Jim Bishop | Deck the Halls and Climb the Walls With Rare Air Fare

Jim Bishop

jIt’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas – only earlier than ever. This year, area commercial radio station WSVO, Mix 93.1 FM,” went to an all-Christmas music format before Thanksgiving. WJDV, “Lite 96.1 FM,” followed suit on Thanksgiving Day. From Bing Crosby’s 1942 rendering of “White Christmas” to a street-corner harmony version from 1954…

Preaching to the choir

Jim Bishop

What do a pear, a “talking” tennis ball and “hee-haw” have to do with conducting children’s choirs? More than 250 music educators from across the state found out during a seminar in children’s choral conducted Nov. 21. Julia White, founder and artistic director of the 17-year-old Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir, led 69 choristers, ages 7-13,…

Carl Larsen | Secrets of the hive revealed

Carl Larsen

Hollywood is still abuzz with the news: “The Secret Life of Bees,” currently at The Visulite in Staunton, is a honey of a movie. And while many films based on best-selling books are disappointing, you won’t get stung by this one. (OK, OK. Enough with the Apoidean puns, already. No more, I promise. Stretching for…

Concert to honor fallen EMU alum

Jim Bishop

The Eastern Mennonite University music department’s celebratory concert for the fall semester will include a tribute to a 2008 EMU graduate who died this summer. The concert will be held 7 p.m. Saturday in EMU’s Lehman Auditorium and will feature EMU music students and faculty performing alongside one another. “Death cannot separate,” a new piece…

Arts Council announces Creative Inspiration grants

Chris Graham

The Arts Council of the Valley has awarded $12,000 in Creative Inspiration grants to local artists and arts organizations – and it wasn’t easy. “We had an extremely competitive process this cycle. The review panel had a difficult time allocating limited funding amongst many quality grants,” executive director Kai Degner said. “We were excited to…

Local Theater: Unraveling the Drood mystery

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Many Charles Dickens fans just assume that it was supposed to be John Jasper who would turn out to be the murderer at the end of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Everything seems to point back to Jasper, most notably his affections for Rosa Bud, Drood’s fiancee, though a small…

The absolutely fabulous list of the greatest Alternative Lifestyle movies ever made on planet earth

Carl Larsen

Carly at the Movies column by Carl Larsen Sometimes watching a lousy movie can lead you down an interesting primrose path. Like the other day, I was in the mood for a musical, and noticed one I had never seen was playing on cable. I TiVoed it, and later sat down to watch what turned…