Fall arts preview: Fully reopened local arts scene offers audiences a jam-packed fall calendar

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Jomar Martinez plays Dewey Finn in Palo Alto Players' season opener, 'School of Rock. — Jomar Martinez plays Dewey Finn in Palo Alto Players’ season opener, ‘School of Rock.” Courtesy Scott Lasky.

The Peninsula arts community has never been one to wait in the wings. Local arts groups have nimbly negotiated two and a half years of a drastically shifting landscape; they have taken the lead in finding creative solutions to safely reach audiences while continuing to bring provocative, compelling and entertaining work to galleries, stages, bookstores and other spaces — as well as laptop screens.

In short, they have made sure that show has always gone on. And looking ahead to a fall season packed with exhibits, concerts, plays, performances and author events, it’s clear that now more than ever, the Peninsula arts scene is ready to rock.

Visual arts

Spotlight: California sculptor Bruce Beasley's career spans six decades, and he has shown in more than 200 exhibitions around the globe. But come October, the best place to catch some of his recent work will be right here on the Peninsula, where his work, which explores the intersection of technology and fine art, might seem especially at home. Pamela Walsh Gallery hosts an exhibition of Beasley's — Spotlight: California sculptor Bruce Beasley’s career spans six decades, and he has shown in more than 200 exhibitions around the globe. But come October, the best place to catch some of his recent work will be right here on the Peninsula, where his work, which explores the intersection of technology and fine art, might seem especially at home. Pamela Walsh Gallery hosts an exhibition of Beasley’s “Aeolis” sculptures and “Aurai” collages, which take inspiration from virtual reality. The exhibition is on view Oct. 15-Nov. 26. Courtesy Pamela Walsh Gallery.

Pacific Art League: Robin Scholl Exhibition (opens Sept. 2); Katherine Filice Exhibition (opens Sept. 9); Youth and Teen Expressive Art Open Studio: Drawing Studio (Sept. 23); Valerie Collymore Student Exhibition (Oct. 8); 101st Anniversary Exhibition (opens Nov. 4); pacificartleague.org.

Palo Alto Art Center: Fire Transforms (Sept. 17 – Dec. 10); Great Glass Pumpkin Patch (Oct. 1-2); cityofpaloalto.org.

Qualia Contemporary Art: “Transonic,” works by Guillermo Galindo (through Sept. 2); “Collision,” works by Gregory Rick. (through Sept. 2); group show featuring Zhenchen Liu, Ruijun Shen and LYU Peng (Sept. 7-Oct. 14); “Fifth Ward/Delray: Greg Edwards and Jen Everett” (Oct. 19-Dec. 2); “Solace” (Dec. 7-Feb. 10); qualiacontemporaryart.com.

Anderson Collection: “Richard Diebenkorn: A Centennial Celebration” (through Sept. 4); “Stephanie Syjuco: White Balance/Color Cast” (Sept. 18-March 5); anderson.stanford.edu/programs-exhibitions.

Cantor Arts Center: Art/Object: Contemporary Works between Mediums (Oct. 18 – Oct. 31); LJ Roberts: Carry You With Me (through Nov. 27); Yinka Shonibare CBE, RA: The American Library (through June 4, 2023), At Home/On Stage: Asian American Representation in Photography and Film (Aug. 31-Jan. 15), “East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art” (Sept. 28-Jan. 29); museum.stanford.edu/exhibitions.

A show of works by Katherine Filice opens Sept. 9 at the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto. Courtesy Pacific Art League.

Los Altos History Museum: Countywide Children’s Art Contest (Sept. 1-Oct. 30); losaltoshistory.org/exhibit/countywide-childrens-art-contest.

Art Ventures Gallery: Regular shows by contemporary artists working in a variety of media. artventuresgallery.com/exhibitions.

Fung Collaboratives Art Kiosk: Valerie Mendoza: The Destination Cafe (Aug. 13-Sept. 25); Ilya & Emilia Kabakov They Are Flying (Oct. 1-Nov. 13); Wendy Wischer: In Search of New Growth (Nov. 19-Jan. 2; fungcollaboratives.org.

Pace Gallery: “Brice Guilbert: Fournez” (through Sept. 2); pacegallery.com.

Pamela Walsh Gallery: “Murmurations,” paintings and sculpture by Patricia Rubio (ongoing through Sept. 3); “I May Bury Things in Sand and Snow,” works by Sara Frantz (Sept. 10-Oct. 8); works by sculptor Bruce Beasley (Oct. 15-Nov. 26). pamelawalshgallery.com.

