Tickets on Sale for Harris Center's 2017-18 Season, Featuring DIRTY DANCING, Los Lobos, Mannheim Steamroller and More
By: BWW News Desk Jul. 10, 2017
Bringing great shows from around the world, across the country and throughout the region, the Harris Center for the Arts' new 2017-18 season is on sale now.
The Harris Center is the one venue in the greater Sacramento region that unites national tours of Broadway blockbusters like Dirty Dancing with international phenomenas like the Sachal Ensemble, while offering a home for both local arts organizations (El Dorado Musical Theatre and the Folsom Lake Symphony) and local promoters (SBL Entertainment and Carerra Productions). With an unwavering commitment to building community through memorable performances, the Harris Center is a busy, vibrant hub of cultural activity hosting upwards of 400 events per year.
Tickets for the 2017-18 Season of Performing Arts may be purchased online, by phone or in person. The ticket office phone number is 916-608-6888. Complete information about shows, ticket prices, performance times and more is available at www.HarrisCenter.net. The Harris Center is located on the west side of the Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, California, facing East Bidwell Street. To learn more about the season, patrons are encouraged to sign up on the website or call the ticket office to receive the Harris Center's Season Brochure.
The season marks the debut of the Big Stage Series, featuring the national tours of Broadway musicals Dirty Dancing, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, Motown The Musical and Amazing Grace, as well as (just for fun) Mummenschanz.
It also marks the inaugural season of the Folsom Lake College Speakers Series, featuring evenings with Steve Murphy & Javier Peña, Diana Nyad and Jeffrey Toobin, for which a subscription package is also available.
"Our patrons have asked us to offer subscription packages, and this year we've done so as a way to reward our most loyal ticket buyers with savings," notes Harris Center Executive Director Dave Pier. "Our Big Stage Series offers subscribers an unprecedented discount of 20% off single ticket prices for some of the season's biggest shows and, like our new Folsom Lake College Speakers Series, allows subscribers to retain the same seats, year in and year out."
A third subscription package is also available for the popular Keyboard ConversationsÒ series with Jeffrey Siegel.
Other highlights of the season include classic rockers like Don Felder, JD Souther, Lee Rocker and Los Lobos, as well as popular music icons like B.J. Thomas, Sergio Mendes and The Hit Men.
Guitar wunderkinds in the season include Al Di Meola, Ottmar Liebert and Lee Ritenour. Guitar virtuosos also figure prominently in The Paco de Lucía Project, impressive concerts presented by the Sacramento Guitar Society and the ever-popular International Guitar Night.
Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blow Out this year focuses on Chicago blues greats, while Take Me To The River Live with William Bell, Bobby Rush and Charlie Musselwhite celebrates the music of Memphis. New Orleans is center stage in a special concert featuring R&B great Irma Thomas together with The Blind Boys of Alabama and The Preservation Hall Legacy Quintet.
International dance offerings include Festival of South African Dance, Tango Buenos Aires, Dublin Irish Dance, Moscow Festival Ballet and Lezginka, The State Dance Company of Daghestan. World music offerings include Pakistan's Sachal Ensemble, Chile's Inti-Illimani and Niyaz whose music fuses traditional Persian with electronica.
Two pre-eminent women of country music, Terri Clark and Tanya Tucker, are featured in the season, as well as a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Johnny Cash's legendary recording in Folsom Prison - on the actual anniversary date of the famed concert.
Nowhere else in the region is there such a rich mix of holiday fare under one roof, and 2017 will continue this tradition with over 30 holiday-themed performances. These include national tours of A Charlie Brown Christmas, Mannheim Steamroller, Windham Hill's Winter Solstice, Jim Brickman, and An Irish Christmas. Regional favorites range from the Folsom Lake Symphony's Deck the Hall to Placer Pops Chorale's Holiday Pops, Ballet Folklórico de Sacramento's Posada Navideña to Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker, and more.
"And this is just part of the coming year's lineup," adds Executive Director Pier. "The best way to find out about the entire season is to visit the Harris Center website, and to check back regularly as events are added throughout the season when other artists become available."
