UMO kids strut their stuff
The UMO School of Physical Arts will present “The Big Bang” at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 1, at Open Space for Arts & Community. More than 70 students and teachers will perform gymnastics and aerial routines, parkour and clowning. Tickets, on sale at the door and brownpapertickets.com, are $5 child, $10 adult and $20 for families.
Suzuki & I Solisti di Vashon Concert
A concert by the Suzuki program of Vashon Center for the Arts will showcase young island string players at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, at the arts center. I Solisti di Vashon, another student ensemble conducted by Gaye Detzer, will also perform. A pre-concert “instrument petting zoo” for all ages will take place before the show. Tickets, $5, are on sale at vashoncenterforthearts.com
Early Music returns
The Salish Sea Early Music Festival’s next concert, featuring a mostly Italian repertoire from the early 17th century, will take place at noon Tuesday, June 4, at Bethel Church, 14736 S.W. Bethel Lane. Musicians, all playing period instruments, will include Shulamit Kleinerman, Anna Marsh, Jeffrey Cohan and John Lenti. There is a suggested donation of $15 to $25, with those 18 and younger admitted free.
Jay Thomas Quartet performs
Vashon Center for the Arts’ latest Jazz Series will wrap at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 6, with a performance by the Jay Thomas Quartet. Thomas is a versatile multi-instrumentalist who plays trumpet, flugelhorn, saxophones and flutes. Advance tickets to the show cost $10 to $22, and can be purchased at vashoncenterforthearts.org. All tickets at the door cost $26.
Music at the Bookshop
Island guitarist, composer and teacher Daryl Redeker will perform with his students at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 7, at Vashon Bookshop. Youth performers are Dimitrius Brown, Emmett Sherman and Eva Cain. All are accomplished and soulful musicians, Redeker said.
Follow the yellow brick road
Vashon Dance Academy students will perform “The Wizard of Oz” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8, and 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9, at Vashon High School theater. Isa Sanson-Frey and Gwynne Valencia are cast as Dorothy; Lyla Mildon and Hannah Spranger will play the Tin Man; Aiden Rees and Lyla Mildon are the Scarecrow; Hannah Spranger and Aiden Rees are the Lion and Sophie Blasingim and Isa Sanson-Frey are the Witch. Dozens of other dancers will play munchkins, crows, apples and flying monkeys. Tickets, $16 for adults and $12 for students, are available at Vashon Bookshop as well as at the door.
Swampbottom Jamboree benefits VCC
Vashon Community Care will present “A Swampbottom Jamboree” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 8. The event is a roving performance journey through 16 acres of forest trails, fens and frog-filled waters on Maury Island. More than 25 musicians, dancers and other performers will present interludes along the way. The event is created by Steffon Moody, who has produced previous editions of “Swampbottom.” Tickets cost $60. Buy them online before June 8 at vashoncommunitycare.org, and get directions to the event.
Jon Langford comes to town
Jon Langford, a Renaissance man of indie rock, will play a show at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 8, at Snapdragon. Langford, known as the guiding light of bands including the Waco Brothers and The Mekons, has collaborated with a vast constellation of alt-country, noise rock and punk heroes in his day. Tickets, $10, are on sale at brownpapertickets.com.
Ravel celebrated at VCA
“The Life and Music of Maurice Ravel,” a music history lecture and concert, will be presented at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 9, at Vashon Center for the Arts. Musicologist Michael Tracy will share his encyclopedic knowledge of Ravel, and Seattle pianist Mark Salman will play some of Ravel’s compositions. Salman will also accompany his son Jonathan in Ravel’s “Cello Sonata.” Island composer and pianist Christopher Overstreet and soprano Holly Johnson will also present three songs. Tickets are $14 to $18 and available in advance at vashoncenterforthearts.org. Students are encouraged to attend the performance. Their tickets are free, with reduced ticket prices for their parents.
Claudia Schmidt Tips the Scale
Claudia Schmidt, a celebrated songwriter and player of 12-string guitar and mountain dulcimer, will perform at a house concert on Vashon at 7 p.m. Monday, June 10. To find out the location, make a reservation for the show with kat@kateggleston.com. The show is presented by Tip the Scales, an island organization. Schmidt has traveled the world with her music, appeared regularly on “A Prairie Home Companion,” and released 14 albums during her long career. Her songs explore folk, blues and jazz idioms.
