WKCTC Announces 2017-18 Clemens Fine Arts Center Season

Season Tickets on Sale Now

WKCTC MEDIA RELEASE: Paducah, KY (06/28/2017) — Season tickets are on sale now for the 2017-18 season at West Kentucky Community and Technical College's Clemens Fine Arts Center.

The Arts in Focus Series kicks off Friday, September 22 with the hit country artist, Jerrod Niemann. Prolific Nashville hitmaker Jerrod Niemann speaks from his heart with his romantic new single, "God Made A Woman." Fueled by a nearly decade-long career, he is digging deeper with his forthcoming Curb Records album featuring an uplifting duet, "A Little More Love," with good friend and labelmate Lee Brice. Known for clever wordplay and attention-grabbing lyrics, Niemann has a number of hits, including the number ones, "Lover, Lover" and "Drink to That All Night."

Next, a capella ensemble m-pact brings their tight harmonies to the Clemens stage on Friday, October 27. Hailed "one of the best pop-jazz vocal groups in the world" by the San Francisco Chronicle, m-pact is respected worldwide as a cutting-edge trailblazer in the realm of vocal music. Emerging from an age of auto-tune and overproduction, this Los Angeles-based ensemble has cultivated a new generation of ears hungry for the fresh, raw power of nature's "first instrument" - the human voice.

Sunday, January 21 will bring the warmth and history of the American Spiritual Ensemble. Composed of some of the finest singers in the United States, the mission of the American Spiritual Ensemble is to keep the American Negro spiritual alive. Since its inception by University of Kentucky professor Dr. Everett McCorvey in 1995, the ensemble has thrilled audiences around the world with their dynamic repertoire ranging from spirituals to classical to jazz and Broadway numbers highlighting the Black experience.

Laugh off the winter blues with great comedy from the Capitol Steps on Friday, February 16. There is a long and rich tradition of political satire in the United States, and the premier group for spoofing, lampooning, and laughing out loud at our political leaders is the Capitol Steps. The Steps take their songs and skits skewering the politics of the day on the road, and have made numerous TV appearances. Start your election year right with the Capitol Steps.

The Moscow Festival Ballet returns to the Clemens Center on Sunday, April 22 with the ageless tale of Sleeping Beauty. The Moscow Festival Ballet brings classic Russian ballet in the tradition of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres to audiences around the world. Scored with the timeless beauty of Tchaikowski's classic music, Moscow Festival Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty is considered a masterpiece of classical ballet.

WKCTC's 2017-18 One Book Read, the community-wide effort to encourage reading, features Karen Thompson Walker's New York Times bestselling novel, The Age of Miracles. As a culmination to the One Book Read, Walker will visit the Clemens Center to discuss her book and meet community members March 13-14, 2018. This year's One Book Read is funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Kentucky Arts Council.

In addition to the One Book Read, the Clemens Center will present author Andrew Maraniss, who will talk about his book, Strong Inside, the story of Perry Wallace. Wallace was a basketball star who in 1966 became the first black player in the Southeastern Conference. This presentation will be held on November 13.

WKCTC Community Chorus will return to the Clemens Center this season. This non-audition volunteer choir is open to all who love to sing. The college's Community Chorus will present a holiday concert on December 3, and a spring concert on April 29, 2018. Backstage Pass Coffeehouse performances, and Paducah School of Art and Design's visual art exhibitions round out the 2017-18 season.

Season tickets are now on sale for the five performances in the 2017-18 Arts in Focus Series. Adult season tickets are $100 per person, and student or child season tickets are $50 per person. Single tickets will go on sale August 1. To purchase tickets and stay up to date on all Clemens Fine Arts Center events visit artsinfocus.org or call the box office at 270-534-3212.

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West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) has been recognized as an Aspen Prize Top 10 Community College each of the four times the Prize has been awarded by the Aspen Institute and has twice been named a Finalist with Distinction for providing students with strong job training and continuing higher education opportunity, for achieving high completion and transfer rates, and for providing strong employment results for its graduates.