Following is a more detailed overview of performances in the Harris Center's 2017-18 Season.
AUGUST 2017
SBL Entertainment brings Songwriter Hall of Famer JD Souther to Stage One on August 4.
On August 12, the Spiritual Center for Positive Living presents Living Courageously with Gary Zukav. Country star Terri Clark wields a mean guitar, and performs from her considerable catalogue of hit songs on August 13. Carrera Productions will stage a performance by Arizona's top indie rock outfit, Gin Blossoms, on August 19. Harris Center favorite Jeffrey Siegel opens his seventh straight season of Keyboard Conversations on August 26 with a program celebrating Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday. The ever-popular Folsom Lake Community Concert Association (FLCCA) will present the Side Street Strutters in a revue of 100 years of popular recorded music on August 27.
SEPTEMBER 2017
Fittingly, the first month of autumn begins with pianist George Winston, whose Platinum-selling recording of Autumn launched his career. The September 6 concert is offered by SBL Entertainment, which will then present nouveau flamenco star Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra two days later on September 8.
Direct from the People's Republic of China, the Harris Center presents the Martial Artists and Acrobats of Tianjin and their electric mix of martial arts, magic and dazzling style of Chinese acrobatics for five performances September 15 through 17. "Bona fide guitar hero" Al Di Meola celebrates the Elegant Gypsy 40th Anniversary Electric Tour on September 14, courtesy of Carrera Productions, who will then present Grammy Award-winners Los Lobos in a full-electric concert on September 22. "Beloved Bay Area bluegrass stars" Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally Band return to the Harris Center September 22. The Classical Masters Music Festival stages a piano and classical ensemble competition, master classes for competitors and a Saturday evening Gala Concert (September 23-24). El Dorado Musical Theatre's (EDMT) "High Voltage" performance ensemble takes the stage in Back to Broadway, a high-energy, fast paced revue on September 24.
On September 27, the Harris Center welcomes B.J. Thomas, a five-time Grammy winner who has sold more than 70 million records. The Folsom Lake College Speakers Series kicks off on September 28 with Steve Murphy and Javier Peña - the DEA agents whose experiences inspired the Golden Globe nominated TV series Narcos - on the podium to tell "The True Story of Pablo Escobar."
A theatrical presentation of John Gray's Men Are From Mars - Women Are From Venus will be staged by Emory Entertainment on September 29. This year's 1940s Battle of the Big Bands takes place September 30, with thirty musicians in two big bands paying tribute to Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey - and the audience voting for which band leader's music they prefer.
OCTOBER 2017
To usher in October, the Harris Center is proud to present an unbeatable triple-threat tribute to New Orleans: Soul Queen Irma Thomas, six time Grammy-winners The Blind Boys of Alabama and, from the French Quarter, The Preservation Hall Legacy Quintet, all in one uplifting show on October 1. Then "fasten your seat belts and have the time of your life" (Boston Globe) when the national tour of Dirty Dancing -The Classic Story On Stage comes to Folsom. First a movie and now a full-blown musical, Dirty Dancing will stage five performances October 5-7.
Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles - where he played lead guitar and wrote songs for 27 years(!) - makes his Harris Center debut on October 8 performing the hits he helped make famous. On October 7 & 8, the Sacramento Baroque Soloists present Bach's Coffeehouse, returning to the long ago era of Bach and Telemann when musicians got together to jam for the amusement of patrons. Also on October 7, Sacramento Guitar Society present Russian guitarists Yuri Liberzon and Grisha Goryachev in a spectacular, virtuosic evening.
Inspired by the award-winning documentary of the same name, Take Me To The River Live brings William Bell, Bobby Rush and Charlie Musselwhite together for a Memphis soul and R&B revue - presented by Carrera Productions on October 12. In celebration of its 25th Anniversary, the region's own Cantare Chorale presents a collection of remarkable musical works sure to "pull at your heartstrings" on October 14. Also on October 14, Childsplay, "one of the best theaters for young audiences in the country" (Arizona Republic), brings the adventures of P.D. Eastman's book Go, Dog. Go! to life.
