Virginia Arts Festival to Present RHYTHM LIVE! at Harrison Opera House

Feel the heat! In this dazzling show, The Virginia Arts Festival's acclaimed student steel drum band the Rhythm Project All-Stars will perform with the Governor's School Dance and Instrumental Music Departments on Friday, February 23 at 7:30 pm at the Harrison Opera House.

High-energy Caribbean and West African music blend with electrifying choreography to tell the story of Trinidadian Steel Pan and calypso. Led by Rhythm Project Director Dave Longfellow and Associate Director Paul Munzenrider, the combination of narrations based on historical facts with color, movement, and sound makes for a memorable experience for all ages.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and can be purchased online at www.vafest.org, by phone at 757-282-2822 or by visiting the Virginia Arts Festival box office located at 440 Bank Street in Norfolk between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday.

For the students, this performance represents the culmination of months of hard work and dedication in their studies with the Rhythm Project All-Stars, a world percussion and dance ensemble that has earned international acclaim for their traditional accuracy and captivating performances.

Serving as the primary community engagement program of the Virginia Arts Festival, the Rhythm Project is dedicated to nurturing self-esteem and discipline through the rehearsal process and performance opportunities for all participants. The program is successful in bridging the gap between musicians and audience through creative and education performances that blend the cultures of West Africa and the Caribbean into a stream of rhythms, melodies, and motion.

In addition to the performance Friday night, media are welcome and encouraged to attend two student matinee performances made possible by WorldClass Education Programs at Virginia Arts Festival on Friday, February 23, 10:00 am - 11:00 am & 11:30 am - 12:30 pm.

Since 1997, the Virginia Arts Festival has transformed the cultural scene in southeastern Virginia, presenting great performers from around the world to local audiences and making this historic, recreation-rich region a cultural destination for visitors from across the United States and around the world. The Festival has presented numerous U.S. and regional premieres, and regularly commissions new works of music, dance, and theater from some of today's most influential composers, choreographers and playwrights. The Festival's arts education programs reach tens of thousands of area schoolchildren each year through student matinees, in-school performances, artists' residencies, master classes and demonstrations.