Special Events Overview

The Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council annually sponsors a special critically-acclaimed event: The Pleasanton Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival. In addition to this annual event, PCAC hosts various other events throughout the year.

Linked Visual Arts & Poetry — Call for Visual Art and Poetry Submissions
Pleasanton Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival 2010 — April 17 & 18, 2010
April Verch, Champion Canadian Fiddler, Stepdancer & Singer — March 2011
Cantabella Children's Chorus Special Concert — March, 2011

Linked Visual Arts & Poetry in Downtown Pleasanton — Call for Visual Art and Poetry Submissions

Visual art pieces must be submitted by February 1, 2010.
Poetry must be submitted by February 26, 2010.

In Downtown Pleasanton, as a precursor for the 9th Annual Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival of April 17-18, 2010, the Pleasanton Art League (PAL) and PCAC will exhibit visual artists' works which will be responded to in poetry by local competing poets.

Poets may respond to the visual art works in a couple of ways: by explaining or analyzing what is happening in the work, or by deriving a meaning from the visual piece and going from there. Either way, there is a visual basis to the response which is enhanced by things that only a mind can see. We hope that these displays will raise community awareness about visual arts expression and about poetic expression, that they will enrich the community, and that they will bring recognition to local artists and poets — while, at the same time, acting as an appropriate precursor to announce the 9th Annual Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival.

Visual artists will be selected by invitation only. Winning poets, whose work will hang with the visual arts pieces, will be chosen by a judge. Selected works will be displayed in Downtown Pleasanton at the Museum on Main and at several downtown businesses. The entire show will be moved to the Senior Center on April 14, so that it can be combined with the PAL Fine Arts Show for the Poetry, Prose, & Arts Festival of April 17- 18.

A reception for the artists, both visual artists and poets, will be held in the Senior Center from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 17, 2010. The reception is also open to the general public and to all attendees of the Festival.

For more information and rules about submitting entries, click here to download a PDF.

QUESTIONS: Contact PCAC's Dave Wright at 925-484-0614 or dawright@SBCglobal.net; or PAL's Pat Smith at 925-846-4138 or psmithrlrltr@comcast.net.

The 9th Annual Pleasanton Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival

Saturday & Sunday, April 17 & 18, 2010 in the Pleasanton Senior Center, 5353 Sunol Boulevard, Pleasanton, CA

PP&A logo This is an exciting two-day celebration of poetry, prose and visual arts held every year filled with inspiring and informative workshops, events, contests and people. This year's keynote speaker will be Bob Jenkins, An Artist in the World (pictured at right).

$1,200 will be given in awards in the Poetry and Prose Contests. Registration and contest submissions are now being accepted for this event.

Contest Entry Deadline: All entries must be postmarked by Monday, March 15, 2010.

Click here for more information about the Festival, and to find out how to enter the contests and enroll in the workshops.

April Verch — Champion Canadian Fiddler, Stepdancer & Singer

This fabulous concert took place on March 9, 2010. The smiling, toe-tapping audience was delighted to experience April's exciting and uplifting performance.

April will return next year for another concert you don't want to miss — check back here for more information.

April Verch brings together Celtic, jazz, folk and bluegrass influences. The fiddling of April Verch, now in her early twenties, is a breath of fresh air. Though she has deep roots in the fiddling of her native Ottawa Valley in Canada, April's broad repertoire features traditional and contemporary tunes ranging in source and inspiration from Quebec to the Appalachians, from Eastern Europe to Brazil — not to mention her own colorful compositions. EnRoute Magazine says, "April's strings burn with energy, whether she's playing waltzes, airs, reels, or polkas. This is the hottest old time music of the year."

As a headliner, special guest, and backing musician, April has toured across Canada, in the United States, United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirates. April performed for the Millennium Celebrations at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., was the guest at Chet Atkin's tribute in Nashville, along with a host of Grand Ole Opry stars, and was a featured performer at the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival and at Fiddles of the World. And let's not forget her coveted titles: Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Champion (1997) and Canadian Open Fiddle Champion (1998).

