GETTING PLUCKY: There are some instruments that are relatively easy to play. With its 47 strings and seven pedals, the harp is not one of them. Could that be why we don’t hear from this ancient instrument all that often. Susan Dederich-Pejovich, principle harpist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, explores that topic and explains the finer points of the instrument in a recent Q&A with PlayBill Arts.

A WINNING WOODY: On Tuesday morning, we let you know about a honey of a deal to see Woody Guthrie’s American Song at Theatre Three. And as the reviews come in, it’s sounding like those five-cent tickets are worth every penny. A production built around a famed singer is obviously going to live and die on the strength of the cast’s voices, and Theatre Three has assembled quite a cast. Alexandra Bonifield says, “all singers brought their varied slices of Americana to vivid life with guitar, banjo, piano, bass and mandolin accompaniment.” Meanwhile, Lawson Taitte writes, “The singers are all so good it seems invidious to single out favorites.”

WELCOMING THE NEIGHBORS: As a way to celebrate the opening of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in October, the Dallas Museum of Art will stage a pair of exhibitions that highlight the link between performing and visual arts. The first show, Performance/Art, will focus on a group of six contemporary artists who feature elements of theater, opera and performance into their work. It will run from Oct. 9 to March 21, 2010. The second show, All the World’s a Stage: Celebrating Performance in the Visual Arts, will group works from the museum’s permanent collection that center on the performing arts. It will be up from Aug. 30 to Feb. 28, 2010. You can read the complete news release here.

ETC.: Winners of the 13th Annual Videographer Awards were recently announced. Several of the award recipients are from North Texas;  click here for the entire winners list. … Artisan Center Theater has hired a new artistic director (dallasnews.com) … The Dallas Museum of Art is giving away four tickets to the museum to three winners of a photo contest. For more details and to submit your pics, visit the museum’s Facebook page.