FACE Vocal Band kicks off 2021-22 KU Presents! season [Spotlight]

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Sep. 20—KU Presents! at Kutztown University's Schaeffer Auditorium has announced its lineup of six performances for the 2021-2022 season.

—Sept. 22: The season opens with A Capella pop and rock group FACE Vocal Band. A hit on NBC's "The Sing-Off," they have thrilled audiences around the globe.

—Oct. 21: The Fabulous Equinox Orchestra will presents its infectious renditions of the classic American Song Book as well as jazzy retakes on contemporary hit tunes.

—Nov. 7: The KU Presents! partnership with The Center for Mallet Percussion Studies continues with another installment of Celebrate Marimba!

—Feb. 16: Backed by Jazz at Lincoln Center's all-female jazz band and featuring three dynamic vocalists, "Bessie, Billie, & Nina — Pioneering Women of Jazz," will be presented in partnership with Berks Jazz Fest. It tells the stories of Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, who used their talents to combat racial prejudice, sexism and poverty.

—March 29: Tablao Flamenco presents a fiery evening of music and dance from southern Spain.

—April 20: The season concludes with the Pinchas Zuckerman Trio for an evening of chamber music. Internationally acclaimed violinist/violist Pinchas Zukerman will also be presenting his solo-orchestral repertoire with the Reading Symphony Orchestra Nov. 13.

In addition, as part of a collaboration with Reading Symphony Orchestra, Jewish Federation of Reading, Alvernia University and Goggleworks, KU Presents! will present a free lecture-demonstration performance of Violins of Hope on Nov. 8. This collection of violins, violas and cellos all belonging to Jews before and during World War II have been recovered and restored to honor those to whom they once belonged by keeping the music in them alive for all time.

For more details, including ticket prices, visit www.kutztownpresents.org or call 610-683-4092.

Exhibitions

"Medieval to Metal: The Art & Evolution of the Guitar," an exhibition spanning centuries of guitar craftsmanship, is on view at the Reading Public Museum through Jan. 9, 2022.

The exhibit, developed by the National GUITAR Museum in New York City, features 40 objects, including an intricately inlaid Moorish oud, 6-foot long Renaissance theorbo, modern Italian Eko and transparent California BC Rich guitar.

According to John Graydon Smith, the Museum's director and CEO: "This exhibition was a perfect fit for a museum like ours that focuses on history, arts, culture, and science, as it intertwines these topics through an easily accessible object like the guitar. Add in the fact that Berks County is widely known for its celebration and love of music in many forms, and we expect the public to be attracted from far and wide to enjoy this amazing collection."

Visitors will also view life-size photorealistic illustrations of historically important guitar designs from noted artist Gerard Huerta, and 20 photographs of acclaimed musicians and their guitars from Neil Zlozower, one of the world's premier concert photographers.

----The Berks History Center has unveiled a new exhibit titled "On My Honor — The Remarkable Life of Clarence L. Hubert" in collaboration with Albright College's Black Cultural Collection and Resource Center.

In 2018, Albright College received the entire collection of artifacts and archival records from the Central Pennsylvania African American Museum, Reading. For the past two years, museum staff and interns have been performing a comprehensive inventory of the collection, cataloging over 2,500 objects that exhibit an expansive history of local and national African American culture.

The collection's permanent storage and exhibition space will exist in Albright College's Library, which is scheduled to complete renovations and open in fall 2023. In the meantime, BCCRC and the BHC have partnered to draw attention to some of the local stories found within the collection.

The first pays tribute to local community mentor and leader Clarence L. Hubert.

A Reading native, Hubert grew up in the early 1900s, joining the Boy Scouts at age 12 and remaining a Scout for 82 years. He served in the United States Army during World War II, and later became a dedicated employee of the Reading Railroad.

After his retirement, Hubert increased his involvement with the community, including becoming an adviser to Frank L. Gilyard Sr. (1930-2013), founder of the Central Pennsylvania African American Museum.

Visitors can view the exhibit during BHC Museum hours of Wednesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The collection will be on display in the lobby through February. For more information, call 610-375-4375.

----To mark the 20th anniversary of Grandview Gallery at Wilson High School, a dedication and opening reception is scheduled for Oct. 2 from noon to 4 p.m. for "The Robert H. Chappel Collection," a new permanent exhibition.

Chappel is a retired Wilson School District art teacher who started the gallery in the district's Administration Building to promote the work of students, the community and area professionals.

The art for the new collection was compiled by current director, Joe Palumbo, a former student of Chappel's. Chappel, who moved to Naples, Fla., when he retired in 2010, will be present for the opening reception.

The collection will be displayed in the atrium of the Administration Building and throughout the campus. It will be rotated at least twice a year to ensure visitors of a different experience each time they visit the campus.

For more information, vistit facebook.com/GrandviewGalleryWHS.

Concerts

The Miller Center for the Arts at Reading Area Community College has announced that Three Dog Night will headline its 50th Anniversary Celebration show on Oct. 9 at 8 p.m.

The band had 21 consecutive Top 40 hits, including three No. 1 singles, 11 Top 10's, 18 straight Top 20s, seven million-selling singles and 12 straight RIAA Certified Gold LPs. Their music has appeared on best-selling charts in pop, rock and country.

Tickets cost $50 and can be purchase at millercenter.racc.edu/three-dog-night or by calling the box office at 610-607-6270.

A "Party on the Lawn at the Miller Center," with a '70s theme, food and entertainment, will be held prior to the show, from 6 to 8 p.m., for anyone who has purchased a ticket to the show.

----Tickets are on sale for two new events at the Santander Performing Arts Center, Reading.

Comedian Tim Dillon will perform Dec. 10. Dillon is a stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He was a new face at the Montreal Comedy Festival in 2016, and won the title of New York's Funniest 2016 at Carolines NY Comedy Festival. In 2017 he was named one of the top ten comics you need to know by Rolling Stone magazine. He had two specials premiere in 2018, a Comedy Central Half Hour and a Netflix Quarter hour.

And singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot returns for a concert on Dec. 14. His vast song catalog spanning 50 years includes such notable hits as "Early Morning Rain," "If You Could Read My Mind," "Carefree Highway," "Sundown," "(That's What You Get) For Lovin Me," "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," "Ribbon of Darkness," "Beautiful," "Song for a Winter's Night" and "Rainy Day People."

Tickets for both events are on sale at ticketmaster.com.

Filmmaking

Berks Nature, 575 St. Bernardine St., will host "To Wade With an Image: Filmmaking Workshop with Vernon Jordan III" on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 2 p.m.

Aspiring and experienced filmmakers and writers aged 12 and older are encouraged to take advantage of this free opportunity to commune with nature and translate their experience into writing and film with the guidance of Philadelphia-based Afrofuturist writer, filmmaker, poet and assistant programs director of Cinespeak, Vernon Jordan III.

Space is limited. To register, email Ricky Yanas at ryanas84@gmail.com.