St. Luke's Festival of the Senses

03/29/2026

Concert today at St Luke’s at 3. See you there. Debi

08/07/2023

Festival of the Sense is pleased to announce the new 2023/2024 season. Starting Tuesday September 5, 2023 we are pleased to present "An Evening of Schubert" featuring A*O principals and Soprano Stephanie Smittle. The program will feature "The Trout Quintet" together with choral performance of the song "Die Forelle", the basis of the fourth movement of "The Trout Quintet". Coming Saturday November 18, 2023 will be a performance by the Turtle Creek Chorale. In December the Natural State Brass Band returns with their much loved holiday concert. This is just a few of the concerts planned for the season. Make plans to attend.

05/11/2023

My last public performance until August will be at The Oyster Bar this Saturday, May 13th, from 3pm-6pm!
Hope to see you there!

10/05/2022

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09/04/2022

Next Tuesday, September 6!

Festival of the Senses presents
'Violin Virtuosos' Concert
at St. Luke's in North Little Rock

The first concert in Festival of the Senses' eleventh full season of free
performing arts events will be presented at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 6,
at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 4106 JFK Boulevard, in North Little Rock.

"Violin Virtuosos" will feature A*O concertmaster and violinist Kiril Laskarov
and pianist Carl Anthony playing works composed for and dedicated to famous violinists,
including compositions by Fritz Kreisler, Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky, Jules Massenet, and
Johannes Brahms.

The concert will be livestreamed and available for viewing later at www.facebook.com/frcarey.
A reception will be held in the parish hall after the performance.

Festival of the Senses is a performing arts series created in 2011 by St. Luke's Episcopal
Church as a gift of the arts to the community to entertain, enlighten, and inspire. It is the only
year-long concert series of its kind in North Little Rock supporting the arts in central Arkansas,
showcasing the region's most distinguished and dedicated musicians and performing artists.
All Festival of the Senses events are free and open to the public, thanks to the generosity of
series sponsors, donors, audience members, and grants from the Arkansas Arts Council, an
agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The 2022-23 season will include seven concerts of classical, Americana, contemporary, and
popular music for strings, piano, voice, organ, brass, and a rock-and-roll band. A complete
list of the season's events is available on the St. Luke's website at
www.stlukeepiscopal.org.
Notes

09/04/2022

Festival of the Senses Announces 2022–23 Performing Arts Concerts

Festival of the Senses, North Little Rock’s only free year-long performing arts series featuring distinguished local and regional performers, returns for its eleventh season with a lineup of seven concerts ranging from classical, contemporary, Americana, vocal, and popular music to compositions and arrangements for violin, voice, piano, organ, brass, and a rock & roll band.

Sponsored by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 4106 JFK Boulevard in North Little Rock, as a gift of the arts to the community to entertain, enlighten, and inspire, the series is free and open to the public. All performances begin at 7:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary unless otherwise specified.

Concerts are livestreamed and available online afterward at www.facebook.com/frcarey. Most performances are followed by a reception in the parish hall with food and drink and the opportunity to meet the artists.

Tuesday, September 6 Violin Virtuosos
Kiril Laskarov, violin, and Carl Anthony, piano
These Arkansas Symphony Orchestra veterans will play a selection of dramatic classical pieces written for and dedicated to famous violinists.

Tuesday, October 4 Cliff & Susan: A World of Song
Cliff and Susan Erwin Prowse, singer/songwriters
This married duo has traveled the world performing an eclectic mix of country, blues, rock, pop, and oldies, including their own music plus a repertory of 1,000 songs, on piano, fiddle, and guitar.

Tuesday, November 8 European Travels
Weston Jennings, concert organist
Three centuries of music for the king of instruments spanning English, Italian, German, and Nordic traditions, including works by Bach, Elgar, Mendelssohn, and Zipoli.

Friday, December 16 Horns for the Holidays
The Natural State Brass Band
Traditional Christmas tunes and ethnic arrangements played by Little Rock’s 32-piece brass band under the baton of Nevada Mills with narration by Dave Woodman.

Tuesday, February 7 Stanzas & Serenades
Sarah Dailey, mezzo-soprano, and Hee-Kyung Juhn, piano
Song settings of poems by women writers and composers including Florence Price, Undine Smith Moore, Elizabeth Vercoe, and Melissa Dunphy.

Tuesday, March 14 Storytime for Strings & Brass
Andrew Irvin, violin; Ross Ahlhorn, trumpet; Kazuo Murakami, piano
Trios for brass and strings by contemporary American composers James Stephenson and Eric Ewazen, plus music by Eric Korngold, Jessie Montgomery, and John Williams.

