Vanessa Williams
Friday, April 1 at 8 p.m.
The Palladium
Multi-faceted singer-actress Vanessa Williams has sold millions of records worldwide and posted Billboard Top 10 singles in genres including pop, dance, R&B, adult contemporary and jazz. Her hits have included “Dreamin’,” “Save the Best for Last” and “Colors of the Wind” from Disney’s Pocahontas. She found similar success on Broadway (The Trip to Bountiful, After Midnight) and in film (Soul Food) and television (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives).
Williams’ career honors have included 11 Grammy nominations, four Emmy nominations, a Tony nomination and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has performed with the world’s most prestigious symphony orchestras, most recently with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.
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Las Cafeteras
Friday, April 8 at 8 p.m.
The Palladium
Born and raised east of the Los Angeles River, Las Cafeteras are remixing roots music and telling modern-day stories of Latino and immigrant lives. Using traditional Son Jarocho (“Veracruz Sound”) instruments like the jarana, requinto, quijada (donkey jawbone) and tarima (a wooden platform), they sing in English, Spanish and Spanglish, melding styles from rock to hip-hop to rancheras.
Las Cafeteras use music as a vehicle to build bridges among different cultures and communities, creating “a world where many worlds fit.”
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World-renown classical violinist Itzhak Perlman will play The Palladium on Saturday, April 9. (Photo provided)
An Evening with Itzhak Perlman
Saturday, April 9 at 8 p.m.
The Palladium
Violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman has been making waves since his 1958 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show at age 13, and he remains one of the great ambassadors of classical music. Born in 1945 in Tel Aviv to Polish émigré parents, he achieved international acclaim despite being disabled by a childhood bout with polio.
Perlman has won 16 Grammy Awards, as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and his PBS specials have earned four Emmy Awards. In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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World Voice Day
Thursday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m.
The Palladium
Grab your sheet music, family and friends and come sing onstage during the Center’s annual World Voice Day celebration, as the Palladium is transformed into a cabaret for one special evening.
Singers of all ages and skill levels are encouraged to join the piano accompanist and MC for an open-mic night that is informal, free and open to the public. The performers and audience will sit nightclub-style at tables on the stage, with a cash bar for anyone who needs a little liquid encouragement.
Click here to register for this free event.
Imagination Station with Phoenix Rising Dance Company
Faegre Drinker Peanut Butter & Jam
Saturday, April 16 at 10:30 a.m.
The Studio Theater
Imagination Station is an interactive presentation ideal for sharing the art of dance with children and their parents and grandparents. Join Phoenix Rising Dance Company dancers on a trip to a magical world created by dancing children. Unfortunately, all the children have grown up and forgotten how to dance. Since the magical world needs dancing to remain magical, the kids will use their imaginations to create the sun, wind, rain, flowers, trees and animals. The performance was created and choreographed by Phoenix Rising Artistic Director Justin David Sears-Watson.
Designed for children ages 1-7, Faegre Drinker Peanut Butter & Jam sessions encourage young children to become engaged in the arts.
Tickets are only $10 per child, with two free adult admissions included – perfect for parents and grandparents.
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Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m.
The Palladium
Guitar phenom Kenny Wayne Shepherd signed his first recording contract at 16 and quickly became one of the most successful blues-rock artists of his generation, as well as a prominent champion of blues tradition.
The Louisiana native’s releases have routinely topped Billboard’s Blues Albums chart, and he has collaborated or toured with such names as B.B. King, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Robert Randolph, Stephen Stills, Ringo Starr, the Rolling Stones and Van Halen. Along the way, he has earned five Grammy nominations, two Billboard Music Awards and the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award, among others.
The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band’s current tour celebrates the upcoming 25th anniversary of his sophomore album, Trouble Is …, which sent three singles to the Top 10 of the Mainstream Rock chart: “Blue on Black,” “Everything Is Broken” and “Somehow, Somewhere, Someway.”
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Performing Arts Connect: The Art of Performance
Wednesday, April 20 at 7 p.m.
Online via Zoom
This program highlights works from the Cleveland Museum of Art to show the influence of music and performance on visual artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Many artists captured the growing audiences for musical and theatrical performances in Europe and the United States around the turn of the century, providing an inside look at entertainment across various class distinctions and backgrounds. In art movements such as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, the Harlem Renaissance and the Ash Can School, artists depict operas, jazz performances, and even burlesque shows.
About the Presenter
Arielle Levine has worked for 25 years at the Cleveland Museum of Art and teaches students and adults around the world via videoconference as a member of the Public and Academic Engagement team. She also works with Adult Programs and assists with the museum’s Docent Program. She holds a degree in art history from Case Western University.
About the Museum
The Cleveland Museum of Art was founded in 1913 “for the benefit of all the people forever.” It is one of the world’s most distinguished comprehensive art museums and one of northeastern Ohio’s principal civic and cultural institutions. The museum is located on the city’s east side, in the University Circle neighborhood’s Wade Park district.
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Steve Hackett: Genesis Revisited
Wednesday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m.
The Palladium
Steve Hackett was lead guitarist for the classic 1970s lineup of pioneering progressive rock group Genesis, originally led by Peter Gabriel and known for such landmark albums as Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. He was among the first rock guitarists to employ the two-handed tapping technique later adopted by countless players. In the 1980s, he and Yes/Asia guitarist Steve Howe formed the band GTR, which scored a Top 20 single with “When the Heart Rules the Mind.”
Hackett’s current tour features material from his wide-ranging solo career as well as a re-creation of Genesis’ acclaimed 1977 live double-album, Seconds Out, which included many of the band’s signature songs.
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Live at the Center: The Brothers Footman
Thursday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m.
The Palladium & Online
Brothers Dikembe, Gerald, Micah and Joshua Footman have been surrounded by music all their lives. In their current band, the Brothers Footman combine soul, rock, country, gospel, R&B and other influences into a distinctive sound they call “Summa Music” – “summa this, summa that” – capped with smooth vocal harmonies. Their debut single “Country Sky” has earned local and international radio airplay.
Live at the Center is a series of livestreamed concerts for the community, featuring local and regional artists in genres from jazz and classical to soul and indie rock. Whether on desktop, mobile device or smart TV, viewers anywhere can enjoy a front-row perspective on Indiana’s top talent, with stereo sound and multi-camera HD video. For its second season, Live at the Center is welcoming live, in-person audiences at just $5 per person. Seating is limited.
Click here to buy tickets for register for the free livestream.
Matthew Whitaker
Saturday, April 30 at 8 p.m.
The Palladium
Blind since birth, 20-year-old Matthew Whitaker is a rising star of jazz piano. He has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and the Apollo Theater with artists including Christian McBride, Regina Carter, Jason Moran, Jon Batiste and the New York Pops Orchestra.
“His approach to jazz is that of a distinctive soul. He has that necessary dynamic touch and a penchant for dissonance, but most of all, his imagination seems to know no bounds. He’s immersed in the energy and spirit of the music he loves and lives to play.” – The Miami Times
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