Winter Program 2020
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Dear Arts & Lectures’ Friends and Family, We launched our season with our We Can Do It! A Century of Empowerment initiative, and I’m so pleased that our community responded so positively to education champion Tara Westover, soccer stars Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, plus eye-widening thought-leader Esther Perel. And there’s more to come, with Anita Hill (p. 59), historian Jill Lepore (p. 61) and U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (p. 35), to name a few. Turning the calendar to 2020 we give you Forces of Nature (p. 8-11), our next initiative and another sprawling and complex mass of ideas, problems, solutions and challenges that face our community and our planet. Marking 50 years since the Santa Barbara oil spill and our community’s role in the birth of the modern environmental movement, Forces of Nature brings together a battalion of brains and bravery – women and men who are taking action and making a difference. Turn the page and you’ll see what I mean. But Arts & Lectures is never just about one idea. Or two. We celebrate the eclectic nature of arts and culture and we’re excited to present everything from Itzhak Perlman in a special multimedia evening about his life and career (p. 14) to Memphis jookin master Lil Buck (p. 16) to the Martha Graham Dance Company (p. 18) and superb pianist Daniil Trifonov (p. 37). A special note: we are deeply honored to partner with the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara to bring Dr. Mary-Claire King (p. 36), the brilliant geneticist who discovered the BRCA1 cancer gene and has done so much for medical science and human rights. She’s nothing short of extraordinary and she will have a huge impact on our community. Spread the word about this FREE community event. Thank you for joining us this winter. It’s profoundly satisfying to play a role in our community’s vibrant cultural life. Corporate Season Sponsor
With deepest appreciation,
Celesta M. Billeci Miller McCune Executive Director
Community Partners
Forces of Nature Activism, Education, Research & Solutions
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photo: the Jane Goodall Institute
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2019 United Nations Champion of the Earth
Katharine Hayhoe Science in a Fact-Free World
Tue, Jan 14 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall / FREE One of Time’s 100 Most Influential People and Politico’s 50 thinkers, doers and visionaries, Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist who studies climate change and persuasively communicates what it means to us here and now. A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of UCSB Environmental Studies
Bill McKibben
Our Changing Climate: A Global Movement of Reform Sat, Feb 29 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall Bill McKibben is leading the movement against human-induced climate change. He is the author of The End of Nature, a founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide grassroots climate change movement, and the author of the new book Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Run Itself Out?
David Wallace-Wells Surviving the World: Making the Best of a Burdened Planet
Thu, Mar 5 / 7:30 PM / The New Vic Author of the bestseller The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, David Wallace-Wells explores the meaning of climate change – not only what it is doing to the planet but how it shapes our politics, our culture and our emotional lives.
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An Evening with
Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE Gombe: 60 Years of Discovery
Tue, Mar 31 / 7:30 PM / Arlington Theatre
Sixty years on from her revolutionary work with chimpanzees in Tanzania, Jane Goodall still inspires each of us to take action on behalf of all living things and the planet we share. 1. Katharine Hayhoe 2. Bill McKibben 3. David Wallace-Wells 4. Kandi White 5. Jane Lubchenco 6. Yvon Chouinard 7. Naomi Klein 8. Elizabeth Rush 9. Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE
This timely series recognizes five decades of environmental activism, education and research, building upon Santa Barbara’s legacy as the birthplace of the modern environmental movement. These “Forces of Nature” are carrying us forward, taking action and offering responses to the pressing environmental issues of today for a hopeful tomorrow.
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Kandi White
Environmental Justice and Indigenous Communities Mon, Apr 13 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall / FREE A lead organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, Kandi White is fighting the impacts that climate change and environmental injustice are having on indigenous communities across North America. 50th Anniversary of Earth Day
Jane Lubchenco
From a Rude Awakening to a Bold New Vision: The Path from a Disastrous Oil Spill to a Sustainable Future Wed, Apr 22 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall / FREE Dubbed “the bionic woman of good science,” MacArthur fellow, presidential advisor and distinguished professor Jane Lubchenco is a renowned marine biologist and champion of engagement between scientists and society. An Afternoon with
Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia Protecting Public Land
Sun, Apr 26 / 3 PM / Granada Theatre / FREE A moderated conversation with Yvon Chouinard and featuring clips from Patagonia’s upcoming film, This Land. In a time of growing divisions, Americans still share something in common: 640 million acres of public lands. And yet, they face unprecedented threat from entrenched industries and regressive politicians. This conversation will explore the future of our public lands and our planet.
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Naomi Klein
The Case for a Green New Deal Wed, Apr 29 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, columnist and the bestselling author of The Shock Doctrine, No Logo, This Changes Everything, No Is Not Enough and her most recent, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal. UCSB Reads Author Event
Elizabeth Rush
Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore Mon, May 4 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall / FREE Author of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore, Elizabeth Rush explores how humans adapt to changes enacted upon them by forces seemingly beyond their control.
Lead Sponsors: Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher and Erika & Matthew Fisher in memory of J. Brooks Fisher Presented in partnership with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History & Sea Center, Community Environmental Council, UCSB Department of Environmental Studies and the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Presented in association with UCSB Natural Leaders: Environmental Research & Impact, Central Coast Climate Justice Network, Environmental Defense Center, Explore Ecology, Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, Los Padres ForestWatch, Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network, Sierra Club – Los Padres Chapter and Wilderness Youth Project
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What is it? Arts & Lectures’ Thematic Learning Initiative
extends the conversation from the stage into the community, inspiring lifelong learning opportunities that initiate change and empowerment. Join A&L and other knowledge seekers like you who want to learn more, know more and do more to improve ourselves and the world around us. Connect with others at intimate salon-style discussions, film screenings and added special public events. Receive online educational resources, sign up for book giveaways and more!
What does it cost? It’s FREE! Who participates? More than 2,000 community
members like you and local organizations like social services, health and wellness providers and civic organizations.
Get Involved! Visit www.Thematic-Learning.org or
email TLI@ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu to get updates and more information.
Winter 2020 Book Selection Each quarter, we select a book written by an A&L speaker that expands on one of the season’s themes, and provide free copies for the community.
Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? by Bill McKibben
FREE copies of Falter by Bill McKibben will be available beginning Thursday, January 23 at Arts & Lectures’ Campbell Hall Box Office at UCSB and the Santa Barbara Central Library (40 E. Anapamu St.). Books available while supplies last. RELATED EVENT
Note new A&L Box Office location
Bill McKibben public lecture, Feb. 29 at Campbell Hall (p. 67)
Left: A&L Council member Lynda Weinman with Tara Westover, author of Educated Right: A&L Program Advisor Bruce Heavin with composer Philip Glass
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@ArtsAndLectures
photos: Grace Kathryn Photography
With thanks to our visionary partners, Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin, for their support of the Thematic Learning Initiative
Forces of Nature
FREE EVENTS
Jan 14 PUBLIC LECTURE: Katharine Hayhoe (p. 13) Science in a Fact-Free World 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall
Jan 27 FILM: This Changes Everything 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall
Inspired by Naomi Kleinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s international non-fiction bestseller, the film presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines of climate change, from Montanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond.
