2019 News

Click here to read about the summer's FEATURED ARTISTS!

Visit the site's GUESTS page.

Click here for site NEWS.

* * *

Welcome to the site's seventeenth summer! For those of you who are return visitors, welcome back! Welcome, too, to those of you who are here for the first time. The News page is THE place to find important reminders and the most current information about the site! This includes what's new for the summer and month-to-month changes taking place. Please check back periodically - you can get to this page directly from the Home Page and all the other major sections of the site. The page also contains the site's Twitter/Facebook postings so you can find news and updates all in one place. (Latest Update: September 15)

FOR FIRST-TIME VISITORS: This site contains a monthly listing of free concerts and music-related events in Orange County and parts of Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire. There are two phases to the site: Fall/Winter/Spring, and the Summer version of the site which is here now through September 30. Most of the events listed are offered to the general public or residents of certain cities free of charge. Events in clubs, bookstores, cafes and other similar venues covered elsewhere generally are not included. You can start your visit to the concert listings by clicking on the "Free Concerts" link above. There is no fee to access the information. More than 120 venues in the Orange County, Los Angeles County and Inland Empire areas are included in the listings. Last-minute updates can always be found on Twitter and Facebook, too, and you can scroll down a little further on this page to find that information. Please take the time to look through some of the other areas of the site as well: read an essay or a poem, view the work of the summer guests or take a look at some of the "Extras" (a few other things you can find for free during the summer). NEVER BEEN TO A SUMMER CONCERT? It's simple . . . pack a picnic dinner or buy a meal at the concert venue, bring a blanket or beach chair (or call the venue to ask about their seating policy), and sit out under the stars and listen to some great music!

FOR ALL VISTIORS: Thank you for visiting the site this summer! September is the transition month to fall, with the final summer concerts ending and fall festivals, college and university performances and other fall special events beginning. October is fast approaching, but there are still some of the summer features to be completed and added to the site. Check back often over the next couple of weeks! There will be ongoing updates from now through the end of the month, and the last day of the summer site is September 30. This summer's theme continued the story started in 2018, with "O-Gan and the Herons 2," and you can read more about it in the "theme" section below. CHECK BACK ON OCTOBER 1 FOR NEWS ABOUT THE FALL/WINTER/SPRING VERSION OF THE SITE!

Tweets by @dorothyswebsite

• Featured Artists - Featured Artists are musicians or concert series drawn from the summer concert performances. Two artists usually are named each month, one for the first half of the month and one for the second half, and one series is also included. Warmest thanks to all the 2019 Featured Artists. You can read about them on the "Featured Artists" page!

• Guests - Each year special guests/artists have been invited to display works which either express or interpret the summer theme. Guests in the past have included painters, photographers, poets, sculptors and even quilters. More information about 2018 Guests will be available soon, and you will be able to read about them on the "Guests" page.

• "Concerts By Music" Page - Concerts are listed by city and date, for all cities combined and for each of the three areas covered (Los Angeles County, Orange County and the Inland Empire), as well as by type of music. Trying to separate the concerts by type of music has been problematic for several reasons. First, some cities and venues do not list information on the type of music for every concert, only the band/artist name. Second, some bands list the type of music they play in widely divergent categories (such as R&B/Dance/Latin Jazz), making it difficult to place them in any one format. Finally, some cities/venues do not list groups performing, only phrases such as "live music all day long." To find information based on types of music being played at the concerts, go to Concert Listings by Music. The page is updated along with the regular concert listings. However, it is usually available a day or two after all the other pages of listings. As always, any input visitors would like to provide as to how to improve the page would be appreciated.

A NOTE ABOUT A CHANGE IN THE NAVIGATION STRUCTURE FOR THE CONCERT LISTINGS: There has been a slight change to the way visitors can navigate through the summer concert pages. Because so many of you have indicated that you like the ability to click directly to the concert listings from the home page, the calendar will be found there in the summer as well as the rest of the year. Clicking on a date on the calendar on the home page will take you directly to the "Concerts By Date, All Cities" page. From there you will be able to navigate though the rest of the listings. The general "Concerts by Date" page, primarily with a calendar for accessing the links, has been elminated, as has the general "Concerts by City" page listings the names of all the cities covered in the listings. With the calendar/date links available from the home page, the other two pages became somewhat redundant.

