What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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be enjoyed by a wide variety of music lovers." The season wraps up on April 29 with Evoking Folklore, which begins with "Chokfi" (Rabbit) by Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, followed by traditional Spanish stories with Manuel de Falla's "Nights in the Gardens of Spain" featuring pianist Angela Cheng, and concluding with classic Americana evocations with Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3. Update "This has been a transformative year for SoNA," says Riley Nicholson, the orchestra's executive director. "At the beginning of the year, we undertook a thorough, thoughtful strategic planning process including getting feedback from our entire community — audience surveys, stakeholder interviews, board and staff surveys, and musician focus groups. This knowledge combined with fact that Northwest Arkansas is growing quickly, we know that there are many opportunities for increasing impact in our community. The outcome of these conversations resulted in a new vision for our orchestra: SoNA, he says, "will be recognized as a trailblazing orchestra as it: • Expands the possibilities of what an orchestra can be. • Changes lives by increasing interest and equity in the arts through outreach, education, collaboration and performance. • Creatively honors the past, present and future of our artform, fostering the highest levels of artistic expression. "In practice, this means programmatic additions and thoughtful reflections on how to fully represent all of Northwest Arkansas," Nicholson says. "In 2022, we doubled down on our SoNA Beyond programming, producing over 10 creative experiences from small pop-up concerts and experiences like our appearance at NWA Pride to large-scale collaborations with creative partners like Crystal Bridges. These concerts move us beyond the mainstage and out into the broader community centering inclusion, innovation, and accessibility — expanding the definition of what an orchestra can be! "We also thought deeply about how we can better cultivate the next generation of audiences, artists, and civic-minded leaders — so we've more than doubled our budget for education outreach including our SoNA Mentors program, orchestral concerts, and smaller education outreach experiences with local partners like the Fayetteville and Springdale public libraries. "Lastly, our mainstage is transformed too – with the announcement of a non- classical or "pops" concert in addition to programming that better reflects the past, present, and future of our artform. We are equally committed to classics, voices of today, as well as an inclusive retelling of what voices of the past and present should be celebrated." 38 What's up! January 1-7, 2023 Year-end Top 10 Expansion Continued From page 7 Pianist Angela Cheng