Steve Wildsmith

The Clayton Center for the Arts over on the Maryville College campus got a test run when it opened at the beginning of the year, but now officials are preparing for the facility’s first full season of performances.

Clayton Center Executive Director Robert Hutchens unveiled the 2010-11 season for the center this week, and it includes something for everyone — literally — including some big names in jazz and bluegrass. Here’s what’s headed to Maryville this year:

• Neil Berg’s “100 Years of Broadway” (8 p.m. Sept. 17 in the main theater): Five of Broadway’s leading performers as well as an all-star New York band come to town to perform the most beloved and memorable songs from a century of Broadway musical history, including recent as well as more traditional hits. Not only do they perform — they do so as the characters and scenes from which the songs come.
• Richter/Uzur (7:30 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Lambert Recital Hall): A duo fusing rock , folk and classical  to create a sound that is modern, traditional and unique.
• Sam Bush with Missy Raines and New Hip (8 p.m. Nov. 5 on the main stage): One of the season’s headliners, Bush has been called “The King of Telluride,” “The Founder of New Grass” and “The Heir to Bill Monroe.” He’s an award-winning master of banjo, fiddle, and mandolin and has shared the stage with such luminaries as Lyle Lovett and Garth Brooks. Raines is a seven-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year Awards and will be performing with her band, New Hip.
• Robert deMaine and Andrew Armstrong (7:30 p.m. Nov. 16 in the Lambert Recital Hall): First chair cellist of the Detroit Symphony (deMaine) and internationally renowned pianist (Armstrong) perform an evening of intimate classical music
• American Spiritual Ensemble (8 p.m. Jan. 15, 2011, on the main stage): Part of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration on campus, featuring the spellbinding singing of John Wesley Wright, who entertained at the center’s opening-night gala. He’s just one member of the ensemble, a group of professional soloists who combine their voices in a chorus of tribute to the soul-stirring spiritual.
• The Aluminum Show (8 p.m. Jan. 21 on the main stage): Like Pilobolus and The Blue Man Group, the Israeli troupe of “dancers”  has defined its own genre.  Clad in  imaginative, often bizarre, structures of recycled aluminum, the  performers execute a choreography of shapes and colors that surprise, intrigue and enchant
• Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana (7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 on the main stage): An evening of culture and art featuring dancers celebrating the national dance and songs  of Spain.
• “All Shook Up,” the musical (8 p.m. Feb. 11 on the main stage): Featuring the songbook of Elvis Presley, telling the story of a teenage rebel shaking up a small town.
• “The Comedy of Errors” (7:30 p.m. March 9 on the main stage): The Acting Company of New York City presents one of Shakespeare’s most farcical, accessible plays.
• The Passing Zone (7:30 p.m. March 19 on the main stage): Comedy-juggling team that’s been in the Guinness Book of World Records four times, they’ll juggle everything from human beings to chainsaws.
• “An Evening With Groucho Marx” (6:30 p.m. March 26 in the William Baxter Lee Grand Foyer): Actor Frank Ferrante transforms himself into the legendary screen and comedic legend for a night of dinner theater in the Clayton Center’s foyer.
• Chris Brubeck and Triple Play (8 p.m. April 8 on the main stage): The son of legendary jazz composer and pianist Dave Brubeck comes to town with Joel Brown and Madcat Ruth to perform their melange of blues, rock, folk and, of course, jazz.

And those shows are on top of what’s already been announced:

• “On Golden Pond,” presented by the Foothills Community Players, Sept. 10-12 and Sept. 16-19 on the main stage
• “Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran,” a talk by Roxana Saberi at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15 on the main stage (admission is free)
• Wood and Strings Puppet Theatre at 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Sept. 28 on the main stage;
• British rock band The Boxer Rebellion (fronted by Blount County native Nathan Nicholson) at 8 p.m. Oct. 12 on the main stage. Tickets are now on sale (via box office walk-up only for the time being) and are $12, $18 and $20; and
• Nations of Unity present “An Evening of Native American Entertainment,” 7 p.m. Oct. 30 on the main stage; $25/$12 children.

