What's on in Livermore in October: Filipino kulintang music and three author talks

Kulintang Dialect performs traditional Filipino music at the Civic Center Library, 1188 S. Livermore Ave., on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. Admission is free and all are welcome.

The five-instrument kulintang ensemble plays classic works from the musical lineage of the late master artist Danongan Kalanduyan alongside original compositions by musician and author Conrad J. Benedicto. Benedicto studied with Kalanduyan from 1997 to 2016 and twice served as his apprentice through the Alliance for California Traditional Arts. In 2018 he received an individual artist grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission to compose the original kulintang music that became the group. He earned a master's degree in music composition for kulintang from San Francisco State University this year.

The ensemble's first album is Roots/Offshoots; the second, Kulintang Dialogue, came out in May. The concert is sponsored by the Friends of the Livermore Public Library, is part of the library's Authors & Arts Series, and is presented for Filipino American History Month. For more information, call 925-373-5505.

Three author talks, online and free

The library's virtual author series runs three times in October. Each includes a chance to put questions to the author. All are free, registration is required, and recordings are posted afterward for anyone who cannot watch live. Register at libraryc.org/livermoreca.

• Veronica Roth, the bestselling dystopian novelist, on courage, choice and what comes next. Thursday, Oct. 1 at 4 p.m.
• Carolyn Russo, a Smithsonian curator, on "Art in Flight: Reinventing Postmodernism," presented with the Library Speakers Consortium and the Smithsonian Institution. Thursday, Oct. 8 at 11 a.m.
• Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves and Empire of Wild, on ghosts, grief and growing up. Thursday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m.