After last year’s summer of silence in the parks, musical entertainment returns to Calaveras County on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. with the Calaveras Arts Council’s long-standing, admission-free Music in the Parks concert series.
Music in the Parks fell silent in 2020 for the first time in over 30 years of sharing music with the community. The weekly summer concerts hold a special place in the hearts of music lovers, and Executive Director Kathy Mazzaferro heard from many people that they missed the weekly summer performances.
“We are so delighted with the community enthusiasm for the return of Music in the Parks,” she said. “We want to slowly help restore a feeling of normalcy to life in Calaveras County. Music is a language we all share that can soothe, relax, bring a smile and send our toes a-tapping. Music in the Parks brings us together as a community.”
Music in the Parks encompasses a wide range of music styles, all chosen to resonate with the community. There’s something for everybody.
“There’s everything from swinging Chicago blues, jazz, California country, American folk and bluegrass, to Broadway and Americana,” Mazzaferro said.
The Kool Shifters will kick off the season with R & B and rock and roll at the Jenny Lind Veterans Park in Valley Springs on Wednesday, June 16. This year, all concerts will be on Wednesday evenings, from June 16 to Aug. 18.
All concerts will be held outside this year. According to Mazzaferro, “The San Andreas concert (July 21) returns to Turner Park with smooth jazz from the Bob Eisenman Jazz Trio. A new venue this year will be the White Pines Community Park in Arnold (Aug. 18), where the Calaveras Community Band will play Broadway tunes and Americana.”
Mazzaferro noted that she is excited about this move.
“We will have more room to spread out beneath the pine trees. We are grateful to the White Pines Community Park Association for welcoming us to their beautiful park.”
Music in the Parks concerts are admission-free events funded by individual donations from community members, and by the generosity of local businesses like Dignity Health Mark Twain Medical Center. More sponsors are stepping up.
“This year we are delighted to welcome Big Trees Market and Sierra Pacific Lumber as sponsors,” Mazzaferro said. “Every donation helps.”
For those concerned about COVID-19 safety, Mazzaferro offers reassurance.
“We will be following all local, state and federal health regulations and we hope audiences will work with us,” she said. “Our hope is that we can all come together in kindness and respect, celebrating the opportunity to be together again.”
Those interested in attending any of these free musical performances can print out a schedule at www.calaverasarts.org or call the Gallery Store at 209-754-1774 for more information.
Next up on the schedule, after the Kool Shifters, is Pinetop Boogie with American folk and bluegrass at Brice Station in Murphys on June 23 and the Windburn Brothers rounding out the month on June 30 at Utica Park in Angels Camp, featuring country swing and hillbilly jazz.
