Briefs: Music and theater

Songs and stories

PERSIAN POET

VISITS LIBRARIES

Poet, singer, songwriter and raconteur Ziba Shirazi — who hails from Shiraz, the Persian land of wine and poetry — will present two free programs this weekend at local libraries.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd., “A Night of Story & Song” focuses on Iranians who left their homeland following the Islamic revolution, scattering throughout the world in search of a better future.

And at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, “A Fresh Breeze From Persia” features Shirazi’s singing talents as she joins her band for a fusion of Persian music and American jazz.

Both events, which commemorate International Woman’s Day, are free and open to the public. For more information, call 507-3964 or 507-3459.

Jazz

MARSALIS AND ORCHESTRA,

NEW YORK TRIO VISIT

A renowned big band — and a world-jazz trio — headline two separate Thursday concerts this week.

Wynton Marsalis leads the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Smith Center’s Reynolds Hall, 361 Symphony Park Ave. The versatile 15-member band celebrates jazz tradition with a repertoire ranging from classics to original works.

Tickets ($66-$99) are available by calling 749-2000 or going online to www.thesmithcenter.com.

Meanwhile, at downtown’s Las Vegas Shakespeare Company (formerly the Reed Whipple Cultural Center), the New York City-based trio La Voz de Tres also take the stage at 7 p.m. Thursday, featuring a repertoire that stretches from Brazil to Manhattan.

Vocalist Natalia Bernal, keyboardist Mike Eckroth and seven-string guitarist Jason Ennis also will participate in a “Meet the Artists” reception, sponsored by the American Jazz Initiative, following the concert.

Tickets ($15, cash only) are available at the door at the theater, 821 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Choral music

CHORUS PREMIERES

‘BLUEGRASS MASS’

The Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society, celebrating its 50th anniversary, goes down home this weekend with the Nevada premiere of “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass” at the College of Southern Nevada’s Nicholas J. Horn Theatre.

Five bluegrass instrumentalists team up with the 55-voice Musical Arts Chorus for composer Carol Barnett’s work, which blends bluegrass and traditional choral harmonies, showcasing folk ballads and instrumental interludes within the traditional Mass form.

Guest musicians include mezzo-soprano Juline Gilmore, fiddler Mary Danzig and mandolin player Peter Danzig (alias the folk duo Otter Creek), guitarist Art Gomez and banjo player Gary Queen

The program also features selections from “Les Miserables,” “State Fair” and “Crazy for You,” plus “Twentiana,” highlighting music of the 1920s.

The concert will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the Nicholas J. Horn Theatre at the College of Southern Nevada, 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., North Las Vegas. For tickets ($15-$20), call 651-5483; more information is available online at www.snmas.com.

Classical

UNLV WELCOMES

CHINESE ORCHESTRA

China’s National Symphony Orchestra has toured around the world.

So it seems fitting that their Wednesday concert at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas features an international program, including Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2 in E minor.

The concert, part of UNLV’s Charles Vanda Master Series, features Shao En conducting the orchestra — and violinist Chuanyun Li as soloist for the “Butterfly Lovers” concerto, an orchestral adaptation of an ancient Chinese legend.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Artemus Ham Hall at UNLV, 4505 Maryland Parkway. Tickets ($35-$75) are available by phone at 895-2787 or online at pac.unlv.edu.

Theater

‘LETTERS HOME’ TELLS

SOLDIERS’ STORIES

Letters written by U.S. soldiers serving in the Middle East inspire the award-winning play “Letters Home,” which comes to The Smith Center’s Troesh Studio Theater tonight and Saturday.

Prompted by a New York Times article “The Things They Wrote,” and a subsequent HBO documentary, “Letters Home” presents uncompromising, but nonpolitical, soldiers’ stories.

“Letters Home” will be staged at 7 p.m. today and 3 p.m. Saturday at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave. Tickets ($27-$37) are available by calling 749-2000 or visiting www.thesmithcenter.com.

— By CAROL CLING