Where New Music
Comes Alive
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December 23, 2025
The Music of A Charlie Brown Christmas
With Dr. Bill Bares, the Constellations Orchestra and special guest Mike Clark
Diana Wortham Theater | 3pm and 7pm
Experience the magic of the holidays with the iconic melodies of Vince Guaraldi that capture the nostalgic spirit of the season. Join us for an evening where holiday tradition meets musical innovation.
The Constellations Orchestra and Dr. Bill Bares will be joined by legendary drummer Mike Clark, who performed on Vince Guaraldi’s original Peanuts television special soundtracks in the 1970s. The show will feature two sets: the first recreating the sounds of the original Charlie Brown Christmas album and the second showcasing fresh interpretations of Bares’s arrangements of this masterpiece with the warmth and wonder of Christmas, bringing Charlie Brown and the entire Peanuts gang to life through music.
About Special Guest Mike Clark
Born in Sacramento, CA, Mike traveled around the country with his father, a union man for the railroad, who was also a drummer, allowing young Mike to soak up the diverse regional music. He was a prodigy as well, picking up his first sticks at age five and sitting in with bands in Texas and New Orleans when he was as young as 7 and 8. He continued to play in a variety of blues, R&B, organ trios, and Jazz bands, settling in Oakland, CA, until his introduction to Herbie Hancock and his recruitment into the Headhunters in 1973. Clark gained worldwide recognition as one of America’s foremost jazz and funk drummers while playing with Hancock’s group in the early 1970’s. Mike became known as a major innovator through his incisive playing on Hancock’s Thrust album, garnering him an international cult following. Often referred to as the “Tony Williams of Funk,” Mike considers himself a jazz drummer and has become one of the most vital players of the art form. Says Herbie Hancock of Mike’s playing: “He’s a great jazz drummer—and he hasn’t lost any of the stuff that he brought from Oakland. So now he’s totally free to do both, and he does. The solo he played on the song “Actual Proof,” is one of the best drum solos on any of my albums.”
In addition to working, recording and touring with Vince Guaraldi in the 1970s, Mike has performed with many of jazz music’s greats including Chet Baker, Tony Bennett, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Eddie Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Woody Shaw, Donald Harrison, Larry Coryell, Mike Wolff, Wallace Roney, Geri Allen, Billy Childs, Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau, Dave Liebman, Nat Adderly, Oscar Brown Jr., Mose Allison, Gil Evans and his orchestra, and many more.
