This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Firehouse Arts Center Season Openers: Jazz, Blues, Classical Music

Firehouse Arts Center Season Openers Highlight Jazz, Blues, Classical Music

Season openers at City of Pleasanton's Firehouse Arts Center will include performances by master jazz guitarist Earl Klugh on Friday, September 24, celebrated composer musician Mose Allison on Saturday, September 25, and award-winning pianist Evelyne Brancart in a 200th Anniversary of Chopin and Schumann Concert on Sunday, September 26, 2010. The full weekend of entertainment will be presented at the newly-opened facility at 4444 Railroad Avenue in Pleasanton.

During his extraordinary career, Earl Klugh has been the recipient of twelve Grammy nominations and 23 Top Ten Billboard Jazz Chart albums. His 8:00 p.m. show on September 24 will highlight his newest album, The Spice of Life, which was the Billboard and iTunes Bestselling Jazz Album for 2008.

Find out what's happening in Pleasantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mose Allison's more than 150 songs are known to cross all musical boundaries and have been sung by artists such as The Who, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, The Clash and Diana Krall. He will perform at 8:00 p.m. on September 25, when audiences will experience his singular style, a unique blending of jazz and blues, and his profound lyrical wit. After a 12 year recording hiatus Allison recently recorded The Way of the World on Anti Records, produced by Joe Henry.

Award-winning Belgian pianist Evelyne Brancart is chair of the piano department at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. The school is largest music school in the United States and its piano department is the largest in the world. A renowned solo recitalist and chamber musician, Brancart has performed worldwide and has taught many of the best upcoming pianists.

Find out what's happening in Pleasantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Brancart will perform Chopin's 24 Etudes, op. 10 & 25, and Schumann's Sonata No. 1 in F# minor, op. 11 at a 3:00 p.m. Sunday matinee on September 26, 2010. The concert will honor the 200th birthdays of both of Chopin and Schumann.

On the following day, Monday, September 27, 2010, Brancart will present a lecture, The Hand as a Source of Inspiration, for the Alameda East County Branch of the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC). In the lecture, she will present an innovative view of the Chopin Etudes, considering the fact that Chopin was not only an extraordinary pianist but also a drawing artist. She will relate to each Etude as a physical, musical, emotional or pianistic sketch and examine how each etude evolves from the previous one.

The lecture is free and open to the public. It will take place at 10:00 am at the LuPing Yang piano studio, 2980 Amoroso Court (off Montevino) in Pleasanton. More information is available at 925- 484-1150.

Tickets to the Earl Klugh performance are $35, $40 and $45 and tickets to the Mose Allison show are $22, $27 and $32.Β  Tickets to the 200th Anniversary Piano Concert are $16, $20 and $24 with senior tickets at $20 and student tickets at $12. Series and group discounts are available.

All tickets may now be purchased online at www.firehousearts.org up toΒ three hours prior to each performance. Phone orders at 925-931-4848 and in-person sales at the Firehouse Arts Center Box Office begin September 10, 2010. Box Office hours are Wednesday-Friday, 12 noon-6:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. and for two hours prior to the performance. Group discounts are available.

About the Firehouse Arts Center

The Firehouse Arts Center is owned and operated by the City of Pleasanton. Plans for an arts center with a small theater, art gallery and art classrooms emerged from a community process that began in 2001. The Firehouse Arts Center incorporates portions of the city's first fire station built in 1929 with bricks from a local foundry. Highlights of this spectacular new arts venue include a 227-seat flexible studio theater, 2,000 square feet of high quality art exhibit space in the Harrington Gallery, two large arts classrooms, and a spacious lobby for receptions and events. For more information, please visit www.firehousearts.org.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?