This week you’ll have a chance to mourn and celebrate the “Queen of Country,” Dolly Parton. There are also exhibits by local artists to check out, experimental and classical concerts, and a free party with food, music and kid-friendly activities.

Have an event you’d like to see included here? We do our best to stay on top of what’s happening in our community, but we love a tip. Send us a note at azucena@oaklandside.org. You can also use the self-submission form on our events page to add it to our calendar for free.

Hot Ticket in The Town this week: Oakland Tech Week

Organizers of this weeklong event are calling it “technology built with communities, not on top of them.” More than 80 events will take place across the city, hosted by a coalition of more than 30 Oakland organizations. The various events include hackathons, conversations about AI and a youth tech showcase. The week will conclude on Oct. 3 at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts with HiiiWAV FEST, headlined by Bay Area legend E-40 with the Soul Slappers, the band he played with for his NPR Tiny Desk concert.
Sunday, Sept. 27 to Saturday, Oct. 3, see website for a list of free and ticketed events at venues across the city

Bay Area pianist Sarah Cahill

Berkeley-based pianist Sarah Cahill, who also hosts the radio show “Revolutions per Minute” on KALW 91.7 FM, will play a show to honor composer Darius Milhaud, a respected figure whose career was intertwined with the experimental music history of Mills College (now Mills College at Northeastern University). Cahill will perform works by Milhaud, his former Mills College students, composers who held the Darius Milhaud Professorship of Music over the years and other composers connected with Mills. The program will also include a collaborative performance with Cahill’s longtime friend and musical colleague, pianist Regina Myers.
Friday, Sept. 25, 7:30 p.m., free, RSVP online, Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Concert Hall, Music Building, Northeastern University, 5000 MacArthur Blvd.

Dolly Day

Heart & Dagger Saloon, the “dog-friendly neighborhood watering hole” right by Lake Merritt, will be honoring the life and legacy of the late singer and songwriter Dolly Parton by offering themed cocktails and playing her music and movies throughout the early evening. 
Friday, Sept. 25, 4 to 8 p.m., free, Heart & Dagger Saloon, 504 Lake Park Ave.

Berkeley painter John King exhibit

The figurative painter, who works out of a studio at the American Burial and Casket Company on Filbert Street in Oakland, has a retrospective up at Orchard Galleries. The show, which opened last November, features more than 40 paintings. It is open to the public every Saturday afternoon, and any afternoon by appointment.
Saturdays, 1 to 5 p.m., free, Orchard Galleries, 489 25th St.

Berkeley-based pianist Sarah Cahill also hosts the radio show “Revolutions per Minute” on KALW 91.7 FM. Credit: courtesy of Kristen Wrzesniewski

‘With Weight Comes Light’ exhibit

Oakland-based ceramic artist Kordai Addy is closing up a two-person show with fellow ceramic artist Erin Hartfield at Lucky Break Studios in Oakland on Sept. 24. Both artists are part of the Waller Artist Residency Program, created to support Black artists with a six-month residency. The work, which features ceramic lamps and pendant lighting, explores the cycles of history and finding light after adversity. This Saturday, the artists will host a one-day talk while some of the pieces will be on display.
Saturday, Sept. 26, 6 to 9 p.m., free, WC Morse building, 4270 Broadway

‘That’s Oakland Baby!’ Millsmont/Seminary Block Party

Urban Peace Movement is hosting a free community event in the Millsmont Seminary business district, which spans MacArthur Boulevard between Seminary and 61st avenues. The event will include free food and wellness vouchers for services like manicures, acupuncture and hair cuts on a first-come-first serve basis, and will feature DJs Black Woman and Sean G behind the turntables, plus family-friendly activities and live screen printing with the Olive Street Agency, a business that opened in the neighborhood in 2022. 
Saturday, Sept. 26, 12 to 5 p.m., free, RSVP online, MacArthur Boulevard between Seminary and 61st avenues

Coming soon to The Town: Oakland Civic Orchestra new season

The Oakland Civic Orchestra will launch its season opener with one of the best-known works in the piano repertoire, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring Oakland pianist Hadley McCarroll, a longtime Bay Area performer and collaborative pianist. The program also includes Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” and Lili Boulanger’s “D’un matin de printemps.” The orchestra, featuring about 80 musicians from around the Bay Area, is led by music director Martha Stoddars who will be celebrating her 30th anniversary with the orchestra when the second half of the season kicks off in January 2027.

Sunday, Oct. 25, 4 p.m., $15 to $25, Valley Center for the Arts, 3500 Mountain Blvd.

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