Newman Center Presents series 2008-2009
Newman Center's 6th season address the role of Art in the Civic Dialogue
Popular artists return and emerging world class talent to be presented.
The Newman Center for the Performing Arts’ 6th season embraces a mission both to entertain and challenge, by offering an eclectic mix of artists from different disciplines and cultures.
A number of shows in our season ask a recurring question voiced by the artists and inherent to many of their works - “What should I do?” Artists ask themselves, “What should I do as an artist who is also a citizen?” “What should I do as an artist whose craft is challenged by technology and rapid cultural shifts?” “What should I do to engage people in the important dialogues and issues we face?” Audiences then ask, “What should I do in response to this art?” Presenters of the performing arts ask, “What should I do as the person responsible for choosing artists to present?”
Art and artists have a place in the civic dialogue. They might engage social and political issues, or personal issues and matters of spirituality, or strictly practical matters. Many of the artists we will present in the 2008-09 season address the question in all those ways and more. We invite our community to engage and participate.
. Director's Choice season tickets (nine performances Sept-May) are $210.50-$375.50 per person and reflects a 20% savings over single-ticket prices.
. Patron's Choice is a "create-your-own" series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances and reflects a 10% savings.
New subscriptions are on sale; tickets to individual performances (average price $25-$49, with a few exceptions) are now on sale for the 2008-09 season. Denver students, seniors and groups receive discounts for select performances.
For more information, call 303.871.7720, Option 2.
Michael Pennington, "Sweet William"
: : Newly Added Show: :
7:30 PM, Friday, September 12, 2008
Celebrate and Explore Shakespeare
Acclaimed British actor Michael Pennington, perhaps best known by the American general public for his portrayal of Moff Jerjerrod in "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi," brings his show Sweet William to the Byron Theatre. This one-man show on the life and works of William Shakespeare intermingles texts from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets with facts and speculations about Shakespeare's life and anecdotes from Pennington's own life on the stage.
Supported by Joy Burns, Daniel L. Ritchie and the DU Department of Theatre.
In collaboration with the Colorado Festival of World Theatre.
Click here for more information about Michael Pennington and his Sweet William show.
Single-event tickets
All seats are $15, general admission
PARKING IS $6 PER VEHICLE FOR THIS EVENT
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Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from the entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Robert Moses’ Kin Dance Company
: : Director's Choice : :
7:30 PM, Saturday, September 27, 2008
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 Combining breathtaking athleticism, luscious music and compelling poetry, Robert Moses’ Kin is dedicated to moving forward forms of dance and performance with attention to thought-provoking and meaningful themes. The company’s mission is to produce work that speaks to what is unique in human nature. For Robert Moses, movement is the medium through which race, class, culture, gender and the environment give voice to our potential and unfulfilled possibilities. Moses explains, “My work expresses my concern with the honor, dignity, truth and potential of real people. Human lives and beliefs are the material, the choreographic elements of my work.”
Tonight’s performance with include Reign Forest , co-commissioned by EcoArts, Lincoln Center Fort Collins and the Newman Center for the Performing Arts.
Some pieces might include sensitive references and some R-rated language.
 Our partner in creating residency activities for RMK is EcoArts, a Boulder-based organization bringing together people from all walks of life to investigate the realities of climate change and celebrate the delights of a sustainable future in a conversation sparked by the arts.
 Supported by a grand from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional Funding from The Schramm foundation and Carson-Pfafflin Family Foundation.
YOU ARE INVITED TO
Topics for Our Times: An Open Discussion on Dance and Race
Friday, September 26
5:00 to 7:00 pm
Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library
The award-winning contemporary dance choreographer Robert Moses shows video clips of his piece Biography, based on a 1960s radio panel, with great African American poets and writers Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry and others - and discusses his new eco-piece Reign Forest. Colorado dance legend Cleo Parker Robinson talks about her life growing up in Denver and tap dancer Harriet Butcher recalls memories of Five Points, a jazz center for the West in the 1930s and 40s.
Admission is FREE but seating is limited. Please RSVP by Wednesday, September 24 to Terry Nelson at 720.865.2404 or via email at tnelson@denverlibrary.org.
The Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library is located at 2401 Welton Street in Denver.
Topics for Our Times is co-sponsored by the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library of the Denver Public Library, the Carson-Brierly Dance Library, EcoArts and the Newman Center for the Performing Arts.
Click here for complete details on this FREE discussion panel.