Related Event: Naomi Klein public lecture, Apr. 29
Jan 29 PUBLIC LECTURE: Kenneth Rosenberg
Three Billion Birds Lost: The Disappearance of North American Birds and What We Can Do About It 7:30 PM / SB Museum of Natural History, Fleischmann Auditorium Presented with the Santa Barbara Audubon Society and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Feb 3 FILM: A Fierce Green Fire:
The Battle for a Living Planet
4 PM / SB Central Library, Faulkner Gallery*
Spanning 50 years of grassroots and global activism, the film connects the major causes of environmentalism, from conservation to climate change, through vivid archival footage and interviews that shed light on the battle for a living planet.
Presented with the Santa Barbara Central Library
Feb 27 FILM: Jane
7:30 PM / Campbell Hall
Drawing from more than 100 hours of never-before-seen footage from the National Geographic archives, this film tells the story of Jane Goodall, whose chimpanzee research challenged the male-dominated scientific consensus of her time and revolutionized our understanding of the natural world.
Related Event: Dr. Jane Goodall public lecture, Mar. 31
Mar 10 FILM: Anthropocene: The Human Epoch 7:30 PM / UCSB Pollock Theater
The film follows the research of an international body of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group, who are arguing that the Holocene Epoch gave way to the Anthropocene Epoch in the mid-twentieth century because of profound and lasting human changes to the Earth. Includes post-screening Q&A.
Presented with the Carsey-Wolf Center in conjunction with UCSB Reads *Online registration recommended: www.Thematic-Learning.org
www.Thematic-Learning.org
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Elaine Pagels
in Conversation with Pico Iyer
photo: Derek Shapton
photo: Barbara Conviser
Thu, Jan 9 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall
Presented through the generosity of Tana & Joe Christie Speaking with Pico Series Sponsors: Martha Gabbert, Dori Pierson Carter & Chris Carter, and Laura Shelburne & Kevin O’Connor
Elaine Pagels
Pico Iyer
Elaine Pagels, Harrington Spear Paine Professor at Princeton University, focused her early research on an astonishing discovery of ancient texts discovered in Upper Egypt in 1945. After receiving her doctorate from Harvard and writing her prize-winning book The Gnostic Gospels, she received grants from the Rockefeller and Guggenheim foundations and the surprise of a MacArthur Fellowship.
Pico Iyer is the author of two novels and 13 works of non-fiction, and his books have been translated into 23 languages. He has also written the introductions to more than 70 other works as well as liner notes for Leonard Cohen and a screenplay for Miramax. A constant contributor to Time, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books and more than 250 other publications for more than 37 years, he has just published three new books, including Autumn Light and A Beginner’s Guide to Japan, both on his adopted home near Kyoto. In recent years, he has given four talks for TED, and they have received more than nine million views so far.
Her recent work investigates how social history, politics and religion interact. It also explores topics that include the cultural origins of western views on sexuality, of Christian anti-Semitism, and the pervasiveness of apocalyptic thinking in contemporary politics. In 2013, she received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University, and in 2016, she received the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama. Besides publishing translations, editions, two monographs and many scholarly articles, she has rewritten much of her research to make these discoveries – and others – more accessible in such books as Adam, Eve, and the Serpent: Sex and Politics in Early Christianity (1988), The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics (1995), Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (2003) and Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation (2012). This fall, HarperCollins published her most recent book, Why Religion? A Personal Story.
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Books by both authors are available for purchase in the lobby and a signing follows the event
Special thanks to
@ArtsAndLectures
Katharine Hayhoe Science in a Fact-Free World
Tue, Jan 14 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall / FREE
photo: Artie Limmer
Presented in association with the UCSB Department of Environmental Studies
Katharine Hayhoe is an accomplished atmospheric scientist who studies climate change – one of the most pressing issues facing humanity today – and why it matters to us here and now. She has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Thinkers and Fortune magazine’s World’s Greatest Leaders. Hayhoe’s research focuses on developing and applying high-resolution climate projections to understand what climate change means for people and the natural environment. She has served as lead author on the Second, Third and Fourth National Climate Assessments. A remarkable communicator, she also hosts and produces the PBS Digital Studios series Global Weirding: Climate, Politics and Religion and is well-known for how she’s bridging the gap between scientists and Christians – work she does in part because she’s a Christian herself. She’s been named by Christianity Today as one of their 50 Women to Watch.
Forces of Nature Series Lead Sponsors: Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher and Erika & Matthew Fisher in memory of J. Brooks Fisher
Hayhoe is currently a professor and directs the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She has a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Toronto and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois. She serves on advisory committees for a broad range of organizations including the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the Earth Science Women’s Network and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Hayhoe has received the American Geophysical Union’s climate communication prize, the Stephen H. Schneider Climate Communication Award, the National Center for Science Education’s Friend of the Planet award, the American Geophysical Union’s Climate Communication Prize and the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award.
(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
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Special 75th Birthday Celebration! A Uniquely Personal Multimedia Event
An Evening with
Itzhak Perlman
Stories of His Life and Career photo: Lisa Marie Mazzucco
with Rohan De Silva, piano Tue, Jan 21 / 6:30 PM (note special time) / Granada Theatre
Presented through the generosity of Sara Miller McCune
About the Program Thank you for joining us for An Evening with Itzhak Perlman. This new program is the culmination of many years of Mr. Perlman being urged to share the story of his life and career through anecdotes, musical pieces and personal photos from his archives. It is a first-ever experience for audiences to learn more about the extraordinary 13-year-old boy who became a household name more than 60 years ago. We are delighted to share this special program with you tonight. – Charlotte Lee, Primo Artists, Executive Producer
Itzhak Perlman, violin and host Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry but also to his irrepressible joy of music-making and communicating with audiences. Born in Israel in 1945, Perlman completed his initial training at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. An early recipient of an America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship, he was propelled to national recognition on The Ed Sullivan
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Show in 1958. The 60th anniversary of this milestone was celebrated with a return to the Ed Sullivan Theater on November 2, 2018 in a special guest appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Following Perlman’s studies at the Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian and Dorothy DeLay, he won the Leventritt Competition in 1964, which led to a burgeoning worldwide career and performances with every major orchestra and at concert halls around the globe. Perlman has been honored with 16 Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a Genesis Prize, a National Medal of Arts by President Clinton, a Medal of Liberty by President Reagan and a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, which is the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Rohan De Silva, piano Rohan De Silva’s partnerships with violin virtuosos Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Joshua Bell, Benny Kim, Kyoko Takezawa, Vadim Repin, Gil Shaham, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and James Ehnes have led to highly-acclaimed performances at recital venues all over the world. He has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall and Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Los Angeles’ Disney Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre in London,
@ArtsAndLectures
Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Philharmonie de Paris, Munich Gasteig, Mozarteum Salzburg, La Scala in Milan and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Alongside Perlman, De Silva has appeared worldwide in recital and performed multiple times at the White House: in 2012 at the invitation of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama for Israeli President and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Shimon Peres; and at a state dinner in 2007, hosted by President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush for Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. A native of Sri Lanka, De Silva was invited in 2015 by the Prime Minister of his country to perform at a luncheon for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on his historic visit to Sri Lanka. De Silva began his piano studies with his mother, the late Primrose De Silva, and with the late Mary Billimoria. He spent six years at the Royal Academy of Music in London as a student of Hamish Milne, Sydney Griller and Wilfred Parry. He received both his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Juilliard School, studying piano with Martin Canin and chamber music with Felix Galimir and working closely with violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay. He was awarded a special prize as Best Accompanist at the 1990 Ninth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award, presented to him by Itzhak Perlman at the 2005 Classical Recording Foundation Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall. De Silva has recordings available on Deutsche Grammophon, Universal, CBS/SONY Classical, Collins Classics, Chandos and RCA Victor.
