Pop music
Yanni changeup
Tuesday. Vocal pops. Yanni’s name is synonymous with so many adjectives. (We’ll let you fill in those blanks.) But the instrumental composer celebrated for his over-the-top, sweeping piano work mines a different vein in Yanni Voices, which plays the Pepsi Center on Tuesday. The project argues that Yanni’s “music was meant to be sung” by adding four young singer-songwriters — Chloe, Ender Thomas, Nathan Pacheco, Les lie Mills — to the mix. The artist recently announced an allotment of $10 tickets at each of his North American dates, so check Ticketmaster. Tickets, $10-$91, through or 303-830-8497. Ricardo Baca
Omaha’s finest
Wednesday. Folk crooner. Conor Oberst, Omaha’s blue-ribbon indie-folk superstar, rolls into Colorado Springs on Wednesday with his Mystic Valley Band before heading west to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival next weekend. Oberst and company’s new album, Outer South, marks the singer’s overly conscious evolution from the youthful, woe-is-me, midballad screams and rants that made critics take notice in the late-90s. Yes, at 29, it seems Oberst is too old and wise for his former name/project, Bright Eyes. And the so-called reinvention isn’t helping quell the Dylan comparisons, either. Tickets, $20, are available through . John Hendrickson
Old fave returns
Wednesday. Country-rock. JD Souther is best- known as one of the Eagles’ main collaborators — having co-written “Heartache Tonight,” “New Kid in Town,” “Best of My Love” and other songs for the band. But the artist is touring in support of his first studio album in 25 years, “If the World Was You,” and his voice is still intact. Listen at . Tickets, $25, through . or 303-830-8497. Ricardo Baca
Family fun
Parker parties
Today-Sunday. Community festival south. The town of Parker kicks off summer with three days of free music at the 32nd annual Parker Country Festival. Nearly 20 bands will take the stage over the weekend, with local favorites Phat Daddy and Hot Lunch, plus touring country artist Randy Houser. There’s an arts and crafts market, a parade and carnival rides. 5 p.m. to midnight tonight, 9 a.m. to midnight Saturday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Parker Road and Mainstreet, Parker. Wristbands for unlimited carnival rides are $25. Kathleen St. John
Lafayette, too
Saturday. Community festival north. It’s all about kids at the Family Fun Fest in Lafayette. The afternoon entertainment starts with an interactive music performance and ends with a puppet show, with dancing, magic and songs from “High School Musical” in between. There’s also face painting, a bounce house, art activities and more. Then at 4, everyone can chill at a concert by the Hazel Miller Band. Noon to 7 p.m. Saturday. Atlas Valley and Forest Park, 95th Street and Arapahoe Road, Lafayette. Free. Kathleen St. John
Wild and deep
Today. Nature on film. Journey to South Africa, and watch an ecosystem at work — big time — in “Wild Ocean,” the newest IMAX movie at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The film focuses on a yearly feeding frenzy that helps sustain the local sea species, as well as the humans onshore. Humans are overfishing, though, throwing off the delicate balance. 10:30 a.m., 1, 3 and 5 p.m. daily, plus 7 p.m. shows on Friday and Saturday nights. Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd.; 303-322-7009. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for juniors ages 3 to 18, students and seniors age 65 and older. To purchase advance tickets, call or visit . Kathleen St. John
Theater
Student stage
Friday through June 27. Theater. Boulder’s Parlando School for the Arts is producing its first full-scale musical for young actors, “The Secret Garden,” with 30 students from 19 colleges, high schools and middle schools around the country. The creative team includes a host of Broadway professionals, including directors Angela Gaylor, David Ayers, Thomas Kail and Kevin Stites. The musical takes place in early-1900s England, where young Mary Lennox discovers a magical, walled garden that changes lives. $15-$32. 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays through June 27 at the Atlas Black Box Theatre, 18th Street and Euclid Avenue on the University of Colorado-Boulder campus, 303-444-7328, 888-512-7469 or . John Moore
Visual arts
The big art fair
Saturday and Sunday. Art Fair. The Art Students League of Denver’s annual Summer Art Market has become a much-anticipated tradition. The fair, with booths lining Grant Street from Third Avenue to Second Avenue and Second Avenue from Sherman Street to Logan Street, showcases 200 artists. Also taking place: live music, art demos and kids activities. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 303-778-6990 or . Kyle MacMillan
Aurora showcase
Today. Art walk. Aurora’s transformation of 16 blocks of its downtown into a surprisingly vibrant arts district remains little-known around the metropolitan area. To trumpet the changes, the East End Arts District is hosting an art walk from 5 to 9 p.m. today. More than 20 organizations will take part, including the Shadow Theatre Company, Other Side Arts and Red Delicious Press. Start at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 9898 E. Colfax Ave., where maps and free pedi-cabs will be available. 720-276-2335 or . Kyle MacMillan
Film
Christmas train
Friday through Sunday. Exhibit. Who are we to grumble “Bah, humbug!” to an inventive marketing scheme? Come Friday, it’s Christmas in June as Disney’s tech-loaded train rumbles into Union Station to promote the holiday film “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” starring Jim Carrey as Scrooge. Also promised: artifacts from the Charles Dickens Museum, carolers and snow (as if we miss it). Union Station, 1701 Wynkoop St. Free. 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. .Lisa Kennedy
Scary movie
Friday and Saturday. Monster flick.”Big Man Japan” comes marching into town for its local premiere with its cult status already assured. The mockumentary about a guy who undergoes periodic jolts of electricity to keep him a giant, only to suffer the derision of the folks he protects, already has plenty of fans. With its theme of misunderstood hero and monster-mashed Japan, the PG-13 flick could be “Hancock Meets Godzilla” as directed by Christopher Guest. Instead, it’s a wild riff on modern-day Japan and old-time monster movies. Midnight both nights at the Esquire Theatre, 590 Downing St. $7.25 303-352-1992. . Lisa Kennedy
Visual Arts
Rings of fire at LoDo gallery
In an art world that can too often seem derivative, collectors, curators and critics are always on the lookout for something fresh and different.
Fitting the bill are the wonderful,loose sculptures of Ruth Borgenicht of Glen Ridge, N.J. — basketlike, mesh works meticulously constructed of hundreds of interwoven rings of salt-fired stoneware.
Eight of her pieces — the largest measuring 11 inches tall and 16 inches long — are on view through July 25 at Translations Gallery, 1743 Wazee St., along with Peruvian tapestries by Maximo Laura.
Each of the these malleable sculptures has a basic form, but the shape is somewhat adjustable. It is helpful that Borgenicht has a background in mathematics because these pieces obviously require as much engineering as artistic know-how. Kyle MacMillan
Free. 303-629-0713 or
