A&E Picks and Highlights

Visual Arts

Abstracts, Oil & Glass
Galleria Silecchia
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
Runs through March 5.
Call 365-7414.

‘Merging Parallels’ exhibition
Art Center Sarasota
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday; closed Sundays
Runs through March 6.
Call 356-2032.

‘Castles in the Air’ and ‘The Memory Keepers’
Dabbert Gallery
Opening reception 6 to 8:30 p.m. March 6
Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
Runs through March 30.
Call 955-1315.

‘Meanwhile: Student Comic Book Show’
Christ-Janer Gallery, Ringling College of Art & Design
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Runs until March 7. Call 351-5100.

25th Anniversary Celebration & Art Exhibit
Island Gallery West, 5638 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach
March 2 to 31. Call 778-2346

‘Gallery I: Objects to be Contemplated’
Selby Gallery, Ringling College of Art & Design
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday;
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday
Runs until April 4. Call 351-5100.

Performing Arts

‘Tosca’
Sarasota Opera
7:30 p.m. Feb. 26; 1:30 p.m. March 3. Runs through March 28. Tickets: $29 to $135
Call 328-1300.

‘Dancing Lessons’
Florida Studio Theatre, Keating Theatre
8 p.m. Feb. 26, 27 and 28
and March 1 and 3; 3 p.m.
Feb. 28 and March 1
Extended through March 14.
Tickets: $18 to $39. Call 366-9000.

‘Balanchine, Ashton & Nureyev’
Sarasota Ballet
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 and 28; 2 p.m. Feb. 28
Tickets: $20 to $105. Call 359-0099.

Music

‘One Singular Night: The Music of George Gershwin and Marvin Hamlisch’
Thomas Pandolfi, pianist
Artists Series Concerts, Historic Asolo Theater
7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 and March 1; 2 p.m. March 1
Tickets: $25 to $45. Call 360-7399.

Dresden Philharmonic
Sarasota Concert Association, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
4 p.m. March 1. Tickets: $45 to $75. Call 225-6500.

WSLR Benefit Concert
525 Kumquat Court
7 p.m. March 1
Tickets: $12. Call 894-6469.

Sonny & Perley present ‘The Great American Songbook’
Fruitville Library. 3 to 4 p.m. March 4. Free. Call 861-2518.

Nick’s Picks

35th annual Jazz Festival
One of the most intense annual pleasures of the Sarasota musical season returns March 1 through 7 with the 35th annual Jazz Festival. Presented by the Jazz Club of Sarasota, this year’s festival occurs in the Riverview High School Performing Arts Center with the kickoff event at Phillippi Estate Park.

Participating artists at this year’s festival include the Doug Cameron Quartet, John Lamb, June Garber, Karla Harris, the Ted Howe Trio, Dick Hyman, Ken Peplowski, Kitt Moran and the Freddy Cole Quartet. The latter group is led by Freddy Cole, younger brother of Nat King Cole and uncle to Natalie Cole. Cole’s smooth vocals are backed by his guitarist Randy Napoleon, bassist Henry Conerway and drummer Herman Burney.

In addition to the more traditional concerts, the night of March 4 will be the return of the Jazz Trolley and Pub Crawl. Jazz fans can imbibe as they’re driven to nine different locations to enjoy various jazz artists.

When: March 1 through March 7
Where: festival kickoff at Phillippi Estate Park and concerts at Riverview High School Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $25 to $50 per concert; $140 VIP package
Info: Call 800-838-3006.

Julie Kanapaux — ‘Recent Work’
Local artist and painter Julie Kanapaux cut her artistic tooth on the campus of Ringling College of Art & Design. A 2000 graduate who majored in fine-art painting and minored in photography, Kanapaux’s solo artistic homecoming is an exhibition of her most recent abstract work. Currently in the Patricia Thompson Gallery inside the Keating Center, the exhibition runs through May.

Kanapaux’s sculpture series, “For the Humans,” has been on campus since 1999 on the corner of Old Bradenton Road and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

When: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday; closed Saturday and Sunday. Runs through May.
Where: Patricia Thompson Gallery, Ringling College of Art & Design
Info: Call 351-5100.