The Caltech-Occidental Concert Band has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Great Wall of China. They have plans for a trip to perform in San Francisco in March of 2013.

Special guest conductor and composer is Frank Ticheli, who will conduct his own compositions Blue Shades, Simple Gifts and Sanctuary. Frank Ticheli is well known for his works for concert band, and has appeared as guest conductor at Carnegie Hall, and at many universities and music festivals all over the world including Austria, Beijing and Shanghai, London and Manchester, Singapore, Rome, Sydney, and numerous cities in Japan.

Kjerstin “KJ” Williams will be the vocal soloist with the Caltech Jazz Bands. KJ is often featured in the Caltech Jazz Bands’ performances, and also performs locally with her jazz group, The Conspirators. She has appeared with a variety of LA based big bands, wind ensembles, and choral groups.

Both evenings will have the same program. This event is free and open to the public with free parking. For further information, please visit bands.caltech.edu or contact the Caltech Office for Performing and Visual Arts at 626 395-3295.

The presentation will be given in the newly renovated Memorial Park Hart House Senior Center, 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. A catered dinner will be served at 6:30. Reservations for the $9 dinner must be made by calling 355-0606. If you wish to attend only the program, there is no charge nor reservation necessary; please arrive by 7:15 p.m.

On Saturday, May 12, at 10 a.m., Janet Raymond, chief gardener for the Wrigley House rose gardens, will conduct a tour of the Tournament House rose gardens for club members and their guests. Janet will share some of the tricks of rose culture she has developed through her many years as a head gardener at the Pacific Rose Society gardens.

For more information about club activities, please visit the Sierra Madre Garden Club website at www.smgarden.org. For information concerning the Audubon Society, go to www.pasadenaaudubon.org.

Call and make your reservation now for “The Best of Bernstein” this is going to be a wonderful show full of songs from Westside Story, Candide, Wonderful Town and On The Town. The Matinee will be on April 28th with 150 tickets available and the evening show will be on May 5th and only 90 tickets are available. All seats will be assigned and the sooner you reserve your tickets the closer you will sit. If you would like more information or would like to purchase tickets
call 626-282-1440 and leave a message we will call you back.

Girl Scout Cookies are still only $4 a box, $20 for 5 boxes! A portion of every sale stays with the troop to fund activities and community service projects.

On a diet? The popular Gift of Caring is back, where folks can donate boxes to LA Regional Food Bank, Operation Gratitude, Bob Hope USO, Goodwill, and Blue Star Mothers. More information is available at the cookie booths.

For dates, times, and locations, go to http://cookielocator.littlebrownie.com/.

From 6 to 10 p.m. a dozen cultural venues will open their doors and the city of Pasadena will provide free shuttle service at each location. Walking is also an option as many of the venues are clustered downtown. To join a bicycling group visit www.cicle.org. For easy treats at modest prices, trendy food trucks will appear at a handful of venues.

While entry to each location is free, many of the host venues will also offer special discounts on merchandise or memberships with proof of Metro ridership, including 10 percent off store merchandise at the Pasadena Museum of California Art or 10 percent off the price of exhibition catalogues at the Armory Center for the Arts. Other venues will offer additional discounts on memberships.

ArtNight is a twice-yearly event made possible through ongoing partnership among many cultural institutions and the Cultural Affairs Division of the city of Pasadena and is sponsored by the Pasadena Arts and Culture Commission. For more information call (626) 744-7887. For accessibility and alternative formats call (626) 744-7062. Para español visite www.artnightpasadena.org. Venues are:

Alliance Française
Voyages à travers l’Europe
Born in Belgium, Elisabeth Johns is an established artist based in San Marino, California. Her paintings are inspired by the beautiful sceneries encountered during her travels through Europe.

Art Center College of Design
From the earliest to the most recent images of the cosmos, don’t miss The History of Space Photography – the most comprehensive exhibition of its kind ever organized.

Armory Center for the Arts
See Richard Jackson’s Accidents in Abstract Painting, showcasing paint-spewing army ducks and paint-filled airplane wreckage. Plus, solo shows by Jocelyn Foye and Dawn Kasper.

artWORKS Teen Center
See teens’ stunning creations in art, design, music and new media. artWORKS is a collaboration of Learning Works, The Armory, Project Connect and The Flintridge Center.

Lineage Performing Arts Center
Enjoy contemporary dance and live music with Pasadena’s own Lineage Dance and Michelle Bloom. Choreographer Hilary Thomas partners with acclaimed singer-songwriter Bloom, presenting new works.

Norton Simon Museum
Enjoy Hans Memling’s Portrait of a Man, c. 1470-75, now on loan from The Frick Collection in New York, plus centuries of masterpieces on permanent view.

Pasadena City College
Satiric and seditious animated video shorts by multimedia artist Erin Cosgrove, plus live jazz and highlights from the PCC Cinema program.