Elliott Forrest, producer, projection designer Elliott Forrest is a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster, director and producer. He is the afternoon host on New York City’s Classical Radio Station 105.9FM, WQXR, host of the radio concerts of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has hosted more the 60 concerts on stage at Carnegie Hall.
He is the founding executive artistic director of ArtsRock.org of Rockland County, N.Y. His orchestra narration includes Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, Peter and the Wolf, Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale and Britten’s Young Person’s Guide. For 12 years, he was on A&E Television as host of Breakfast with the Arts. He appeared on the original Gong Show on NBC. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from the University of Texas, Austin.
Producers: Elliott Forrest, Max Szadek Projection Designer: Elliott Forrest Art Director: Max Szadek Video Editor: Helen Yum Consultant: Dan Sullivan Advisors: David Lai, Alison Chernick Production Assistant: Ann Sunhyung Kim Executive Producer: Charlotte Lee Management for Itzhak Perlman: Primo Artists, New York, NY 10001 / www.primoartists.com Mr. Perlman’s recordings can be found on the Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Warner/EMI Classics, Sony Classical and Telarc labels Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
Special thanks to
Forrest is director and projection designer of the PBS special Considering Matthew Shepard and co-director and projection designer of the live tour. He regularly produces, directs and designs symphony concerts around the country for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Pasadena Pops and the Little Orchestra Society in venues including the Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center.
(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
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Movement Art Is (MAI) Jon Boogz & Lil Buck Love Heals All Wounds
photo: Tim Salaz
Wed, Jan 22 / 8 PM / Campbell Hall
Created and directed by MAI - Jon Boogz and Lil Buck Spoken word poetry by Robin Sanders Choreographed and performed by MAI in collaboration with artists: Marcus Battle, Nao Campbell, Trent Jeray, Reimy Jones, Ron Myles, Alexa Nof, Quentin Robinson, Olga Sokolova, and Jason Yang Dramaturg: Talvin Wilks Writer/Creative Director: Robin Sanders Original Music: Jason Yang Projection Design: Lianne Arnold Lighting Design: John E. D. Bass Costume Design: Castille Ritter & Colin Hornett / Yöggx Rehearsal Director: Reimy Jones Assistant Choreographer: Nao Campbell Costume Construction: Abby Stroot & Pincushion Las Vegas Additional music by Chizzy, DBR, Parker & Marshall Mulherin, Izzy Beatz Featured Voice Narration: Bryan Stevenson Production Director/Producer: Chisa Yamaguchi Producer: Rika Iino / Sozo Artists & MAI Love Heals All Wounds was made possible by The Quiet Fund and the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support was provided by The Arnhold Foundation and MHCS. Love Heals All Wounds was workshopped at Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts in Northridge, Calif., and produced by Sozo Artists Inc. and MAI in partnership with Sozo Impact Fund and its fiscal sponsors Silicon Valley Community Foundation and WACO Theater Center.
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Presented through the generosity of Jody & John Arnhold
About the Program On a daily-basis, we are bombarded by news cycles that reveal the inhumane realities of this world, social media updates and misguided microaggressions that project a fabricated value on our lives. Love Heals All Wounds goes past headlines to explore our shared consciousness in relation to police brutality and mass incarceration as well as how the cycle of trauma on life needs to end. MAI has created a dynamic work interwoven with spoken word, original music and projections to chart a movement towards reflection, growth and healing through the dreams and visions of a world we create together.
Artist Statement Creating Love Heals All Wounds has been an amazing process and is a true embodiment of all the powerful work MAI has created in the last few years. The show tackles a range of potent issues – environmental racism, systematic oppression, police brutality and many ideologies that keep humans from connecting to one another and the world around them. This work has been a transformative challenge for the cast and creators – we not only had to develop the right movement language alongside the narrative, but also it was essential to face our own mental barriers and to thread those discoveries into the work. The vision of Love Heals All Wounds is to inspire audiences to look deeply within themselves in the hopes that together, we will carve pathways forward to creating real solutions for true healing. – Jon Boogz
@ArtsAndLectures
Love Heals All Wounds brings together an exceptional myriad of artistry. Mixing the incomparable words of Robin Sanders, original music by Jason Yang, Daniel Bernard Roumain and Chizzy and an unparalleled mastery of street dance styles such as popping and Memphis Jookin, this collaborative work strives to bring awareness to important social and global issues and how they affect us all. Giving a one-of-a-kind experience through the inimitable lens of MAI, Love Heals All Wounds aspires to have positive social impact in communities around the world by uniquely using art as a tool to help inspire action and ultimately lead to positive, sustainable change. – Lil Buck
About Movement Art Is (MAI) Co-founded by Jon Boogz and Lil Buck, MAI is an organization that uses movement artistry to inspire and change the world while elevating the artistic, educational and social impact of dance. Through movement art films, workshops, performances and exhibitions, MAI is resetting the spectrum of what dance is. The duo’s creative process behind this production of Love Heals All Wounds is the subject of a Netflix documentary coming out in spring 2020. http://movementartis.com
About the Artists Jon Boogz | @jonboogz Jon Boogz is a visionary director, choreographer and movement artist who is pushing the evolution of dance. With a career sweeping across genres, he has an uncanny ability to meld art forms while shining a light on social issues affecting the global community. Originally motivated to dance by the work of Michael Jackson, Boogz has choreographed and directed work for Cirque du Soleil and So You Think You Can Dance; notable icons including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Naomi Campbell and Gloria Estefan; and campaigns for Adidas, Apple, Lexus, Dom Pérignon and Marriott. Boogz recently wrote, choreographed, directed and danced in Color of Reality, a short film in collaboration with visual artist Alexa Meade. The work continues to receive coverage internationally and won Great Big Story’s Art as Impact Award; Best Experimental at Toronto International Short Film Festival; and Concept Video of the Year from World of Dance, among others. His forthcoming projects seek to merge movement with fine art, film, technology and the stage.
