by Kurt Loft, Creative Pinellas This article also may be read on Creative Pinellas’ website. Palladium Chamber PlayersCelebrate 10 years of Classical Harmony January 11 at 7:30 pmThe Palladium TheaterDetails here A decade ago, a group of musicians banded together to form the Palladium Chamber Players, making their home at[…]

The Palladium Chamber players return for a 10th anniversary season with a concert next Wednesday. When Jeff Multer and I launched this series neither of us imagined that it would be this successful or run this long. We’re celebrating 10 great years with our most ambitious season ever. Season tickets[…]

Simon Lasky, a London-based jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader, wasn’t familiar with the composer and arranger, Chuck Owen, until he was visiting the U.S. a few years ago. Chuck was speaking and performing at a symposium for jazz composers at the University of South Florida, and at first glance, Lasky[…]

Right before we broke for Thanksgiving week, two of our favorite bands came to visit. The night was Backtrack Blues Band and Southern Hospitality was a great one, with blues fans dancing in the aisles. We also helped the Suncoast Blues Society celebrate the holidays. The show was an official[…]

We’re happy to welcome back the low country blues rockers, Southern Hospitality, this Saturday (11-19) on our main stage. We’ve hosted this band of all-stars – Damon Fowler, J.P. Soars and Victor Wainwright – a few times over the years. When they come together from their various solo projects it’s[…]

Ann Hampton Callaway is a treasure. A powerful, evocative vocalist, a master pianist, and, above all, a keeper of the flame of American song. My wife and I caught her last spring at 54 Below, the Broadway nightclub, doing her tribute show: Fever – The Peggy Lee Century. The sold-out[…]

This Saturday we’re bringing a night of scary fun for the entire family (except maybe some very young kids who might get too frightened), when La Luchaween comes to the Palladium, which everyone knows is haunted. Here’s how our pal, Bill DeYoung, described La Luchaween in this week’s St. Pete[…]

Arts writer Kurt Loft interviewed Eric Darius for Arts Coast Magazine, an online publication from Creative Pinellas. I thought you’d enjoy his preview. Eric plays the Palladium Friday in a benefit for the Clearwater Jazz Holiday. For tickets and information you can follow this link. Liberating the Arts By Kurt[…]

Two of my favorite Palladium performers are in the building this weekend and I hope you and yours can catch one or both of these amazing shows. On Friday we welcome back International Blues Challenge winner Selwyn Birchwood and his band for an evening of high-octane blues. As our friends[…]

The first blues act I hired to play the Palladium was Tampa Bay’s own Damon Fowler. A musical prodigy, Fowler was entertaining local audiences as a teenager and has grown into a major blues star, while keeping his roots in Tampa Bay. During the pandemic we brought in Damon and[…]

By Kurt Loft creativepinellas.org Spanish musician and songwriter embracesSt. Pete vibe with new recording and Palladium concert Saturday, July 9, 8p • Side Door • Click here for tickets and more info This bird has flown aptly describes Ona Kirei, the Spanish vocalist, composer, global traveler and devout Beatles fan.[…]

Summer is a season when we get to bring exciting bands that we aren’t able to present during our “busy season.” That’s one good reason why we’re featuring world fusion band WAHH on this Saturday in the Side Door. I caught the band a few years ago at the much-missed[…]

One of the hidden gems of St. Pete’s Pride month happens this weekend in the Side Door Cabaret. Michael Kelly appears in The Pleasing Recollection – A Cabaret Opera with music by Martin Hennessy; libretto by Stephen Kitsakos; directed by Murphy Davis. The show comes to us direct from its[…]

Following Tuesday’s final performance of St. Petersburg Opera’s La Fille Du Regiment, the Palladium’s summer season officially begins. Our summer offerings this year include jazz, blues, cabaret, swing, burlesque and a lot more. I’m thrilled to kick off the summer season by announcing our jazz show, Cole Swings Cool, is[…]

June 1 is the kick-off of a month of Pride-related activities in St. Petersburg and the Palladium is your location for several highlights of the celebration. On Saturday, June 11, Carson Kressley, one of the original stars of Queer Eye, hosts an evening of music and fun dubbed “Queer-E-Okee with[…]

