Chocolate Jazzed Café to present Kimo & Ryzen on Jan. 14

Enjoy a relaxing evening listening to live performances by local musicians while being surrounded in a world of art by over 40 local artists. During the performances, delight in chocolates & wine. Kimo & Ryzen will be the featured program at The Chocolate Jazzed Café in the City of the World gallery at Meadows Mall on Jan. 14.

Ryzen Williams is a Las Vegas-born artist made of coffee and creativity.

From the website:

I originally went to college to study business, as I am a huge accounting nerd. While I did enjoy it, I often found myself being drawn back to art. During that time, I started doodling mandalas and other pattern work after reading about how they can be used for meditation and stress relief. So when my education journey suddenly came to an end, I followed the call, shifting my focus to diving deeper into the healing properties of sacred geometry.

Art has been a very helpful tool to cope with social anxiety as well as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Painting allows me to maintain dexterity and release stress related to living with chronic pain. Outside of visual art, I am also a folk singer-songwriter. You can find me and my guitar playing at City of the World, on Instagram, on open mics, or at a park. I strive to inspire and help others heal through art and music.

City of the World, Inc. is an established 501(c)3 nonprofit community art gallery offering programs, workshops, and art for children serving the Valley since 1996.

Chocolate Jazzed Café will be at the City of the World Art Gallery at the Meadows Mall, 4300 Meadows Lane, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14. Tickets are $15 for members, $20 for the general public and students are free. The gallery is located on the first floor near Macy’s. For more info, call 702-523-5306 or visit cityoftheworldlasvegas.org.

Las Vegas Philharmonic Performs Bugs Bunny at the Symphony

The two concerts at The Smith Center is the first event to celebrate Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary in 2023

Written By Debbie Hall

Photo by Chris Lee, Courtesy of The New York Philharmonic

Bugs Bunny at the Symphony will be celebrated when the Las Vegas Philharmonic performs the classic Looney Tunes nostalgia at Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center on Jan. 7.

Emmy Award winner George Daugherty will be conducting, and along with his husband, Emmy Award winner David Ka Lik Wong, both created the program. Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, performed by major orchestras, has been touring the world since 1990. After living in Los Angeles and San Francisco, George and David now call Las Vegas home.

Looney Tunes, the animated series produced by Warner Bros., started in 1930 with its partner series, Merrie Melodies, through 1969. The two series introduced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester the Cat, the Tasmanian Devil (Taz), Tweety, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn, Granny, Lola Bunny, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, and Yosemite Sam.

Thousands of original cartoons were produced, including 16 iconic Looney Tunes focusing on music, including the symphony and opera. These 16 cartoons will be projected on the big screen, including What’s Opera, Doc?, The Rabbit of Seville, and Corny Concerto, while the Las Vegas Philharmonic will perform the original scores.

“I am thrilled to make our debut in the Entertainment Capital of the World, Las Vegas, with the fabulous Las Vegas Philharmonic, an orchestra that I admire. I am the biggest fan of the conductor and musical director Donato Cabrera,” explains George. “I think The Smith Center is one of the most extraordinary concert venues in the world.”

As a resident of Las Vegas, George loves the Strip, but he wants to spread the word that there is so much more to Southern Nevada. “This is a world-class city with a world-class orchestra, concert hall venue, Nevada Ballet Theatre, two opera companies, and museums.”

George has conducted over 250 American and international orchestras and earned a Primetime Emmy Award, five other Emmy nominations, and numerous other awards for his work in television and film. He has been a frequent guest conductor of The New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Danish National Symphony, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romand, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. George has conducted The Los Angeles Symphony at The Hollywood Bowl 22 times and the National Symphony 20 times at Wolf Trap. He has been a frequent guest conductor at the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Symphony Orchestra and with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in London. He has toured throughout the United Kingdom, plus the United States and Canada conducting A Royal Christmas for Dame Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, and the Royal Ballet.

A noted conductor of ballet and opera, he has conducted for American Ballet Theatre, Bavarian Staatsoper and Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Teatro Regio di Torino, and numerous other companies. He has been the music director of Ballet Chicago, Chicago City Ballet, Louisville Ballet, and Ballet San Jose. George and producing partner David received Primetime Emmys as executive producers of ABC’s animation-and-live action production of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, which George also directed, wrote, and conducted. He was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction. George and David were also executive producers and writers of the PBS/Sesame Workshop children’s series Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat. Both received Emmy nominations for “Rhythm & Jam,” their series of ABC network music education specials.

George Daugherty, David Ka Lik Wong, and IF/X Productions, in support of The Las Vegas Philharmonic, underwrote this concert. Warner Bros. Presents “Bugs Bunny at the Symphony” is a 125-minute show with one 20-minute intermission. The concert will perform in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 7. Tickets begin at $21 and are available at lvphil.org.

The Winchester Dondero Cultural Center Presents Las Vegas Camerata Orchestra

Enjoy A Latin Music Concert on April 30

Photo by Rob Simmons

The Las Vegas Camerata Orchestra is returning to the Winchester theater for a performance from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, at the Winchester Dondero Cultural Center, located at 3130 S. McLeod Drive, off Desert Inn Road. The concert will feature classical Latin music from multiple composers conducted by Oscar Carrescia. Admission is $10, and tickets are available online and at Winchester Dondero Cultural Center.

Founded in 1986, the Camerata Orchestra has a long history of welcoming guest performers. For this performance, the guest artists are Dmytro Nehrych, Won Na, Ryan Cardenas, Cheneyu Ren, Oleksiy Hamov, Donna Martinez, Omar Schelly Jeayoun Jo, Joshua Goldstone, and Trey Lawrence. Together they will perform masterpieces from Latin Composers, including Astor Piazzolla, Ariel Ramirez, Jose Bragato and Pablo de Sarasate. The Camerata Orchestra's musical stylings are both musically adept and wonderfully harmonious.

Born in Argentina, Oscar Carrescia first started playing the violin at the early age of nine. He was Concert Master of the Youth Symphony Orchestra for the National Radio Station, a distinguished orchestra conducted by Teodoro Fuchs. Oscar also joined the National Symphony Orchestra under Juan Jose Castro as the conductor and performed under great international conductors, including Igor Stravinsky.

Those interested may contact the Winchester Cultural Center at (702) 455-7340 or visit www.ClarkCountyNV.gov/parks. Clark County Parks and Recreation also can be found on social networking sites including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.