9 essential Atlanta arts events this weekend

Each week, ArtsATL curates a selection of the most exciting arts and culture events happening in Atlanta this weekend, highlighting nine must-see experiences.

::

Thursday

Cat Power

Atlanta native Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her milestone 2006 album, The Greatest, with a series of shows where she performs the album in its entirety. She’ll be at The Eastern on March 12.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: Bach’s Mass in B minor

Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann, one of the great interpreters of this exalted work, leads a stellar lineup of soloists with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Bach’s immersive Mass in B minor. Performances take place at Symphony Hall at 8 p.m. on March 12 and March 13 and at 3 p.m. on March 15.

Puma Blue 

The alias of artist, producer and songwriter Jacob Allen, originally from South London, Puma Blue is now based in Atlanta. With his second album, Holy Waters, things took a turn toward darkness and death. That theme continues on his recent third album, the aptly titled Croak Dream, inspired by literal nocturnal visions of death. He’ll play the Masquerade on March 12.

Friday

EmpowerHER: A Celebration of Women in Art 

This group exhibition at the Emma Darnell Aviation Museum & Conference Center celebrates Women’s History Month and features works by more than 140 women artists from across Atlanta — alongside a new installation by Lillian Blades titled Sanctuary: Forms of Shelter and Light. It opens March 13 and runs through April 25, with an artist talk moderated by Tisha Smith on March 28.

Brandee Younger Trio

Younger is carrying on the harp’s role in modern jazz, inspired by the pioneering work of Alice Coltrane. Now the custodian of a harp played by Coltrane, one of the women who created the harp’s distinctive voice in jazz, Younger played it in a recent Carnegie Hall concert dedicated to the late virtuoso’s compositions. In 2022, she became the first Black woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. She’ll perform the final Jazz at All Saints’ concert of the season at 7 p.m. on March 13.

Come From Away

City Springs Theatre Company presents the regional premiere of the award-winning musical based on the true story of how the isolated community of Gander, Newfoundland, came together to welcome 38 planes diverted from their destinations on September 11, 2001. See it at the Byers Theatre at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center from March 13 through March 29.

Saturday

Abstraction 

Cat Eye Creative, the treasured local gallery that relocated from South Downtown to Decatur last year, presents this group exhibition, opening with a reception from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on March 14 and continuing through April 5.

 Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus

The Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus presents Pub AGMC — An Immersive Concert Experience, where they’ll transform the stage into a lively, makeshift pub. Shows happen at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on March 14 at Monday Night Garage.

The Marriage of Figaro

The clever servant Figaro fights to marry his true love while outsmarting his amorous and scheming master, who has his own designs on Figaro’s bride-to-be, Susanna, in Mozart’s operatic masterpiece. The Atlanta Opera production takes the stage at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre at 7:30 p.m. on March 14, March 17 and March 20 and at 3 p.m. on March 22.

More things to do this weekend 

Join author M. Akua McDaniel for a discussion of her book A Dream Deferred: The Art and Activism of Edwin Augustus Harleston, the first full-length biography of one of South Carolina’s most significant African American visual artists. She’ll appear in conversation with Dr. Amalia Amaki at 2 p.m. on March 14 at the Auburn Avenue Research Library in an event sponsored by 44th & 3rd Bookseller … Commemorate Irish heritage with the annual Atlanta St. Patrick’s Parade, celebrating its 141st running since 1858, beginning at noon on March 14 near the Woodruff Arts Center … Margaret Cho brings her Choligarchy tour to Buckhead Theatre at 7 p.m. on March 14 … The Nighthawks enter the new year with two new members: Zach Sweeney on guitar and Sol Roots on bass. Drummer Mark Stutso’s still on board, as is founder and lead singer and harpmaster Mark Wenner. They’ll play Blind Willie’s at 9 p.m. on March 13 … Sundance Film Festival U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner Seeds is an exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South, examining the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land. See it beginning on March 13 at the Tara.