Arts & Entertainment
The Jackson Arts Council
The Jackson Arts Council, an umbrella organization for many of our arts groups, has the mission to promote the arts and make them accessible to the entire community. The arts council puts on an annual fund drive and acts as a clearinghouse for state and federal arts grants. Through its community grants program, the arts council has given more than $88,000 to 28 organizations in Jackson and Madison County. These grants have been responsible for 137 performances to more than 126,000 people.
One such event is the Shannon Street Blues Fest, an annual celebration of the blues that builds on Jackson's musical heritage while it draws in nationally known blues artists.
The arts council, which was voted No. 1 among councils its size by a statewide panel, also helps local arts groups in programming and marketing their events. An "Arts-in-Education" program brings artists and the arts into the schools. The arts council has been a major facilitator of the Ned R. McWherter West Tennessee Cultural Arts Center also known as "The Ned" after former Tennessee Gov. Ned R. McWherter. With a 400-seat modern theater, gallery, workshop and office space, the center will be an entertainment attraction for years to come.
Some of the many arts groups in Jackson include:
- Ballet Arts, whose annual Christmas gift to the community is a production of "The Nutcracker," complete with visiting professionals. Ballet Arts also has other performances each year.
- Jackson Art Association, home to the community's visual artists.
- Jackson Theatre Guild, which involves community actors in several stage productions each year, including musicals.
The Jackson Symphony
Guiding an orchestra into its fourth decade takes more than a baton and a classical arrangement.
Skillful management, strong local support and a subscriber base that extends as far as Dyersburg, have helped the Jackson Symphony survive many of the pitfalls that have plagued smalltown orchestras elsewhere.
Under the leadership of director/conductor Dr. Jordan Tang, the Jackson Symphony offers a subscription series of seven classical and pops concerts, as well as several free concerts throughout the season.
Trying to attract the next two or three generations into the concert hall may be the orchestra's greatest challenge, considering that the orchestra must compete with athletic events, the video store, television and the movies.
The Jackson Symphony's response has been to bring in popular soloists such as operatic soprano Daisy Newman, the legendary Carl Perkins, Charlie Daniels, and fiddler Mark O'Connor. "We see it as a way for people to come in and hear the orchestra for the first time and realize, 'This is pretty good,'" Tang said.
In an effort to cultivate both future audiences and future musicians, the symphony sends ensembles to perform in local schools and schedules several daytime concerts for school children with the full orchestra. The visits by the string quartet and the woodwind quintet to local schools are particularly popular. "It gives the kids the opportunity to hear the instruments up close and personal and be aware of what we do," Tang said.
The symphony kicks off every season with a free, open-air concert - the Starlight Symphony - on the grounds of the First Presbyterian Church in Jackson. The event begins with a carillon prelude, includes a wide variety of well-known music, and finishes with the "1812 Overture" and firing cannons.
