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Film: San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Local screenings from the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival start this Saturday, July 28, and run through Aug. 2 at the CineArts movie theater at Palo Alto Square, 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Comedies, documentaries and short films from various countries are among the offerings.
Art: Sand Mandalas at East West
Visiting Tibetan Buddhist monks are holding events this weekend at East West Bookstore at 324 Castro St. in Mountain View. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 28, the visitors will teach a class on making thangkas (educational cloth paintings), and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 29, they will begin a ceremony dispersing the sand mandala they created earlier in the week.
Art: Djerassi Open House
In the Santa Cruz Mountains near Woodside, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program is holding its annual open house from 1 to 5 p.m. this Sunday, July 29. Visitors, who must make advance reservations, will meet the current resident artists and tour their studios, view the outdoor sculpture collection, and attend dance and music performances and readings.
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Music: ‘Bach Preludes and Fugues’
Bay Area organist Rodney Gehrke will perform on the Flentrop organ at All Saints’ Episcopal Church at 555 Waverley St. in Palo Alto, as a benefit for the Palo Alto-based California Bach Society chamber chorus. The all-Bach program begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 30, with tickets including wines and cheeses.
Sports: ‘Learning Curve Bike Circuit Race’
On Sunday, July 1, Foothill College is hosting its second annual “Learning Curve Bike Circuit Race” around the 1.09-mile loop road on campus at 12345 El Monte Road in Los Altos Hills. Registration starts at 7:15 a.m., with the first race beginning at 8, and the event benefitting the construction of a pedestrian/bike path.
Music: ‘Stan Kenton Centennial’
The Ray Brown Great Big Band, led by composer and trumpeter Ray Brown, will perform with guest drummer Peter Erskine at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, July 1. The concert pays homage to the Stan Kenton big band and will take place in Stanford’s Dinkelspiel Auditorium.
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A 19-year-old Menlo Park resident was found with at least one gunshot wound in the 1300 block of Madera Avenue in Menlo Park this morning and was later pronounced dead at Stanford Hospital, police said.
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Film: Student screenings
Stanford University students in the MFA program in documentary film and video will host a free evening of film screenings and a Q&A starting at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 16. The event is in Annenberg Auditorium on campus.
Music: World Music Day
For the fourth year in a row, downtown Palo Alto will be home to a wealth of musicians performing free outdoor concerts for World Music Day. This year’s event is scheduled from 3 to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 17, on and around University Avenue.
Music: The Banana Slug String Band
A Father’s Day concert with music and puppetry is planned when the Banana Slug String Band performs two 45-minute family shows at Hidden Villa starting at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 17. Hidden Villa is at 26870 Moody Road in Los Altos Hills.
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Dance: ‘Ghostlight Tango’
Showcasing dances from the Victorian era through the 1920s in formal period attire. Also featuring performances by Swing Cats Rhythm Revue. Saturday, June 9, from 8 to 10:30 p.m. at Cubberley Theatre, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.
Community: Nativity Carnival 2012
The 32nd Annual Spring Carnival takes place Saturday, June 9 (noon to 11 p.m.), and Sunday, June 10 (noon to 6 p.m.), at Nativity School, 1250 Laurel St., Menlo Park. The Carnival features a dozen rides, game booths and a food court featuring rotisserie chicken, pasta dinner, bruschetta, philly cheesesteaks, bbq hamburgers and hotdogs, turkey legs and tri-tip dinner.
Community: Used Book Sale
Friends of the Palo Alto Library is holding monthly sales of used books, CDs and DVDs on Saturday and Sunday, June 9-10, at Cubberley Community Center, 4000 Middlefield Road. Sale hours are Saturday (main sale room open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; children’s and bargain rooms open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Sunday (all rooms open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Admission free.
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Family music: Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra
“Bach to the Future” is the theme of a Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra concert featuring violinist Ariana Kim at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 2. The program includes both Bach (J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major) and new (a premiere of Elizabeth Ogonek’s piece “Window Watchers”).
Outdoor music: Opera San Jose
Downtown Redwood City starts its extensive series of free outdoor summer concerts this month on Courthouse Square at 2200 Broadway and other locations. Artists from Opera San Jose will sing arias and ensemble piece on Courthouse Square at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 2.
Community: Open house at Sunset Magazine
Menlo Park’s Sunset Magazine holds its annual Celebration Weekend on June 2 and 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 80 Willow Road. Visitors can tour gardens and kitchens, buy food and drink, listen to live music and take part in arts and crafts.
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Community: USGS Open House
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 19 and 20, the U.S. Geological Survey holds a free open house of its Menlo Park campus at 345 Middlefield Road. Exhibits, demonstrations, presentations and other activities will inform visitors about the work done by USGS scientists.
Music: ‘Frost Revival’
The indie-rock band Modest Mouse will headline a “Frost Revival” concert at Stanford’s Frost Amphitheater at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 19. Other musicians scheduled for the outdoor concert are the indie band Eyes Lips Eyes and singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich.
Family: Music from ‘Fantasia’
The Palo Alto Philharmonic is holding a family concert of music from the 1940 Disney film “Fantasia,” including selections from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Ballet” and Beethoven’s “Pastoral Symphony.” The performance is at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 20, at Cubberley Theatre, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.
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Community: May Fete and Vintage Vehicles
Saturday, May 5, is a big day for annual community events in Palo Alto: The May Fete Parade begins at 10 a.m. at the corner of University Avenue and Emerson Street, with floats and arts and community groups. The end of the parade is Heritage Park at 300 Homer Ave., with the May Fete Fair and the Vintage Vehicles and Family Fun Day car show.
Art: Silicon Valley Open Studios
The annual Silicon Valley Open Studios starts this weekend, May 5 and 6, with artists in the Palo Alto, Stanford, Menlo Park and Los Altos areas opening their doors to visitors from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event is free.
Community: Spring Fair
Now in its 40th year, the Spring Fair at Peninsula School is scheduled Sunday, May 6, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 920 Peninsula Way in Menlo Park. The event features arts and crafts activities, live music, a book sale and international food for sale.
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Music: Stanford New Ensemble
In a free concert scheduled for 8 p.m Saturday, April 21, the Stanford New Ensemble will perform newly composed works by Israeli composer Yinam Leef, and Suddhaseel Sen’s arrangement of “Four Songs” by Rabindranath Tagore, featuring soprano Koyel Bhattacharyya. Composers are scheduled to attend the event, which is in Campbell Recital Hall at Stanford University.
Community: Bonsai show
Demonstrations, tree sales and raffles are planned for the Kusumura Bonsai Club’s 52nd annual bonsai show, scheduled from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 21 and 22, at the Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Admission is free.
Home: Stanford Historic House & Garden Tour
The eighth annual Stanford Historic House & Garden Tour will visit five pre-World War II houses in the Old Campus residential area. The tour goes from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 22.
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Music: Quatuor Mosaiques
This premier Viennese quartet emerged from the pioneering early instrument group Concentus Musicus Wien. Quatuor Mosaiques is renowned for its performances of 18th-century repertoire on historic musical instruments. Saturday, April 14, at 8 p.m. at Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford.
Gardens: Dividing Cymbidium Orchids
This is a demonstration class with Weegie Caughlan on basic repotting procedures for cymbidium orchids. Saturday, April 14, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Gamble Garden, 1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto.
Music: Palo Alto Philharmonic and Gunn strings
For this concert the string section of Gunn High School’s orchestra will join the Philharmonic to perform Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Vaughn Williams’ “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” and the premiere of a new work by Lee Actor. Saturday, April 14, from 8 to 10 p.m. at Spangenberg Theatre, Gunn High School, 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto.
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