Ragtime pianist Ethan Uslan plays Sunday at St. Alban's. Listen to an audio interview below.

Ethan Uslan was trained as a classical pianist, but that all changed when he ran into ragtime.

“When I discovered the music of the 1920s, it didn’t really seem that old fashioned to me in comparison. In fact, I think it sounds pretty fresh and hip,” the Charlotte-based Mr. Uslan said the other day.

Listen to an audio interview and clips of Mr. Uslan below.

Mr. Uslan will be featured in the next Music @ St. Alban’s concert this Sunday, Feb. 5, when he plays a two-part program: a concert of syncopated music from the jazz age, followed by a live accompaniment to Buster Keaton’s 1924 silent film “Sherlock Junior.”

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Davidson College will host lectures on ethics, foreign policy and food, the college’s Gamut Dance Company will perform two shows and productions of “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Metamorphoses” will appear on the Duke Family Performance Hall stage in the coming weeks. Davidson’s February public events calendar also includes the 6th Annual Apocalypse Greek Step Show, a concert by fiddler Jon Singleton and a dedication of the solar panels installed on the Baker Sports Complex roof. Here’s the calendar: Read the full story

By BILL KISER
DavidsonNews.net

Alexis V-O performs her "melody driven indie pop" at Summit Coffee Friday night.

Area stages are where it’s happening this weekend, with a healthy list of theatrical and musical performances to choose from.   The Connie Company — the youth performance group of the Davidson Community Players — and the Davidson College Theatre Department offer “Sleeping Beauty” in seven shows on Friday-Sunday at the Cunningham Theatre Center’s Barber Theatre. Meanwwhile, Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius will open its run of the comedy “On The Verge” with shows Thursday through Sunday.  On Sunday, award-winning cellist Anna Wittstruck — the granddaughter of Davidson residents Bill and Mary Vinson — performs works by Beethoven, Mozart and Shostakovich in the Sloan Music Center’s Tyler-Tallman Hall at Davidson College. Read the full story

"Sleeping Beauty" will be on stage at Davidson College. That's Desiree Domo, who played Aurora in a 2007 production. (Davidson Community Players photo)

By BILL KISER
DavidsonNews.net

Award-winning cellist Anna Wittstruck, will perform at Davidson College on Sunday afternoon as part of the college’s 2012 Concert Series. Two movies with a message will be shown in Davidson this week – “Courageous” on Wednesday at Davidson United Methodist Church, and the documentary “Dreaming Nicaragua” on Sunday night at Davidson College Presbyterian Church.

On the stage, the Connie Company — the youth performance group of the Davidson Community Players — and the Davidson College Theatre Department will perform “Sleeping Beauty” this week, with seven shows spread over Friday-Sunday at the Cunningham Theatre Center’s Barber Theatre at Davidson College.

And for something a little more lighthearted, the Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius will open its run of the comedy “On The Verge” Thursday, with shows daily through Feb. 4. There’s also live music scheduled later this week at Summit Coffee and the Brickhouse Tavern, both in downtown Davidson.

These events — and more below — are in our day-by-day calendar at right. Also, at right on this page, see our movie show times listings for Our Town Cinemas. Read the full story

Anna Wittstruck

Davidson College Music Department invites the public to a Concert Series performance by cellist Anna Wittstruck on Sunday afternoon, January 29. The concert begins at 3 p.m. in Tyler-Tallman Hall of the Sloan Music Center.

Wittstruck will be accompanied by Davidson College pianist Cynthia Lawing in a performance of three works — 1.) Beethoven’s 7 Variations in E-flat Major on “Bei Mannern, welche Liebe fuhlen” from Die Zauberflote by Mozart for Cello and Piano (composed 1801) 2.) Poulenc’s Sonate pour violoncelle et piano, op. 143 (composed 1948), and 3.) Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, op. 40 (composed in 1934).

Ms. Wittstruck, a native of Asheville and granddaughter of Bill and Mary Vinson of Davidson, is currently completing a PhD in musicology at Stanford University. She has performed as a soloist with the Charlotte and Hendersonville Symphonies, and appeared as a soloist with the Stanford Philharmonia this past fall.

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North Meck Community Chorus's jazz ensemble, Left @ 25.

Interested in joining other singers for fun and performances? North Mecklenburg Community Chorus is getting ready for its spring choral session, with rehearsals beginning later this month. They’ll have an open house Sunday, Jan. 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Wedgewood North Clubhouse, 8925 Babbitt Way, Charlotte. Read the full story