Performing arts and more at Orcas Center

Submitted by the Orcas Center.

Orcas Center is buzzing with activity right through the holidays! From live music to art shows to live-streamed opera, there’s always something for every member of our community.

13 Til Midnight — Taylor Swift Tribute Band

On Taylor’s Swift’s birthday, Saturday, Dec. 13, Orcas Center is hosting 13 Til Midnight, a Taylor Swift Tribute Band, on the main stage at 3 p.m. Featuring top vocal talent and a studio-quality band, 13 Til Midnight takes you on a journey through Swift’s greatest hits, deep cuts and fan favorites, across eras and albums. Get ready to sing along and join in a live, up close and personal experience of Swift’s music. Tiered ticket prices are $70, $40 or $25 ($10 student tickets available) at www.orcascenter.org.

Choral Society to shine a “Midnight Light”

It’s that time of year when Orcas Choral Society prepares its well-known seasonal wonderland of singing that is sure to bring sounds of magical notes bundled in the warmth of joy and the sparkle of delight to your wintery nights this coming December.

This year’s holiday concert, “Midnight Light,” covers a century of new twists on old tunes, as well as fond reminisces of familiar harmonies that make the holiday season dear to so many people. The chorus performs twice: Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. and Dec.7 at 2 p.m. at Orcas Center. This year, you will find yourself enchanted as you see your friends and fellow townsfolk transformed into a joyous gathering of your favorite singers, dancers and musicians. Tiffany Loney weaves her dancers through airy melodies, pirouetting to the melodic refrains of carefully chosen guest musicians from near and far, artfully led by director Bruce Langford. Visit www.orcascenter.org for tickets.

‘Arabella’ and ‘The Magic Flute’ from the Met Opera

The Met’s Live in HD will stream “Arabella” on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. on Center Stage. Richard Strauss’s elegant romance brings the glamour and enchantment of 19th-century Vienna to the Met stage in a sumptuous production by legendary director Otto Schenk. Compelling soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen makes her role debut as the title heroine, a young noblewoman in search of love on her own terms. Soprano Louise Alder makes her Met debut as her sister, Zdenka, and bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny is the dashing count who sweeps Arabella off her feet.

“The Magic Flute” will stream on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. The Met made history in December 2006 when it presented its first Live in HD transmission to movie theaters worldwide — the abridged English-language version of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” This holiday season, the opera returns to select movie theaters in a special encore presentation.

‘Life of Pi’ from National Theatre Live

Puppetry, magic and storytelling combine in a unique, Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of the best-selling novel that streams on screen from National Theatre Live on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. After a cargo ship sinks in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, a 16-year-old boy named Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with four other survivors — a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger. Filmed live in London’s West End and featuring state-of-the-art visuals, the epic journey of endurance and hope is brought to life in a breathtaking new way.

‘Here Comes the Sun’ art show

The Visual Arts Committee of Orcas Center welcomed visual art of all media, including painting, photography, sculpture, drawing and ceramic art for the community show, “Here Comes the Sun,” which is up through Dec. 19 in the Madrona Room. As the year draws to a close and the days slowly begin to lengthen, the show invites you to celebrate the return of light, warmth and renewal through the lens of community creativity. This uplifting exhibition showcases local artists of all ages and backgrounds reflecting on themes of hope, transformation and the promise of brighter days ahead.

Vexing Left to perform

Vexing Left, winner of Battles of the Bands, is presenting a full concert at Orcas Center.

The new multigenerational trio consists of sax, bass, drums and vocals that play with sparse, simple dynamics between heavy this and jazz that. Improvisational sax and vocals weave through weirdness and sultry, making each live performance unique. The show is on Friday, Dec. 12, starting at 7 p.m.

Vexing Left won three of six awards at the 2025 Battle of the Bands presented by Orcas Center, including the coveted People’s Choice Award and Best Shredder. Having only played four shows since its December 2024 debut, the trio is excited to record and create throughout an island winter, with more live joy to come in spring. Visit www.orcascenter.org for tickets.