That evening (October 14), the Folsom Lake Symphony performs a program of Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich entitled Epic Victory featuring Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Jon Nakamatsu. On October 15, the Harris Center is honored to present the return of Inti-Illimani, the legendary Chilean music ensemble, in a celebration of the group's 50th Anniversary. For their second concert, FLCCA brings ABBA Fab, The Premier ABBA Experience to Folsom on October 15. VITA Academy kicks off its Great Composers Chamber Music Series with cellist Susan Lamb Cook, violinist Katherine McLin and pianist Andrew Campbell in its program American Classics: Music by Barber, Bernstein and Copland on October 15. Carrera Productions will present guitar virtuoso and five-time Grammy nominee Robben Ford on October 18.
For four performances October 19-21, the Harris Center presents the national tour of A Night with Janis Joplin, an imagined concert held the week before her untimely death featuring Janis's influences - everyone from Aretha Franklin to Bessie Smith - joining her onstage. Folsom Lake College (FLC) World Music Ensembles perform on October 26.
In their first full production of the season, El Dorado Musical Theatre ("youth musical theater at its best!") will perform Beauty & The Beast from October 27 to November 5. Rounding out a busy month will be a free screening on October 29 of the award-winning documentary Song of Lahore, providing the backstory of the Sachal Ensemble - a world music group coming to the Harris Center in November (see below).
NOVEMBER 2017
The Harris Center brings The Paco de Lucía Project and its Flamenco Legends concert to Stage One on November 1, as longtime collaborator (and 10-time Latin Grammy winner) Javier Limón reassembles the flamenco ensemble that toured with the legendary guitarist the final 10 years of his career. In a play that has been called "a major modern theatrical innovation," Folsom Lake College's own Falcon's Eye Theatre will stage The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Charenton Under the Direction of The Marquis de Sade by Peter Weiss for 14 performances November 3-19.
Direct from Johannesburg, the Festival of South African Dance performs November 8. More than 20 dancers and musicians, two dance companies (Gumboots and Pantsula Dance) and two visions of South Africa come together on one stage for a fascinating glimpse into life under apartheid. The Felix-Graber Duo, featuring Folsom Lake Symphony Concertmaster Anita Fetsch Felix and pianist Miles Graber, will perform November 11.
On November 11, the Harris Center presents an encore engagement of The Hit Men, legendary performers with Frankie Valli, Carole King, Cat Stevens and others, whose contributions to popular music include hits like "Oh What a Night," "Peace Train," "Bad, Bad LeRoy Brown," and more. Carrera Productions presents the 45 Year Anniversary Tour of 10-time Grammy winners The Manhattan Transfer on November 12.
Direct from Buenos Aires, Argentina - indeed, one of Argentina's great cultural exports - Tango Buenos Aires performs "The Spirit of Argentina" on November 15-16, an exploration of the life and music of Carlos Gardel, the tragic "King of Tango." The Spiritual Center for Positive Living presents bestselling authors Gregg Braden and Bruce Lipton discussing From Chaos to Coherence: Thriving in a World of Extremes on November 17.
How did an esteemed group of Pakistani musicians - living under the influence of the Taliban - come to New York to play the music of Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and the Beatles with Wynton Marsalis? Now on tour across America, the Sachal Ensemble comes to the Harris Center to answer that very question on November 18, performing Song of Lahore. (The documentary on the group screens free of charge on October 29.) Folsom Lake Community Concert Association presents Alina Kiryayeva, piano, on November 19.
Nominated for nine Tony Awards, the national tour of Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella comes to Stage One November 20-22 for four performances. It "crackles with sweetness and freshness, combining a little Spamalot with some Les Miserables" (Associated Press). Jeffrey Siegel will perform the second of his Keyboard Conversations, A French Musical Feast, on November 30.
Continuing in its commitment to supporting the growth of local artists, Fall Recitals at the Harris Center include those of the Pacific Institute of Music (November 4-5, & 15); Music Teachers Association of California Fall Festival (November 12); Balazs Rozsa Piano Studio (November 18); Bob Allen Music (November 19); FLC Vocal Recitals (December 11) and Jacalyn R. McNeil Piano Studio (December 14).
