Can you dig it? The Mount Baker Rock and Gem Club once again hosts its annual show, with a lot of activities and displays for kids. World-class musicians are coming to our region, and you can support their sponsoring organizations by attending concerts and fundraisers this week.
Want to get involved in live theater? The Fairhaven Summer Repertory Theatre is seeking actors and techies for productions at the FireHouse Arts and Events Center.
Mount Baker Rock and Gem Club Show
Members of the Mount Baker Rock and Gem Club host their annual show from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 26 and 27, at the Pioneer Pavilion Community Center at Ferndale’s Pioneer Park, 2007 Cherry St.
They’ll put together display cases, a silent auction, a kids’ spinning wheel, a fluorescent mineral display, and a club sales area where rocks are sold by the pound, or in trays marked with a price for anything in that tray. Commercial vendors of all things mineral (specimens, jewelry, tools and more) will also be on hand.
Admission is free, but a major purpose of the rock show is to raise money for the club’s annual donation of a scholarship to a geology student at Western Washington University. Raffle sales and a donation bucket go to fund this scholarship. The club cannot handle credit cards, so bring cash. (The commercial vendors make their own sales and most do handle credit cards.) Vendors may email the club’s address for information. Pick up a door prize ticket as you enter! Details: mtbakerrockclub.org
Skagit Symphony: ‘From Budapest to Istanbul’
Take a journey on the Orient Express with the Skagit Symphony at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at McIntyre Hall at Skagit Valley College, 2501 E. College Way in Mount Vernon. The concert features former Whatcom County pianist Jeremy DesChane, performing Dohnanyi’s seldom-heard masterpiece, “Variations on a Nursery Tune.”
The program also features Carl Nielsen’s “Oriental Festival March from ‘Aladdin,’ Op. 34;” Alexander Borodin’s “In the Steppes of Central Asia;” Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov’s “Procession of the Sardar;” Aram Khachaturian’s “Adagio and Sabre Dance from Gayaneh;” and Joe Hisaishi’s “Oriental Wind.” Michael Wheatley conducts.
A pre-concert lecture begins at 6:45 p.m. in the concert hall. Tickets range from $10 to $45. For details and tickets, call 360-416-7727 or go to mcintyrehall.org or skagitsymphony.com.
Sanford-Hill Piano Series presents Imogen Cooper
Western’s Sanford-Hill Piano Series presents pianist Imogen Cooper in concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, at WWU’s Performing Arts Center Concert Hall.
Regarded as one of the finest interpreters of Classical and Romantic repertoire, pianist Imogen Cooper performs Schubert’s “Piano Sonata in A minor D845;” Ravel’s “Sonatine;” “Jeux d’eau” and “Valses Nobles et Sentimentales;” Liszt’s “Les jeux d’eaux a la villa d’Este;” and “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 in A minor.” Cooper also presents a master class, free and open to the public, at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, in the PAC Concert Hall.
Tickets to the show range from $19 to $47. For more information go to tickets.wwu.edu.
To learn more about Cooper, visit Imogen-cooper.com.
Auditions for Bellingham TheatreWorks’ Fairhaven Summer Repertory Theatre
Artistic director Mark Kuntz and producing director Steve Lyons are casting for open parts for their summer repertory season with auditions from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 2 at the Kuntz Rehearsal Studio. Contact Kuntz for an audition time at 360-510-2587 or email him at kuntzm@wwu.edu.
The plays are: “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” directed by Mark Kuntz; “Ching Chong Chinaman,” directed by Elizabeth Wong; and “Big, Scary Animals,” directed by Kayla Adams. The three plays will be performed in repertory six nights a week for four weeks. Rehearsals are June 18 to June 27; performances are June 28 to July 24 at the FireHouse Arts and Events Center, 1314 Harris Avenue. Audition requirements are to tell a two-minute story and be prepared to read from the scripts.
Bellingham TheatreWorks is also looking for crew positions, such as stage managers, house managers, assistant directors, dramaturgs, prop designers, technicians and more, with stipends between $200 and $400. Details can be found at bellinghamtheatreworks.org.
Bellingham Festival of Music Annual Auction
The Bellingham Festival of Music’s in-person live auction and dinner begins at 6 p.m. on April 2 at the Bellingham Golf and Country Club, 3729 Meridian St. The event honors Maestro Michael Palmer’s 29-year tenure as founder and artistic director of the BFM’s world-class summer festival, which will continue this year from July 1 to 24.
Open bidding for the silent auction runs March 26 through April 3. Guests registered for the live auction are automatically registered to participate in the online silent auction. Guests participating only in the online silent auction will still need to register to be eligible to place bids on silent auction items (online silent auction registration is free). Register and purchase tickets at bellinghamfestival.org.
Margaret Bikman’s column runs every Wednesday. Reach her at margaret.bikman@gmail.com.
