Youth Symphony lures fiddler O’Connor
The Spokane Youth Symphony has landed a huge name for its April 20 performance: Mark O’Connor, one of the world’s most famous fiddler/violinists.
How did a youth symphony get a guy who more commonly plays with groups such as the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony (not to mention the Spokane Symphony)?
The answer: Creative collaboration between two local organizations.
The Spokane Scholars, which recognizes top high school academic achievement, wanted O’Connor to speak at its annual banquet April 21. He needed to schedule a second event to make the trip worthwhile.
The Spokane Youth Symphony already had a concert planned for the day before and jumped at the opportunity to have him as a guest artist.
Youth symphony artistic director Verne Windham calls O’Connor, who has written four violin concertos and a symphony, “either the greatest fiddler to play the violin, or the finest violinist to play the fiddle.”
Not only will O’Connor perform, but he will “work directly with our youth,” said David Hollingshead, the youth symphony’s executive director.
He will play with each of the organization’s four orchestras at the concert April 20 at 4 p.m. at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox.
Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, $10 for students 17 and under, by calling (509) 624-1200.
‘Dancing With Celebrities’
The Christian Youth Theatre’s big fundraiser is coming up: “Dancing With the Celebrities,” Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave.
This idea is based on the same concept as the hit TV show, but with more than a dozen local “celebs,” including City Council member Joe Shogan and TV journalists Janet O of KXLY-4, Jennifer Kim of KHQ-6 and William Pitts and Lee Stoll of KREM-2.
Tickets are $15 and $25, available by calling (509) 487-6540 or online at www.cytspokane.com. The event is semiformal.
Children’s Chorus concert
The Spokane Area Children’s Chorus will present an International Music Concert on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Bing Crosby Theater.
The seven choirs of the chorus will sing music from France, South Africa, Scotland, China, Korea, Australia and elsewhere.
They will be joined by special guests Zingamarimba, from Whitman Elementary School, and the Eastern Washington University Percussion Ensemble.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, available in advance through the chorus office (509-624-7992) or at the door.
‘PVT. Wars’ at CenterStage
The next show coming up at CenterStage is a change-of-pace for dinner theater: a poignant comedy about Vietnam vets.
“PVT. Wars,” a 1979 play by James McLure, features three soldiers recovering from injuries and preparing to re-enter civilian life.
It will run gtp, March 27 to April 20 at CenterStage, 1017 W. First Ave. To reserve tickets, call (509) 747-8243.
Spokane”s ‘Road Show’
Just a reminder: The Spokane-filmed episodes of PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow” are scheduled to air March 31 and April 7 and 14.
Get your DVRs ready.
Pacific Coast Brass Band
The Pacific Coast Brass Band, an ensemble of the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West, will perform a free concert April 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the EWU Music Building Recital Hall in Cheney.
This 11-piece ensemble – plus a vocalist and percussionist – performs marches, classical pieces, jazz and patriotic works.
Admission is free, but tickets must be ordered by calling (509) 359-2241.
The USAF Band of the Golden West is stationed at Travis Air Force Base in California.
Baroque and way beyond
The Spokane classical music organization Allegro has always used the phrase “Baroque and Beyond” to define its musical mission.
Now Allegro has expanded way beyond Spokane, to Chapel Hill, N.C.
One of its co-artistic directors, Beverly Biggs, has been living in North Carolina for several years now, returning to Spokane for Allegro concerts and for the annual Royal Fireworks Concert.
Biggs now has launched a Baroque and Beyond concert series in Chapel Hill, which means that Allegro has outposts on both ends of the country.
Co-artistic director David Dutton, who still runs Allegro in Spokane, will join Biggs in North Carolina for a reprise of their recent “Parisian Nights” concert.