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This week, Happy Dog Duo plays a concert of classical favorites, bestselling author Allison Saft launches her latest book at Kepler’s, the Menlo Park Library hosts “A Visit with Nikola Tesla” and a Computer History Museum exhibit celebrates the Mac’s 40th birthday.
Happy Dog Duo
Pianists Eric Tran and Nathan Cheung, who perform as Happy Dog Duo, have toured internationally, played with numerous orchestras (including the Stanford Symphony Orchestra), and won many awards over the course of their two-decade career. The duo will present a concert of favorites, suitable for all ages, including Leonard Bernstein’s “Overture to Candide,” Maurice Ravel’s “Rapsodie Espagnole,” Paul Dukas’ “Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” and Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite, ending with “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” The duo is known for bringing humor and joy to the classical music world. Friends and collaborators since middle school, both pianists are graduates of Stanford University. According to their website, “They enjoy performing memorized concerts, premiering original works, and amusing audiences with their improvisatory, notoriously ridiculous concert interruptus talks.” And despite their duo’s name, “Neither Nathan nor Eric has any dogs.”
Jan. 6, 7:30 p.m., Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts (MVCPA SecondStage), 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Tickets are $16-$30. tickets.mvcpa.com.
A visit with Nikola Tesla
Actor, director and educator Duffy Hudson embodies the visionary scientist, electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla in a one-person show, followed by a chance for the audience to talk with Tesla – and then Hudson as himself. Hudson, a Broadway and film veteran, presents solo shows in which he brings to life figures such as Edgar Allan Poe, Albert Einstein, George Burns, Dr. Seuss, and Audie Murphy, and even a one-man production of “A Christmas Carol.”
Jan. 6, noon, Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma St., Menlo Park. Free. menlopark.gov.
A Fragile Enchantment
Kepler’s Books gets the year off to a magical start with New York Times and indie bestselling author Allison Saft, who’s on hand to launch her newest work, “A Fragile Enchantment.” The book spins a romantic story about a magically gifted dressmaker tasked with creating the clothing for a royal wedding in a neighboring land that seems fairytale perfect, but hides some dark secrets. She ends up drawn into a political and potentially dangerous situation when she starts falling for the groom. Saft appears in conversation with fellow bestselling author Ava Reid.
Jan. 9, 7 p.m. at Kepler’s Books, 1010 El Camino Real #100, Menlo Park. Tickets are $5-$10 without book/$30 with book. keplers.org.
Hello: The Apple Mac@40
Apple’s groundbreaking computer, the Macintosh, is officially middle-aged: as the Mac turns 40 in 2024, the Computer History Museum is hosting a pop-up exhibit to mark the milestone. Technology may have come a long way since 1984, but the impact of the tiny, boxy computer, with its user-friendly interface and mouse — and the era of Apple branding and design it ushered in — is unmistakable. The exhibit, “Hello: The Apple Mac@40,” draws from the museum’s collection as well as items on loan from Apple alums to highlight everything from the workings of the machine itself to the branding that helped make Apple a household name. The exhibit includes rare prototypes as well as artifacts related to the Mac’s creation and marketing — even a leotard modeled after one worn in the famous 1984 Super Bowl ad touting the new tech.
Through Feb. 25 at the Computer History Museum, 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View. Admission is $6.50-$19.50. computerhistory.org.
Joan Lane, trailblazing volunteer and Stanford’s go-to for ‘sticky problems,' dies at 97March 25, 2026 3:23 pm