Culture

“A Cappella Live!” – which brings together the vocal harmonies of four award-winning ensembles in the classic model of a Motown Revue – will be presented at Livermore’s Bankhead Theater on Wednesday, Feb. 5, for one performance only.

The Livermore School of Dance Jazz Company will present “World of Imagination,” a dance revue directed by Liz Roberts that combines jazz, tap, hip hop, modern, contemporary lyrical and musical theater, at the Bankhead Theater on Saturday, Feb. 15.

After months of cement-colored skies looming over leafless trees, it feels like it’s time to take a sun-soaked vacation — say, to Greece. Roundtrip airfare? $1,800. Gleaming white villa with cobalt trim? $250. ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits double album? $25.

The Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet will take the stage Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Harrington Gallery at the Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasanton will host the California Watercolor Association Annual National Exhibition now through Feb. 22.

Distinguished members of the climate scientific community will join forces with the Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Tour at the Bankhead Theater at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 24.

The Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre will present the Tony Award-winning musical “West Side Story,” inspired by the timeless tale of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and set in the urban battleground of New York City’s West Side in the 1950s.

Pleasanton’s Museum on Main and the Pleasanton Art League this week opened their 13th annual showcase, Imagination Expressed 2020, featuring paintings, drawings, photography, ceramics, jewelry, and other works by local artists.

The Valley Concert Chorale will hold an open rehearsal at 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 13, with an opportunity for singers to audition that evening. The rehearsal and auditions will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 2020 Fifth Street, Livermore. Auditions will also be held by appointment only on…

The Livermore Art Association (LAA) and Pleasanton Art League (PAL) meeting this month will feature a demonstration of encaustic – or hot wax – painting by Dublin artist Summer Ellis.

The Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center will offer two free, family-friendly events this month that celebrate time-honored cultural traditions.

The Museum on Main will launch its 2020 Ed Kinney Speaker Series on Tuesday, Jan. 14, with “An Afternoon or Evening” with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a World War I Turkish field marshal who created an independent Republic of Turkey from the ruins the of the Ottoman Empire.

A new exhibit, “Living Large,” will open at the Bankhead Gallery on Wednesday, Jan. 8, and run through early March. The exhibit features large-format, two-dimensional works that range from seascapes, nature, and figurative images, to non-representational works that celebrate “joie de vivre.”…

Livermore Art Association Gallery, located in the Carnegie Building, offers art classes, unusual gifts, art exhibits and information pertaining to the art field, 2155 Third Street, Livermore. The gallery has been open since 1974 and is run as a co-op by local artists. Hours are Wed.-Sat. 11:…

The Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players will be joined by guest soprano Sherezade Panthaki Saturday, Jan. 11, in a banquet of musical works by Purcell, Locke, and Arne, with texts inspired by Shakespeare.

Livermore Reads Together is a community reading program featuring Robin Sloan’s delightful novel Sourdough. The community of Livermore is invited to read Sourdough and join their neighbors by participating in events related to the book, such as talks featuring Erica J. Peters, author of San …

The Beatles’ eleventh and last recording, “Abbey Road,” has been called a rock masterpiece and one of the most influential pop music recordings of all time. Known for their sensational shows, Classic Albums Live brings together world-class musicians to perform landmark albums, absolutely not…

“Art and Wine Intertwined” at the Bankhead Theater on Jan. 4 will feature art, live music and wine tastings from Livermore Valley wineries. The event from 1:30-3:30 p.m. marks the close of the current exhibit “Worth a Thousand Words” where original works of art have been combined with poetry…

The Pleasanton Library and Recreation Department will host “2020 Pleasanton Celebrates with Traditions of Many Cultures” at the Firehouse Arts Center on Sun, Jan. 12, 2020, from 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. This annual event is a celebration of the many cultures representing the diversity of Pleasant…

For the 27th consecutive year, Will Durst and his merry band of pranksters hit the road with their end-of-the-year comedy extravaganza, including a stop at the Firehouse Arts Center Theater in downtown Pleasanton on Fri., Dec. 27, at 8 p.m. The 2019 BFYEKO Comedy Show features a riotous coll…

Building on the success of nearly two years of Classic Film Musicals at the Bankhead Theater, Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center will continue them into 2020 and will also add 12 National Theatre Live Encore Screenings. Earlier this year, a new large projection screen was installed at t…

With a vocally driven style, Crawdad Republic offers an appealing mix of Americana, folk and bluegrass music, Tuesday, December 31 at 8 p.m. at the Bankhead Theater. The 2017 show was a sellout, proving that their Livermore wine country roots makes them an ideal band to ring in the New Year …

The largest environmental film festival in North America will soon be on display to the Tri-Valley for the first time. The Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour and Eco-Fair, organized by Tri-Valley Citizens’ Climate Education, will take place at the Bankhead Theater on January 24, 5:30 - …

The band known for their “bluegrass with attitude” returns to the Firehouse Arts Center Theater in downtown Pleasanton. Fresh off their 2019 Grammy Award nomination, The Special Consensus plays the Firehouse on Fri, January 17, at 8 p.m.

