June 13, 2000 Summary Facts:
With its 2000-2001 Season of Performing Arts, UCSB Arts & Lectures presents another year of the highest caliber professional performing artists on tour from around the world and across the spectrum of artistic disciplines. The season includes increased programs by top-notch jazz artists, beautiful world music and dance from many cultures rarely presented on the local stage, inspired classical and early music, first class concert dance, and theater from intelligent comedy to fresh versions of works from the classical repertory. Embracing an even broader internationalism than local audiences have come to expect from Arts & Lectures, the coming season features artists from Portugal, Mali, Iran, Romania, Israel, Korea, Russia, Spain, Ireland and England, as well as the best performers California and the rest of the United States have to offer. Highlights of the season include two special events that provide a rare opportunity to see live on stage performers who represent the very pinnacle of artistry in their fields. Master Musicians of Iran: An Evening of Persian Classical Music, on Sunday, February 4, a rare “tour of stars” featuring the esteemed singer Mohammad Reza Shajarian, leading tar and setar (lutes) player Hossein Alizadeh and Kayhan Kalhor, a master of kamancheh (spike fiddle). The threesome will be accompanied by Shajarian’s son, percussionist Homayoun Shajarian. And, for a grand season-closing event, the first lady of jazz piano Marian McPartland makes a special appearance with her trio (including bass and drums) on Tuesday, May 15. McPartland has been a leading figure in jazz interpretation for 60 years, and for the last 20 has also hosted her National Public Radio program Piano Jazz. JAZZ In addition to the concert by the Marian McPartland Trio, Arts & Lectures hosts two stars of the younger generation of jazz artists. The hit of the 4 Generations of Jazz Violin tour presented here in 1998, the talented fiddle phenomenon Regina Carter returns with her band the Regina Carter Quintet (she’s accompanied on piano, bass, drums and guitar) to perform jazz standards and original music on Sunday, November 19. And the stellar new voice in jazz vibraphone Stefon Harris performs straight-ahead jazz with his ensemble the Stefon Harris Quartet on Thursday, April 26. A delight in concert who can be heard on appealing recordings like the recent Black Action Figure, Harris has developed a following of fervent fans who voted him best vibraphonist in the Jazz Iz Magazine’s readers’ poll last year. Arts & Lectures keeps world music fans fulfilled with an expanding horizon of glowing traditional and international music and dance. Exploring the realm of Buddhist ceremonial arts on Tuesday, October 17, Korean Buddhist Monks (six men and a woman) perform ritual song, chant and dance in The Sound of Ecstasy, The Nectar of Enlightenment, an evening of excerpts from an ancient religious ceremony that, in its complete form, lasts several days and nights. The monks wear elaborate ritual dress and perform on gongs, cymbals and a huge barrel drum. Fado, “fate,” is the name for Portugal’s traditional, poetic, urban café music and its most celebrated contemporary interpreter is Misia, performing on Wednesday, November 1. A compelling mix of heartfelt vocals and gentle accompaniment on guitar, piano, accordion and violin, fado reflects on life, love and loss. Habib Koité and his band Bamada perform Afro-pop from Mali, a tight-knit fusion of Malian traditions and their own modern guitar styles, on Wednesday, November 8. Bringing electric guitar, original songwriting and unique vocals to the tradition he inherited from a long line of griot ancestors, Koité updates the traditions while staying true to his roots. Onstage with his snappy, well-choreographed band Bamada, who provide sounds from African drums, bass and harmonica to backup vocals, Koité offers terrific music and an unforgettable concert experience. Noche Flamenca brings the real thing direct from Madrid, two evenings of gritty and impassioned flamenco dance, singing, guitar and bass on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 14 and 15. Embodying the unadulterated fire of their tradition, this Spanish company is acclaimed world-wide for its authenticity and raw power. Its three dancers, three vocalists and three instrumentalists are hailed by The New York Times for their depth and for their intimacy as an ensemble. Following the Master Musicians of Iran on Sunday, February 4 (see above for details), world music fans will be treated to an evening of Celtic music by Altan, back by popular demand, on Thursday, February 22. This energetic, traditional Irish band updates the unique sounds of County Donegal with lilting soprano vocals and irresistible style