The event slate in and around Fort Worth this weekend is arts-heavy, with multiple local organizations getting a chance to shine. Classical music will be showcased in two separate recurring events. A new art exhibit will let you see ordinary things in a new way. And a fundraiser will allow you to support future art, which keeps the cycle going.
Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.
Thursday, February 22
2018 Cliburn Festival: The Music of Russia
The 2018 Cliburn Festival: The Music of Russia is a celebration of the 60th anniversary of Van Cliburn’s historic 1958 International Tchaikovsky Competition victory in Moscow. Each of five concerts in the festival will explore a different defining theme of Russian music. Three Cliburn laureates — Alexander Kobrin, Yury Favorin, and Georgy Tchaidze — will serve as artists-in-residence and will be joined by the Rolston String Quartet. The festival will take place at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth through Sunday.
Friday, February 23
BJ Thomas in concert
Singer BJ Thomas is best known for his version of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," which won an Oscar for its inclusion in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But Thomas has multiple other well-known songs to his credit, including "Hooked on a Feeling" years before the Blue Swede version, a cover of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," and "I Just Can't Help Believing." He'll play at Arlington Music Hall.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents The Firebird
An instant success with critics and audiences alike, Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird is a work of beauty and orchestral pyrotechnics that remains one of Stravinsky’s most popular pieces alongside The Rite of Spring. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will also perform Rachmaninoff’s "Isle of the Dead," and 23-year-old violinist William Hagen joins the orchestra for Brahms’s Violin Concerto, Op. 77. There will be three concerts through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.
Saturday, February 24
Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents Jan Staller: "Cycle & Saved"
This new exhibit at Amon Carter Museum of American Art features two short videos by New York photographer-videographer Jan Staller that reflect on a potent contradiction of contemporary material life. Where "Cycle" revels in the powerful abstracting of paper traveling at high speed down a conveyor belt on its first step to being recycled, "Saved" is a playful celebration of hundreds of small tools and toys accumulated over the years by the artist. The exhibit will be on display through August 19.
WinStar World Casino and Resort Iron Cowboy
WinStar World Casino and Resort Iron Cowboy has the world’s top 40 bull riders competing to be the Iron Cowboy by process of elimination. The winner goes home with over $100,000 in prize money and double the amount of points toward the World Championship. The event will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Fort Worth Community Arts Center presents Celebration of the Arts
A benefit for the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, the third annual Celebration of the Arts: Art in the Dark (named one of CultureMap's top spring philanthropic events in Fort Worth) promises to be an engaging mix of performances, interactive art opportunities, and food stations from some of the city's favorite restaurants. Tickets are $75 and up, with proceeds going to support future programming at the FWCAC.
Jason Boland & The Stragglers in concert
Members of the Red Dirt/Texas Country genre, Jason Boland & The Stragglers are actually a product of Oklahoma, having gotten their start when Boland and drummer Brad Rice met at Oklahoma State University. But they've proved their Texas bona fides since then, with one of their albums named Live and Lit at Billy Bob's Texas. They'll return to Billy Bob's for this special concert.
Celebration for the Arts will take place at Fort Worth Community Arts Center on February 24.
