Baroque week is upon us with four festival events at the BIC Center this year.  The Festival kicks off with a spectacular night of solo piano from multi-award winner Jaeden Izik-Dzurko. Music of Mozart, Ravel, Ligeti, and Schumann will highlight an elegant evening of food and wine, champagne and desserts at a pre-show reception, and an after-performance opportunity to meet Mr. Izik-Dzurko. Given his fast rising star, this may be a last chance to see him in the intimate setting of the BIC Center Theater. Showtime is Saturday evening at 7:30. The pre-show reception is at 6:30. Tickets are available at tickets.biccenter.org.

Baroque events at the BIC Center continue with New and Next: Contemporary Classical.  Unexpected, inviting, and incomparable: cutting-edge classical music with a tour guide. Come along with your host Robert Nordling and hear the most cutting-edge classical music performed by Baroque’s brilliant performers. Showtime is 7:30 and as we write there were still seats available here. On Wednesday, the Beaver Island Jazz Series presents the Saint James Jazz Ensemble, co-sponsored by the BIC Center. WVBI and the Beaver Island Performing Arts Alliance, at Whiskey Point brewing Company.  That event is sold out inside, but you are welcome to sit outside the brewery to take in the jazz. Feel free to bring along a picnic lunch (maybe something from the BIC Center Concession Stand) to enjoy with the music.

Festival events in the BIC Center Theater continue on Thursday with the Festival Orchestra on stage with the world premier performance of a new music by composer Eric Malmquist that centers on the music of Bach, Vaughan-Williams, and Robert Fuchs. Then on Saturday, it’s a Night at the Opera with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro performed by Martha Guth (soprano), Ricardo Lugo (bass), and the Baroque Vocal Quartet all directed by Peter Amster and conductor Robert Nording. These events are both sold out. Of course, there are additional Baroque events at CMU, the Beaver Island Studio and Gallery and out at the Whiskey Point Light. Tickets for all Baroque events are available together on a special page in the online BIC Center Ticket Store and at the Front Desk.

Our theater events, community meetings, family and kids activities, trivia nights, WVBI and everything else the BIC Center does are made possible with support from our donors, especially those who attend our annual Summer Gala.  This summer we’ll be at the Beaver Island Lodge with a special Sunset Gala starting at 6:00 on August 8th. You’ll enjoy a strolling dinner featuring food from Bodega Catering, the Wild Strawberry Cafe and more, an open bar, music from Lovey Howl featuring Jim Dove and Roger Roberts, live and silent auction items, golden ticket prizes and the company of the best folks on the planet: your fellow Islanders. And, you’ll leave knowing that your attendance helps keep the BIC Center and WVBI moving forward. Tickets are available here. Want to help, but can’t make it to the Gala? You can still join in the fun with the online purchase of a Golden Ticket.  And, don’t forget about your chance to win two e-bikes in our Summer Raffle. Tickets for that are here.