A NOTE ON THE CONCERT SPONSORS: Some of the concerts and other activities taking place (movies, etc.) are able to continue only through the generous support of program sponsors. Many cities have gone away from funding the concerts and community organizations and businesses have stepped up to present the summer programs. If you enjoy the programs and want them to continue, I cannot stress how important it is to support and thank all the sponsors, whether they are cities, community organizations or area businesses.

2019 THEME: "O-GAN AND THE HERONS 2"

In 2018, the site introduced the story of "O=Gan and the Herons." The summer version of the site was a tribute to the world of manga, graphic novels, anime and comics. But the tale was and is incomplete. Somehow the end of the summer felt like a thought that had been started but not finished. So . . . this summer the site will present its first ever sequel, "O-Gan and the Herons 2." The theme and the story will continue, with a bit more character development and continuation of thoughts started in other sections like the poetry and essay pages. Currently the initial panels of the story have been slightly revised and reposted. You can begin the story by going through each of the major pages of the site included in the navigation bars in the order listed. The current panels will remain through the end of July so that new visitors can catch up with the tale; after that new panels will be posted with the story's continuation. What is the story? Read on below . . .

The tale begins far away in a deeply-divided land increasingly subject to the whims of powerful warlords. The warlords have taken to eliminating entire families who fall subject to their ire. Such was the fate of O-Gan, a young woman who had lost most of her family to the very uncivil wars. Long thought to be gifted with special powers, O-Gan had left the realm to be trained in their use. While away, her father, the last of her family, was killed by the warlord who had ruthlessly come to dominate the area. While she was grieving, the warlord - who didn't really want O-Gan as much as the powers she possessed - lured her under false pretenses to the sprawling grounds of his castle. Once she'd passed through the gates, his sorcerer cast a spell on her, trapping her "ki," or life force and energy, in a container in a special chamber no one could enter.

As long as she stayed on the grounds she would survive. If she left the grounds for more than a few hours, the connection to her "ki" would dissipate, and she would weaken and die. She spent most of her days by the castle's lake with no one to keep her company except the koi fish and a large blue heron who made the lake his home. Not much from the outside world made its way onto the grounds except for the faint sounds of music from far in the distance. Sometimes O-Gan would sit quietly and listen, longing to leave and wishing she could at least be closer to the music, if not home. Visitors can learn more of the tale of O-Gan and the Herons by going through the main pages of the site in the order listed in the navigation links at the side or top of the pages. It is a story that is barely beginning here and will be continued . . . Also, this summer the pages of the Essay Archives are being used as a canvas to introduce some of the characters from the O-Gan and the Herons story. Each year in the archives introduces a different character (please note: the artwork is just temporary until more permanent artwork can be established and is intended only as a summer introduction to some of the characters).

Also, for those of you who may be at the site for the first time, each summer (since 2006) has had a different theme. Dorothy completed a book about the site which is still pending publication, and in conjunction with that book, all past summer sites have been recoded and reposted. Visitors can view those past summer sites, as well as find a book preview, by visiting the Book Preview page.

ONE FINAL THOUGHT ON THE CONCERTS: All of the concerts in the listings are free to the general public, and there are some truly outstanding programs. However, many of the groups and organizations sponsoring these concerts incur substantial costs in bringing them to you year after year. Several concert support organizations have had to begin charging a ticket price for entry to some, if not all, of the performances. Donations which allow organizations presenting the concerts to continue their tradition of bringing quality music to the general public at no charge are always appreciated.

. . . AND ONE REQUEST FOR VISITORS: Survey forms are sometimes passed out at concerts/event venues, and the question "How did you hear about this event?" is often asked. If you are attending an event you found on this site and receive such a form, it would be much appreciated if you let them know that you found the information on www.dorothyswebsite.org. Thank you!

Follow www.dorothyswebsite.org on TWITTER!
"Like" www.dorothyswebsite.org on FACEBOOK!