Community Calendar

Start your new year with a celebration of brilliance, beauty, and bold artistry.
Violinist Adé Williams takes the stage for Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor—a piece of staggering intensity and beauty. With performances described as “stunning” by The New York Times, Williams is a force of nature whose playing radiates energy, emotional depth, and connection.
A Stradivari Society recipient and graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, she’s performed at the White House, Carnegie Hall, and with top ensembles across the globe. Now, she brings her star power to Olympia for the very first time.
Also on the program: Gabriela Lena Frank’s evocative Elegía Andina, a musical tribute to her diverse heritage that pulses with vibrant rhythms and heartfelt nostalgia. We close with Brahms’ Symphony No. 1, a monumental work of emotional grandeur and symphonic triumph.
Let your spirit soar as we kick off 2026 with passion, purpose, and a reason to CELEBRATE.
Saturday, February 7, 2026 | 3:00 PM
Washington Center for the Performing Arts
Program:
Gabriela Lena FRANK: Elegía Andina
Jean SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto in D minor
Johannes BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1

Approximate run time: 1 hour 55 minutes (including intermission

An evening designed to foster curiosity and creativity, "An Interactive Evening Suitable for Introverts" invites guests (introverted, extroverted, or anyone in between) to enjoy a night of music, poetry, and hands-on art—all at their own pace.

Hosted & curated by performing songwriter Allison Preisinger, this event at Seattle’s Fremont Abbey on February 7th is the perfect opportunity to explore your creative side in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, whether you prefer to observe or actively participate.

Inspired by the unique collaboration between poetry and music in Preisinger’s latest album release entitled “Standing Steady”, the evening will feature live performances from local musicians and poets. Attendees can enjoy a diverse array of artistic expression while immersing themselves in their own creative process.

Musicians:
Reggie Garrett
Where's Beth
Allison Preisinger

Darius Heggins - DJ

Poets:
Alysa Levi-D'Ancona

Workshops & DIY Offerings:
Paint Your Feelings with Lore Alexander
Earth-Loving Recycled Valentines with Re-Leaf Art

DIY Kits - (suggested $20 donation extra) rainbow wall hanging, succulent terrarium, moss wall art

Tickets $25 for the entire evening, including workshop
$10 student/low income, Free for 13 & Under

Join Khu.éex' for a night of music on February 7, 2026 at the Nectar Lounge in Seattle to celebrate the "Red Cedar In The Hour of Chaos" album release and to support the upcoming documentary "Khu.éex': The Magic of Noise."

This feature-length documentary covers the band’s journey through challenges, loss, and inspiration, featuring luminaries including Preston Singletary, Bernie Worrell, Skerik, Clarissa Rizal, and many more.

Khu.éex’ began as a recording in 2013 after a chance meeting between Bernie Worrell and Preston Singletary. Together with Skerik and Stanton Moore, Gene Tagaban and Clarissa Rizal, we recorded under the direction of Randall Dunn. To date, Khu.éex’ has released a double album, “The Wilderness Within” and the triple LP “They Forgot They Survived”. In 2018, the triple LP “Héen” (which translates to “water” in the Tlingit language) was released. All albums were produced and released by the band independently.

In 2016 the band experienced the passing of two key original members. Bernie Worrell, keyboardist and co-founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic (also, cofounder of Khu.éex’). Bernie left this Earth June 24, 2016. The music created with Khu.éex’ are Bernie’s final collaborative efforts. We also lost Clarissa Rizal (Tlingit) to cancer in December of 2016. She was a teacher of Chilkat weaving, mentor, artist, poet and singer.

Losing two founding members of Khu.éex’ was devastating, but we were determined to rebuild the band and we found Edward Littlefield (Tlingit) a jazz drummer and composer who was also incorporating Tlingit melodies into his music. On Keyboards we developed a friendship with Tim Kennedy, a local Keyboard player, composer and improviser. On vocals is now Sondra Segundo (Haida) singer and composer.

The band explores Jazz and Funk/Rock with an improvisational style. The fusion of these styles with spoken word in English, Tlingit, Haida and Y’upic languages is unique. We are also striving to preserve these native languages though our music. This cross-fertilization results in a new sound. Performance art, using traditional masks and regalia accent the dynamic live performances.

