Posts Tagged ‘Touhill Performing Arts Center’
NoCo students featured at Big Band Festival
If you’re looking for a way to warm up a cold Tuesday, head to UMSL for some red hot jazz. On January 12, the Des Lee Big Band Jazz Festival will host a free concert at the Touhill’s Lee Theater, featuring some of the most talented student musicians in the area, including several from North County.
The Ritenour Central Middle School Jazz Band and St. Joseph’s of Cottleville Jazz Band will kick off the show, but the highlight will be a performance by the Des Lee High School Honors Jazz Ensemble, whose members include students from Hazelwood East, Ritenour and McCluer North.
The concert begins at 6:30pm, and you can expect to hear some true jazz classics: “Splanky” by Neal Hefti, “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” by Joe Zawinul, “Satin Doll” by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and “Blue Monk” by Thelonius Monk, among other songs. For more info, visit the Touhill’s website or call (314) 516-5980.
Anyone for Opera at the Touhill?
Guess what? North County is home to a stunning world-class, European-style opera house.
When the Touhill Performing Arts Center opened on the UMSL campus in 2003, many were aghast that it had been built in North County. Two years later, as the beautiful European-style opera house struggled to fill its 1,625 seats, UMSL’s student newspaper blamed it partially on the center’s location, saying “North County does not have a reputation as a hotbed of quality cultural programming.”
Left unsaid was that many of the Touhill’s core customers – affluent seniors from Kirkwood, Clayton and Ladue – were actually afraid to go there. I’m sure some still are.
But when you step back and deal in reality, not just perception, the truth is this: Crime rates in Grand Center, the “cultural hotbed” surrounding the Fox Theatre, are way higher than those on the UMSL campus or in the Touhill’s 63121 zip code.
It is perfectly safe to see a show at the Touhill. And quite enjoyable too. The place truly is breathtaking. So why don’t more people go there, especially those who live in North County?
I think it boils down to price and programming.
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