In a fresh take on a timeless classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas Live On Stage brings to life the beloved animated characters of the Emmy and Peabody award-winning story by Charles M. Schulz. The familiar story, with actors who convey the spirit of each character and backed by the unforgetta…

Acclaimed klezmer gypsy-rock band Mostly Kosher has been described as delivering a musical feast that explodes into a global food-fight of jazz, Latin, rock, and folk. The Bankhead Theater in downtown Livermore will welcome their radically reconstructed Judaic and American cultural music, fi…

An annual Tri-Valley holiday event, the Nutcracker continues to enchant audiences of all ages, bringing Tchaikovsky’s well-known music and ballet to life with all of its elegance and beauty. Thrill to a stage filled with one magical Nutcracker, a swirl of lovely snowflakes, adorable mice, da…

Sat., Dec. 14 to Sun. Dec. 22, at the Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., in Livermore. For more information, visit www.valleydancetheatre.com.

The Valley Concert Chorale, Tri-Valley’s premier chorus for over 50 years, will ring in the holidays with A British Christmas: Celebrate with Carols from The Choir of Kings College, Cambridge. The two Livermore concerts are Saturday, December 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the First Presbyterian Church,…

Hailing from historic County Waterford, traditional Irish ensemble Danú brings an enchanting mix of music, song and dance to the Bankhead Theater Monday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in “An Emerald Isle Christmas”. The musical style and sound that has played an integral role in Irish holiday and com…

Each year, International Guitar Night’s (IGN) founder Brian Gore invites a new cast of guitar luminaries from around the world for North American tours that highlights the diversity of the acoustic guitar.

The enchanting modern classic from Disney is ready for your Broadway Junior stars! Frozen JR. is based on the 2018 Broadway musical, and brings Elsa, Anna, and the magical land of Arendelle to life, onstage. The show features all the memorable songs from the animated film, with music and lyr…

A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Stage, Sun., Dec. 29, 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m., Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. www.lvpac.org or 925.373.6800.

A new Steinway concert grand piano has been installed at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore and officially made its debut on Saturday, December 7, 2019 at Livermore-Amador Symphony’s Winter Dreams concert. The concert included the familiar “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saëns, whi…

Encore Players invites you to share in the warmth and humor of American playwright and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thornton Wilder. Martie Muldoon and Ray Spooner direct two of his one-act plays and three monologues. Performances will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday,…

Livermore-Amador Symphony's “Winter Dreams” at the Bankhead Theater, Sat., Dec. 7, at 8:15 p.m., conducted by Lara Webber. At 3 p.m., immediately preceding the Livermore Holiday Parade, the symphony will present a free family concert complete with an instrument petting zoo where kids can hol…

“So You Think You Can Make a Movie” was the theme, title and the task for 54 budding filmmakers ranging from age 13 to 22 attending the Joey Travolta Short Film Camp in Dublin this year. Their efforts premiered on Nov. 5 at Livermore’s Vine Theater. All the campers had some degree of autism …

Artist Leonardo Cuervo chose to settle in Livermore in 2012 because the city offered a “feeling of welcoming and peacefulness.” His son Ignacio was born one year later. “For my son and other children, Livermore is an amazing and wonderful place for a child to grow up in,” Cuervo said. Born i…

The Livermore Valley Opera invites you to the fundraising party of the year, Moulin Rouge 2020, at the Club Ruby Hill on Saturday, February 1, at 5 p.m. Wear RED and experience all the fun and excitement of the evening (black tie recommended). Enjoy French cabaret style setting; a Domaine Ch…

The Las Positas College Department of Theater Arts is proud to present "Let's Face It - The Life and Times of Cole Porter", Saturday December 14 at 7 p.m. in the Mertes Center for the Arts (Building 4000, 3000 Campus Hill Drive). This performance is the end product of The Musical Theater Wor…

Le Tableau Magnifique Ballet Company will be performing “Reveries & Remembrances” at the Livermore High School Theater on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m.

The Glorious - Handel Messiah, presented by the Pacific Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Conductor Lawrence Kohl. At the end of the concert presentation, the audience is invited to join in with a sing-a-long reprise of the famed Hallelujah chorus. Sunday, Dec. 1, 3 p.m., at the Bankh…

Facing south across Mendocino Bay, the Temple of Kwan Tai is formally known as California Historical Landmark #927. For docent and board member Jeff Kan Lee, the vibrant red and green building at 45160 Albion Street and the artifacts it contains offer a unique window into history through the…

Spend an evening with platinum-selling artists Phil Vassar and Lonestar as they perform at the Bankhead Theater, on Monday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m., as part of their second annual “Holiday & Hits” Christmas tour.

For writers, intimate theater spaces offer a mini slice of heaven: while remaining unobserved, writers are free to discourteously listen to and inspect all sorts of human conditions without being called upon to reveal any of their own.

Livermore-Amador Symphony opens its 57th regular season with “Winter Dreams” at Livermore’s Bankhead Theater on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 8:15 p.m. Conducted by Music Director Lara Webber, the concert will feature: Mozart’s “Three German Dances,” including “The Sleigh Ride;” Saint-Saens’s “Carniv…

Valley Dance Theatre will present its annual full-length production of Tchaikovsky’s magical holiday classic The Nutcracker, from Saturday, Dec. 14 to Sunday, Dec. 22, at the Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., in Livermore.

Running Scared Productions presents a dynamic musical evening – Roy Orbison Returns – at the Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center’s Bankhead Theater on Saturday, Nov. 30, at 8 p.m.