Lil Buck | @lilbuckdalegend International phenomenon Lil Buck began jookin’ – a street dance that originated in Memphis – at age 13 alongside mentors Marico Flake and Daniel Price. After receiving early hip-hop training from Teran Garry and ballet training on scholarship at the New Ballet Ensemble, he performed and choreographed until relocating to Los Angeles in 2009. Named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch, his collaboration with Spike Jonze and Yo-Yo Ma performing The Swan went viral in 2011. Since then, he has collaborated with a broad spectrum of artists including JR, Damian Woetzel, the New York City Ballet, Madonna, Benjamin Millepied and Spike Lee. Buck is an avid arts education advocate; recipient of the WSJ Innovator Award; collaborates frequently with global brands including Apple, Lexus, Glenfiddich and Louis Vuitton; and recently launched a capsule collection with Versace. He co-starred in the viral short film Color of Reality, which continues to screen at film festivals worldwide and has won numerous awards.
Robin Sanders | @rsanders182 Robin Sanders (Writer, Creative Director) is a captivating communicator, and her energy and passion are infectious. Her credentials include more than 13 years of professional experience in teaching, performing and public speaking. Sanders currently serves as founder/director of Out Loud Artistry, a performing arts training and mentorship program with a mission to develop skilled performing artists that leverage their artistry to positively impact and transform their communities and the world.
Sozo Artists | @sozoartists Sozo Artists is an international arts agency empowering an inclusive roster of groundbreaking artists of the highest caliber. Founded and led by women, Sozo Aritsts partners with arts institutions, brands and civic entities, building artistic and cultural bridges through bold, perspective-changing projects to invoke a vibrant, trusting and compassionate society. MAI Worldwide Representation Sozo Artists, Inc. info@sozomedia.com @sozoartists | 917-791-3680 Special thanks to
(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
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Martha Graham Dance Company The EVE Project photo: Dancer Leslie Andrea Williams by Hibbard Nash
Fri, Jan 24 / 8 PM / Granada Theatre Presented in association with the UCSB Department of Feminist Studies and the UCSB Department of Theater and Dance Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin Dick Wolf Major Sponsor: Zegar Family Foundation
Presented through the generosity of Jody & John Arnhold Dance Series Sponsors: Annette & Dr. Richard Caleel, Margo Cohen-Feinberg & Bob Feinberg, Irma & Morrie Jurkowitz, Barbara Stupay, and Sheila Wald
Janet Eilber, Artistic Director LaRue Allen, Executive Director The Company Lloyd Knight, Ben Schultz, Xin Ying, Lloyd Mayor, Natasha M. Diamond-Walker, Lorenzo Pagano, Charlotte Landreau, Anne Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Donnell, Leslie Andrea Williams, Anne Souder, Laurel Dalley Smith, So Young An, Marzia Memoli, Jacob Larsen, Alyssa Cebulski, Alessio Crognale, Aoi Sato, Androniki Vasili, Denise Vale, Senior Artistic Associate
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@ArtsAndLectures
The EVE Project
Celebrating women and the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment “First we have to believe and then we believe.” – Martha Graham Eve Forging
Ekstasis
A film by Justin Scholar
Choreography by Martha Graham, reimagined by Virginie Mécène Costume by Martha Graham Original music by Lehman Engel Music for reimagined Ekstasis by Ramon Humet†
Diversion of Angels Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham Music by Norman Dello Joio† Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal Adapted by Beverly Emmons Premiere: August 13, 1948, Palmer Auditorium, New London, CT Martha Graham once described Diversion of Angels as three aspects of love: the couple in white represents mature love in perfect balance; red, erotic love; and yellow, adolescent love. The dance follows no story. Its action takes place in the imaginary garden love creates for itself. The ballet was originally called Wilderness Stair. “It is the place of the Rock and the Ladder, the raven, the blessing, the tempter, the rose. It is the wish of the single-hearted, the undivided; play after the spirit’s labor; games, flights, fancies, configurations of the lover’s intention; the believed Possibility, at once strenuous and tender; humors of innocence, garlands, evangels, Joy on the Wilderness Stair, diversion of angels.” – Ben Belitt, American Poet
Premiere: May 4, 1933, Guild Theatre, New York City Ekstasis (reimagined): February 14, 2017, The Joyce Theater, New York City “The body is a sacred garment.” – Martha Graham
Natasha M. Diamond-Walker †“Interludi meditatiu VII” from Homenaje a Martha Graham, © Neu Records 2016, used by arrangement with the copyright owner.
Errand Into the Maze Choreography by Martha Graham Music by Gian Carlo Menotti† Lighting by Lauren Libretti Costumes by Maria Garcia Premiere: February 28, 1947, Ziegfeld Theatre, New York City
The Couple in White: Leslie Andrea Williams, Lorenzo Pagano The Couple in Red: So Young An, Lloyd Knight The Couple in Yellow: Laurel Dalley Smith, Jacob Larsen Alyssa Cebulski, Marzia Memoli, Anne O’Donnell, Aoi Sato, Alessio Crognale
There is an errand into the maze of the heart’s darkness in order to face and do battle with the Creature of Fear. There is the accomplishment of the errand, the instant of triumph, and the emergence from the dark.
†Used by arrangement with Carl Fischer, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
– Intermission –
Charlotte Landreau, Lloyd Mayor †Used by arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.
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Lamentation Variations
Chronicle
Choreography by Aszure Barton, Liz Gerring and Michelle Dorrance Music by George Crumb, Michael J. Schumacher and Michelle Dorrance and Jaco Pastorius† Lighting (Barton) by Beverly Emmons Lighting (Dorrance) by Nicholas Houfek Lighting (Gerring) by Amith Chandrashaker Costumes (Barton) by Jennifer O’Donnell Costumes (Dorrance) by Barbara Erin Delo Costumes (Gerring) by Reid & Harriet Conceived by Janet Eilber
Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham Music by Wallingford Riegger† Original lighting by Jean Rosenthal Lighting for reconstruction (“Steps in the Street”) by David Finley Lighting for reconstruction (“Spectre–1914,” “Prelude to Action”) by Steven L. Shelley
Premiere: September 11, 2007, Joyce Theater, New York City The Lamentation Variations is an event that was conceived in 2007 to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. The work is based on a film from the early 1940s of Martha Graham dancing movements from her then new, and now iconic, solo, Lamentation. The choreographers were each invited to create a movement study in reaction to the Graham film for the current company of Graham dancers.
