Arts & Talks

Still Traveling
Would you like to still travel? Now you can without leaving your home – just stay still! Let us whisk you away for an interesting, educational & fun live, guided group tour in a destination beyond your front door! Join a guide from one of our popular Cultural Arts Trips to explore a topic or site at a distant destination as (s)he Zooms across the time zones to lead us. Live Q&A, photos, graphics and video clips (when available) will transport us to the destination! Your ticket purchase helps support not only our programs, but also our special guests – professional guides – who are mostly or completely out of work.

Virtual Music & Morsels
Bring coffee/tea & dessert to your computer, take your front row seat, and join us for a 1-hour live concert with a special guest artist who will not only perform, but also offer insights into the program’s pieces. Live Q&A enriches the experience! Your ticket purchase helps support not only our programs, but also our guest artists(s) whose schedule(s) and income(s) have been severely cut by this challenging period.

Broadway Backstage
Let us sneak you in the Stage Door to go backstage on Broadway! A different, special guest theater professional who brings his/her unique expertise, experiences, and insights to our discussion will be featured at each of these exclusive, behind-the-scenes visits. Live Q&A and photos/video clips (when available) will enrich our experience. Your ticket purchase helps support not only this program, but also our special guests – theater professionals – who are mostly or completely out of work.

Exploring Opera with James Sokol
Whether an opera newcomer or a long-time fan, join us for a single session or a full series of our popular classes. Put down your opera glasses, take your front row seat, and explore this gorgeous, if sometimes intimidating, art form. Join James Sokol who started his career under Beverly Sills at NYCOpera, worked on projects with Opera Company of Philadelphia, then moved to work at San Francisco Opera. With years of in-theater and teaching experience, backstage anecdotes, beautiful video performance clips, and a down-to-earth perspectives, Sokol creates classes that always delight.

Still Traveling: Sensational Seville 
Mondays, January 4-25, 2021 : 2-3:15pm via zoom

Would you still like to travel? Now you can without leaving your home – just stay still! Let us whisk you away for an “armchair adventure” on an interesting, educational, fun & live, guided group tour in a destination beyond your front door. Many tourists to southern Spain race to Grenada to visit the Alhambra, but overlook the capital and largest city of the region of Andalusia – Seville! Join Trip Leader James Sokol and our wonderful, professional, local guide to discover an array of fascinating and stunning facets of this sensational, yet quaint city.  “Tours” Include: 

• Historical Overview & the Alcazar (Jan 4)
• The Cathedral & Giralda (Jan 11) 
• Barrio Santa Cruz & Jewish Seville (Jan 18) 
• Modern Seville (Jan 25) 

For details & tickets, click here. 

Broadway Backstage 

Thursdays, January 7-28, 2021 : 4-5:30pm  

Let JCC Program Director & Broadway/opera instructor James Sokol sneak you in the Stage Door to go “backstage” on Broadway! Meet special guest theater professionals – who bring unique expertise, experiences & insights to the discussion – at our exclusive, live, behind-the-scenes visits. Photos/video clips (when available) will enrich the experience.  January guests include: 

• Kelli Barrett – The One to Watch (Jan 14) 
• James Moye – The Actor/Director (Jan 21) 
• Carolee Carmello – The “Go to Gal” (Jan 28) 

Come learn, off-stage, what makes the magic happen on-stage! 
For details & tickets, click here. 

Exploring Opera: Sensational Seville 
Monday, January 25, 2021 : 4:30pm-6pm via zoom
The glorious capital of Andalusia is the setting of more than 100 operas!  Of course, there’s Rossini’s famous The Barber of ________ (can you fill in the blank?) with its sparkling vocal fireworks, but there are works by Bizet, Mozart, Verdi, and others with equally beautiful music. Join popular San Francisco Bay Area opera appreciation instructor & trip leader James Sokol for an operatic journey though Seville, seeing a few of the works’ sites and basking in performance video clips of some of these musical masterpieces! 
For details & tickets, click here  

 Cocktails & Cabalettas: Operatic Happy Hours 
Wednesdays, January 6-27, 2021 : 6-7pm via zoom
B.Y.O.C. and let’s kick-off the New Year with some musical festivities! Stir, shake, pour your preferred cocktail, wine or other libation and join popular San Francisco Bay Area Opera Instructor James Sokol for a happy hour of beautiful music, interesting tidbits, and lively banter; maybe a behind-the scenes story or two thrown in for good measure!  Who knows, we might even have special guests drop in for a “toast.” Video performance clips bring the magic of opera into our festivities. Come for the music; stay for the fun!  
For details & tickets, click here.