Academy relaxes with barbecue, bourboun and beer fundraiser

Organizers of the Academy of Fine Arts annual Palates & Palettes fundraiser are going for a more laid back vibe this year.

“It’s been a little more formal in the past,” says chairwoman Lisa Hames. “I thought, ‘We need to mix it up a little bit.’ This year, it’s a relaxed theme.”

“A BBQ, Bourbon & Beer Bash” is set for 6 p.m. March 19.

The event, a fundraiser for the Academy, will feature barbecue-themed food from local restaurants like the Silver Pig, The Depot Grille, Blue Marlin Seafood, Bedford Avenue Meats and Benjamin’s, as well as beer tastings arranged by Waterstone Pizza’s Jefferson Street Brewery and a separate bourbon tasting. Full glasses of beer and wine will be sold separately.

The work of local artists, including Karen Bowden, Purnell Pettyjohn and the Cub Creek Potters, will also be on display.

Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by calling (434) 846-TIXX or visiting www.AcademyFineArts.com.

LC continues film series

Lynchburg College’s Sustainable Film Series, which started in February with a screening of “Food, Inc.,” examines food, energy and culture.

The series continues on March 17 with “Power of Community,” which shows how Cuban communities pulled together and thrived after the country’s economy tanked in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1990.

The rest of the schedule is as follows:

- March 31: “Coal Country,” a look at modern coal mining, with the stories of miners, coal company officials and the activists who are battling them.

- April 15: “Idiocracy,” a sci-fi comedy starring Luke Wilson as a dim man who, after participating in a government hibernation experiment, wakes up in the year 2025 to find a society so dumbed down by mass commercialism and mindless TV that he’s the smartest guy on the planet.

w April 28: “No Impact Man,” which follows Colin Beavan as he and his family go “off the grid,” attempting to live in New York City for a year with as little environmental impact as possible.

Each film begins at 6 p.m. in the Hopwood Auditorium, with a short discussion after.

65-voice choir to perform

Westminster Choir College’s 65-voice Schola Cantorum will perform at 7:30 p.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church on V.E.S. Road.

The choir, which is made up of second-year students from the internationally known music school, will present a program of a cappella works from the classical repertoire, including excerpts from Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms,” Faure’s “Requiem” and Moses Hogan’s arrangement of “Wade in the Water,” as well as works by Rutter and Mendelssohn.

James Jordan, senior conductor at Westminster, directs the group.

For more information about the free concert, call (434) 384-6231.

Local band hits The Ellington

Dragonfly will perform at this week’s Ellington Fridays, which runs from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets, available at the door, are $8. No children under 12 admitted, and those under 21 must be with a parent. A cash bar will be open.

Call (434) 845-2162 or visit www.theellington.org for more information.

Outer Banks band to perform in Lovingston

Molasses Creek, the home band of the Outer Banks island of Ocracoke, is playing a show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Rapunzel’s Coffee and Books in Lovingston. The group won the Prairie Home Companion band contest a few years ago and has been playing bi-weekly shows on the island ever since.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m., with a $5 donation to get in. Call (434) 263-6660 for more information.