This Valentine’s Day, immerse yourself in the dazzling world of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. Experience the feminine energies of a woman who painted, danced, and wrote. This performance honors Zelda’s brilliance and resilience, tracing her rise as the original socialite of the Roaring Twenties and her struggles with misdiagnosis and confinement. Celebrate the woman who inspired a generation as she fought to be heard—stylish, impulsive, and unforgettable. Rediscover the wild, beautiful spirit who was both lover and legend. Listen to Zelda and Scott’s story, interwoven with classical and period compositions performed by a live string quartet weaving together art and history—love ablaze, art untamed, echoing Jazz Age dreams.
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Professionally known as ‘Melody’ is a writer, storyteller, and actor who performs dramatic readings and poetry.
As an educator, she has presented at numerous educational institutions throughout Asheville, including UNCA & Lenoir Rhyne.
She translates dreams and intuition into art. Her voice serves as a bridge to the past, recreating for listeners a tapestry woven together over time.
She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and currently resides in Swannanoa with her children.
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The Café String Quartet has performed for public and private events across WNC since 2006.
Multi-year winners of the Wedding Wire Couple’s Choice awards, they have performed and recorded for the Hendersonville Symphony’s Up Close and Personal, Bach to Bluegrass, the Henderson County Arts Council, the Smoky Mountain Performing Arts Center, and more.
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Monique earned music degrees from the U of Iowa and UNC-Greensboro Schools of Music. She has played with the Salt Lake, Greensboro, Asheville Hendersonville Symphonies and Brevard Phil.
Her playing credits include: Chris LeDoux, Utah’s Sundance Institute, Christmas at Biltmore, AVL’s Shindig on the Green, Jherek Bischoff, Celtic Woman, Cirque de Soleil, The Temptations and has toured in China and Inner Mongolia.
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Paula Akbar, a native of Dee Flat, Oregon, attended Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and received her Master of Violin Performance degree from the Yale Graduate School of Music.
Before her tenure with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC (1991-2015), she was a first violinist in the Oregon, New Haven, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.
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Claudia is an active performer, teacher, and collaborator in Asheville, NC. She performs frequently with several Asheville-area orchestras, and enjoys learning about and implementing Suzuki methods within her violin/viola studio.
Claudia earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Peabody Conservatory, and earned both her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Georgia.
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Eric Scheider is the director of the Four Seasons Chamber Orchestra and has directed the Converse Symphony Orchestra, the Echo Early Music Festival, and the Hendersonville Symphony, where he was a national finalist for the American Prize in orchestral programming.
As a cellist, he has performed across the western Carolinas and eastern TN and on tour to Italy and China.
Melissa “Melody” Henry, Monique Pinelli, Paula Akbar, Claudia Malchow, Eric Scheider
Stay for a drink after the show for a social hour of mingling, meeting the artists, and sharing your musings on this unique and thought-provoking show.