Nationally Acclaimed Speaker, Creative Consultant, Writer and Performer, Julie Gieseke leads a writing workshop at OCA!

This personal story/memoir workshop is for anyone interested in developing some of the many stories they hold. By looking to the natural world around us, we find paths into the internal landscape of our stories. Through creative play and exploration, participants will generate multiple stories from their own lives over the course of the day. This workshop requires no previous experience. All levels of writers are welcome. Come let the landscape of this place we live in, open a trail into your writing.

Join Julie on Sunday, February 1st for this All-Day Workshop in the OCA Studio, from 10 AM - 4 PM.

Registration is $125, $115 for OCA Members.

Lunch break 12-1, BYOL. Light refreshments, tea and water will be provided. Limited to 12 participants. Register by Sunday, January 25th.

Julie Gieseke is a writer, performer and visual artist. She has recently finished an  illustrated memoir. She is currently working on a novel inspired from her experiences as a performer of autobiographical stories. She is a coach for individuals seeking  ways to break open their creative expression. She is a visual facilitator - live-drawing during business meetings so groups can  envision their futures and reflect on their histories. She lives in Jenner with her partner, an abstract painter and healer.

Learn more about Julie’s body of work in coaching and teaching.

Words + Music

A Unique Blend of Folk Music Brilliance!

Some might call it a song circle, but when Laurie Lewis, Don Henry, Claudia Russell, and Nina Gerber share the stage, it becomes much more than that. These four exceptionally talented folk musicians create a pop-up band experience that is nothing short of magical. They're back for their sixth annual OCA performance that is guaranteed to leave you enchanted.

Tickets for this event are $35 GA, $30 for OCA members.
Fine refreshments for sale, art gallery open during intermisison.

OCA is wheelchair accessible. People with disabilities are encouraged to contact us ahead of time for accommodation, please email info@occidentalcenterfortheats.org.

Laurie Lewis: A name well-known to Bay Area audiences and beyond, Laurie is a world-renowned singer, songwriter, fiddler, guitarist, producer, and educator. Her voice, described by Linda Ronstadt as "a rare combination of grit and grace," has earned her two International Bluegrass Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year awards. With nearly 20 albums to her name, Laurie has garnered multiple Grammy nominations and won for her contribution to "True Life Blues: the Songs of Bill Monroe." Here in Words+Music, Laurie’s songwriting truly shines.

Don Henry: Don is a songwriter's songwriter, infusing humor, depth, and profound humanity into his songs. Artists like Miranda Lambert, Ray Charles, and Patti Page have recorded his works. Don's Grammy-winning song "Where've You Been" (recorded by Kathy Mattea) is a testament to his songwriting prowess. His music, often compared to Randy Newman's, delves into thought-provoking themes, making every performance an engaging experience. Don’s “day job” is playing and singing backup on tour with folk legend Tom Paxton.

Claudia Russell: The brainchild of Words+Music, Claudia’s heartfelt and humorous songs have won her accolades on both sides of the Atlantic. According to Britain’s Country Music People UK, “Few singers can construct a song as well as Claudia Russell, and her sharp, well-observed lyrics have an engaging, timeless feel.” American Songwriter hailed her 2013 CD, “All Our Luck Is Changing,” as “a masterpiece,” and Sing Out magazine called her “an outstanding talent in the crowded field of singer/songwriters.” Boston’s WUMB-FM named Russell Artist of the Year, and the East Bay Express selected her as Best Musician.

Nina Gerber: Adding her virtuoso guitar skills to the mix, Nina Gerber is one of the West Coast's most sought-after guitarists. Her intuitive style and ability to blend seamlessly with a range of artists have made her a favorite collaborator. She's played with a wealth of renowned artists, including Chris Webster, Karla Bonoff, Nanci Griffith, Dave Alvin, Kate Wolf, and many others. Her album "Good Music with Good People" showcases her exceptional talent alongside Jackson Browne, Eliza Gilkyson, Bruce Cockburn, and more.

This extra-special evening promises savvy songwriting, superior singing, and beautiful accompaniment. Don't miss your chance to witness the enchanting collaboration of Laurie Lewis, Don Henry, Claudia Russell, and Nina Gerber. Join us on February 1st for an unforgettable Words + Music experience.

Bring your instrument down to OCA for our Bluegrass Jam Session!

Led by multi-instrumentalist David Pascoe, our monthly jam session is held on the first Tuesday of each month. We’ll meet in the OCA studio and take turns leading/choosing songs. Guaranteed to be a great time for all! $5 donation requested of participants. BYOB.

See you at the jam!

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Benja Soul

Experience an evening of soulful music, deep groove, and powerful storytelling with Benjamin Mertz and Friends at Occidental Center for the Arts. Known for his rich, expressive voice and passionate performances, Benjamin brings together an ensemble of talented musicians for a night that blends gospel, blues, jazz, and soul into a sound that is both timeless and alive with spirit. With songs that speak to justice, joy, and the resilience of the human heart, this concert promises to uplift, inspire, and move you from the first note to the last. Come be part of a musical journey that celebrates community, connection, and the transformative power of song.

Benja will be joined by Brendan Buss, Nancy Songbird, Dylan Juhan. Kele Nitoto and Ricardo Lomeli for this performance.

TWO SHOWS WILL BE PERFORMED on Feb 7. This listing is for the 3pm Show. For the 7pm show, click here.

Tickets are $30, $25 for OCA members. These shows will sell out! Get your tickets early. Doors open at 2:30 PM.

Benja Soul

Experience an evening of soulful music, deep groove, and powerful storytelling with Benjamin Mertz and Friends at Occidental Center for the Arts. Known for his rich, expressive voice and passionate performances, Benjamin brings together an ensemble of talented musicians for a night that blends gospel, blues, jazz, and soul into a sound that is both timeless and alive with spirit. With songs that speak to justice, joy, and the resilience of the human heart, this concert promises to uplift, inspire, and move you from the first note to the last. Come be part of a musical journey that celebrates community, connection, and the transformative power of song.

Benja will be joined by Brendan Buss, Nancy Songbird, Dylan Juhan. Kele Nitoto and Ricardo Lomeli for this performance.

TWO SHOWS WILL BE PERFORMED on Feb 7. This listing is for the 7pm Show. For the 3pm show, click here.

Tickets are $30, $25 for OCA members. These shows will sell out! Get your tickets early. Doors open at 6:30 PM.

