Category Archives: arts in context

Arts In Context features film by Chithra Jeyaram

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Chithra Jeyaram’s award winning short documentary titled Mijo (My Son) will be featured in an episode of Arts In Context airing on February 28th. The episode, Hold My Hand, follows Sharon Marroquin, an Award-winning dancer and choreographer whose life drastically changed when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In this episode of Arts In Context, Marroquín explores the relation between the choreographer and the dancer as she uses her art as an expression of her personal struggle.

Jeyaram’s film will be featured after the documentary on Marroquin. Mijo (My Son) is an immensely personal documentary about the relationship between a young mother who is a professional dancer and her 6-year old son, as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer.
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In the Studio: Arts In Context Miró Quartet 2/23

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The Miró Quartet, an internationally performing classical string quartet based in Austin, performs an all-Schubert program in KLRU’s historic Studio 6A. The performance will be part of an Arts In Context episode airing on March 28.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 23
Time: 7 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm)
Location: KLRU’s Studio 6A (map) 
RSVP: The event is free but an RSVP is required. RSVP now 

Hailed by the New York Times as possessing “explosive vigor and technical finesse”, the dynamic Miró Quartet, one of America’s highest-profile chamber groups enjoys its place at the top of the international chamber music scene. Now in its second decade, the quartet continues to captivate audiences and critics around the world with its startling intensity, fresh perspective, and mature approach.

The Miró Quartet is the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Texas Austin and its members – violinists Daniel Ching and William Fedkenheuer, violist John Largess, and cellist Joshua Gindele – are on the faculty of the Butler School of Music.

The Miró Quartet has released several recordings, most recently a disc featuring live performances of works by Dvorak and Kevin Puts. Other releases include the Op. 18 quartets of Beethoven on the Vanguard Classics label as well as a disc featuring music by George Crumb and Rued Langgaard for Bridge Records. The Miró Quartet’s recording of Crumb’s Black Angels received much international acclaim, including the French “Diapason d’Or”. The Miró Quartet is also featured on an Oxingale release entitled “Epilogue”, performing Mendelssohn’s final string quartet (Op. 80) and Schubert’s Quintet with celebrated cellist Matt Haimovitz.

Arts In Context Season 3 Party 10/25

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Celebrate Arts In Context with a season three kick-off party. The new season of the award-winning arts show begins on Oct. 25th with a documentary on Austin’s Mother Falcon. KLRU is hosting a party to celebrate the event!

Date: Thursday, October 25th
Time: 7 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm)
Location: KLRU’s Studio 6A (map)
RSVP: The event is free but RSVP is required. RSVP now

Arts In Context season three explores the process of creation through collaboration and the condition of living and working as an artist. By spotlighting visual arts, dance, music and culture, we hope to pique curiosity and inspire people to learn more about a subject, visit an exhibition, attend a performance or create and share something beautiful of their own and facilitate the dialogue between artists and audiences. Episodes air Thursdays at 7:30 pm on KLRU and are available everywhere on the PBS iPhone app and iPad app.

The new season begins airing on Oct. 25th with a documentary on the inspiring story of one of Austin’s beloved bands, Mother Falcon. Featuring performances and in-depth interviews, Arts in Context takes you inside the 21-member band’s journey from aspiring, high school musicians to the popular band they have become today, and the challenges they now face trying to break onto the national stage. Watch a preview of the Mother Falcon episode on klru.org/artsincontext.

Arts in Context: Fusebox Festival 2012

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Arts in Context: Fusebox Festival 2012 from KLRU-TV on Vimeo.

Thursday, September 27, Arts in Context explores some of Austin’s best contemporary and performance art featured in this year’s Fusebox Festival. Featured is Austin’s own Les RAV and composer Travis Weller, both showcasing unique local talent. Also featured is Jennifer Sherburn, a dancer and composer whose innovative style brings to the stage a non-traditional form of Austin art. Fusebox Festival features not only Austin’s best artists, but also showcases some of the most interesting national and international artists, like Singer/Songwriter Holcombe Waller (Portland), the electronic folk duo, Lulacruza (Colombia and Argentina), and choreographer David Zambrano’s (Venezuela).

Fusebox Festival is a space where artists and audiences can take risks, ask questions and explore ideas together, break rules and blur boundaries. The 2012 festival features a great mix of local and international talent performing theater, dance, and music.

Join KLRU Thursday, September 27 at 7:30 PM to catch Arts in Context’s Fusebox Festival episode!

KLRU Civic Summit: Arts in Context

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Video segments from the KLRU Civic Summit: Arts in Context are now posted.

Economic Impact of Austin’s Creative Sector from KLRU-TV on Vimeo.

Living & Working as an Artist in Austin, Texas from KLRU-TV on Vimeo.

