Nixon in China New York Metropolitan Opera

One of the major operas of the 20th century by American music composer John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman, directed by Peter Sellars and choreography by Mark Morris, Nixon in China is considered one of the cornerstones of American minimalist music. Commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Houston Grand Opera and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the opera highlights the visit of the United States President Richard M. Nixon to China in 1972, where he met with China’s Chairman Mao Zedong and other Chinese officials. The Metropolitan performance features composer John Adams as conductor, James Maddalena- baritone as Richard Nixon, Janis Kelly -soprano as Pat Nixon, Robert Brubaker as Mao Tse-tung, Kathleen Kim as Mao’s wife Chiang Ch”ing, Russell Braun portrays Chou En-lai and Richard Paul Fink as Henry Kissinger.

Charles Lloyd New Quartet

A towering musical figure, Charles Lloyd carries on the unifying mission of such truth seekers as Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. During the late 60s, Lloyd led one of the most popular groups in jazz that went on to produce Forest Flower, one of the best-selling jazz albums ever.

All About Jazz writes, “There was plenty to admire in the Charles Lloyd New Quartet’s San Francisco concert: Lloyd pushed his young rhythm section to a new plane of sensitivity; the compositions were elegant and flexible, allowing for both hard-driving rhythms and feathery melodic exploration; and the band played ballads with a beauty intolerant of sap.” More Information

Cantus & Theater Latté Da: “All Is Calm”

The Western Front, Christmas Eve, 1914. Out of the trenches comes a silence, then a song as a young German soldier steps into no man’s land singing “stille Nacht.” Thus begins a truce between allied forces and German soldiers and an extraordinary night of camaraderie, music, and peace. Bringing this historical moment to life, Cantus and Theater Latté Da beautifully combine theater and music including new arrangements of European carols and war-songs for a capella voices.

“And if a classic work is marked by its capacity to stretch and deepen in meaning on repeated viewings, then ‘All is Calm’ seems destined to become timeless. Even without an ornament or a shred of red drapery anywhere on its stark set, ‘All is Calm’ has no peer in the Christmas theatrical sweepstakes—on the terms of celebrating the possibility of peace on earth, goodwill to all” (Graydon Royce, Minneapolis Star Tribune“. More Information

Mazowsze

An ensemble of 90 dancers, musicians, and singers, mazowsze is a thrilling display of dazzling movement, vibrant color and stunning beauty. Mazowsze whirls, leaps, stamps and glides in a glorious outpouring of sound and motion, rhythm, and music that celebrates the cultural legacy of Poland. A full 23-member orchestra performs music ranging from Chopin to simple folk melodies beloved by the Poles for centuries.

“The material that the singers and dancers present – 28 numbers here – is lilting and vigorous, and filled with humor. But most of all, the Mazowsze performers look genuinely pleased and proud to be doing what they do. Their delight in themselves and the audience is infectious” (The New York Times). More Information

Mary Black

For the last quarter-century, singer Mary Black has been a dominant presence in Irish music, both at home and abroad. She has shared stages, TV shows and recording studios with some of the most revered performers of her time. She has also played a frontline role in bringing Irish music, past and present, to an increasingly appreciative and ever-growing global audience. The San Francisco Chronicle has described her as “One of the best interpretative singers around.”

“I consider myself lucky to have witnessed a legend in action and I spent the rest of the night wondering why I’d let Mary Black just pass me by” (Get Ready to Rock). More information

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura and her family travel across America in search of a place they can call home. Facing obstacles such as scarlet fever and eviction from their land, their pioneering spirit and family bonds are tested but never broken. This uplifting story of one of America’s most beloved authors comes to life in ArtsPower’s popular musical. Recommended for Grades 2 – 6. Running time: 55 minutes.

Curriculum Connections: Family relationships, History, Literature-based, Musical, Values-based, Language/communications skills.

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Venice Baroque Orchestra

Renowned violinist Robert McDuffie and the Venice Baroque Orchestra perform the Glass “Concerto for Violin No. 2” and the Vivaldi “Four Seasons.”

“Violin Concerto No. 2, ‘The American Seasons,’ was so spectacularly played by the piece’s muse, American violinist Robert McDuffie…that the event turned into one of the most exciting musical evenings of the year” (Toronto Star). More Information

Lar Lubovitch Dance Company

The Lar Lubovitch company will perform a memorable program of new and retrospective work that underscores Lubovitch’s passionate musicality and deep humanity. Imbued with poetic and musical eloquence, this program features his masterpiece North Star, set to the mesmerizing music of Philip Glass.

“Some dance troupes are dance-theater ensembles. Others are just dance dance dance. Lar Lubovitch Dance Company falls forthrightly in the latter category. It offers no stories, no plots. Instead, it’s light and limber, with its focus entirely on how music and movement can interpenetrate to produce pure footloose delight” (Seattle Times). More information

Chucho Valdés

Chucho Valdés and the Afro-Cuban Messengers performed at the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall on Tuesday, October 19th.

Hailed as “one of the world’s greatest virtuosic pianists” by The New York Times, perennial Grammy Award winner Chucho Valdés has recorded over eighty CDs and performed with countless jazz masters. In his first US tour in eight years, he appeared at the FAC with the fabled Afro-Cuban Messengers.

Chucho’s music is deeply influenced by the African spritual rites that thrive to this day in Cuba. Chucho is himself a devotee of the Santeria pantheon: Chango, Babalu-Aye, and others. Many—if not most—of the vocals you’ll hear during a Chucho performance are in the Congolese Lucumí language, straight from Dahomey, Côte d’Ivoire, and elsewhere in west Africa. And in the midsts of these paens to African Orisha spirits you’re likely to hear snatches of Brahms and other classical composers. Chucho represents the main streams of influence in Cuban music: the African and the European, and his be-bop background is well attested in recordings with Dizzy Gillespie and others. He’s truly an eclectic musical treasure.

If you attended the show and want to hear more of Chucho’s fire-eating, classically-tinged technique, check out this amazing video. (Buried in this incandescently played Cuban son [a rural song form] is C.P.E. Bach’s Solfeggietto!) And this video of Chucho’s duet with his father Bebo playing a traditional Carnival tune titled “La Comparsa” is priceless.

Says All About Jazz, “he can [play] with the soft grace of Bill Evans and dazzle with the thunderous dexterity of Art Tatum.”