Barton Variation: So Young An, Anne Souder Gerring Variation: Lloyd Knight with So Young An, Alessio Crognale, Leslie Andrea Williams Dorrance Variation: So Young An, Alessio Crognale, Natasha M. Diamond-Walker, Lloyd Knight, Charlotte Landreau, Jacob Larsen, Lloyd Mayor, Marzia Memoli, Anne O’Donnell, Leslie Andrea Williams The Lamentation Variations was commissioned by the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc. with support from Francis Mason. Dorrance and Gerring Variations were commissioned for the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc. by Carolina Performing Arts. †Crumb (Barton): “Apparition” (IX. The Night in Silence Under Many a Star); Schumacher (Gerring): Zoltan’s Ghost, commissioned by Liz Gerring Dance Company; Pastorius (Dorrance): Portrait of Tracy arranged by Michelle Dorrance.
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Premiere: December 20, 1936, Guild Theater, New York City Chronicle does not attempt to show the actualities of war; rather does it, by evoking war’s images, set forth the fateful prelude to war, portray the devastation of spirit which it leaves in its wake and suggest an answer. (Original program note.)
I. Spectre–1914 Drums–Red Shroud–Lament Anne Souder
II. Steps in the Street Devastation – Homelessness – Exile Laurel Dalley Smith So Young An, Alyssa Cebulski, Natasha M. Diamond-Walker Charlotte Landreau, Marzia Memoli, Anne O’Donnell Aoi Sato, Androniki Vasili, Leslie Andrea Williams
III. Prelude to Action Unity – Pledge to the Future Anne Souder, Laurel Dalley Smith So Young An, Alyssa Cebulski, Natasha M. DiamondWalker, Charlotte Landreau, Marzia Memoli, Anne O’Donnell, Aoi Sato, Androniki Vasili, Leslie Andrea Williams “Spectre–1914” reconstructed in 1994 by Terese Capucilli and Carol Fried, from film clips and Barbara Morgan photographs. “Steps in the Street” reconstructed in 1989 by Yuriko and Martha Graham, from the Julien Bryan film discovered by Dr. Barry Fischer. “Prelude to Action” reconstructed in 1994 by Sophie Maslow, with Terese Capucilli, Carol Fried, and Diane Gray, from film clips and Morgan photographs. †Finale from New Dance, Opus 18b (for “Steps in the Street”), originally composed for Doris Humphrey, orchestrated by Justin Dello Joio, used by arrangement with Associated Music Publishers, Inc., publisher and copyright owner. Additional orchestrations by Stanley Sussman.
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About the Program Diversion of Angels (1948) Diversion of Angels, originally titled Wilderness Stair, premiered at the Palmer Auditorium of Connecticut College on Aug. 13, 1948. The title, as well as a set piece designed by Isamu Noguchi suggestive of desert terrain, was discarded after the first performance, and the dance was reconceived as a plotless ballet. Diversion of Angels is set to a romantic score by Norman Dello Joio and takes its themes from the infinite aspects of love. The Couple in Red embodies romantic love and “the ecstasy of the contraction;” the Couple in White, mature love; and the Couple in Yellow, a flirtatious and adolescent love. Martha Graham recalled that when she first saw the work of the modern artist Wassily Kandinsky, she was astonished by his use of color, a bold slash of red across a blue background. She determined to make a dance that would express this. Diversion of Angels is that dance, and the Girl in Red, dashing across the stage, is the streak of red paint bisecting the Kandinsky canvas. – Ellen Graff
Ekstasis (1933) Ekstasis is thought to be the 87th creation by Graham. In a 1980 interview, Graham explained that the genesis of this dance came from a pelvic thrust gesture that she discovered one day. This led her to explore “a cycle of distortion” that she found deeply meaningful. “Before Ekstasis, I had been using a more static form, trying to find a ritualist working of the body,” she concluded. Virginie Mécène created the current choreography based on the sparse documentation of this original solo, which included Graham’s writings and photos by Soichi Sunami and Barbara Morgan.
Errand Into the Maze (1947) Errand Into the Maze premiered in 1947 with a score by Gian Carlo Menotti, set design by Isamu Noguchi and starring Martha Graham. The duet is loosely derived from the myth of Theseus, who journeys into the labyrinth to confront the Minotaur, a creature who is half man and half beast. Martha Graham retells the tale from the perspective of Ariadne, who descends into the labyrinth to conquer the Minotaur. The current production of Errand Into the Maze was created in reaction to the damage done to the sets and costumes by Hurricane Sandy. This version, stripped of the classic production elements, is meant to intensify our focus on the dramatic, physical journey of the choreography itself.
Lamentation Variations (2007) The Lamentation Variations premiered in 2007 to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. Three choreographers were asked to create a spontaneous choreographic sketch of their reaction to a film of Martha Graham dancing her iconic solo, Lamentation. The artists were required to adhere to the following conditions: 10 hours of rehearsal, public domain music or silence, no longer than four minutes, no sets or props, basic costumes and lighting design. Though it was planned to be performed on only one occasion, the audience reception for the Lamentation Variations was such that it has become an ongoing creative project for the Company. In the years since its premiere, a total of 15 variations have been commissioned from a great range of today’s top artists such as Yvonne Rainer, Lar Lubovitch, Sonya Tayeh, Kyle Abraham, Michelle Dorrance and many more.
Chronicle (1936) Chronicle premiered at the Guild Theater in New York City on Dec. 20, 1936. The dance was a response to the menace of fascism in Europe; earlier that year, Graham had refused an invitation to take part in the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, stating: “I would find it impossible to dance in Germany at the present time. So many artists whom I respect and admire have been persecuted, have been deprived of the right to work for ridiculous and unsatisfactory reasons, that I should consider it impossible to identify myself, by accepting the invitation, with the regime that has made such things possible. In addition, some of my concert group would not be welcomed in Germany” (a reference to the fact that many members of her group were Jewish). This is one of the very few dances Martha Graham made which can be said to express explicitly political ideas, but, unlike Immediate Tragedy (1937) and Deep Song (1937), dances she made in response to the Spanish Civil War, this dance is not a realistic depiction of events. The intent is to universalize the tragedy of war. The original dance, with a score by Wallingford Riegger, was 40 minutes in length, divided into five sections: “Dances before Catastrophe: Spectre–1914 and Masque,” “Dances after Catastrophe: Steps in the Street and Tragic Holiday” and “Prelude to Action.” The dance disappeared from the repertory in 1937 and was thought to be lost. In 1985, Barry Fischer discovered a film by Julien Bryan of the original cast of “Steps in the Street,” which he reconstructed at NYU as part of his doctoral research. Since that discovery, the Company has reconstructed and now performs “Spectre–1914,” “Steps in the Street” and “Prelude to Action.” – Ellen Graff
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About Martha Graham Martha Graham has had a deep and lasting impact on American art and culture. She single-handedly defined contemporary dance as a uniquely American art form, which the nation has in turn shared with the world. Crossing artistic boundaries, she collaborated with and commissioned work from the leading visual artists, musicians and designers of her day, including sculptor Isamu Noguchi and composers Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti. Graham’s groundbreaking style grew from her experimentation with the elemental movements of contraction and release. By focusing on the basic activities of the human form, she enlivened the body with raw, electric emotion. The sharp, angular and direct movements of her technique were a dramatic departure from the predominant style of the time. Graham influenced generations of choreographers that included Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp, altering the scope of dance. Classical ballet dancers Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov sought her out to broaden their artistry. Artists of all genres were eager to study and work with Graham – she taught actors including Bette Davis, Kirk Douglas, Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Gregory Peck, Tony Randall, Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson and Joanne Woodward to utilize their bodies as expressive instruments. During her long and illustrious career, Graham created 181 dance compositions. During the Bicentennial, she was granted the United States’ highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1998, Time magazine named her the Dancer of the Century. The first dancer to perform at the White House and to act as a cultural ambassador abroad, she captured the spirit of a nation. “No artist is ahead of his time,” she said. “He is his time. It is just that the others are behind the time.”