Djerassi Resident Artists Program: Fall sculpture hikes (Sept. 11- Nov. 27); extended sculpture hikes (Sept. 28, Oct. 13 and Nov. 12); walking meditation and sound immersion sculpture tour (Sept. 24, Oct. 22, Nov. 5); Artful Harvest benefit for resident artists program (Oct. 16); djerassi.org.

Bryant Street Gallery: “Interlude” group show (through Sept. 7); “Elemental Lattices,” works by Carrie Ann Plank (opens Sept. 10); bryantstreet.com.

Community School of Music and Arts’ Mohr Gallery: Cindy Stokes: Rhythms of Water (Sept. 19-Nov. 20). arts4all.org.

Gallery 9: “In the Garden: An Artist’s View,” works by Kathryn Hilton (Aug. 30-Sept. 30); gallery9losaltos.com.

Portola Gallery: Works by local artists. portolaartgallery.com.

“Regeneration” by Lily Jiang, a student of the Yunhua Fang art studio, is featured as part of “Peace, Love, Unity Youth Art Contest” show for young people throughout Santa Clara County. The show opens Sept. 1 at the Los Altos History Museum. Courtesy Los Altos History Museum.

Gallery House: “Woven Light” (through Aug. 28); “Worlds Revealed” (Sept. 2-Oct. 30); “Enchantment,” (Nov. 2-Jan. 8); galleryhouse.art.

Viewpoints Gallery: “Big Petals,” pastels by Deborah Shea (through Aug. 28); viewpointsgallery.com.

The Main Gallery: “Clarity” (through Sept. 11); themaingallery.org.

Silicon Valley Sculpture: Sculpture festival presented by Art Venture Gallery (Sept. 23-25); siliconvalleysculpture.com.

Palo Alto Festival of the Arts: Aug. 27-28; paloaltochamber.com.

Kings Mountain Art Fair: Sept 3-5; kingsmountainartfair.org.

Mountain View Art & Wine Festival: Sept. 10-11; mountainview.miramarevents.com.

Music

Spotlight: Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, pictured, teamed with producer/guitarist Charlie Hunter and drummer Corey Fonville and bassist/keyboardist DJ Harrison, both of the band Butcher Brown, in a long-distance pandemic partnership to record the album “SuperBlue,” crafting a free-spirited mashup of jazz and funk, backed by soulful vocals and heavy beats. Now Elling and Hunter are touring behind the album, bringing the unique SuperBlue sound to The Guild on Sept. 27. Courtesy Cory Dewald.

Fox Theatre: Christopher Duffley (Sept. 11); foxrwc.com.

Stanford Live: Here and There Festival with Courtney Barnett, Japanese Breakfast, Chicano Batman and Julia Jacklin (Aug. 26); Smithereens Tour presented by Joji (Sept. 1); Goo Goo Dolls (Sept. 4); Madeon With Special Guest San Holo (Sept. 9); Ben Platt: The Reverie Tour (Sept. 11); Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (Sept. 13); Danny Elfman’s Music From the Films of Tim Burton (Sept. 16); Holo Holo Music Festival with Kolohe Kai (Sept. 24); Billy Strings (Sept. 30); Silvana Estrada (Oct. 22); Sundays with the St. Lawrence (Oct. 23); Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt (Nov. 3); Hélène Grimaud (Nov. 6); Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (Nov. 7); Okaidja Afroso (Nov. 11); Meta4 Quartet (Nov. 12); Vienna Boys Choir (Nov. 28); Randall Goosby (Nov. 30); Emerson String Quartet (Dec. 3); “All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914” (Dec. 10); Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (Dec. 14); A Chanticleer Christmas (Dec. 15); live.stanford.edu.

Oshman Family JCC: Capriccio Chamber Orchestra (Aug. 28); An Evening of Leonard Cohen With Perla Batalla (Sept. 21); The Ultimate Blues & Rock & Roll Party with The Carvin Jones Band (Oct. 6); paloaltojcc.org.

