Jackson Hole Center for the Arts officially kicks off it’s robust 2014 lineup with some stellar entertainers and speakers including Nellie McKay and the members of the Turtle Island Quartet and NPR’s This American Life host Ira Glass. Both evenings promise a back-to-back delivery of only the highest caliber of the art in Jackson Hole.

An Evening with Ira Glass in Jackson Hole (Via: jhcenterforthearts.org)

First up: tonight’s Grammy-Winner performance with Ms. McKay. The center reports:

‘Singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist, and actor Nellie McKay joins forces with the two time GRAMMY® award winning Turtle Island Quartet to present a delightfully kaleidoscopic view of the music of Billie Holiday, Billy Strayhorn, and the Weimar cabaret of the 1920’s. While the combination of voice and strings has long been a staple of the classical genre as well as of contemporary music, Nellie McKay’s talents on piano, mallets, and ukulele and Turtle Island’s famed innovative rhythmic techniques unleash an unprecedented range of possibilities.’

Then, take a trip through the reinvention of the radio right here in Jackson Hole with inventive and intuitive storyteller Ira Glass.

‘NPR host and creator of This American Life, Ira Glass, is scheduled to speak at the Center for the Arts in Jackson on January 4, 2014.  Glass will talk about his radio program and how it’s put together: what makes a compelling story, where they find the amazing stories for their show, how he and his staff are trying to push broadcast journalism to do things it doesn’t usually do. During his talk, Glass will mix stories from the show, live onstage, combining his narration with pre-taped quotes and music, recreating the sound of the show as the audience watches. And he plays funny and memorable moments from the show, and talks about what was behind their creation.’

Are we lucky to have a place like the Center for the Arts in Jackson Hole or what? The producers and team behind the entire organization do a phenomenal job at bringing world-class acts to our little spot in the universe. Perhaps most remarkably, it’s always a wonder and proud reminder of how unique and  impactful a place Jackson is when you hear literally every visiting on-stage artist proclaim how moved they are by the vibrancy and beauty of community and landscape. The audience,  of course,  agrees and everyone feels the power of this American Life we lead in Jackson Hole.