Pop-jazz vocalist Halie Loren makes her Palladium Side Door debut Thursday night (5-19). She’s a big name in the music world, but not so well known to our audiences. Her appearance here should change that. But in case you’re wanting to know more about this compelling artist, here’s a story[…]

Pianist Judy Carmichael is helping us reopen the Side Door Cabaret this Friday. This jazz star, known for her stride piano playing, her unique vocals, her humor and her NPR and Sirius XM show, Jazz Inspired, will be joined by Palladium favorite Nate Najar, on guitar. Bill DeYoung profiled Judy[…]

My pal Nate Najar told me to book Judy Carmichael. He had done a couple of duet shows with Judy, who is a legendary New York jazz pianist, and couldn’t stop talking about her. “I think Judy is one of the most swingin’ piano players in the world,” Nate said.[…]

Our Palladium Chamber Players season closes tonight, Wednesday, May 4, with a concert featuring the works of de Falla, Schubert, and Rachmaninoff. Palladium favorites Edward Arron, cello, and Jeewon Park, piano, perform. Classical music writer Kurt Loft has written a wonderful preview of the program for Creative Pinellas. (Kurt also[…]

The Palladium has always offered free parking to our patrons in the lots south and east of the building. That hasn’t changed. St. Petersburg College has contracted with a private parking company to manage our south lot during non-show hours. Downtown visitors will use an app to pay for parking,[…]

Part of our mission at the Palladium is giving our area’s top-performing artists a chance to create new work.  With our Creative Class of 2021, we commissioned 11 diverse artists to create new work for the theater. On Friday, April 29 you’ll be able to see the work of two[…]

Jazz great Chick Corea may have left the building, but his career and influence show no signs of waning. Jazz at Lincoln Center just announced an all-star tribute to Corea, who died in February, 2021,  and at Sunday’s Grammy Awards he picked up two more trophies. The Palladium is hopping[…]

Our Palladium Chamber Players season continues on Wednesday, April 6, with a concert featuring the works of Mozart, Poulenc, and Brahms. The original Palladium Chamber Players – Multer, Aaron, Park, and Farina – are performing along with special guests Jessica Guideri, violin, and Natalie Hoe, clarinet. For tickets and information,[…]

I’m thrilled to welcome back David Amram to the Side Door this Friday night at 8 p.m. After a career like Amram’s – which includes world-class work in jazz, classical music, film scoring, and literature – he deserved to have the word “legendary” next to his name. Amram is also[…]

The Palladium is a safe place to enjoy great music and we’ve got a special show for you this Sunday. Award-winning singer, saxophonist, songwriter and entertainer, Danny Bacher, headlines the third annual Palladium Jazz Awards.  This year the awards show celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Al Downing Tampa Bay[…]

Dave Meder, a native of Tampa who has gone on to other cities and lots of success in the jazz world makes his debut appearance at the Palladium this Friday (January 7) at 8 p.m. in Hough Hall. This show, like all our current shows, is in our large hall.[…]

Chuck Owen, the great composer-arranger who spent his career in the Jazz Program at the University of South Florida, retired in 2021. Music writer Eric Snider chronicled Chuck’s musical journey for Creative Loafing. I wanted to share that story with our Palladium audience and wish Chuck Owen all best wishes[…]

Bill DeYoung, who covers the arts for St. Pete Catalyst, previewed our Thursday night piano concert featuring Maria Dolores Gaitán. Having this concert on our stage is an honor. Gaitán has performed this tribute to Spain and America at some of the finest halls in the country. Bill’s story provides[…]

After a year-long hiatus, Florida’s best chamber series returns with a six-concert season starting Wednesday, Dec. 8. Classical music writer Kurt Loft has written a wonderful preview of the season for Creative Pinellas. (Kurt also wrote the program notes in our chamber series program). Please check out Kurt’s story here[…]

A pesky virus in 2020 disrupted lots of things, including the Palladium’s fledgling Cabaret Series, a cadre of intimate concerts by unique artists in all genres. While we haven’t put the series back together yet, we are presenting one of those artists this Sunday. And I’m so excited to see[…]

This Sunday, Oct. 24 at 4 p.m., Shaun Martin and John C. O’Leary III will apear on the stage of Hough Hall for an intimate evening of piano solos and duos. For tickets and more information, please follow this link to our box office. Music writer Kurt Loft previewed the[…]

