduled as above.

Fee: $280/semester.

Group Violin Lessons - Emily Hanna Crane, instructor

For students enrolled in individual lessons, this class is based on the Suzuki Method, primarily for students in books 1 and 2. More advanced students will enjoy reviewing old favorites and can participate with leadership and assisting the instructor. 4:30-6 p.m., Tuesdays, Sept.8 and 22, Oct. 6 and 27, Nov. 10 and 24, Room 237.

Fee: $60.

Beginning Class Piano for Ages 4-6 – Mary Catherine Bartkowski, instructor.

4:30-5:30 p.m., Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 8, Room 231.

Fee: $140/semester.

Beginning Class Piano for Adults – Simone Parker, instructor.

7-8 p.m., Mondays, beginning Sept. 14, Room 231.

Fee: $140/semester.

Clarksville Youth Chorus for Ages 8-12 – Briana Larsen, director

All interested students, new and returning, should attend the informational meeting with a parent/guardian at 6 p.m., Monday, Aug. 31. Regular rehearsals 6-7 p.m., Mondays, beginning Sept. 14, Room 147.

Fee: $75/semester,  Some scholarships are available.

Clarksville Teen Singers – ages 13-18 – Jared Wilson, director

All interested students, new and returning, should attend the informational meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, Aug. 31. Auditions for new students will be held immediately following the meeting. Regular rehearsals 7-8 p.m., Mondays, beginning Sept. 14, Room 147.

Fee: $75/semester.

Clarksville Community Chorus – ages 18 and older -  Valerie Oyen-Larsen, director

Serious and lighter music, as well as seasonal selections, will be prepared for community and formal performances. Auditions for new members 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 3. Returning members need not reaudition. Regular rehearsals 7:30-9 p.m., Thursdays, beginning Sept. 10, Room 147.

Fee: $75/semester.

Beginning Middle School Orchestra – Lindsay Snapp, director

For students currently studying a string, wind or percussion instrument. All interested students should attend the informational meeting at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Aug. 31. Auditions will be held immediately following the meeting. Regular rehearsals 6:30-7:30 p.m., Mondays, beginning Sept. 14, Room 152.

Fee: $75/semester.

High School Flute Choir – JoAnn McIntosh, director

Students can perform in community events and in concert with the APSU Flute Choir. 6:30-7:30 p.m., Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 8, Room 147.

Fee: $75/semester.

Percussion Ensemble – ages 12 and older – Carlos Johnson, director

A great opportunity for students and adults, with or without experience, to participate in a performing group made up of percussion instruments. 7-8 p.m., Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 8, Room 152.

Fee: $75/semester.

Jazz Improvisation – Gary Clayton, director

For experienced instrumentalists, this class will offer instruction in basic jazz improvisation. Rehearse and perform some of the standards of the jazz repertoire in a group setting, and express your individuality by learning to play “off the page.” 6-7 p.m., Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 8, Room 147.

Fee: $75/semester.

Music Theory – JoAnn McIntosh, instructor. Designed for high school students and adults who already study an instrument or voice. 6:30-7:30 p.m., Thursdays, beginning Sept. 3, Room 235. Fee:

$75/semester.

Kindermusik

All programs are scheduled in the Music/Mass Communication Building.

Kindermusik Village: Age 6-18 months

Village provides a delightful environment unlike any other. Through a unique blend of multilevel activities that includes creative movement, vocal play, object and instrument exploration and a colorful literature component, your baby’s growth and development are stimulated and all of his senses engaged. 9 a.m., Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 8, Room 229.

Fee: $190/semester

Kindermusik Our Time: Age 18 months-3 years

Our Time encourages your child to uncover an engaging musical world while building confidence, self-control and communication skills. Singing, imitating sounds, rhyming and object identification foster language skills. Creative movement to various musical “moods” develop a sense of balance, timing and spatial awareness. Listening and turn-taking encourage blossoming social skills. 10 a.m., Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 8, Room 229.

Fee: $190/semester.

Kindermusik Imagine That!: Age 3-4

Imagine That! is designed for active, energetic, enthusiastic and imaginative 3- and 4- year-olds and encourages socialization, sharing and participating in group activities. Singing becomes a focus for enhancing the preschooler’s vocal development as her expressive language is beginning to emerge. Parents are invited to participate in the last 15 minutes of the 45-minute class for sharing time. 11 a.m., Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 8, Room 229.

Fee: $190/semester.

Visual arts

All programs are scheduled in the Trahern Building.

Individual Art Lessons – ages 7 and older.

