This week on Open Air, KALW’s radio magazine for the Bay Area performing arts, host David Latulippe talks with Lauren Jonas, co-founder and artistic director of the Diablo Ballet in Walnut Creek, which opens its 25thanniversary season on November 9 with A Swingin’ Holiday & More.
The program includes the annual holiday favorite, A Swingin’ Holiday by choreographer Sean Kelly, set to music by Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Nat King Cole, and others; plus Carnival of the Imagination, choreographed by Robert Dekkers and set to Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. Performances are on November 9, 10 and 11 at the Del Valle Theatre in Walnut Creek.
From the Elevate Ensemble, we talk to artistic director and conductor Chad Goodman about the opening concert of the ensemble’s fifth season. The program, called Iconoclasts & Freethinkers, includes music by Czech composer Leos Janacek, American composer Jordan Kuspa, German composer Paul Hindemith, as well as a world-premiere by Elevate’s composer-in-residence Julie Herndon, who will be joining the conversation. Concerts are at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on Saturday, November 3rd (8pm) and in Sonoma at the Petaluma Arts Center (2pm) on November 4th.
We talk to cellist Michelle Djokic in her capacity as artistic director of Palo Alto-based chamber music organization Musikiwest, which is in its second season of offering top class chamber music performances that are both affordable and accessible. A central aspect of Musikiwest’s mission is the use of open, scripted rehearsals to address issues such as bullying, shaming and exclusivity with local middle and high schools children. Musikiwest’s next concert is on November 8 at the Mitchell Park Community Center (3700 Middlefield Road) in Palo Alto (7:30pm).
We talk to dancer and choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith, about the world premiere of her new work With Care, a collaboration with Scottish violinist Keir GoGwilt with new music by composer Matthew Aucoin, who are both also part of the discussion. Performances are on November 1, 2 and 3 (8pm) at ODC Theater (3153 17th St.) in San Francisco.
Plus, Marilyn Levinson stops by to bring us up to speed about the concert season at Bay Area Cabaret, which continues with An Evening with Kate Baldwin on Sunday, November 4 (5 pm) at the legendary Venetian Room of the Fairmont Hotel (950 Mason Street) in San Francisco. Two time Tony Award-nominated actress and singer Kate Baldwincomes directly to Bay Area Cabaret from the record-breaking 2017 Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, starring opposite Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters and Gavin Creel.
Open Air with host David Latulippe, heard live on Thursday, November 1, at 1pm. Listen now or anytime…