Highline Community Symphonic Band’s BAND FEST is coming to the Highline Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27.

BAND FEST will include performances by the Mt. Rainier High School Wind Ensemble, Kennedy High School Band, and Highline Community Symphonic Band.

The Mt. Rainier High School Wind Ensemble is their top performing ensemble. It is an audition group and plays challenging music for high school. Kennedy High School Band has won numerous accolades for their marching, jazz, and concert bands.

Highline Community Symphonic Band (HCSB), celebrating its 40th concert season, is dedicated to providing classical band music for the enjoyment and cultural enrichment of communities in and around the Highline area of South King County. HCSB performs quality concerts in a traditional venue without cost to the general public, while nurturing individual talents and continuously improving the skills of all HCSB members.

Established in 1971, HCSB provides a venue for local amateur musicians, post high school to senior citizens, to continue or return to the enjoyment and challenge of playing a wide range of concert band music. The band also provides an opportunity for selected high school instrumental students to expand their musical education by participating in a quality community symphonic band.

Highline Community Symphonic Band is supported, in part, by donations from the City of Burien Arts Commission, 4Culture, and Tukwila Parks Commission. More info at www.highlineband.org.

The Highline Performing Arts Center is located at 401 S. 152nd Street, next to Highline High School.

Here’s a video of the HCSB performing “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” in 2011 :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gold Medalists, local high-school instrumentalists who have achieved outstanding levels of proficiency (including several from the Burien area), will perform with the Orchestra; these include:

• Martin Obrero, clarinet, Global Connections High School
• Eden Ghirmai, flute, Mt. Rainier High School
• Stephanie Anderson, trumpet, Highline High School
• Kirk Cieszkiewicz, French Horn, Highline High School.

These four students will play with the Orchestra on the first piece of the program, Weber’s Overture to Der Freischütz.

Here’s some more info:

• Eric Garcia, conductor Seattle Symphony
• Weber: Overture to Der Freischütz
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

Free Community Concerts are supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. This support allows the Seattle Symphony to collaborate with the City of Seattle and  local schools to provide cultural and educational opportunities for the entire community.

The Highline Performing Arts Center is located at 401 South 152nd Street, next to Highline High School.

KidSounds, YouthSounds and TeenSounds annual holiday celebration ‘A Glad Noel’ will be held at the Highline Performing Arts Center on Friday, Dec. 9th starting at 7 p.m.

“Light the Lights! Hang the Garlands! Get ready for a festive evening of holiday music as KidSounds, YouthSounds and TeenSounds bring their annual celebration to the Highline Performing Arts Center,” reads an announcement.

Ticket info, including online purchasing, can be found here.

Here’s more from their website:

You are in for a treat as our newest chorus, SilverSounds Northwest, makes a special guest appearance in the program, singing Down, Down the Chimney Tonight, and joining our young singers for a special song. The program will be filled with traditional songs of the season as well as modern Christmas favorites, and the second half of the program will feature holiday songs from cultures around the world, including Ala Nanita, African Noel and Calypso Lullaby.

Bright costuming and creative choreography will highlight the show and add joy, fun and the Spirit of Christmas for audiences of all ages.

Take advantage of our FREE Youth Ticket Program and bring the entire family out for this charming evening of your favorite Christmas music.

One Burien’s favorite Holiday family traditions continues as ChoralSounds presents its Christmas concert at the Highline Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Dec. 10th at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 11th at 2 p.m.

“Audiences will be impressed at the renewed focus on polished choral performance under new Artistic Director Brian J. Winnie, and for his first concert with CSN he has created a show that tells the story of the Nativity through a modern allegory that is both creative and beautiful,” reads their website.

For information on tickets (including online purchasing), click here.

Here’s more from their website:

Centered around the story of a couple’s journey from their first date through the birth of their child, Angels Watching combines vignettes, videography and contemporary dance to weave this story that is at once secular and sacred.

In the second act, the chorus will let down their hair to celebrate the season with familiar and fun Christmas favorites including Jingle Bells, Silent Night and Betelehemu and will bring down the house with a crazy, fun-filled Twelve Pains of Christmas.

With our FREE youth ticket program, CSN concerts are an affordable and fun night out for the entire family, right here at home in Burien.

Bring the entire family to the Highline Performing Arts Center and start your new Holiday family tradition!

Included in the show will be all the hit songs from Peter, Paul and Mary including ‘Blowin’ In The Wind,’ ‘Leaving On A Jet Plane,’ ‘Lemon Tree,’ ‘Puff The Magic Dragon, ‘The Marvelous Toy’ and many more.

“Mary passed away in 2009 so their music is no longer available on stage,” reads a press release. “But this fantastic group of talented musicians performs the music of Peter, Paul and Mary eerily close to the original arrangements.”

A band called ‘The CowChips’ will open for The Vintage Singers, performing many swing and western favorites with a sound likened to that of the Sons Of The Pioneers and again will invoke the need from everyone to sing along.

Tickets are priced from $22 to $25 are available through Brownpapertickets.com or 800-838-3006.

