A Hearty Helping Of Music Starts Valentine’s Day Off On Right Note

Is that love in the air? No, it’s music. And there’s plenty of it this weekend, some to celebrate the approaching St. Valentine’s Day and some just to celebrate sound.

North Idaho College is bringing the world class musical talents of husband-and-wife duo Jose Serebrier and Carole Farley in “Broadway Serenade,” a Valentine’s pops concert 8 p.m. Saturday.

The program offers popular music everyone will enjoy - classic love songs from hits like “Showboat,” “Oklahoma” and “West Side Story,” plus a medley of Cole Porter tunes and the best of “Les Miserables.”

Serebrier, one of the most-recorded conductors of his generation, and Farley, a world-renowned soprano and Idaho native, are regulars in venues of London, Paris and New York. Todd Snyder and George Conrad, billing themselves as “Two Guys on Grands,” will perform a concerto on grand pianos to open the concert.

If you have a ticket, you’re one of the lucky ones because the concert is sold out.

The Falla Guitar Trio will thrill with its blend of classical, Spanish, pop and jazz styles in two performances this weekend. At 8 tonight, the trio plays at the University of Idaho Auditorium in Moscow. Tickets are $8, $9 and $11 at the door.

Saturday, the group plays at the Panida Theater in Sandpoint at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are available at the box office and are $9, $5 for those under 18 years.

The program will range from a trio sonata by Bach to slick jazz improvisation to arrangements of excerpts from Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s ballet “The Three Cornered Hat.”

The Eastern Washington University Percussion Ensemble is giving a free concert at noon today in the EWU Music Building Recital Hall in Cheney. There will be several marimba solos as well as ensemble pieces.

The Gonzaga University Symphony Orchestra will present its spring Valentine’s Pops Concert at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Spokane Room of the COG on GU’s campus. Admission is $5. The music will include light classical and popular favorites.

The Music Ministries of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes and Sacred Heart Parish, with organist Jim Barrett and cantor Scott Randall, will present a program of sacred hymns with readings from various sources on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes. It’s free.

Five area young musicians will perform with the Washington Idaho Symphony in The Young Artists’ Concert, held at 8 p.m. Saturday at Lewiston High School and 3 p.m. Sunday in Gladish Auditorium in Pullman.

Tickets, available at the door, are $10, $8.50 for seniors, $5 for college students and $3 for youth.

And finally, Tommy Cash is appearing in several shows in the area. He performs a dinner show at 8 tonight ($15) and a cocktail show at 10 p.m. ($10), both at the Eagles Lodge in Coeur d’Alene.

Cash will also do two shows Saturday at the Sons of Norway, N6710 Country Homes Blvd., at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ($12.50 advance/$15 at the door).

Tommy is Johnny’s brother. Call 326-9211 for more information.

Feast your ears

Molefi Kete Asante, the founder of the theory of Afrocentricity, is the keynote speaker at the annual EWU Black History Month Banquet on Saturday.

Asante is chair of the Department of African American Studies at Temple University. He’ll speak on “Facing the 21st Century: The Dilemma of the American Multicultural Vision” at 6:30 p.m. at the Ridpath Hotel.

Tickets are $22.50 and are available through the EWU Black Education Program at 359-2205.

Another Black History Month observance: The Year of the Family in Unity presented by St. Matthews and New Hope Baptist Church. The dinner theater will feature a performance by the Onyx Theatre Troupe at 2 p.m. Sunday at the East Central Community Center, S500 Stone.

Adults get in for $20, children pay $10. There will be a special recognition presentation honoring Bishop C.E. Hamp. For tickets and more information, call 922-1156 or 625-6693.

Chance to dance

The Spokane Folklore Society invites you to a fanciful evening of traditional dancing and a chocolate potluck Saturday at the Corbin Community Center, W827 Cleveland, from 7:30 to 11 p.m. The potluck starts at 6:30 p.m.

Mitchell Frey, a Montana caller, will do the dance calls to music by Missoula’s Fairweather String Band. Bring something chocolate for the potluck and wear something pink or red for the fun of it.

You don’t need to bring a partner and you don’t need to know how. All dances will be taught. Dances are smoke-, drug- and alcohol-free. Admission is $7, $4 for folklore society members.

There’s also a dance on Wednesday from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Woman’s Club Hall. Call 747-2640 for more information.

Other miscellaneous

Romantic, humorous, fanciful and original work has been crafted by more than 30 local artists for Pend Oreille Arts Council’s Seventh Annual Hearts for Art silent auction this weekend.

A champagne-and-chocolate reception is planned from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday. Final bidding will be taken then and winners will be announced that day. The show is displayed at Art Works, 109 Main St.

Here are the details for several area performances this weekend:

The Lake City Playhouse in Coeur d’Alene is presenting an original Valentine’s musical review entitled, “From the Heart.” Times are 8 tonight and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Tuesday. Cost is $10, $8 for students and seniors, $6 for children.

Jack Gladstone, a direct descendant of Blackfeet Indian Chief Red Crow, will guide an audience at The Cutter Theatre in Metaline Falls through myths, animal legends and personality portraits into a better understanding of our American heritage.

The show is 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $5 and available at the door or by calling 446-4108.

Wallace’s Sixth Street Melodrama, one of several area theaters to present “Steel Magnolias” this year, will stage the popular show through Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

General admission tickets are $9, $7 for seniors and students. Reservations are suggested; call (208) 752-8871 on performance days, (208) 752-3081 at other times.

ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: This is a sidebar that appeared with this story: Getting out Since the actual day falls on Tuesday - that’s Valentine’s Day for those who don’t keep track of these minor holidays - we’ll declare this the unofficial romantic weekend. Romance doesn’t require large expenditures of cash - a late-winter walk along the Little Spokane River is a perfect prelude to an indoor picnic in front of the fireplace (or lighted candles if you don’t have a fireplace).