One of our last shows before we closed our doors in early March 2020 featured the Dean Johanesen Trio, in a show that had folks up on the dance floor in the Side Door. We’re bringing Dean and his band back this Saturday for another show featuring Dean’s swinging tunes.[…]

Acme Jazz Garage is gaining a lot of fans and enjoying a ton of national airplay with the group’s latest album – Sharkskin. This Sunday, Oct. 24, the Palladium and the band will be celebrating the release of the new album with a very special matinee concert starting at 4[…]

I’m so thrilled to have the St. Petersburg Opera back on the Palladium stage! Mozart’s comedy, Così fan tutte, debuts this Friday, and continues with a Sunday matinee and a Tuesday evening performance. Veteran music writer Kurt Loft, who also writes our Palladium Chamber Series show notes, has written a[…]

We’re excited to have The Florida Orchestra back at the Palladium with another of the popular “Inside The Music” programs, this time exploring Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The program tonight is “pay what you can” and for details you can go to our website: https://mypalladium.org/events/the-florida-orchestra-inside-the-music-vivaldis-four-seasons/ I’ll let Bill DeYoung, arts[…]

Thanks to Phil Morgan and the Tampa Bay Times for featuring PalladiumPaul in Sunday’s paper. If you missed it, here’s the story: Impresario, storyteller Paul Wilborn, an award-winning former reporter for the Tampa Tribune, then-St. Petersburg Times, and Associated Press in Los Angeles, is the executive director of the Palladium[…]

I’m excited to have one of America’s hottest young singer-songwriters performing with his band at the Palladium this Saturday, Sept. 11. Dylan LeBlanc has earned a lot of praise lately, including being dubbed “the next Neil Young,” and I was already a fan of his hits “Cautionary Tale” and “Renegade”[…]

A special thanks to photographers Larry Feldman and Barry Lively!

Our crazy state may be vivid red on the Covid map, but I want to assure you that you can visit the Palladium for a live show in comfort and safety. For this summer all our shows are happening in the 830-seat Hough Hall and we’ve limited our ticket sales,[…]

The great Duke Ellington has a special place in the musical lore of St. Petersburg. Not only did he play the Manhattan Casino back in the day, two of his alums settled here and became mainstays of the local jazz scene. Buster Cooper, the trombonist, left us a few years[…]

Summer continues to heat up at the Palladium. If I had to pick one “don’t miss” show from or summer lineup I’d probably pick this Friday’s tribute to Nina Simone, led by Sarasota singer Synia Carroll along with an all-star band. Synia and her pianist for the show, John O’Leary,[…]

Over the course of his decades-long career Carlos Santana sold a lot of records and built a huge fan base, and along the way, he influenced generations of musicians. A number of them are from the Tampa Bay area, like drummer David Nunez, keyboardist Brad Trumbull and guitarist Mark Barrios.[…]

Dancer, choreographer, teacher, and fan-favorite Helen French, part of the Palladium’s Creative Class of 2021, has been named Artist Laureate by Creative Pinellas. Veteran arts writer Kurt Loft just penned a feature article about Helen’s work and artistic vision, which you can read below or on the Creative Pinellas website[…]

I almost hate to post this glowing review of St. Petersburg Opera’s Pagliacci by Kurt Loft since the two remaining performances are sold out. But the review is too good not to share: The company’s new production of ‘Pagliacci’ is an understated gem, a chamber opera that delivers a palpable[…]

I am thrilled that live shows are returning to the Palladium. St. Petersburg Opera’s concerts over this past weekend was the latest example. We’ve got more shows coming – including a Bob Dylan 80th Birthday Bash (May 21) and an SPO production of Pagliacci (multiple dates in June). A summer[…]

Our latest BEACON dance project, streams this Friday, April 16. St. Pete Catalyst previewed the show with a video interview and a story about our co-producers, Helen Hansen French and Lauren Sloane. BEACON is the Palladium’s critically acclaimed platform for contemporary dance and multidisciplinary collaborations among artists working locally and[…]

Bill DeYoung at St. Pete Catalyst talked with sax star Jeremy Carter about his Palladium Live streaming show that debuts tonight and runs through Sunday. They also talked about Jeremy’s musical relationship with the Palladium, where he is a regular bandleader and a member of the inaugural Creative Class of[…]