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The OneBand is getting back together for another group concert on Tuesday, 4/18/23, starting at 6:30pm! Come out for this free show where a group of amazing musicians get together for a big concert for the first time together! It's an amazing night of community fun, and we'll even have StrudelTeig on-site serving dinner! Come be unusually lovely with us and our friends at Charlotte is Creative!

OTO’s Pretty Girl Pop Up: Spring Edition is officially RESCHEDULED to Sunday, April 16th due to weather. We still want you to join us, so mark your calendar for April 16th! Our second pop up will be bigger and better, showcasing local, small businesses in the community. This outdoor market will feature craft beverages, sweet and savory treats, organic skincare, clothing, jewelry, home decor, books, candles and MORE. Interested in participating as a vendor? Reach out to us at pr@akasinfortmill.com!
Our Vendor List is Growing Daily!
Vendors Include:
* Styled by Si
* Mama's Gal
* Heavenly Scent Candle Co.
* The Sweetest Thing Bake Shop
* Toushea Skin Care
* The Charm Exchange
* Sweet Sticks
* Yaya's Natural Soap
* Ace Hygh Athleisure Clothing
* La' Posh Spa
* Ellerbe's Alterations & Boutique
* Classic Curlz
* Jack N Jill Shop
* Mary Kay Cosmetics
* Neicy's Place
* Denielle Designs
* Charmed by Tiayana
And More to Come!

My Breast Friend's Wedding is a women's fundraising event benefiting Go Jen Go, a local Charlotte non-profit directly supporting those in our area facing breast cancer. Wedding attire (any type) is encouraged, let's fill the room with brides on a mission to raise $10K for this local cause. Tickets and sponsorships available. Event includes raffle prizes donated by local businesses and restaurants, wedding cake, champagne, wedding favors, and more.

Charlotte Conservatory Theatre (Witch), the Queen City’s newest professional performing arts company, is pleased to announce that their second production, Selina Fillinger’s recent Broadway smash POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, will extend its run to Cain Center for the Arts from April 26-29. This will follow the production’s initial run at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Booth Playhouse from March 16-19. POTUS will be the first professional theatrical production staged at the Cain Arts Center.

Horrible bosses make life miserable in a variety of ways, but when the doofus in charge is the President of the United States, the stakes of maintaining workplace sanity are even higher. In Selina Fillinger’s savage, riotous POTUS, a group of unwitting heroines, ranging from the Chief of Staff to the mistress to the First Lady herself, must keep the toxic office culture of the White House from tipping into international disaster. Will they grab a little power for themselves in the process?

Directed by Stephen Kaliski with an all-star cast of Charlotte actors, POTUS skewers the proud American tradition of feckless male leadership while also hinting at a better way forward.

The recent Broadway premiere starred Vanessa Williams, Lea DeLaria, and Rachel Dratch. Critics called it “a delicious feminist farce” (Variety) and “a breath of fresh air on Broadway…The likelihood that you will laugh until your face hurts is one of near certainty.” (Entertainment Weekly). It closed in August 2022, making this Charlotte staging one of the first regional productions.

Join the Bleeding Disorders Foundation of North Carolina for the Family Festival & Walk for Bleeding Disorders, a FUNdraiser to benefit the Bleeding Disorders Foundation of North Carolina. Enjoy fun for the entire family, including face-painting, balloons, a photo booth, performances, music, and more, all while supporting the Bleeding Disorders Foundation of North Carolina, the only nonprofit organization in North Carolina that provides support for people affected by bleeding disorders in North Carolina. 100% of the money raised is used to support vital programs and services. We hope that you will join us!

Back by popular demand, Harlem-based Emmet Cohen Trio returns to Charlotte for a three-night JAZZ ROOM residency, with special guest Houston Pearson (Thursday) to continue the April Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) celebration.
Piano phenom, Emmet Cohen, returns to the JAZZ ROOM with his all-star trio and special guest, legendary saxophonist Houston Person (Thursday). Known for its range and uplifting dynamism, the trio represents Cohen’s “kaleidoscopic sense of musical narrative,” as noted in Downbeat Magazine. Expect to be treated to a master class in stylistic juxtapositions, including the melding of stride, blues, church, swing, bebop, free, and contemporary styles, resulting in the innovative sound of Jazz’s future.
Multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is one of his generation’s pivotal artistic figures. Downbeat praised the “nimble touch, measured stride and warm harmonic vocabulary” he employs to communicate with other musicians and audiences.
He has appeared in venues around the globe, from the Newport Jazz Festival, to the Washington DC Kennedy Center, to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. His leadership and collaboration with artists like Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, and Jimmy Heath have led to his 4-album landmark “Masters Legacy Series” among other noteworthy albums including his latest 2021 release “Future Stride”. During the 2020 lockdown, Cohen developed “Live From Emmet’s Place,” a series of weekly performances by his trio and special guests livestreamed from his New York.

