Chicago folk troubadour Mark Dvorak performs Feb. 12 in Woodstock

Off Square Music and the Woodstock Opera House will present "An Acoustic Evening With Mark Dvorak" at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12 CST. The special "Live & Live Stream" event will take place from the historic Woodstock Opera House, 121 W. Van Buren St.

"The Woodstock Opera House contacted us about co-hosting a series of acoustic shows," said Off Square Music board member Rich Prezioso. "We'll have a small audience in-house and livestream using three mounted cameras and a hand held. It should make for pretty exciting evening."

The presentation also will feature conversation and interaction between artist, audience and curators Prezioso and Joe Pesz, who is a writer, producer and musician from Island Lake.

"Mark and I have been crossing paths for decades on the acoustic circuit," said Prezioso. "He was the first we reached out to for this series, and we're thrilled he is able to join us for our kickoff event."

Dvorak is busy at work on a new CD and collection of essays, 31 Winters, both due out this spring.

"Like every other musician, I've had some time on my hands," said the singer. "I decided to use the time to go back through my notes and notebooks to what was in there, and what I might come up with. I've been writing and recording for the last six months, and attending to projects I didn't have time to dig into before the pandemic."

Dvorak's 19th CD release "Live & Alone" is a set of live material recorded in an empty concert for 98.7 fm WFMT's live "Folkstage" broadcast with Rich Warren.

Warren is the legendary broadcaster who hosted "The Midnight Special" on WFMT from 1983 to 2020. Warren also made the "Folkstage" recordings available for Dvorak's newest release.

"It's some of the best live stuff I've ever been able to capture. I have come to love very much the art and craft of standing before a live audience with only a guitar and banjo, a handful of stories and a pocketful of songs."

"Over these years Rich has supported so many of us. I hold a deep respect for his commitment to the music, and for his expert producing and engineering skills."

Tickets are $10 and available from the Woodstock Opera House box office. Log on at www.woodstockoperahouse.com or call (815) 338-4212.

For more information about Off Square Music visit www.offsquaremusic.org.

Find Mark Dvorak at www.markdvorak.com.