The Westport Arts Center offers a wide range of programs in the Performing arts that bring to our community many of the finest artists in music and theater, as well as probing conversations and explorations of the arts. You'll hear great chamber music ensembles; or the best of the great American songbook; or an insightful conversation between artists; or perhaps a talented local performer--all designed to bring you face to face with the arts.

Upcoming Performing Arts events:
Sunday, October 3, 2010		St. Petersburg Quartet
Saturday, October 9, 2010		Gypsy Jazz
Sunday, November 7, 2010		New! Trio Solisti
Sunday, November 14, 2010		Edmar Castaneda Trio
Sunday, January 30, 2011		Bang on a Drum
Sunday, February 6, 2011		New! REBEL
Sunday, March 6, 2011		Arturo O’Farrill
Sunday, April 10, 2011		New! Simon Mulligan

The 2010-11 Chamber Music Series at the Westport Arts Center, curated by composer, New Yorker music editor, and Westport native Russell Platt, moves into fresh territory this season while keeping in touch with the classics. The first three programs—offered by the Alessio Bax/Lucille Chung piano duo, by the St. Petersburg Quartet with the renowned bassoonist Peter Kolkay, and by the scintillating Trio Solisti—offer a lavish selection of Russian and Slavic repertoire, along with Austrian, French, and American works. The season concludes in 2011 with a first-ever venture into period-instrument performance, courtesy of the famed New York Baroque ensemble Rebel, and with a concert given by the debonair English pianist Simon Mulligan that celebrates the anniversary years of Chopin and Samuel Barber, with several jazz selections added to the mix.

Co-presented with arts partner the Pequot Library in Southport, CT.

The Westport Arts Center’s 2010/2011 Chamber Music Series is generously supported by Howard J. Aibel, Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, Inc., the Estate of Ruth Steinkraus Cohen and Herbert L. Cohen (Friends of Music), the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, the National Endowment for the Arts, and members of the WAC Board of Directors and Chamber Music Committee.

Upcoming Chamber Music events:
Sunday, October 3, 2010		St. Petersburg Quartet
Sunday, November 7, 2010		New! Trio Solisti
Sunday, February 6, 2011		New! REBEL
Sunday, April 10, 2011		New! Simon Mulligan

The 2010-2011 Jazz Series at the Westport Arts Center connects the American Art form to other World Music styles. Artistic director Brian Torff says of this year’s series, “We will be linking the great American jazz tradition with its world-wide influence as an international art form. Jazz resonates around the world in different styles and voices. We hope to show that to our audiences.”

We're excited to introduce a new $10 ticket price for college students interested in learning more about Jazz.

Upcoming Jazz events:
Saturday, October 9, 2010		Gypsy Jazz
Sunday, November 14, 2010		Edmar Castaneda Trio
Sunday, January 30, 2011		Bang on a Drum
Sunday, March 6, 2011		Arturo O’Farrill

There is a wonderful blurring of categories taking place in music today-and nowhere is it more evident than in the area we’ve called “folk.”  At the Westport Arts Center you will occasionally hear music that can still fairly be called folk but you’ll also hear musicians channeling those traditional influences while blending them with pop, jazz, rock, blues, country, classical, and international sounds.  You’ll hear some of your favorites and, we hope, take a chance on less familiar artists.  You might hear them in the funky and charming Seabury Center, or the state-of-the-art Westport Country Playhouse.  Wherever you hear them, whether it’s for the first time or the tenth, you can be sure they are singers and other artists we are excited about and eager to share with you.

Art Café
Join us for a casual gathering with coffee and scones, for a discussion of the latest events in the art world. Hosted by Director of Visual Arts Helen Klisser during, Art Café is a great way to meet other artists and art enthusiasts in the area, and learn about exhibitions to visit in the area. Bring your friends, or come by yourself and make new friends.

Art Café is free and takes place every Friday from 9:30-10:30am at WAC in our lounge graciously furnished by Signorello of Westport.