Presented by the Arts Council of Moore County, the Kaleidoscope Family Series is specifically designed to introduce children, ages 4 and up, to the lifelong surprises and benefits of a live concert.

The series will feature the finest performing artists (musicians, actors, dancers, storytellers, etc.), and each performance will be educational, as well as entertaining.

The series will be presented in the new theater in The O’Neal School’s new activity center, on Airport Road across from Sandhills Community College. With only 250 seats, space is limited. Series tickets to all four concerts are $35 for Arts Council members and O’Neal families, and $40 for the general public.

Tickets to individual concerts, if available, will go on sale Oct. 1, at which time they will be $10 each for Arts Council members and O’Neal families ($12 for general public). All concerts will begin at 4 p.m. and will last approximately one hour.

The series opens Sunday, Oct. 24, with bassist, composer, educator and actor John Brown and the John Brown Jazz Trio. A native of Fayetteville, Brown earned his music degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has performed all over the world with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Nnenna Freelon, Rosemary Clooney and Nell Carter, as well as with the North Carolina Symphony. He currently serves as director of the jazz program and associate professor of music at Duke University.

The series’ second performance will feature the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte’s Tarradiddle Players performing “The Commedia Princess and the Pea” Sunday, Nov. 7. In this funny, fast-paced show, Tarradiddle puts a slapstick spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale. With its roots in the humorous, physical acting style of Italian Commedia dell’Arte, this production is pure fun.

Award-winning clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester will perform Sunday, Feb. 13. Born in Spain into a family of clarinetists and Zarzuela singers, Franch-Ballester began clarinet lessons at age 9 and gave his first recital at age 16. After graduating from the Joaquin Rodrigo Music Conservatory in Valencia, he came to the U.S. to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Since winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Jose became a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS II, performed in Carnegie’s Weill Hall, and was awarded an Avery Fisher career grant. He is also in demand for numerous festivals all over the world, including Chamber Music Northwest in Oregon and Switzerland’s Verbier Festival.

The series concludes Sunday, March 27, with a performance by the comedy jugglers The Gizmo Guys. Performing as The Gizmo Guys, Allan Jacobs and Barrett Felker have amazed and amused audiences around the world. They have performed in a great variety of venues all over the world. They’ve made numerous television appearances, won international juggling competitions and taught at top circus schools. But what makes their act so appealing is their uniquely winning combination of dazzling technique and infectious humor.

To purchase subscriptions for your family, visit the Arts Council of Moore County offices at Campbell House (482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines) or call (910) 692-2787.

For additional information visit www.mooreart.org.