2020 Ovations Performing Arts Series Begins Sunday
The Calaveras Arts Council is celebrating over 31 years of presenting the Ovations Performing Arts Series, with this year’s series starting on Sunday.
Kathy Mazzaferro, the Executive Director for the Calaveras County Arts Council, was Friday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.
The entire Ovations Performing Arts Series takes place at the Dr. Elliot A. Smart Performance Arts Center, which is also the Bret Harte High School Theater, in Angels Camp.
Here is the 2020 lineup:
CANTAMOS WITH MICHELA MACFARLANE
Sunday, January 12 2020
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Michela and the eight member band Cantamos will highlight their musical dexterity by flowing seamlessly between arias, traditional Latin songs, musical showstoppers, and contemporary favorites. Michela leads this eclectic band by singing in English, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hawaiian or German. Sometimes she will even sing classical songs in Latin, having explored Baroque music exclusively for ten years before she expanded her singing world to the realms of jazz, pop, and Latin sounds.
Michela is backed by Ron Schaner on (Bass and vocals), Gunther Huse (Keyboards and Trumpet), Fred Treece (Guitars and vocals), Ray Price (Drums & percussion), Ras Beeken Dan (Sax, Clarinet, Flute & vocals), Matt Albright (Trombone & vocals) and Tonja Peterson (vocals & percussion).
LAURIE LEWIS AND THE RIGHT HANDS
Sunday, February 9 2020
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
For fiddler, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and Grammy-winner Laurie Lewis, the traditions of bluegrass and folk aren’t so much tools in her hands, but burning sources of inspiration that have driven her through a 30+ year career at the forefront of American roots music. A pioneering woman in bluegrass, Laurie has paved the way for many young women today, always guided by her own love of traditional music and the styles of her heroes that came before.
Since her debut in 1986, Laurie has recorded over 20 albums. She’s been a founding member of the Good Ol’ Persons and the Grant Street String Band, twice been voted IBMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year, her classic rendition of Kate Long’s song, “Who Will Watch the Home Place?” won International Bluegrass Song of the Year, and her latest album with her band the Right Hands, The Hazel and Alice Sessions, was nominated for the Best Bluegrass Recording Grammy in 2017.
Laurie’s upcoming album, …and Laurie Lewis, is due out later this year and features intimate duets—among others—with Molly Tuttle, Mike Marshall, Nina Gerber, Tom Rozum, Tatiana Hargreaves, and Todd Phillips.
THE DIAMONDS
Sunday, March 15 2020
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Through the years since the release of Little Darlin’ (1957), the Diamonds have learned one important lesson: The durability of classic (fifties) rock and roll music is as much about the future as it is about the past. As a result, the Diamonds continue to expand their audience to this day, performing in a variety of venues and settings worldwide. These performances include — with Symphony Orchestras, in Performing Arts Theatres and major concert halls, on cruise ships, in casinos, at county and state fairs, on tours of England, Ireland, Brazil, Chile, Korea, and Japan, for benefit concerts, corporate conventions and at nightclubs. “We’ve been pleased to find a growing audience among all age groups. They love songs they can understand, remember and actually sing the words to — today, tomorrow, or even 20 years from now.”
The Diamonds’ many accomplishments over the years include:
3 Gold Records (Silhouettes, The Stroll and Little Darlin’)
33 appearances on American Bandstand
Soundtrack – American Graffiti
Soundtrack – Happy Days
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
Doo-Wop Hall of Fame
THE DRIFTWOOD CONSORT
Sunday, April 5 2020
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Driftwood Consort “plays with as much fire, fun, and especially talent, that you’d think they composed the music.” (Bruce Bratton of Bratton Online, 2012)
Driftwood Consort presents an evening of classical French baroque music, performed on historic instruments like the theorbo (a gigantic 14-string lute), the viola da gamba (a cello-like instrument), and wooden flutes.
French music—inn contrast to the Italian and German baroque style—distinguishes itself by its delicacy, detailed ornamentation and use of dance-patterns. Francois Couperin’s “Les Nations” and a selection of “Pieces en Trio” by Marin Marais form the centerpiece of this program. Both composers were appointed to the court of King Louis XIV (Louis XIV, The Sun King, made dance into a powerful political tool in his court at Versaille). Complementing these larger works are duos by Blavet and Forqueray, written just for flutes or viola da gamba and theorbo, thus highlighting the unique properties of these instruments.
Driftwood Consort is based in the San Francisco Bay. It features Lars Johannesson and Alissa Roedig on flutes, Amy Brodo on viola da gamba, and Tatiana Senderowicz on theorbo.
All tickets are $25 Adult and $10 Youth (under 18). Order tickets online at http://www.calaverasarts.org/ to choose your seats until 6 PM the Friday before the show or at the box office after 2 PM on the day of the show.
For more information, call the Calaveras Arts Council at 209-754-1774.
The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
