The 2009 Esalen International Arts Festival features music and dance performances on Saturday, July 4 at Esalen in Big Sur. The afternoon and evening line-up includes a cappella vocal ensemble SoVoSo, Claudia Villela, La Mixta Criolla, Trinidadian musician Asheba, traditional Indian dancer Athira Pratap, and many more. Advance reservations are highly recommended.  To purchase tickets call 831-667-3000, press 3950, and follow the instructions and prompts. Please have your credit card information, phone number, email address, and the name of the person who will pick up the tickets available. On July 4, the gate opens at 2:00 PM. Will-call tickets will be available to pick up at the top of the hill at the Esalen main entrance after 1:00 PM. Dinner is included. Bring towels if you plan to use the mineral baths and a blanket for sitting on the lawn. Event ends and all attendees must leave Esalen at 10:00 PM. Tickets are limited and will sell out. www.esalen.org

Spirit Garden Productions presents "Spirit Awakening" a one-woman show featuring Akuyoe Graham on Sunday, July 5 at 7:00pm at the Big Sur Spirit Garden. Spirit Awakening is Akuyoe's archetypal journey in search for the authentic self. Her story will resonate with anyone on a spiritual quest of identity and meaning. Uprooted as a child from Ghana, transplanted to London, then Spanish Harlem, now living in Los Angeles, Akuyoe Graham's performance "lifts the solo dramatic genre to heights rarely reached" -- Los Angeles Times. Queen mother Nana Odede Akuyoe is a crowned Queen of her native region in Ghana West Africa and currently lives in Los Angeles working as an actress for film and television. Honored as"Artist of the Year" by Art Share LA, named a "Local Hero" by Season for Non Violence in Los Angeles by the Pasadena and L.A Police for her work with at risk youth and teens in the juvenile system. http://akuyoe.com, http://bigsurspiritgarden.com, Loma Vista Hwy 1. Big Sur. 831 667 1300

Continuing

Cabrillo Stage presents I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, the musical comedy with four actors playing over forty characters in a series of vignettes about the complexities and absurdity of dating, love, and marriage. Intended for mature audiences only. Through July 26, in the Schilling Forum at Cabrillo College in Aptos. Tickets: 831-479-6154 and www.cabrillostage.com

Coming up next week and beyond:

The Santa Cruz Baroque Festival's annual Boomeria Extravaganza, a unique afternoon with hours of organ music in Boomeria's own Chapel Royal surrounded by the Bonny Doon area forest. The event takes place on Saturday, July 11, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm with Vlada Moran, Bruce Sawhill, Hartzell Lemons, Lawrence Manzo, and Preston Boomer performing throughout the afternoon. Visitors also receive a tour of the insides of the organ, known as an "organ crawl." This event is a fundraiser, and proceeds benefit the Baroque Festival's annual concert season. Tickets are available through santacruztickets.com, and by phone at 831-420-5260, or 459-2159, and online at www.scbaroque.org, 831-457-9693). Due to limited capacity, this event offers advance ticket sales only. Directions will be furnished to ticket holders.

Singer-songwriter Amy Obenski performs at the Theatre on San Pedro Square in San Jose on July 11 at 8:00 pm. Obenski has become a familiar musical artist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hailing from Santa Cruz, she's developed an impressive collection of original songs, including one that was featured on the hit T.V. show, Grey's Anatomy. Accompanying her is Daniel Brown on cello. Obenski's haunting vocals combined with the rich and ever expanding degrees of Brown's creativity has resulted in a sound that is experimental, dreamy, and lush. Obenski's lyrics, described as "gripping" by Good Times Santa Cruz, are easily audible over the combo, allowing them to lure you into her song stories. Tickets available in advance at www.BrownPaperTickets.com

Arts Habitat will present poet Garland Thompson, Jr. on Thursday, July 16, in an interactive poetry presentation entitled, "Are You Ready to Slam? A Brief Look at the Poetry Slam," as part of their event series Arts in Progress: Third Thursdays with Arts Habitat. The events take place every third Thursday of the month at the Monterey YMCA, 600 Camino El Estero, at Webster Street, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Refreshments are served and the events are free and open to the public.

