Live Music/Performances

We bring the community together by hosting a wide variety of live music events that celebrate our heritage and expose us to new perspectives. You can view a list of past performers below. From Celtic and bluegrass to jazz, blues, world music, and rock & roll, the Pendleton Center for the Arts is a great spot to experience the power of live music. You can keep up with all our Facebook events HERE.

Want to get first crack at purchasing tickets when we book bands? Join our email list below.

Next Up:

Joe Newberry and  April Verch

Tuesday, November 12, 2024
7:00 p.m., Doors open 6:30 p.m.
Tickets $15

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

Joe Newberry and April Verch are masters of their traditions. Tunes, ballads, step dancing, and original songs by way of Canada and the Ozarks ring like silver and shine like gold. With beautiful harmony singing, breathtaking instrumentals, and exquisite dancing, these two hit the stage in perfect rhythm, making audiences remember why this music existed in the first place. If you’ve caught April Verch in a solo show here at PCA, you know this Canadian Grand Master Fiddle Champion and Step Dancer puts on an amazing show. The addition of Joe Newberry to the stage brings a whole new dimension to the experience.

Nuala Kenney and Bonny Wood Green

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

WE’RE SORRY TO HEAR THAT NUALA HAD AN EMERGENCY THAT PREVENTED HER U.S. TRIP THIS MONTH. WE WILL LET YOU KNOW IF WE’RE ABLE TO RE-BOOK.

Nuala Kennedy, one of Ireland’s most beloved folk performers, will be on our stage with Eamon O’Leary, and Jefferson Hamer under the trio name Bonny Wood Green.  From a recent review: “This is a glowing example of Irish traditional song at its best and as always with Nuala Kennedy, the album delights on a number of levels. She is as natural and gifted a flute player as you could hope to hear, her vocal performances are precise and charming..”

This performance is funded in part through the support of Culture Ireland.

Save the Date! Wed., Feb. 19, 2025

Seffarine

“gorgeous intersection of Spanish flamenco, Arabic and Andalusian music, Persian classical, and jazz”
-Bass Player Magazine

​The sounds that stir the dry winds of Southern Spain and Morocco, two countries separated by only a whisper of the Mediterranean, are the musical DNA of a beautifully complex extended family linking North Africa and Europe.

Photo Credit: Mary Hulskamp

The musicians of Seffarine, soulful Moroccan singer Lamiae Naki and flamenco guitarist Nat Hulskamp, supported by master musicians of diverse cultures, embrace and extend this rich legacy. Their exciting performances masterfully combine explosive flamenco footwork, exotic instrumentation and grooving basslines. These diverse backgrounds meld, creating what SoundRoots describes as “an ear-caressing blend of sounds from Spain and North Africa, spiced with a bit of fiery instrumentation and percussion.”

“Seffarine’s music can melt the coldest hearts”
-Chicago Reader

Our music series is supported in part by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and the National Endowment for the Arts

Select Past Events

True Blues with Corey Harris & Cedric Watson
Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024
SOLD OUT! 

Hosted by Corey Harris, a powerful singer, accomplished guitarist and MacArthur Grant recipient, True Blues chronicles the extraordinary living culture of the blues in an evening of music and conversation. Harris will be joined on stage by four-time Grammy-nominated fiddler, singer, accordionist & songwriter Cedric Watson, considered to be one of the brightest young talents to emerge in Cajun, Creole and Zydeco (Louisiana French) music over the last decade.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Okaidja Afroso is a multi-instrumentalist, Afro-Jazz, Afro-Classical, Ambient music, Singer-Songwriter and Traditional Dancer from Ghana, West Africa. He continues to break new ground, as evidenced in his latest classical African music album, titled – Jaku Mumor (Jàkú Mũmɔ – which means Ancestral Spirit in the Gãdangmé language) – inspired by ancient African wisdom.

The new album dives deeper into Okaidja’s cultural roots by collaborating directly with the Gãdangmé Fishermen to share the full artistry of their a cappella singing and chants that awakes the spirit of the human soul.

Past Performers