Music performances ahead at Wachholz College Center

The Wachholz College Center at the campus of Flathead Valley Community College has two concerts coming up next week.

An Evening with Branford Marsalis is at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 and Love, Storm: An Evening with Storm Large on Valentine’s Day is at 7:30 p.m.

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis is one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music. The NEA Jazz Master, Grammy Award winner and Tony Award nominee is equally at home performing concertos with symphony orchestras and sitting in with members of the Grateful Dead but the core of his musical universe remains the Branford Marsalis Quartet. After more than three decades of existence with minimal personnel changes, this celebrated ensemble is revered for its uncompromising interpretation of a kaleidoscopic range of both original compositions and jazz and popular classics.

After the Grammy‐nominated “Upward Spiral,” on which guest vocalist Kurt Elling was seamlessly integrated into the group, the Quartet has followed up with the Grammy‐nominated “The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul,” its most emotionally wide‐ranging and melody driven collection to date. John Zeugner captured the impact of the Quartet in live performance in a recent concert review, calling it “casually confident, professional, cerebral and supercharged with energy. The Branford Marsalis Quartet…was all of those adjectives and more.”

A new show, Love, Storm, featuring a playlist of songs by pop ­luminaries, rock goddesses, Storm Large’s fiery originals and much more comes to the Wachholz center on Feb. 14. The show is — after so much time apart — a love letter from Large to her fans to tell them how much she’s missed them.

Large shot to national prominence in 2006 as a finalist on the CBS show “Rock Star: Supernova,” where despite having been eliminated in the week before the finale, Large built a fan base that follows her around the world to this day. She was seen on the 2021 season of “America’s Got Talent” and when she isn’t touring with her own band, acting, or writing, Large performs internationally with Pink Martini.

Large made her debut as guest vocalist with the band Pink Martini in April 2011, singing four sold-out concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She continues to perform with the band, touring nationally and internationally and she is featured on their album “Get Happy.” Storm has also sung with k.d. lang, Kirill Gerstein, John Doe, Rufus Wainwright and George Clinton.

Take advantage of a special Valentine VIP package for just $99 when booking online using promo code “LOVE.” The package includes two tickets in the premium main floor front section, two drink vouchers and two chocolate-covered strawberries.

For more information visit wachholzcollegecenter.org or by phone at 406-756-1400.