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Complete Forecast for  May 12 2008

Grammy Award-winning Texas troubadour Joe Ely will usher in the return of the Tyler Museum of Art's Texas Songwriter Series with a live performance beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, May 16 in Tyler Junior College's Jean Browne Theatre, TMA officials announced.

Joining Ely for the debut of this intimate concert series will be rising Texas and Americana music star Jason Eady, scheduled to hit the stage as the show opener at 7 p.m. Ely's performance begins at approximately 8 p.m.

Tickets are $20 for TMA members and $25 for non-members in advance, and $30 at the door pending availability. Museum members are invited for a post-show reception at the TMA immediately following the concert, with dessert and coffee provided by Starbuck's. Concert seating is limited, so patrons are encouraged to make early reservations by calling (903) 595-1001.

Concert sponsors are RBC Wealth Management, Sandy and Joe Shepherd, Tyler Junior College and Starbuck's.

The Tyler Museum of Art is located at 1300 S. Mahon Ave., adjacent to the Tyler Junior College campus off East Fifth Street. Regular hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call (903) 595-1001 or visit www.tylermuseum.org.

KILGORE - The Kilgore College Fine Arts Department has scheduled a Piano Concerto and reception 3 p.m. Sunday in Van Cliburn Auditorium on the KC campus, publicity officials announced.

The concert will feature KC piano students playing music by Bach, Haydn, Brahms and Shostakovich with live a live orchestra.

The concert is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the performances.

Students featured are: Micah Behr, Big Sandy; Kayla Kincaid, Paris; Luis Perez-Villanueva, Kilgore; Heather Newman, Mount Pleasant; Jean Ive Amouou, Cameroon, Africa; Katie Roll, Longview; and Michael Williams, Marshall.

The concert will be conducted by former KC band director, Jerry Hale, of Henderson. The event is coordinated by Sandra Siler, piano instructor at KC.

The Concerto Circle Members (Individuals that have given $1,000 or more) will be recognized and acknowledged at the program. Members John W. Turk, Jr., Martha Paul Bennett, Roland Schwerdtfeger, Patsy Cato, Nancy Cato and Siler have raised $50,000 to help sustain this program.

No children under the age of five will be permitted. For more information, contact Siler at (903) 983-8120.

The Tyler Community Band will present "Honoring Richard Highfill," a free concert, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, in Vaughn Auditorium in the Cowan Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Tyler, publicity officials announced.

Selections from the program include "Procession of the Nobles," "First Suite in Eb for Military Band," "National Emblem March" and "Stars and Stripes Forever."

The band will premiere the march "King Richard," composed by UT Tyler Associate Professor of Music and Music Department Coordinator, Dr. Jeffrey Emge, written in memory of Highfill. Announcer for the evening will be Dr. Tom Fernandez, Professor Emeritus of the College of Business and Technology at UT Tyler. Dr. Fernandez served as the band's announcer in its early years, and will reprise that role in this concert. The Tyler Community Band is made up of business and medical professionals, teachers, music educators, retirees and advanced students.

Comic Don "D.C." Curry is scheduled to appear Saturday, June 21 in Tyler's Caldwell Auditorium, publicity officials announced.

Showtime is 8 p.m.

He's appeared on BET's "Comic View," "Def Comedy Jam" and had a role in the movie "Friday After Next."

To order tickets and for more information, call 1-866-271-6139 or 903-236-6316.

Two generations of Texas art icons share the spotlight for May's First Friday Art Tour at the Tyler Museum of Art, celebrating the exhibition "Father and Son III: Charles and Karl Umlauf.''

This is the third in the museum's series featuring works by fathers and their sons who have both pursued art as a professional career.

The tour is scheduled from 11 a.m.-noon today at the Museum, 1300 S. Mahon Ave. adjacent to the Tyler Junior College campus. TMA's First Friday Art Tours are open to the public, but reservations are requested by calling 903-595-1001. The tour is free to museum members plus one guest. Cost is $3 for non-members.

TMA Marketing Coordinator Jon Perry will lead the tour which showcases the early contributions of the late Charles Umlauf, namesake of the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum in Austin, alongside the seminal works of his son Karl Umlauf, an artist-in-residence at Baylor University who has emerged as one of the nation's most accomplished and prolific artists in a career spanning more than four decades

During his career, the elder Umlauf received virtually every professional award, including both a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Ford Foundation Grant. In Texas, he was honored in 1985 by the Houston Art League as "Texas Artist of the Year" and in 1993 by the city of San Antonio as "Alcalde." His work can be seen in public collections and museums across the U.S., including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Among the dozens of permanent and public collections featuring Karl Umlauf's work are the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Modern Museum of Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, University of Texas at Austin, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, the University of Texas at Tyler, and the Tyler Museum of Art.

This exhibition, which continues through May 25, is located in TMA's Bell Gallery.

First Friday visitors may also enjoy staying after the tour for a light lunch in the Museum Cafe, open from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and the TMA Gift Shop is available from 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. during exhibition hours.

For more information, call (903) 595-1001 or visit www.tylermuseum.org.