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Entertainment calendar: Dec. 17

SLO Symph ConductorThe San Luis Obispo Symphony’s New Year’s Eve POPS concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31 at the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly. Tickets start at $20 per person and can be purchased online at: www.slosymphony.org and at: www.pacslo.org or by calling the PAC Box Office at (805) 756-4849. Guest conductor is Maestro Lawrence Loh, currently music director of the Symphoria Orchestra of Syracuse N.Y., and artistic director and principal conductor of the Syracuse Opera. Loh guest conducts orchestras around the world including the Pittsburgh Symphony and Youth Symphony and the Dallas Symphony, among others. The show will be emceed by KSBY TV news anchor Dan Shadwell and feature symphonic gems, jazz standards, movie music, sultry tangos, and more by composers George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Richard Rogers, John Williams and more. Renowned pianist, Orion Weiss, will perform Grieg’s “Piano Concerto” and Café Musique will play its special brand of wild classical music. The special concert will close at 9 p.m. with the Times Square Ball Drop.

Saul RubinekThe 6th Annual San Luis Obispo Jewish Film Festival, is set for Jan. 9 and 10 featuring award winning narrative and documentary films, and intimate conversations with the filmmakers. Saturday night, Jan. 9 is a welcome reception with the filmmakers at Luna Red Restaurant Downtown followed by a ceremony for a Lifetime Achievement Award to distinguished actor, director and writer of film and television Saul Rubinek at the Palm Theater. Rubinek has more than 150 film credits to his name. His 30-year career includes performances in “Unforgiven,” “Nixon,” “I Love Trouble,” “True Romance,” “And the Band Played On,” and “Hiroshima.”
Sunday, Jan. 10, is a day of cinematic celebration at the Palm Theater. In the morning, two engaging short documentaries: “The Yellow Stars of Tolerance,” and the Academy Award winning “The Lady in Number 6” will be screened, followed by a Q&A with the directors. In the adjacent theater, is a special screening of the classic children’s animated movie, “An American Tale,” free for children under-12.


In the afternoon, is the short film, “Banana Bread,” followed by the hottest film on the international festival circuit, the British film, “Dough” featuring veteran actor, Jonathan Pryce. After each screening will be a Q&A with the filmmakers.

A customized dinner at Luna Red follows before the documentary, “When Comedy Went to School” about the history and contributions of Jewish comedians.

Screenings always sell out, so buy your tickets early. Sponsorship packages that include tickets to the all the events are still available. For tickets and more information, see: www.jccslo.com.

New Orleans style jazz band, Rag Bone Saints, will play the next Red Barn Concert in Los Osos, Saturday, Jan. 2. Cost is $15 at the door. Doors open at 4:30 and there’s a potluck supper at 5 with a potluck band. Brings a dish to share, place settings and BYOB. Show starts at 6. Based in SLO, the Rag Bone Saints celebrates the traditional jazz common to the streets, bars and back alleys of New Orleans. Along with Mardi Gras standards and New Orleans classics, the band also plays obscure jazz and blues tunes from the 1920s and ‘30s. The band is comprised of Will Newey (Sousaphone), Paul Trent (percussion), Rebecca McKinley (trombone, vocals), Gary Arcemont (banjo, vocals), Alisa Bredensteiner (guitar, vocals), Geoffrey Land (trumpet, vocals) and Del Gomes (clarinet). See: www.facebook.com/ragbonesaintsfor more on the band. This show is made possible through the generous support and assistance of the entire Red Barn Community (aka Children of the Barn) and with support from KCBX Public Radio and Live Oak Music Festival.

Famed actor, Hal Holbrook, will bring his one-man show, “Mark Twain Tonight!” to the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9. Tickets range from $36.80-$66 and available at the PAC Box Office, Mondays–Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m. Call (805) 756-4849 or order online at: www.calpolyarts.org. A Tony Award winning performance, Holbrook, 90, is marking the 61st consecutive year that he has brought Twain back to life on stage. The show was developed in a Greenwich Village nightclub in 1956, was on the Ed Sullivan show, and then opened off-Broadway in 1959. Sponsored by Clayhouse Wines, Coast 101.3 FM, Matrix Mobile Television, and The Tribune.

SLO WindEnsembleThe SLO Winds will hold its Annual Holiday Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20 at the Cuesta College Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10 for students and $20 general admission and available online at: www.cpactickets.cuesta.edu or call 546-3198. You’ll hear Samuel Hazo’s “Rest” which was composed around “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen;” “A Hanukkah Festival,” a medley of three traditional Hanukkah songs; Alfred Reed’s “Russian Christmas Music” and more. Jennifer Martin, David Rackley, and Anthony Yi conduct.

Pianist and Cal Poly Music Department Chairman, W. Terrence Spiller, will give a benefit recital at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8, in the Spanos Theatre at Cal Poly. Tickets are $9 for students and $12 for general public and available at the PAC Box Office, Mondays–Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m. Call (805) 756-4849 or order online at: www.calpolyarts.org. Spiller’s program will start with two sonatas by Beethoven: the Sonata in F Major, Op. 10 No. 2, and the Sonata in D major, Op. 28, “The Pastorale,” plus Francis Poulenc’s “Les Soirées de Nazelles” and five préludes from Sergei Rachmaninov’s Préludes Op. 23 and Op. 32. The concert is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Music Department. For more information, call the Music Department at 756-2406.

Los Osos party band, Back Bay Betty will play a New Year’s Eve show from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Morro Bay’s The Siren (formerly The Fuel Dock), corner of Main and Harbor Streets. For more on the band, including a free download of a new song, see: www.backbaybetty.com.

Songwriters At Play presents Jeffrey Pine Thursday, Dec. 17 at The Shell Café, 1351 Price St., Pismo Beach. Pine is a veteran of more than three decades of live performance, song craftsmanship, recording and entertaining. He has acquired a well-deserved reputation as one of America’s premier solo artists with a rich vocal tenor and overall sound often compared to Sting, John Mayer, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, and Gordon Lightfoot. The free show (tips) is for all ages and starts at 6:30 p.m. with guest performers. For more information, see: www.songwritersatplay.com. Call 773-8300.

The Arroyo Grande Rotary Club will host its 8th Annual Christmas and Holiday Concert and Sing-Along at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20 at Arroyo Grande’s Clark Center. This year’s show is the “Twelve Days of Christmas!” The program will highlight many of the 12 elements of the classic Christmas song with special performances by guest artists: Village Carolers of Studio Sing, Sing, Sing directed by Judith Dunlore; the Arroyo Grande High School Band directed by Bill Benson; and many more. Dancers from the St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church; the Grande Bell Ringers from the Arroyo Grande United Methodist Church directed by Leonard Lutz, among others. Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for children/students and are available from the Clark Center Box Office, call 489-9444 or go online at: www.clarkcenter.org.

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