Pacific Asia Museum
46 N. Los Robles: A History of the Pasadena Art Museum traces the development of the Pasadena Art Museum, focusing on its years in Pacific Asia Museum’s Grace Nicholson Building.

Pasadena Museum of California Art
Three new exhibitions, including L.A. RAW, which places post-war figurative art in historical context and examines the pivotal role played by L.A. artists from 1945-80.

Pasadena Museum of History
Contemporary Masters, Artistic Eden III, a collaboration with the Pasadena Art Gallery Association, features juried paintings of life in the San Gabriel Valley by nationally recognized painters.

Shumei Arts Council
Enjoy Robert Crowder’s special paintings on Byobu folding screens and panels, and dynamic Makoto Taiko drumming at 6:15, 7:15, 8:15 and 9:15 pm.

Side Street Projects
NewTown and Side Street Projects presents Untamed (parking) Spaces:
tents, trucks and trailers transformed into pop-up galleries, theaters and
stages. Refreshments provided by Whole Foods Market on Arroyo.

For more information, contact Pasadena’s Cultural Affairs Division at (626) 744-7062.

The La Salle High School Alumni Association is hosting a food and beverage tasting event on campus on Saturday, March 24th. All members of the community are invited to attend.
The “Taste of La Salle” will feature over 30 food, beer, wine and tequila vendors offering a taste of their signature item including classic favorites like Philippe The Original, Porto’s Bakery & Café, The Derby, San Antonio Winery, and Patron Tequila. Exotic foods from Chakra, Mediterranean Garden Grill and Choza Mama Peruvian Cuisine & Bakery and new establishments like London Gastropub, Sugar Fix, Beyond the Olive, and The Bruery will delight the palate, to name a few.
An Opportunity Drawing will also take place with the chance to win fabulous prizes including wines and kitchen appliances plus the Grand Prize “Eat Out for a Year” basket which features an array of gift cards totaling over $1,000 to local eateries.
“Taste of La Salle” tickets are $30 in advance or $40 at the door. Proceeds from the event go to the Alumni Scholarship Fund for a graduating Senior.
For reservations or more information please call La Salle High School at 626.696.4362 or go online at www.lancernetwork.com/Taste2012.

Santa Anita Park, which has experienced significant gains in overall handle and field size through the first 31 days of its winter/spring meeting, has announced that with the approval of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), it will continue to run a four-day-a-week schedule through closing day, April 22.
“We’re very pleased with how the meeting is going,” said Santa Anita President George Haines. “Our overall handle is currently up seven percent and our field size has remained strong, at 8.3 horses per race, compared to 7.7 a year ago.
“The current racing schedule is working well for all of our stake holders and we want to thank the CHRB and Chairman (Keith) Brackpool for allowing us to continue to run four days a week in order to sustain and build upon the momentum we’ve been able to establish.”
The meet got off to a rollicking start on opening day, Dec. 26, as 44,579 attended on-track, the largest opening day crowd since 1994. Sunshine Millions Day, Jan. 28, was also a big attraction, as 30,514 attended on-track. In addition to world-class racing, fans were treated to a California Food Truck Festival, a Miss Sunshine Millions Bikini Contest, live entertainment and more in the track’s spacious infield.
Saturday, Feb. 4 also rates as one of the best days of the meeting. B.J. Wright’s Big ‘Cap-bound Ultimate Eagle blitzed his competition in the Grade II Strub Stakes, winning by 7 ¼ lengths in front of a crowd of 17,169. On-track handle reached more than $2.9 million and the total handle for the afternoon exceeded $15 million.
“We not only have plenty of great racing left, but we’ve got a number of popular promotions left as well,” said Haines. We want to thank our fans and horsemen for enabling us to put on a good show thus far and we look forward to finishing this meet strongly.”
Santa Anita has a number of big dates remaining on its 72-day racing calendar, including the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday, March 3. The Big ‘Cap will share center stage that day with two other Grade I races, the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (turf) and the Las Virgenes Stakes.
The Grade II San Felipe Stakes, a time-tested important prep for the Grade I Santa Anita Derby, will be run the following Saturday, March 10.
St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March 17, is another potentially solid business day, as Santa Anita will once again offer its $1 million St. Pat’s Day Horseshoe Pitch. The Grade I, $300,000 Santa Margarita Stakes will highlight the day’s racing along with the $100,000 Irish Obrien Stakes.
The highlight of the entire meet could well come on Saturday, April 7, as Santa Anita will offer the Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby along with the Grade II Potrero Grande Stakes and the Grade III Providencia Stakes.
Santa Anita will finish its winter/spring meeting with its traditional closing day feature, the Grade II San Juan Capistrano Handicap, at 1 ¾ miles on turf, on Sunday, April 22.