In brief: Music Lives! recital series begins Friday
Modesto Junior College and Gallo Center for the Arts are joining forces for the Music Lives! recital series Friday, April 1.
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Gallo Center’s Foster Theater and will feature internationally acclaimed pianist Mauricio Náder. The Mexican pianist has been performing since age 9 and played venues across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia. For his piano recital he will perform works by Franz Liszt, Ricardo Castro, Leonardo Velazquez, Carlos Chavez, George Antheil and Morton Gould.
Náder will also offer a piano master class from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the morning of his performance at the Gallo Center. A group of young pianists from the community will perform pieces from the traditional Western art-music repertoire for Náder. The master class is free and open to the public.
Tickets are $15-$35. For more information, call 209-338-2100 or visit www.galloarts.org.
Blue Man Group
The popular performance troupe the Blue Man Group has added a show to its coming dates at Gallo Center for the Arts.
Due to demand, the group will play an additional show, at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 7, with its originally slated shows at 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, April 8-9, and 2 p.m. April 9. Tickets to all the shows are on sale now. The multisensory theatrical experience has become a global phenomenon over the past 25 years, selling out venues worldwide.
Tickets are $39-$99. To buy tickets, call 209-338-2100 or visit www.galloarts.org.
Read a full interview with the Blue Man Group in next week’s Scene section.
Clean Comedy Competition
Family-friendly amateur comedy will be celebrated with a new stand-up competition featuring Central Valley talent.
ModestoView presents the inaugural Clean Comedy Competition on Friday, May 20, at Gallo Center for the Arts. The new event will showcase five local comedians with clean acts vying to be crowned champion. The show will be judged by a panel from the area arts and entertainment community as well as Jon Fox, producer of the prestigious San Francisco Comedy Competition. The winner will receive $500 and automatic entry into this year’s Valley Talent Project competition in August.
Comics interested in participating must be nonprofessional performers at least 16 years old who reside in Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Merced, Tuolumne or Calaveras counties. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 8. Entry forms can be found online at www.galloarts.org/ComedyCompetition.
Tickets to the show are on sale now for $12-$20. For more information, call 209-338-2100 or visit www.galloarts.org.
Young Poets Contest
Stanislaus County students are invited to submit their work to the Aileen Jaffa Young Poets Contest.
The ongoing poetry writing competition is co-sponsored by the Modesto Stanislaus Poetry Center and the Modesto chapter of the National League of American Pen Women and open to all country students in grades K-12. The contest commemorates the last area poet, artist and librarian Aileen Jaffa, who was the founding president of the Poets of the San Joaquin and member of the Modesto chapter of the National League of American Pen Women.
Students can submit their original work in four categories: grades K-3, grades 4-6, grades 7-9 and grades 10-12. Each category has cash prizes for first-, second- and third-place winners, and two special Aileen Jaffa Outstanding Poem awards will also be given. Student can submit up to three entries, at $1 per entry submission fee. All entries must be postmarked by Friday, April 15. Mail submissions to MoSt Poetry, P.O. Box 578940, Modesto, CA 95357.
The winning poems will be announced at an awards ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock. For more information, visit www.mostpoetry.org.
Great Valley Museum
The Great Valley Museum celebrates its one-year anniversary in the Science Community Center on the Modesto Junior College West Campus with a day of free admission Saturday, April 2.
Adults, with up to five children, are invited to explore the nonprofit Great Valley Museum exhibits from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. free of charge. Complimentary refreshments and goodies will be available in the lobby while supplies last. The museum will also offer $5 planetarium shows throughout the day.
For more information, visit www.mjc.edu/gvm.
BunnyCon 2016
Bunnies and brews will mix at the annual BunnyCon event this weekend.
The hippity-hoppity bar hop for adults known as BunnyCon returns to downtown Modesto on Friday, April 1. The Easter-themed event encourages participants to don bunny attire and visit the area’s bars and restaurants. Participants are encouraged to bring cash, tip well and not be “that bunny.” Bar hop starts at 7 p.m. at the Firkin & Fox. It’s free to hop along. Call 209-214-0137.
This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 3:09 PM with the headline "In brief: Music Lives! recital series begins Friday."