Peter Ostroushko: A Heartland Holiday Concert

Always among the highlights of the local holiday season, mandolin (and fiddle) maestro Peter Ostroushko's annual globe-spanning jaunt finds the essential spirit of holly-and-ivy time grounded in the American heartland. Peter and his pals may stray to the Appalachians for some mountain music, to Brazil for choice choros, to Celtic realms for ancient carols, to Scandinavia for its ethereal musical equivalents of the northern lights, and to Ostroushko's ancestral Ukrainian homeland, but it's stuff now all entwined in the Midwest's long-stemmed prairie grasses. A fine assortment of Christmas carols and much more is usually on the bill, with help from such usual suspects as ace keyboardist Dan Chouinard, spectacular-voiced Ruth MacKenzie, percussionist Marc Anderson, and singer Natalie Nowytski. Short-story writer Ron Carlson will also spin a holiday tale.
Sat., Dec. 22, 8 p.m., 2007