Published June 30, 2023

Artown 2023 

by Beth Macmillan

Artown brings the world’s finest performing artists to the Biggest Little City each year. Celebrating its 28th festival season, Artown now presents events and performances year-round, with its flagship footprint planted every summer in Reno during the 31 days of July. The public can enjoy a dizzying array of over 500 headliner, multicultural, and children’s events during the festival, 90% of which are wholly produced by local presenting artists and organizations who are tasked to pick a date, find a venue, and do a show. With in-person multidisciplinary events, exhibits, programs, performances, shows, concerts, historical tours, readings, recitals, classes, lectures, and workshops held at over 100 venues and pop-ups city and Washoe County-wide, Artown’s financial impact on the local economy was estimated at $36 million dollars in 2022.The performers whom I have selected this year are all exceptional artists in their musical genres and masters of their chosen instruments – including the instrument of voice.

Here’s a look at some of the headliners and highlights on tap for Artown 2023 this summer.

July 1 Artown Opening Night Celebration begins with Discover Opening Day from 4:30pm -6:15pm. Artown kicks things off with its annual Discover the Arts interactive children’s arts activities at McKinley Arts & Culture Center, where they will create noisemakers for the parade. Next, at 6:30pm, MARCHFOURTH super funky steampunk, marching band complete with dancers, acrobats, and stilt walkers who’ll strut and groove down Riverside Drive with all the children. At 7:30pm the party continues, as two-time Grammy-winners RANKY TANKY take the Wingfield Amphitheater stage playing their unique blend of jazz-inflected Gullah music, the traditional roots music from the low country of their native Charleston, South Carolina.

While most of Artown is free admission, tickets to our Headliners may be purchased through Artown.org. Headliners perform at the ever-popular Robert Z Hawkins Amphitheater and each show begins at 8pm. Headliners include:

July 6 World-renowned guitarist and vocalist JOHN PIZZARELLI has dedicated many albums to the gifted songwriters and performers who have helped to establish the Great American Songbook and the pop music canon: Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Richard Rodgers and Duke Ellington, to name a few. 

July 9 ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY - Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration! Tony nominee Ann Hampton Callaway, one of the leading pop/jazz singers of our time, has created an exciting night of songs and stories in celebration of her inspiration and one of America’s most beloved artists, Peggy Lee. Callaway will close the show with hits from the great songwriters of the 70s like Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, and John Lennon.

July 13 OMAR SOSA QUARTETO AMERICANOS, featuring drummer Josh Jones, Sheldon Brown on saxophones, and Ernesto Mazar Kinde on clarinets, is Sosa’s first U.S.-based jazz ensemble since the 1990s. The Cuban composer and pianist is one of the most versatile jazz artists on the scene today. For over four decades he has fused a wide range of jazz, world music, and electronic elements with his native Afro-Cuban roots to create a fresh and original urban sound – all with a Latin jazz heart.

July 16 JESSE and JOY are a mega-selling, award-winning sibling pop duo from Mexico City. Widely-acclaimed and accorded by their legions of fans, the talented Jesse Huerta plays piano, lead guitar and sings harmony, while Joy Huerta is lead vocalist and plays rhythm guitar. Accustomed to selling out arenas and stadiums rather than performing in tiny amphitheaters, Reno audiences will get a unique chance to see the dynamic brother-sister duo in a rare intimate setting.

July 20 STORM LARGE is an American singer, songwriter, actress and author. She attracted national attention as a contestant on the CBS reality television show Rock Star: Supernova. Large currently performs nationally with her own band, and tours internationally with the Portland-based band Pink Martini. Storm Large was a showstopping contestant in Season 16 of America's Got Talent. Adult Content Warning. No one under 18 years old permitted. 

July 27 DIANNE REEVES is the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world today; her arsenal of talents is richly displayed in each and every song of her limitless repertoire. As a result of her virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Dianne has received five Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album, an honorary doctorate of music from Julliard, and was named a 2018 National Endowments for the Arts Jazz Master.

July 11 Our Headliner at the Grand Theatre at the Grand Sierra Resort: NICKEL CREEK the Grammy-winning, platinum-selling internationally renowned roots trio of mandolinist Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins, and guitarist Sean Watkinscome to Reno with special guest MONICA MARTIN. Theband that revolutionized folk and roots and brought their progressive take on acoustic music to a broader audience, greatly influencing the sound and trajectory of roots music in the process, has reunited to release a new album featuring their first new music in nine years.  

July 31 The Artown Festival would not be complete without a huge party on Closing Night at Wingfield Park Amphitheater at 7:30pm. THE SOUL REBELS are a critically-acclaimed 8-piece New Orleans-based brass ensemble that incorporates elements of hip-hop, soul, jazz, rock, and pop within a contemporary brass band framework. The high energy party rhythms make it impossible not to dance to the sounds of this infectious octet.

Closing Night is a time to celebrate the whole month as we bid farewell until 2024. 

We have so many options for your children. Please review all the Discover the Arts programs every weekday and Circus Bella at Reno Public Market on July 8 and 9. These and all the exciting events can be found at artown.org

I look forward to seeing you at Artown!