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MUSIC
River Rhapsodies
Chamber music by Arnold Schoenberg and Johannes Brahms are on the program for the Arkansas Symphony’s third 2025-26 River Rhapsodies concert, which it is titling “From Roots to Revolution,” 7 p.m. Feb. 3 and 2 p.m. Feb. 4 in the Susie and Charles Morgan Hall at the orchestra’s Stella Boyle Smith Music Center, 1101 E. Third St., in Little Rock’s East Village.
Geoffrey Robson and Katherine Williamson, violins; Tim Macduff, viola; and David Gerstein, cello, will play Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 1. And pianist Haeshin Shin joins the Rockefeller Quartet — Trisha McGovern Freeney and Linnea Brophy, violins; Katherine Reynolds, viola; and Jacob Wunsch, cello — for the Piano Quintet in f minor, op.34, by Brahms.
Sponsor for the series is Bank of America. Tickets are $30 (subject to change based on scarcity), $15 for students and/or military with a valid ID. Call (501) 666-1761, Ext. 1, or visit arkansassymphony.org.
Folk Center lineup
The Ozark Folk Center State Park, 1302 Park Ave., Mountain View, will host 17 concerts at its Ozark Highlands Theater, mid-April through late October. The schedule:
◼️ April 18: The Committee of 100 Presents Next Generation Concert (Folk Festival weekend)
◼️ April 23-25: Dulcimer Jamboree Workshops, Dulcimer Jamboree Concerts & Championship Contests
◼️ May 22-23: Homecoming Hootenanny
◼️ June 19-20: John Prine Folk Festival
◼️ July 18: The Committee of 100 Presents bluegrass mandolinist Sam Bush
◼️ Aug. 8: Arkansas Fiddle & Banjo Championships & Evening Concert
◼️ Aug. 21-22: Bluegrass & Fried Chicken Festival
◼️ Sept. 12: Stone Bank Presents The Pine Leaf Boys
◼️ Oct. 9-10: Stringband Music & Arts Festival
◼️ Oct. 24: The Committee of 100 Presents Next Generation Concert.
Season passes — $90, $45 for children 6-12 — include admission to 14 concerts (the John Prine Festival and Sam Bush shows have reserved seating and are not included) and unlimited visits to the center’s Craft Village. Visit OzarkFolkCenter.Ticketleap.com.
THEATER
‘Book Club Play’
TheatreSquared, 477 W. Spring St., Fayetteville, stages “The Book Club Play” by Karen Zacarías, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 15.
A woman’s cherished book club is thrown off balance when a documentary crew begins filming their meetings, capturing not only opinions about literature but long-held assumptions, unspoken tensions and surprising truths.
Tickets are $25-$71, $1 for SNAP benefit recipients and $15 for students and patrons under 30 through the theater’s Lights Up! For Access program, supported by the Walmart Foundation. Call (479) 777-7477 or visit theatre2.org/the-book-club-play.
Director Rebecca Rivas takes part in a pre-show Meet the Director session, 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Book Club Play Book Fair, a free, all-day literary celebration including author readings, question-and-answer sessions, book signings and vendors, takes place, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.
The theater will host a Book Club Trivia Night, 5 p.m. Feb. 12, celebrating books, authors and literary culture. (Teams or solo players are welcome.) And a Book Club Walk, 11 a.m. Feb. 15 starting in the TheatreSquared Commons, will combine audiobooks, conversation and a group walk along Fayetteville’s Lower Ramble trail.
ART
Submit student work
Feb. 8 is the deadline for Arkansas educators to submit their students’ artwork to the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts for the 65th Young Arkansas Artists exhibition, a statewide juried showcase for K-12 students, on display May 23-July 26 at the museum, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock.
The exhibition recognizes outstanding student work across media and grade levels, “providing a meaningful opportunity for students to exhibit their art in a museum setting,” according to a news release. The awards ceremony will take place May 23.
To be eligible, K–12 students must live in or attend a school in Arkansas and their artwork must have been completed within the 2025-26 school year. Submissions must be coordinated by teachers or schools. Submit entries through AMFA’s submission portal. Full submission guidelines, deadlines and educator resources are available at arkmfa.org.
AT THE PODIUM
1861 Arsenal Crisis
David Sesser, an associate professor of library science and director of Sims Memorial Library at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, La., will discuss the “Little Rock Arsenal Crisis of 1861,” 7 p.m. Tuesday at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. The program is in collaboration with the Civil War Roundtable of Arkansas. Admission is free. Call (501) 376-4602.
With the United States on the brink of civil war, a standoff between federal troops and secessionists followed the seizure, from soldiers of the U.S. Army by armed volunteer companies from around the state, of the federal arsenal building in what is now MacArthur Park. With Little Rock citizens caught in the middle, according to a museum news release, it almost resulted in the first shots of the Civil War taking place in Little Rock.
Sesser is a former acting library director, director of the Museum Studies Program and university historian at Henderson State University.
ETC.
Education symposium
The Black History Commission of Arkansas and the Arkansas State Archives host a symposium, “Shaping the Future of Education: Black Education Then and Now,” 9:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W. Ninth St., Little Rock.
Educator and researcher Matthew Caston will present “A New Theory of Learning: The Legacy of the 56,” focusing on the creation of Southland College by members of the 5th United States Colored Troops in Helena-West Helena.
Charles King, executive director for development at Southeast Arkansas College, will present “Free Education, Ain’t Free,” on the history of funding and administrative support for historically Black colleges and universities.
And Ralph Wilcox, National Register and Survey Coordinator/Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, will present “Rosenwald Schools: The Southern Educational Legacy of Philanthropic Julius Rosenwald,” examining the history of Rosenwald Schools.
Admission is free, but registration is required by Feb. 2, via eventbrite.com. Refreshments will be provided. Parking is available behind the museum.
AUDITIONS
Murry’s season
Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock, will hold group auditions at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday for the remainder of its 2026 season. Doors open at 6:15. Turn in a printed headshot and resume and receive an audition number; auditions can consist of a song and monologue not to exceed 90 seconds in total. Provide sheet music for the accompanist; a cappella singing will not be accepted. Audition material should be family friendly. Some auditioners will be asked to stay for a dance call. Callbacks will take place at the discretion of individual directors. Email murrysoffice@gmail.com to notify the theater if you’re planning to audition. A complete season schedule is available at murrysdp.com.
TICKETS
Feimster show added
Citing popular demand, Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St., has added a second performance for comedian, writer and actor Fortune Feimster, who will now do two sets, at 7 and 9:30 p.m. April 3. Tickets are $38.81-$199.81 (subject to change); a limited number of tickets also remain for the 7 p.m. performance. Call (479) 443-5600 or visit waltonartscenter.org.
Feimster, on her “Takin’ Care of Biscuits” tour, will also perform at 7 p.m. April 4 at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway. Tickets to that show are $40.35-$184.20. Visit Ticketmaster.com.