By Colleen Sparks
Managing Editor
Anyone looking for entertainment in Chandler this fall can find well-known musicians and other artists hitting the stage and popular shows returning.
Besides an extensive line-up of music, dance, acrobatics and comedy on stage at Chandler Center for the Arts, the public can also check out visual arts there, as well as at Vision Gallery this fall.
“We have a lot of shows in the fall, more than we have (had) in the past,” said Michelle Mac Lennan, general manager of the Chandler Center for the Arts. “I’m very excited.”
Kicking off the display of talents at the Chandler Center for the Arts will be the 19th Annual Mariachi and Folklorico Festival at 7 p.m. today, Oct. 6, at the center at 250 N. Arizona Ave.
The Chandler Center for the Arts and C.A.L.L.E. de Arizona are presenting the festival, which will feature famous groups Mariachi Angeles de Pepe Martinez Jr. of the Los Angeles area and Mariachi Sonido de Mexico.
Mariachi singer soloist Sandra Guevara of Guadalajara, Mexico, will also perform, backed up by Mariachi Sonido de Mexico. Dancers from Ballet Folklorico Quetzalli-AZ will deliver their flowing, polished movement in colorful costumes at the event.
Another well-respected performer, GRAMMY nominated Boney James will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 11 at Chandler Center for the Arts.
The saxophonist is “recognized as one of the top contemporary jazz artists,” Mac Lennan said. She described his sounds as smooth, infused with R&B.
Arizonan youths will showcase their gifts in an unusual competition, the 2018-19 Miss Indian Arizona Scholarship Program, at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 13 at the Chandler Center for the Arts.
Each Arizonan tribe may choose one young lady to take part in the program, which is open to enrolled members of Arizona Indian Tribes between 17 and 24 years old who are in high school, college or trade school or who are working and want to pursue their education.
The six contestants will compete in a program that reveals Arizona Indian traditional principles and values via songs, dance, stories, humor and dress.
The women compete in the categories of interview, talent, evening gown, traditional dress, oral presentation and personal interviews. Mariah Sharpe, Mohave-Chemehuevi, Colorado River Indian Tribes – Miss Indian Arizona, 2017-18 – will crown the next Miss Indian Arizona.
Miss Indian Arizona will receive a $5,000 scholarship, while the first attendant will get a $2,500 scholarship and the second attendant will take in a $2,000 scholarship. Other cash prizes are given for best talent, best oral presentation, best evening wear, best essay and best community service paper, and a “Miss Congeniality” will receive $100.
The next night, on Oct. 14, Don Felder, former lead guitarist for the Eagles, will play at the Chandler Center for the Arts. The four-time GRAMMY winner, who was in the Eagles for nearly 30 years, co-wrote many of the band’s biggest hits including “Hotel California,” “Victim of Love” and “Those Shoes.”
“He does an amazing show,” Mac Lennan said. “He comes with a full band. It’s the full experience. He plays all the Eagles’ music, but he has killer musicians with him.”
Another familiar face – Lucia Micarelli – will perform what she calls her “little homegrown show” at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 at Chandler Center for the Arts. The violinist has toured with Josh Groban, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Chris Botti, and she had a starring role in HBO’s critically acclaimed series, “Treme.” Micarelli was featured in a March PBS concert special. Onstage she’s an animated and emotional performer, captivating audiences.
An Americana group out of Tucson called Run Boy Run will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 at Chandler Center for the Arts.
The band’s three-part harmonies are backed by fiddle, cell, bass and mandolin. Run Boy Run has been featured twice on “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor, creator and former host.
In honor of Veterans Day on Nov. 11, the United States Army Field Band out of Washington, D.C., will perform in a free concert at the Chandler Center for the Arts.
The show is at 3 p.m. and although it is free, tickets are required and must be picked up in person at the center or on site prior to the show. Tickets will be available at the box office starting at 10 a.m. on Oct. 11.
Mac Lennan is also thrilled to bring Raul Midón to Chandler Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 17. He plays a syncopated, flamenco- and jazz-infused type of music on guitar and sings.
Mac Lennan said she has wanted to bring him to the Chandler center for years, and “he plays a whole orchestra with his mouth.” Blind since he was an infant, he is described by the “New York Times” as “a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus.”
