Talk focuses on Hudson River

Art historian Rebecca Albiani will give a talk on “American Sublime: The Hudson River School” at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Katherine L White Hall.

Part of the Vashon Center for the Arts’ Art History Talks, Albiani’s Tuesday lecture will be the first of five in a series slated to explore how different artists have taken on nature-inspired themes.

In the 1830s and 40s, American painters — led by Thomas Cole — began painting the Hudson Valley. Called the Hudson River School, the group of artists explored an aesthetic vision influenced by romanticism, capturing the fast-disappearing wilderness and elevating the art of landscape painting in the United States.

Tickets are available at Vashon Center for the Arts, Heron’s Nest Gallery and at vashoncenterforthearts.org.

Band with island roots returns

They’re back. The band that packs the Red Bike, Publish the Quest, will play a gig at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Bike.

Publish The Quest, with, island-born frontman Jacob Bain, has made a name for itself worldwide as both a musical and philanthropic force. The band blends groove music melodies with vocally driven compositions, along with lyrics about social issues.

Working with the nonprofit Learn Africa, Publish The Quest has made several recent trips to Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, Mali, Poland, Portugal and Spain, where it performed in music festivals and other more intimate venues.

Tickets will be available at the door for $8 and ID is required. This is an all-ages show until 11 p.m., then 21 and older only after that.

Indie folk-pop band performs

The popular Shook Twins will return to the Open Space for Arts & Community at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, with doors opening at 7 p.m. Debra Heesch and Open Space will host the show.

The indie folk-pop band hailing from Portland includes identical twins Katelyn and Laurie Shook, who are joined by Niko Daoussis. The group’s unique sound comes from a range of instruments: banjo, acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, mandolin, drums, glockenspiel, ukulele and their signature Golden Egg.

Seattle band Rabbit Wilde will open the evening. The group revamps classic string band instrumentation with homespun percussion, a six-string ukulele and cello.

Tickets are at shooktwinsopenspace.brownpapertickets.com and Vashon Bookshop.

Youth theater performs classic

VCA Youth Musical Theatre will perform an adaptation of the beloved classic, “The Sound of Music,” at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, at the Katherine L White Hall.

Adapted for younger performers, the show, “Getting to Know … The Sound of Music,” will include over 30 children, ages 6 to 17. Music is by Richard Rogers, script by Tom Briggs and Timothy Allen McDonald.

Tickets are sold at Vashon Center for the Arts, Heron’s Nest and vashoncenterforthearts.org.

New production of old tragedy

Open Space for Arts & Community will present The Independent Eye theater ensemble’s inspired two-person vision of William Shakespeare’s tragedy, “King Lear,” at

7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at Open Space.

Played out within an aluminum cage, King Lear and The Fool will be accompanied by an array of 30 life-sized, hand and finger puppets operated by actors and master puppeteers Conrad Bishop and Elizabeth Fuller.

Tickets are sold at brownpapertickets.com and Vashon Bookshop. The production is suitable for ages 13 and up.

Island choir sings new work

The Free Range Folk Choir will premiere a new choral work arranged by Shane Jewell at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at the Vashon High School theater. Based on Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji’s song, “Uhuru,” Jewell’s piece will feature the voices of the 70-member Free Range Folk Choir and the percussion of Gordy Ryan, a long-time member of Olatunji’s band, Drums of Passion.

The song’s title, “Uhuru,” translates as “Freedom to the World Now” and epitomizes Olatunji’s world view.

Tickets are by suggested donation of $5 to $10.