Nov. 1 performance and auction to benefit Voices in the Laurel

Voices in the Laurel opens its new season with a combination Water Music concert and auction held at 3 p.m. Nov. 1 at Shackford Hall at Lake Junaluska.

The original Water Music was written by Handel for the king’s dinner parties on barges on the Thames River. Voices’ Chamber Choir will sing “Cantate Deo,” a setting of a portion of the Water Music with trumpet accompaniment by Chris Ulrey, band director at Pisgah High School. Other Chamber Choir selections include “At the River,” the hymn tune adapted by Aaron Copland, and “Wade in the Water,” the traditional spiritual arranged by Moses Hogan.

Concert Choir will sing “Listen to the Rain,” which features audience participation in creating a rainstorm. Other Concert Choir selections include the Jamaican Folk Song, “Liza (Water Come a Me Eye),” a shanty, “The Sailor’s Life for Me,” and the American Folk Song, “The Water Is Wide.”

Treble Makers will sing the traditional Scottish “Skye Boat Song” with instruments creating the storm that allowed Bonnie Prince Charlie to escape the battle at Culloden’s field. Other Treble Makers selections include the Newfoundland fold song, “A Great Big Sea,” and everyone’s favorite, “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.”

In addition to the concert, the Voices in the Laurel will host a silent auction. Items include a live Christmas tree, fresh cut wreaths, season tickets to the Asheville Lyric Opera, brunch for 2 at the Grove Park Inn, and golf packages from the Laurel Ridge Country Club and from the Lake Junaluska Golf Course.

Other items include a 14k diamond and ruby heart pendant, an X-Box 360 with 3 games, personal chef service from Signature Cuisine, a 3-night stay at Mountain Bear Cabins in Jackson or Swain County, a 1 night stay at the Grand Bohemian hotel in Asheville, 2 extra large beanbag chairs from Land’s End, and a large gift basket from Pampered Chef.

Additional items include gift certificates from local restaurants and salons, pedicures, manicures and facials, a courtesy pass to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, therapeutic massages, dinner at the Herren House B&B in Waynesville, piano tuning and more.

Voices in the Laurel Children and Youth Choirs is a regional program for children in first through twelfth grades. The program includes approximately 80 singers.

Voices in the Laurel will receive new choristers in January. New choristers will be eligible to join the Crossroads Festival tour. The audition process is simple and fun. For an audition appointment, call Founder and Artistic Director Martha Weathers Brown at 828.734.8413.

Tickets to the concert are $15; reservations can be made at 828.335.2849. Proceeds will see the choirs through the season and take them on their tours to the Crossroads Festival in Nashville, Tenn. and to sing the National Anthem for the Atlanta Braves.

Learn banjo history at Cashiers library Oct. 29

Recording artist and John C. Campbell Folk School teacher, Mary Z. Cox will present a free program entitled “Banjos in History” at 7 p.m. Oct. 29 in the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library meeting room. Cox will showcase gourd, cigar box and fretless banjos.

Cox, a self-described “banjoholic” with 17 banjos, has been playing since she was 12, and is a two time Florida champion. She has won old time music competitions on banjo, dulcimer, and string band in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee and was chosen by Banjo Newsletter readers in 2006 as the fourth favorite clawhammer banjo player in the world.

Cox has recorded six CDs, has written five banjo tab books, and has been published in Banjo Newsletter, Studio Magazine, and Old Time Herald. She has taught numerous banjo and dulcimer workshops and camps, including the John C. Campbell Folk School where she has taught for six years. Her music has been played on BBC and National Public radio and is available on iTunes worldwide.

For more information call the library at 828.743.0215.

Rickman Store hosts traditional music jam Oct. 30

The Rickman Store in Franklin will hold an evening of traditional music and fellowship to celebrate the autumn beauty, to kick off the Halloween weekend and to prepare for the upcoming holiday season from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 30.