Community Music School of Santa Cruz presents award-winning fretted dulcimer player Linda Brockinton and friends in concert at Ananda Yoga Center on Mt. Hermon Road in Scotts Valley on Friday, July 24 at 7:30 PM. Audiences are encouraged to bring warm socks, as shoes are not worn in the yoga room. Linda Brockinton of Alexander, Arkansas, is a graceful finger-style player known for her intricate arrangements of Celtic tunes. In 2001 she won the National Mountain Dulcimer Championships, the first woman ever to accomplish this feat in the 30-year history of the competition! Also appearing will be special guest Dan Daniels of Yreka, California, a teacher and master builder of mountain dulcimer, claw hammer banjo and guitar who performs "old timey" gospel and standards with charm and pizzazz. Plus locally-based acclaimed dulcimer artists Neal Hellman of Gourd Music Peter Tommerup, Janet Herman, and Ron Beardslee, who, with Brockinton and Daniels, make up the faculty at an all-day program of dulcimer workshops taking place in Bonny Doon the day after the concert. (info: "Redwood Dulcimer Day" at http://www.folkplanet.com/dulcimerday). An instrument native to the Appalachian mountains of North America, the fretted (also called "lap" or "mountain") dulcimer features a distinctive, often ethereal sound. Santa Cruz County has been a West Coast hotspot for dulcimer building, playing, and innovation since the early 1970s. For more information please visit http://www.folkplanet.com and click on the "Dulcimer Day" link, or call Janet at (831) 429-1691.

The San Diego flamenco rock band Sir Sultry and members of Arte y Pureza, featuring dancers and singers from Seville, Spain, will perform Spanish Day-The Flamenco Rock Opera on Sunday, August 2 at 7:30pm at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz.  Tickets can be purchased at Logos Books and Records in Santa Cruz or by calling 831-427-5100.

AUDITIONS, WORKSHOPS & OPPORTUNITIES:

The Santa Cruz City Band is open to anyone that plays a band instrument and is proficient at reading music. The group meets Mondays from 7:30-9:30 PM in the Santa Cruz High Band Room on the corner of Walnut Street and California Street. Call John Thomas at 831-425-0110 for more information or visit Thomas Musical Instruments at 428 A Front St. in Santa Cruz.

Music Camps -

Kid's Celtic Music Day Camp -- Monday July 27-August 7, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm with a Garden Concert/Party on Saturday Aug. 8 from 12-4 at The Boomeria. Featuring fiddle, flute, pennywhistle, recorder, oboe, harp, guitar, accordion, small keyboards and cello. Additional activities include swimming and crafts every day. Ages 7 - 13. Tuition:

Teen Celtic Music Overnight Camp -- Monday Aug. 10 through Saturday Aug. 15, Sempervirens Outdoor School (off Hwy 9 in Boulder Creek). Featuring fiddle, flute, pennywhistle, recorder, oboe, harp, guitar, dulcimer, accordion, percussion and cello. Other activities include dancing, swimming, crafts, henna art, campfire, and bamboo flute making. Ages 13 - 17. Enrollment for these camps must be received by June 15. http://www.communitymusicschool.org/ Participants must be proficient on one of the above instruments and have played for at least two years. For more information on the camps and playing ability requirements, please contact Shelley at: Community Music School of Santa Cruz, P. O. Box 531 Santa Cruz, CA 95061, (831) 426-9155 phone and fax, e-mail: shelley@communitymusicschool.org

If your PERFORMING ARTS organization has an upcoming event which might interest KUSP's listening audience, please send a BRIEF press release or SHORT public service announcement to: performing at kusp dot org

or snail mail an announcement to:

KUSP Performing Arts Calendar
203 8th Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95062

Tips for getting your announcement on air and web:
- Put your event name and date in the email's subject heading
- Please DO NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS.

PLEASE SEND AT LEAST 2 WEEKS IN ADVANCE OF YOUR EVENT.