The excitement and glamour of Hollywood are coming to Charlottesville on Oscar Night.  Wear your best ” Hollywood-inspired” attire and come experience the thrills and surprises of the 82nd Academy Awards® on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at Charlottesville’s own Oscar Night America party benefiting The Paramount Theater and The Virginia Film Festival.  The audience will watch the Academy Awards telecast live in HD on large screens courtesy of ABC16, the Charlottesville affiliate of the ABC Television Network, which broadcasts the Academy Awards presentation.

The Parking Lot Movie is an expose about The Corner Parking Lot that is located across the street from the University of Virginia.  For these denizens of Charlottesville, the intersection between the status quo and the quest for freedom becomes the challenge. Something as simple as a parking lot becomes an emotional weigh station for The American Dream. In the end, as one Attendant interestingly puts it, “We had it all in a world that had nothing to offer us.”

Multiple Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Norah Jones has announced U.S. tour dates in support of her critically-acclaimed new album The Fall, which was released by EMI’s Blue Note Records on November 17.  The Fall finds Jones experimenting with a new set of collaborators, including Jacquire King, a noted producer and engineer who has worked with Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, and Modest Mouse among others.  Special guest, Sasha Dobson, will join Jones.  This show is sold out!

ENCORE BROADCAST!  This one-hour film by award-winning filmmaker Chris Farina portrays local public school teacher John Hunter and his Venable School class during their participation in an educational exercise Hunter developed called “the World Peace Game.” Filmed in 2006, the film follows the game’s eight-week course as nine- and ten-year-old students play roles as world leaders responding to an ongoing series of military, economic, and environmental crises.

Composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Taj Mahal is one of the most prominent and influential figures in late 20th century blues and roots music. Nominated for nine GRAMMY® Awards, Taj Mahal released his most recent album in 2008, marking the fortieth anniversary of Taj’s rich and varied recording career.

The Virginia Chamber Music Foundation announces that Steven Isserlis has with great regret withdrawn from the May 26th “Steven Isserlis and Friends” concert due to a family illness. The concert will go forward with Edward Arron, an esteemed New York-based cellist, graciously joining the ensemble for what will now be titled the “Spring Concert.” The original program of works by Mozart, Franck and Dvorak will remain substantially the same, but virtuoso violinist Jennifer Frautschi and pianist Ya-Fei Chuang will now play the Franck sonata as it was originally written, for violin and piano.   For biographical notes on all performers, please see http://www.cvillechambermusic.org/paramount2010.htmlTicket Prices:  $50 Patron (includes post concert reception); $30, $20 and $10 for students (Student can be seated with accompanying regular ticket holder).