About the Company The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a world leader in the evolving art form of modern dance since its founding in 1926. Today, under the direction of Artistic Director Janet Eilber, the Company is embracing a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists. With programs that offer a rich thematic narrative, the Company creates new platforms for contemporary dance and multiple points of access for audiences.
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Since its inception, the Company has received international acclaim from audiences in more than 50 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The Company has performed at such illustrious venues as the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, the Paris Opera House and Covent Garden, as well as at the base of the Great Pyramids of Egypt and in the ancient Herod Atticus Theatre on the Acropolis in Athens. In addition, the Company has also produced several award-winning films broadcast on PBS and around the world. Though Martha Graham herself is the best-known alumna of her company, the Company has provided a training ground for some of modern dance’s most celebrated performers and choreographers. Former members of the Company include Merce Cunningham, Erick Hawkins, Paul Taylor, John Butler and Glen Tetley. Among celebrities who have joined the Company in performance are Mikhail Baryshnikov, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Maya Plisetskaya, Tiler Peck, Misty Copeland, Herman Cornejo and Aurelie Dupont. In recent years, the Company has challenged expectations and experimented with a wide range of offerings beyond its mainstage performances. It has created a series of intimate in-studio events, forged unusual creative partnerships with the likes of SITI Company, Performa, the New Museum, Barney’s and Siracusa’s Greek Theater Festival (to name a few); created substantial digital offerings with Google Arts and Culture, YouTube and Cennarium; and created a model for reaching new audiences through social media. The astonishing list of artists who have created works for the Graham dancers in the last decade reads like a catalog of must-see choreographers: Kyle Abraham, Aszure Barton, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lucinda Childs, Marie Chouinard, Michelle Dorrance, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Andonis Foniadakis, Liz Gerring, Larry Keigwin, Michael Kliën, Pontus Lidberg, Lil Buck, Lar Lubovitch, Josie Moseley, Richard Move, Bulareyaung Pagarlava, Annie-B Parson, Yvonne Rainer, Sonya Tayeh, Doug Varone, Luca Vegetti, Gwen Welliver and Robert Wilson. The current company dancers hail from around the world and, while grounded in their Graham core training, can also slip into the style of contemporary choreographers like a second skin, bringing technical brilliance and artistic nuance to all they do – from brand new works to Graham classics and those from early pioneers such as Isadora Duncan, Jane Dudley, Anna Sokolow and Mary Wigman. “Some of the most skilled and powerful dancers you can ever hope to see,” according to the Washington Post last year. “One of the great companies of the world,” says The New York Times, while the Los Angeles Times notes, “They seem able to do anything, and to make it look easy as well as poetic.”
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Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance Staff LaRue Allen, Executive Director Janet Eilber, Artistic Director Denise Vale, Senior Artistic Associate Faye Rosenbaum, Director of Business Continuity Simona Ferrara, General Manager Jillian Brinberg, Company Manager Fran Kirmser, Director of Development & Strategic Partnerships A. Apostol, Development Officer / Executive Associate Chelsea Polanco, Development Associate Jordan Ryder, Assistant to the Executive Director Melissa Sherwood, Marketing Director Elizabeth Ajtay, Marketing Assistant Oliver Tobin, Director of Martha Graham Resources / Director of Teens@Graham Lee Relvas, Archives Assistant Angelica Gorga, Administrative Assistant Haejin Han, Production Supervisor Yi-Chung Chen, Lighting Supervisor Karen Young, Costume Consultant Alina Bushong, Costume Supervisor Joseph Shrope, Costume Project Manager Anne Posluszny, Theatrical Property Restorer Jennifer Patten, Head of School Virginie Mécène, Program Director / Director of Graham 2 Lone Larsen, Program Director Tami Alesson, Dean of Student and Government Affairs Yejin Lee, School Receptionist Sierra Powell, School Receptionist Harmony Jackson, Evening Receptionist Janet Stapleton, Press Agent
Regisseurs Amélie Bénard, Tadej Brdnik, Susan Kikuchi, Lone Larsen, Peggy Lyman, Virginie Mécène, Miki Orihara, Marni Thomas, Oliver Tobin, Ken Topping, Denise Vale, Blakeley White-McGuire
Board of Trustees Kenneth Bloom, Chairman Judith G. Schlosser, Chairman Emerita Inger K. Witter, President Lorraine Oler, Secretary LaRue Allen, Executive Director Janet Eilber, Artistic Director Amy Blumenthal Barbara Cohen Merrie S. Frankel Inga M. Golay Sandra Harris Emil Kang Con Way Ling Javier Morgado Jayne Millard Nichole Perkins John Vail Kathryn White Hooman Yazhari
North American Representation Rena Shagan Associates, Inc. www.shaganarts.com
International Representation LaRue Allen Executive Director lallen@marthagraham.org
Alumni Search If you or someone you know has ever performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company or attended classes at the Martha Graham School, please send us names, addresses, telephone numbers and approximate dates of membership. We will add you to our alumni mailing list and keep you apprised of alumni events and benefits. Call +1.212.229.9200 or e-mail info@marthagraham.org. The Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance is a not-for-profit corporation, supported by contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies. Contributions in support of the Martha Graham Center will be gratefully received at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc., 55 Bethune Street New York, NY 10014, or visit www.marthagraham.org/contribute. For more information, visit www.marthagraham.org Major support for the Martha Graham Dance Company is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Howard Gilman Foundation National Endowment for the Arts New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature The Artists employed in this production are members of the American Guild of Musical Artists AFL-CIO Copyright to all Martha Graham dances presented held by the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc. All rights reserved. Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
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Includes New Commission by UCSB Arts & Lectures
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin Jay Campbell, cello
photo: MarcoBorggreve
Sat, Jan 25 / 7 PM / Hahn Hall
Presented in association with the UCSB Department of Music
Program
About the Program
Traditional: “Alleluia” from Winchester Troper
Traditional: “Alleluia” from Winchester Troper
Jörg Widmann: 24 Duos for Violin and Cello XXI. Valse bavaroise XXIV. Toccatina all’inglese Orlando Gibbons: Fantasia a2, No. 4 Maurice Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Cello Allégro Très vif Lent Vif – Intermission – Márton Illés: Én-kör III (New Commission) Iannis Xenakis: Dhipli Zyia for Violin and Cello
The Winchester Troper, the oldest surviving collection of two-part music in Europe, dates from the eleventh century. Its name comes from Winchester, Hampshire, a city sixty miles southwest of London, where the Winchester cathedral was founded in 642 CE; “Troper” refers to a collection of tropes, pieces of new music added to pre-existing plainchant (unaccompanied, free-flowing melodies sung in unison in Roman Catholic church services). In the Middle Ages, this tradition expanded to include two-voiced compositions called organum. For centuries, the Winchester Troper was largely considered unreadable. Only in the past 50 years have scholars deciphered these ancient compositions and translated them into notation readable by modern-day performers. Among the 150 or so pieces collected in the Troper, 53 are Alleluias. The Alleluia performed here is characteristic of those in the collection, the two melismatic voices moving together in consonant harmony.