on fiddle, guitar, tin whistle, accordion and bass. An unusual concert opportunity awaits with Taraf de Haïdouks, Gypsy Music of Romania, on Tuesday, March 6. This band’s compelling sounds were featured in the popular film Latcho Drom; its three generations of Roma (Gypsy) village musicians captivate audiences with their virtuosity and musical alchemy. London’s Independent has called them “the most extraordinary Gypsy band in the world.” Natalie MacMaster and Her Band perform Celtic Music from Cape Breton on Sunday, May 6. This exciting fiddler (who also step dances her way through most concerts) is a new icon among fans of the Celtic music Diaspora. Performing the unique sounds of Celtic culture in Nova Scotia, she’s backed by guitar, keyboards, accordion, banjo and bass. DANCE Dance aficionados have come to rely on Arts & Lectures for inspiring concert dance, and this season offers six dazzling events. Several return engagements celebrate the excellence we’ve come to expect in Campbell Hall; and two-evening runs give audiences more flexibility and choice. Ailey II (formerly called Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble), the repertory touring arm of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, showcases emerging young professionals in the Ailey legacy in two shows on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 10 and 11. These artists embody the impeccable standards for choreography and performance established by Ailey “with astonishing authority” (New York Times) in superb programs of company classics and newer dances. Noche Flamenca injects international flavor into the dance programming this year with two shows on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 14 and 15. See the World Music and Dance section above, for details. The dancers of the Parsons Dance Company are as handsome, athletic, musical, exuberant and appealing as the trailblazing dancer/choreographer David Parsons who founded this perennially popular company 13 years ago. In two performances on Wednesday and Thursday, January 24 and 25, they’ll prove that the exciting imagination, smart theatricality and just plain fun they deliver are as fresh and enjoyable as ever. Long-time innovators in post-modern dance, Pilobolus Dance Theater uses its fascinating, collective choreography, daring physicality, evocative lighting and colorful costumes to achieve both playful whimsy and powerful drama. Pilobolus returns to Campbell Hall for two shows on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 13 and 14. LINES Contemporary Ballet, Alonzo King’s superb San Francisco-based company that merges pointe-perfect dance technique with truly contemporary movement, returns in two performances on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 17 and 18. They’ll prove true the claim that they’re “a company on the move: hip and hot, looking good and dancing deliciously on the edge” (San Francisco Chronicle) with recent works that include Who Dressed You Like a Foreigner?, set to music by Zakir Hussain, and Tango. The dance season concludes with the Santa Barbara premiere performance by the Lily Cai Chinese Dance Company on Tuesday, May 1. Also from San Francisco and also representing a marriage of dance traditions, this unique company blends modern dance idioms with Chinese classical dance and Asian iconography and performance traditions. And its all presented with beauty, ornate costuming and spellbinding theatricality. THEATER Opening the 2000-2001 Season of Performing Arts on Thursday, October 5, the very vocal, politically charged, Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe takes on the crisis of affordable housing in City for Sale. Expect their trademark biting humor, fuel-injected pacing, an original rock music score played live on stage, creative staging and unforgettable characters. El Teatro de la Esperanza presents Ruby Nelda Perez in Doña Rosita’s Day of the Dead by Rodrigo Duarte-Clark on Thursday, October 19. In this one-woman sequel to the popular Doña Rosita’s Jalapeño Kitchen performed here by Perez in 1998, our heroine, “who likes her chiles hot and her gossip sizzling,” takes us on a moving, comic, mystical journey of reconciliation with the ancestors. Spalding Gray, the inimitable storyteller of Monster in a Box and Gray’s Anatomy, returns on Saturday, January 20 with Morning, Noon & Night, a hilarious new look at being a stay-at-home dad. In the simultaneously mundane and wondersome world of diapers and training wheels, Gray’s former comically neurotic wanderings are supplanted by routine, devotion and hope. A Noise Within, Southern California’s homegrown professional repertory theater which has previously performed here works from the British and European canons, returns on Tuesday, January 30 with