THE HOLIDAYS AT THE HARRIS CENTER
Make the Harris Center your home for the holidays - nowhere else in the region is there such a rich mix of holiday fare under one roof!
The holiday season begins November 25-26 with four performances of the national tour of A Charlie Brown Christmas, the Emmy award-winning story by Charles Schulz, now faithfully recreated for the stage. Perhaps the best-selling Christmas artist of all time, Mannheim Steamroller pulls into the Harris Center for three shows November 27-28.
The Folsom Lake Symphony offers Deck The Hall, a selection of holiday favorites, with guest conductor John Kendall Bailey on December 2-3. Also on December 2, Voices of California present Cool Yule, an a cappella show. The Folsom Lake College (FLC) Concert Choir, College Chorus and Chamber Singers perform Great Choruses - The Alpha and Omega! on December 5, followed by FLC Evening of Dance and FLC World Music Fest on December 7, and the FLC Youth Chamber Orchestra on December 9-10.
SBL Entertainment presents country legend Tanya Tucker on December 8. Sacramento Baroque Soloists perform Winter's Eve with Lady of the Lake on December 9. The 80-member Placer Pops Chorale presents three performances of their Holiday Pops program December 9-10.
By now a Folsom tradition, Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet Theatre presents The Nutcracker, with Maestro Peter Jaffe and members of the Folsom Lake Symphony providing accompaniment for six performances December 14-17. EDMT High Voltage offers Holiday Celebration on December 19.
SBL Entertainment brings Windham Hill's Winter Solstice with Will Ackerman, Barbara Higbie and Alex de Grassi on December 20. The region's most accomplished choral chamber group, Sacramento Master Singers, will present A Master Singers Christmas on December 21.
The 30 dancers and musicians of Ballet Folklórico de Sacramento will take audience members on a whirlwind journey through the regions of Mexico in Posada Navideña on December 22. It would not be the holidays at the Harris Center without An Irish Christmas, lead by Scott Doherty from Riverdance and Lord of the Dance on December 23 (three performances). SBL Entertainment caps off the holiday season with popular pianist Jim Brickman as part of his Joyful Christmas tour on December 29.
JANUARY 2018
The Harris Center rings in the New Year with the national tour of Motown The Musical, featuring the songs - and the backstories - of Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and so many more, from January 5-7 for five performances. VITA Academy's Great Composers Chamber Music Series continues on January 7 with young emerging artists performing classics. Grammy award-winner and guitar-great Lee Ritenour performs January 12, courtesy of Carrera Productions.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash's legendary recording in Folsom Prison; to honor that benchmark, the Harris Center presents James Garner's Tribute to Johnny Cash on January 13-14, with special guests Gene Beley (a journalist who recorded the concert) and Johnny's daughter Tara Cash.
On January 16, 1938, Benny Goodman changed the history of jazz - and then some. In a special collaboration, the Harris Center and Capital Public Radio commemorate that performance with Benny Goodman, Carnegie Hall and The Concert That Changed The World on January 19 - 80 years later - in a concert featuring clarinetist Ken Peplowski, the Sacramento Jazz Orchestra, pianist Ehud Asherie and vibraphonist Chuck Redd.
After an enthusiastic sold-out show in 2016, the Harris Center simply had to invite Sergio Mendes back - the three-time Grammy Award-winner returns on January 20-21. Sacramento Baroque Soloists present Voice of the Cello on January 20-21. The Exotic Music of the Night, Jeffrey Siegel's third installment in the Keyboard Conversations series, is scheduled for January 24.
The Spontaneous Combustion New Music Festival features Orlando Cela, Solo Flute on January 24; Hotel Elefant New Music Ensemble on January 26, and Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble January 28. "Quintessential Hawaiian slack-key guitar master" (New York Times) Keola Beamer joins Henry Kapono and Moanalani Beamer for Legends of Hawaiian Music January 25.
Now an annual musical event in Folsom, Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowout is a show no blues lover dare miss. This year's all-star gathering will be a Chicago Blues Celebration on January 27.
