Classical music takes the stage this week with several top-level performances. We’ve also got the popular Fan Expo covering three days of the best in large-scale pop culture gatherings.
New Wave Opera Currents of Change
New Wave Opera offers a lunchtime performance that examines the warming world through opera, in collaboration with Portland State University’s Music @ Midday concert series. Explore pieces by Caroline Louise Miller, Lisa Neher, Drew Swatosh, and Gregory Spears with Greg Pierce. Performers include soprano Lindsay Rae Johnson, mezzo-soprano Lisa Neher, and tenor Brandon Michael.
12:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University, 1620 S.W. Park Ave.; free; newwaveopera.org/currents-of-change.
Fan Expo Portland 2026
This winter’s must-do event is the annual Fan Expo which will host the stars of the “Lord of the Rings” series including Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood. The event welcomes fans to interact with and meet popular cultural icons and stars of movies and television. Other standout headliners include Jonathan Frakes (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”), Harry Potter duo Matthew Lewis and Bonnie Wright, and Cary Elwes from “Princess Bride.” Expect plenty of live entertainment, vendors offering comics, graphic novels, toys and collectibles, costume contests and autograph sessions.
3-8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16-18, Oregon Convention Center, 777 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; admission starts at $39; fanexpohq.com/fanexpoportland.
OMSI’s annual Studio Ghibli Film Fest
Fans of Studio Ghibli flock to OMSI beginning this weekend to watch their favorite animated movies including “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Princess Mononoke,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service, and “Howl’s Moving Castle.” The festival begins this weekend with an opening celebration featuring a 4K restoration of “Princess Mononoke.” Opening night tickets include movie snacks and a beverage. The festival continues into early March and will screen 21 Studio Ghibli Films. Visit the website for a complete schedule.
Opening night screenings 6 p.m. (sold out) and 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, Empirical Theater, OMSI, 1945 S.E. Water Ave.; $16-$22; omsi.edu/exhibits/studio-ghibli-film-festival.
“Autoretrato de Fridita”
Milagro opens the new year with a puppet play for little theater-goers that tells the story of a young Frida Kahlo who used her imagination and art to deal with polio and isolation during the Mexican Revolution. Expect music, dance, and more told through puppetry. Yosmel López Ortíz adapted the play. For ages 5 and older.
Opens 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, and continues 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 and 24, 2 p.m. Sunday Jan. 18 and 25, Milagro Theater, 525 S.E. Stark St.; tickets $22-$25; milagro.org/event/autoretrato-de-fridita.
Young Artist Competition concert
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra welcomes the three young musicians who competed for cash prizes, gold medalists Hana Gottesman (violin), Jacob Peizner (alto sax), and Wilson Liu (piano), in this annual concert under the baton of Salvador Brotons. The program features one of Strauss’s most popular tone poems, “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks,” and an orchestral suite from his opera “Der Rosenkavalier.”
7 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17-18, Skyview Concert Hall, 1300 N.W. 139th St., Vancouver; tickets start at $50; vancouversymphony.org.
Oregon Symphony – Beethoven’s “Eroica”
Markus Stenz conducts and concertmaster Sarah Kwak (violin) performs during an evening of heart-stirring symphony music highlighting Beethoven’s symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” The program also includes L. Boulanger’s “D’un soir triste (Of a Sad Evening)” and Berg’s “Violin Concerto.”
7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17-18, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 S.W. Broadway; tickets start at $32; portland5.com/arlene-schnitzer-concert-hall/events.
Dirty Dancing in Concert
It’s more than a concert, more than a movie, and more than just nostalgia. Watch the ’80s classic love story in its full cinema release format with songs sung and played by a live band. After the movie, the band throws an after party where you can dance to the hits heard on the film. Nobody puts Baby in a corner!
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.; tickets start at $40; portland5.com/keller-auditorium/events/dirty-dancing.
“When the World Looks Away”
Clackamas Community College hosts a solo exhibition of works by Sam Marroquin in the Alexander Gallery this month. The mixed-media show combines 100 drawings and paintings focused on upheaval in Palestine and the atrocities of war.
Open during gallery hours 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, through Jan. 30, on the Clackamas Community College campus, 19600 Molalla Ave., Oregon City; free admission; clackamas.edu/art.
– If you have events you’d like to see highlighted at OregonLive.com or in the weekly printed A&E section of The Oregonian, please email submissions to [email protected] at least three weeks prior to the start of your event. Digital images or links to videos are helpful.