Magazine April 2016 23www.artsmagazine.info

As part of her national book tour, Lee Smith reads from her new book “Dimestore: A Writer’s Life” Sunday, April 24 at 3 p.m. at Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church in Abing-don, Virginia. Her visit is part of the annual “Sunday with Friends” series, sponsored by the Friends of the Washington County Public Library.

Smith has firmly established herself as a preeminent voice of the South and beyond

consists of advanced workshops designed to further expand youth’s knowledge in various art forms and movements. $25. Classes are held at the Renaissance Center, Kingsport, Tenn. 423-392-8420, www.kingsportarts.org

• APRIL 12-30: The Barter Players present “My Imaginary Pirate” at Stage II, Abingdon, Va. Jesse McCall has moved to a new town and is having trouble making friends at school. But Jesse isn’t lonely; he’s too busy going on adventures with his imaginary pirate, the Terrible One-Eyed Jack. Jesse and One-Eyed Jack are determined to find the buried treasure, but run into all sorts of obstacles on the way. Everything works out in the end, and Jesse comes to realize that friendship is the greatest treasure. 276-628-3991, www.bartertheatre.com

• APRIL 16: The Glade Spring branch library shows “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” as part of its Kids and Family Movie Series at 11 a.m. A collection of animated shorts based on the stories and characters by A. A. Milne, it stars Sebastian Cabot, Junius Matthews and Barbara Luddy. 276-429-5626, www.wcpl.net

Dalí Quartet fuses classical repertoire with Caribbean soulIn homage to eccentric Spanish artist

Salvador Dalí, the Dalí Quartet fuses Latin American idioms and classical string quartet traditions to form a unique concert experi-ence.

Dalí Quartet musicians received train-ing from world-renowned artists and from the Venezuelan social and music education movement El Sistema and the youth orches-tras El Sistema created. Their concerts blend these two styles to bring a “Caribbean soul” to classical/romantic music traditions.

The Dalí Quartet is “a remarkable ensemble,” says Edward Reichel in Salt Lake Magazine. “It’s a true crossover group in the best sense of the word. Made up entirely of Hispanic musicians who are proud of their roots, they bring together the best music by Latin American and European composers. The result is a rare treat for everyone.”

Mary B. Martin School of the Arts pres-ents the Dalí Quartet Friday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church, Johnson City, for what the group promises will be “an extraordinary concert experience that takes listeners on an eclectic journey of rhythm and sound.”

“I think it is important to bring in artists that are bridging different styles of music, incorporating different sounds into their repertoire,” says Anita DeAngelis, director of events at Mary B. Martin School of the Arts at ETSU.

The evening’s program takes audiences from Venezuela, for Efraín Amaya’s “An-gelica,” to Austria for a Mozart string quartet, then back to Brazil, Spain, Venezuela, Argentina and Cuba for works by Villa-Lobos, Turina, Plaza, Gardel and D’Rivera, respec-tively.

The Dalí Quartet serves as Quartet in Residence for the Arts and Community Network where they host the Dalí Quartet Chamber Music Camp and Festival. A large part of the ensemble’s mission is engaging with the community, especially young people. They frequently hold events and concerts for K-12 students with interactive elements and concerts for the entire family.

The outreach for Dalí Quartet’s Johnson City visit involves local music program, the Academy of Strings, directed by Tim and Kim Barrett. “We always have a great time when

Lee Smith speaks in Abingdonthrough her award-winning and critically-acclaimed fiction during the past 45 years. Now, in her very first work of nonfiction, “Dimestore: A Writer’s Life,” Smith looks inward to tell her own heartwarming story, from growing up in Grundy, Virginia, her inspiration and friendship with Lou Crabtree from Abingdon, to becoming a writer and raising her own family in North Carolina.

“I always knew I wanted to set down some thoughts and reminiscences based around these themes – about place, memory and writing – but this project got a real kick-start recently when the entire town of Grundy was demolished as part of a flood-control project,” explains Smith. “Only last August, the house I grew up in was bulldozed too.”

Smith began writing stories at the age of 9 and selling them for a nickel apiece. Since then, she has written 17 works of fiction, including “Fair and Tender Ladies”, “Oral History” and most recently, “Guests on Earth.” She has received numerous awards, including the North Carolina Award for Literature and an Academy Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina, with her husband, the writer Hal Crowther.

The event is free of charge, and every-one is welcome. Book sales, signings and a reception follow the event.

As part of King University’s commemo-ration of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Professor Ralph Cohen speaks on the performance of Shakespeare’s plays. Co-sponsored by the Arts Alliance Mountain Empire and Bristol Public Library, this lecture takes place Tuesday, April 12 at 7 p.m. in the Kegley Room at the Bristol Public Library in downtown Bristol, Va.

Cohen has achieved international recog-nition for his work in Shakespearean perfor-mance. In 2008, he, along with Jim Warren co-founder of the ASC, were recognized by the Commonwealth Governor’s Arts Award. In 2013, the Folger Shakespeare Library granted him the Shakespeare Steward Award for promoting the innovative teaching of Shakespeare in American classrooms.

Martin Dotterweich, King’s associate professor of history, says “Ralph Cohen had the bold vision to bring original staging of Shakespeare to Southern Appalachia, and we look forward to his reflections on the 400th anniversary of the death of the Bard.”

In 2014, Cohen became the first Ameri-can to receive Shakespeare’s Globe Theater’s most prestigious honor: the Sam Wanamaker Award.

Shakespearean scholar lectures at King

Dali Quartet

we partner with Academy of Strings,” DeAn-gelis says. “They influence so many children in our region.”

The quartet is also a resident ensemble of the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra in Philadelphia and just inaugurated a new library series for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. The group’s tour schedule includes engagements in Portland, Eugene, Philadelphia, Tulsa, Toronto, Des Moines, Iowa City and San Jose.

“The Dalí Quartet has a passion for music and a passion for people,” says Steven Tenenbom, violist with the Orion Quartet and faculty member at The Juilliard School of Music, Curtis Institute of Music. “They have delighted audiences and are inspiring the next generation to discover the joy and power of music.”

Tickets for the Dalí Quartet are $5 for students of all ages with ID, $15 for seniors 60 and over and $20 for general admission.

Lee Smith