Art Gallery

By Kevin Lee Associate Editor

Chance for young locals to shine

Mobile Youth Symphony Auditions

Where: Larkins Music Center, Downtown Dauphin st.

When: Aug. 18 – 21

So, the kids took to music lessons with abandon and the cacophony of household practice has now reached a melodious stage. What’s the next step?

Why get them onstage with the other prodigies to flex their quarter notes, of course.

Auditions for the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra, a full symphony of middle school and high school age students, will be held August 18 – 21 at the Larkins Music Center, 257 Dauphin St. in downtown Mobile.

MSYO Concert tours take them to other Southern communities and beyond national borders with exchange programs.

Auditions are as follows: strings- Aug. 18; woodwinds – Aug. 19; brass- Aug. 20; percussion – Aug. 21.

For more information, call Sarah Wright at 432-2062 or e-mail sarah@mobilesymphony.org.

Contest exhibit winds down

Locals are fond of proclaiming the value placed on our estuaries and waterways despite the threat continual human encroachment poses for these areas. Some seek to capture this world through a lens in order to share with others.

The Weeks Bay Foundation hosts a photography contest to highlight the best of these attempts. The competition features three categories-flora, fauna and open habitat – in both junior and adult divisions. The winning work will be on display through July 31 at the Eastern Shore Art Center (401 Oak St.) in Fairhope.

Art Center hours are Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

For more info, call 928-2228 or go to www.easternshoreartcenter.com.

Annual Fest at the city’s heart

Gulf Coast Ethnic & Heritage Jazz Festival

When:Aug. 2 – 4

Where: Various locations around town

Aug. 3, afternoon concert in Bienville Square

Aug. 4, evening jam session @ Gulf City Lodge

Since 1998, The Gulf Coast Ethnic & Heritage Jazz Festival has lightened the “dog days” of Mobile summer with their annual educational and entertainment slate. On schedule, the refreshment has arrived again.

As usual, the four-day event kicks off with an evening of poetry at the Alabama School of Math & Science on Dauphin Street in Midtown on Thursday, Aug. 2 at 6:30 p.m.

A jazz workshop begins at 10 a.m. the next day at the same locale.

Saturday plays host to a day of music under the oaks in Bienville Square with a variety of jazz bands. Locals like the E. B. Coleman Orchestra will join guest artists Jaspects, The Silver Wings Jazz Combo and New Orleans’ Trombone Shorty. The free concert begins at 4 p.m. and continues into the evening.

Weather can be erratic but never enough to deter. Be prepared for heat or mild rain.

Sunday’s closing day finds the customary jam session at downtown’s Gulf City Lodge. The jam session begins at 6 p.m. and have a earned a reputation in thepast for being interesting affairsthat turn out odd combos and uniqie sounds.

For more info, go to www.gcehjazzfest.com.

Kevin Lee is Lagniappe associate editor. Contact him at klee@lagniappemobile.com.

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