CU-Boulder's Artist Series gets started tonight when renowned classical guitarist Christopher Parkening teams up with baritone Jubilant Sykes for an evening of music by Piazzolla, Albéniz and Copland, as well as traditional spirituals. The 7:30 p.m. concert, held in Macky Auditorium, will be preceded at 6:45 p.m. by an informal performance by CU guitar students on the terrace; tickets range from $10 to $40. In addition, classical-guitar heads can sit in on a free class with Parkening this morning from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in Grusin Hall, Imig Music Building; for tickets and information, call 303-492-8008 or visit www.cuconcerts.org.
Friday, September 19
Colorado's Fulcrum Publishing is known across the nation for its titles on travel, gardening, nature, the American West and more, not to mention being well appreciated in this state for its Colorado-centric proclivities. But here's another feather in the publisher's cap: the second Fulcrum Books Pre-Holiday Warehouse Sale, which offers discounts on new releases, calendars and such perennially popular titles as The Colorado Guide, as well as special deals on display copies and seconds. You'll find all that, along with a clutch of Fulcrum-supported, book-signing Colorado authors, today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Fulcrum warehouse, 4425 East 46th Avenue; to sweeten the pot just a tad more, a dollar will be donated to the Denver Public Library for every book sold. Call 303-277-1623 or go to www.fulcrum-books.com.
Small but determined, the Colorado Opera Troupe opens its ninth season with a bowl full of cherries: In its sparkling and intimate new home at DU's Gates Concert Hall in the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 East Iliff Avenue, the troupe will make an auspicious debut with Femmes Fatales, a double bill of Bizet's Carmen and a unique adaptation of Salome that blends elements from the Oscar Wilde drama and the Richard Strauss opera. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. tonight and 2 p.m. Sunday; for tickets, $22 to $30, call 303-694-6042.
Red, white and blues: Red-and-white-clad Detroit garage-rockers Jack and Meg White -- otherwise known as the mysterious White Stripes -- take popular music back to its minimalist roots in a rock-and-roll take on Robert Johnson, using no more than guitar and voice, with drums standing in for the stomping foot, to blow away all evidence of the glossy, digitally engineered and physically re-engineered Britney Spears era we're stuck in these days. Somebody out there loves them for it: Our own local audience-on-the-edge should be out in full force for tonight's show at the Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson Street. Tickets to the 7 p.m. concert are $30; call 303-830-TIXS.
Saturday, September 20
The little city of Longmont may seem like it's neither here nor there to you, but that's precisely why it appeals to artists: Affordable and folksy, it's still close enough to the urban action in Denver and to Boulder's touchy-feely, upscale environment. More than fifty Longmont-area artists will invite the public to visit with them this weekend during the annual Longmont Studio Tour, a free, self-guided affair taking place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and noon to 5 p.m. tomorrow. Pick up a map at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, 400 Quail Road, where you can also view a preview exhibition; the Muse Gallery, 521 Main Street; or the Old Firehouse Art Center, 667 Fourth Avenue. For information, call 303-678-7869 or log on to www.longmontarts.com for an online look at works by tour artists.
Sunday, September 21
Time to break out the sneakers and work up a sweat. Or not. Once the Home Depot Governor's Cup 2003 starts at 8 a.m. this morning, you'll have options: There's a 5K run/walk, which begins at University Boulevard and Cherry Creek Drive North, and a 10K run, which kicks off at Cook Park. Both conclude at the State Capitol. Fees vary from $10 to $23, and proceeds benefit the Children's Hospital. Call 303-694-2202 for information.
Monday, September 22
Feel like a little 1930s vintage German film? How bout digging the works of Oskar Fischinger, whose experimental works from that era create an odd time warp? The Boulder Public Library Film Program's History of Experimental Cinema will offer the free show at 7 p.m. tonight at the Boulder Public Library Auditorium, 1000 Canyon Boulevard. Call 303-441-3196.
Tuesday, September 23
Flutist Paul Nagem is the guest artist in this humorous classical program, but everyone attending will be a special guest at tonight's first installment of the Da Vinci Quartet Denver House Concert Series. That's because the acclaimed Colorado-based ensemble will be performing in someone's home. The idea, according to Da Vinci co-founder Jerilyn Jorgensen, is to allow listeners to experience music in an intimate, non-traditional setting. Starting time is 6:30 p.m.; admission is $20. For ticket and location information, call 303-691-3571.
Wednesday, September 24
For those who have a room with a phew, the Handyman Connection and Ace Hardware are sponsoring Denver's Ugly Bathroom Contest. Submit a photo of your ugly bathroom, along with an essay of fifty words or less telling why you deserve a new place to primp, and you could win a dazzling bathroom makeover. Send entries to P.O. Box 1356, Golden CO, 80402-1356, through October 24; for more information, call 303-575-1088.
On a more elevated level, the Colorado Latin American Poetry Festival begins a three-day event honoring poet Trinidad Sanchez Jr. Sponsored by the Boulder Public Library, EducArte and El Centro Amistad, the celebration begins with music and poetry readings from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight as part of an inauguration ceremony at the library, 1000 Canyon Boulevard; the balance of the activities take place at EducArte, 2900 Valmont Road. To register or submit poems, call 720-406-0842 or the BPL at 303-441-3100.
