Spotlight: Prism Quartet sets tone for area calendar

OK, kiddos. Buckle in. We’re in for a fun week.

All that sax

The award-winning saxophone ensemble Prism Quartet will land in Moscow, Idaho, for a performance Tuesday that concludes the University of Idaho’s Auditorium Chamber Music Series.

The group’s repertoire ranges from J.S. Bach to George Gershwin. The musicians – Matthew Levy, Timothy McAllister, Zach Shemon and Taimur Sullivan – have graced stages across the country, including Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. Their five recordings have featured works by composers such as Jacob TV, William Albright, William Bolcom and Steven Mackey, as well as their own original compositions.

As part of Prism Quartet’s visit to the Palouse, the musicians will perform for fifth-graders at nine Latah County schools, and will coach college saxophonists.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the UI Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for students, $17 for seniors and $20 for the general public. They are available at BookPeople, 521 S. Main St., Moscow, or through the auditorium series website, www.auditoriumseries.org.>

Setting sail

The event will feature a musical revue directed by Abbey Crawford and featuring 40 performers, a three-course dinner and beverage, and live and silent auctions. Ticket sales close Monday. Tickets are $40, or $35 each for eight or more seats, and are available online at www.lakecityplayhouse.org or by calling the playhouse box office, (208) 667-1323.

“Titanic,” with a book by Peter Stone and music by Maury Yeston, won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Dinner starts at 7 p.m., the show at 7:30, at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, 4718 E. Horsehaven Ave., Post Falls.

Let music ring

The winter concert series at Spokane Falls Community College gets under way Monday, and continues through March 13. All performances will be in the SFCC Music/Performing Arts Building auditorium (Building 15), and most begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5, or $2 for students and seniors.

The lineup is:

• Monday: Community Band, under the direction of Karl Mote and Paul Halversen, featuring music by George Gershwin and Phillip Bliss.

• March 11: Symphony Orchestra, directed by Shelley Rotz and featuring works by Hector Berlioz and W.A. Mozart.

• March 12: Choral Music Concert, directed by Nathan Lansing, with accompanist Zhao Zhao Yang, symphony director Shelley Rotz and barbershop director Jay Krumbholz. This concert begins at 7 p.m.

• March 13: Jazz Night, directed Danny McCollim and Kevin Woods and featuring traditional jazz selections plus original compositions.

A night in Venice

Dust off your mask and your “black tie casual” attire. The Spokane Symphony is hosting its second Venetian Masquerade on Saturday night at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave.

The fundraiser will feature dancing on the Fox stage, music by the Masked Men of Jazz, games and food.

Admission is for those 21 and older only and a no-host bar will be available. Tickets are $50, available at the Fox box office, by phone at (509) 624-1200, online at www.spokanesymphony.org, or through all TicketsWest outlets.

Premiere play

For Jonathan Johnson, inspiration hit when he was 19 and he visited the house in Rome where the poet John Keats died.

Now, 25 years later, his first play, “Ode,” about Keats and the great love of his life Fanny Brawne, will make its world premiere next weekend at Eastern Washington University.

Why the wait? Johnson put it succinctly: “I wanted to wait until I had the chops to pull it off.”

Johnson, who teaches in EWU’s creative writing MFA program, writes poetry and prose primarily. His first collection of poetry, “Mastodon, 80% Complete,” was published in 1991, and he’s had poems published in “Best American Poetry” and “North American Review,” among other journals and anthologies. His memoir, “Hannah and the Mountain: Notes Toward a Wilderness Fatherhood,” was published in 2005.

But he started college as a theater major, he said, and got some help on the script from actors he met while living in the U.K. for year: Jeff Rawle (Amos Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) and Louise Brealey (Molly Hooper on BBC’s “Sherlock”).

“The two of them taught me how to write plays,” Johnson said.

The play, directed by Sara Goff, will begin its six-show run Friday. Shows will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and again March 15-16, at 2 p.m. March 10 and 5 p.m. March 14. Tickets are $10 for the public and free for students. The theater is located in EWU’s College of Fine Arts complex.

The play also will be performed April 9 as part of Get Lit!