FRIDAY-SATURDAY

>> G. Love entertains on the North Shore

Multi-talented performer G. Love brings his blend of Delta blues, alternative rock and pop with a hint of rap to the North Shore for two nights at Surfer, The Bar.

Born Garrett Dutton, the Philadelphia native plays guitar, harmonica and sings. With James Prescott on string bass and Jeffrey Clemens on drums, he began performing as G. Love and Special Sauce back in the early 1990s, coming up with a signature sound that combined the languid, melancholy tones of blues with a rhythmical, spoken-word delivery.

They recorded eight albums together, while Dutton has three solo albums to his credit as well.

Dutton, who will be perform solo at Turtle Bay, is also known for promoting the work of local standout Jack Johnson, having featured the tune “Rodeo Clowns” on his 1999 album “Philadelphonic” and touring with him several times since then.

SATURDAY

>> Latin American holiday festivities has fun, food and music

If you can get into a Latino frame of mind, Christmas doesn’t have to be over yet.

Many Latin American countries celebrate a holiday known as Three Kings Day, which according to Biblical tradition is the day of the Epiphany, the day that the baby Jesus Christ isrevealed as the incarnation of God and the day that the three kings brought their gifts to the baby Jesus. On Saturday, the Puerto Rican Heritage Society of Hawaii is holding a Three Kings Day celebration at Hawaii’s Plantation Village.

Organizer Nancy Ortiz said there are about 90,000 people living in Hawaii with Puerto Rican ancestry, and they’ve pooled their efforts to provide a full day of festivities. It begins at 10a.m. with an opening ceremony, including a Spanish blessing delivered to the various houses at the village, followed by Latin entertainment starting at about 11:30 p.m. The programincludes the Latin Amigos Band playing Puerto Rican “Musica Typica,” Dominican bachata, Cuban salsa and other styles of Latin music; folkloric dancers performing traditional dances;and a band composed of military personnel from Puerto Rico.

A quaint custom in Latin American countries is to have children keep grass in a shoebox and put it under their beds.

“They’re told that the camels came with the three kings and leftgifts for them,” Ortiz said. For this celebration, the three kings will pass out gifts to the first 150 youngsters age 2 to 10.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

>> Pianist Yefim Bronfman performs Symphony No. 9

Grammy-winning pianist Yefim Bronfman joins the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra this weekend for what will be a “joyful” program of Beethoven.

Affectionately known as “Fima,” Bronfman was born to musical parents in Uzbekistan in the former Soviet Union. His family emigrated to Israel when he was 15, and within three years, Bronfman formed a relationship with the great violinist Isaac Stern, with whom he would later perform and record, began studies with the influential performer and teacher Leon Fleisher, and made his U.S. debut with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic.

Bronfman’s powerful presence on stage garnered him a vivid description by author Philip Roth as “the brontosaur” in his book “The Human Stain,” and indeed, Bronfman is known for mastering some of the most challenging works in the repertoire, having recorded both the Prokofief and the Bartok concerto cycles in one year. Both got Grammy nominations in 1996, with the award going to the Bartok album.

He will be just at home performing Beethoven’s light-hearted second piano concerto with the symphony. The concerto is considered a “Mozartean” work with its fleet fingerwork and delightful charm, and should be a nice complement to the symphony’s traditional New Year’s performance of Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9 ‘Ode to Joy.’” This year’s performance features several soloists new to Hawaii: prize-winning soprano Barbara Quintiliani, acclaimed baritone Kevin Deas and Canadian mezzo Susan Platts, who early in her career was chosen to train with the great opera singer Jessye Norman. Local tenor Jim Price, a longtime performer with Hawaii Opera Theatre, joins them.

Symphony artistic director JoAnn Falletta conducts the orchestra, with Esther Yoo leading the O‘ahu Choral Society.

THURSDAY-JAN. 13

>> O‘ahu Fringe Festival artists entertain for four days

The O‘ahu Fringe Festival brings three days of alternative performance arts to downtown venues this week.

Dance, theater, comedy, puppetry, storytelling and circus acts will be staged during the festival, which will present more than a dozen small-scale, original works, all priced at $10 each. Patrons can mix-and-match shows to see as many as possible in one night, or get a $100 pass and see everything over the three days.

Some of the more intriguing shows include: “The Three Monks,” a presentation by local storyteller Jeff Gere, pictured, that uses masks, music and video projections to tell a story oftragedy and redemption, at 9 p.m. Thursday at NextDoor; “How to Really, Really? REALLY! Love a Woman,” a naughty-sounding one-woman show by Portland, Ore.-based actress Eleanor O’Brien, at 10:30 p.m. Thursday and Jan. 11 at The ARTS at Marks Garage; and “Cypher: Homecoming,” a dance presentation by Dancers Unlimited in celebration of its 10th year, featuring members from its Hawaii and New York City collectives, at 9 p.m. Jan. 11 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at The ARTS at Marks Garage.

Also check out “Dr. Dodgy’s Intergalactic Auto-Mechanical Circus,” an “augmented reality” show in which computer-generated imagery is blended with live magic. Download the appat DrDodgy.com for best effect. Shows at 9 p.m. Jan. 11 at NextDoor and 3:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at The ARTS at Mark’s Garage.