Holly Eve Gala set to ring in the holiday season

SANDPOINT — From caroling and clarinets to tap dancers and tom toms, it's an abundance of entertainment from start to finish at this year's Holly Eve Gala on Saturday, Nov. 20.

When the doors of the historic Panida Theater open at 6:30 p.m., guests will treated to the talents of our local student musicians as the Sandpoint Charter School Wind Ensembles and Carolers fill the air with the sounds of the season.

After being served complimentary champagne and an outstanding array of hors d'oeuvres from 19 local restaurants, Danceworks & Company will set the stage for the rest of evening with a high energy tap dancing sequence that is an audience pleasing tradition. The energetic dancers will kick off the live auction and fashion show portions of the evening.

The evening will culminate with featured entertainment, the BackBeat Drum Group, an all percussion 10-piece drum group led by instructor, drummer and clinician Chris Terracciano, who is no stranger to local and regional stages, having opened at The Festival at Sandpoint with various with rock and jazz groups for Sawyer Brown, David Lindley & Wally Ingram and Tower of Power. He debuted his BackBeat Drum Group opening for BeauSoleil and Marcia Ball at the Festival this past summer. Evolving from a student recital, this exciting new group is comprised mostly of Terracciano's BackBeat drum students — Macaela Brady, Stephanie Bell, Bryan Beno, Joe Steiner, Jessica Morrow and Adam Osborne — along with some of Sandpoint's most accomplished local drummers — Brent Baker, Steven Lazar, Dennis Brady and Terracciano himself.

The dynamic, multi-generational ensemble performs a wide variety of drum rhythms and styles from rock and funk to latin and jazz. The Holly Eve performance will feature drum line cadences, percussion marches, Afro-Cuban bembe, mambo, rhumba and even a tropical thunderstorm with help from the audience. A collector of vintage drums, Terraciano notes that most of the drums used are twice as old as the drummers playing them. The BackBeat Drum Group will be playing an array of "cool" drums and cymbals from the 50s, 60s and 70s that have been creatively restored fusing together eras, styles and traditions, along with blocks, pots and pans, shakers, buckets, congas, bongos, timbales and much more!

This year's Holly Eve event will benefit The Pandia Theater's HVAC Project, The Festival at Sandpoint, Pend Oreille Arts Council, Community Cancer Services, and Bonner Community Hospice.

? Tickets are $20 and are available at Eve's Leaves, Panhandle State Bank downtown, The Festival at Sandpoint office, and Bonner Hospice Office. For more information contact The Holly Eve Foundation at 208-263-8956.