Click here for more information about Robert Moses’ Kin Dance Company.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
-
Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from the entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Universes, Slanguage
Season Extra
7:30 PM, Thursday, October 2, 2008
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 Co-presented with El Centro Su Teatro
With the support of The Center for Multicultural Excellence, University of Denver
An ensemble of multi-disciplinary writers and performers who create moving, challenging and entertaining theatrical works, the group breaks the bounds of traditional theater to create their own brand of performance. They invite old and new generations of theater-makers, as well as theater-goers and newcomers, to reshape the face of American theater. The boundary-smashing Slanguage, Universes’ tour-de-force, brings together the unique mix of language and culture that is life on the American streets. Built loosely around the structure of a subway ride from Brooklyn to the Bronx, Slanguage synthesizes traditional theater with poetry, storytelling, rap, gospel, jazz riffs, bluesy laments, Spanish boleros, and other poetic forms, to paint a rich portrait of the sights and sounds of New York City. Through Slanguage, Universes integrates theatre and street humor with emotional truth, amplifying the issues of poverty, family, drugs, racism, and street violence, yet finding hope in the contemporary urban landscape.
“… exuberant, insightful … they have created something special, a work of heart and soul that distills the essence of the city.” – The New York Times
Click here for more information about Universes.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $33.00, Parterre $33.00, Mezzanine $28.00, Balcony $23.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
Director's Choice Subscription Package holders receive a 20% discount
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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London Symphony Chorus
Lamont Symphony Orchestra
Verdi, Requiem
: : Directors Choice : :
7:30 PM, Wednesday, October 15-Thursday, October 16, 2008
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 Lawrence Golan, Conductor
Michael Dean, Bass
Margaret Lattimore, Mezzo Soprano
Philip Webb, Tenor
Erin Wood, Soprano
The Newman Center proudly continues its collaboration with the Lamont Symphony Orchestra by once again presenting that award-winning orchestra in concert with the 100-member London Symphony Chorus. The assembled throng will offer two performances of Verdi’s monumental Requiem. This spectacular, chilling, and ethereal work will highlight the unparalleled acoustics of Gates Concert Hall and the talents of both the University’s music students and one of the world’s most distinguished choruses.
Sponsored by:
Office of the Chancellor, University of Denver
Mr. Daniel L. Ritchie
Anna and John J. Sie Foundation
Four Points by Sheraton Denver Southeast
With Additional Support From:
American Friends of the London Symphony Chorus
Ms. Eleanor Caulkins
Click here for more information about London Symphony Chorus.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $68.00, Parterre $68.00, Mezzanine $43.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
-
Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Soweto Gospel Choir
: : Season Extra: :
7:30 PM, Tuesday, October 28, 2008
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 South Africa is known as the “Rainbow Nation” for its diversity of races, cultures and languages. The colorful costumes of the Soweto Gospel Choir are but one reflection of the diversity that becomes one nation. Singing in a number of languages, from English and Zulu, to Xhosa and Sotho, their music stems from traditional African, Western church and gospel music from around the globe.
The choir supports their charity Nkosi’s Haven/Vukani (meaning “Arise, do something!”), which distributes cash, food and essential goods in South Africa to HIV-positive children and those orphaned by AIDS.
“Soaring and ecstatic…brought the house down” – The Washington Post
Click here for more information about Soweto Gospel Choir.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
-
Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
: : Season Extra: :
7:30 PM Saturday, November 1, 2008
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 Newman Center Presents favorite Aspen Santa Fe Ballet returns! Nationally renowned as an eclectic, innovative dance company with a solid foundation in classical ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet has made a lasting impression with a company of versatile, energetic dancers performing a sophisticated repertoire featuring some of the world’s foremost choreographers.
“ … this striking group of 12 versatile young dancers proved that classical technique can express the hippest moods and ideas, and that contemporary ballet, when performed in a straightforward and honest manner, can indeed attract both a young and a mature audience.”
-Boston Herald
Click here for more information about Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Kronos Quartet & Alternative Radio
With host David Barsamian and special guest Diane Wilson
: : Director's Choice : :
7:30 PM, Saturday, November 8, 2008
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 Issues and insights neglected by mainstream media find voice on the worldwide independent radio program Alternative Radio. Host and creator David Barsamian transforms his sound format for the stage, interweaving performances by Kronos Quartet with a discussion with a special guest Diane Wilson. Global issues are musically engaged, as the people on stage respond to each other in discussion and music with sharp insight. The musical program is chosen jointly by the artists no more than 24 hours before the performance and might include music from Afghanistan, Argentina, China Ethiopia, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Mexico, Nubia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Turkey, United States and Uzbekistan.
"No one has done more for either the cause of new music or the revitalization of the chamber format than Kronos. In fact, no has done more to transform the idea of what a ‘classical’ ensemble can be than Kronos, in either context or content, intent or impact."