Tuesday, May 9 Docs Rock!
The B Flats
Oldies and goodies from bygone decades by one of the capitol city’s favorite bands, composed of Little Rock doctors. We’ll dance!

Join us on Sundays @ 8am & 10:30am for worship, in person or @ St. Luke’s Episcopal Church YouTube Channel

01/15/2022

January 18 Festival of the Senses Concert
Postponed Due to Arkansas Covid Spike

The Tuesday, January 18, “Violin Virtuosos” performance by January 18 Festival of the Senses Concert
Postponed Due to Arkansas Covid Spike

The Tuesday, January 18, “Violin Virtuosos” performance by violinist Kiril Laskarov and pianist Carl Anthony sponsored by Festival of the Senses in North Little Rock has been cancelled for the present and postponed to a future date, according to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and organizer Nancy Crow.

“The record level of infections and hospitalizations in central Arkansas is a troubling development, and we feel that asking people to assemble in the present situation could be putting our audience and our performers at risk,” she said. “Hopefully we will be able to hold this performance at a later date when the health risk subsides.”

For more information, contact Nancy Crow at [email protected], 501.412.3865.

08/31/2021

Festival of the Senses Returns
with a Tenth Season of Free
Arts Events in North Little Rock

A series of eight live concerts by outstanding Arkansas artists will bring the joyful sounds of music and dance to North Little Rock again this fall when Festival of the Senses, the free performing arts series created in 2011 and sponsored by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, returns for its tenth season after a pandemic recess.

The 2021-22 program will be as follows:

Tuesday, September 7, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
On the High C’s: A Royal Serenade
Songs of Mozart, Faure', Strauss, Rossini, Bachelet, Dell’Acqua, Sarasate
Violinist Drew Irvin, Coloratura Soprano Keely Futterer, Pianist Tim Smith

Tuesday, November 16, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
Cheek to Cheek
Sister and brother piano duo Julie Cheek and John Cheek

Thursday, December 9, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
Tapping Out the Holidays
The dancers of Untapped Inc.

Tuesday, January 18, 2022, 7:00 p.m.
Violin Virtuosos
Music composed for and dedicated to famous violinists
Violinist Kiril Laskarov and pianist Carl Anthony

Thursday, February 17, 2022, 7:00 p.m.
Falling in Love
Valentines for bells by the Praeclara Ringers

Tuesday, March 15, 2022, 7:00 p.m.
Written by Women
Organ music celebrating International Women’s History Month
Organist Rees Roberts

Sunday, April 24, 2022, 6:00 p.m.
Caribe
Music of the Caribbean
The Episcopal Collegiate Steel Drum Band

Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 7:00 p.m.
South of the Border: The Other America
Music by South American composers
ARmusica: Violinist Andrew Irvin and pianist Julie Cheek

“We are guardedly optimistic about encouraging live attendance for our performances this fall, knowing our supporters will honor covid-19 protocols regarding masks and social distancing," says Festival of the Senses founder Nancy Crow. “We are also exploring opportunities for livestreaming and online access and will announce more about this later.”

This season marks the return and the tenth anniversary of Festival of the Senses, a performing arts series created by St. Luke's in 2011 as a gift of the arts to the community to entertain, enlighten, and inspire. It is the only year-long concert series of its kind in North Little Rock supporting the arts in central Arkansas, showcasing the region’s most distinguished and dedicated musicians and performing artists and their guests. All Festival of the Senses events are free and open to the public, thanks to the generosity of series sponsors, donors, audience members, and grants from the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is located on the edge of Park Hill at 4106 JFK Boulevard. Ongoing information about Festival of the Senses is posted on the church website at www.stlukeepiscopal.org. # # #

07/19/2020

Festival of the Senses in Suspension for Now

In April, we suspended our Festival of the Senses performing arts programs due to health issues posed by the pandemic in order to protect our patrons and our artists. For the time being, we see no reason to revoke that decision.

Thank you for your valued support over the years. We miss you, and we regret having to postpone our performances. We appreciate your understanding during these difficult times and look forward to the day when we can continue our gift of the arts to the community to entertain, enlighten, and inspire.

Meanwhile, stay safe, take precautions to protect your health, and take advantage of the many online and other media productions that are now safely bringing the arts into our homes.

When health experts say it's safe to gather again in person for social events, we will resume our programming and will let you know when conditions permit resumption of our live Festival of the Senses concerts.

Nancy Crow and the Festival of the Senses Board

05/03/2020

Wanted to thank all of you who participated in the last season. Patrons, donors, artists, you are all appreciated and make our concerts possible. This past season was a big success with a variety of performances. Our last event with dance performance had to be postponed because of pandemic, but will be rescheduled. We have already been getting next season together and hoping it works out for the performances. We will see all of you when we can get back together for some great music and fun. Stay safe.