2014-15 Performing Arts Series Kicks Off with Portland Cello Project
The Sun Valley Center for the Arts will kick off their 2014–2015 Winter Concert Series on Saturday, October 25, with the wildly popular Portland Cello Project. This highly original and thrilling group will perform at 6:30pm at the Wood River High School Performing Arts Theater.
“Portland Cello Project has rabid fans, and with good reason,” said Kristine Bretall, Director of Performing Arts. “They are creative, playful, innovative—and maybe it goes without saying—but they are stunningly great musicians.” She added that the group is also guaranteed to surprise their audience with a versatile lineup: “They play everything from Bach to Brubeck to Beck. Expect to be wowed, by cellos, vocals, drums and more.”
Local music students will have a particularly special experience with Portland Cello Project. “These musicians are generous with their time and energies,” said Bretall, “and they’ll be working with three groups of students from the Wood River High School—Spiritus, B-Tones and the Wood River High School Chamber orchestra students—and all three groups will be a part of a few of the pieces during the evening concert.”
Since the group’s inception in late 2007, the Portland Cello Project (or PCP, as their fans affectionately call them), has wowed audiences all over the country with extravagant performances, everywhere from Prairie Home Companion to that punk rock club in the part of town your grandma warns you not to go to after dark. The group has built a reputation mixing genres and blurring musical lines and perceptions wherever they go. With a repertoire now numbering over 800 pieces of music, including many selections you wouldn’t normally hear from a cello, no two shows are alike.
Additional performances in the 2014–2015 Winter Performing Arts Series include:
• Blues musician Guy Davis on December 12, 2014
• Bill Payne, co-founder of Little Feat, on January 30, 2015
• Brian Sanders’ JUNK dance company on March 19, 2015
• TorQ Percussion Quartet on April 18, 2015
Tickets for individual performances are $25 for members, $35 for nonmembers, and $10 students for 18 and under. Tickets for the Performing Arts Series are still available to members for $112.50 for all five performances. A Performing Arts “Mini Series” is also available for $67.50; this covers January to March performances only, which includes Bill Payne, JUNK, and TorQ. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.sunvalleycenter.org or call 208.726.9491.