—Billboard
Click here for more information about Kronos Quartet.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
- Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Turtle Island Quartet, Solstice Celebration
: : Director's Choice : :
7:30 PM, Saturday, December 6, 2008
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 This joyous voyage through world holiday music celebrates the quartet members’ ancestral roots with music ranging from English carols and 16th century Scottish reels, to Jewish and Hindu songs of Chanukah and India’s Dewali. This Grammy® Award-winning ensemble gloriously fuses the classical string quartet with the adventurous spirit of jazz. Its members are extraordinary instrumentalists, improvisers, composers and arrangers. In this concert, they explore the timeless music that has been part of winter holiday celebrations for centuries.
"This group has set a standard beyond the reach of its few contemporaries...In the multifarious idiom they have all but invented, Turtle Island remains the ne plus ultra." -The Los Angeles Times
Click here for more information about Turtle Island Quartet.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
- Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
Director's Choice
7:30 PM, Saturday, January 31, 2009
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 Celebrating their 27th year on the concert stage, the members of the Grammy® Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet continue to set the standard for expression and virtuosity among guitar ensembles, while perennially redefining themselves in their musical explorations. With over a dozen recordings over the past two decades, they have established themselves as masters of the classics, as well as the creators of the unique syntheses of world-music and contemporary styles that have made the "LAGQ-sound" a favorite around the world.
The LAGQ will offer a master class for guitar students at the University’s Lamont School of Music.
"The world’s hottest classical ensemble or its tightest pop band? However it helps you to think about the LAGQ, keep the emphasis on superlatives for its unrivaled joy, technical elan and questing spirits." - The Los Angeles Times
Click here for more information about Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
- Newman Center Presents - Season Extra
Director's Choice Subscription Package holders receive a 20% discount
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Either/Orchestra with Ethiopian Guests
: : Director's Choice : :
7:30 PM, Saturday, February 14, 2009
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 The Either/Orchestra is a 10-piece jazz ensemble – two trumpets, trombone, three saxophones, piano, acoustic bass, drums and congas – based in Cambridge, MA. Founded in 1985, by saxophonist/composer Russ Gershon, the E/O combines the agility and freedom of a jazz combo, raw power and subtle coloring of a jazz orchestra and deep grooves of Afro-Latin music. They have performed in clubs, concert halls and festivals in 34 states plus Canada, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Finland, Russia, Ethiopia and Uganda. Neither a tribute band nor a neo-classical museum piece, the group is constantly finding new inspirations. Among their explorations has been the rich world of Ethiopian music, which finds a natural home in an American jazz band. Their leader has described it as “exotic and inexplicably familiar, warm and inviting but spicy and spiky… spinning tales of love and heartache.” American jazz was heavily influenced by African roots, and Ethiopian big band music completes a circle through the influence of American jazz.
Either/Orchestra will also perform at a general Convocation of the students and faculty of the University’s Lamont School of Music.
"One of the most inspired and endearing jazz ensembles around." - New York Press
Click here for more information about the Either/Orchestra.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $34.25, Parterre $46.75, Mezzanine $34.25, Balcony $25.25
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
- Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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David Dorfman Dance, underground
Season Extra
7:30 PM, Saturday, February 28, 2009
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Founder David Dorfman says of underground, "Although I was only 13 during the ‘Days of Rage’ in 1969, too young to be protesting in the Chicago streets, I remember being awed by the audacity of the Weathermen. Now I am interested in the legacy of the Weather Underground's principles, and also in its foibles and its regrets. Looking back at the ‘60s and how it was the core of my emotional and artistic formation will be my entry point into this exploration – in essence, a return to my own ‘movement’ roots." underground explores the generational gap between those who grew up in the 1960s and the over 162 million Americans born after December 31, 1969. How should one compare the widespread, though sometimes violent, activism of four decades ago with today’s world? Going inside radical social activism, underground asks when does activism become terrorism, when is lack of action to be condemned, and is action which leads to damage ever justified? The performance will include numerous community participants on stage and a lively post-performance discussion with the artists.
“Here is real dance excitement, a sense that something is happening and that it matters.” -Bloomberg News
Click here for more information about David Dorfman Dance.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
- Newman Center Presents - Season Extra
Director's Choice Subscription Package holders receive a 20% discount
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Academy of Ancient Music
J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concertos 1-6
Season Extra
7:30 PM, Thursday, March 19, 2009
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 Richard Egarr, Director
The AAM is one of the world’s first period-instrument ensembles, now in its fourth decade as one of the world’s finest. This concert provides a rare opportunity to hear all six of Bach’s landmark Brandenburg Concertos. No two are the same, either in style or instrumentation. From the horns in No. 1 and the dazzling trumpet solo in No. 2, to the virtuosic harpsichord solo in No. 5, and the dark, violin-less texture of No. 6, there is more contrast packed into this famous set than you can imagine.