Come to an evening of creativity and laughter with Olympia's own Playback Theatre Ensemble, Heartsparkle Players. We welcome stories on the theme "For the Love of the Forests".

Three-time Latin Grammy nominee Jovino Santos Neto, a master pianist, composer and arranger, is one of the most important Brazilian musicians working today. Expect an exhilarating journey through the rhythms and colors of Brazil, led by master pianist and composer Jovino Santos Neto. The Quinteto blends samba, jazz, and folkloric traditions with dazzling improvisation and infectious energy — a vibrant celebration of musical joy and virtuosity.

Currently based in Seattle, Washington, he has throughout his career been closely affiliated with the Brazilian master Hermeto Pascoal. He was an integral part of Pascoal's group from 1977 to1992, where he fine-tuned his artistry, performing around the world and co-producing several legendary records.

James Murray is a writer, executive producer, and comedian, best known as "Murr" on the hit TV show Impractical Jokers on truTV and The Misery Index on TBS. For more than a decade, Murray and his lifelong friends Sal, Joe & Q have been making audiences laugh across the country—and now he’s bringing the laughs to you! Murr Live is a hysterical INTERACTIVE stand-up comedy show like you've never seen! Hangout with Murr as he tells funny stories, shows off his own personal never-before-seen videos from Impractical Jokers, and plays Impractical Jokers LIVE with the audience!

The annual Sámi Film Festival celebrates the rich storytelling traditions of the Sámi, an Indigenous people of the northernmost parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Now in its 8th year, the festival presents a variety of newly released and classic Sámi features, documentaries, and short films, sharing Sámi film with a global audience.

🎬 This year’s festival is curated by acclaimed director, writer, artist, and composer Elle Márjá Eira, whose directorial debut Stolen reached the Top 10 list in 71 countries following its Netflix premiere in 2024.

Visually stunning feature documentary Fools’ Paradise (lost?) is making its Washington premiere at the SIFF Film Center. Fools’ Paradise (lost?) is a love letter to our wild—our own inner wild, and the outer wild. It’s about how we heal ourselves through reconnection to the natural world, and the symbiotic necessity to heal what is left of our planet. Immersed in experiences recounted by writers, filmmakers, artists, environmentalists, adventurers, therapists, and political activists, this film delves into topics such as personal action, sustainable business and life practices, nature therapies and how we need and use nature to regenerate ourselves.

Screenings begin with a brief, grounding meditation and end with a Q&A with award-winning director Alexandra Lexton. Saturday screening is co-presented by Whitman College.

Welcomed by KNKX. Frank Vignola is one of the most extraordinary guitarists performing before the public today. His stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world’s top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, John Lewis, Tommy Emmanuel, Lionel Hampton, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his “Five Most Admired Guitarists List:” for the Wall Street Journal.

His dynamic genre-spanning music has brought him to 21 countries on three continents – and still growing – performing in some of the world’s most illustrious venues, including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, New York’s Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, and the world’s oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy.

Pasquale Grasso - It was the kind of endorsement most rising guitarists can only dream of, and then some. In his interview for Vintage Guitar magazine’s February 2016 cover story, Pat Metheny was asked to name some younger musicians who’d impressed him. “The best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life is floating around now, Pasquale Grasso,” said the jazz-guitar icon and NEA Jazz Master. “This guy is doing something so amazingly musical and so difficult. “Mostly what I hear now are guitar players who sound a little bit like me mixed with a little bit of [John Scofield] and a little bit of [Bill Frisell],” he continued. “What’s interesting about Pasquale is that he doesn’t sound anything like that at all. In a way, it is a little bit of a throwback, because his model—which is an incredible model to have—is Bud Powell. He has somehow captured the essence of that language from piano onto guitar in a way that almost nobody has ever addressed. He’s the most significant new guy I’ve heard in many, many years.”

Seattle-based Chairs for Giants is more than a band, it’s a dynamic musical project led by writer and composer Matt Strutynski alongside drummer Tacket Brown. Featuring a rotating ensemble of talented musicians from the Seattle music scene, this band embraces versatility and refuses to be confined to a single genre. Chairs for Giants continues to captivate audiences with their evolving sound and heartfelt performances, making them a notable presence in Seattle’s indie music scene.