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Theme for February: At Fist Sight

Stories teach us about life, about ourselves & about each other. Help to create west county’s newest storytelling community. 7 Minutes Max is an evening of 7 live stories told in 7 minutes or less. Hilarious or sublime, poignant and personal tales told through the ancient oral tradition of storytelling, this evening will be sure to move, delight & intrigue you. This is an event for mature audiences & not intended for children. Interested storytellers will have a chance to throw their name in the hat to present their story. Remember no notes & 7 minutes max!

$10 GA, $5 for OCA members. Pay at the door. Storytellers will be selected randomly from willing participants.

A special Valentine's Show with Erika Tietjen and Ben Morrison

Celebrate love, music, and the magic of connection this Valentine’s Day at Occidental Center for the Arts! Hearts in Harmony features the incomparable Erika Tietjen of the T Sisters and Ben Morrison of The Brothers Comatose—a married pair whose chemistry on stage is as rich as their harmonies. Enjoy an intimate evening of soulful songs, heartfelt storytelling, and the kind of musical spark only true love can create. Perfect for couples, friends, and anyone who believes in the power of music to move the heart.

Advance tickets are $35/$30 for members

$5 more at the door (if available)

OCA is wheelchair accessible. Refreshments available, art gallery open during intermission. Reserved seating available for OCA members.

About the performers:

TERRIER, a captivating folk duo, was born from the unique confluence of Ben Morrison of The Brothers Comatose and Erika Tietjen of T Sisters. Partners in life and on stage, their musical journey together began during the challenging days of the pandemic, a time when creativity and resilience were needed most.

As destiny would have it, Erika was pregnant with their first child when the idea of TERRIER took root. The pair's harmonious collaboration emerged in the midst of anticipation and transformation, weaving the joy of new life into the very fabric of their music. Together, Ben and Erika create a sound that's both intimate and enchanting, a testament to the strength of their partnership, but they also create a fun and light space to laugh about their very relatable challenges as spouses and parents.

TERRIER's songs reflect the universal themes of love, family, and the human experience. Their lyrics, infused with the wisdom of life's changes, resonate with audiences as they share their journey of becoming parents and making music that carries the warmth of family bonds.

With their voices in harmony, TERRIER brings an authentic, heartfelt experience to every stage they grace. Their sound and dynamic harken to great duos of the past like Johnny Cash and June Carter and John Prine and Iris Dement, with a contemporary spin of their own. TERRIER’s music is not just a performance but a celebration of love and the creative spirit that thrives even in the most challenging times. As they continue their musical and life journey, TERRIER is set to inspire and connect with audiences, inviting them to share in the beauty of their story through music.

Occidental Center for the Arts Literary Series hosts the writers of Red Flag Warning: Mutual Aid and Survival in California's Fire Country: edited by Dani Burlison & Margaret Elysia Garcia. (AK Press) A guide for living physically, mentally and emotionally amid ecological destruction. Readers are invited to examine what fire can and does mean to them and what it means for us to re-imagine the world. Presenters from this collection include Dani Burlison, Manjula Martin, Hiya Swanhuyser Beatrice Camacho, and  Amy Elizabeth Robinson.

Free admission, all donations gratefully accepted. Selected readings, and conversation with the audience, followed by book sales and signing. Refreshments for sale.  OCA’s facilities are accessible to people with disabilities.

Manjula Martin is author of The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History. She is coauthor of Fruit Trees for Every Garden, which won the 2020 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Martin edited the anthology Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living, and she was managing editor of the National Magazine Award–winning literary journal Zoetrope: All-Story. She lives in western Sonoma County, California.

Hiya Swanhuyser is a a writer from Northern California. She is a founding member of Substrate Arts, a co-operative online magazine covering Bay Area creative scenes. Her writing has appeared in the Press Democrat, the North Bay Bohemian, KQED Arts, Mission Local, the Believer, Fandor's Keyframe, and others. She is writing a book about the Montgomery Block, a little-known Bohemian mecca that once stood where the Transamerica Pyramid is now. She grew up on a semi-communal family farm in Occidental.

Beatrice Camacho is the UndocuFund Director and a Community Organizer. She is a first-generation Chicana raised in Sonoma County to low-income, working-class parents who immigrated from Northern Mexico. As a lifelong renter, growing up on Section 8 Housing, she knows the importance of dignified and affordable housing. She is trained in Restorative Justice and Restorative Practices. An organizer with the North Bay Organizing Project since 2018, she organized the Sonoma County Tenants Union, organizes community pop-up healing clinics, and co-founded the statewide California UndocuFund Network.

Amy Elizabeth Robinson lives in the Monan’s Rill community in the Mayacamas mountains of Sonoma County, California, on Wappo land. Her family’s home was lost and her community devastated by the Glass Fire of 2020, but after a few tumultuous years they have returned. Amy is a historian, writer, poet, mother, and organizer. She studies Zen and the creative process with Rachel Boughton, Roshi at Flower Mountain Zen, works at Sonoma County Library (where she is a proud union member), and is on the Steering Committee for the North Bay chapter of the Working Families Party. You can learn more about her and her writing at  Still Life, Turning Planet.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Tap! 

This class offering is for 6 weeks, Tuesdays from 11 am-12 pm, starting February 17th.  This open level class is for those who wish to discover tap dance and those who wish to continue exploring. 

Classes will be led by Starr Hergenrather, Mindy Copeland and Gabe Copeland. A limited supply of tap shoes is available for use at the class. Please contact us ahead of time to ensure we have the right size for you.

Participation fee is $120 for the session (six classes), $90 for OCA members.  

Tap Dance provides an avenue for developing coordination, balance, musicality, rhythm, and general love for movement.  We will learn the basics (if a beginner) and beyond, through warm-ups, discover the language of tap dance, learn the Shim Sham, and routines that will launch you onto your own exploration of the dance form.

Tap is an extremely fun and rewarding form of dance. Tap Dance originated in the 19th century through a fusion of African and Irish dance styles, becoming a unique American art form in the melting pot of New York City. It developed through percussive footwork, initially on plantations and in urban cellars, and later gained widespread popularity through minstrel shows, vaudeville, and Hollywood musicals. Innovators like Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Eleanor Powell, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly to name just a few, who shaped its evolution, which continues today with new fusions in contemporary dance. May 26,  Bojangle’s birthday, is National Tap Dance Day.

