The String Queens from left: \u00c9lise Sharp, Kendall Isadore and Dawn Johnson will grace the Bankhead stage on Feb. 13, 2026. (Courtesy LVA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nValentine\u2019s Day weekend falls during a busy February for the Bankhead Theater in downtown Livermore, fortunately for those of us who might still be searching for an outing to celebrate with our dearest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The String Queens, a trio from Washington, D.C. touring on their most-recent album, \u201cRISE\u201d, are in concert this Friday night to show off their \u201cauthentic, soulful, and orchestral sound\u201d to Tri-Valley audiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this album, TSQ sought to sonically address the world\u2019s current problems by creating unique arrangements of timeless classics rooted in hope, joy, peace and love,\u201d Livermore Valley Arts reps said. \u201cFeaturing original compositions by Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Richard Smallwood, The Beatles, Michael Jackson and more, RISE takes listeners on a musical journey that starts in a field of loss and hopelessness and ends in a fortress of faith, triumph and fortitude.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Featuring Kendall Isadore on violin, \u00c9lise Sharp on viola and Dawn Johnson on cello, The String Queens will take the stage at 8 p.m. on Friday the 13th.<\/p>\n
String instruments will be a centerpiece the next night, too, as two standout young cellists will join the Livermore-Amador Symphony as special soloists for its \u201cForbidden Love\u201d concert on Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\n\n
Dougherty Valley High student Donghu Kim will perform a cello solo with the Livermore-Amador Symphony on Feb. 14, 2026. (Photo courtesy LAS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDougherty Valley High student Donghu Kim and Fremont\u2019s Cara Wang (who attends Stanford Online High School) were winners of the symphony\u2019s Competition for Young Musicians. Both 16 years old, Wang will play Anton\u00edn Dvo\u0159\u00e1k \u201cCello Concerto in B Minor, 1st Movement\u201d while Kim will perform Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky\u2019s \u201cRococo Variations for Cello\u201d.<\/p>\n
As for the overall concert, the symphony will showcase two composers drawn to William Shakespeare\u2019s tale of star-crossed teen lovers: Frederick Delius and his \u201cThe Walk to the Paradise Garden\u201d and Sergei Prokofiev with \u201cRomeo and Juliet, Suite No. 2\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe performance closes with Edward Elgar\u2019s deeply sentimental and romantic \u2018Salut d\u2019amour\u2019, sure to lift everyone\u2019s hearts at the end of the evening,\u201d symphony reps said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The concert is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 14), preceded by an \u201cInside the Music\u201d talk with conductor Lara Webber from 7-7:15 p.m.<\/p>\n
Then on Sunday afternoon, a performance of \u201cSelected Shorts\u201d is returning to the Bankhead stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nThe matinee live theatrical readings will feature actors Geoffrey Arend (of \u201cDeli Boys\u201d and \u201cMadam Secretary\u201d fame), Emmy nominee Wendie Malick (\u201cJust Shoot Me\u201d and more recently, \u201cShrinking\u201d) and \u201cThe West Wing\u201d alumnus Joshua Malina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Promising \u201can afternoon of funny, mysterious and poignant short stories about surprising romances, competing desires and unexpected encounters\u201d apt for the holiday weekend, \u201cSelected Shorts\u201d is set for 3 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 15).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The entertainment continues into next week with a play of characters beloved by many young and old, with CYT Tri-Valley\u2019s production of \u201cSeussical JR\u201d \u2013 starring Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat and other Dr. Seuss favorites.\u00a0<\/p>\nCYT Tri-Valley performers rehearse for their upcoming production of \u201cSeussical JR\u201d at the Bankhead Theater Feb. 18-19, 2026. (Photo courtesy CYT Tri-Valley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cI am so proud of these young CYT performers. They bring their energy, enthusiasm, and a wide range of talents to their characters to help give a fresh take on these classic tales,\u201d director Wendy Hughes said in a press release. \u201cGet ready to see some skateboarding, rollerblading, and a circus complete with juggling and Diabolo tricks! The audience even gets to be a part of our story \u2014 you are going to have a memorable time!\u201d<\/p>\n
CYT Tri-Valley\u2019s \u201cSeussical JR\u201d includes three school-day matinees designed for organized field trips and homeschool groups and two evening shows for general audiences between Wednesday and Thursday (Feb. 18-19).<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nThose devoted to giving back to their community can check out Tri-Valley Nonprofit Alliance\u2019s panel discussion at the Bankhead at 10:30 a.m. next Friday (Feb. 20), featuring State Sen. Jerry McNerney, CalNonprofits CEO Geoff Green and CalNonprofits Board Chair Chet P. Hewitt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then that night, the popular \u201cInternational Guitar Night\u201d tour will return to Livermore for the 15th straight year \u2013 with Alexandr Misko (Russia), Lucas Imbiriba (Brazil), Thu Le (Vietnam) and Taimane Gardner (USA, Hawaii).<\/p>\n
Rounding out February at the Bankhead will be the free Lunar New Year Celebration next Sunday (Feb. 22) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., \u201cWild and Scenic Film Festival On Tour\u201d with 14 short films of environmental storytelling on Feb. 27 and Livermore Valley Opera opening its two-weekend run of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart\u2019s \u201cCos\u00ec Fan Tutte\u201d on Feb. 28.<\/p>\nPeter Hillary, shown here at the summit of Lobuche Peak in Nepal, will be appearing at the Bankhead Theater on March 5, 2026. (Photo courtesy Peter Hillary via Livermore Valley Arts)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBetween the opera performances, the theater will host adventurer Peter Hillary (son of the late Sir Edmund Hillary) as part of the Rae Dorough Speaker Series on March 5 and the vocal stylings of Kings Return on March 6.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CYT Tri-Valley will be back on the bill starting March 12 for its production of \u201cA Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream\u201d\u00a0 \u2026 oops, better slow down and save us some A&E content for the coming weeks. Gotta love how active and vibrant the Bankhead stays throughout the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nEditor\u2019s note: Jeremy Walsh is the associate publisher and editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation\u2019s East Bay Division. His \u201cWhat a Week\u201d column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.<\/em><\/p>\n\nMost Popular<\/h4>\n<\/section>\n\t<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.pleasantonweekly.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The String Queens from left: \u00c9lise Sharp, Kendall Isadore and Dawn Johnson will grace the Bankhead stage on Feb. 13, 2026. (Courtesy LVA) Valentine\u2019s Day weekend falls during a busy February for the Bankhead Theater in downtown Livermore, fortunately for those of us who might still be searching for an outing to celebrate with our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2280741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[441795,441796,441797],"class_list":["post-2280740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-danvillesanramon-top-post-secondary","tag-livermore-top-post-secondary","tag-pleasanton-top-post-secondary"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Show-your-love-Entertainment-abounds-at-Bankhead-for-Valentines-weekend.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2280740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2280742,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280740\/revisions\/2280742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2280741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2280740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2280740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2280740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}