As far as ticket sales go — 12 of the events are being offered in subscription series of different sizes through Sept. 19.  Patrons who buy a series of five to seven performances will receive a 10 percent discount; those wanting 8 to 11 performances get a 15 percent discount; and those who purchase tickets for all 12 get a 25 percent discount. Regarding single-ticket sales — excluding the Groucho Marx dinner theater show, the average ticket price is $16.09 for adult economy tickets (average price for students and seniors — $12.50).

To reserve seats for any of the shows, call the Clayton Center box office at (865) 981-8590, visit the center online or go by the box office between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets go on sale Thursday, Aug. 19.

This weekend, a lot of media attention will be focused on Knoxville, where the groundbreaking Big Ears Festival will be taking place. Hats off to Ashley Capps and his company, AC Entertainment, for putting together a truly spectacular festival of underground, avant garde, off-the-radar pop and unheard-of classical genius; we’ll have a few artist profiles of our own in this coming Friday’s Weekend entertainment section.

A little closer to home, however, there’s still big things happening. Starting Friday night, the newly built Clayton Center for the Arts will kick off its grand opening weekend with a concert by country artist Jo Dee Messina; tickets are still available and range from $36-$46. We put together a nice little Clayton Center package, including an interview with Jo Dee, a look at last-minute preparations for the grand opening gala on Saturday night and a timeline of the center’s construction, in last Friday’s Weekend. But that’s just the beginning of Clayton Center goodness taking place over the next several months. A few concerts have been announced already, a few are late additions to the lineup, and a few are outright surprises. Here’s a roundup of what’s coming to the Maryville College campus as the center’s season gets into full swing:

• Identical twins Richard and John Contiguglia will continue the grand opening weekend with a concert of piano duets at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 28, in the center’s Recital Hall; tickets are $26 for adults/$11 students.
• The BANFF Mountain Film Festival takes place at 7 p.m. Monday, March 29, in the Main Hall; tickets are $10 advance/$12 at the door.
• Mezzo-soprano Delores Ziegler and tenor John Wesley Wright will perform a joint vocal recital at 8 p.m. Monday, March 29, in the Recital Hall; $15.
• Alcoa Middle School and High School will perform choral concerts, respectively, at 6 and 8 p.m. April 8; tickets are $6 adults/$4 students.
• The United Way “April Foolies” fundraiser is at 7 p.m. April 10 in the Main Hall; $10.
• FREE: Maryville College Community Concert Band spring concert at 4 p.m. April 18.
• FREE: Maryville College Jazz Band concert, 7:30 p.m. April 22.
• Appalachian Ballet Co.: “Peter Pan and Other Works” at 7:30 p.m. April 24 and 2 p.m. April 25; $16.
• Orchestra at Maryville College, Maryville College Community Chorus and Maryville College Concert Choir: spring concert at 7:30 p.m. April 26; tickets TBA.
• FREE: Spring concert for the Youth and Children’s Chorales, 7:30 p.m. April 27.
• Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys with Cherryholmes, 7:30 p.m. April 29; $24.50, $29.50 and $36
• Maryville College Department of Theatre: “Our Town” at 8 p.m. April 29-May 1, 2 p.m. May 2. $7.
• Ball in the House (five-man R&B/pop vocal band) at 7:30 p.m. April 30; $20.
• FREE: Alcoa Middle School Band (at 6 p.m.) and High School Band (at 8 p.m.) concerts on May 4.
• Dance Ensemble Performance, 7 p.m. May 6 and 7. Tickets TBA
• Women of Courage Celebration featuring Amanda Ingram, 7 p.m. May 7. $50.
• Vanilla Ice with The Jaystorm Project and DJ Eric B., 7:30 p.m. May 8. Tickets (on sale Friday, March 26) Are $19, $26 and 39 in advance.
• FREE: Maryville High School Orchestra concert, 7:30 p.m. May 10
• FREE: Maryville Middle School Orchestra concert, 7:30 p.m. May 13
• Wood & Strings Puppet Theatre, 7 p.m. May 14; $12/$5 students
• Van Metre School of Dance, 7:30 p.m. May 29; tickets TBA
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Johnny Bellar, Adam Granger, Joe Collins and Cindy Gray at 7 p.m. June 14; $15
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Adam Masters, Mary Flower, Rusty Holloway, Jeff Jenkins and Robert Shafer at 7 p.m. June 15; $15
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Barbara Lamb, Keith Yoder, Jim Pankey and Ivan Rosenberg at 7 p.m. June 16; $15
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Russ Barenberg, Casey Henry, Pat Kirtley and Marcy Marxer at 7 p.m. June 17; $15
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Pete Huttlinger, Steve Kaufman and Friends, Kamp Kompanions at 7 p.m. June 18; $15
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Tyler Grant, Andrew Collins, Mike Clemmer, Richard Starkey and Kathy Barwick at 7 p.m. June 21; $15
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Gary Davis, Mitch Corbin, Tim May, Rolly Brown and Radim Zenkl at 7 p.m. June 22; $15
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Carlo Aonzo, Kathy Chiavola, Chris and Sally Jones, Ned Luberecki and Keith Yoder at 7 p.m. June 23; $15
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Alan Munde, Roland White, Emory Lester, Mark Cosgrove, Murphy Henry and Casey Henry at 7 p.m. June 24; $15
• Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Concert Series: Beppe Gambetta, Sharon Gilchrist, Steve Kaufman and Friends, Kamp Kompanions at 7 p.m. June 25; $15