Starr Hergenrather has been teaching Theatre and Dance for over 54 years, dancing for 70 years, which is amazing since she is only 45 years old!  She received her Theatre Arts and Teaching Credentials in 1971 from Denver, CO.   Starr has taught theatre/creative dramatics/improvisation/dance to all ages and directed and produced theatre for many, many years.  She and her family moved to Sebastopol in 1983.  In 1987, she received her Dance credential and degree from SSU.   Starr loves the theatre and dance and everything about them.  She has performed on stage and in film throughout her teaching career.  Before joining the staff at Analy in 2001 where she became the Theatre Arts Program Director and taught one dance class starting in 2010, when the high school lost its Dance instructor due to No Child Left Behind, she taught at Brookhaven School from 1990-2001 teaching a myriad of subjects, including Theatre and Dance, and Rincon Valley Junior High School from 1987-1997, as BJ Van Noy’s choreographer and asst. director of her Music Program.  Starr’s tap mentor was a Vaudeville and later Broadway song and Dance man by the name of Jack Williams.  Starr studied with Jack for almost 20 years., until his waning years.

Tap, which is a magical form of dance, btw, is Starr’s first dance love, next to swing, salsa, and partner dancing, and then just plain social, wild hippie dancing at concerts.

Starr also teaches Private Tap Lessons for any level dancer.  Starr has a studio at her home.

Gabe Copeland (pictured with Mindy on flier above)

Gabe has been a dance educator for over 20 years. He has performed nationally and internationally as a featured member of the Los Angeles based touring company Rhapsody in Taps. Other credits include ABC’s Gong Show, China’s Dream television show, soloist in KIN Dance Company’s Down Around Brown Town and soloist on an international tour with Caution: Men At Work Tap!  He has also performed in many Southern California Civic Light Opera productions such as Cole, Crazy For You, and Rodgers & Hart: A Celebration. Most recently, Gabe performed in the critically acclaimed Jazz Tap Jam! Show for the Lively Arts Foundation honoring Gregory Hines and had the privilege of performing a piece originally choreographed by the tap legend himself. 

Mindy Copeland

As a dance educator since 1995, Mindy has also enjoyed a career in performance. As a member of the Los Angeles based touring company, Rhapsody in Taps, Mindy performed the choreography of Linda Sohl-Ellison, Gregory Hines, Fred Strickler, Sam Weber, Brenda Bufalino and Foster Johnson. She was a featured soloist in the international tour of Caution: Men At Work Tap! Mindy appeared in the short film, Tap Heat with choreography by Danny Daniels, and appeared in and choreographed for national and international television shows including the Jerry Lewis Telethon, China’s Dream Show, Spain’s Extremo Urbano, and ABC’s Gong Show.  Other stage credits include, appearing with the legendary Chester Whitmore in A Tribute to Jeni Le Gon, and KIN Dance Company’s James Brown tribute show, Down Around Brown Town. Most recently, Mindy directed and performed in the critically acclaimed 2023 Jazz Tap Jam! Show for the Lively Arts Foundation.

The Copelands have shared the stage with tap legends Dianne Walker, Arthur Duncan, Fayard Nicholas and Bob Carroll and performed Begin the Beguine together in Swing Into Spring. They direct Tap Overload which has a collection of original tap dance film shorts on its YouTube channel and produced an original tap dance comedy show-Office Beat. The show received rave reviews and the official Hollywood Fringe Festival Award, Best of Physical theatre and Dance as well as the Robby Award for Best Choreography of LA Theatre in 2016.

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Will Marsh is an accomplished global sitarist & guitarist who carries on the rich tradition of many genres with elegance, imagination and innovation. This performance brings rich melodies and extraordinnairy combinations of instruments that blend cultures and cross traditional boundaries.

Joining Will for this performance are Josh Mellinger, Percussion; Prasant Radhakrishna, Saxophone and Crispin Campbell, Cello.

Tickets are $30, $25 for OCA members. Get tickets online or at the door.

The Ensemble

The Integration is the creative expression of Will Marsh’s (sitar/guitar) unique musical journey of many years devoted to both western music and hindustani classical music. He became initiated into the rich tradition of hindustani classical music as a sitarist under the legendary Ustad Aashish Khan.

Will has since become a shining expression of this tradition with international performances in the realm of traditional sitar. As a kid, Will had an insatiable curiosity for exploring the world’s music. He found profound depth in the traditional music of the world and nurtured that itch by studying World Music Performance at the California institute of the Arts, completing his World Music performance MFA in 2013. Since then, Will’s musical journey has been rich and diverse. He believes passionately that music is essential to all of humanity.

Hearing the rich tapestry of melody for sitar, guitar, cello, saxophone and tabla in the Integration Ensemble connects audiences to the richness of the world’s traditions in a vibrant, fresh expression of humanity’s greatest gift, music!

The ensemble performs this dynamic music at venues and festivals internationally.

Learn more about Will at willmarshmusic.com

Join us for an entrancing afternoon with two esteemed poets, Donna Emerson and Gerald Fleming, with selected readings from their recent poetry collections, respectively, Daphne Lifts Up and The Bastard & The Bishop. Our audience will be swept away by musical interludes on various stringed instruments from award-winning composer and musician, Jared Emerson-Johnson. Local watercolor artist and college instructor, Barbara Marlin, creator of the Daphne Lifts Up book cover will display the original artwork and selected prints of other work at the event.

Following the readings and music, a Q&A will follow, with book sales and signing in the lobby. Refreshments will be available for sale.

This is free event, all donations always gratefully accepted.

Donna Emerson divides her time between Petaluma, California, and her family homestead near Ithaca, New York. Retired from teaching at Santa Rosa Jr. College and her clinical social work practice, her recent poetry publications include La Pressa, The Paterson Literary Review, and Weber: The Contemporary West. Her chapbooks: This Water, 2007, Body Rhymes, 2009, Wild Mercy, 2011, and Following Hay, 2013. Her poetry books are The Place of Our Meeting (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and Beside the Well (Cherry Grove Collections. 2019). And now, Daphne Lifts Up (Finishing Line Press, 2025).

Donna has received two nominations for the Pushcart Prize, one for "Best of the Net," two nominations for the California Book Award (Body Rhymes, 2009, The Place of Our Meeting, 2018), five awards from the annual Allen Ginsberg Contests, and numerous regional awards for her poetry, creative non-fiction, and prose. Many of her poems appear in journals or anthologies with her black and white or color photography. Anais Nin used Donna's portraits of Anais in her late diaries and press coverage in the New York Times.

