Janis Fontaine3 public performances are planned this week in Palm Beach County.
The Concert Truck is coming to Palm Beach County!
What’s happening: It’s a miniature stage on wheels in an acoustically upgraded converted box truck that brings classical music to often underserved neighborhoods.
The truck is in town this month, visiting schools and hospitals as part of the Kravis Center’s Music on the Move initiative. Look for it Sunday at the Lake Worth Beach Street Painting Festival.
The truck is in such demand as a tool for community outreach and education that it took Tracy Butler, senior director of Education for the Kravis Center, more than two years to make it happen here.
“We’re super-excited,” Butler told Stet News by phone this month when she finally learned the truck was on its way from Atlanta. “To finally be able to add this incredible opportunity to our programming is fantastic.”
The Concert Truck started its run in 2016, and it’s been traveling around the country ever since, Butler said.
West Palm Beach residents Peter and Julie Cummings stepped up to sponsor this appearance by the 16-foot sound stage on wheels.
The one-of-a-kind mobile music venue comes with a grand piano bolted to the floor.
“It’s a Roland, and it’s not as deep as a typical grand. It’s in there permanently so, no, you don’t need to bring your own piano,” Butler said with a laugh. “The truck is a really great way to just pull up to a place — it could be a park or a school or an event center or parking lot — and have a live performance.”
By sponsoring the Concert Truck, the Cummingses hope to introduce classical music to people who haven’t heard it performed live, and this performance is designed to dazzle even experienced listeners.
Just BYO pianist!
The Kravis’ artistic director Susan Zhang and Canadian pianist Kevin Ahfat are the featured performers for the Palm Beach run of the Concert Truck. “They’ll be playing piano for four hands in a mostly classical repertoire. The program is about 45 minutes to an hour long,” Butler said.
Zhang made her orchestral debut at age 12 with the Augusta Symphony. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory and the University of South Carolina.
Ahfat was named one of 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 in 2018, and the young star has continued to shine worldwide in solo performances since then. He trained at The Juilliard School.
The Concert Truck has public and private shows planned, and in keeping with the pop-up nature of the program, more mini concerts could be added. Surprise performers and guest vocalists are also a possibility, Butler said.
Shows are planned at the Street Painting Festival, on Palm Beach State College’s Belle Glade campus and at the Esperanza Community Center in the Old Northwood neighborhood in West Palm Beach. They are free and open to the public.
The Concert Truck will also visit veterans receiving in-patient or residential care at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Palm Beach and perform a show for members of the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach.
Concert Truck public performances:
11 am Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Dolly Hand Cultural Center on Palm Beach State College’s west campus at 1977 SW College Drive, Belle Glade.
Noon Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Esperanza Community Center at 723 39th St., West Palm Beach.
2 pm Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival.
Neuroarts Conference
At the end of March, the Kravis Center will host the third annual Neuroarts Conference, which looks at the intersection of health and the arts.
This ground-breaking field explores how the arts can improve physical and mental health as well as prevent, manage and assist in recovery from illness. This year’s conference, Prescribing And Thriving: Creative Pathways To Wellness, takes place from 9 am-4 pm March 28.
The public is invited to join keynote speaker Chris Appleton, founder and CEO of Art Pharmacy, and featured panelist Dr. Jill Sonke, Ph.D, director of research initiatives in the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida, to discover how the arts can play a pivotal role in healing and wellness.
Informal discussions continue over a catered lunch. The afternoon explores applications of the arts in promoting wellness by participating artists and art therapists, including music therapist Joy Berendt, movement specialist Kori Epps, percussionist Emmanuel Fergile, theatre maker Suzanne Ankrum-Harris and visual artist Jose R. Mendez.
The registration fee is $65, which includes lunch catered by Lessing’s Hospitality Group. A virtual option is $25. For more information about any of the Kravis community education programs, visit this website.
