Oct 11 Sunday
Never Turn Back: Echoes of African American Music unveils the profound legacy of Gospel, Blues, Jazz, and Soul artists who shaped the soundscape of American culture and used their music as instruments of resistance, identity, and representation.
Gospel, Blues, Jazz, and Soul embody the profound influence of African American music on culture and history. From the spiritual foundations and transformative movements of Gospel hymns to the revolutionary improvisations of Jazz, the Blues’ Southern roots rising from the Mississippi Delta, and Soul’s powerful amplification of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, these genres have defined the unique sound and undying spirit of a nation that continues to echo through contemporary Black music today.
“Every piece I create, from the humblest tumbler to the most baroque sculpture, makes a statement about isolation, striving, access, perseverance, boundary pushing, and the pursuit of excellence. I believe my presence in the field as a working-class Black man, striving and excelling in a field occupied chiefly by society’s most privileged (whitest), is a powerful artistic and political gesture. “—Jason McDonald
Glass vessels evocative of the highly ornamented Baroque style, black silhouettes embedded in scenes on ancient pottery vessels, and medallion reliefs of Black figures all abide in the deliberate, expansive practice of Jason McDonald. McDonald’s visual language is deeply rooted in research of ancient histories, traditional techniques, and race. Here, contemporary ideas blend and transform tradition with caring attention to detail, precision in thought, and beauty. Motivated by glass—with its magical properties, myriads of endless possibilities and potential—McDonald’s devotion lies in the desire to refine the craft, making his hands more familiar and knowledgeable with each replication. Through his repetition and re-imagination of these historical forms, the objects transform into sculptures and vessels of time, carrying with them the essence of centuries-old traditions, as well as McDonald’s commitment and insertion of the representation and notions of Black identity. With a commitment to the craft that transcends his own work, McDonald diligently carves out space for those who will follow him through mentoring and the creation of his own glass studio, which he has named Ideal Conditions.
Organized by Tacoma Art Museum and curated by Victoria Miles.
Follow the journey of a lifetime as thousands of Pacific salmon return to local watersheds to produce the next generation of fish. During this free community event, knowledgeable Seattle Aquarium naturalists will be stationed at four locations along the Cedar River in Renton and Maple Valley on select weekend days in October. See our website for dates and times: SeattleAquarium.org/CRSJ
Nocturnal
Sept 25 - Nov 15, 2026
Inspired by the world that emerges after the light fades, Childhood’s End Gallery presents “Nocturnal” featuring new paintings by Liza Brenner and Jonathan Happ, alongside mixed media sculpture by Loralin Toney.
Arts Walk Reception: Oct 2nd 5-9pmArts Walk continues Oct 3rd 12-6pm
FREE
Childhood’s End Gallery222 4th Ave WOlympia WA 98501
info@childhoods-end-gallery.com
360-943-3724
🎷 Jazz Jam at Butter Notes Café 🎷📍 Butter Notes Café – Everett, WA🗓️ Every 1st & 3rd Sunday @ 2 PM
☕ Come sip, snack, and swing!
Join us for an afternoon of live jazz and spontaneous creativity at Butter Notes Café! Whether you’re here to play or just enjoy the vibes, you’re welcome.
🧇 Fresh croffles and warm coffee served all afternoon🎶 Open to all instruments, all levels💛 Donations encouraged to support local musicians and future sessions
Bring your instrument, your friends, or just your love for music!
Winner of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Thornton Wilder’s masterpiece has stood as a timeless pillar of the American stage. Poetic, poignant, and profoundly human, this groundbreaking play invites us to slow down, look closer, and cherish the fleeting beauty of life.
Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City asks the question: In a nation built on the promise of opportunity, how do we determine who benefits? Where once belonging was measured by front‑porch waves and neighborhood gatherings, today it hinges on paperwork and the threat of separation – or possibly far worse.
Album release concert. When these two take to the stage, you are in for a unique experience summoning spontaneous and fresh musical worlds. Sitarist Arjun K. Verma is both a tradition-bearer and innovator in the world of North Indian Classical music, growing up as an Indian Classical musician in the West and trained by the Maestro Ali Akbar Khan. New York-based, Danish pianist and composer Nikolaj Hess has a sound that spans Nordic jazz, post-bop, new-classical, and West African jazz traditions. Collaborations with artists including Fela and Femi Kuti have shaped his distinctive amalgam.
America has never had one sound.
It sings through anthem and blues, through jazz clubs and concert halls, through stride piano, spirituals, street songs, opera, celebration, and reinvention. LIFT opens Olympia Symphony’s 2026/27 season, Kaleidoscope, with a program where American sound rises from joy, memory, resilience, and hope.
Jessie Montgomery’s Banner asks what an anthem means in a country still becoming itself. Woven from The Star-Spangled Banner, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and other musical echoes, it turns a familiar symbol into something larger, more layered, and alive with many voices.
At the heart of the concert, guest artist Calder Failla joins the orchestra for Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, where smoky jazz, sweeping melody, and symphonic ambition meet in one of the most recognizable openings in American music. Gershwin returns in Porgy and Bess: Catfish Row, bringing the opera’s Charleston sound world into rich orchestral color. Gershwin’s insistence on an all-Black cast for Porgy and Bess helped create major operatic opportunities for Black singers at a time when blackface still appeared on American stages.Wynton Marsalis’s Blues Symphony expands the blues into a vast orchestral journey, while James P. Johnson’s Victory Stride closes the circle with the pulse and brilliance of Harlem stride piano.
Inspired by artists who moved across genres to make room for their fullest voices, LIFT celebrates music that refuses to stay in one lane. This is not one version of America. It is a kaleidoscope of voices, each one lifting the next.
Live Jazz and Jam Session!
