Live from Vero Beach! returns with a lineup of entertainment at the Emerson Center. “Direct from Sweden: The Music of ABBA” performs at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11. The show features Sweden’s top professional ABBA tribute performers ready to get you out of your seat and dancing to songs like “Dancing Queen,” “Chiquitita,” “Waterloo” “Knowing Me Knowing You” and many more. O’Dare Boga Dobson Group and ONE Sotheby’s International Realty will hold a complimentary champagne toast in the lobby before the show. The Emerson Center is located at 1590 27th Ave., Vero Beach. Tickets are $45 to $95. For more information, visit MusicWorksConcerts.com or call 800-595-4849.
The majesty of the American west is best represented by sweeping, grand symphonic works. That will be the theme at “Wild West,” the first of a series of Masterworks concerts by the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. Its program includes Giochino Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” (“The Lone Ranger” theme), Grant Still’s “American Scenes,” Aaron Copland’s “Four Dances Episodes” (from the ballet “Rodeo”), Elmer Bernstein’s “Magnificent Seven” and John Williams’ “The Cowboys.” The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, at the Community Church of Vero Beach, 1901 23rd St., Vero Beach, and 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at the Lyric Theatre, 59 SW Flagler Ave., Stuart. Tickets start at $45. For more information, call 772-460-0850 or visit AtlanticClassicalOrchestra.com.
The Sebastian Chamber of Commerce presents the next in the series of Concerts in the Park from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at Riverview Park, U.S. 1 and County Road 512, Sebastian. The concert features the Bobby Owen Band. Free admittance. Be sure to bring a lawn chair. For more information, visit SebastianChamber.com.
There are a couple of charitable events coming up that benefit programs with missions to help area youth. First is the 29th annual King of the Hill Tennis Tournament which raises funds for the Youth Guidance Mentoring Academy. The King of the Hill tourney will hold matches starting 6 p.m. Thursdays, from Jan. 11 to Feb. 15, at the Boulevard Tennis Club, 1620 Boulevard Village Lane, Vero Beach. The tournaments feature tennis pros competing in 40s and 50s divisions. “The community really comes out and they have a blast,” says Phil Barnes, spokesperson for the event. “They get to meet the kids who attend Youth Guidance and they get to see high-level tennis, which is always exciting. A lot of time we see guests come out to support their favorite pro from their clubs.” Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door. For more information, visit YouthGuidanceProgram.org. The second youth-centric event is the Golf Tournament at Windsor which benefits the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to providing all children, particularly the underserved, with fitness, nutritional and enrichment programs. The tournament begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 15, at The Windsor Club, 3125 Windsor Blvd., Vero Beach. Participants will play with Mardy on the 17th hole then enjoy an awards luncheon. The cost is $750 per golfer and $250 for a reserved spectator seat on hole 17, which includes breakfast, lunch and a gift bag. For more information, visit MardyFishChildrensFoundation.org.
Riverside Theatre’s Distinguished Lecture Series presents best-selling biography author Walter Isaacson this Monday, Jan. 15. A professor of history at Tulane University and past CEO of the Aspen Institute, Isaacson’s celebrated biographies include: “The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race,” “Leonardo da Vinci,” “Steve Jobs,” “Einstein: His Life and Universe,” “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” and “Kissinger: A Biography.” A graduate of Harvard and Oxford, Isaacson wrote for the Sunday Times of London and Time magazine. In addition to writing, he’s the chair emeritus for Teach for America and was the vice chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which was active in the rebuilding of New Orleans and more post-Hurricane Katrina. He will speak at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, on Riverside’s Stark Stage. His talk will be simulcasted into the theater’s Waxlax Stage. If you can score a ticket at this point, it will cost you $102 for the Stark Stage and $87 for the Waxlax Stage. Riverside Theatre is at 3250 Riverside Park Dr., Vero Beach. Call 772-231-6990 or visit RiversideTheatre.com.