Donna has taught poetry to elementary school children and made it part of her community college classrooms (1990-2015). She worked as a volunteer with Alzheimer’s patients at a residential facility to help them create individual and group poems and served as Board member and Events Chair for the Marin Poetry Center (2012-2014). 

Donna’s latest book, “Daphne Lifts Up” includes poems about nature around us, nature within us, and relationships with many different people, from family to counseling clients, to students, colleagues at work, animals, birds, and strangers. It addresses birth, illness, death, and resiliency in all these verses.

Gerald Fleming is the author of the poetry collections The Bastard and the Bishop (Hanging Loose Press, 2021), One (Hanging Loose, 2016), The Choreographer (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2013), Night of Pure Breathing (Hanging Loose, 2011), and Swimmer Climbing onto Shore (Sixteen Rivers, 2005). His work has appeared in many magazines over the decades, including New Letters, Michigan Quarterly Review, Hanging Loose, Carolina Quarterly, New World Writing, Volt, Paris Lit Up, and Versal.

Fleming edited the print magazines Barnabe Mountain Review and Forward to Velma, the vitreous magazine One (More) Glass, and The Collected Poetry & Prose of Lawrence Fixel (Sixteen Rivers, 2021). He has written numerous books for teachers, including Rain, Steam, and Speed (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2005), and lives most of the year near San Francisco, part of the year in Paris.

Fleming, a master of the prose poem, is never satisfied to sing the same song, and this adventuresome spirit pays dividends in these new prose poems. Constantly surprising and inventive, The Bastard and the Bishop offers stories within stories that effortlessly merge the personal and the archetypal, breathing new life into a genre that has increasingly, and often sadly, become predictable.

Jared Emerson-Johnson is a video game music composer, sound designer, voice director and voice actor. He is the Music Supervisor and lead composer at Bay Area Sound, an audio production company specializing in sound design, music and voiceover for video games.

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Bluegrass, old time and acoustic roots music with outstanding musicianship

Like the powerful mandolinist and composer at its helm, John Reischman and the Jaybirds fashion a stylish take on bluegrass that seamlessly blends original songs and instrumentals with Appalachian old-time music for a truly unique band sound. Now in their 20th year, with seven acclaimed albums and two Juno nominations, the Jaybirds are simultaneously innovative and unadorned, sophisticated and stripped-down, happily old-fashioned and 21st-century contemporary.

Tickets are $35 advance, $40 at the door. Discount for OCA members.

Doors open at 6:30 PM. OCA is wheelchair accessible. Art gallery open during intermission, refreshments for sale.

Bluegrass Unlimited calls John Reischman “one of the world’s undisputed masters” of the mandolin, famed for outstanding tone and taste. Many of his dozens of original instrumentals have become popular favourites for sessions and covers, such as the jam standard Saltspring. He has three critically-acclaimed solo instrumental albums and has recorded on many other projects, including the Grammy-winning True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe. John also plays Latin-based jazz and choro music with highly regarded finger-style acoustic guitarist/composer John Miller; the duo has released three superb albums.

John began his career in the San Francisco Bay area in the early ’80s with the eclectic Good Ol’ Persons bluegrass band. He was an original member of the legendary “new acoustic” quartet, the jazz-influenced Tony Rice Unit, renowned for highly skilled instrumentals. John moved to Vancouver in the early ’90s and in 1999 formed the Jaybirds. Of their latest album, Folk Radio UK said “On That Other Green Shore showcases an accomplished, experienced band at the peak of their powers, with musicianship of the very highest order.” Peghead Nation called it “one of the most beguiling bluegrass-rooted recordings of 2017.”

Los Angeles, CA-based guitarist Patrick Sauber joined the Jaybirds in 2017. The veteran performer has played with, among others, Doc Watson, Richard Greene, John Jorgensen, Peter Rowan, Tim O’Brien and John Fogerty. He played on the 2016 Grammy-nominated album The Hazel and Alice Sessions by Laurie Lewis, and appeared in the film A Mighty Wind with Christopher Guest. Bluegrass Unlimited describes Patrick’s playing on John’s tune Daylighting the Creek as “a glorious flatpicking solo that hews back to the glory days of early bluegrass guitar.”

Chilliwack, BC-based Trisha Gagnon is portrayed by Sing Out! as “one of the most versatile” and “irresistible” lead vocalists in bluegrass, her strong and distinctive style ranging from “mournful and plaintive” to “hopeful and yearning.” Trisha anchors what Dirty Linen magazine calls “gorgeous three-part harmonies.” She’s also known for songwriting, dating back to her early days with the award-winning B.C. bluegrass band Tumbleweed. Her solo album includes guests Vince Gill and Peter Rowan.

Nanaimo, BC-based Nick Hornbuckle has developed his own voice on the five-string banjo – a two-finger roll unlike other contemporary banjo players. “Nick Hornbuckle’s banjo can be downright spine-tingling,” said the L.A Daily News. His solo album 12×2 (+/-1), was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award in 2015, and Nick is a composer who also digs for rare old-time gems. His sprightly instrumental Wellesley Station on the new Jaybird album “showcases Nick’s sharp picking and sense of melody,” said Green Man Review.

Spokane, WA-based Greg Spatz is hailed as a “world-class bluegrass fiddler” by Fiddler Magazine. Audiophile Audition says Greg’s “virtuosic playing is flawlessly delivered time after time,” while Bluegrass Unlimited says he “lays down some seriously fine bluegrass fiddle” on the latest Jaybirds release. His strong chops have made him a popular fixture down through the years on the West Coast, where he’s played with iconic mandolinist Frank Wakefield, resophonic guitar master Rob Ickes, and many others including Laurie Lewis, Bryan Bowers, and Eli West and Cahalen Morrison. Greg also plays and records with Mighty Squirrel, has a solo album called Fiddler’s Dream and a duo recording with his wife called All Along the Sea, and is an award-winning novelist.

Glass Brick Boulevard returns! Don’t miss Greg Johnson, Celso Alberti, Paul Hanson and Rob Fordyce as they take us on a journey to Planet Jazz.

Get tickets early - this will sell out!

Tickets are $35, $30 for OCA members.

Glass Brick Boulevard is a one of a kind original contemporary jazz power quartet with a delicate touch that will make you dance and make you cry all in the same night.

