It’s not common that a large act plays in a small venue, especially in Savannah. However, 2010 is looking up! This Tuesday, January 12^th, legendary underground electronica artist RJD2 is playing downtown at Live Wire Music Hall. RJ, as he refers to himself, hails from Philly and has made a name for himself remixing popular hip-hop songs.

Unlike the majority of today’s DJs, RJ strays from the simple track mash-ups and creates beats entirely unique and signature to his style. So if you want to experience a performance on the cutting edge of today’s music industry, check out RJD2 at Live Wire on Tuesday night at 10pm.

Match Maker, Match Maker!!! Get ready everyone, the classic family musical Fiddler on the Roof comes to Savannah’s Lucas Theatre tomorrow! This story of a Jewish family in Tsarist Russia centers on Tevye as he tries to preserve his family and religious traditions despite outside influences.

Bruce Goldman returns to the area with a top New York cast. Goldman’s performance as Tevye has been called “masterful” (Florida Times-Union), “24-karet gold” (Ponte Vedra Recorder), and “magnificent” (The Island Packet, Hilton Head).

This incredibly popular musical will resonate with the whole family, both loyal Broadway fans and the uninitiated alike. Don’t miss this rousing celebration of family, love, dancing, and the human spirit.

Wednesday, December 16^th through Saturday, December 19^th at 8 p.m. plus a matinee on Saturday, December 19^th at 2 p.m. Tickets are $52-$32 call 912.525.5050 or go online

With its one-of-a-kind sounds and free-ticket appeal, this is one Savannah tradition that is music to your ears and wallet.

These days, finding something free is truly rare—if not impossible. And if you do stumble upon an elusive freebie, chances are, you get what you pay for. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to the soulful American sounds of the 2009 Savannah Jazz Festival. Since its beginnings in October 1983 when the sweet slides, skats and beats of jazz music rippled through an eager audience at Grayson Stadium, the Savannah Jazz Festival has continued its tradition of hosting an incomparable musical treat free of charge and open to the public.

Today, the Savannah Jazz Festival is considered one of the best free jazz festivals in the country, and this year, beginning September 20, the annual gathering of this unique event will again be held at various locations throughout the city.

“We have our sponsors to thank for that,” says Lacy Manigault, festival chairman. “From the city of Savannah to various corporate sponsors, they are the reason Savannah is able to enjoy this one-of-a-kind event absolutely free.”

The Jimmy Wolling Band keeps it real in Savannah’s bluegrass scene.

Jimmy Wolling hates computer boys.

You know, he says, the solo acts that push a button and suddenly transform what would otherwise be a simple acoustic guitar and vocals into some sort of canned approximation of an entire band—or orchestra. That trend rubs Wolling the wrong way, although he’s quick to say that perhaps hate is too strong a word for those who’d rather program a robotic musical “servant” than get living, breathing humans to flesh out a stage show.

“It’s more of a sense of frustration,” the lanky banjoist with long, blonde curls says in a deep Georgia drawl that betrays his Savannah roots—and that has become something of a trademark. “I’ve spent years mastering my instrument, and I

With an optimistic outlook that changed her life, this Savannah sensation is the epitome of presence beyond the stage.

It’s nearing 5:00 on a Tuesday afternoon. Sitting on a shaded park bench in Lafayette Square, Kim Polote is surrounded by memories that bubble out of her as beautifully as her voice. “My mother would wait for me after school in this square; this is where I played with my friends, grew up in Savannah, and where I waited for my own children when they attended school here,” says Polote. “It all happened right here and I will never forget those memories.

Even today, more than 20 years later, this former choir teacher still has students, now grown adults, lovingly say, “Hi, Miss Polote!” when they see her. In fact, in the midst of this conversation, a student from years past drives by and shouts that same excited hello from her car window, and Polote waves back as if seeing a long-lost friend.

“People connect through music; it makes us all the same and in that moment, we forget our differences. I love that my students still remember me. It means I made a difference and that’s what I hope my music will always do,” comments Polote.

To parishioners of Christ Church Savannah, the ancient sounds of the Compline Choir offers something more than good listening.

