MEDIA RELEASE from the Calaveras County Arts Council
Dates: Series of 5 concerts + a Prelude to the Season “Nutcracker”
Beginning Dec. 18, 2009 ending March 28, 2010
Contact: Penny West
Five performances plus a Prelude holiday Nutcracker dance performance will be featured this winter in the “Ovations” Performing Arts Series of the Calaveras County Arts Council. For 29 years the non-profit arts agency has been presenting a variety of high quality concerts to the rural residents of the Gold Country. All of the performances will be in Angels Camp at the Bret Harte Theatre, also known as the Dr. Elliott Smart Performing Arts Center, at 323 Highway 49. Season Tickets for all six concerts are available now at $120; Arts Council members are $105. Single tickets go on sale November 26. The Nutcracker costs $15 per adult; youth to 18 cost $7. All other Ovations tickets are $25 per adult; $10 for youth to 18. Buy them on-line at www.highsierratickets.com.
2009 – 2010 Season OVATIONS SCHEDULE:
Prelude to the
Season - The Nutcracker
Friday, December 18
at 6:00 pm; Saturday, Dec. 19 at 1:00 and 6:00 pm
A full length, professional quality production of The Nutcracker Ballet will be performed by Studio 4 Dance Theatre of Murphys. Professional ballerina and dance instructor Tammie Lee brings to the stage dozens of local young dancers. Dazzling costumes and sets will further enthrall families with this enchanting holiday classic.
The Massenkoff
Russian Folk Festival – Starring
Nikolai Massenkoff and his ensemble of folk dancers and musicians
Sunday, January
10 3:00
pm
His voice is deep and magnificent and will be backed by balalaika Slavic folk instruments and joined by Russian folk dancers incorporating songs, stories, native costumes. This spectacular company explodes across the stage in color and beauty. They’ve performed all over the world including Carnegie Hall and before 90,000 people at the Olympics.
Mary Youngblood –Grammy-
winning Native American flutist performing with percussion and guitar
Saturday, February 6 3:00 pm
It takes only a moment to acknowledge the profound spirituality of the sacred Native American flute, its historical courtship and wooing attributes. Her haunting music is much more than a song…it’s liquid poetry, a prayer inspired by the wonders of nature. With rich vibrato and notes that melt into your heart, Mary Youngblood takes the artistry of Native American flute music to its highest level.
Anna Maria Mendieta – Classical Harpist performing with strings,
percussion and dancers
Sunday, February 21 3:00 pm
Anna Maria Mendieta is currently the principal harpist with
the Sacramento Philharmonic. Recognized
as an exceptional soloist and charismatic player she will present a musical
mix, from Classical to Broadway to Tango. With her ensemble and tight haunting
arrangements, the program will amaze and entertain you. She has performed with
mezzo-soprano, Federica von
Stade, and contemporaries like, Olivia Newton-John and Barry Manilow. CD Review Magazine quoted “Harp at its
best…an extremely talented woman…Ms. Mendieta’s flawless execution is
…outstanding!”
Mother Lode Freinds of Music
Orchestra – Playing a Russian repertoire
including Stravinsky’s “Firebird.”
Saturday, March
6 3:00
pm
Sixty members will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Peter Tchaikovsky, Polonaise, from Eugene Onegin, Reinhold Gliere, Dance of the Russian Sailors, and Igor Stravinsky, The Firebird Suite. Guest conductor is Andrei Gorbatenko from the San Francisco Academy Orchestra. Piano soloist is local resident, music instructor and author, Ron Brickman, described as “… stunning and magnificent.”
The Woody Guthrie Revue - Foot-stomping, roof-raisin’,
soul-soarin’ musical journey
Sunday, March 28 3:00
pm
Guthrie’s homespun wisdom, gentle humor and majestic music will have you leaving the theatre with not only a song in your heart, but refreshed and invigorated with his own sense of tolerance and optimism. “This Land is your Land,” “Bound for Glory” and “Hard Travelin” will be performed by a regional cast of musicians, singers and actors. They’ll perform the story of Woody Guthrie’s life down the highways, rail lines and back roads straight into the heart of America.
For more information about Ovations, call the Calaveras County Arts Council at (209)754-1774 or visit www.calaverasarts.org.