Rhody arts & crafts fair set this weekend

The 40th annual Rhododendron Arts & Crafts Fair is set for Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14 in downtown Port Townsend on Madison Street. The juried fair is set for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. both days, and features regional artists and craftspeople. Items for sale include Damascus steel knives, jewelry, felted items, stoneware, weaving, toys, rugs, belts, candles, soaps, recycled kimonos and more. The fair is presented by the Port Townsend Arts Guild, a self-supporting arts organization for more than 46 years. The guild has given grants to students from Port Townsend and Chimacum, and has raised more than $2,400 for the local food bank this year.

RainShadow celebrates renewal in 2 concerts

RainShadow Chorale's spring concert debuts a piece by its conductor, Gil Seeley, as part of a program that focuses on renewal and celebration of life.

The piece, titled “Morning Rabbit,” came out of a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, Seeley said, during which he visited a 1,000-year-old pueblo. That experience inspired him to compose the piece, and he asked his wife to write the lyrics.

The weekend concert also features two pieces performed in tribute to the 450th birthday of Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, an operatic chorus by Mozart, two Romantic pieces by Mendelssohn heralding spring, contemporary works by American composers Shawn Kirchner and Jake Runestad, folksongs and a finale of Broadway show tunes.

Lisa Lanza provides accompaniment.

The concert also features guest artists from the Al-Andalus Ensemble, which is performing in concert Thursday.

The choir concerts are planned for 7 p.m., Friday, May 12 at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 45 Redeemer Way, Chimacum, and 7 p.m., Saturday, May 13, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 609 Taylor St., Port Townsend.

Tickets are available at Crossroads Music or at the door.

‘Extraordinary group’ promotes peace May 11

The Al-Andalus Ensemble presents a concert on Thursday, May 11 that explores the theme of what creates bridges between people, and “what we hold in common across different backgrounds.”

“This is a real extraordinary group,” said Gil Seeley, who is bringing the group to town and has played with them in the past. Seeley has also invited the group to perform at the Friday and Saturday RainShadow Chorale concerts, which he is conducting.

“[Tarik Banzi] is a master of the oud,” he said of one of the emsemble founders who plays the lute-type instrument. “He's one of the greatest oud players in the world, in my opinion.”

The group performs at 7 p.m. at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 2333 San Juan Ave.

The ensemble’s music connects East and West as well as classical, jazz and world music and dance genres.

Using the Arabic oud, flamenco guitar, and American Indian flute and drum, Al-Andalus Ensemble performs music that is meant to promote peace, tolerance and respect for people of all religions. In addition, its members perform several works in their rich repertoire of music from southern Spain and North Africa.

Founders Tarik and Julia Banzi join with Barcelona-born contemporary flamenco dancer Verónica Medina Cano, multilingual vocalist Emily Miles and classical-jazz pianist Joe Heinemann.

The group’s name refers to the time when Christians, Jews and Muslims lived in peaceful coexistence (Spain, A.D. 711-1492), according to a press release.

For more information, visit 

andalus.brownpapertickets.com.

Wearable Art show this weekend

Forty-seven outfits made from everything from felt to plumbing insulation are hitting the McCurdy Pavilion runway May 13 for the seventh annual Port Townsend Wearable Art show. All proceeds from the show go to Jefferson Community Foundation’s Fund for Women & Girls endowment fund, which gives a grant each year to benefit women and girls in Jefferson County.

Shows are set for 2 and 7:30 p.m. at the pavilion at Fort Worden. A large screen is to be set up to show the details of each costume, so everyone in the hall will have a good seat, organizers say.

Wearable art items are for sale 30 minutes before the show, during intermission and after the show at a pop-up boutique. At least 40 percent of the proceeds from sales go to the fund.

To purchase tickets, visit

brownpapertickets.com/event/2722563.

Trivia on tap May 12

Test your knowledge of books, film and pop culture during a free evening trivia contest set for 6:30-8:30 p.m., Friday, May 12 at Finnriver Farm & Cidery in the new pavilion, located at 124 Center Road, Chimacum. Join the contest as a group, or come solo and Jefferson County Library staff will find space on a team.

Questions are to be drawn from the following films: Life of Brian, Fantasia, Jaws, Goonies, The Big Lebowski, It Happened One Night, Star Wars: New Hope, Rare Exports, Safety Last, Taxi Driver, The Shining and Rear Window, and the following books: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald, The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss, 1984 by George Orwell, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 1 by Ryan North, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand-mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

'Baroque in Transition' to close festival

Seattle Baroque Orchestra founder Ingrid Matthews is joined by Indiana University professor Elisabeth Wright on harpsichord, and flutist Jeffrey Cohan for the final 2017 Salish Sea Early Music Festival performance in Port Townsend. “Baroque in Transition” takes place at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 17 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 1020 Jefferson St.

The program provides new perspective on 17th-century performance practice. Renaissance flute, violin and harpsichord, once a familiar combination of instruments, rarely has been heard since the flute underwent a fundamental evolution in the late 17th century, said Cohan. The program provides an opportunity to hear the "renaissance" and "baroque" flute types side by side as they relate to these evolving musical colors, which differed greatly in France and Italy.

Admission is by donation.

(Compiled by Leader staff writer Katie Kowalski.)