Shoreline Amphitheatre: Kidz Bop Live (Sept. 2); Keith Urban (Sept 3.); El Puro Party (Sept. 4); Alice in Chains & Breaking Benjamin (Sept. 5); Imagine Dragons (Sept. 8); Sammy Hagar and the Circle & George Thorogood (Sept. 9); Morgan Wallen & Hardy (Sept. 16); Dave Matthews Band (Sept. 17); The Doobie Brothers (Sept. 27); Odesza (Sept. 30, Oct. 1); The Black Keys, Band of Horses and The Velveteers (Oct. 5); Rufus Du Sol (Oct. 7); Florence and The Machine (Oct. 9); Outlaw Music Festival: Willie Nelson, The Avett Brothers, Black Pumas and Larkin Poe (Oct. 14); mountainviewamphitheater.com.

Earthwise Productions: Pablo Cruise (Sept. 3); Johnny A (Sept. 9); Tammy Hall (Sept. 10); Steve Poltz (Sept. 28); Mads Tolling (Sept. 29); Trio Paz (Oct. 6); Marley’s Ghost (Oct. 7); Green Mitchell Trio (Oct. 8); Clarinetist Ben Goldberg and guitarist Liberty Ellman (Oct. 14); holiday show (Dec. 18); earthwiseproductions.live.

Musician Oakidja Afroso plays Stanford Live Nov. 11. Courtesy Paapa Kwaku Oduro.

Redwood Symphony: 38th Season Opener (Sept. 24); Halloween Family Concert 2022 (Oct. 30); The Heavenly Life (Nov. 19); Rendering Glass (Nov. 20); redwoodsymphony.org.

The Guild Theatre: Pride & Joy (Aug. 26); Zepparella (Aug. 27); Riekes at the Guild Benefit Concert (Aug. 28); Yellowood Junction (Sept. 9); Super Diamond – The Neil Diamond Tribute (Sept. 10); Glen Phillips of Toad The Wet Sprocket (Sept. 16); The Blasters (Sept. 17); Adriana Calcanhotto (Sept. 20); Mustache Harbor (Sept. 23); The War and Treaty (Sept. 24); SuperBlue: Kurt Elling featuring Charlie Hunter (Sept. 27); Live Band Karaoke with Hair Supply (Sept. 30); The Wallflowers (Oct. 2-3); Matt Nathanson (Oct. 6); Joe Pug (Oct. 15); Pink Talking Fish (Oct. 28); The Mother Hips (Oct. 29); Cool Water Canyon (Nov. 4); Lee Rocker of the Stray Cats (Nov. 12); Aaron Lee Tasjan (Nov. 17); Social Distortion (Nov. 18-22); Terrapin Family Band featuring Eric Krasno and special guest Peter Rowan (Nov. 23) Watkins Family Hour (Dec. 2); Squirrel Nut Zippers Christmas Caravan (Dec. 10); guildtheatre.com.

Palo Alto Philharmonic: Baroque Concert (Sept. 10); Festive Dances (Oct. 22); Fall Chamber Concert (Nov. 12); Heinrich Schütz (Dec. 3 – Dec. 5); Glories of Nature (Dec. 10); paphil.org.

Schola Cantorum: ¡Amor! (Nov. 4); A Celebration of Carols (Dec. 11); scholacantorum.org.

Cal Bach Society: Die Familie Bach (Oct. 8-Oct.10); Plaisirs Baroques (Oct. 15); Christmas in the British Isles (Dec. 3); calbach.org.

San Francisco Early Music Society: Alkemie (Sept. 30); New Esterházy Quartet (Nov. 4); sfems.org.

Music@Menlo: “The End/So Beautiful and Free” focus residency with pianist Gilles Vonsattel (Dec. 2-3); musicatmenlo.org.

Nova Vista Symphony: “Fate and Redemption” (Sept. 25); holiday concert (Dec. 3); novavista.org.

Pianist Gilles Vonsattel is featured in a focus residency at Music@Menlo, Dec. 2-3. Courtesy Marco Borggreve.

Mountain View Center for Performing Arts: Soaring Dragon Endeavors’ “White Sky, Falling Dragon” (through Sept. 4); mountainview.gov.

Filoli: Sunset Session: AJ Lee & Blue Summit (Sept. 14); filoli.org.

Community School of Music and Arts: United States Air Force Band of the Golden West (Aug. 27); Juanito Pascal Trio (Sept. 17); Haruka Fujii Trio — Sound of Japan (Oct. 8); saxophonist Steven Banks (Oct. 22); Alex Schmitt plays the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (Nov. 5); jazz pianist Gerald Clayton (Dec. 3); CSMA Merit Scholars Holiday Concert (Dec. 10). arts4all.org.