Seamlessly blending poetry and folk songs from their native Iran with rich, acoustic instrumentation and state-of-the-art electronics, Niyaz offers its multimedia concert The Fourth Light Project on the afternoon of January 28. That evening, the Folsom Lake College Speakers Series continues with a lecture by journalist and author Jeffrey Toobin, Analyzing Politics, Media, and the Law (January 28).
FEBRUARY 2018
Playful, inventive, compelling - the Swiss-based theater troupe Mummenschanz makes their Harris Center debut on February 1. One of the nation's largest and oldest theatre festivals of its kind, Lenaea High School Theatre Festival
welcomes over 60 west coast high school theatre programs, with over 1,000 students expected to attend on February 2-4.
The Harris Center welcomes back the Moscow Festival Ballet, performing Swan Lake and Giselle on Feb 7-8; Sergei Radchenko, Artistic Director. Folsom Lake Symphony's concert Passion & Drama features works by Barber, Haydn and Tchaikovsky on February 10. VITA Academy's Great Composers Chamber Music Series continues with Susan Lamb Cook joined by violinist Chase Spruill, violist Robert Levine and pianist Andrei Baumann in a program of music by Debussy and Fauré on February 11. El Dorado Musical Theatre will perform 42nd Street from February 16-25.
Each year, International Guitar Night brings a new cast of guitar luminaries to highlight the virtuosity and diversity within the world of acoustic guitar. Germany's gypsy jazz legend Lulo Reinhardt hosts this year's concert on February 21, which will also feature Canada's Calum Graham, Poland's Marek Pasieczny and America's award-winning Michael Chapdelaine. On February 28, the Harris Center presents Dublin Irish Dance, an exhilarating company with members who have performed with Riverdance, Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance, and Celtic Woman.
MARCH 2018
Lee Rocker, a founding member of the Stray Cats, takes Stage One on March 8.
Sacramento Baroque Soloists offer Viva Vivaldi! on March 10-11. On Saturday morning, March 10, the Folsom Lake Symphony presents its annual family friendly concert, this year entitled Construction Zone: Musicians At Work! FLCCA presents Rhapsody & Rhythm - The Gershwin Concert Experience, the official multimedia concert event celebrating the legacy of George and Ira Gershwin, on March 11. The Folsom Lake College Speakers Series concludes on March 11 with Diana Nyad, who successfully completed the 110-mile, 53-hour swim from Cuba to Florida - at the age of 64.
Australia's The TEN Tenors return for three concerts March 13-14 in a new program celebrating musical legends lost before their time - David Bowie, Prince, Amy Winehouse, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, Whitney Houston and more. Celebrate St. Patrick's Day In Ireland on March 15, presented by the Harris Center. Sacramento Guitar Society presents An Evening with Alex De Grassi & Andrew York on March 17.
The Folsom Lake Symphony presents Glorious Adventure, an evening of Brahms, Debussy and Elgar, featuring Adele Anthony (violin) on March 24. The Harris Center welcomes Lezginka, The State Dance Company of Daghestan, in Kings of Dance - an evening of traditional folklore motifs, performed at a high level of mastery, on March 25.
The national tour of Amazing Grace shares the true story behind the world's most beloved song in a Broadway musical. "The hymn, which many associate with the civil rights movement, was written in the 18th century by an Englishman who worked in the slave-trading business. Curious to know more?" (New York Times). Find out for yourself at any one of six performances March 29-April 1.
Additional performances from March-June 2018 will be announced subsequently.
The Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College brings the community together to share in cultural experiences featuring the work of artists from throughout the region and around the world. Built and operated by the Los Rios Community College District, the $50 million, state-of-the-art regional performing arts center boasts three intimate venues with outstanding acoustics, an art gallery, a recording studio, elegant teaching spaces, plenty of safe parking and all the other amenities of a world-class performing arts venue. Each year the Center hosts upwards of 400 events attracting 150,000 annually.
Subscription packages are available, saving patrons 15-20% off the price of single tickets for a number of events (e.g., the Big Stage Series, The FLC Speakers Series, Jeffrey Siegel Keyboard Conversations). Discounts of 10-15% are also available for group purchases of 10 or more.
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