Santander venues announce three new shows; museum opening new exhibition [Spotlight]

Mar. 12—Santander Arena and Performing Arts Center in downtown Reading have announced three new addtions to their concert lineups.

Mexican rapper Santa Fe Klan with special guests Snow Tha Product and Tornillo will perform July 8 at Santander Arena; Ryan Adams & the Cardinals will perform Aug. 4 at Santander Arena; and multi-platinum country singer-songwriter Kip Moore with special guest The Cadillac Three will perform Sept. 28 at the Santander Performing Arts Center. Tickets for all three shows are on sale at ticketmaster.com.

Santa Fe Klan is a 22-year-old who has collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Lupillo Rivera, Calibre 50 and Piso 21. His song "Mar y Tierra," part of his fifth studio album, "Mundo," made Billboard's Hot Latin Songs last year, and his subsequent single, "Asi Soy," peaked at No. 8 on the Latin Digital Song Sales chart.

A prolific solo artist, Adams is returning to the road with a full band for the first time in over a decade. The new lineup features Brad Pemberton, Chris Stills, Daniel Clarke and Don Was. The seven-time Grammy-nominated artist has 22 studio albums to his name, accumulating millions of sales.

Known as "one of country's more thoughtful artists" (Billboard), Moore hit the mainstream with the double-platinum "Somethin' 'Bout a Truck" in 2012, then followed up with three more No. 1 hits: "Hey Pretty Girl," "Beer Money" and "More Girls Like You." He just released the single "Damn Love," the title track from his upcoming fifth studio album, scheduled for release on April 28.

For tickets and more information, see santander-arena.com.

Art

The Reading Public Museum has announced a new exhibition, "Holly Trostle Brigham: Mothers Sisters and Daughters," opening Saturday in its Cohen Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art.

This engaging exhibition will bring together Philadelphia artist Holly Trostle Brigham's major works, including selections from several series, dating from the mid-1990s to the present. For the past three decades, Brigham has researched and interpreted the lives of women throughout time and has often used herself as the model. She draws her sources from mythology, art, religion and theater. The exhibition is timed to coincide with Women's History Month.

An opening reception with the artist is set for March 23 at 5:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at readingpublicmuseum.org. In addition, the artist will lead a Gallery Talk on April 28 at 1 p.m. in the Cohen Gallery. The exhibition will remain on display through June 4.

The museum is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission is $10 for ages 18-64, $6 for children/seniors/college students and free to members and children 3 and younger.

Music

The Reading Choral Society will present its next concert, a night a Latin American music in conjunction with Alvernia University, next Sunday at 7 p.m. at St. Margaret Roman Catholic Church, 925 Centre Ave., Reading.

Under the direction of the RCS music director, Dr. Graham Bier, and Jennifer Nolan Michalik, Alvernia University choral director, the concert will feature Federico Diaz and his Band from New York City; soloist Bryan Umberto Hoyos, tenor; and the Alvernia University Dance Company & JWK Dance Lab.

Reading Choral Society and the Alvernia University Choir will join for a performance of Ariel Ramirez's "Misa Criolla."

Tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for students in advance at www.readingchoral.org, or $20 at the door.

----The Friends of Chamber Music of Reading will present The Abeo Quartet in a free concert March 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Albright College's Memorial Chapel, 1621 N. 13th St.

The Abeo Quartet formed at the Juilliard School in 2018, and has garnered recent awards at the Yellow Strings Chamber Music Competition, the Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

The program will include quartets by Beethoven, Brahms and Dinuk Wijeratne.

The quartet chose the name Abeo — an expression of joy in a Nigerian dialect — to reflect their love for playing chamber music and sharing it with others.

For more information, see www.chambermusicreading.org.

Theater

Yocum Institute for Arts Education, West Lawn, will present a Jazz Fest for Kids production, "The Boy at the Edge of Everything," in its Schumo Theatre on March 25 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and March 26 at 2 p.m.

Owen Asztalos and Kate Pistone star in this production that features a jazz soundscape created and performed by Chris Heslop and Nathan Bellot.

The play is about busy 12-year-old Simon Ives, who dreams of a place where he can just stop and be. Meanwhile, at the farthest point in the universe, The Boy at the Edge of Nothing lives by himself, lonely and bored. When Simon is rocketed into space through an unlikely series of events involving "lots and lots of fireworks," their worlds collide and neither will ever be the same.

Tickets cost $10 for students and children 3 and up, and $15 for adults in advance at yocuminstitute.org, or $18 at the door.

----The Reading Theater Project will hold a Town Hall on Saturday, March 18, at 1 p.m. at the Holy Cross United Methodist Church, 329 N. Fifth St., Reading.

Theater and performing artists, playwrights, volunteers and anyone interested in learning more about the company should attend.

Attendees will learn about Reading Theater Project's mission, history and current and upcoming projects, as well as have an opportunity to share ways they would like to get involved and what they would like to see on stage.

Sign-up is requested at readingtheaterproject.org.

Grants

The Presser Foundation has announced another round of general operating support grants totaling $1.25 million to 110 music organizations in the Greater Philadelphia area, including four in Berks County.

The Berks groups receiving grants are Berks Youth Chorus, Reading Musical Foundation, Reading Symphony Orchestra and the Friends of Chamber Music of Reading.

The number of music organizations given to is the most in the foundation's history in this grantmaking area, and their focus and size vary a great deal. Organizations with budget sizes ranging from $15,000 to $54 million and with focuses on classical, jazz, Jewish-themed, Hispanic and Brazilian music received funding.

The Foundation supports small, medium and large music organizations working to make a difference in their community while significantly contributing to music and the arts in Greater Philadelphia.

The Presser Foundation was established in 1939 under the Deeds of Trust and Will of the late music publisher Theodore Presser. It is one of the few private foundations in the United States dedicated solely to music education and music philanthropy. For more information, see presserfoundation.org.