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THEATER
‘Simon & Garfunkel Story’
Ruckus Entertainment’s touring show “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” is onstage at 7 p.m. Friday at Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. The concert-style tribute show, with a full live band performing a set list of nearly 30 songs and using state-of-the-art video projection, photos and original film footage, covers the careers of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, from their beginnings as Tom & Jerry and their becoming one of the bestselling music groups of the ’60s, to their dramatic split in 1970, culminating with their “Concert in Central Park” reunion in 1981.
The show contains adult themes and mature content. It’s part of UCA’s Public Appearances series. Tickets are $34.50 to $57.50, $11.50 for students. Call (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012 or visit uca.edu/publicappearances.
MUSIC
‘Fiddle Time’
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Quapaw Quartet — Charlotte Crosmer and Meredith Maddox-Hicks, violins; Timothy MacDuff, viola; and Travis Scharer, cello — will play pieces “that (explore) the elements of American folk music, including old-time fiddle music, string bands and bluegrass,” according to the orchestra’s director of education and outreach, Beth Robison, in a sensory-friendly family concert titled “Fiddle Time,” 11 a.m. Saturday at the orchestra’s Stella Boyle Smith Music Center, 1101 E. Third St. in Little Rock’s East Village.
The program: “Fiddle Quartet” by Jeremy Crosmer; a medley of Irish jigs arranged by Charlotte Crosmer; Charlotte Crosmer’s arrangement of “Lonesome Moonlight Waltz” by Bill Monroe and the traditional song “Salt Creek”; an “Arkansas Traveler” singalong; and Matthew Naughtin’s arrangements of “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar and “Orange Blossom Special” by Ernest T. Rouse.
“The concert is designed to welcome audiences of all ages and abilities and to create an engaging, accessible introduction to live chamber music for families,” according to a news release. It’s adapted for individuals with autism, sensory sensitivities or other neurodivergent needs, with reduced sound levels — particularly for sudden or loud passages — softer stage and house lighting and a smaller audience size to create a less overwhelming environment. Audience members are welcome to move freely, stand, dance or step out as needed. Talking, vocalizing and the use of electronic devices as communication tools are permitted.
Additional features might include flexible seating options and opportunities for close-up, interactive experiences with instruments, supported by trained volunteers. The goal is to create a welcoming, non-judgmental space where families can enjoy music together in whatever way is most comfortable for them.
Tickets are $5. Call (501) 666-1761, Ext. 1, or visit arkansassymphony.org.
Piano recital
Pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown will play a solo recital under the auspices of the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock “that highlights his distinctive artistry as both an interpreter and creator,” according to a news release, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Center for Humanities & Arts Theater, the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock.
The program includes the Rondo Capriccioso in E major, op.14, by Felix Mendelssohn; the complete “Miroirs” by Maurice Ravel; Mazurka in a minor, op.17 No. 4, by Frédéric Chopin; “A Struggle Between Darkness and Light” by Samuel Adler; “El Salón México” by Aaron Copland; and Brown’s own “Breakup Etude for the Right Hand Alone,” “Pour Angeline” and “Four Lakes.”
A food-and-wine reception will follow. Tickets are $25, free for students of all ages as well as Easterseals clients and their caregivers. Visit chambermusicLR.com.
Spanish Winds
The Little Rock Winds focuses on Spanish music in a program titled “España!”, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. Mezzo-soprano JoAna Rusche sings Matthew Tommasini’s “Three Spanish Songs.” Also on the program: transcriptions of “Amparito Roca” by Jaime Texidor, “Capriccio Espagnole” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, “España” by Emmanuel Chabrier, “La Procession du Rocio” by Joaquín Turina and “España Cañí” by Pascual Marquina. Israel Getzov conducts.
Sponsors are Robert and Jo Ann McQuade; soloist sponsor is Chris Vanlandingham. Admission is $15, free for students. Visit lrwinds.org/tickets.
ART & EXHIBITS
Library exhibitions
The Central Arkansas Library System has two exhibits on display:
◼️ “From the Vault: A Survey of the CALS Art Collection,” marking Black History Month, through Feb. 28 in the Fifth Floor Gallery at the Main Library, 100 Rock St., Little Rock. The exhibition includes a recently donated portrait of Toni Morrison by Loni Harshaw and recent additions to the library’s art collection by Angela Davis Johnson, AJ Smith and Keivon Williams, plus works by Black artists Kevin Cole, Perrion Hurd and Louise Mandumbwa. The CALS Permanent Collection holds more than 1,000 works by artists working and living in Arkansas. Works from the collection by Black artists are also on display at branch libraries throughout the system. Main Library hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
◼️ Arkansas Women to Watch 2026: Words Become Matter,” up through April 18 in the Underground Gallery at the CALS Roberts Library, 401 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock.
The exhibition includes works by three nationally recognized Arkansas artists who use text and shape to make objects that carry words: K. Nelson Harper of Fort Smith, who specializes in combining traditional letterpress technology with new digital techniques; Acadia Kandora, a printmaker who “favors ’zines to explore the natural landscape and her relationship to it, as well as the intersection between the imaginary and the concrete,” according to a news release; and mail artist Rebecca Resinski, a classics professor at Hendrix College in Conway who publishes chapbooks and pamphlets under her imprint Cuckoo Grey.
Curator for the exhibition is Catherine Walworth, the Jackye and Curtis Finch Jr. Curator of Drawings at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, at the invitation of the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. One of the artists will be selected to represent Arkansas in a major exhibition of book art in 2027 at the national museum in Washington.
Roberts Library hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday. Visit robertslibrary.org/current-exhibitions.
Argenta art
“Waiting For It …,” paintings by Reginald Tyler, goes on display during Third Friday Art Walk, Friday at the Argenta Public Library, 420 Main St., North Little Rock. It remains up through March 13 during regular library hours, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Admission is free. Call (501) 687-1061 or visit NLRlibrary.org.
ETC.
Military Gear Show
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, hosts a Military Gear Show, 1-4 p.m. Sunday in the upstairs Arsenal Room, with local exhibitors displaying items from their collections, including military uniforms, helmets, weapons and other gear. Admission is free. Call (501) 376-4602.