Students receive one-on-one instruction for 30 minutes each week, beginning with drawing and progressing to other areas, tailored to the student’s own interests. 14 lessons per semester, weekday afternoons, beginning Aug. 31.

Fee: $280/semester.

Beginning Pottery – ages 8-14. Morgan Conwell, instructor.

A beginner’s level course that introduces young people to working with clay and establishing good techniques with hand building before progressing to the potter’s wheel. 10-11:30 a.m., Saturdays, Room 101.

Fee: $125 plus $25 materials. Offered twice per semester: first session Sept. 5-Oct. 10; second session Oct. 17-Nov. 21.

Ceramics – ages 15 and older. Melody Shipley, instructor

Beginner’s level and continuation courses that cover both hand-built vessels and the use of the potter’s wheel. Students begin with hand building, which affords familiarity with the material and techniques, then move to wheel throwing. 6-8 p.m., Thursdays, Room 101.

Fee: $135 plus $25 materials. Offered twice per semester: first session Sept. 3-Oct. 15; second session Oct. 22-Dec. 10.

Painting with Watercolors – ages 8-14. Morgan Conwell, instructor

Classes to gain familiarity with drawing and watercolor techniques. Students will also study different watercolor artists, including visits to APSU art galleries. Day/time TBA, Trahern 403.

Fee: $80. Offered twice per semester.

Introduction to Black-and-White Photography in the Darkroom – ages 15 and older. Jillian Romano, instructor.

Classes in technical use of students’ 35mm cameras, including camera controls, obtaining correct exposure, creating quality negatives and understanding various elements of composition. In the darkroom, students will learn to print and edit black-and-white photographs from their negatives. 6-8 p.m., Mondays, Trahern 106.

Fee: $135 plus $45 materials. Offered twice per semester: first session Sept. 14-Oct. 26; second session Nov. 2-Dec. 7.

Advanced Black-and-White Photography in the Darkroom – ages 15 and older. Jillian Romano, instructor.

For those who have taken black-and-white photography and are comfortable in the darkroom, this class will be more challenging. Holga Cameras, Cyanotypes and Polaroid transfers will be explored. 2-4 p.m., Saturdays, Trahern 106.

Fee: $135 plus $60 materials. Offered twice per semester: first session Sept. 12-Oct. 17; second session Oct. 24-Dec. 5.

Introduction to Digital Photography – ages 15 and older. Jillian Romano, instructor. Instruction in use and functions of students’ digital cameras and how to edit, print and scan photographs. 10 a.m.-noon, Saturdays, Trahern 212.

Fee: $135 plus $25 for materials. Offered twice per semester: first session Sept. 12-Oct. 17; second session Oct. 24-Dec. 5.

The Art of Portrait Photography – ages 15 and older. Suzan Davis, instructor.

Learn about composition and light to produce beautiful portrait photographs with a digital camera. 6-8 p.m., Thursdays, MMC 237. Dates TBA.

Fee: $135.

Arts and Theater – ages 8-12.

A collaboration of arts and theater instruction that will include puppet-making, script-writing and scenery design, culminating at semester’s end in a live stage production in the Trahern Theatre. 6-7:30 p.m., Thursdays, beginning Sept. 3, Trahern 413.

Fee: $100/semester plus $25 for materials.

Dance

All programs scheduled in the Memorial Health Dance Studio beginning Sept. 8. Each class lasts for an hour and will meet once a week for 14 weeks.

Creative Movement for Children – ages 4-5.

Emphasis is on movement and development of gross motor skills, space, time, energy, the body response to rhythms and stories and awareness of the body and how it moves through space. Simple rhythms, basic positions and terminology will also be taught. 3-4 p.m., Fridays.

Fee: $100/semester.

Beginning Ballet.

Students will receive quality dance instruction in beginning ballet technique in a small group environment.

Fee: $100/semester.

Beginning Ballet – ages 6-9 4:30-5:30 p.m., Wednesdays

Fee: $100/semester.

Pre-teen Beginning Ballet — ages 10-12 5:30-6:30 p.m., Wednesdays

Fee: $100/semester.

Beginning Ballet for Teens – ages 13-17 6:45-7:45 p.m., Thursdays

Fee: $100/semester.

Adult Beginning Ballet – ages 18 and older 6:45-7:45 p.m., Tuesdays

Fee: $100/semester.

Anna Caterina Antonacci as Carmen

A little-heralded screening of a great opera, Georges Bizet’s Carmen, played Clarksville Thursday evening, the first of four British productions that will air in the next three weeks. Carmen was, in a word, “stunning.”

