TRAHC Presents The Muses: Broadway Cabaret

August 31, 2023

The Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council’s 2024 Adult Juried Exhibition featured more than 100 accepted pieces of art from both local and national artists. The pieces on display range in medium, including painting, embroidery, photography, drawing, sculpture and printmaking among others.

Dr. Trina Harlow, juror, specifically sought out technique, composition, skill, craftsmanship and story in the pieces she selected.

“As I juried this exhibition, I sat and studied the entries and tried to step into the story the artist was telling OR my visual processing imagined the story that I thought was told by each piece of art. There were hints of family members, memories of childhood, awakened and remembered history, flora and fauna, naturescapes, emotion, the supernatural, landscapes and cityscapes, seasons of life and time, scenes of patience and thought and pausing in moments of time, representative and non-representative art, and outstanding creative expression from new and experienced artists,” Dr. Harlow said in her Juror Statement.

“It gives artists a place to show, and for a lot of the local artists, it’s the first venue into professional exhibition. That’s a really important thing for them. For the people of Texarkana, it gives them a chance to see art from all around the country and sometimes from other countries,
right here,” said Kay Thomas, interim director of visual arts.

The Texarkana Regional Arts & Humanities Council will bring The Muses and their fall opera cabaret, “Broken Standards,” to the Regional Arts Center’s Cabe Hall on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. The 90-minute concert will feature a unique blend of early Western European music paired with early 20th Century American jazz standards.

The Muses Classical Troupe is led by internationally touring and resident professional vocalists, dancers and instrumentalists, who will share arrangements of early opera, art song, oratorio and sacred selections by Handel, Purcell and Bach, alongside American big band and jazz standards by Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Kurt Weill. These selections represent the origins of opera and early jazz.

“Opera and jazz are genres that have captivated audiences and evoked emotion since their beginnings,” said TRAHC Executive Director Jennifer Unger. “The Muses do an amazing job of presenting past classics in new and exciting ways that people of all ages can enjoy. The sound of their voices filling Cabe Hall is so captivating it gives you goosebumps.”

The Muses’ 30-person cast includes a mixed choral ensemble led by six professional soloists who are internationally touring artists, a dance trio, and a musical ensemble featuring piano, keyboard, violin, flute, trombone, clarinet and drums.

This performance is sponsored by the Patterson-Troike Foundation. Tickets are $35 for general admission; $20 for students with ID. For more information about this performance, contact the Texarkana Regional Arts & Humanities Council at 903-792-8681 or artsinfo@trahc.org.