Gamble Garden: The New Acoustic Collective album release party. (Sept. 4); Annemarie Ballinger sings “Gershwin and Friends” (Oct. 16); gamblegarden.org.

Ives Collective: Fall program (Sept. 30); ivescollective.org.

Dance

Spotlight: Peninsula Ballet Theatre is kicking off its season with a production on a scale that matches the epic quality of Carl Orff's — Spotlight: Peninsula Ballet Theatre is kicking off its season with a production on a scale that matches the epic quality of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” with the world premiere Sept. 24-25 of a piece choreographed by artistic director Gregory Amato that was inspired by Orff’s dramatic choral work. Lending their voices to the performance will be guest artists Masterworks Chorale, Ragazzi Boys Chorus, Pacific Sticks Percussion Ensemble, soprano Shawnette Sulker, tenor Corey Head and conductor Dr. Bryan Baker. Courtesy Stefan Cohen.

Peninsula Ballet Theatre: Gregory Amato’s “Carmina Burana” (Sept. 24-25); Hip-Hop Halloween (Oct. 29-30); Nutcracker Sweets, abridged production for young families (Dec. 3-4); Classical Nutcracker (Dec. 16-17); Hip-Hop Nutcracker (Dec. 17-18); peninsulaballet.org.

Mountain View Center for Performing Arts: Smuin Contemporary Ballet Series 1 (Sept. 16-18); Flamenco Society of San Jose’s Festival Siempre Flamenco (Sept. 24); mountainview.gov.

Oshman Family JCC: Bridgman | Packer Dance “Ghost Factory” (Nov. 5); paloaltojcc.org.

Stanford Live: Circa — Leviathan (Sept. 30-Oct. 1); Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan (Oct. 6); Transverse Orientation (Dec. 9-10); live.stanford.edu.

Theater and opera

Spotlight: Created as a response to the murder of Eric Garner, “The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist” brings together music, imagery and movement in a new opera created in collaboration by Jonathan Berger, a composer and Stanford professor of music, and Enrico Riley, a painter and Dartmouth professor of studio arts, whose paintings are incorporated into the performance. Stanford Live and Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College co-commissioned the piece, which features a libretto by poet Vievee Francis and direction by Niegel Smith. The work takes the stage Oct. 14-15 at Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall. Courtesy Enrico Riley.

Los Altos Stage Company: “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” (Sept. 8-Oct. 2); “The Secret Garden” (Dec. 1-23); losaltosstage.org.

Kristin Walter, left, and Rowan Sevillia in Los Altos Stage Company's production of — Kristin Walter, left, and Rowan Sevillia in Los Altos Stage Company’s production of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” Courtesy Richard Meyer.

Palo Alto Players: “School of Rock – The Musical” (Aug. 26-Sept. 11); “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” (Nov. 4-20); paplayers.org.

The Pear Theatre: “Bull in a China Shop” (Sept. 9-Oct. 2) running in repertory with “Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties” (Sept. 9-Oct. 2); Silicon Valley Fringe Festival presented by Harmony Werx (November); “Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune” (Dec. 1-18); thepear.org.

Peninsula Youth Theatre – Silicon Valley: “The SpongeBob Musical” (Nov. 12-20); pytnet.org.

Stanford Live: “The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist,” an opera in seven movements (Oct. 14-15); Why Not Theatre’s “Prince Hamlet” (Oct. 27-28); live.stanford.edu.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley: “Hershey Felder: Chopin in Paris” (through Sept. 11); “Little Shop of Horrors” (Nov. 30-Dec. 24); theatreworks.org.

West Bay Opera: La traviata (Oct. 14, Oct. 16, Oct. 22-23); wbopera.org.

Playwright, pianist and performer portrays composer Fryderyk Chopin in “Hershey Felder: Chopin in Paris,” on stage at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley through Sept. 11. Courtesy Hershey Felder Presents.

Upstage Theater: “Lilacs in the Rain” (Oct. 21-23); upstagetheater.net.

Author events

Spotlight: Bay Area author and chef Anna Voloshyna celebrates the pre-launch of her cookbook “BUDMO! Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen” at a special event Sept. 10 at the Oshman Family JCC in support of Voloshyna’s native Ukraine, with proceeds benefiting the work of World Central Kitchen in the country. The event includes tastings of infused vodkas and appetizers from “BUDMO!” Courtesy Oshman Family JCC.