April studied fiddling at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, under fiddle greats Matt Glaser and Darol Anger. She is now in great demand as a teacher herself, instructing at as many fiddle camps and workshops as her performance schedule will allow.

This young musician is not only sought-after for her master fiddling but for her virtuoso Ottawa Valley step dancing as well. This dynamic, high-energy form of dancing, performed by April's award-winning feet, never fails to bring the house down.

About the age of many artists who are putting their first album together, April has produced four. Those recordings, Springtime Fiddle (1990), Fiddle Talk (1995), and Fiddelicious (1998) have earned her airplay all over the world. Her newest album, VERCHuosity, is an international release on Rounder Records — with her most varied and engaging set to date.

Despite all of the curious byroads that the music of April Verch explores, all are united by her driving fiddle playing, its phrasing both concise and precise while maintaining a vigorous, ceaseless bounce. Her mastery of rhythm — both in adhering to a pulse and blending different rhythmic ideas — is VERCHuosity's greatest virtue. It's easy to expect great things from April, and she delivers every time. Dynamic and diabolic, soothing and soaring, the music of April Verch will invigorate you, calm you, and charm you.

Cantabella Children's Chorus Special Concert:
"This is the Day"

April Verch

This inspiring and touching concert took place on March 28, 2010 at the Amador Theater. The audience could not believe that there was such amazing local talent right here in our community.

The Cantabella Children's Chorus will return next year for another concert you don't want to miss — check back here for more information.

The Cantabella Children's Chorus and the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council joined together to bring the Tri-Valley a most inspiring concert entitled "This Is the Day," which was the kick-off for the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council's membership drive and a fundraiser. Cantabella Children's Chorus is an award-winning chorus and the Tri-Valley's best kept secret.

Since 1992, Cantabella Children's Chorus (CCC) has been teaching fine vocal production and music literacy through great choral works to 180 children in grades K-12. In addition to two annual community concerts and annual choral festivals, Cantabella performs larger choral works with other professional music organizations, such as Valley Concert Chorale and Livermore Valley Opera. Cantabella has served as guest choir for Frederica von Stade, Judy Collins, Henry Leck, and the American Orff-Schulwerk Association National Conference.

Cantabella Children's chorus of Livermore and Pleasanton received top honors at the recent prestigious Eighth Golden Gate International Children's and Youth Choral Festival held in the S.F. area. The Cantabella Chorus competed with choirs from China, Taiwan, Denmark, Finland, Colorado, Mississippi, Mill Valley, San Mateo and Piedmont.

The Cantabella singers were awarded First Place in the Historical Category for their performance of Purcell's "Sound the Trumpet," and three other art songs by Morley and Brahms. They received the Second Place award in the Folk Song Category. And in the Youth Vocal Solo Category, Cantabella member Joanna Xu was awarded Third Place.

While at the Festival, many choruses gathered to sing together, perform for one another, encourage one another, and to build international friendships. The week's schedule was a busy one with daily rehearsals for the combined choirs of nearly 350 singers with world renowned composers/conductors — including Bob Chilcott of England and Pekka Kostiainen of Finland. The Festival closed with an inspiring concert at Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall.

Bee Chow, the Founder and Artistic Director of CCC, oversees all educational and performance aspects of the chorus. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Music Education as well as Certifications in Kodaly and Suzuki Instruction. Bee is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Northern California Association of Kodaly Educators, Music Teachers' Association of California and Suzuki Association of the Americas. She has years of experience teaching music in public schools and in directing children's choirs.

Robert Lappa, the Associate Director for the Chamber Choir, also holds directorial positions with Las Positas College's Chamber and Concert Choirs, the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Dublin and the Special Blend Vocal Jazz Ensemble in Alamo. Lappa holds a BA of Music degree in Music Education, and a Masters of Music degree in Choral Conducting with emphasis on Voice Performance.