a classic American drama. In their new production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the company revives an enduring tale of a family struggling with legacy, loyalty, lust and power. The Acting Company, one of the few nationally-touring professional repertory companies, performs William Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, the winning romantic tale of mistaken identities and lost twins in ancient Greece, on Tuesday, April 24. This production features typical Acting Company fare: beautiful costumes and sets, and some of the country’s top young theatrical talent. EARLY AND CLASSICAL MUSIC Winners of the 1999 Osaka Chamber Music Competition, the Jerusalem Trio, a violinist, cellist and pianist from Israel, will perform the moving memorial to Ukrainian Jews by Shostakovich, Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 67, “Tribute to Babi Yar;” Ben-Haim’s Variations on a Hebrew Melody; and Dvorák’s Dumky Trio in concert on Thursday, October 26. The St. Petersburg String Quartet, an amazing Grammy-nominated foursome founded at the Leningrad Conservatory, will perform romantic and powerful music on Wednesday, January 17: Prokofiev String Quartet No. 2; String Quartet No. 1 by Georgian composer Zurab Nadarejshvili; and a work by Glazunov. The crowd-pleasing, world-touring pianist Christopher O’Riley, noted for his sensitivity, seamless technique and wide-ranging repertoire, will perform on Thursday, February 1. He previously graced our stage with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival in Spring 1991 and 1990, but this solo recital is his first in Campbell Hall. The Clerks’ Group, an award-winning English vocal ensemble made up of eight men and women, will perform sumptuous a cappella polyphony on Tuesday, February 27. Gathered around a single part-book in authentic period style, they’ll sing music from the Burgundian Courts, including a rare 15th-century mass by Jacobus Barbieau, Missa Virgo parens Christi, and motets by Pierre de la Rue, Josquin and Ockeghem. Husband-wife team David Finckel, cello and Wu Han, piano, conclude Arts & Lectures’ classical music offerings on Thursday, April 12. Finckel is cellist for the esteemed Emerson String Quartet and Wu Han is a world-class pianist. Their onstage magic is palpable and their enjoyment of music is contagious. This beautiful program includes Beethoven’s Sonata in A Major, Op. 69; Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70; Rachmaninov’s Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19 and a work created just for the duo by Bruce Adolphe, Couple. DINNER-AND-A-SHOW In response to the overwhelming popularity of the Hungarian buffet dinner held at the UCSB Faculty Club in conjunction with the May 2 performance of Hungarian music by Muszikás and Márta Sebestyén, six more evenings of thematic cuisine have been planned for audiences to enjoy before performances at Campbell Hall. The following dinners will be served during our upcoming season: the Faculty Club will serve a Korean dinner prior to the Korean Buddhist Monks on October 17; Portuguese cuisine before Misia on November 1; a Spanish supper on November 14 before Noche Flamenca; Russian fare prior to the St. Petersburg Quartet on January 17; Irish food before Altan on February 22; and U.S. cuisine before Marian McPartland Trio on May 15. All dinners will be at 6 p.m. Menus, prices and reservation information will be announced approximately one month prior to the performances. TICKETS AND INFORMATION All performances are at 8 p.m. in UCSB Campbell Hall. Parking is plentiful, free, well-lit and just steps from the theater. UCSB Arts & Lectures Choose-Your-Own Series subscribers are renewing their subscriptions now. The season brochure, enabling the general public to purchase Choose-Your-Own Series and single tickets, will be available in mid-summer. Ticket buyers who purchase tickets to any five or more events (Arts & Lectures unique and flexible Choose-Your-Own Series) in the coming season can take $3 off the price of each ticket they buy. Choose-Your-Own Series subscribers get the best seats in the house (because they can purchase tickets earlier than individual ticket buyers), free ticket exchanges and lost ticket insurance. With special student discounts, a Choose-Your-Own Series offers students entry to five terrific live performances for around $55. Arts & Lectures welcomes orders for single tickets and will fill those orders in early September after subscriptions are filled. Tickets to individual events go on sale Wednesday, September 13, 2000 at 10 a.m. For tickets or to add your name to the mailing list to receive a season brochure, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535. For tickets or more information, Editor: For photos, please call |
