LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council held auditions all day last Saturday for the 21st annual Winter Music Fest, to be presented Saturday, Feb. 23, and Sunday, Feb. 24.

From the many good pieces presented by talented Lake County performers, the audition judges selected around 90 minutes of first-rate music to be performed on the Soper-Reese Community Theatre stage.

The Winter Music Fest has functioned for more than two decades as a place where developing artists get to present their work to a large interested audience, and many currently popular performers got to show their stuff there in the past.   

It was difficult to choose among the excellent works offered to the audition panel. The panel was working with the objective of producing a tight, exciting show lasting no more than two hours including intermission, yet with a good number of acts.

This led to the decision to forgo the use of bands with extensive instrumentation, since each interval between bands requires a lot of time in setup.

On the other hand, there was a desire to limit the number of solo guitar and voice performers, simply because the audience responds well to dynamic variety.

Fortunately the competition for the stage included an enticing assortment of styles and techniques.

The music chosen will range in time from the Renaissance to today, in style from singer-songwriter to showbiz, in length from one to five minutes.

Some of the performers will be people you’ve seen before on the theatrical stage, some will be people you’ve heard good things about, or heard before a small audience in a bar somewhere, but with the right venue and the finish coming from professional lights and sound, you will see and hear them at their peak.

Tickets for Winter Music Fest will go on sale soon. All tickets will be $15.

Performances will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24.

For more information, call the Lake County Arts Council at 707-263-6658 or go to www.lakecountyartscouncil.com .