"With so many ways to communicate at our disposal, we must not forget the transformative power of a live music experience and genuine human exchange,” said Jon Batiste, award-winning singer, songwriter, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist.
The transformative power of a live arts experience is the catalyst and mission behind E & M Presents’ eighth season of bringing professional touring artists to the Napa Valley with performances that cater specifically to kids ages 5 and up and their families.
Three new E & M shows will take place in 2023 at the Yountville Community Center’s Generations Room, plus a returning favorite lands this time at the historic Empress Theatre in Vallejo.
For tickets and additional information, visit eandmpresents.com or call 707-501-8567.
The 2023 season includes:
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The T Sisters
Sunday, Feb. 19, 1 and 3 p.m., Yountville Community Center, Tsisters.com, Tickets: $12-$20
The talented Oakland-based T Sisters are on the brink of recording their first album of songs just for kids and families, and they're coming to Yountville for a trial run.
The Tietjen’s, Erika and twins Rachel and Chloe, are no strangers to the stage having toured their mellifluous harmonies and catchy melodies for more than a decade. Audiences are in for musical selections spanning original tunes and covers – pop to country to Americana — from Taylor Swift to their rendition of the classic song "Harvest Moon."
Audiences will be invited to sing along and shake their free tambourine to the beats.
"We grew up around a ton of music,” said Erika. “Our dad is a musician and songwriter, and he was always playing piano and singing at the house. Our mom grew up singing with her sisters and taught us many of the tunes they sang growing up. Our early musical influences, aside from our parents, would probably be The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, The Mamas and Papas and, of course, Raffi.”
Gregory Popovich Comedy Pet Theater
Saturday, March 4, 2 p.m., Empress Theatre/Vallejo, comedypet.com, Tickets: $15-$30
By popular demand, E & M Presents is bringing back the wildly entertaining, fun-filled, family-friendly extravaganza that is Comedy Pet Theater, featuring a menagerie of cats, white mice, dogs, white fantail pigeons, Captain Green Feather the parrot and special guest pony Mr. Diamond. All performing pets are rescues from animal shelters and now enjoy life in the limelight as Las Vegas headliners.
Founder, trainer and world-class juggler Gregory Popovich also incorporates gymnastics and balancing acts into the production. Popovich is a fifth-generation Russian performer who began performing at age 12 and has toured with the Moscow Circus and Ringling Brothers / Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Comedy Pet Theater has wowed audiences in more than 25 countries, appears annually on numerous late-night television shows and plays the V Theater in Las Vegas on a regular basis.
Dan & Claudia Zanes
Saturday, April 29, Yountville Community Center, 1 and 3 p.m., danandclaudia.com, Tickets: $12-$20
Grammy Award-winner Dan Zanes — an original member of the '80s band The Del Fuegos — and Haitian-American music therapist/ jazz vocalist Claudia Zanes specialize in a style they call “all-ages social music” — mixing old and new songs.
In their work, Dan and Claudia tackle themes of racism, inequality, community, social justice and paying forward positive messages for new generations.
Their selections are drawn from Dan’s celebrated music catalogue, their Kennedy Center-commissioned folk opera, “Night Train 57,” the "House Party" songbook and their Smithsonian Folkways album “Let Love Be Your Guide.”
This highly interactive concert will inspire dancing in the aisles and singing along as the duo performs homespun, artful and joyful music for all to enjoy.
The Okee Dokee Brothers,
Sunday, July 2, 1 and 3 p.m., Yountville Community Center, okeedokee.org, Tickets: $12-$20
Born adventurers, Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing met when they were 3 and began playing music together at age 12. They spent their childhoods exploring the great outdoors in Denver, Colorado, rafting down neighborhood creeks and discovering hiking trails through the Rocky Mountains.
Now, as the Grammy Award-winning Okee Dokee Brothers, this love of the outdoors lives at the heart of their special brand of Americana folk music. Five-time Parents’ Choice-award winners, Joe and Justin aim to inspire children and their parents to “step outside and get creative!”
Come ready to have your kids be motivated to gain a greater respect for the natural world, their communities and themselves, and to have a great time along the way.
To see a work sample of each artist above, visit EandMPresents.org where ticketing links to the shows include videos.
Napa County was the site of various events on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, from planting oaks to creating gifts.
PHOTOS: Napans celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with volunteer activities
Cameron Shaw and Dani Cruz, 3, took part in Art for Justice at the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Living Monday morning during the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action.
Volunteers carried shovels and other tools for planting acorns at Skyline Wilderness Park in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was apart of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Student volunteers planted succulents in upcycled containers to gift to loved ones as an act of kindness, part of a slate of events Napa to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Moses Holland-Neves, 16, and Aaliah Mora, 16, wrote Valentine’s Day cards for seniors as a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action in Napa on Monday.
"Be Kind" buttons are seen at the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Living, the home base for volunteers participating in the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action.
A cut out of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is seen at the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Living which acted as the home base for volunteers participating in the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Aaliah Mora, 16, writes Valentine’s Day cards for seniors as part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action in Napa on Monday.
Volunteers and participants are seen at the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Living which acted as the home base for volunteers participating in the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Volunteers are seen cutting t-shirts into tote bags at the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Living which acted as the home base for volunteers participating in the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Ben and Tyler Penning are seen digging a hole in Skyline Park where an acorn will be planted in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
A Volunteer is seen carrying a shovel and a bucket that will be used to plant acorns in Skyline Park in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Volunteers are seen digging a hole in Skyline Park where an acorn will be planted in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Volunteers are seen carrying shovels and other tools that will be used to plant acorns in Skyline Park in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Volunteers are seen carrying shovels and other tools that will be used to plant acorns in Skyline Park in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Volunteers are seen digging a hole in Skyline Park where an acorn will be planted in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Volunteer Kristine Haataja is seen digging up Invasive Vinca vines at Connolly Ranch which was one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Volunteers are seen clearing invasive blackberry bushes from Connolly Ranch which was one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
A volunteer is seen carrying a bucket that will be used to plant acorns in Skyline Park in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Volunteers are seen digging a hole in Skyline Park where an acorn will be planted in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
Volunteers are seen carrying shovels and other tools that will be used to plant acorns in Skyline Park in an effort to re-oak Napa, one of the activities that was a part of the Napa MLK Celebration of Compassion and Action on Monday.
