Jazzman Jonathan Batiste filled Club Congress during two UApresents concerts in early November.
Across the street at the Rialto Theatre, UApresents didn’t have as much luck with world-music ensemble Red Baraat in early October. Only a few hundred people showed up. But jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who attracted 600 people for his Oct. 19 show at the Fox Tucson Theatre, helped even the odds of UApresents’ ongoing experiment of moving its programs outside of its home base at Centennial Hall.
On Sunday, UApresents is taking the show on the road again, this time to the Westin La Paloma Resort in the Foothills. Italian Baroque orchestra Interpreti Veneziani will perform an evening of chamber music with wine in a portion of the resort’s ballroom.
It’s the first time that UApresents will hold an event in a space not solely devoted to performances.
“This is just part of that ongoing mission to put events in the best possible setting,” said UApresents Executive Director Chuck Tennes. “These new venues are giving us a certain freshness.”
This also is a first for the 26-year-old, nine-piece ensemble, which has performed two sold-out UApresents concerts in recent years. Those concerts were held at the UA’s Crowder Hall, which seats 600.