College of Fine Arts brings the holiday spirit with collection of events

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 2, 2024) — University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts students and faculty invite the campus and Lexington communities to help ring in the holidays as they celebrate in fun and creative ways.

Find holiday gifts Dec. 6 at SA/VS Open Studio

UK School of Art and Visual Studies’ (SA/VS) Open Studio returns for the holiday season, 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, in the SA/VS Building, 236 Bolivar St. in Lexington.

Open Studio is a free public event which gives Central Kentucky the opportunity to visit artists’ studios, buy one-of-a-kind gifts and celebrate the holidays.

The art studios of undergraduate and graduate students will be open to the public for this rare opportunity and the school’s Bolivar Art Gallery will be housing the annual Carey Ellis Juried Student Show, showcasing the best students’ work from all media in the school, as well graduating digital media design students. The juried competition awards many scholarships to student artists.

This year’s Carey Ellis juror is Travis Townsend. Townsend draws, builds, rebuilds, paints and tinkers upon wood and mixed media sculptures in his Lexington studio. His process-oriented works evolve from sketches and travel through many transformations before being cut apart, reassembled and reworked. Parts are often transplanted or recycled.

Open Studio highlights will include:

• custom tree ornaments; 
• pottery sale; 
• open art studios of BFA and MFA students;
• art sales; and 
• food.

The UK School of Art and Visual Studies, part of the College of Fine Arts, offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the fields of art studio, art history and visual studies, art education, curatorial studies and digital media design.

Collage: A Holiday Spectacular a community celebration, Dec. 7-8

UK Choirs will present its 27th annual “Collage: A Holiday Spectacular,” a time-honored Central Kentucky holiday tradition, Dec. 7-8, at the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall. 

The centerpiece of UK’s holiday season, “Collage” is a fast-paced and visually exciting concert featuring hundreds of celebrated vocalists and musicians from the UK School of Music and the Lexington Singers Children’s Choir. These beloved concerts of holiday favorites from close to home and around the globe will return to the Singletary stage this weekend.

“Collage” is presented by the UK Choirs under the direction of Jefferson Johnson, D.M.A., director of UK Choral Activities, and Lori Hetzel, D.M.A., associate director of UK Choral Activities and Elizabeth Wilson, D.M.A. The concerts showcase the department’s critically acclaimed student groups: UK Chorale; UK Choristers conducted by Wilson; UK Treble Choir; and UK Men’s Chorus, as well as the UK Choirs’ a cappella groups, the acoUstiKats, Paws and Listen and Blue Note. 

Along with the UK Choirs, this season’s concerts will feature performances by Professor Dieter Hennings Yeomans on guitar; UK Trombone Quartet led by Associate Professor Bradley Kerns; SaxCats led by Director of UK Jazz Studies Miles Osland; UK Blue Steel, a steel drum band led by Matt Geiger, D.M.A.; UK Holiday Clarinets led by Associate Professor Scott Wright, D.M.A.; and crowd favorite, the GrassCats, a bluegrass band led by Johnson. New this year is the UK Holiday Horn Ensemble led by Assistant Professor Melanie Kjellsen. Tenor soloist and UK alum Matthew Pearce will perform "O Holy Night,” and back for a second year is the Dixieland band led by Professor Emeritus Dick Domek.

In addition to showcasing UK Choirs and musicians at the UK School of Music, each year “Collage” features the rich talents of the Lexington arts community. UK will welcome back to the stage the Lexington Singers Children's Choir, conducted by UK Choirs alumns Daniel Wesley and Taylor Strickland. The programs will also include appearances by choirs from Frederick Douglass, East Jessamine and Lexington Catholic high schools. 

“Collage” will help the Bluegrass rejoice in the holiday spirit beginning 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8 (sold out), at the Singletary Center Concert Hall. A very limited number of tickets remain for these shows. Tickets are $44 for general admission and $21 for students (additional processing fees may apply online) and can be purchased at SingletaryCenter.com, by phone at 859-257-4929, or visiting the SCFA Ticket Office in person. 

‘Jazzy Christmas’ celebrates 20 swingin’ years

Warm up with hot jazz music at Singletary Center as UK Jazz Studies presents the Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors’ 20th “Jazzy Christmas.” The concert will begin 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, in the Singletary Center Recital Hall.

The Bluegrass Area Jazz Association (BAJA) is a nonprofit organization committed to the promotion of jazz education and the performance of jazz in the Bluegrass area. BAJA consists of community musicians and students from the UK School of Music’s Jazz Studies Program. BAJA has been performing since 2004 for the enjoyment of the community. 

 Tickets for “A Jazzy Christmas” are $14 for general admission and $7 for students. To purchase tickets, contact Singletary Center ticket office by phone at 859-257-4929, online at www.scfatickets.com or visit the venue in person. 

Celebrate the magic of the holiday season with two performances of Alltech’s Celebration of Song, Dec. 15 

The holidays are twice as nice this year as Alltech and the UK Opera Theatre present two performances of the annual Alltech Celebration of Song. Alltech’s 19th annual holiday concert is set for Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2:30 and 5 p.m. at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena. The program features popular Christmas music and traditional carols performed by the UK Opera Theatre, winners of the Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition and special guest singers. Nearly 40 singers will perform at the event, accompanied by a professional orchestra, and audience members will be invited to sing along during classic Christmas favorites. Doors open at 1:30 p.m.; parking and admission are free. Click here to learn more.