Mary K. Sullivan, Henry Miller, Dave Stewart, Merritt Shaw, Peter Mosco and Chris Sobek are among the many singers and players who will gather to share their tunes and creations. Bring an instrument and join in the informal music making. Sharing, learning, and passing on traditional mountain music along with having a good time are the reasons for this gathering.

The T.M. Rickman General Store is a National Register Historic building located in the heart of the Cowee-West’s Mill Historic District. It was purchased in 2007 by the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, and since then a group of volunteers organized as the Friends of the Rickman Store have been opening its doors to share the memories, the traditions, and the values of the rural Cowee Community.

The Store is located on 259 Cowee Creek Road, next to Cowee Elementary School, seven miles north of Franklin on N.C. 28. For more information about this and coming events at the store, call 828.369.5595.

Free flicks at the Macon County library

The Macon County library will show several movies in the upcoming week.

Two kids secretly take in stray dogs at a vacant hotel in “Hotel for Dogs,” shown at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 2. The film is rated PG and runs for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

“Chalk” featuring Richard Jenkins will be shown at 4:30 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Nov. 4. Set in the world of public education, “Chalk” takes a satirical and poignant look at the challenges faced by two history teachers, Mr. Lowrey and Mr. Stroope, and the psychological hardships that they encounter during the school semester.

The film is rated PG-13 and runs for 1 hour and 24 minutes.

The 1938 film “The Lady Vanishes” will be shown during the classic film series at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. Hitchcock directs this suspense thriller set on a train. As the train is passing through a bad storm an old woman disappears and is replaced by an imposter. When a young woman (a friend of the older woman) begins to search for her, she is drawn into a dizzying mystery that spirals her and the audience into familiar eerie Hitchcock territory. “The Lady Vanishes” runs for 1 hour and 35 minutes.

For more information about the library films, call 828. 524.3600.

Grove Park gears up for gingerbread competition

The 17th Annual National Gingerbread House Competition will present awards at 5 p.m. Nov. 16 at The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa in Asheville.

Judging by a professional panel takes place across four categories: adult (18 years and older), teen (13-17 years old), youth (9-12 years old) and child (5-8 years old). Entries are judged on overall appearance, originality/creativity, difficulty, precision and consistency of theme. Except for the base, the entries must be constructed entirely of edible materials. The maximum size of gingerbread houses in the competition cannot exceed two feet wide, two feet long and two feet high.

Contestants will be delivering their gingerbread houses from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, and 7 to 8:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16. The award presentation is free and open to the public.

Harrah’s hosts benefit wine tasting Nov. 6

Approximately 25 North Carolina vintners will be pouring their wines at a charity event at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel Nov. 6 support of The Rathbun Center. “From Moonshine to Fine Wine” will feature live entertainment provided by North Carolina bluegrass and jazz bands.

The benefit will aid The Rathbun Center, the Asheville facility that provides overnight accommodations to hospital visitors while their friends and families are being treated.

The focus on wines from North Carolina is in keeping with the rapid growth of the state’s wine industry and the number of prestigious awards won by its vintners. Paired with the outstanding North Carolina wines will be an array of delicacies prepared by Harrah’s chefs including creative interpretations of Native American dishes, a selection of seafood dishes, and an assortments of cheeses and fresh fruit.

Tickets for the event are $200 per couple/package, paid in advance, and include two tickets to the event, overnight accommodations at a partner hotel and transportation from the partner hotel to the event. Tickets purchased at the door are $250, with accommodations subject to availability.

For tickets, please contact Karen Hultin, The Rathbun Center, telephone 828.251.0595. Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel is located 50 miles west of Asheville at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

WCU Madrigal Dinner tickets on sale Nov. 3

Tickets for this year’s Madrigal Christmas Dinners at Western Carolina University will go on sale 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. The annual dinner extravaganza, a tradition for WCU and the surrounding communities since 1970, is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4, and Saturday, Dec. 5, in the Grandroom of WCU’s A.K. Hinds University Center.