Books Inc. Mountain View: Chet Haase, “Androids: The Team that Built the Android Operating System” (Aug. 30); Ellen Barker, “East of Troost” (Sept. 6), Esther Erman, “Rebecca of Salerno” (Sept. 13), Rita Cameron, “The House Party” (Sept. 14); Tim McCanna, “Peach and Plum, Here We Come!” (Sept. 24); Amisha Gurbani, “Mumbai Modern” (Oct. 6); booksinc.net/Peninsula-Books-Inc.Events.

Books Inc. Palo Alto: Yogesh Soni, “Digital Belonging” (Sept. 22); Peter Gibb, “Mindful Conversation” (Oct. 4); Rick Glaze, “Spanish Pieces of Eight” (Oct. 5), Jennifer Chambliss Bertman and Sally Engelfried, “Sisterhood of Sleuths” (Oct. 8); Robin Chapman, “The Valley of Heart’s Delight” (Oct. 15); Lisa L. Lewis and Sarah W. Jaffee, “The Sleep-Deprived Teen” and “Wanting What’s Best” (Oct. 17); Bruce Overby “The Cyclone Release” (Nov. 15); booksinc.net/Peninsula-Books-Inc.Events.

Kepler’s Books: Leila Mottley, “Nightcrawling” (Sept. 2); Keely Parrack in conversation with Stephanie Kuehn, “Don’t Let in the Cold” (Sept. 6); Kalyn Josephson in conversation with Lisa Moore Ramée, “Ravenfall” (Sept. 8); Kerri Maniscalco, “Kingdom of the Feared” (Sept. 27); Veronica Roth, “Poster Girl” (Oct. 25); keplers.org.

Oshman Family JCC: Anna Voloshyna, “BUDMO!: Recipes from a Ukrainian Kitchen” (Sept. 10); Robert Steinberg, “How Architecture Tells” (Nov. 3); Jodi Kantor, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist and Author: “She Said” (Dec. 3); paloaltojcc.org.

Author Veronica Roth discusses her book “Poster Girl” Oct. 25 at Kepler’s Books. Courtesy Nelson Fitch.

Mountain View Library: “‘Raising Thrivers: Parenting Tips & Tools to Help Kids Thrive in an Uncertain World,” author talk with Dr. Michele Borba (Sept. 8); “Sci-Fi September: The Rise and Reign of the Mammals,” (Sept. 10, Sept. 14); “Author Talk with Simon Winchester,” (Sept. 20); “Sci-Fi September: Author Talk with Annalee Newitz,” (Sept. 22); “Trust: Author Talk with Hernan Diaz,” (Sept. 27); “Not Nice: Stop People Pleasing, Staying Silent, & Feeling Guilty – Author Talk with Dr. Aziz Gazipura,” (Oct. 13); “Where The Children Take Us: Author Talk with Zain E. Asher,” (Oct. 18); “The Diamond Eye: Author Talk with Kate Quinn,” (Oct. 24); “The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR: Author Talk with Lisa Napoli,” (Nov. 2); “Lessons in Chemistry: Author Talk with Bonnie Garmus,” (Nov. 10); mountainview.libcal.com.

Palo Alto Library: Conversation and Q&A with Joanna Ho (Aug. 27); paloalto.bibliocommons.com.

Comedy

Stanford Live: Ana Gasteyer (Dec. 7); live.stanford.edu.

Mountain View Center for Performing Arts: Socially Inept Roast of Silicon Valley (Sept. 9); mountainview.gov.

Fox Theatre: Anjelah Johnson-Reyes (Aug. 26); foxrwc.com.

Film

Doc5 Film Festival: (The Guild Theatre, Menlo Park, Sept. 7); guildtheatre.com.

Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival: Held online Oct. 23-Nov. 6; svjff.org.

United Nations Association Film Festival: Various venues in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Stanford and San Francisco, Oct. 20-30; unaff.org.

Miles Breen, Aliana Mediratta and Jonas Pao are former interns for The Almanac, Mountain View Voice and Palo Alto Online.

Fall arts preview: Fully reopened local arts scene offers audiences a jam-packed fall calendar

Visual arts

Music

Dance

Theater and opera

Author events

Comedy

Film

Most Popular

Heather ZimmermanArts and Entertainment Editor, Embarcadero Media/Peninsula Division

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Obituaries: Local residents who died recently

Visual arts

Music

Dance

Theater and opera

Author events

Comedy

Film

Most Popular

Heather ZimmermanArts and Entertainment Editor, Embarcadero Media/Peninsula Division

Leave a comment

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