The Carmike 10 at Governor’s Square Mall did little advertising of this show, staged at Covent Garden with the London Symphony. Every one in the sparsely filled theater had the same comment: “We didn’t find out about this until (Wednesday).” Or “If I known about this sooner several friends would have come with me.”

For the most part, seeing any classical performance, with the periodic exception of something at APSU, classical music is nonexistent; Clarksville residents usually have to leave town to soothe that particular thirst, and that means a trip to Nashville of Louisville for a symphonic concert, a ballet or an opera. The Met: Live in HD offers a global broadcast series of 11 operas from its New York Stage. That series plays two stadium theaters in Nashville, often with standing room only crowds that include large contingent of Clarksville classical fans. The Met series is highly publicized; I hope that the Carmike 10 (or the city’s  Great Escape 16) would do the same.

Such productions have a high ticket price ($15-$22) but are worth every single, solitary cent. Soul food. The Carmike had a few issues with the screening, including a long intermission in which the second half of the opera was late in uploading. We waited.

Ildebrando D'Cacangelo as the toreador, Escamillo

As for the opera itself, I stopped breathing several times, holding onto that intake of breathe at songs so perfectly rendered the rest of the world just fades away, and all that is left is a glorious beauty.

Carmen was my first opera, my first trip to the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center back in 1968. I already knew the music, had read my mother’s 1940’s libretto in French and English, and her her sing some of its music. I was hooked for life.

While the Met broadcast have a better polish and quality of film, the Met’s Carmen is a bit more sanitized that this European version, in which platformed bustlines and ample cleavage lent a realism to the passion and eroticism that is Carmen. This is an earthy Carmen, laced with flamenco rhythm, the solid slap of boots against the earth, the steaming sexual innuendo, all balancing on a thin line between love and hate.

A cast of 147, including a cadre of children, filled and almost overpowered the stage for the village scenes, with an interesting choreography that at one point has two masses of actors moving in opposite directions, creating a visible dimension to flowing crowd outside the factory where Carmen works. The women, gypsies,and prostitutes, pour through an opened gate and into a tumble of merchants and soldiers. The love stories begin. Smoulder. Erupt into tragedy, the hallmark of opera.

The first act moves slowly, inching its way to the heart of the show, acts II and III, exploding in a passionate, fiery conclusion at act IV. The entire production is sung in French without subtitles.

Coming up on Oct. 23,The Royal Ballet performance of The Sleeping Beauty

Anna Caterina Antonacci is a lusty and provocative Carmen, Ildebrando D’Cacangelo exudes power as Escamillo. Jonas Kaufman is striking as the tormented soldier Don Jose, a man spiraling downward in a whirlpool of unrequited passion. Norah Amsellan is the lovely Micaela, pining for Don Jose.

Carmen will be have an encore screening Sunday, October 19 at 1:15 p.m. and the Carmike 10 at Governor’s Square Mall, 2801 Wilma Rudolph Blvd. For more information, call (931) 503-0783

Coming up in this classical series are The Royal ballet with Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty on October 23 at 7 p.m.;  The Royal Opera production of Mozart’s Le nozze de Figaro (date/time TBA); and the Royal Ballet production of Romeo and Juliet (date/time TBA).

Theater staff indicated that the screening of the remaining series would be on successive Thursdays at 7, with possible encores on as Sunday matinees, but the remaining dates (Sleeping Beauty excepted) could not be confirmed. We will keep track, and post the schedule when it becomes available. If you attend any or all of these performances, in Clarksville or in Nashville, it is important to let theater managers know how much you appreciate the availability of classical music and dance.

In addition to touring “Cinderella” and other ballets throughout the Midwest, the company presents the holiday classic, Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” in annual performances at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois; at the Rialto Theatre in Joliet, Illinois, and at Harris Theatre for Music and Dance in Chicago.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Artistic director Kenneth von Heidecke, since 1986 choreographer and ballet master for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, draws his dancers from such professional companies as Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and the Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet and from the ranks of his own studios in Naperville, Illinois. Prima Ballerina assoluta, Maria Tallchief, director of Chicago Lyric Opera Ballet, serves the Chicago Festival Ballet as honorary artistic advisor.

Mr. von Heidecke, who has performed with Ms. Tallchief’s Chicago City Ballet, the Lyric Opera Ballet, BalletMet, and Carla Fracci’s company in Verona, Italy, has choreographed for the Opera Company of the Los Angeles Music Center, the Dallas Opera, the San Diego Opera, and the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center, among many others. In addition to working with the renowned Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, he has presented a full evening of his work at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe, Germany.