The dinners are re-creations of the pageantry, music and food of 16th-century England, with authentic Madrigal entertainment and costumes. This year, the dinner menus will feature a choice of three entrees: a grilled pork loin chop seasoned with bourbon-apple glaze, honey citrus-glazed Cornish game hen, or a vegetarian plate featuring a stuffed portabella mushroom.

Accompaniments include traditional wassail, hearts of Romaine salad with sugared pecans and dried cranberries with a balsamic vinaigrette, roasted garlic mashed new potatoes, honey cinnamon-glazed carrots, plum pudding, rolls, tea, water and coffee.

The programs begin at 6:30 p.m., and all patrons must be seated by 6:25 p.m. Tables will seat eight patrons each. Tickets are $18 for WCU students and $30 for all others.

Tickets may be purchased at the administrative offices on the second floor of the Hinds University Center, or by calling 828.227.7206. Ticket desk hours are 9 a.m. until noon and 1 until 4 p.m. weekdays. Telephone reservations must be paid by credit card (MasterCard, Visa or Discover). Reservations are made on a first-come, first-served basis. All sales are final.

WNC Pottery Festival attracts big names

The Western North Carolina Pottery Festival in Dillsboro returns for its fifth year on Saturday, Nov. 7, with an expanded lineup and a special clay “Olympics” competition.

Event organizers continue to be surprised by the popularity achieved by the festival in a short period of time. With dozens of well-known applicants from across the nation, the number of juried potters has been expanded to 42 this year. Last year’s show had 36 exhibitors.

The 2009 festival includes potters from 13 states, including Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, New York and New Jersey, as well as North Carolina and surrounding states. The featured potter is Trent Berning of California.

“There are name potters in the show we never expected to have, and we had to turn away 30 potters, so there is competition to get in,” said organizer Joe Frank McKee of Dillsboro’s Tree House Pottery. “It’s become a premier event. We have potters from every type of clay medium.”

Berning, of Berning Clay Gallery in Fallbrook, Calif., has a master’s degree in ceramics from the University of Tennessee and is an instructor at two colleges. He is known for creating large pots featuring slip decoration, which uses fine clay in a variety of colors blended into liquid form and applied to pots.

Another artist of note is Richard Aerni of Rochester, N.Y. Aerni, a potter for 30 years, specializes in single-fired, wood-ash glazed functional stoneware. His work is sold in galleries across the country and is on display at the Smithsonian Institute.

New this year is the clay Olympics challenge from 1-3 p.m. Friday at Tree House Pottery. The competition is sponsored by Shimpo, a pottery equipment company, and includes 20 potters attempting to create the tallest cylinder and widest bowl in 10 minutes.

Saturday’s festival hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. Admission is $2 per person and includes a ticket for a daylong raffle. Children under 12 are admitted free.

“Our potters like interacting with people and are willing to share information,” McKee said. “They’re not just here for money, they’re here to share their craft.”

For festival info call 828.631.5100, or visit: www.wncpotteryfestival.com.

Waynesville’s final art stroll is Nov. 6

The Waynesville Gallery Association presents the final Art After Dark of the season on from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. Working studios and galleries on Main Street, Depot Street and in Historic Frog Level will feature special works and seasonal displays.

The Haywood County Arts Council is hosting an artist reception with photographer and Vietnam Veteran, George Schober whose show “Natural Perspectives” blends an array of botanicals, leaves and clouds. The exhibit runs through Saturday, Nov. 14.

Voices in the Laurel Children’s Choir will perform several patriotic selections at 6 p.m. in the gallery to honor all veterans and the upcoming Veterans Day holiday.

Also, Twigs and Leaves Gallery is celebrating 11 years on Main Street this month, and the more than 180 talented artists, thousands of locals and guests that have visited this year. During Art After Dark meet featured jewelry artist, Pegi Pike, from Asheville.

For more information, visit www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com or call 828.452.9284.