Guillaume De Machaut: Ballade 4 (“Biauté qui”) Györgi Ligeti: Hommage à Hilding Rosenberg Zoltán Kodály: Duo for Violin and Cello, op. 7 Allegro serioso, non troppo Adagio Maestoso e largamente, ma non troppo lento
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Jörg Widmann (b. 1973): 24 Duos for Violin and Cello
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): Sonata for Violin and Cello
In the first edition of the published score, Widmann writes,
In March 1918, eight months before the Armistice, Claude Debussy, the leading figure in French music, lost a long battle with colon cancer. Cultural figures at home and abroad rushed to declare Ravel his successor. In London, The Times wrote “Since the death of Debussy he has represented to English musicians the most vigorous current in modern French music,” while in Paris, Ravel was awarded the Légion d’Honneur, which he flatly refused to accept. This newfound attention created a rift between the composer and some of his colleagues. In response, the already reserved Ravel bought a house (which he dubbed “Le belvédère”) in the suburbs of Paris and moved there with his three cats.
Violin and violoncello simultaneously form a comparable and incomparable pair. In these duos, both instruments are inseparably dependent on one another and cannot exist without each other…. Everything is interwoven, and everything one instrument does has consequences for the other. They attract each other, reject each other, love and hate each other, sometimes throw balls back and forth in play and then suddenly with an almost destructive intent. The playful elements of the work therefore always remain serious and the serious elements playful. Tricks and effects are totally absent: I have concentrated on the bare and essential musical substance right down to the most miniature phrases. Substantial parts of the duos were composed in distant Dubai. This seems to have proved to have been an extremely inspirational and productive time for me, even though the titles of certain movements such as “Valse bavaroise” [Widmann was born and lives in the Bavarian capital of Munich] in Vol. 2 or the final piece in Vol. 1 “Four Verses of Homesickness” tell of a different type of longing.
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625): Fantasia a2, No. 4 During the Jacobean era, the 22-year reign of King James I in the 17th century, viol playing was widely cultivated among the noble classes in English courts and universities. Orlando Gibbons was among those composers who met this demand with new works for viol (a string instrument played between the legs like a cello), writing nearly 30 pieces for the instrument in various configurations. This fantasia, like many from the period, eschews strict formal structures and projects an air of inspired improvisation, one player following the other in canon. In Gibbons’ day, English noblemen would have been well-versed in The Book of the Courtier, a Renaissanceera guide to navigating the spoken and unspoken rules of courtly etiquette. Among these was the concept of sprezzatura, a studied carelessness that flaunted one’s skills while projecting an air of not trying too hard. Easy-butnot-too-easy works like Gibbons’ fantasias would have been well-suited to those wishing to impress without appearing desperate to impress.
Ravel and Debussy had had a long and complex relationship, a professional rivalry based upon mutual respect which deteriorated amid sharp criticism and partisan debate. An early example of Ravel’s admiration for the older composer comes from his days in the Paris Conservatory when, against the wishes of his conservative professors, Ravel attended all 14 performances of the first run of Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande. Ravel wrote little in the years following the war, a nightmarish parade of death which stifled the composer’s creativity. Two years after Debussy’s passing, Henry Prunières, the editor of the then-new magazine La Revue musicale, invited composers to submit short musical tributes. Ravel’s submission would become the first movement of his Sonata for Violin and Cello. It took Ravel more than a year to shape the three remaining movements of the Sonata, one of the first works he completed after the war. Ravel was quite fond of the piece, calling it “a truly symphonic work for two instruments.” “The music is stripped down to the bone,” he added, “the allure of harmony is rejected and increasingly there is a return of emphasis on melody.” The first movement, in three-part sonata form, opens with an obsessive violin ostinato; similar repeated patterns appear throughout the four movements. This device, one Ravel frequently employed, struck some of his contemporaries as mechanical: Igor Stravinsky dismissively referred to the Frenchman as a “Swiss watchmaker” who favored technique above emotionality. The second opens with a nimble pizzicato exchange. These bars recall the pizzicato opening of the second movement of Ravel’s String Quartet – itself modeled on Debussy’s String Quartet, which also opens with plucked strings. This movement is far from melodious; it might be more accurately compared to a high-stakes ping pong match.
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Following a long silence, the music slows and softens before a raucous conclusion. A mournful cello solo begins the slow movement. The violin enters in canon, playing the melody an octave higher. Halfway through, the music reaches a rupture and crescendos. Both instruments play the final third of the movement with mutes, seldom rising above a distant piano. The Sonata concludes with a rustic finale which culminates in a driving, sawing finish.