"If Beethoven came back as Seal, we'd be his back-up band"

Greg Johnson-founder, composer, piano, v piano

Rob Fordyce-yamaha 6 string bass

Paul Hanson-bassoon

Celso Alberti-drums

Founder Greg Johnson grew up in the midwest listening to Gospel, Motown and Beethoven. In the early seventies, bands like Yes, The Who, and Pink Floyd began shaping the road that with the inclusion of Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Weather Report and others led to a compositional exploration that eventually began combining all of the influences and became Glass Brick Boulevard. He has written hundreds of compositions for this band and others as well as for several independent documentary and feature films. He has also taught of 700 students in his Radical Creatives music program, and Co-Produced the 3 part Documentary Series "Sensitive Men Rising"

Paul Hanson -Paul’s repertoire encompasses musical elements from all modern styles of improvised music. Paul uses his expansive knowledge from his roots as a classical bassoonist and experience as a jazz saxophonist to rewrite what is possible on the bassoon. His explorations have transcended limitations and created new possibilities-all while making music of the highest quality. He is the world's leading jazz bassoonist, and has performed with Eddie Money, Boz Scaggs, Bela, Fleck, Billy Cobham band, and many others.

Rob Fordyce aka "Fun Machine" has the unique ability to approach his 6 string bass like a melodic instrument while holding down the tightest of grooves with some of the best drummers around. Watching his fingers fly as he works thru a dynamic solo is not to be missed, and has literally made grown folk swoon. He has been the backbone of Glass Brick Boulevard since 1990 and has performed with many other top Bay Area bands including "Pardon The Interruption", Big Brother and the Holding Company, Tom Finch, Charity Goodin, Mwanza Furaha, and others.

Celso Alberti -Born in Brazil, drummer has been the power behind Herbie Mann, Steve Winwood, guitarists Craig Chaquico (Starship), Joyce Cooling, singer John Lucien, bassist Michael Manring, keyboardists Kit Walker (Kitaro) and Frank Martin, Jose Neto, Claudia Villela, Tim Hockenberry, and many others. When Glass Brick Boulevard hit its peak in 2012-2018, he was the driving rhythmic force. Celso has also provided expert live and studio engineering, remote recording and Pro Tools consulting to a long list of performers.

Bring your instrument down to OCA for our Bluegrass Jam Session!

Led by multi-instrumentalist David Pascoe, our monthly jam session is held on the first Tuesday of each month. We’ll meet in the OCA studio and take turns leading/choosing songs. Guaranteed to be a great time for all! $5 donation requested of participants. BYOB.

See you at the jam!

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Two of Sonoma County’s hottest bands team up for an unforgettable night of psychedelic jams and jazzy funk. Come boogie with us in Occidental!

Tickets are $25, discount for OCA members.

Electric Tumbleweed brings a blend of Psychedelic Rock, Outlaw Country, and soulful Americana, characterized by a hard-driving mix of twangy guitar and psychedelic noise, with a pedal steel guitar layered on top.

Have you ever wanted to tell your tale in front of an audience but didn’t know how to start? Join our introductory class to learn about narrative, truth telling, what storytelling isn’t and get a chance to start creating your Moth style story for an upcoming 7minutesMax storytelling at Occidental Center for the Arts.

Sunday, March 8th. 10:00 AM-2:00 PM. 7minutesMAX - Storytelling Workshop with Jessica Morell, and Suze Pringle Cohan. Join our introductory class to learn about narrative, truth telling, what storytelling isn’t - and get a chance to start creating your Moth-style story for our ongoing 7minutesMax events on the second Fridays (7-8PM) of each month.

Workshop registration $75, $65 for OCA members. Bring your own lunch. This workshop is limited to 20 people - register early !

Instructor Jessica Morell became a storyteller in 2016 when she entered the San Miguel International Storytelling festival and won first place out of 36 participants. Jessica is the host of 7minutesMax at OCA and is a regular contributor at Westside Stories in Petaluma, additionally has appeared at the GrandSlam at the Mystic Theatre a number of times. Jessica is an active local community member and is a passionate board member at OCA. Jessica brings an engaging, gentle and fun approach to teaching.

Facilitator and workshop assistant Suze Pringle Cohan is a published writer and poet. She has been the literary chair of OCA since 2010, hosting book launches, poetry events and workshops on the craft of writing.

Jazzmyn Inisis will read from her book, Shah Razad and the Djins Who Loved Her in the OCA lobby. Jazzmyn is a local writer who was deeply influenced living in the middle east as a child of a military father stationed there in the 1950’s. 

Join us for an afternoon of mystery and storytelling with Jazzmyn, accompanied by middle eastern food and fine wines available for purchase. Settle in and be transported!

Free admission, all donations happily accepted.

She writes “I am nine years old living in Damacus, Syria.  My father is on a diplomatic assignment with the United Nations to ease tensions on the volatile border between Jordan and Israel. We are transferred from Damacus, Syria, to Jerusalem, Jordan in late 1955.  I came to know and love my Bedouin neighbors. They kindly lend me their only donkey.  I attend their daughter's wedding and join their family in the Suk to shop in the inner city of Jerusalem.  I am envious of their beautiful, embroidered dresses and have fallen deeply in love with my kind and generous neighbors. Ten years ago, I picked up volume number one of "The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night" translated by Sir Richard Francis Burton.  The first of sixteen volumes of the stories Shah Razad told her emperor over one thousand nights in order to curtail his slaughter of every young, noble woman in her country. After completing the sixteen volumes of "Shah Razad" i felt compelled to continue this extraordinary tradition of storytelling, intended to transmit moral values, by adding my own story: Shah Razad...and the Djinns Who Loved Her.

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Theme for March: Furthering

Stories teach us about life, about ourselves & about each other. Help to create west county’s newest storytelling community. 7 Minutes Max is an evening of 7 live stories told in 7 minutes or less. Hilarious or sublime, poignant and personal tales told through the ancient oral tradition of storytelling, this evening will be sure to move, delight & intrigue you. This is an event for mature audiences & not intended for children. Interested storytellers will have a chance to throw their name in the hat to present their story. Remember no notes & 7 minutes max!

$10 GA, $5 for OCA members. Pay at the door. Storytellers will be selected randomly from willing participants.

Wild Women of Song – Great Gal Composers of the Jazz Era

“Pure Entertainment and a delightful romp through the Jazz Era!”  San Francisco Chronicle

Wild Women of Song is a captivating jazz and blues concert weaving vivid historical detail into a live performance.  Singer and storyteller Pamela Rose – backed by her swinging band – takes the audience on an unforgettable journey through the decades while shining a light on the vibrant women who helped create the American Songbook.   This show has toured from London to LA, delighting audiences of all ages.  

