Jim Brickman plays the Washington Center on Sunday, Nov. 15

The Grammy-nominated pianist makes what our records show is his first Olympia stop, in the middle of a West Coast run, two weeks from now.

In two weeks a piano will be center stage on Washington Street. Jim Brickman plays the Washington Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale through the Washington Center box office.

According to our records, Brickman hasn't played Olympia before, which is reason enough to go. The routing explains how he got here. Olympia falls in the middle of a West Coast run: Salt Lake City on Nov. 11, Portland on Nov. 12, two nights in Las Vegas on Nov. 13 and 14, then Olympia on the Sunday, before he heads south to Los Angeles on Nov. 19 and San Diego on Nov. 20. That puts the Washington Center between Portland and the big Southern California rooms, on a Sunday that suits an early-evening show.

Brickman is a pianist and songwriter, and promoters routinely bill him as a Grammy-nominated artist (Avon Chamber of Commerce). He's built a long touring career out of melodic, piano-led songs and he is known for his success on adult contemporary radio.

This time of year, his name is also tied to the holidays. In recent seasons his late-year dates have been billed as "A Christmas Celebration", a show he has taken to theaters in West Virginia and Indiana, and his 2026 calendar runs into late December (Musical Instrument Museum, Visit Pittsburgh). The Olympia listing doesn't say whether the Nov. 15 show is part of the holiday program, so if you're hoping for carols, check with the box office. Either way, mid-November is when Olympia starts getting in the mood for the season.

A piano, a voice and an audience close enough to hear the pedals.

The room has its own history. The Washington Center stands on the site of the Liberty Theatre, a vaudeville house built around 1924. The city acquired the old theater in the 1980s and razed it over the objection of its Heritage Commission, and the Center opened on the site in the mid-1980s (Olympia Historical Society). In 1995, volunteers finished installing a Wurlitzer theater organ that includes ranks from the original Olympic Theatre instrument (Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society). The building belongs to the City of Olympia, and a nonprofit runs it under a long-term contract.

For this show, the Center holds 500. That's an intimate setting for a piano concert, the kind where you can hear a soft passage at the back of the room and the performer can see faces in the front rows. It's also downtown, so dinner beforehand and a walk afterward are both easy if the rain holds off.

The details: Jim Brickman, Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Sunday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m., tickets at washingtoncenter.org. A Sunday evening with a piano is a good way to end the weekend.

Sources: Washington Center for the Performing Arts (washingtoncenter.org); JamBase — Jim Brickman at Washington Center for the Performing Arts (jambase.com); Avon Chamber — Grammy-nominated piano sensation Jim Brickman bringing Christmas Celebration to Plainfield (business.avonchamber.org); WV Tourism — Jim Brickman: A Christmas Celebration at the Robinson Grand (wvtourism.com); Musical Instrument Museum — Jim Brickman (mim.org); Visit Pittsburgh — Jim Brickman (visitpittsburgh.com); Olympia Historical Society — 512 Washington St SE (olympiahistory.org); PSTOS — Washington Center Wurlitzer (pstos.org); Jim Brickman - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)