By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
jonathan@wdnweb.com
Staff Writer
The Turnage Theater and the Beaufort County Arts Council are teaming up to offer a jointly-produced public program for the first time.
BCAC and the Turnage will present the April Verch Band at 8 p.m. Jan. 14 at the theater, located at 150 W. Main St., Washington.
Tickets cost $15 each and may be purchased at the Turnage box office.
“While BCAC has certainly worked with the Turnage on community projects and we have presented (shows) at the theater, I’m glad to finally have the opportunity to be a presenting partner with the Turnage, especially to present an artist as renowned as April Verch,” Joey Toler, executive director of the arts council, said in a news release.
The concert is intended to be the first in a monthly series at the Turnage, building up to BCAC’s annual Beaufort County Music Festival on April 16, the release reads.
“This is a communal effort,” Scotty Henley, executive director of the Turnage Theaters Foundation, said in an interview. “I saw it as an opportunity of having an artist that I really wanted to have here, but I also saw it as an opportunity to help Joey build interest for the … Music Festival.”
The concert will be followed by a 90-minute workshop at 10 a.m. Jan. 15 at the theater. The organizers are inviting musicians to take part in the session, which will afford “an overview of the different regional styles of Canadian fiddling.”
The workshop will be offered in cooperation with the Beaufort County Traditional Music Association. The workshop costs $15 with a concert ticket stub or $20 without a stub.
“Participants will learn to play at least one tune and will apply the bowing patterns and ornamentation techniques that correspond to regional fiddle styles,” according to the news release. “The workshop, while best suited to intermediate players, will also be instructional to a player at any level who wants to explore these topics. Tunes will be taught ‘by ear’ but players who learn in any style will be comfortable with this teaching style.”
In an interview, Toler said he wrote a grant application for three concerts leading into the Beaufort County Music Festival, including the Verch concert, but was unable to secure the grant.
He and Henley still wanted to book Verch, despite the lack of grant funding.
“We were able to negotiate on the price and got her in here anyway,” Toler said.
Asked whether this signals the start of a new partnership with the Turnage, Toler replied by saying, “I certainly hope so. Scotty and I have talked for a long time, we need to do some things together, and we just have not been able to find that right opportunity until this one fell in our lap.”
For more information, e-mail the arts council at beaufortcountyarts@embarqmail.com or call BCAC at 252-946-2504.
For ticket information, visit the Turnage website, www.turnagetheater.com, or call the box office at 252-975-1191.
The details:
BCAC/Turnage Theater present
The April Verch Band
8 p.m., Jan. 14
Turnage Theater, Washington
Tickets: $15
Call 252-975-1191