 ”a swinging course in womankind!”  San Francisco Magazine

Performing in the ensemble are:

Pamela Rose • Kristen Strom • Daria Johnson • John R. Burr • Ruth Davies

Tickets are $35, $30 for OCA members. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Fine refreshments for sale, free parking.

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Join us and be transported to Dublin! Enjoy Irish stories and songs from this all-star ensemble of talented musicians. An OCA audience favorite, Dublinesque will enchant you and take you on a musical journey that you won’t forget!

Featuring Eamonn Flynn (keys), Felim Egan (accordion) Darcy Noonan (fiddle) and Hector Bragado (banjo).

Tickets are $30, $25 for OCA members. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Fine refreshments for sale. OCA is wheelchair accessible.

Eamonn Flynn forges his own brand of Irish soul. The Dublin-born singer-songwriter/pianist got his start with The Commitments, a hit film about an Irish soul band, and has since worked with American blues and R&B stars Elvin Bishop, Maria Muldaur,  Evelyn Champagne King, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Zigaboo Modeliste (The Meters), The Ray Charles Project, and many more. 

Flynn's quartet DUBLINESQUE brings his deep soul and gospel roots together with the Irish music traditions he was raised on.

"Dublinesque is my attempt to recreate the kind of parties we had in my parent's house, growing up in Dublin," explains Flynn. "There'd be neighbours and friends and it would always end up as a sing-song/jam session. Everyone would participate - if you couldn't hold a tune you'd perform a 'recitation' or tell a joke!

"There was never any delineation between genres of music - whether it was Irish tunes and ballads, soul music or a Beatles song," he emphasizes.

The band brings together three talented Bay Area Irish traditional musicians: fellow Irishman Félim Egan (The Black Brothers) on accordion, local favorite Darcy Noonan on fiddle, and from Basque country, Spain, Hector Bragado on banjo.

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Join us for the Occidental Fool’s Parade! This fun, family-friendly event includes a whimsical parade through the village of Occidental led by the Hubbub Club marching band, followed by a community party at Occidental Center for the Arts. Enjoy watching the parade from downtown, or join in!

Meet at the Occidental Community Center at 12:30 PM to join the parade

1:00 PM Parade Starts

1:30 PM Party at OCA Starts

This year we’re excited to feature even more clowns, performers and activities for the kids. Don your finest silly clothing and spend the day frolicking with us at this decades-old town tradition!

Prize for silliest costume. FREE EVENT.

Supported by the Occidental Community Council and the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors

2026 Music by Casual Country

High-energy outlaw, classic & unexpected country hits!

Bring your instrument down to OCA for our Bluegrass Jam Session!

Led by multi-instrumentalist David Pascoe, our monthly jam session is held on the first Tuesday of each month. We’ll meet in the OCA studio and take turns leading/choosing songs. Guaranteed to be a great time for all! $5 donation requested of participants. BYOB.

See you at the jam!

Bring your instrument down to OCA for our Bluegrass Jam Session!

Led by multi-instrumentalist David Pascoe, our monthly jam session is held on the first Tuesday of each month. We’ll meet in the OCA studio and take turns leading/choosing songs. Guaranteed to be a great time for all! $5 donation requested of participants. BYOB.

See you at the jam!

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Theme for April: Poetry In Motion

Stories teach us about life, about ourselves & about each other. Help to create west county’s newest storytelling community. 7 Minutes Max is an evening of 7 live stories told in 7 minutes or less. Hilarious or sublime, poignant and personal tales told through the ancient oral tradition of storytelling, this evening will be sure to move, delight & intrigue you. This is an event for mature audiences & not intended for children. Interested storytellers will have a chance to throw their name in the hat to present their story. Remember no notes & 7 minutes max!

$10 GA, $5 for OCA members. Pay at the door. Storytellers will be selected randomly from willing participants.

Julio Reyes: Virtuoso Guitar at Occidental Center for the Arts

Co-sponsored by the Redwood Arts Council

Join us at Occidental Center for the Arts for an unforgettable concert with acclaimed guitarist Julio Reyes, whose expressive playing and soulful command of the instrument have captivated audiences around the world. Blending Latin American traditions with contemporary flair, Reyes delivers a performance that is both intimate and electrifying—rich with original compositions, dazzling technique, and heartfelt storytelling through music.

Julio will perform compositions by Bach, Barrios, Tarrega, Albeniz, Villa-lobos, Lauro, Jobim, and Heitmeyer. Experience the warmth, precision, and artistry of one of today’s most compelling guitar voices up close in an evening that promises to inspire, uplift, and transport.

Tickets are $30, $25 for OCA and RAC members. Doors open at 2:30 PM. Refreshments available. OCA is wheelchair accessible.

Celebrating National Poetry Month and welcoming Spring, five beloved and well-known West County Poet Friends will read from their recent collections. Poets include William Greenwood, Shawna Swetech, Raphael Block, Tamsin Smith and Larry Robinson. Musical accompaniment by David Field.

Free event. Readings, Conversation with the audience, Book Sales and Signing.

William Greenwood was born in Arizona and grew up in California. After graduating from UC he worked with farm workers and small farmers on the Central Coast for 20 years, then another 25 years in many Latin American countries as well as Palestine and Afghanistan. He has translated several Latin American poets and has three chapbooks of poetry. His latest book is "Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Hope". Since 2010 he lives in Sebastopol.

Shawna L. Swetech is a retired hospital nurse, is a poet and mixed-media visual artist. She is also a health coach, using Reiki, intuitive writing and other integrative practices to assist clients on their healing journeys. Her poetry appears in Rattle, The Healing Muse, Ars Medica, Pulse, the American Journal of Nursing, and other journals and anthologies. Her work ranges from the personal to universal, the body to the body politic, drawing from the deep wells of human nature and the natural world.  Shawna is a co-host for the monthly reading series, Rivertown Poets. She is the author of a poetry collection based on her thirty-five-year nursing career, entitled Standing in Their Fire, by Kelsay Books. Shawna believes poetry and art are important medicines for the ills of our modern world.

