Escape the chilly Nashville temperatures by visiting Orchids in the Mansion at Cheekwood and immerse yourself in an abundance of tropical orchid arrangements. The winter celebration will truly take over the historic home in its fifth year. White and purple Phalaenopsis prevail throughout the displays and emerge from rich layers of tropical foliage. Orchids will sweep up the grand staircase in the foyer and lead visitors to the central experience on the Loggia, where the florals rise off the floor and suspend from the ceiling in an immersive cloud of blooming orchids. Dendrobiums, Oncidiums, and Cymbidiums add a diversity of form and texture to the arrangements that activate almost every space on the historically decorated first floor.
Available with Gardens and Mansion Tickets.
RESERVE TICKETS
Presented by
Piano Performances in the Mansion
Kaylina Madison Crawley
Saturdays
January 28 – March 4 | 12 – 2 PM
Enjoy piano performances each Saturday as you walk through Orchids in Bloom between noon and 2 PM in the historic Drawing Room in the Cheekwood Mansion.
Free with Gardens & Mansion admission.
January 28 | Kaylina Crawley
February 4 | Chris Walters
February 11 | Chris Walters
February 18 | Kaylina Crawley
February 25 | Chris Walters
March 4 | Kaylina Crawley
Available with Gardens and Mansion Tickets.
About Kaylina Madison Crawley
Kaylina Madison Crawley is a doctoral candidate in musicology at the University of Kentucky. She is originally from Vicksburg, Mississippi. She graduated with a Master of Arts Degree from Middle Tennessee State University and summa cum laude from Fisk University with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance. She was a UNCF/Mellon Undergraduate Fellow, and her research topic was “Native Music: Recognizing the School of African-American Piano Composition during the 1940s.” She was a co-presenter at the 2009 Tennessee Music Teachers Association State Conference in a session titled “Crossing the Stream: Teaching the Piano Music of African-American Composers.” Kaylina’s dissertation focuses on John Work III and his spiritual arrangements. She currently serves as the Community Academy of Music and Arts director (CAMA) at Tennessee State University, and also teaches Music Appreciation, Proficiency Piano, and Applied Piano courses. She is also a member of the American Musicological Society, the Society of American Music, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
About Chris Walters
Born in New Orleans, Chris moved from New York to Nashville in 1989. When not touring with his own band, Chris performs and records as the keyboardist with various artists, including The Jeff Coffin Mu’tet, JD Souther, and The Peter Mayer Group. He has performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and recorded the soundtrack for a documentary film scored by Bela Fleck. At the age of 18, Walters was a finalist in the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra’s Gershwin competition. Chris attended the Jazz Studies Program at Webster University in St. Louis and was listed by them as a notable alumnus in a recent Downbeat magazine article. His debut album, “Strange Fruit,” was featured on National Public Radio’s Jazz South program, and his 2003 release, “Cool Blue Swing,” garnered praise for 11 tracks of original music. His most recent CD, “Yay! Everybody, Yay!” features new original songs as well as works by Alberto Ginastera and Cole Porter, with orchestrations around his small group performances.
1907 Steinway B Piano
The origin of the Model B dates to 1871 with the development of the Steinway 85-note Style 1 grand piano. Modified and renamed the Model B in 1878, it has enjoyed unrivaled renown as a performance instrument in countless venues from the teaching studio to the recording studio, and the concert hall to the home.
Cheekwood’s stunning classic Steinway piano was constructed between 1906-1907 with an outer shell made of white mahogany. The piano was prepped to the highest concert standard by Steinway’s touch and tone masters.
The instrument belonged to Leslie Cheek, Jr. and his wife Mary Tyler. It was given to them by his mother, Mabel Cheek, as a wedding gift in 1939. It is signed by Theodore E. Steinway and includes a personalized inscription:
Mary Tyler Freeman and Leslie Cheek Jr.”
Theodore E. Steinway, 1939
The piano was donated to Cheekwood in 1963 and returned to the Drawing Room following the refurnishing of the space in 2017. Tuned regularly, the piano is in great playing condition and has an almost perfect set of original keytops.
