Out and About: Musical options abound this weekend — including two world premieres
Indigenous jazz
Jazz is a uniquely American art form. The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band, having its world premiere performance Thursday, May 19, in Olympia, takes that one step further. The 16-piece jazz band, directed by Julia Keefe (Nez Perce) and Delbert Anderson (Diné), composes and performs pieces inspired by traditional Native American music and reinterpreted through jazz. The band, which has been in residence at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, will make its debut at 7:30 p.m. at the center, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia. Tickets are $25-$36. Audience members are encouraged to wear masks at center events. Keefe of Brooklyn, N.Y., is the sister of Josephine Keefe, who’s starring in Harlequin Productions’ “Sovereignty,” running through May 28 at the State Theater, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia. Tickets are $35, $32 for seniors and military, $20 for students and youth. Masks are required.
‘The Alphabetastics’
Letters aren’t just symbols in Olympia Family Theater’s “The Alphabetastics,” premiering Friday, May 13: They’re characters living — and singing — in the imagination of young Halona, who’s struggling with the news that she’ll soon be a big sister. The show is “jam packed with great guitar-forward rock, blues and folk music,” said creator Ted Ryle, the man behind the theater’s 2013 “Cinder Edna.” “The Alphabetastics” is packed with alphabet puns, too; when a letter goes missing, it’s Private I who comes to investigate. Performances are at 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through May 29 at the theater, 612 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia. Tickets are available on a sliding scale. The theater requires proof of vaccination or a negative test result, and masks are required.
Hooked on classics
Fans of classical and choral music have plenty of options this weekend:
• Emerald City Music’s “Insomnia,” a string-trio performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at the Washington Center’s Black Box Theater. Tickets are $34-$55 for adults, $10 for students. Audience members are encouraged to wear masks at center events.
• “The Way Home: Music of Refuge,” by Seattle Pro Musica, at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 14, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 114 20th Ave. SE, Olympia. Admission is by donation, with $20 suggested for adults, $10 for seniors and students. For this performance, audience members must show proof of vaccination, and masks are required.
• Student Orchestras of Greater Olympia’s spring concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at the Washington Center. Tickets are $11-$17. Audience members are encouraged to wear masks at center events.
Freelance writer Molly Gilmore talks about what’s happening in Olympia and beyond with 95.3 KGY-FM’s Michael Stein from 3 to 4 p.m. Fridays.