5 Things To Do Today: Classical Tuesdays opens, "Tosca's Kiss," Elvis, Jars of Clay ...

By Volcano Staff on September 9, 2014

TUESDAY, SEPT. 9 2014 >>>

1. For classical music fans that want to hear something other than the 12,655th performance of Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony," the Classical Tuesdays in Old Town series every second Tuesday offers rousing performances of accessible music by classical guitarists, sitar musicians, hip young string players and opera in the Slavonian Hall and other Old Town Tacoma venues. "Sounds of Japan and Latin America" will feature duo Miho Takekawa on the marimba and Diego Coy playing the quena, a traditional Andean flute, perform distinctive warm, natural wood sounds as they take listeners on a musical journey from Japan to South America at 5:30 p.m. in Old Town Park. The duo have produced four CDs covering music of the Andes, traditional South American folk, Brazilian, Japanese, jazz and Latin jazz music, as well as original compositions.

2. Tosca's Kiss is a 1984 documentary on the Casa Verdi, the home for retired musicians in Milan founded in 1902 with a bequest from Giuseppe Verdi. Among the performers interviewed are Sara Scuderi, Giuseppe Manacchini, Leonida Bellon and Giulietta Simonato, though director Daniel Schmid seems less interested in them as individuals than as walking metaphors for the frailty of the flesh and the permanence of art. Catch the film at 2:15 and 6:30 p.m. in The Grand Cinema.

3. Science Café is back from its summer hiatus focusing on "Sounds of the Amazon Pink River Dolphins" at 7 p.m. inside Orca Books. Since 2007, David Bonnett and his wife, Dottie, have recorded the underwater sounds of these dolphins, and will fill you in on their discoveries.

4. Usually when you go to the casino you just lose money - but tonight could be different. Danny Vernon's Illusions of Elvis will be at the Red Wind Casino. Travel out to Yelm and have a great time with the King's likeness, starting at 6:30 p.m.

5. For those who haven't dusted off the Good Book in a while, Jars of Clay takes its name from 2 Corinthians 4:7, which speaks of God's gift of grace to mankind, which holds "this treasure in jars of clay, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Formed in 1992 when the members were in college, a few songs cooked up over spring break in 1994 led to a triumph at the Gospel Music Association's national Spotlight 1994 talent competition, which led to a label deal and a tour playing to youth groups across the country. This series of breaks eventually resulted in the 1995 release of the groundbreaking Jars of Clay, which bore the crossover single, "Flood." The band is still rocking today, with 10 studio records - three of which earned Grammys. Jars of Clay will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Rialto Theater.

LINK: Tuesday, Sept. 9 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area