|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
This week, Los Altos Stage Company offers a fresh take on the classic love-triangle story of “Cyrano de Bergerac;” Brazilian singer-songwriter Bia Ferreira performs at Stanford Live; editors and contributors for a book about Vietnamese writers in the diaspora will discuss the book at Kepler’s; violinist and composer Chad Cannon and pianist Hui Wu play “music for the ocean” in a free concert at the Community School of Music and Arts; the Ariel Quartet performs at Kohl Mansion; the Museum of American Heritage opens two new exhibitions and a new creative arts center hosts hands-on fundraising events in Redwood City.
‘Cyrano’
The story of “Cyrano de Bergerac” has been around for a long time (Edmond Rostand wrote the play back in 1897). This spring, Los Altos Theatre Company is taking on the French love-triangle classic and giving it a fresh update. Devised by Maria Giere Marquis, Max Tachis and Jeffrey Lo, “Cyrano” is a new, contemporary adaptation in which the titular character is reimagined as a woman. The production “weaves the past and present, allowing for a re-examination of the play’s themes of self-perception, love, and social expectations through a different lens,” the theater company’s website states.
April 10-May 4, Thursdays-Saturdays (and select Wednesdays) at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m., 97 Hillview Ave., Los Altos; $28-$51; losaltosstage.org/cyrano.
Bia Ferreira
Brazilian singer-songwriter, anti-racist activist and LGBTQ advocate Bia Ferreira describes her music as MMP: Música de Mulher Preta (Black Woman Music), and her engaging songs cover topics including feminism and love, blending reggae, groovy soul sounds and funky beats. Her song “Cota Não é Esmola” has garnered millions of online streams, according to Stanford Live. Ferreira comes to Stanford for an intimate concert in the Studio at Bing Concert Hall, the last stop on a spring tour of France and the U.S.
April 11, 7 p.m., The Studio, 327 Lasuen St., Stanford; $30-$45; live.stanford.edu.
‘The Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora’
“The Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora” brings together the voices of acclaimed Vietnamese diasporic authors from around the world in a landmark collection, which features 18 dialogues between 37 artists and writers. To celebrate the book’s launch, Kepler’s Literary Foundation and the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) are co-presenting an event featuring the book’s editors (Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen, DVAN co-founder Isabelle Thuy Pelaud and poet Lan Duong), plus contributors Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Doan Bui. “This collection highlights how Vietnamese diasporic writers speak about having been cleaved – a condition in which they have been separated from, yet still hew to, the country that they have left behind,” Kepler’s event page states.
April 11, 6:30 p.m., Kepler’s Books, 1010 El Camino Real #100, Menlo Park; $11.49-$38.79 depending on ticket option; tinyurl.com/CleavingatKeplers.
‘Chad Cannon: Music for the Ocean’
Violinist and composer Chad Cannon, accompanied by pianist Hui Wu, presents “Music for the Ocean,” a new series of compositions and improvisations by Cannon centered on sound and marine life, with the aim of inspiring empathy and concern for the world’s oceans through music. Sound recordings of whales and coral reefs and projected oceanic imagery add to the program’s immersive feeling, and Cannon hopes audiences come away from the free performance eager to contribute to marine conservation projects, according to the Community School of Music and Arts’ website.
April 12, 7:30 p.m., Tateuchi Hall, Community School of Music and Arts, 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View; free; arts4all.org/concerts/chad-cannon-music-for-the-ocean.
Ariel Quartet
The Ariel Quartet (featuring Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikovon on violin, Jan Grüning on viola and Amit Even-Tov on cello) has been making music for more than 25 years, starting back when its members were teenage students in Israel, and earning acclaim internationally for its fiery performances and virtuosity. The quartet performs locally as part of the Music at Kohl Mansion series, with a planned program including works by Felix Mendelssohn, Lera Auerbach and Benjamin Britten. Christopher Costanza, cellist of the St. Lawrence String Quartet and lecturer at Stanford University, will offer a pre-concert talk, and wine and dessert will follow the performance.
April 13, talk at 6 p.m., concert at 7 p.m.; Kohl Mansion, 2750 Adeline Drive, Burlingame; $30-$62; musicatkohl.org.
New exhibitions at the Museum of American Heritage
Starting April 11, downtown Palo Alto’s Museum of American Heritage, dedicated to the history of technological innovation from 1750 to 1950, has two new exhibitions opening this month. “Honoring 35 Years of Collectors,” on view through Sept. 25, pays tribute to the folks who have helped grow the museum’s collection of mechanical and technological artifacts over the years. Visitors can also check out the new special exhibition “Minding the Store,” plus MOAH’s permanent exhibits and picturesque garden grounds.
Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Museum of American Heritage, 351 Homer Ave., Palo Alto; free; moah.org.
Paint & Sip & Stitch fundraisers
Three events offer a chance to get creative, get a sneak peek inside a new arts space — and be one of the first folks in decades to get a look inside a unique historic building. The Center for Creativity is embarking on a two-year pilot project based in the Hotel Sequoia in downtown Redwood City, which is slated to open in May. Through partnerships with local arts groups, the center will offer art exhibitions, classes, performances and more, with an eye toward building a permanent arts hub in San Mateo County. Guests can help raise funds for the center at Sip & Stitch classes on April 13 and 15, where they can learn the basics of cross-stitch embroidery to make a keychain; they can Sip & Color Blooms at a class that covers drawing flowers and easy watercolor techniques on April 13; or create their own landscape paintings at an April 15 Sip & Paint class. Ticket price for each class includes supplies, appetizers and wine.
April 13 or 15, 6 p.m., Center for Creativity, 800 Main St., Redwood City. $60.54 for each class; eventbrite.com.
Joan Lane, trailblazing volunteer and Stanford’s go-to for ‘sticky problems,' dies at 97March 25, 2026 3:23 pm