Art

ART CRAWL! April 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. at St. Mary’s College Museum. Crawl is an event in conjunction with Moraga Art in Public Spaces and SMC Museum. It will be held on SMC campus. Artists of high school age and artists from the community are invited to join the fun.

The Lamorinda Arts Council presents artwork from students in grades one through eight of the Orinda Union School District from April 8 through 26 in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library. Participating elementary schools include: Del Rey, Glorietta, Sleepy Hollow, and Wagner Ranch, plus Orinda Intermediate School. Meet the students, their families, friends, and art educators at a reception on April 25 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. ONE hosts a snack table where students pick up their Arts Ambassadors ribbons. Enjoy the OIS Jazz Band on the terrace, and at 5 p.m. a chamber ensemble performs in the Library Auditorium. www.LamorindaArts.org/  (925) 359.9940.

Art Gallery at Wilder: Artistic License - A Couple of Artists Married to Art. The exhibit runs April 7 to May 5. The Gallery is now open Monday – Friday from 3 to 5 p.m.; new art is exhibited monthly. For more information or to apply to exhibit work, visit https://lamorindaarts.org/current-exhibits-wilder/,  info@LamorindaArts.org  (925) 359.9940

Music

Pacific Chamber Orchestra (PCO), Lawrence Kohl, Music Director, is presenting Bruch Violin Concerto #1 in g minor with violinist Livia Sohn, Mendelssohn Symphony #3 “Scottish” and Fanny Mendelssohn Overture for Orchestra on Saturday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church and Sunday, April 28, at 3 p.m. at Bankhead Theater, Livermore. Purchase tickets at PacificChamberOrchestra.org

Berkeley Chamber Performances (BCP) is presenting three chamber music concerts at the Lafayette Library, GCCP’s former venue. Their final concert of the season features the Naumburg Prize-winning Telegraph Quartet on May 4, featuring string quartets by Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch, and Dvorak. All concerts are Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $45, with a significant discount for season ticket purchase. www.berkeleychamberperform.org

California Symphony’s season finale on May 4  at 7:30 p.m. and May 5 at 4 p.m. Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera reunites the music of Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann. Hear Schumann’s only surviving piano concerto, performed by soloist Robert Thies, and Brahms’ brilliant first symphony. Resident Composer Saad Haddad melds the music of the West and the East in his first commission for California Symphony. Purchase your tickets at www.californiasymphony.org/shows/brahms-obsessions/ or by calling the Lesher Center at (925) 943.7469.

Diablo Ballet announces  Firebird program May 17 and 18 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. Performances are: Friday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 18 at 2 p.m. & 7:30 pm. Single tickets are on sale now ($28 - $54) with senior and youth pricing available. Early Bird pricing is available through April 17. For tickets, call (925) 943-SHOW (7469) or visit www.lesherartscenter.org or www.diabloballet.org.

Jazz violinist Mads Tolling joins the Diablo Symphony for a family concert on April 14 at 2 p.m. at the Lesher Center for the Arts. Featured are Tolling's jazz-inspired violin concerto, as well as dances from Copland's "Rodeo." Local high school students will also join Tolling and the orchestra in several of his fiddle tune arrangements.  www.diablosymphony.org

Theatre

Town Hall Theatre Lafayette presents - Off The Page: “The Coast of Leitrim” by Kevin Barry on April 23, at 7 p.m. Town Hall Theatre, 3535 School Street, Lafayette, TICKETS: Free, suggested donation of $25. www.townhalltheatre.com/word-for-word

Literature

Join the Sweet Thursday Author Series on Thursday, April 18 at 7 p.m. in the Don Tatzin CH at the Lafayette Library & Learning Center to hear author Adam Plantinga discuss his book, The Ascent. This is a free event, but registration is required at Tinyurl.com/sweet-April2024. The doors will be open at 6:30 p.m. for coffee and treats. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Lafayette Library.

Pat’s Book Club meeting on Thursday, April 24 at 11 a.m. will discuss Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad, a deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission to re-entry into “normal” life. Pat's Book Club meets at Orinda Books 276 Village Square, Orinda, (925) 254-7606, on the first Thursday of the month at 11 a.m. and welcomes new members.

