What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/920204
JOHN JETER In 2016, John Jeter celebrated his 20th anniversary year with the Fort Smith Symphony, one he calls "a blast — but very tiring." In 2017, he announced a season that explains why his tenure as music director has elevated the orchestra to sold-out status and national renown. In 2018, the symphony will once again be recording for Naxos Records. This time, it will be the music of Arkansan Florence Price (1887-1953). Jeter points out that the concert, which takes place on May 12, before the recording sessions, will also be the first time Price's Symphony No. 4 in D Minor (1945) has "ever been performed, ever." The sheet music was copied from a handwritten manuscript in Special Collections at the University of Arkansas. He's also particularly excited about involving two regional bands in a performance on April 21. The Crumbs will perform "Fort Smith heritage songs" — "String 'Em Up," "Wave," "Horses One, Pistols Three" — and the Ben Miller Band will present its own unique "Ozark stomp" classics in a celebration of Fort Smith's bicentennial. "We're sort of the unofficial official concert for a year of stuff the city's doing," Jeter says. "And we'll perform a world premiere work — 'Good Night Fort Smith' — that is the official commissioned work for the anniversary. "One of the things I really like about the coming season is there's a tendency to think what's better is what's far away — from a big city, from a foreign country," Jeter goes on. "The grass is always greener if it's not from here. I've always loved bringing in international soloists, etc., but I really like featuring the regional bands and the whole concert celebrating a native Arkansan in May. I know a lot of orchestras in their own states don't do a lot of that, and they should." 40 WHAT'S UP! DECEMBER 31, 2017-JANUARY 6, 2018 2018 People Continued From Page 39 John Jeter Samuel Lopez SAMUEL LOPEZ Springdale's Samuel Lopez has been expressing himself through various artistic mediums since he was a child. He says growing up in an artistic family facilitated that, and, by the time he was a teenager, he was well-versed in visual and musical arts and was a prolific writer. He was also energetic about giving others the opportunity to create and present art to the Springdale community, and, at the tender age of 17, he created Stitches — a group that seeks to provide "a conscious development of our youth through service projects and all mediums of art." "'Stitches' is a community of entrepreneurs — artistic young people with a passion for their community and helping to improve it," says Lopez. "We're trying to help others understand our culture through art and have fun while doing it." The group currently has a home on Emma Avenue in downtown Springdale at "The Station," thanks to Stitches supporter Mike Gilbert and The Jones Trust, which facilitated the move for the group. But it's not just about creating art for Lopez — it's about communicating with his community and making positive changes through that communication. In 2017, Lopez expanded his reach when he got involved with the Latinx Youth Theatre Project, a collaboration between University of Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas Community College faculty members and Springdale youth. Though Lopez had been involved in many art forms over the years, theater was still uncharted territory. "David Jolliffe was speaking during a panel for EngageNWA about the opportunity to get a group of high school students and young college students to write a theater piece," says Lopez. "It sounded like a chance to bring together people and really bring out a story to the community. When the opportunity presents itself to do something you're not comfortable with, something for the community, you should take it." Latinx presented its first production, "Follow Me @ TioSam," after a months-long period of workshopping and collaboration. The script follows the ups and downs of a Latino artist facing discrimination in his community and familial hardships. The story was drawn from the personal stories of Lopez and the other young Latinx artists who participated in the project. The play was performed at Crystal Bridges, Arts Center of the Ozarks, Northwest Arkansas Community College — as well as Northwest Arkansas' professional theater, TheatreSquared, during its New Play Festival. It was an impressive debut for the young company. "I loved it," says Lopez of his first experience in theater. "I don't get nervous — I get a little butterfly sensation, but it feels good. Being able to be a part of a group and telling our story through theater and writing — I've seen the impact it has. I would love to continue with it. "We're in development for a new play that will be performed in April," continues Lopez. "We have plans to go to Chicago this summer. Little by little, things keep popping up." Lopez also contributes to "Outta City Limits," a podcast created by his close friend, Manny Velasco, and stays active in other ways, outside of the arts. "I do peace marches, anything that gathers people together," he says. "I'm planning on doing everything in my lifetime I can to make things go well. The best outcome is to have a change in not just my life but to change people's lives for the better in the community. "We all have a story to tell. We're all human. Those are the stories I can help convey." —BECCA MARTIN-BROWN LARA JO HIGHTOWER JOCELYN MURPHY