Beyond that, the fall season is currently being booked, and while official announcements have yet to be made, there are a few hints out there online. Bluegrass goddess Missy Raines lists on her website an Oct. 7, 2010 date at the Clayton Center with fellow bluegrass maestro Sam Bush.

The “Grand Opening Gala” for the newly constructed Clayton Center for the Arts on the Maryville College campus is little more than three weeks away, and the lineup for the evening’s festivities looks stellar.

The night before, country star Jo Dee Messina will perform; we’ll have an interview with her in the March 19 edition of The Daily Times Weekend entertainment section. The next night — Saturday, March 27 — is the grand opening. It begins at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $25. Here’s what’s in store:

“The Gala is an evening of entertainment highlighting East Tennessee artists and performers from a wide variety of genres,” according to a recent press release. “David Keith will emcee the event which will feature performances by Sen. Lamar Alexander on the “Alexander” Steinway piano, the Maryville College Concert Choir, the Orchestra at Maryville College, Appalachian Ballet Company, Delores Ziegler, John Wesley Wright, Will Tate & 6ix Mile Express, Pistol Creek Catch of the Day, David Dwyer, Bruce McKinnon, Dr. Robert Bonham, Jennifer Olander, John Cherry and many other Blount County and East Tennessee personalities.

To purchase tickets for this event, visit the Clayton Center Box Office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, call 981-8590, or visit the venue’s website and and click on the Grand Opening Gala icon on the main page.

If you’re a music fan interested in checking out the upcoming Big Ears Festival on March 26-28 but feel a little intimidated by artists you’ve never heard of and an atmosphere of creativity that you believe will make you feel like a Neanderthal, fear not.

First of all, there’s no reason to feel that way. Of course, Big Ears is geared toward fans in the know, the folks who can discuss artist-in-residence Terry Riley’s “In C” with all of the enthusiasm of Cold War-era scholars talking about East-West relations, but it’s not just for those people. It’s for anyone who loves music in general, as Big Ears organizers told us last year, and now you can prep yourself with a little know-before-you-go action.

Next week, organizers will hold a “Big Ears Listening Party and Happy Hour” from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at The Square Room, 4 Market Square in downtown Knoxville. It’s free to get in, and there will be a door prize giveaway of a pair of all-access “Inner Ear” passes. More importantly, it’s an informal listening party to share videos and songs by Big Ears performers with area residents.

“There’s a lot going on at Big Ears, so it’s a lot to absorb,” says AC Entertainment founder and president Ashley Capps in a press release. “We want people who are curious about the festival to get together and find out more.”

At the listening party, Capps will share stories, music and videos about the performing artists and will talk about special collaborations, surprise appearances and unique performances to take place over the course of the weekend; highlighting the “firsts” that will make Big Ears 2010 an unparalleled musical experience.

Also announced yesterday — addition to the Big Ears lineup, including Sufjan Stevens, Adrian Belew and more. Get the full skinny at the festival’s website, where you can browse the schedule, read about the performers and purchase tickets.

