Presented as a gala-event concert in the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's 2017-18 season, “An Evening with Joshua Bell” will, on May 3, treat Adler Theatre audiences to the soaring classical stylings of one of America's most revered musicians – a Grammy Award-winning violinist whose career has spanned more than 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, conductor, and recording artist.

Eight superb musicians will take the stage for one exhilarating event when the genre-defying talents of The Suffers play a Moeller Nights concert on May 4, their collective gifts leading Spin magazine to dub the Houston-based outfit “the sort of neo-retro group you never knew music was so badly missing.”

A classic Hans Christian Andersen tale gets a zany makeover when Davenport Junior Theatre presents the world premiere of author Aaron Randolph III's The Emperor's New Clothes, its April 28 through May 6 presentation telling the fabled story through a student-performed, fourth-wall-breaking slapstick featuring modern-day references, surprise guests, and leading characters named Table-Cloth and Low-Fat-Greek-Yogurt.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Midwest Writing Center will host special readings and presentations with two of the most inventive and acclaimed poets of the 21st Century: Jamie Mortara and Gale Marie Thompson, both of whom will participate in the April 27 SPECTRA poetry night at Rozz-Tox and host April 28 workshops at the Midwest Writing Center.