Here’s the press release in its entirety:

Peter, Paul and Mary thrilled three generations of audiences around the world. Their sound and music channeled by “The Vintage Singers” will take the stage once again on Saturday October 22nd at the Auburn Performing Arts Center 700 East Main Street in Auburn, WA 98002 and on Sunday, October 23rd at the Highline Performing Arts Center 401 S 152nd Street in Burien, WA 98148. Both concerts start at 7 PM

Included in the show will be all the hit songs from Peter, Paul and Mary including Blowin’ In The Wind, Leaving On A Jet Plane, Lemon Tree, Puff The Magic Dragon. The Marvelous Toy and many more.

Mary passed away in 2009 so their music is no longer available on stage. But this fantastic group of talented musicians performs the music of Peter, Paul and Mary eerily close to the original arrangements.

The 1960s Vietnam war years with the political and economic challenges facing the country were not unlike today’s challenges. It was a period of unbelievably great folk music from writers like Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot and Bob Dylan made popular by Peter, Paul and Mary.

Relive it all through “The Vintage Singers” William Florian, Tim Crosby and Laura Benward. William, once a lead singer with The New Christy Minstrels, has been performing folk music for three decades with his wonderful tenor voice. Baritone Tim Crosby has performed in several Folk and Bluegrass bands in the Pacific Northwest for many years. Laura has performed for as long as William and Tim and sings the vocals of Mary Travers with a brilliance and versatility that has been honed by many years as a musical stage performer. Together their harmonies provide a special treat for the audiences with songs everyone remembers and will be powerless to resist singing along with the musicians.

The CowChips open for The Vintage Singers performing many swing and western favorites with a sound likened to that of the Sons Of The Pioneers and again will invoke the need from everyone to sing along.

Tickets from $22 to $25 are available through Brownpapertickets.com or 1-800-838-3006.

More details and sound clips are available at www.greatwesternconcerts.org.

The Presentation Show will be held Saturday, Oct. 8th starting at 3 p.m. (box office opens at 2 p.m.), and the Finals Show will be held Sunday, Oct. 9th starting at 1 p.m. (box office opens at 11:30 a.m.).

The Highline Performing Arts Center is located at 401 South 152nd Street, next to Highline High School.

Tickets range from $10 – $50, and can be purchased online here or by calling 1-800-838-3006, and it appears that the show is open to the public.

“Finalists will not be announced until after the start of the Finals show…so obviously, family, friends and fans will want to attend BOTH the Preliminary Show AND the Finals show,” reads the show’s website. “You may bring signs, letters, posters, photos, etc. to hold up during the competitions but please be thoughtful of the people seated behind you as they will want to see the staging as well. NO AIR HORN please.”

REMEMBER…NO AIR HORNS ALLOWED! So don’t bring ‘em!

More info here.

VIDEOS: Here are some videos from last year’s pageant held in Burien:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Hi-Liners brings Chicago to Burien. Rehearsals are in full swing at the Annex for the September production. Here the Reporters are perfecting "We Both Reached for the Gun" from act one. Photo: Tina Giesbers

Burien’s Hi-Liners will be presenting ‘Chicago, the Musical’ starting Sept. 10th and continuing through Sept. 25th at the Highline Performing Arts Center, located at 401 S. 152nd Street.

“CHICAGO has everything that makes Broadway great: a universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz; one show-stopping-song after another; and the most astonishing dancing you’ve ever seen,” reads a press release – click here for more info.

If you haven’t seen the Oscar-winning movie in a while, or have yet to see the stage version, here’s a synopsis:

In the mid-’20s, Roxie Hart is a small-time chorus dancer married to a well-meaning dunderhead named Amos. Roxie is having an affair on the side with Fred Casley, a smooth talker who insists he can make her a star. However, Fred strings Roxie along a bit too far for his own good, and when she realizes that his promises are empty, she becomes enraged and murders Fred in cold blood. Roxie soon finds herself behind bars alongside Velma Kelly, a vaudeville star who used to perform with her sister until Velma discovered that her sister had been sleeping with her husband. Velma shot them both dead, and, after scheming prison matron “Mama” Morton hooks Velma up with hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn, Velma becomes the new Queen of the scandal sheets. Roxie is just shrewd enough to realize that her poor fortune could also bring her fame, so she convinces Amos to also hire Flynn. Soon Flynn is splashing Roxie’s story — or, more accurately, a highly melodramatic revision of Roxie’s story — all over the press, and Roxy and Velma are soon battling neck-to-neck over who can win greater fame through the headlines.

We’re huge fans of the Hi-Liners, as we’ve seen them perform both on stage (read a review here) and at the Three Tree Point Fireworks Fund Donor’s Party, where they rocked the house by acting as screaming fans as guests entered on a red carpet (some say this was the best party that ‘hood has ever seen). This is a group chock full of youthful talent and energy, so we’re sure this is going to be an excellent production.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Burien’s Hi-Liner’s ‘Chicago, the Musical’

WHEN: Showtimes are:

• Saturdays: September 10, 17, 24 at 7:30
• Sundays: September 11, 18, 25 at 1:30

WHERE: Highline Performing Arts Center, located at 401 S. 152nd Street (next to Highline High School).

