Music

Catch a breakdown of some of the best free acts performing during Musikfest 2024 tonight on PBS39. The 30-minute program airs at 5:30 p.m. and again at 11:30 p.m. It features ArtsQuest's Patrick Brogan and LehighValleyNews.com's John J. Moser.

Joe Russo's Almost Dead is led by Russo, who was drummer in the Grateful Dead splinter group Furthur with Dead guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Phil Lesh.

There will be two “Twist & Shout” Musikfest Sunday Brunches in Hotel Bethlehem's Grand Ballroom — Aug. 4 and Aug. 11.

Wheatus, best known for its 2000 single “Teenage Dirtbag,” will perform at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 22 in Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, it was announced.

The celebration of the Isla del Encanto in Allentown was organized by the Puertorrican Culture Preservation and held on Sunday, July 28.

Musikfest 2024 begins with a preview night on Thursday. The 11-day festival will feature more than 422 artists and more than 500 concerts. Headliners include Greta Van Fleet, ZZ Top, Ludacris and Jowell & Randy.

College Hill PorchFest, a celebration of music and community across the Easton neighborhood, will return in September, with applications for performers and porches being accepted until July 31.

Tickets for the 50 shows in the new season go on sale to theater members at 10 a.m. Aug. 1 and to the public at 10 a.m. Aug. 8 at www.statetheatre.org, or at the box office at 453 Northampton St., Easton.

Erica Silver, a music teacher with the Allentown School District, is the youth chorale's newest conductor and Alaina Swartz is the new director of education and community engagement.

Diana Ross, who with The Supremes had a dozen No. 1 hits in the 1960s, then a half dozen more as a solo artist in the 1970s and ’80s, will perform at the center at 8 p.m. Oct. 18.

Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks announced a 2025 season of 48 concerts (two more than last year) in the venue's 15th year at a season reveal event at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.

Citizen Soldier, whose songs "Heavy" and "Burden" made the charts last year, will perform on Aug. 16. Opening the show will be 10 Years and Adelitas Way.

Maren Morris, whose debut single "My Church" sold double platinum and hit Top 5 on the Country chart, then had a six-times platinum pop hit with "The Middle," and four-times-platinum "The Bones," and will play Wind Creek Event Center at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16.

Turning the Tide, a Nazareth-based band that has played festivals and nightclubs from Killington, Vermont, to Key West, Florida — including in Boston and Atlantic City — will open the May 8 show.

Five choral ensembles from Bangor to Emmaus will perform at Carnegie Hall in May and June.

Lukas Nelson, son of country music icon Willie Nelson and leader of the popular country-rock band Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, will perform Friday, July 18.

Elvis Costello, whose career bridged punk and new wave music with mainstream, will perform with his band The Imposters at 8 p.m. Sept. 8 at Wind Creek Event Center, it was announced. Joining him onstage will be guitarist Charlie Sexton, who hit the Billboard chart with his own album in 1989, then toured with Bob Dylan and recorded with Lucinda Williams and Shawn Colvin.

Eric Hutchinson's new Best Of tour stops at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks at 7:30 p.m. tonight, April 23. Tickets for the show, at $40 (some areas are sold out) remain available at the SteelStacks website.

Submissions for the singing competition will be accepted until June, but organizers say early applicants have the competitive edge. The winner will take home $2,000.

"The Book of Mormon," which has grossed nearly $1billion, making it one of the most successful musicals of all time, will return to the theater for three performances Sept. 27-28.

Visitors can find rare records and artwork at the free flea market that will take place from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Charles A. Smith Ice House in Bethlehem. Later in the day, four punk bands will take the stage.

Archer Music Hall, the new downtown concert venue, has announced a concert series that will showcase Pennsylvania acts. The series, called Pennsylvania’s Own, will start May 9 with Motionless in White.