This Week: Celtic Thunder, Diana Krall at Sands

Bethlehem’s live music gormandizers will notice the offerings at local venues this week have a decidedly international flavor.

Rolling through town by Thursday, we will have an Irish supergroup; a classically trained Taiwanese-American singer songwriter whose cultural background influences her art; an award winning Canadian jazz pianist and singer who is married to one of the world’s biggest British pop stars; and a Spanish-born, American raised singer-songwriter who carries dual Irish and American citizenship, though she lives in rural England.

Also happening this week, the school board, township commissioners and city planning commission will meet.

Here are the details:

• The Bethlehem Area School Board’s Facilities and Curriculum committees meet in back to back sessions, starting at 6 p.m. Monday in the Education Center on Sycamore Street. The Facilities Committee agenda is scheduled to include an update on the Nitschmann Middle School replacement project. Click here for the Curriculum Committee agenda.

• Bethlehem Township Commissioners meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the township building on Easton Avenue. A design of a walking path for Housenick Park is one of the items on the agenda.

• Irish singing supergroup Celtic Thunder brings its Mythology Tour to the Sands Bethlehem Event Center at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets are from $60 to $75.

• Taiwanese American pop, folk singer-songwriter Vienna Teng comes to the Musikfest Café at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Stanford computer science graduate opted out of a lucrative career working as a software engineer for Cisco Systems. Classically trained on the piano since age 5, she reached the national spotlight at the end of 2002 when she made appearances on numerous late night shows and opened concerts for musicians such as India.Arie, Shawn Colvin and Sarah Harmer. She has gone on to produce four albums including Warm Strangers, which charted on three separate Billboard charts. A VIP experience including access to soundcheck and a meet and greet is $55. Otherwise, tickets cost $25.

• The Bethlehem Health Bureau offers flu shot clinics at Lutheran Manor, 2085 Westgate Drive, from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday and at City Hall from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday. Inoculations are $10 each for all city residents.

• The Bethlehem Planning Commission will be looking at a couple of land development plans for Phase 5 of Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII, which is inside the former Bethlehem Steel property. Also, it will be looking at a new park and ride lot and bus terminal for Trans-Bridge at 3156 City Line Place, which would appear to be an expansion for the bus company’s existing home offices on Industrial Drive in West Bethlehem. The session starts at 4 p.m. Thursday in Town Hall.

• Award winning, multi-platinum selling jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall comes to the Sands Event Center at 8 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are from $65 to $89.50.

• Easton's own Alex House is the performer at ArtsQuest’s “Two Laugh Minimum” show at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema. She is a two-time winner in the Bud Light's Ladies Of Laughter Comedy Contest and has participated in the Toyota Comedy Festival, Boston Comedy Festival and the Arizona Women's Funny Fest. She has also been on ABC's "The View" twice in the course of two weeks and was one of the East Coast Semi-finalists chosen out of thousands of comics on NBC's "Last Comic Standing.” Tickets are $10, less for students, seniors and ArtsQuest members.

• The voice of rising star Sarah McQuaid—appearing Thursday night at Godfrey Daniels—has been likened to malt whiskey, melted chocolate and "honey poured into wine.” A captivating performer, she seduces her audience with cheeky banter and stories from the road, as well as with stunning musicianship. Her musical output reflects her own eclectic background: Sarah was born in Spain, raised in Chicago, holds dual U.S. and Irish citizenship, and now lives in rural England. Refusing to be pigeonholed, she spans the genres with both her originals and her interpretations of material from around the globe and down the centuries. The show starts at 8 p.m. Admission is $16.50. Reservations are recommended.