Friday is the big day — tickets go on sale for upcoming events at the almost-completed Clayton Center for the Arts, construction of which is wrapping up on the Maryville College campus.

Earlier this week, readers of The Daily Times got a glimpse of the new Steinway pianos in the recital hall; starting Friday, they can begin planning their social calendars around several of the events taking place at the center in the coming months. Those events include:

• Maryville High School Orchestra Valentine’s Day concert with special guest Mark Wagner: 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14. Tickets are $11 adults in advance/$14 at the door and $6 students.
• Jo Dee Messina: 8 p.m. Friday, March 26. Tickets are $36, $46 and $56.
• Grand opening gala: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 27. Tickets are $20.
• Contigula Brothers recital (benefit for the Adams Foundation, in the center’s Recital Hall): 2 p.m. Sunday, March 28. Tickets are $26 adults/$11 students.
• BANFF Film Festival: 2 p.m. Monday, March 29. Tickets are $10 advance/$12 day of screening.
• Delores Ziegler/John Wesley Wright vocal recital (in the Recital Hall): 8 p.m. Monday, March 29. Tickets are $15.
• Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys with Cherryholmes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29. Tickets are $24.50, $29.50 and $36.
• Ball in the House (five-man R&B vocal group): 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 30. Tickets are $20/$16 students/$11 Maryville College students
• “Our Town,” a production of the Maryville College Department of Theatre (in the center’s FLEX Theatre): Thursday, April 29 thru Sunday, May 2. $7/$5 Maryville College students
• Wood and Strings Puppet Theatre (in the FLEX Theatre): 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 14. $12 adults/$5 MC students

In addition, the Clayton Center for the Arts will serve as a local Tickets Unlimited outlet, allowing visitors to the box office to purchase tickets for most Tickets Unlimited events in the East Tennessee area. For more information, visit the center’s website, call the box office at 981-8590 or visit in person at 502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway in Maryville. The box office opens for business at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 5.

Heritage High School graduate and classical composer Jennifer Higdon is no stranger to The Grammy Awards.

We interviewed her back in 2005, when she was up for four of them; a 1981 graduate of Heritage High School and a native of Blount County, those nominations were for her March 2004 release, “Cityscape/Concerto for Orchestra,” performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She won in an engineering category, but Sunday night, she walked away with another — this time for Best Classical Contemporary Composition, for “Percussion Concerto,” performed by the London Philharmonic. You can see her among the list of Grammy nominees and winners here.

At Heritage, Higdon played drums and flute under band director Larry Hicks. After graduating from Heritage in 1981, Higdon attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She also completed coursework at the Curtis Institute and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she’s worked as a classical composer ever since. She’s come a long way from the hills of Blount County, but her old Tennessee hometown is never far from her mind.

“Absolutely, I think of Blount County a lot,” she told The Daily Times during that 2005 interview. “On ‘Concerto for Orchestra,’ there’s one movement that has a lot of drum stuff in it, and I actually put it in there as sort of a memory to the drum cadences we used to play at Heritage. I think Blount County is always with me. I actually think about my band friends when I’m standing backstage before a performance, because when I’m nervous, thinking about them and all of the good times we had helps me calm down.”

Check out Higdon on her own website, and read Knoxville Symphony Orchestra conductor Maestro Lucas Richman’s thoughts on Higdon here.

This just in from the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra offices:

Pops Series guest artist Michael Feinstein has accepted a role on Broadway’s “All About Me” and will not be able to make his Knoxville engagement on March 13, 2010.  Replacing Feinstein will be Steve Lippia, hailed by none other than Frank Sinatra’s own music director Vincent Falcone as “the best young singer I’ve heard in 25 years.”

That show takes place at 8 p.m. March 13 at the Civic Auditorium, 500 Howard Baker Jr. Ave. in downtown Knoxville. Tickets are $33-$87. Call the symphony at 291-3310 to purchase tickets, or visit the symphony’s website.

This just in from the fine folks over at AC Entertainment:

The lineup for BIG EARS 2010 continues to grow, with The National, Dirty Projectors, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Iva Bittova, Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, Tracy Silverman and Buke & Gass now announcing their participation in the groundbreaking weekend of music, art, and film.

