KU Presents! hosts four free outdoor performances in April

KU Presents! Arts ALIVE! hosts four free outdoor performances on three consecutive Friday evenings in April.

The series will feature Celtic, Latin and jazz music as well as contemporary dance. Starting at 6 p.m. and ending before sunset, the open-air venue will be on the lawn behind Schaeffer Auditorium at Kutztown University. All shows will also be live streamed.

These performances will be offered free as a welcome back to the excitement of live shows at KU Presents! Bring your own chair or blanket and pick a spot on the lawn to enjoy the show. The free tickets, for both in person and streaming attendance, must be reserved online at www. kupresents.org or by calling the box office on Thursdays, 12-2 p.m., at 610-683-4092.

Performances begin Friday, April 16, with Poor Man’s Gambit, a trio of traditional artists formed in 2015. The band has performed hundreds of shows around the U.S. and has completed two tours of the UK and Ireland.

Friday, April 23, Living Standards will present a fresh jazz take on iconic popular standards from the 60s and 70s. Drummer Karl Latham’s imagination for transformative musical projects unites sophisticated musicianship with themes that relate to a wide listenership to produce what he likes to call “jazz for everyone.”

The series concludes Friday, April 30, with a double feature: De Tierra Caliente and SHARP Dance Company. Latin fusion band De Tierra Caliente kicks off the night to get everyone up and dancing as their Caribbean, Latin and Brazilian rhythms fill the air with bright colors that inspire an irresistible North/South American party.

The dancing will continue with another Philadelphia-based group. This time the dancers are on stage as SHARP Dance Company, a contemporary ballet troupe whose theory of “meaning behind movement” is shown prominently throughout their work. SHARP feels that dance should be more than a performance, it should be an experience.

Each of these artists will also be featured on the new KU Presents! podcast, From the Green Room, which is live every Wednesday at 4 p.m. Tune in on Facebook Live or YouTube.

The series opens April 16, with Poor Man’s Gambit, a trio of traditional artists formed in 2015. The band has performed hundreds of shows around the U.S. and has completed two tours of the UK and Ireland.

On April 30, the dancing will continue with Philadelphia-based SHARP Dance Company, a contemporary ballet troupe that feels dance should be more than a performance, it should be an experience.

SUBMITTED PHOTOS On April 30, Latin fusion band De Tierra Caliente kicks off the night to get everyone up and dancing as their Caribbean, Latin and Brazilian rhythms fill the air.

On April 23, Living Standards drummer Karl Latham’s imagination for transformative musical projects unites sophisticated musicianship with themes that relate to a wide listenership to produce “jazz for everyone.”