Some returning, popular shows this season include “The Nutcracker” presented by Ballet Etudes, a local youth ballet company that gives serious young dancers the experience of a professional dance company.
The well-known Christmas classic ballet will be performed Nov. 23-25 and Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at the Chandler Center for the Arts.
A holiday-themed diverse show, “The Spirit of Christmas!” will also come back to Chandler Center for the Arts. The Christian Dance Company, a cast of more than 100 young dancers, as well as guest performers including World Champion hoop dancer Tony Duncan, will demonstrate their talents in the show Dec. 8-9 and Dec. 15-16 at the arts center.
Audiences can also get into the spirit of the Christmas season with Drumline Live, a full marching band playing holiday classics with the flair of hip-hop, Motown, soul and jazz at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 21 at Chandler Center for the Arts. Drumline Live is an international tour that is based on the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) marching band custom.
At the end of the year and into the new year, people can catch the well-loved Zoppé An Italian Family Circus Since 1842 performance at the Chandler Center for the Arts.
The unusual circus has its roots in the Old-World Italian tradition and includes acrobatics, canine capers, equestrians showing their skills and Nino the clown entertaining crowds. The one-ring circus will be held in a 500-seat tent on the center’s grounds Dec. 26-31 and Jan. 2-6.
Audiences can hear the Chandler Symphony Orchestra perform this month and in November at Chandler Center for the Arts. The concerts are free.
The Chandler Symphony Classical Series Pure Classics will be performed at 3 p.m. on Oct. 7 at the center. This season, the orchestra is auditioning for a new music director to replace founder and music director Jack Herriman due to his retirement.
At the Oct. 7 concert, Dr. Vanja Gjumar Nikolovski will audition as music director and also chose the music for that day. Familiar works by Beethoven, Rossini and Berlioz will be played, as well as “Symphony No. 1” by Prokofiev.
On Nov. 4 at the “Cheers to Youth!” concert, the Chandler Symphony Orchestra will perform under direction of Nicholas Ross, orchestra director at Hamilton High School, and the second of the orchestra’s music director candidates.
That concert will feature the first-place winner of the orchestra’s annual youth competition as a soloist with the orchestra. The orchestra will also play Mozart’s rarely heard “Overture to Lucio Silla” and Mussorgsky’s popular “Pictures at an Exhibition.” That concert also will start at 3 p.m.
Visual arts fans will have opportunities to see lots of artwork this fall.
Vision Gallery is continuing to show the exhibit “By Popular Demand,” featuring new artwork from Anthony Banayat through Nov. 2 at the gallery at 10 E. Chicago St. An opening reception with the artist is taking place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 13 at Vision Gallery.
Banayat’s colorful, layered, “larger-than-life” paintings and “wobbler” sculptures are tied to American pop culture.
“He creates these really big canvases that I think people will find interesting because of the pop culture references and the sizes,” said Peter Bugg, visual arts coordinator for the City of Chandler.
Then Vision Gallery will hold the “Things that Matter” exhibition from Nov. 8 to Jan. 5. The public can go to an opening reception for the artists from 4 to 6 p.m. on Nov. 17 at the gallery.
The display will feature the quilts created by many different artists that aim to remind viewers that “this thing, idea, place, or part of our world should not be forgotten or undefended when at risk from intolerance, ignorance, indifference, or greed,” according to the Vision Gallery website.
Meanwhile, at the Chandler Center for the Arts Gallery, paintings and sculptures from Prescott couple Jan Marshall and Joseph W. McShane will be available for the public to see Oct. 11 to Nov. 10 at the gallery at 250 N. Arizona Ave.
Their artwork for the exhibit, “Time and Space: Jan Marshall and Joseph W. McShane,” delves into concepts of space and time, merging to create a lively conversation. The opening reception is from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 12 at the gallery.
Quilts will get attention again from Nov. 16 to Jan. 11 at the “Art Quilts XXIII: Artistic Ecologies” exhibit at the Chandler Center for the Arts Gallery. The popular exhibit will feature quilts from about 25 different artists in all different styles, Bugg said. The opening reception will occur from 4 to 6 p.m. on Nov. 17 at the gallery.
To learn more about the shows and exhibits at Chandler Center for the Arts, visit chandlercenter.org. For details on Vision Gallery, visit chandlercenter.org/visiongallery.
Sherry Jackson contributed to this story.