They join an already extraordinary array of artists playing the second incarnation of the festival. Vampire Weekend, the Calder Quartet, 802 Tour (Nico Muhly / Doveman / Sam Amidon with Nadia Sirota), Joanna Newsom, St. Vincent, Andrew WK, The Ex, Gang Gang Dance, Clogs, The xx , Javelin, DJ/rupture (solo), DJ/rupture and Andy Moor, My Brightest Diamond, Gyan Riley and jj were announced in early December.

BIG EARS 2010 will also be celebrating the 75th birthday year of the legendary American minimalist composer, Terry Riley.  Riley is “Artist in Residence” at the festival and will be performing several concerts during the weekend.  The National’s Bryce Dessner is co-curating the weekend, with a number of surprise collaborations and presentations being planned.

The National –  With the much anticipated release of the follow up to their highly acclaimed record, Boxer, due this spring, the National will present their first performance of 2010 at Big Ears, debuting material from the new record and more.

Dirty Projectors – With one of the most acclaimed records of 2009, the dazzling Bitte Orca, the Dirty Projectors became renowned for their virtuosic live performances, ecstatic critical reviews and inventive collaborations with Bjork and David Byrne.

Bang on a Can All-Stars – This celebrated “classical” ensemble is really one part rock band, one part amplified chamber group.  The Bang on a Can All-Stars will form the nucleus of an all-star performance of Terry Riley’s legendary piece, In C, joined by a number of special guests.  Bang on a Can All-Stars will also perform Brian Eno’s celebrated Music for Airports at Big Ears and present a number of other works at the festival.

Tim Hecker – The music of this Canadian electronic artist (also known as Jetone) is described by the New York Times as, “foreboding, abstract pieces in which static and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow moving notes and chords, like fissures in the earth waiting to swallow them whole.”

Ben Frost – Icelandic experimental composer and colleague of the 802 tour, Big Ears will mark his first US performance since the release of, By the Throat, which received a rave review on Pitchfork last week.  “This is Arvo Part as arranged by Trent Reznor.” – Wire Magazine

Buke & Gass – Described as a “’two-man (wall of sound) band’- although one of them is a woman.” (the Deli Magazine).  Buke & Gass play bass, guitar, ukulele, kick drum, snare tambourine and sleigh bells… while singing at the same time.

Tracy Silverman – The “greatest living exponent of the electric violin” (BBC), Tracy Silverman has performed with a virtual “who’s who” of both the classical and pop music world.  He will be performing at Big Ears in one of Terry Riley’s groups.

Iva Bittová -  The virtuoso violinist and singer from Czechoslovakia is an amazing performer who moves freely through the worlds of classical music and improvisation.   “Iva Bittová is an extraordinary artist.  Raw and refined, passionate and contained, she has the soul of a gypsy, the voice of a troubadour, and the mind of a genius.”  – NPR/All Things Considered

Speaking of the Clayton Center for the Arts, here’s something extremely cool in the works: Singer-songwriter Mark Wagner will join the Maryville High School Orchestra on stage at the new facility for its annual Valentine’s Day concert.

We last wrote about Wagner, a Blount County native, back in October, when he returned to town for a CD release show for “Sun’s Gonna Rise,” his most recent album. As it turns out, Bill Robinson, director of the orchestra, got his hands on a copy of the record and loved it. (Wagner is a 2003 MHS graduate.) As a result, he’s invited Wagner and Ben Shive, producer of “Sun’s Gonna Rise,” to town for the Feb. 14 performance, which will feature seven songs off the album as performed by Wagner, Shive and the combined power of the orchestra.

The concert begins at 2 p.m.; tickets are $6 students/$11 adults in advance and $14 for all tickets the day of the performance. Check out the Clayton Center online for updates, and here’s a free .mp3 for your download pleasure:

“Something to Believe In,” by Mark Wagner: Right-click here (choose “Save Target As” or “Save Link As”)
Buy “Sun’s Gonna Rise,” the new album by Mark Wagner: Click here
Mark Wagner online: Click here

In case you missed it, we’re breaking down the conversations we had in last Friday’s edition of Weekend with various movers and shakers in the local entertainment scene to give you an idea of how entertainment in 2010 is shaping up. Today: The Clayton Center for the Arts, the brand new building on the Maryville College campus, and an interview with Marketing Director John Cherry.