On Sunday evenings at Christ Church Savannah, time seems to stop. In the darkness of the sanctuary, candles are lit, and, in a Christian tradition dating to the Middle Ages, up to 100 people gather together to say farewell to the day and good night to God.

For several years, Christ Church, with its white-pillared facade gracefully situated on Johnson Square, has offered a popular weekly Compline service to parishioners as a quiet alternative to the chaos and clamor of modern life. The practice of Compline (from the word “completion”) began in European monastic communities centuries ago as a concluding service giving thanks to God and asking for protection in the night and day ahead. True to the historic traditions, the Compline service at Christ Church is a sedated, intensely spiritual ceremony. As worshippers pray in silence and listen to scripture, the service is punctuated by the sounds of the Compline Choir, a small group of specially trained male and female singers clad in simple black robes. From the back balcony, they sing haunting melodies that are said to transport observers to a new spiritual plain.

The mounting success of Georgia’s own Lovell sisters is a story of near global proportions.

When the Lovell Sisters Band returns to Savannah in March, they will be fresh off their third European tour. Norway, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland—the sultry tunes of their unique brand of homegrown bluegrass has taken these Southern girls far and wide. Yet, it wasn’t long ago that the Calhoun, Georgia, natives were simply sisters and far fro the tremendous trio they would one day become.

Classical piano and violin lessons learned in childhood took on new meaning for Jessica, Megan and Rebecca when, several years ago, a friend took them to the Mountain Opry in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, and they were exposed to the intoxicatingly country sounds of bluegrass. “[The music] acted as a social glue,” Jessica recalled of her first experience with mountain music.

The Savannah Music Festival’s executive and artistic director, Rob Gibson, is the driving force behind the event’s world-class programming.

“It is a rare individual who could do what Rob has done—and I am not just referring to the Savannah Music Festival, though that evolution has been remarkable,” says Rick Winger, president and CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Authority. “From his work in Atlanta to Jazz at Lincoln Center, Rob Gibson is committed to quality and excellence.” Winger isn’t the only one amazed by Gibson’s talent and commitment. As the executive and artistic Director of the Savannah Music Festival, Rob Gibson is responsible for providing artistic vision and shaping the overall longterm strategic plan for the organization, and has been instrumental in taking the SMF from a small, local event to a world-renowned festival drawing thousands each year.

WHO: The Blues Was Born Here (Cephas & Wiggins, and Beverly “Guitar” Watkins)

WHERE: Charles H. Morris Center

WHEN: March 19, 7 and 9:30 p.m.

WHY: There’s nothing more Southern than the blues, and this show will offer two great talents with wildly different takes on the genre. Cephas & Wiggins is a guitar-and-harmonica- wielding acoustic duo that plays in the Piedmont style. Beverly “Guitar” Watkins, a Georgia native, has been burning up stages with her rarified electric blues since the late ’50s.

In the absence of an established classical music scene, Peter Shannon arrives to usher in the newest chapter of Savannah’s cultural identity.

His brown eyes glint with the luck of the Irish. His brogue is strong and true. His passion for all things music is unwavering. Meet Peter Shannon, artistic director for the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and the newly created Philharmonic Orchestra, and the city’s hope for a revived music scene.

Since February 2007, when he first took the reigns of what was then known as the Savannah Choral Society, Shannon has been raising eyebrows—and glasses—with his dedication to advancing the resources available for classical music players and lovers in the area. He has applied his years of experience to training a group of amateur singers into a chorus with an exquisitely refined sound. And now, in 2009, he has handcrafted an orchestra to accompany the Philharmonic Chorus, and to play independent performances including their official debut occurring February 27, Beethoven’s “Fifth” will be played at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Comprised of musicians from the Lowcountry and throughout the United States, the new Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra will no doubt soon be another artistic asset to add to the city’s roster, joining the ranks of the Savannah Film Festival and the Lucas Theatre. In the two short years he has been a citizen of the city, Peter Shannon has proven himself the architect of a cultural enrichment not seen since the collapse of the Savannah Symphony in the early 2000s.