Jazz legend Branford Marsalis comes to Charlotte for a one-time, special engagement featuring music from his 2003 album “Romare Bearden Revealed,” as well as a song written by Romare Bearden, and other jazz favorites. The concert is a collaboration between JazzArts Charlotte and The Mint Museum in coordination with the Mint’s exhibition Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations.

Greatly anticipated and well-attended local fine art and craft annual spring show with 25 juried fine art vendor artisans showing and selling jewelry, pottery, paintings, ceramics, metalwork, sculpture, printmaking, woodturning, stained glass, folk art and design and photography. All price points and variety of items await your shopping!

Join us for a day of singing, dancing, acting and crafting at one of Mini Camps at Matthews Playhouse for grades K-3 and 4-6th. These camps happen in conjunction with teacher workdays on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school calendar. Each camp will have themed activities with a theater focus.
March 27th - Sing!
This mini camp is for all our singers! Vocal warm-ups, music games, and specialist activities such as percussion, drama and acting, vocal technique, and more. Come with a song in your heart!
Cost: $80 per student9:00am to 3:00pmSections available for Grades K-3 & Grades 4-6

Join us for a day of singing, dancing, acting and crafting at one of Mini Camps at Matthews Playhouse for grades K-3 and 4-6th. These camps happen in conjunction with teacher workdays on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school calendar. Each camp will have themed activities with a theater focus.
January 25th - Toy Story
We're going to infinity and beyond here at our Toy Story camp! Come be a part of the team as Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and Bo-Peep go on this one day adventure. 
Cost: $80 per student9:00am to 3:00pmSections available for Grades K-3 & Grades 4-6​
Other One-Day Camps Coming Up:
February 20th - Seussical
We are celebrating the world of Dr. Seuss in this mini camp! Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat and all of your favorite Dr. Seuss characters spring to life onstage in a fantastical musical extravaganza. 
March 27th - Sing!
This mini camp is for all our singers! Vocal warm-ups, music games, and specialist activities such as percussion, drama and acting, vocal technique, and more. Come with a song in your heart!

Join us for a day of singing, dancing, acting and crafting at one of Mini Camps at Matthews Playhouse for grades K-3 and 4-6th. These camps happen in conjunction with teacher workdays on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school calendar. Each camp will have themed activities with a theater focus.
February 20th - Seussical
We are celebrating the world of Dr. Seuss in this mini camp! Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat and all of your favorite Dr. Seuss characters spring to life onstage in a fantastical musical extravaganza. 
Cost: $80 per student9:00am to 3:00pmSections available for Grades K-3 & Grades 4-6

“Oh, the thinks you can think” when Seussical, a musical comedy featuring Dr. Seuss’ most beloved characters, springs to life at Matthews Playhouse February 24 - March 5, 2023! Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat and many other iconic characters will ignite the imagination in this family-friendly production featuring a lively musical score by the Tony award-winning duo, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. The production will be directed by Matthews Playhouse Executive Director, Sarah Baumgardner.

Audiences of all ages will delight in this whimsical show that the LA Times calls “a bright, colorful and fantastical show geared for the young at heart”. Broadway World characterizes it as “a bit zany, tons of fun, and there's something for everyone”.

Seussical is recommended for children ages 4 and up. Performance times are available at www.matthewsplayhouse.com/seussical. Tickets range in price from $10-$19.

Happens on the following Dates:
Feb 24, 2023, 7:30pm to 8:30pm
Feb 25, 2023, 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Feb 26, 2023, 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Mar 3, 2023, 7:30pm to
Feb 3, 2023, 8:30pm
Mar 4, 2023, 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Mar 5, 2023, 2:00pm to 3:00pm

In partnership with Lowe's and Digi-Bridge, join us in creating a STEAM kit specially designed with the Men of Change exhibition in mind. This experience is perfect for sparking dialogue, creative and critical thinking in youth and families. The STEAM kits allow our families to create gadgets to take home along with a free copy of the Just Like Jesse Owens book, inspired by Man of Change Andrew Young. For ages 8+.

Wednesday Night Live, presented by Bank of America, includes free admission to the museums (Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, and the Mint Museum) from 5 to 9 p.m. every Wednesday, as well as live entertainment or programming at one of the five participating institutions each week. For more information about Wednesday Night Live and to view the current schedule, please visit www.wednesdaynightliveclt.com or follow them @WedNightLiveCLT on Facebook and Instagram.

This applied program offered to students in middle and high school who want to continue improving their individual skills within the context of a small jazz ensemble. The 12-week (2-3 hour) sessions provide students the opportunity to grow their individual skills within a supportive and relaxed ensemble environment, with a concentration on exploring jazz styles, standard repertoire, jazz improvisation, and history.
Students with at least one year experience are welcome! Financial aid and needs-based scholarships available.
Four skill levels are offered. Auditions are held, January 15 & 22, for placement at the appropriate skill level.

The ensembles bring students together from a variety of backgrounds and skill levels to create a fun and motivating applied learning experience. Workshop participants perform for community events, including an end-of-session public concert. The workshops are open to ALL instruments including vocals.
Thanks to program sponsors Charlotte Women’s Club and Akers Foundation.

