First things first: Patti LuPone, who won a Tony Award starring as the title character in “Evita” on Broadway,” will not sing “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” when she visits Opening Nights next week.
In the cacophony of everyday life, the music summoned by stringed instruments presents elements that are pure and often moving. The Danish String Quartet embodies the beauty and power of music — creating a moment, a feeling, without so much as speaking a word, instead allowing their instruments to do the communicating.
The acclaimed Latin band Orkesta Mendoza has performed in theaters and auditoriums all over the world but rarely in school cafeterias. More than 320 Fort Braden elementary and middle school students were treated to a live concert by the Tucson-based musicians as part of an educational outreach program offered by Opening Nights Performing Arts at […]
Austrian brass septet Mnozil Brass performed for students at the School of Arts and Sciences at The Centre on Friday, March 2, 2018. The founding members of the ensemble are graduates of the renowned Vienna College of Music. Their formal training, combined with their Viennese style of humor, made for an insightful and educational performance […]
Feb. 26, 2018 Opening Nights at Florida State University provided 320 Fort Braden students with a unique music educational performance in February. Fourth through eighth grade students enjoyed music while learning about Latin culture and music from Orkesta Mendoza, one of the touring bands of globalFEST on the Road: The New Golden Age of Latin […]
To mark its 20th anniversary, Opening Nights has put together a diverse season of best-in-class artists, popular favorites and past Opening Nights performers.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) – Hundreds of people gathered at the Ruby Diamond Concert Hall for a special tribute to Ray Charles. Saxophonist Maceo Parker performed To ray with Love on Monday night at Florida State University. It’s a tribute to honor charles, the Ray Charles Orchestra and the Raelettes.
In the late ‘80s, Ray Charles played two back-to-back shows in one night at Florida State’s Ruby Diamond Auditorium. I was invited to interview Brother Ray in his dressing room after the shows and I eagerly signed on.
Novelist, essayist and cultural critic David Shields (“The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead”) will share his thoughts during a talk at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Florida State Alumni Center Ballroom, 1030 W. Tennessee St. Shields, whose other books include “Reality Hunger” and “I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel,” […]
In 2011, singer China Forbes, of Pink Martini and “Hey Eugene!” fame, had to have surgery on her vocal cords. The band was left in the lurch because it had four sold-out gigs booked at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The gigs were just a few days away. Pink Martini pianist and band leader […]
