Music

Chart-topping singer Sabrina Carpenter, a Lehigh Valley native, performed her Short n' Sweet Tour show at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday, Oct. 8, in what she called a "hometown show."

The Allentown Symphony Association's El Sistema program is expanding to a new school to offer more student opportunities.

Occasional light drizzle did nothing to keep the crowd away from the opening night of the 14th Oktoberfest at SteelStacks on Friday night. The festival runs through the weekend and again Oct. 11-13.

John Legend, best known for his 14-times platinum No. 1 hit “All of Me” from 2013, will perform “A John Legend Christmas" at 8 p.m. Dec. 19 at PPL Center, it was announced.

Melissa Etheridge, who had chart-topping songs such as “Bring Me Some Water,” “I’m the Only One” and “Come to My Window,” will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 26. She'll be joined by Joss Stone and Taylor Dayne.

Oktoberfest at SteelStacks begins on Friday, Oct. 4. The two-weekend celebration will feature four biergartens, a bratwurst eating contest, weiner dog race, polka music and a drag show.

Howie Day, whose 2004 song "Collide" sold four times platinum and helped his album "Stop All the World Now" reach platinum sales, will perform at the free annual Harvest Fest street fair. The event will be noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 20 at Main and Broad streets.

The four-day festival will feature performances by Kinetic Light, a disability arts ensemble and a Latin fest. It starts Thursday, Oct. 3, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 6.

Live Nation, the country's top music promoter, will book shows for the state-of-the-art entertainment venue at 935-939 Hamilton St., the promoter announced.

The rink, which again will be erected in front of the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks stage at the foot of the blast furnaces, is scheduled to open Nov. 22 and run through Jan. 5.

The Pointer Sisters, known for the gold hits "Fire" and "He's So Shy" and "Slow Hand," will perform a dual-headline show with Billy Ocean, best known for his hits "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)," "Loverboy" and "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)," at 8 p.m. Oct. 24.

David Archuleta, who at 17 finished second behind David Cook on the seventh season of "American Idol" in 2008, will be the supporting act at the show, at 7 p.m. Aug. 31.

Singer Tom Jones, who has had more than two dozen Top 30 hits on pop, rock, R&B, country and dance charts, will perform at 8 p.m. Sept. 13 at Wind Creek Event Center in Bethehem.

Thousands turned out for Allentown's 16th annual festival on Saturday along Hamilton Street.

A show about vampires and a haunted magic show, just in time for Halloween, have been announced for October presentations at Easton's State Theatre. Also announced for October are shows focused on a popular children's character and a tribute to two iconic piano men.

The festival is now in its 16th year and will feature close to 20 blues acts, including Nikki Hill, Ghost Town Blues Band, Craig Thatcher Band and Dustin Douglas.

Bob Mould, who was guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the influential band Hüsker Dü in the 1980s, will perform at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.

The City of Allentown held a Juneteenth Block Party celebration at Center Square on Tuesday, commemorating the last bastion of slavery in the U.S. in 1865.

ArtsQuest has announced a lineup of 15 shows at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center in Bethlehem, starting after Musikfest and continuing into February.

Jonny Craig, who was the founding vocalist for rock band Dance Gavin Dance, then lead singer for the band Emarosa, will perform at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 17 at Gin Mill & Grill, 1750 Main St., Northampton.

On Wednesday, June 19, DJ Prince Hakim (nee Hakim Bell) will be the musical entertainment from 2-8 p.m. for Allentown's downtown Juneteenth block party along Hamilton Street.

Dozens of vendors, musicians, and historians came together at SteelStacks in Bethlehem on Saturday to celebrate Juneteenth by exploring culture and history.