“Exciting…superb…terrific.” - The Los Angeles Times
Click here for more information about Academy of Ancient Music.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
- Newman Center Presents - Season Extra
Director's Choice Subscription Package holders receive a 20% discount
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Aquila Theatre Company
The Iliad
: : Director's Choice : :
Friday, March 27-Saturday, March 28, 2009
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 The stirring tales of Achilles and Agamemnon, Hector and Patroclus, Odysseus and Zeus, are brought to life on stage. Stylized movement, light and sound combine with Stanley Lombardo’s translation to give a passionate account of Homer’s timeless epic. Aquila was inspired by the somber photograph Into the Jaws of Death, shot from a landing craft by a member of the United States Coast Guard on D-Day at Normandy. Thus, the gods and heroes wear the garb of the Second World War.
Aquila will provide a master class for the students of the University’s Department of Theatre as part of its visit to campus.
“…in the theater the projection of living memory onto antiquity simply asserts, in the most unobtrusive and natural way, the invariance of the human condition across the ages.” — The New York Times
Click here for more information about Aquila Theatre Company.
Single-event tickets
$38.00 General Admission
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
- Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Australian Chamber Orchestra
Director's Extra
7:30 PM, Thursday, April 30, 2009
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Richard Tognetti, Artistic Director and Lead Violin
Andreas Scholl, Countertenor
With an average player age of 30, the ACO brings a refreshing energy and stylistic flair to every corner of the chamber orchestra repertoire, bringing audiences to their feet around the world. The year 2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the death of Georg Friedrich Handel, and tonight’s program celebrates his irrepressible gifts with a Concerto grosso and several arias from Handel’s immense operatic output, sung by German countertenor Andreas Scholl.
Herr Scholl sings all over the world with the finest ensembles. Other works on the program include Pavel Haas’ From the Monkey Mountains Suite. Haas was a Czech composer murdered in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1944.
"Astonishingly warm, full-bodied and tightly focused: the sound radiating from the crammed stage could only have come from the marvelous Australian Chamber Orchestra.... Such panache, such confidence! Eighteen minds thinking and breathing as one. Heavenly playing, but that was expected: you'd have to scour the universe hard to find another band like the ACO." — The London Times
“There are more excellent countertenors before the public today than ever before but one of them stands out above all others, as Caruso among tenors a century ago: Andreas Scholl.” —Fanfare
Click here for more information about Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $38.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
- Newman Center Presents - Season Extra
Director's Choice Subscription Package holders receive a 20% discount
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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Maya Beiser, cello
Provenance
: : Director's Choice : :
7:30 PM, Saturday, May 9, 2009
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 Co-commissioned by the Newman Center for the Performing Arts
Jamey Haddad, Percussion
Bassam Saba, Oud
Shahrokh Yadegari, Live electronics
In a world troubled by religious strife and division, the period between the 8th and 15th centuries in the Iberian Peninsula offers a hopeful historical reminder: Muslims, Christians and Jews once lived together, creating a centuries-long flowering of commerce, culture, art and architecture. Cellist Maya Beiser, who grew up in an Israeli kibbutz at the foothills of the Galilee Mountains, living in harmony with neighboring Muslim and Christian Arab villages, asked herself what we might learn from that experience. Her new project, Provenance, is inspired by this panoramic sweep of history and the glory of a multi-religious, multicultural civilization.
Beiser has been active in creating a new global repertoire in music, and for Provenance she has commissioned young composers from Israel, Palestine, Algeria, Morocco, Iran and the U.S. to create music inspired by this Golden Age in Medieval Spain. Also included are arrangements of masterpieces by Hamza el Din, Djivan Gasparyan and 9th century Galician troubadour Martin Codax. Joining her will be Lebanese-American master oud player Bassam Saba and hand drummer virtuoso Jamey Haddad. The pieces will be united by Iranian-American sound designer and computer specialist Shahrokh Yadegari, who will create a cohesive and shared sonic space. Provenance seeks to create an environment in which varied cultural traditions are not simply tolerated, but rather explicitly sought. The work embraces co-existence not as a luxury, but as a necessity.
“Beiser combines the best of two worlds. She is a classically trained cellist with the technical and interpretative resources to draw whatever kind of music she wishes from her instrument.” – Chicago Sun-Times
Click here for more information about Maya Beiser.
Single-event tickets
Orchestra $52.00, Parterre $52.00, Mezzanine $38.00, Balcony $28.00
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE PARKING
- Director’s Choice Subscription Package
Nine concerts Sept – May ; Plus a 20% discount to Season Extras
Patron’s Choice Subscription Package
A “create-your-own” series consisting of four or more shows from entire season of 14 performances
New subscriptions go on sale May 1, 2008
Non-subscription seats go on sale August 1, 2008
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