By Janette Turner

Alpin Hong brings video game intensity and the Meadowdale High School Orchestras to Edmonds Center for the Arts on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

Seeing Hong perform with the students will be like watching a show on a “tightrope,” according to the Juilliard-trained pianist in an interview this week. Hong relishes the opportunity to play and lead the kids, “risking it all on stage and succeeding.” As he says, at some point they have to perform in life — applying for a job or asking someone on a date — and this is a chance to “open a window into a larger world.”

Nudging students into Beethoven’s “Fifth” by comparing it to “Darth Vader’s Theme” from Star Wars, Hong’s goal is to “focus on things that unify us as a country and a human race.” In other words, music’s power cuts across nations, generations, and school cliques, and Hong leads it at a pace modern audiences appreciate. “People no longer have attention spans to concentrate for five, seven, 20, or 30 minutes,” and if the concert is anything like talking to Hong, audience members will be in for speed.

This is Hong’s final concert of a season that took him to Georgia , Arizona and Oklahoma. Hong expects to finish in grand style, blowing out all the stops before heading home to his wife, and their son born seven weeks ago. Before the birth, Hong was “cynical,” but like most video game addicts, when something real appeared on the scene, fantasy lost out.

Head to the ECA on Friday night to hear the Meadowdale Orchestras and Hong, the classical musician for the iPod generation.

Other events around town, include:

April 27, 6:30 p.m. at EdCC Black Box, “Freedom of Expression,” by the Edmonds-Woodway Black Student Union. Also performing is the Seattle Improv group Unexpected Productions.

April 28, 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Washington State Natural Bodybuilding, Figure & Bikini Championships at ECA.

April 28, 1-3 p.m., ArtWorks, workshop on Inkjet Printing on Traditional Papers with instructor Tonnie Wolfe. Ongoing classes in painting and figure drawing available, and Fridays are $5 ArtSpa days.

April 29, 7 p.m., ECA, Vladimir Cheronov presents award-winning Russian singer Valeriy Meladze. Tickets 425-776-6274.

May 1, Gallery North show featuring “Crows, Owls, Hummingbirds and Trees,” by Kathleen A. Johnson, sometimes called the “crow lady.” Reception May 6.

May 1 – ArtsNow class starts, Polish and Publish Your Short Story, with Catherine Alexander.

May 3 – Arts Now class starts, Composition Mastery, with Kelly Tissot. Learn what makes art great.
Arts reporter Janette Turner is your guide to local culture.  In addition to covering visual, performing and literary events for MyEdmondsNews, Janette is managing director of EPIC Literary Series and a member of the Swedish Hospital Art Committee. Contact her about the arts at arts@myedmondsnews.com.