August 27 — “Breaking Away” with Dennis Quaid

September 24 — “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” with Humphrey Bogart

Celebrating 10 years of bringing classic films to Old Town Winchester, Magic Lantern Theatre remains a fixture of downtown cultural life providing a variety of film experiences for classic movie lovers in the Winchester area showing in out-door spaces in the city’s historic downtown. This can mean giving contemporary Oscar winners their Winchester big screen premieres; bringing neighbors together for outdoor family shows; partnering with other local community groups, and; supporting regional filmmakers and videographers.

Magic Lantern Theatre’s long-term objective is to seek the establishment of a permanent facility in Old Town Winchester.  The MLT is also seeking fundraisers who can help build MLT resources and capabilities through encouraging individual memberships, promoting local business support and assisting as possible in preparing grant applications — all contributing to achievement of the MLT’s objectives — the bringing of quality films to Winchester and enhancement of the historic downtown.

Place: Off Indian Alley, behind the Grace Lutheran Church, 26 W. Boscawen St., Winchester;

• Admission: $6.00 (MLT Members: $4.00);
• Bring your own chair;
• Popcorn/Soft Drinks Available;
• In case of rain, showing moves to Grace Lutheran Parish Hall;

For more info:  info@magiclanterntheater.org or 540/678-0963.

Date/Time: Last Saturday nights in July, August & September @ dusk

Address: Just off Indian Alley @ Boscawen Street, behind the Grace Lutheran Church, 26 W. Boscawen St., Winchester

Phone: 540/678-0963

Email: info@magiclanterntheater.org

More info: http://www.magiclanterntheater.org/

Recommended Parking: Nearest public parking is Boscawen Street meters and Braddock Street lots and Braddock autopark. Meter parking is FREE on Saturday nights, and covered autopark is $0.50 per hour maximum $4.00.

On the First Friday of every month, Old Town Winchester plays host to artists with special gallery events, muscians playing in restaurants and cafes, and many of our shops stay open late.

It is a great time to stroll our historic streets and a great place to meet new and favorite friends.

Every month is something a little different.

Sponsored by the Shenandoah Arts Council, Old Town Development Board, the Virginia Commission of the Arts, and all of the wonderful Old Town Winchester shops and restaurants.

Date/Time: Friday, February 4, 2011 from 6pm to 9pm

Address: In and around Old Town Winchester and its Loudoun Street Mall

More info: Dining Options: http://www.oldtownwinchesterva.com/business-directory/dining/

Recommended Parking: Parking Meters are FREE after 4pm on weekdays and all day on Saturday & Sunday. Plenty of available parking is conveniently located in 4 downtown autoparks.

Shenandoah Valley painter Dolores E. Sekel discovered a love for art after taking classes at LFCC. Sekel created realistic renderings in a multitude of media, including oil, watercolor, charcoal and pastel. Despite crippling arthritis and failing eyesight, Sekel found joy in painting flowers, meadows, portraits and other subjects. Sekel’s work has been exhibited extensively, including several one-person shows.

A resident of Strasburg, Sekel was born in Germany in 1927 and married her husband, George, in Ohio in 1954. They eventually moved to the Shenandoah Valley in 1978, when her husband retired from his work as a diplomat. Sekel served as a member of the Shenandoah Arts Council until her death in 2002. Her husband donated 140 of his wife’s works to the Foundation in her memory.

This free event is open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information about this event, please contact David Urso, executive director of the Foundation, at 540-868-4077 or durso@lfcc.edu.

On June 26, the original art work will be sold at the Old Town Event Center (time TBD).  For more information about the Artscape project, please contact Old Town Development at 722-7575.  For a list of contributing artists, artwork titles and sponsors, please click here.

Shenandoah Conservatory Dean Michael Stepniak has announced that Irish Pianist John O’Conor will join the conservatory’s faculty as distinguished artist-in-residence. The official announcement was made on Sunday, April 11, during the intermission of The World of Piano solo performance by O’Conor for the Performing Arts Live concert series at Shenandoah.

“I’m thrilled that John O’Conor is joining our faculty in this prestigious position and will be teaching here at Shenandoah,”Dean Stepniak shared. “Beyond being an exceptional artist, he is a true master-teacher. Consistently, he has mentored and helped young performers develop into world-class artists and engaged students with an approach that is equal parts vigor, care and keen insight.”

O’Conor is broadly recognized for his deep commitment to the development of young pianists. His students have won many international prizes, and he himself continues to serve on the juries of many of the world’s most prestigious international piano competitions. Among the competitions he has judged are Leeds, Moscow (Tchaikovsky), Vienna (Beethoven), Warsaw (Chopin), Tel Aviv (Rubinstein), Hamamatsu, Beijing, Shanghai, Munich, Bolzano (Busoni), Cologne, Vevay (Clara Haskil), Cleveland, Salt Lake City (Gina Bachauer), Sydney, Pretoria, London, College Park (William Kapell), Valencia (Jose Iturbi), Hilton Head and Seoul.

O'Conor has earned a worldwide reputation as a masterful interpreter of the Classic and early-Romantic repertoires. Following initial studies in his native Dublin, he studied in Vienna with the renowned pedagogue Dieter Weber, won First Prize at the Beethoven International Piano Competition in Vienna in 1973 and completed a special study of Beethoven with the legendary German pianist Wilhelm Kempff. Since then he has toured the world in recital and concerto appearances and makes regular visits to Europe, the USA, Japan, Korea and China.

“”I’m thrilled that John O’Conor is joining our faculty in this prestigious position and will be teaching here at Shenandoah” Dean of Shenandoah Conservatory, Michael Stepniak ”

As well as being a professor of piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, O’Conor gives masterclasses and lectures in many of the places he performs and in many of the major music institutions including Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music in New York, Harvard, Yale, Temple, Rutgers, the Hamamatsu Piano Academy in Japan, the National University of the Arts in Korea, the Australian National Academy and the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia, the Paris Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music in London. He has been a member of the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2006 and is a regular performer at the festival.

At Shenandoah, O’Conor joins a prestigious group of others in residence, including Artist-in-Residence Robert Shafer, String Quartet-in-Residence the Audubon Quartet, Executive-in-Residence William Brandt, Ambassador-in-Residence Jaime de Ojeda and Bishop-in-Residence Ray Chamberlain.

Shenandoah Conservatory, founded in 1875, is located in the historic Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Va., approximately 70 miles west of Washington, D.C. More than 700 students are enrolled in baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral curricula in the areas of music, theatre and dance. In addition to collegiate instruction, the Shenandoah Conservatory Arts Academy provides non-credit instruction for 1,700 students and includes performing ensembles for youth and adults. Shenandoah Conservatory is the oldest of six schools that comprise Shenandoah University, and has been an institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music since 1940. For more information, visit www.su.edu/conservatory.

via Shenandoah University

This year’s musical features 43 Clarke County High School and Johnson-Williams Middle School students on stage, in addition to 21 students in the pit orchestra and 8 on the stage crew. The musical is truly a community event: Teachers, parents, and students have been sewing costumes, painting the sets and getting ready for the show.

Showtimes will be March 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m. and March 21 at 2:30 p.m. at The Williams Community Auditorium at Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville. General Admission tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, and will be available at the Box Office 30 minutes before show time. If you plan to attend the Opening Night performance on 3/19, wear your 1950s best and join us for some great entertainment! For more information, contact Director Andy Kiser at 540-955-6160, x.102, or by email at kisera@clarke.k12.va.us