Events, Venues, and Christmas Concerts!

Fall has been a busy season for Uptown Violins. We’ve enjoyed performing for so many wonderful venues! We wanted to highlight several of our favorites.

Dallas

Brittany, what was it like to perform with country artist Imaj?

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She is an amazing artist to work with along with her fabulous band. Her message is to share peace, love, and kindness with everyone, and her mission is to help people with mental illness. We performed with her on ABC at the American Airlines Center in Victory Park. We played her original song “A different kind of country.” We also performed several selections for FOX downtown, including “Santa Baby,” a cover of Patsy Klyne’s “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and a hilarious Imaj original comedy “Untrailer Trash” based on stuff her mom and grandma used to say.

The highlight was playing at the Texas State Fair, where we performed the Charlie Daniels Band cover “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” in which I was dubbed “Jenny” instead of “Johnny.”

Can you share more about your experience with Modern Luxury?

Modern Luxury is a phenomenal brand to work with for marketing luxury brands here in Dallas, as well as several other major cities. The AIA event was gorgeous and perfect for this time of year. It was held in a beautifully designed modern home with retractable glass walls. This made for a nice "open" concept of the living room that flowed into the outdoor patio. Everyone loved the old timey jazz pieces we played, as well as the fun pop selections.

Wichita

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Allison, what kind of music did you perform at Wichita’s Autumn and Art Festival?

This was a wonderful patrons’ event where they could sample food and drink from a variety of vendors, as well as admire the various art pieces. We had fun performing several pop songs and a little country.

Kansas City

Brittany, what event did you perform for at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art?

The Nelson-Atkins Art Museum kindly included us in their opening event of the Queen Nefertari: Eternal Egypt Exhibition. We performed a small combo with Rod on drums, Nick on guitar and myself on violin. We had a wonderful time showing the audience our different musical styles. Several people inquired about the electric violin, whose amplification allowed us to play with drums.

Central Illinois

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In Central Illinois, my students are busy performing holiday recitals. We enjoyed playing a Halloween Concert with the Blackwater String Ensemble Studios at Elmcroft of Wyndcrest.

Favorite Recent Wedding/Private Event Venues

• Dallas: Park Cities Presbyterian Church, Highland Park United Methodist Church, the Belo Mansion downtown, The Joule terrace, Brook Hollow Country Club, the Milestone in Aubrey, Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
• Wichita: Noah’s Event Venue, Fulton Valley Farm, Stonehill Barn, Eastminster Presbyterian Church
• Kansas City: Weston Red Barn Farm
• Central Illinois: Washington Park Botanical Gardens

Upcoming Christmas Events!
All events are open to the public unless otherwise noted.

Dallas

• NorthPark Mall, December 8th
• SMU Lessons and Carols, December 8th
• Dallas Theological Seminary Chapel, December 12th
• Shops at Clearfork Holiday Teas, December 14th
• Park Cities Presbyterian Church, December 15th
• Private events at The Joule, The Four Seasons Resort and Club, Belmont Senior Living Center

Wichita

• MESSIAH at Tabor College: November 24th
• Eastminster’s Christmas Cantata: December 8th and 9th

Kansas City

• Private event at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Central Illinois

• Trinity Lutheran Church of Springfield: Advent service: December 4
• First Presbyterian Church of Springfield (Aberham Lincoln’s Church): December 18
• Private event at Bickford Senior Living

Sleeping Beauty

On March 31, 2019 my daughter Annalise and I had the opportunity to see Tchaikovsky’s ballet Sleeping Beauty performed live by the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with the Alabama Ballet. They did a phenomenal job, and I especially enjoyed hearing a friend of mine play the beautiful violin solos as the concertmaster of the pit orchestra. This was also a special event for us because it was my daughter’s first time to see a ballet performed live, and she is obsessed with Disney’s 1959 film Sleeping Beauty.

The fairy tale has quite a rich history, beginning in the 14th century, and continuing into the 21st. During my graduate French studies, I had the opportunity to read 17th century French author Charles Perrault’s version of the fairy tale, which largely inspired Tchaikovsky’s 19th century work. Perrault told a wild tale of a king and queen who finally had their first child, a baby girl. They invited several fairy godmothers to the celebration of her birth, where they bestowed gifts on the princess. However, an old evil fairy, jealous that she had not been invited, cast a spell on the princess, saying that she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. Fortunately, the last fairy came to the aid of the princess, changing the curse from death to a hundred-year slumber that she could only awaken from by the kiss of a prince. Consequently, the princess did indeed prick her finger and slept for one hundred years, until a prince came to wake her and make her his bride. Perrault continues into a bizarre second half of the story, which was not included in the ballet. (As strange as it was, Perrault’s account was still a “more wholesome” version than the 14th century tale which inspired him!)

Tchaikovsky’s ballet and the 1959 Disney film share many similarities, including much of Tchaikovsky’s original music. Maleficent’s ominous leitmotif adequately injects fear into the best of us (and I’m afraid our little ones as well!) Like my daughter now, I grew up watching the film, which was my first introduction to Tchaikovsky’s music. My sisters and I particularly enjoyed dressing up as the three good fairies: Flora, Fauna, and Meriwether. Our favorite character was the blue fairy Meriwether, who plays the sarcastic, mischievous fairy who also casts the counter curse to Maleficent’s evil spell. In Tchaikovsky’s original, the blue fairy gives the gift of mischief, whereas the lilac fairy casts the counter curse and continues as the force of good throughout the rest of the story.

In middle school, I had the opportunity to perform part of the ballet in orchestra, which was incredibly challenging as it was my first time to play “serious” orchestral music. It certainly was not an easy debut, but it deepened my love for the tale and the epic music of the composer.

This mysterious fairy tale still captures the attention of audiences today, with Disney’s 2014 dark fantasy Maleficent and its upcoming sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil set to release in October, 2019. However, I will always have an affinity for the original Disney classic that first helped me fall in love with the story.