Raphael Block has lived on three continents and resides happily in Northern California. A long-time meditator, he breathes in wonder at Earth’s and our own rhythmic ebb and flow. He is the author of five poetry books, most recently, The Dreams We Share, and produced a monthly Earth-Love Newsletter (2016 – 2025). To learn more about Raphael, please visit his website, raphaelblock.com, where you can listen to three audiobooks and watch a National Geographic-selected five-minute documentary.

Tamsin Smith is a Sonoma-based creator. She has published five collections of poetry — Word Cave, Between First and Second Sleep, Displacement, Geology, The Profound M, and New Species of Color — and a novel XISLE. She also frequently writes art reviews and catalog essays. Smith’s paintings have been widely exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Smith co-founded the indie rock band WUNDERCAT, for which she co-writes songs and plays keyboard. Smith holds an MA from Tufts and a BA from Kenyon College, where she graduated summa cum laude with highest honors in English. She’s a Henry Crown fellow at the Aspen Institute. 

Larry Robinson is a retired ecopsychologist, recovering politician and
practicing potter. He is the founder and producer of Rumi’s Caravan, a
performance ensemble of poetry in the oral tradition.

David Field is a solo guitar instrumentalist with a romantic and flowing style. Over the decades, he has learned to perfectly adapt his classical training to fingerstyle guitar playing. David has performed with and for many poets and has produced an album of solo guitar instrumentals titled "Wordless Poetry."

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Le Hot Club Swing Band

Le Hot Club Swing Band presents an evening of classic gypsy jazz inspired by the music of Django Reinhardt and the legendary Quintette du Hot Club de France. Known for their refined musicianship and deep command of the swing tradition, the ensemble brings elegance, vitality, and historical authenticity to this beloved jazz style. Musicians include Rick Fulkerson, Richard Loheyde, Jeremy Ginsberg and John Potter.

Featuring intricate guitar interplay, rhythmic drive, and lyrical melodies, Le Hot Club Swing Band evokes the sound of 1930s Paris while infusing each performance with freshness and spontaneity. Their repertoire blends timeless swing standards with original arrangements, offering both sophistication and exuberance.

This concert promises a memorable evening of world-class jazz rooted in tradition and delivered with artistry and precision.

Tickets are $25, $20 for OCA members. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Open dance floor. Beer, Wine and Refreshments for sale. art gallery open during intermission.

Drawing and Painting Classes for All Adults

OCA is offering ongoing art classes on Friday mornings. Making art together is a great way to keep learning and to create community in these challenging times.

Four different series are being offered during February, March and April 2026.

Save the date! Tickets on sale soon.

Occidental Center for the Arts is delighted to welcome back Tony Furtado!

Tony is an evocative and soulful singer, a wide-ranging songwriter and a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist adept on banjo, cello-banjo, slide guitar and baritone ukulele who mixes and matches sounds and styles with the flair of a master chef (he’s also an accomplished sculptor, but that’s another story). All of the music of America is in Tony’s music. Relix hit the nail on the head when writing of Tony: “True talent doesn’t need categories.

Tony will play an evening show at OCA with Luke Price and Simon Chrisman. This show is scheduled for our amphitheater (outdoors). Please note: if cool weather is predicted we may move the show indoors. Please check our website the week of the event for updates.

Tickets are $35, $30 for OCA members. Free for kids 12 and under with adult. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Free parking is available. Beer/Wine/Refreshments for sale. Bring your own seat cushion or low-backed chair for our amphitheater.  Learn more about the seating.

A native of Pleasanton, California, who now makes his home in Portland, Oregon, Tony Furtado took up the banjo at age 12, inspired by the Beverly Hillbillies television show and a sixth-grade music report. He first attracted national attention in 1987, when he won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas. Not long after that, Tony opted for the life of a full-time professional musician, joining Laurie Lewis & Grant Street. A second victory at Winfield, in 1991, bookended his years with Grant Street.

In 1990, Tony signed a recording deal with Rounder Records, one of the country’s preeminent independent record companies. Beginning with Swamped in 1990, he recorded six critically acclaimed albums for the label, collaborating with such master musicians as Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Kelly Joe Phelps and Mike Marshall. During this period, Tony also performed and recorded with the band SugarBeat and the Rounder Banjo Extravaganza with Tony Trischka and Tom Adams.

Beginning in the late 1990s – influenced by such musical heroes as Ry Cooder, David Lindley and Taj Mahal – Tony added slide guitar, singing and songwriting to his musical toolbox and began leading his own band. He is a tireless road musician who performs in a dizzying variety of formats: solo, in a duo or trio or with his full five-person band. He especially values the opportunities he has had to tour with such legendary musicians as Gregg Allman and with such esteemed slide guitarists as David Lindley, Derek Trucks and Sonny Landreth.

Tony has performed throughout the world at top venues and appeared at such prestigious music festivals as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, Jazz Aspen, Kerrville Folk Festival, Strawberry Music Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival and countless others.

Luke Price is a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, and studio musician based in Portland, OR. He has his roots in American fiddling and swing traditions, which have influenced his rhythm, taste, and style as they have spread into Soul, Jazz, Pop, and Americana. Luke brings a unique voice to any music he plays, whether he’s on the fiddle, electric guitar, or singing.

Growing up in Boise, Idaho, Luke began competing in fiddle contests and playing around the country. He’s won a plethora of contests, awards, and scholarships. He is a 3-time National Fiddle Champion. His love for rhythm and improvisation, born out of these traditional music styles, led him to Boston, MA to attend The Berklee College of Music, where he met his now-wife and musical partner, Rachael Price, to form their Soul Pop band, “Love, DEAN.” After graduation, they moved to Portland, OR where they continue to play, teach, and write.

Composer and hammer dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman brings an unusual style to an instrument that has previously been thought to have limited range and technique, combining “chamber music’s finely calibrated arrangements with bluegrass’s playful virtuosity and pop music’s melodic resourcefulness.” (The Boston Herald) His touch and sophisticated rhythmic sensibilities are redefining the instrument and earning the attention of musicians from all over the world. Based in Oregon, he tours with Grammy-nominated Kittel and Co, the Bee Eaters, and Wes Corbett.

Bring your instrument down to OCA for our Bluegrass Jam Session!

Led by multi-instrumentalist David Pascoe, our monthly jam session is held on the first Tuesday of each month. We’ll meet in the OCA studio and take turns leading/choosing songs. Guaranteed to be a great time for all! $5 donation requested of participants. BYOB.

See you at the jam!