The JazzArts Music Camp is an exciting one-week comprehensive music training program for rising middle and high school students ready to discover America’s original art form: JAZZ. Students will be immersed in an intensive jazz curriculum and have the opportunity to interact and play with other motivated young musicians from across the Charlotte region.
The JazzArts Music Camp experience includes: small combo performance, jazz improvisation, faculty concerts (each afternoon), jazz history and listening, jazz theory (basic to advanced), composition, master class instruction on bass, drums, guitar, piano, saxophone (all woodwinds), trombone and trumpet, and student jam sessions. All instruments are welcome, including vocals.
In addition, each summer, we are thrilled to bring in a renowned national jazz musician to spend a day one on one with students. There will be a culminating community concert performance on Friday evening, the last day of camp.
Need- and merit-based scholarships are available. Registration is open now through June 8 2023. For more information and to register, contact the JazzArts Charlotte at www.thejazzarts.org or call 704-334-3900.
Thanks to Akers Foundation, Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, North Carolina Arts Council, Arts & Science Council. Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Knight Foundation, South Arts, UNC Charlotte, the Infusion Fund, Ford Foundation, and Alice T Walton Foundation for their support of this program.

Our annual soup & chili competition, More Soup For You, returns on Sunday, January 22, 2023 at 1pm! Sign up and enter your best soup or chili to be judged by attendees, and the best soups win prizes! We're involving our friends at Second Harvest Food Bank this year, so please bring any canned foods or cash donations for them if you're able! This event is free to attend, and family-friendly!

"The Sleeping Woman Speaks: Memory and Voice of the Women of the Guazapa Volcano, El Salvador”
Cynthia Curtis, USCL Student

In 1932, a popular uprising in El Salvador against the military dictatorship left over 30,000 Indigenous people dead followed by decades of terrorization, ethnocide, war and structural violence. With the support of the PURE Research Award, an oral history project was initiated with 12 rural women from the community of San Antonio, in the former war zone of the Guazapa Volcano. Combining anthropology and archaeology, the project supports the women of San Antonio in their journey to reconnect with their Indigenous identity. This lecture is co-sponsored by the USCL Research Club.

To attend via Zoom, register via this link: http://bit.ly/3YfP2ZD

CONTEMPORARY EARLY NEW ORLEANS JAZZ
The JAZZ ROOM presents New Orleans Jazz like you’ve never heard it, from clarinet virtuoso Evan Christopher.
Evan Christopher combines virtuosity, immaculate taste, and enthusiasm with a commitment to exploring the full range of possibilities in the New Orleans clarinet tradition. His highly personal brand of “contemporary, early jazz” strives to extend the legacies of early Creole clarinetists such as Sidney Bechet, Barney Bigard and Omer Simeon. “A triumph, joining the present seamlessly to a glorious past.” -THE OBSERVER, UK.

Don Vappie, musician, composer, and educator, is the winner of the 2022 American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame, In the world of tenor banjo, few musical voices are as unique as Don Vappie. In addition, he has received awards for his contributions to the preservation of New Orleans Creole Culture through music and film. He has produced 7 of his own albums, co-produced and starred in a PBS documentary, performed as a featured artist with orchestras on movie and television soundtracks, and at concerts and festivals around the world. Vappie's highly regarded unique and original tenor banjo style is equal only to his love of his Creole heritage and tradition.

The JAZZ ROOM provides a casual and intimate setting with tables and a full bar, reminiscent of the classic jazz rooms of yesteryear.

JazzArts Charlotte welcomes Grammy-winning Clarinetist Evan Christopher, as we explore the flare of New Orleans jazz in a small group workshop setting. As a way to deepen the interaction of our national jazz performing artists with the local music community, JazzArts Charlotte welcomes student musicians from the Charlotte area and beyond to learn from this world-renowned jazz innovator.
This applied workshop is open to middle and high schooler musicians, with at least a year on your instrument. All instruments are welcome – you are invited to bring it along.
FREE. Registration required.
A frequent instructor at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz Academy, Evan Christopher constantly runs clinics, visits schools, and gives master classes and private lessons as he continues to be an outspoken advocate for the preservation of early New Orleans jazz. Christopher is a dedicated musician and scholar, and specializes in playing the Albert system clarinet which is not often heard outside authentic New Orleans music.
Thank you to the program sponsors and supporters, who each bring jazz alive in Charlotte: Infusion Fund, Knight Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, North Carolina Arts Council, Arts & Science Council, O’s Place Jazz, Ford Foundation, and Alice L Walton Foundation.

The Charlotte Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference is an event hosted and sponsored by UNC Charlotte’s School of Data Science and Lowe's, prior to our full-day Analytics Frontiers Conference. It will be held at the UNC Charlotte Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. The conference aims to inspire, educate, and engage current and future data scientists in the Carolinas, regardless of gender, and to support women in the field by providing training, networking, and mentoring opportunities. A career fair will also take place during lunch and the evening reception!