COST: Tickets are $15-$25, and group rates are available.

INFO: More info at www.hi-liners.org or by calling 206-617-2152.

VIDEOS: Please note that these are NOT scenes from this specific Hi-Liner production, but are great scenes from other versions and/or the film to give you an idea of the kind of music you might hear:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Burien’s Hi-Liners will be presenting ‘Chicago, the Musical’ starting Sept. 10th and continuing through Sept. 25th at the Highline Performing Arts Center, located at 401 S. 152nd Street.

Tickets go on sale Monday, Aug. 1st, so mark your calendar to help support this local group and get yourself (and your family/friends) in to what will surely be a great show – click here for more info.

“CHICAGO has everything that makes Broadway great: a universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz; one show-stopping-song after another; and the most astonishing dancing you’ve ever seen,” reads a press release.

If you haven’t seen the Oscar-winning movie in a while, or have yet to see the stage version, here’s a synopsis:

In the mid-’20s, Roxie Hart is a small-time chorus dancer married to a well-meaning dunderhead named Amos. Roxie is having an affair on the side with Fred Casley, a smooth talker who insists he can make her a star. However, Fred strings Roxie along a bit too far for his own good, and when she realizes that his promises are empty, she becomes enraged and murders Fred in cold blood. Roxie soon finds herself behind bars alongside Velma Kelly, a vaudeville star who used to perform with her sister until Velma discovered that her sister had been sleeping with her husband. Velma shot them both dead, and, after scheming prison matron “Mama” Morton hooks Velma up with hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn, Velma becomes the new Queen of the scandal sheets. Roxie is just shrewd enough to realize that her poor fortune could also bring her fame, so she convinces Amos to also hire Flynn. Soon Flynn is splashing Roxie’s story — or, more accurately, a highly melodramatic revision of Roxie’s story — all over the press, and Roxy and Velma are soon battling neck-to-neck over who can win greater fame through the headlines.

We’re huge fans of the Hi-Liners, as we’ve seen them perform both on stage (read a review here) and at the Three Tree Point Fireworks Fund Donor’s Party, where they rocked the house by acting as screaming fans as guests entered on a red carpet (some say this was the best party that ‘hood has ever seen). This is a group chock full of youthful talent and energy, so we’re sure this is going to be an excellent production.

Here are the details:

WHAT: Burien’s Hi-Liner’s ‘Chicago, the Musical’

WHEN: Showtimes are:

• Saturdays: September 10, 17, 24 at 7:30
• Sundays: September 11, 18, 25 at 1:30

WHERE: Highline Performing Arts Center, located at 401 S. 152nd Street (next to Highline High School).

COST: Tickets are $15-$25, and group rates are available.

INFO: More info at www.hi-liners.org or by calling 206-617-2152.

VIDEOS: Please note that these are NOT scenes from this specific Hi-Liner production, but are great scenes from other versions and/or the film to give you an idea of the kind of music you might hear:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Burien’s ChoralSounds Northwest will be performing “Can’t Stop the Beat,” a singing and dancing show, at the Highline Performing Arts Center on Saturday May 14th and Sunday, May 15th.

“Singing and dancing have always been inseparable elements of the musical experience, and in Can’t Stop the Beat, CSN celebrates music that is inextricably tied to the dance,” according to a statement on their website.

WHAT: ChoralSounds 2010 – 2011 Concert Season “Can’t Stop the Beat.”

WHEN: Saturday, May 14, 2011 • 7:30 pm and Sunday, May 15 • 2pm.

WHERE: Highline Performing Arts Center, located at 401 S 152nd Street, next to Highline High School.

TICKETS: Tickets are $15-25 (or FREE for those under 17), and can be purchased online here.

INFO: From their website:

Artistic Director, Cathy Bleecker

Singing and dancing have always been inseparable elements of the musical experience, and in Can’t Stop the Beat, CSN celebrates music that is inextricably tied to the dance.

Our special guests, some of the Northwest’s most acclaimed ballroom dancers, will kick up their heels in breathtaking demonstration of the different dance styles inspired by the music the chorus is performing.

Aaron Copland’s Stomp Your Foot, a rousing setting of an Israeli folk dance, a Brahm’s waltz and even an a-capella Samba will combine with popular music from A Chorus Line, Thriller, Hairspray and other shows, in addition to a hilarious Disco medley that is sure to send you hunting for your platform shoes and glitter!

Creative costuming and delightful staging complement this choral celebration of the dance, sure to provide a fun-filled musical experience for the entire family.

Four area students from Highline Public Schools will perform with the Seattle Symphony at a concert on Thursday, March 3rd, at the Highline Performing Arts Center.

The concert is free and open to the public, and will feature a composition by Alan Hovhaness, internationally renowned composer and long-time Washington resident.

The student performers are:

Eden Ghirmai (flute), Mount Rainier High School

Ashley Hale (trumpet), Global Connections High School

Stephanie Reusch (French horn), Mount Rainier High School

Betsy Smith (cello); Highline High School

Highline Performing Arts Center is located at 401 S. 152nd Street in Burien.

The concert begins at 7:00 p.m.