Theme for May: Bad Bunnies

Stories teach us about life, about ourselves & about each other. Help to create west county’s newest storytelling community. 7 Minutes Max is an evening of 7 live stories told in 7 minutes or less. Hilarious or sublime, poignant and personal tales told through the ancient oral tradition of storytelling, this evening will be sure to move, delight & intrigue you. This is an event for mature audiences & not intended for children. Interested storytellers will have a chance to throw their name in the hat to present their story. Remember no notes & 7 minutes max!

$10 GA, $5 for OCA members. Pay at the door. Storytellers will be selected randomly from willing participants.

Occidental Center for the Arts presents

Shelby Means Band with Mission Blue

Grammy winning bluegrass musician Shelby Means bring an all-star band to perform an evening concert with a special opening set by local bluegrass favorites Mission Blue. IYKYK!

Don't miss this spectacular evening of lively tunes and soaring harmonies.

Tickets are $35/$30 for OCA members.

ADA seating available - please contact us.

Bring your own seat cushion or low-backed chair. No outside food/drink allowed except water. Well-behaved dogs permitted on leash. Doors open at 6:15 PM.

learn more about our venue at occidentalcenterforthearts.org

Born in the bluegrass of Kentucky and raised on Wyoming’s high plains, Shelby Means is one of the foremost bassists in bluegrass, with nearly two decades of experience in bluegrass, folk, rock, Americana, and country outfits. Now based in Charleston, SC, Means spent a dozen years in Nashville, TN. During that time, she performed most notably as a member of the GRAMMY®-nominated all-women bluegrass band Della Mae. She later joined Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway on bass and vocals, earning her first GRAMMY® win for their 2023 album, City of Gold. Her singing and playing has been heard across the country and around the world, from NPR’s airwaves, the Grand Ole Opry, Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Newport Folk to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Kazakhstan, Australia, and beyond.

Mission Blue is rooted in the timeless sounds of traditional bluegrass while bringing a fresh spark to every performance. With heartfelt harmony singing, driving rhythms, and masterful picking, the band honors the greats: The Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and beyond, while weaving in the influence of innovators like J.D. Crowe, Hot Rize, Larry Sparks and Red Allen. Our sets are rich with history, tradition, and a deep love for the music.

Carlitos Medrano will return with his popular Cuban & Latin Rhythms Drumming Workshop

Watch for more workshops and performances to be announced soon!

Occidental World Music & Dance Festival

Celebrate the rhythms, cultures, and global creativity that make our community shine at the Occidental World Music & Dance Festival! This joyful, immersive event brings together extraordinary musicians and dancers from around the world for a day filled with exhilarating performances, interactive workshops, and irresistible rhythms. From captivating traditional artistry to innovative contemporary fusion, the festival invites audiences of all ages to experience the beauty of global cultures up close. With food, vendors, community activities, and plenty of space to dance, it’s a feast for the senses and a celebration of unity through music and movement. Come be part of one of Occidental’s most beloved and uplifting traditions!

Ticket prices - adults

$65 through April 30

$75 through May 29

$80 at the door

Kids 12 and under free

Teens half price

Discounts for OCA members

Get your tickets early and save!

Click here to read about last year's festival.

Confirmed presenters for 2026, more to be announced:

PERFORMANCES
Sol Flamenco

Jenny Kerr & Friends - Southern Delta Music

Khatch Khatchadourian - ‘The Duduk Whisperer"‘
Armenian Music

Joss Jaffe - West African N’goni

Dodona - Music of Epirus & Albania

Gradina - Balkan Music

Raman Osman - Kurdish Music

Janessa Lynna - Belly Dance

Workshops

Unlocking Your Voice - Sophia Zimmerman

Morning sing-along - Maria Culberson

Belly Dance - Janessa Lynna

Irish Song & Dance - Shay Black

Cuban & Latin Rhythms - Carlitos Medrano

West African Dance - Tyehimba Kokayi

Flamenco Dance - Joelle Goncalves

Brazilian Guitar - Ian Faquini

Luthier’s Guitar Setup/Demo - Chris Hanlin

Amp Repair Workshop - Phil “Philbillie” Milner

Yoga for Dancers - Pauline Perischelli

Balkan Dancing - Sue Williard

Balkan Drumming - Sean Tergis

Arabic Rhythms - Faisal Zedan

West African Drumming - Lion’s Den Institute

Bring your instrument down to OCA for our Bluegrass Jam Session!

Led by multi-instrumentalist David Pascoe, our monthly jam session is held on the first Tuesday of each month. We’ll meet in the OCA studio and take turns leading/choosing songs. Guaranteed to be a great time for all! $5 donation requested of participants. BYOB.

See you at the jam!

Theme for June: Graduation

Stories teach us about life, about ourselves & about each other. Help to create west county’s newest storytelling community. 7 Minutes Max is an evening of 7 live stories told in 7 minutes or less. Hilarious or sublime, poignant and personal tales told through the ancient oral tradition of storytelling, this evening will be sure to move, delight & intrigue you. This is an event for mature audiences & not intended for children. Interested storytellers will have a chance to throw their name in the hat to present their story. Remember no notes & 7 minutes max!

$10 GA, $5 for OCA members. Pay at the door. Storytellers will be selected randomly from willing participants.

Celebrate 44 years of collaboration and Pride Month with Barbara and Teresa!

Occidental Center for the Arts is thrilled to welcome back Barbara Higbie and Teresa Trull!

Combining gut emotion, technical brilliance and pure joie de vivre Trull and Higbie are a musical force to be reckoned with and thoroughly enjoyed.

Reunion performances of singer-songwriter Teresa Trull and pianist/singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Barbara Higbie, is a highly anticipated musical event. Their new duo CD Playtime captures the excitement and versatility that has endeared them to audiences since their 1983 release Unexpected. Critically acclaimed in publications such as People, Cashbox, Billboard, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe their vibrant fusion of energy and talent has earned them an enthusiastic and persistent following. Their collaborative joy is at once irresistible, irrefutable and engagingly quirky. Musically they range over a terrain that varies from blues and gospel to folk, rock , jazz and championship fiddle playing. They have shared stages with Tracy Chapman, k.d. Lang, Whoopie Goldberg, Nancy Griffith and Ferron among others. Combining gut emotion, technical brilliance and pure joie de vivre Trull and Higbie are a musical force to be reckoned with and thoroughly enjoyed.

Tickets are $35 GA, $30 for OCA Members. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Beer, wine and refreshments for sale. OCA is wheelchair accessible. This show will be indoors.