In celebration of California Native Plants month, Helen Popper, author of California Native Gardening, will discuss her book, a month-by-month guide to gardening with native plants, on Saturday, April 20, at 2 p.m. Popper shows how by following California’s unique, untraditional seasonal rhythm, home gardeners can have success incorporating native plants in their gardens. This is a free event, register at www.eventbrite.com/e/helen-popper-author-of-california-native-gardening-tickets-833924920887?aff=oddtdtcreator Orinda Books, 276 Village Square, Orinda (925) 254-7606

Local author & Mystery Writers of America NorCal president, Claire Johnson, will interview local author Michael J Cooper about his prize-winning historical mystery, Wages of Empire on May 11 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Reasonable Books, 3645 Mt. Diablo Blvd in Lafayette. Free event with refreshments. For further details re: book, visit https://michaeljcooper.net/ For venue details: Reasonable Books: https://reasonable.online/

Poetry for the Ages: Tuesday, April 30, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Town Hall Theatre, 3535 School Street, Lafayette. Celebrate National Poetry Month with a Spring-themed salon-style poetry reading sponsored by the Lafayette Public Art Committee. Bring your own lunch and immerse yourself in the ambiance of a welcoming literary salon. Free event with limited space. Register by emailing jrosen@lovelafayette.org. For more information or to apply to read as a poet visit www.lovelafayette.org/PublicArt

Other

Sustainable Lafayette's free annual Earth Day Festival is on April 21, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Plaza Park, 3530 Plaza Way, Lafayette. Support Girls Crushing It!, Project Earth, Seeds4Bees, Lamorinda 4-H petting zoo, and kid activities by Lafayette Youth Commission and All Ages Play! Free bike adjustments hosted by Sharp Bicycle and more!

The 25th Annual Lafayette Juniors Lifestyle Tour will take place on May 4 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more than twenty years, The Lifestyle Tour presented by Lafayette Juniors has continued to be one of Lamorinda’s most beloved events and the Juniors’ largest fundraiser. The Lafayette Lifestyle Tour (formerly known as The Kitchen Tour) is a self-guided tour featuring beautiful Lafayette homes with masterfully designed, unique and awe-inspiring indoor and outdoor spaces. Tickets are available at www.LafayetteJuniors.org.

Lamorinda Idol 2024: Audition Registration Open through April 30. Established in 2006, Lamorinda Idol is a singing program open to students in K-12 grades who either attend school or reside in Lamorinda. Singers may enter as soloists or in groups. Students from outside Lamorinda are permitted to participate in the group categories, provided that at least one member of the group meets the residential requirement. To access the Program Description for Lamorinda Idol 2024 visit https://lamorindaarts.org/idol-2/. If you have questions, send them to idol@lamorindaarts.org.

Mocktails & Cocktails: Sunday, April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Tutu’s Lafayette. Join those who love art, poetry, music and everything in between at Tutu’s, 53 Lafayette Circle, Lafayette. Time for some conversation with creatives of all kinds. Bring whatever you’re working on. Look for the knockoff Picassoesque poster of surrealist Dora Maar. No host bar. Just show up. literary@lamorindaarts.org or call (925) 359.9940.

Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan invites the public to a Film Screening and Panel Discussion: Miss Representation pm Thursday, April 18 from 5 to 7 p.m., at the Walnut Creek Center for Community Arts, 111 N Wiget Ln, Walnut Creek, RSVP at https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/rsvp_main.php?district=AD16&rsvp=1736

Community celebration honoring Moraga's 2024 Citizen of the Year -- Moraga iKind Project's Wendell Baker, on Sunday, April 14 from 4 to 6 p.m. at MVPC; tickets $35. Visit: MCNMoraga.org. Registration ends April 10, 5 p.m. to purchase tickets

Lafayette Nursery School’s 47th Annual Science Day of Discovery on Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost: $5 per child. 979 First Street, Lafayette, More Information: Call Lafayette Nursery School at (925) 284-2448 or visit the website at www.lafayettenurseryschool.org

Health Care for All - Contra Costa and Alameda County Chapters invites the public to a presentation and discussion about current healthcare costs, quality, equity, access, and remedies for our healthcare system’s problems. May 9, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Lafayette Library and Learning Center Community Hall, 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, registration appreciated tinyurl.com/HCAMay

Garden

The Montelindo Garden Club, welcoming new members, presents “All About Soils,” by John Fisk, Master Gardener, on Friday, April 19, starting with a 9 a.m. social time with speaker at 10:20 a.m. Learn about how to achieve healthy, sustainable soils in our gardens. Free. Lafayette Library, 3491 Mt Diablo Blvd. See www.montelindogarden.com/2024-meetings.html for more information.

Lafayette Garden Club monthly meeting begins on April 11 at 9:30 a.m. for social time and some tasty nibbles before a short business meeting at 10. At 10:30 a.m., club member Robyn Barker will give a talk on The Hot Take on Chili Peppers - sure to be spicy! The 11 a.m. program will be presented by Burling Leong, owner of Burlington Rose Nursery in Visalia. He will tell us all about the restoration of the Rose Garden at Hearst Castle. We meet at the Lafayette veterans Memorial Center, 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd, Lafayette. It is free to attend, guests welcome. Visit www.lafayettegardenclub.com for more information.