Perhaps no other venue, organization or entertainment possibility holds more promise for Blount County in the new year than the Clayton Center for the Arts, set to open its doors this month after a long period of construction.

According to Marketing Director John Cherry, organizers and Maryville College officials plan to use the first few months of 2010 to showcase the facility’s grandeur, elegance and possibilities.

“I think in our first three or four months, the people of East Tennessee will see a very good sample of what they can expect in a full year season,” Cherry said. “We knew early on that the Clayton Center would not be able to be the single venue for a specific art form. There’s the Ryman (Auditorium, in Nashville) for country music and obviously famous museums for art. What we were looking to be was a place where no matter what your favorite art genre is, you can find a sample of it over the course of a season at the Arts Center.

“That’s why we have a children’s production and a high school orchestra production scheduled for February, and for our grand opening a choir performance, a big name in country music and the big gala with dance, music and theater. That’s why we have a piano concert scheduled for a Sunday and a film festival on a Monday. When you add all three art galleries that will have works on display when they open in late February or March, we hope to be a little bit to everyone, no matter what your favorite art form is.”

In planning one of the venue’s first public debuts, Cherry said, planners sought to book a name would resonate with local residents — and pay tribute to the region’s Appalachian legacy. Securing bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys for an April perfformance is a point of pride, he added.

“One of the first things we knew we had to get in the first couple of months was a bluegrass show,” Cherry said. “Appalachian music is unique to our area, and we have a tremendous number of bluegrass performers in Blount County and Tennessee. To get a good bluegrass show in the early months was one of our priorities.

“We also want to scratch the itch of all the art forms that we possibly can. That’s why we’re bringing in a puppet theater in May, an a cappella pop group after Ralph Stanley and a big name like (country star) Jo Dee Messina (performing March 26). But when I came on board in October, our executive director (Robert Hutchens) told us that we had to get something bluegrass.”

The $47.3 million fine arts complex consits of two separate buildings connected by an outdoor plaza. The main facility boasts a grand foyer with 40-foot ceilings, the 1,200-seat performance hall, a smaller theater for in-the-round shows and rehearsal and practice rooms. The secondary building holds community and student art galleries, classrooms and administrative offices. It will, Cherry said, be the centerpiece of the campus.

“We’re hoping, obviously, that the opening of this center will help Maryville College,” he said. “The Fine Arts Department — this is their home. They lost two buildings when construction began, the Fine Arts Building and Wilson Chapel, and now that they’re moving in, they all will be represented in this building on a daily basis. For perspective students to have these performance spaces belong to their curriculum is just phenomenal.

“There are very few colleges the size of Maryville College with 1,100 students that have this kind of facility for their arts departments. Sharing it with Jo Dee Messina, (vocal-pop group) Ball in the House and (the children’s musical) ‘Chasing George Washington’ is going to be a great opportunity for Maryville College arts students.”

Ticket prices for the new facility’s upcoming concerts have not been set, but organizers hope to keep many of them — especially for the Ralph Stanley performance — affordable to families on a modest budget. The center’s new website will go online Jan. 15, Cherry said, and individual ticket prices will be announced then.

“For concerts like Dr. Stanley and Jo Dee Messina, we’ll typically have three prices — seating in the orchestra pit, which can be raised, will be one price; the main part of the house will be another price; and then the corners of the house will be a third price,” Cherry said. “Much of it will depend on what it takes to bring the show to the stage, and of course the desires of the artists that some tickets be priced at a certain level. But we want people to see these performances without breaking their budgets.”

As for the rest of 2010, Cherry added, center organizers await plans for the 2010-11 academic year, which runs from September to May, before finalizing additional performance dates.

“The college organizations and departments will establish their performance dates during the month of January, so on Feb. 1, we’ll start to work in earnest on filling the rest of the performance calendar,” he said. “We have several genres we want to get in there, and we’ve identified a short list of what we’d like to go after — things like another bluegrass show or a Broadway style of performance. We’re hoping to announce the major elements of the 2010-11 season during the grand opening weekend.”