The Future of Arts in Austin from KLRU-TV on Vimeo.

Why do you think we should fund the arts?

How do *you* keep creativity alive in Austin?

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There are countless ways to support Austin’s creative sector. Attending opening night at a theater, playing in a band, taking an improv class. Creativity is what makes Austin unique…so what do *you* do that keeps creativity alive?

Tell us how you keep creativity alive in Austin. Make a quick video and upload it to YouTube. Tag it “CivicSummitCreativity” and your comments may be used in our upcoming broadcast.

In the Studio: Civic Summit arts impact 8/22

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Join KLRU and other arts organizations as we explore the economic and cultural importance of the arts in Austin. Civic Summit: Arts in Context examines the economic impact of Austin’s creative sector, what it takes to live and work as an artist, and the future of arts in Austin.

Date: Wednesday, August 22
Time: 7 pm (doors at 6:30 pm)
Location: KLRU’s Studio 6A (map)
RSVP: event is free but RSVP is required. Please RSVP now

Leaders and art professionals representing a diverse range of Austin organizations will discuss the state of the arts in Austin. Hear perspectives from groups like Health Alliance for Austin Musicians and The Long Center for the Performing Arts, City of Austin  and learn about resources available for artists and plans for the future.

This Civic Summit taping will be broadcast on KLRU Thursday, August 23, at 7:30 pm. It will be available online after this date at klru.org/civicsummit

This is a co-production with Austin Creative Alliance.

Miró Quartet with Jorge Caballero in concert

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Can’t get enough classical music in your life?

KLRU will be rebroadcasting Arts In Context: Jorge Caballero on August 2 at 7 pm. The episode features Peruvian classical guitarist Caballero, along with the Miró Quartet and the Classical Guitar Orchestra, performing their Modest Mussorgsky’s masterpiece suite “Pictures At An Exhibition” entitled “Austin Pictures.”

Caballero is the youngest musician and only guitarist to win the Naumberg International Competition, an award comparable to the Pulitzer, but for musicians. The Miró Quartet are currently the Faculty String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Texas at Austin and one of America’s most important chamber music groups. The episode is an incredible showcase of impressive talent and musicianship and is not to be missed.

Jorge Caballero and the Miró Quartet will be performing perform live on Saturday, August 4th, at Dell Hall at The Long Center for the Performing Arts. They will reunite to perform a program of Mozart, Paganini, Bach, and Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Not only will you be captivated by the music, but the Alamo Drafthouse’s Beverage Manager, Bill Norris, will be concocting splendid cocktails – one for each member of the performing ensemble – in the Kodosky Lounge, beginning at 6 pm. The show begins at 7:30 pm. Tickets and more information can be found at the Austin Classical Guitar’s web site.

Texas music history explored on Arts In Context 7/26

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Texas music legends, including Will Sexton, Denny Freeman, Jimmie Vaughan and Billy F. Gibbons, talk about songwriter Bill Carter on KLRU’s Arts In Context.

Bill Carter and his wife Ruth Ellsworth have written some of the biggest hits by The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan. In addition to writing songs, Bill Carter & The Blame is a Texas supergroup with a rotating all-star lineup that has been performing Bill and Ruth’s songs for decades. Arts In Context combines Bill Carter & The Blame footage from a 2012 live performance in KLRU’s legendary Studio 6A with interviews of Bill, Ruth and a wide selection of the musicians and people they have worked with over the years.

Airing on KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, July 26 at 7:30 pm and July 29 at 1 pm, this episode features interviews with or appearances by Will Sexton, Denny Freeman, Dony Wynn, Johnny Depp, Jimmie Vaughan, Billy F. Gibbons, Chris Layton, Charlie Sexton, Cindy Cashdollar, Glover Gill, Andy Salmon, David Holt, Susan Antone, Wayne Nagel and Andy Langer.

The complete show will be available for viewing online at klru.org/artsincontext and through the PBS App after July 26th.

Community Screening: Arts In Context 8/7

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Join KLRU and the Austin Public Library for free screenings on the first Tuesday of the month at the Windsor Park Branch Library (5833 Westminster Dr). Screenings will start at 7 p.m. with a discussion to follow each of the films. The next screening will be Arts In Context: Producing Light on August 7th. These events are free and open to the public. The filmmaker will be in attendance at this screening.

Arts In Context spends a month with Ballet Austin, as Artistic Director Stephen Mills and company produce a re-staging of the acclaimed Light/ Holocaust and Humanity Project. With unprecedented access to the dancers and staff on and off the stage, Producer/ Director Karen Bernstein and Cinematographer Deborah Lewis provide a unique look into production for Mills’ harrowing work on survival amidst a climate of indifference and hate.