October 5, 2010

 

Friday, Nov. 5

Bill Frisell's Beautiful Dreamers, 7:30 p.m. in UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Tickets are $45, $35, $25; $20 for student tickets. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. Grammy Award winner, virtuoso, bandleader and composer Frisell is known for collaborations with some of the most talented artists in the world. His improvisational performances mix rock, country, jazz and blues to create a mesmerizing evening of American music.

Monday, Nov. 8-Sunday, Nov. 14

Alys Stephens Center World on Stage Festival, six days of performances, demonstrations and discussions, some free, featuring living art, community mandala sand painting and performances by The Mystical Arts of Tibet, Poncho Sanchez & His Latin Jazz Orchestra, the ASC Kids' Club show "The Bollywood Experience" and the African Children's Choir at UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org.

Monday, Nov. 8

Opening Ceremony, the Mystical Arts of Tibet Mandala Sand Painting, 1 p.m. in UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. Free event. The Tibetan Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery will create a sand mandala. The creation of the mandala sand painting can be viewed by the public Nov. 8 until 6 p.m.; daily Nov. 9, 10 and 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Friday, Nov. 12, from 10 a.m. until the closing ceremony at 1 p.m. Viewers also can participate in the creation of a community mandala sand painting.

New event, date changed from Nov. 2:
Tuesday, Nov. 9

Lecture: "The Plague That Thunders," 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Free event. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. Inspired by the Alys Stephens Center's presentation of the African Children's Choir Sunday, Nov. 14. Michael Saag, M.D., director of UAB's Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), will talk about the center's ongoing work as well as its extensive efforts at the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia. The cutting edge research and treatment provided by CFAR impacts patients not only in Alabama and Zambia but throughout the world.

Tuesday, Nov. 9-Friday, Nov. 12

Tibetan Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery Sand Mandala creation, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, in UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. The creation of the mandala sand painting can be viewed by the public. Viewers also can participate in the creation of a community mandala sand painting. Free and open to the public.

Thursday Nov. 11

The Mystical Arts of Tibet perform "Sacred Music Sacred Dance," 7 p.m. in UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Tickets are $53, $43, $33; $20 student tickets, $15 kid-friendly tickets. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. Witness the famed monks from Tibet's Drepung Loseling Monastery as they perform traditional temple music and mystical masked dances. This Dalai Lama-endorsed performance will feature elaborate costumes, traditional horns, drums, bells and cymbals, and unique multi-phonic singing, where the monks simultaneously intone three notes of a chord.

Friday, Nov. 12

The Dish: "The Symbolism of the Sand Mandala," noon in UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. FREE event. Come early at 11 a.m. and enjoy lunch and socializing in the lobby followed by a lecture. Box lunches will be available for purchase. The Tibetan Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery will perform a closing ceremony for the mandala at 1 p.m., following the lecture. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org.

Friday, Nov. 12

Poncho Sanchez & His Latin Jazz Orchestra, 8 p.m., at UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Come early for a pre-show Jazz Chat at 6 p.m. and live music in the lobby at 7 p.m. Tickets are $61, $54, $39; $20 for student tickets. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. Percussionist and Grammy Award winner/nominee Sanchez performs Latin jazz, swing, bebop, salsa and more.

Saturday, Nov. 13

ASC Kids' Club presents "The Bollywood Experience," 10 and 11:30 a.m. in UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Tickets are $8 for kids, $10 for adults. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. Local dancer Parul Kapoor will take children on a magical journey, from classical Indian dance inspired by ancient texts to modern dance as seen in Bollywood films today. With traditional Indian dance costumes and music.

New event:
Sunday, Nov. 14

Lecture: "Landscapes of Ghana," 2 p.m., UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Free event. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. Kosi Avotri, M.D., will share historical background of challenging times facing the home countries of the children and families of the African Children's Choir. The Alys Stephens Center's ArtPlay Martin Hames Mentoring Program students will attend the performance as well as a pre-show discussion.

Sunday, Nov. 14

African Children's Choir presents "Journey of Hope," 3 p.m. in UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Tickets are $57, $47, $37; $15 for kids and $20 for students. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. For 23 years this choir, based in Kampala, Uganda, has changed the lives of Africa's most vulnerable children who come to the choir as orphans or from dire living conditions and emerge as performing artists, physicians and business leaders with a commitment to improve the lives of other children. Through glorious performances, the choir raises funds for school, housing and more.

Thursday, Nov. 18

Southern Circuit Film Screening: "Burning in the Sun," 7 p.m. in UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Tickets are $12. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org. Directed and produced by Cambria Matlow, "Burning in the Sun" is the story of a young man who starts a local business in Mali building and selling solar panels to rural customers, 99 percent of whom live without power. Southern Circuit is the nation's only regional tour of independent filmmakers, providing communities with an interactive way of experiencing independent film. Each filmmaker will be present for an individual screening of their movie and will participate in a Q&A with the audience afterward. Screenings will take place throughout the season. The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is a program of South Arts. This screening is supported in part by an award from National Endowment for the Arts.

About UAB's Alys Stephens Center

The Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, part of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is one of the Southeast's premier performing arts centers, hosting the best in international, national and local performance. Home to the UAB departments of theatre and music and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the ASC also presents its own season, bringing the world's best music, dance, theater, comedy and family entertainment to Alabama.