By: Todd Traub, contributing writer – Little Rock Soirée Pay cuts, rescheduling, deficits and uncertainty. It sounds like today’s headlines, but for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra it’s history. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to churn and disrupt lives everywhere, the ASO is a unified, thriving organization making plans for a virtual version of one of…

By: Scott Carter, Public Affairs and Creative Economy Advisor for the City of Little Rock When Stella Boyle Smith died at the age of 100 on July 9, 1994, she was well known for her love of music and philanthropy.  It is a lasting connection of her to a building in which she spent so many…

By: Kendall Carwile You see her name attached to our Masterworks series, but did you know that the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra wouldn’t exist without her? In 1923 Stella Boyle Smith’s love of music inspired her to start a musical group in the living room of her residence in Little Rock. That group went on to…

By: Kendall Carwile Katherine Williamson is in her seventh season with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, where she spent six seasons as an Arts Partner with the Rockefeller Quartet. She is now in her first season as Assistant Concertmaster and Director of the ASO String Academy. The Academy will have put violins and cellos in the…

By: Kendall Carwile How old were you when you started to play Viola? I was 12 years old when my middle school orchestra teacher convinced me to pick up the viola. When did you start playing with the ASO? This is my first season with the ASO! I’m delighted to be a part of this…

Guest Blog By: Dr. Linda Holzer, Pianist and Professor of Music, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Hometown Pride! Vienna has Haydn and Mozart; New York has George Gershwin and Aaron Copland; Little Rock has Florence Price and William Grant Still! AETN will re-broadcast two documentaries on the composers in October, to help prepare the…

Guest Blog: Mark Hagemeier: Dr. Ruth Marie Allen Concert Series at UAMS My name is Mark Hagemeier, and I serve as the Managing Associate General Counsel at UAMS.  I’ve held this role on this campus since 2008.  Twice each year, employees of UAMS and I are treated to free concerts performed by the Arkansas Symphony…

Rich Aucoin is a musician on tour, guest writing for the Arkansas Times as he cycles his way across his U.S. performance dates to raise money for Mental Health America and The Canadian Mental Health Association. This winter, I attended my first live-score performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with a chamber ensemble of New York’s Wordless Music…

By: Arkansas Archeological Society The ASO is excited to partner with The Arkansas Archeological Society for our upcoming concert, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark! The Arkansas Archeological Society was formed in 1960 for the purpose of uniting all persons interested in the archeology of Arkansas, for the recognition and preservation of our cultural heritage…

By: Geoffrey Robson Yesterday the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra (together with the Academy Orchestra) performed their first spring concert of 2018, to an almost full house at the Ponce de León Center in Hot Springs Village. They played with great passion and were celebrated with a standing ovation afterwards! The spring performance season will continue…