The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The Long Center and Cirque Dreams partner on a campaign of goodwill and givingback during the Holidaze

The Long Center for the Performing Arts announced big plans Tuesday for a major community partnership surrounding the upcoming holiday family show, Cirque Dreams: Holidaze.

While it may seem too early to start thinking about "the holidays" for most of us, it's always a good time to share some goodwill with your neighbors in need — something about the holidays just inspires us to do it more.

“The holiday season is about caring for others and giving back to your community,” said Long Center Executive Director and CEO Jamie Grant in a press release Tuesday. “‘Share the HOLIDAZE’ touches at the core of the Long Center and its commitment to the community through collaboration and inclusiveness."

The campaign is a fun and friendly way to spread both goodwill and an appreciation of the arts with families that might not otherwise do so this season. Following this principle, each of the "Share the HOLIDAZE" community partners involved will use the backdrop of the Cirque Dreams show to promote their social work efforts.

Texas Gas Service, for example, will be promoting the "Share the Warmth" program at all Holidaze shows and collecting money for Caritas of Austin, which in turn is working to end poverty and homelessness in Austin. You can also donate directly Share the Warmth from your phone simply by texting the keyword “WARMTH” to 20222 to make a $10 tax deductible donation to Caritas.

Operation Blue Santa will have toy donation centers set up around the Long Center to collect new toys for giveaways by the Austin Police Department in December. The Blue Santa is especially in need of items for infants up to two years old and teens between 12 and 14 years.

Simon Property Group, Girl Scouts of America and The Chula League's Cherrywood Art Fair have all signed on with The Long Center as community partners as well, hoping, like The Long Center, to encourage families and young children to start making a visit to the Long Center a regular experience.

The Cirque Dreams show promises to be something special for the season, combining high-flying acrobatic feats with holiday characters like gingerbread men and ornaments. If you've seen any Cirque-style show before, you know how amazing this would be for any young theatergoer to experience firsthand.

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Cirque Dreams: Holidazewill have eight performances at the Long Center from Nov. 20 - 25 before continuing the end-of-year tour. Tickets are available now through the Long Center box office.

Sonic Boost

Musical gala spotlights 20 Austin acts including Nemegata, Quentin Arispe

Nemegata Austin

Photo courtesy of Spaceflight Records

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On January 18, charitable organization Sonic Guild will award $150,000 in grants to 20 deserving local bands and solo artists at the Sonic Guild Ball. For the first time ever, tickets are available to the public for this ceremony and show.

This is the 11th year this organization has supported the Austin music scene, though readers might know the organization by its previous name, Black Fret. This public charity is headquartered here in Austin and is on a mission to support artists here (as well as in Seattle and parts of Colorado, now) with a publicly available annual membership.

In return for annual dues, members get to see a bunch of shows and attend private events; and their memberships support local music with grants. Over these years, the group has awarded grants and payments to local musicians, venues, and music businesses totaling over $6 million.

This year's grant recipients are:

Rob Baird
West 22nd
Cactus Lee
The Point
DAIISTAR
Parker Woodland
Nemegata
Deer Fellow
Elijah Delgado
Grocery Bag
Quentin Arispe
Shelley King
Geto Gala
Next of Kin
promqueen
Lew Apollo
S. L. Houser
Harvest Thieves
TV's Daniel
Stella and the Very Messed

These artists were selected through a year-long process where Sonic Guild members, advisors, and prior grant recipients nominated, lobbied for, and finally voted on their favorite artists.

These 20 winners will receive not only grants at the upcoming Sonic Guild Ball, but also mentoring, and will be paid for any performance they do for Sonic Guild audiences in the future. In fact, half of the awarded bands will be performing at the ball itself.

In between performances there will be videos and live testimonials telling the stories of how past grant winners have used their funds to boost their music careers with album recordings, tours, instruments, and more.

“Naming these 20 2024 Sonic Guild Artists puts us at over 200 individual acts we have recognized with a Sonic Guild grant,” said co-founder and Executive Director of Sonic Guild Austin Matt Ott in a press release. “Every member that joins Sonic Guild sends a powerful message to our city’s musicians that their contributions to our culture matters. We must support our music scene as our great city grows to make sure it thrives for generations to come.”

The 2024 Sonic Guild Ball will be held at the Long Center for the first time ever. Individual public tickets are available online and range between $24 and $130 depending on the seat.

Austinites can also become members of Sonic Guild and have access to more than 30 live shows this next season, and will get to vote for the lucky artists that will be awarded with grants at next year's Sonic Guild Ball.

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