Feeling the pangs of pandemic boredom? Try mixing it up with these (mostly virtual) concerts happening in the coming days and weeks. One features new music inspired by victims of police brutality, and another puts a modern spin on the ancient art of taiko drumming.
Collectively, they’ll help you stretch your musical horizons, and show a little extra love for the local music scene. Most are free, but some venues want viewers to get tickets or RSVP online beforehand.
Jeff Libman Quartet
Wednesday, September 9The Nash is presenting different types of online events, including concerts and discussions. The next event features a performance by the Jeff Libman Quartet, which was originally recorded live at the Roosevelt Row venue in March 2019. Tune in at 6:30 p.m.
Walt Richardson and Friends
Wednesday, September 9Before the performing arts center decided to temporarily pause live performances due to COVID-19 public health concerns, Tempe Center for the Arts presented a weekly series featuring local creatives. Now, Walt Richardson and frequent series performers are returning as part of a weekly online series called SHFT. The performance begins at 6 p.m.
Qais Essar
Thursday, September 10Kerr Cultural Center is streaming a concert featuring composer and instrumentalist Qais Essar performing on the rabab, a stringed instrument that originated more than 2,000 years ago in Afghanistan. The concert will also include Shreyas Iyer playing the tabla, a percussion instrument that’s prevalent in India. The 7 p.m. concert is part of the center’s venue’s “Beam” series.
West-By-Northwest
Saturday, September 12This concert originally performed live and recorded at The Nash in January 2020 features more than a dozen jazz musicians who come together just a few times a year to perform together as West-By-Northwest. The online event happens at 6:30 p.m.
See a Rising Sun Daughter performance recorded on the main stage at Chandler Center for the Arts.
Taylor Noel
Rising Sun Daughter
Thursday, September 17Grace Rolland’s Rising Sun Daughter project is part of a new CCA Anywhere series created by Chandler Center for the Arts, which features virtual presentations of performances filmed on its main stage. Rolland is best known to some for launching her music career with the Tucson Americana group Run Boy Run. This virtual event happens at 7 p.m.
León Santiago
Thursday, September 24Another concert in the CCA Anywhere series, this 7 p.m. virtual event features performance by León Santiago, an Arizona-based musician who creates his own compositions reflecting world folk music and modern American life.
Jazz Con Alma
Saturday, September 26Hear this Latin jazz ensemble perform as part of the Jazz Lounge Series created by Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. This concert, which you can attend in person or livestream, kicks off at 8 p.m. The concert will include special guest Holly Pyle. Tickets are $25 to $28 for the live concert, and $20 for virtual viewing.
Tuning Up
Tuesday, September 29Violinist and composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama will debut her new work titled Finding the Dream as part of an event called Tuning Up, which also features Ngwenyama and Daniel Bernard Roumain discussing classical music and “equity, opportunity, and representation.” Her piece was inspired by Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and recent victims of police brutality. Tune in at 7 p.m.
Reaching for the Light
Saturday, October 3This concert, which is the first offering in the Sonoran Desert Chorale’s virtual season, will feature works selected to foster hope and encouragement, from Bridge Over Troubled Water written by Paul Simon to Eriks Ešenvalds’ O Salutaris Hostia. The virtual event, which begins at 7:30 p.m., will include a new performance and recorded selections of previous performances.
TaikoProject
Monday, October 26ASU Gammage is presenting this digital performance by TaikoProject, a group founded by emerging taiko drummers in Los Angeles in 2000. The performance will includes both drumming and martial arts movement that integrates traditional and modern styles. The event begins at 6 p.m.
Urban Nocturnes
Thursday, October 29This Urban Nocturnes concert is part of the Music at Trinity series presented by Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Roosevelt Row. The virtual concert will feature six members of this chamber music ensemble performing solo works highlighting various styles of classical music, such as Baroque, Romantic, and Contemporary. The virtual event begins at 7 p.m.
