Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards move to Bluffs venue

The red carpet will be out at the Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center in Council Bluffs on Sunday for the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards.

The ceremony is returning to an in-person event this year for the first time since 2020. Awards will be presented to local visual artists, musicians and performers in a number of categories.

Lifetime achievement awards will go to painter, paper and installation artist Susan Knight, R&B drummer and musician Curly Martin and actor Cork Ramer. BFF (Benson First Friday) Omaha and its founder Alex Jochim will receive a cultural stewardship award.

Poet and performer Zedeka Poindexter and actor and producer Kerron Stark will be the hosts.

The evening will begin when McCormick’s 1894 bar opens at 5 p.m. for pre-ceremony drinks and food from Chef Around the Block. Guests also can browse through the Anne & John P. Nelson Gallery at that time.

The ceremony begins at 6:30 and will feature several live performances.

Tickets are $20 for general admission and $25 for reserved seats. They’re available at paceartsiowa.org or 712-890-5601. Food and drink is extra.

The Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center is at 1001S. Sixth St. in Council Bluffs.

Traditional Chinese instrument musicians and Yue Opera performers from Los Angeles will be onstage Saturday night at the Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St., for a Lunar New Year’s Gala.

The Nebraska Chinese Association is sponsoring the event to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. They promise a dazzling program highlighting Asian culture and history through pageantry, stunning costumes, exciting dances and beautiful music.

Tickets for the 7 p.m. program range from $30 to $60 and are available at ticketomaha.com or 402-345-0606.

Composer John Williams was nominated for an Academy Award this week for his score to Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical movie “The Fabelmans.”

This weekend, you can hear selections from some of his other film music at “Maestro and the Music of John Williams,” an Omaha Symphony Movie Series concert.

The program, conducted by Music Director Ankush Kumar Bahl, will include the overture from “The Cowboys” and selections from “Star Wars,” “E.T,,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Jurassic Park” and more.

The concert premieres Saturday night at 7:30 and repeats on Sunday at 2 p.m. Both will be at the Holland Center, 1200 Douglas St.

Tickets range from $20 to $99 and are available at omahasymphony.org.

Tickets are still available for Wednesday night’s concert featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

The program will feature “Middle East Meditations with Naseer Shamma” in collaboration with the Abu Dubai Festival.

The orchestra includes 15 of the top jazz soloists and ensemble players who are currently performing. The group is led by trumpet virtuoso Marsalis, who is its managing and artistic director. It has a large repertoire including everything from historic works to commissioned pieces to classics by artists such as Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman and many more.

The 7:30 p.m. concert is at the Holland Center, 1200 Douglas St. Tickets range from $60 to $80 and are available at ticketomaha.com or 402-345-0606.