The bows have been put away, the violins returned to their cases, and their owners dispersed to the far corners of the globe. But before they left, the 42 young virtuosos competing in the 2014 Menuhin Competition treated Austin to some extraordinary music over 10 days, and two ultimately earned First Prize honors in the Junior and Senior divisions.

A director departs and a festival returns in this edition of News/Print.

This last day of February marks the conclusion of Black History Month, but hopefully the celebration of some of our country’s best writers will continue throughout the year.

For Lily Tomlin, who appears at the Paramount Theatre on Friday, a trip to Austin is practically a homecoming. In the Eighties, she did an extended run of her first stage success and workshopped her second; bonded with Ann Richards and Liz Carpenter, both of whom shared her birthday; and even bought some land on the Pedernales.

One of the most eagerly awaited events on last fall's arts calendar was Audra McDonald's concert in Dell Hall. Alas, illness forced an 11th-hour cancellation, but the performer has managed to reschedule the visit within four months. With McDonald at last lighting up the Long Center on Tuesday, here's a rerun of our interview with her from October.

Bill Cotter's new novel, The Parallel Apartments, should come with one of those Government Warning Labels.

Art historians of the nation, you can hold your heads high again. One of your own – Ann Collins Johns, a professor at the University of Texas – had your back when President Obama took what sounded like a rhetorical potshot at the profession in a recent speech, and her response earned a handwritten apology from the commander-in-chief.

We already know that any stand-up by Mac Blake and Matt Bearden is likely to be among the funniest shit we've heard in months. And we were laughing our asses off when we caught John Buseman at last year's Funniest Person In Austin contest.

The warm glow spreading throughout your frame may be from the free shot of Scotch you downed – compliments the National Theatre of Scotland – but truth to tell, you'd feel it without the hooch after The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart. This lively tall tale, told with music, wit, and wily storytelling, kindles a bonnie cheerful fire inside.