Márton Illés (b. 1975): Én-kör III Én-kör (I-circle/Me-circle) is a series of short pieces for two or three instruments (Én-kör I for 2 trumpets and horn, 2014; Én-kör II for saxophone and harp, 2017). Most of my musical contents are related to the human psyche and body. I’ve been observing reflexes, gestures, pains and other rather subtle psychophysical stirrings in the human body, as well as textures, rank growth and varied processes in organic nature and trying to understand and reproduce their energetic structures in my music. The new duo for Violin and Violoncello had been taking shape almost simultaneously with the just-finished violin concerto Vont-tér (bowed space) I wrote for Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Similarly to the violin concerto, the piece consists of short, intense, nervous gestures of very expressive, almost vocal qualities. They chase each other in a restless contrapuntal manner, converse, overlap, develop, loosen up for short moments and sometimes lead to longer culminating sections. The music accumulates a great amount of energy and the interpretation requires power, precision and virtuosity by the musicians. I drew an enormous inspiration from Patricia’s and Jay’s extraordinary playing to this new piece! – Márton Illés
Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001): Dhipli Zyia for Violin and Cello As a teenager, Xenakis studied music while simultaneously preparing to enter the civil engineering program at Athens Polytechnic. The Axis invasions halted his studies, and Xenakis soon found himself protesting in the streets. The occupation and subsequent retreat created a power vacuum that Greek political factions and outside forces rushed to fill, plunging the already devastated country into civil war. In 1944, a shell fragment from a British tank struck the left side of Xenakis’ face, leaving him scarred and blind in one eye. Soon after, Xenakis and other left-wing
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resistance fighters were punished for their role in the civil war. Condemned to death and stripped of his citizenship, Xenakis fled first to Italy, then to France in hopes of making it to the United States. Forced to remain in Paris as an illegal immigrant, he found employment in the studio of Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier. One of Xenakis’ earliest works, Dhipli Zyia (“Duo”) dates from his first years in Paris. In his early period, Xenakis sought to emulate Béla Bartók’s synthesis of folk music with the techniques of European modernism. While working in Le Corbusier’s studio, Xenakis studied composition with various teachers, several of whom rejected him. He composed Dhipli Zyia while auditing the composition courses of Olivier Messiaen, who recognized his unique gifts and steered him away from lessons in traditional harmony and counterpoint. Within Dhipli Zyia’s fast-slow-fast structure, Xenakis evokes Greek folk dances and the plucking of lyre and lute. The music is often aggressive, its irregular meters constantly changing. Xenakis had only just begun to explore the intersections of sound, three-dimensional space, and mathematics in his music, a fascination which would soon emerge in his first major composition, Metastaseis.
Guillaume de Machaut (c.1300-1377): Ballade 4 (“Biauté qui”) Poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut is unusual among his contemporaries for the sheer amount of his work which survives, largely due to Machaut’s careful preservation. Trained to be a court secretary, Machaut compiled volumes devoted entirely to his own music and verse. While much is known about Machaut the musician and poet – Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, was a fan – his biography remains shrouded in mystery. “Ballade” has its origins in the Provençal balar, “to dance.” Over the centuries, the derivative “ballad” came to be associated almost exclusively with sung text; today, ballads are nearly synonymous with sentimental tear-jerkers or bombastic torch songs. The text, penned by Machaut, tells of a lovesick man pining for a distant beloved, the titular “beauty to equal all others.” Each of the three stanzas ends with the same refrain: “All these things have brought me to the point where I will die for love.” Such maudlin subject matter was standard fare for Machaut and the noble class for whom he often wrote.
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György Ligeti (1923-2006): Hommage à Hilding Rosenberg The full title, Tribute to Hilding Rosenberg’s Birthday (Evoking the Spirit of Bartók), names two preeminent musical modernists of the 20th century. Rosenberg, one of the first modernist Swedish composers, helped steer Swedish composition away from earlier Romantic traditions. Ligeti and Rosenberg had met and struck up a friendship while teaching at the University of Stockholm in the 1960s. Ligeti composed this tribute to his colleague in 1982 on the occasion of Rosenberg’s 19th birthday. Ligeti’s connection to fellow Hungarian Béla Bartók dates to the former’s teenage years. In an interview conducted the year he wrote this piece, Ligeti remarked, “I was very much impressed by Bartók. You know, he was the great Hungarian composer…. Bartók was the big genius: I think he still is, for me.” A defining feature of Ligeti’s œuvre is his use of polyphony, the independent movement of melodic lines. One of Ligeti’s most famous compositions, Atmosphères, contains myriad slow-moving lines interacting in what Ligeti termed “micropolyphony.” Ligeti explained, “you cannot actually hear the polyphony, the canon. You hear a kind of impenetrable texture, something like a very densely woven cobweb.” By contrast, the melodic independence in Hommage à Hilding Rosenberg is limited by its small number of players. The music moves quickly, creating flashes of dissonant and ever-changing harmonies. Despite the piece’s celebratory genesis, “Happy Birthday to You” it is not. Descending chromatic lines indirectly reference Hungarian funeral laments Ligeti heard as a boy. The resonant open strings which close the work provide a sonic reset.
Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967): Duo for Violin and Cello, op. 7 Zoltán Kodály spent his youth in the countryside near Budapest. Alongside the folk music Kodály absorbed from classmates and neighbors, his parents exposed him to music from the Classical era. He attended the Academy of Music in Budapest, where he wrote his dissertation on the structure of Hungarian folk song. Shortly after, the Academy hired him as a professor where he taught alongside Béla Bartók. Together, the two would become pioneers in the burgeoning field of ethnomusicology, spending years collecting, recording and cataloging indigenous folk tunes. This work had a tremendous influence on Kodály’s own compositions. While the majority of his works are folk song settings, even the instrumental works are deeply indebted to Kodály’s immersion in Hungarian folk music.
The first movement places violin and cello in extended dialogue. Following the bold and lyrical introduction, the violin introduces the movement’s primary theme, a winding melody which begins with an upward leap. The instruments trade this melody throughout the movement, one always accompanied by the other’s plucked strings. The cello closes with a slow, heavy tune as the violin evokes the sawing of a peasant fiddle. In the mournful and aggressive Adagio, Kodály explores the rich palette of tone colors in both instruments, at times overtly contrasting them. In one passage, the violin intones a rich, full-voiced melody as the cello plays an accompaniment of thin, wispy arpeggios. In the final bars, violin plays with a mute while unmuted cello imitates the breathy timbre of a flute. A majestic, lilting violin solo opens the third and final movement, its florid passagework interrupted by short, plucked duets. After this introduction, the music shifts gears into a boisterous Presto. The instruments dart around one another before careening across the last pages. Program notes © Andrew McIntyre, 2019
Patricia Kopatchinskaja Combining depth, brilliance and humor, Patricia Kopatchinskaja brings an inimitable sense of theatrics to her music. Whether performing a violin concerto by Tchaikovsky, Ligeti or Schoenberg or presenting an original staged project deconstructing Beethoven, Ustvolskaja or Cage, her distinctive approach always conveys the core of the work. Highlights of the 2019-2020 season include: European tours with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer, London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle and a Far-East tour with Teodor Currentzis. Special highlights include the world premiere of a new commission by Francisco Coll with Philharmonie Luxembourg and a new collaboration with soprano Anna Prohaska and Camerata Bern. Maria Mater Meretrix includes works by Kurtag, Martin and Holst, among others, and will tour to Cologne, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Last season included the world premiere and European Tour of a Vivaldi project with Il Giardino Armonico featuring new works by living composers, which will be released on disc (Alpha) in summer 2020. Kopatchinskaja also made important debuts with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Nagano) and Los Angeles Philharmonic
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(Gražinytė-Tyla). She gave a Japanese tour with Currentzis and performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker (Petrenko). Kopatchinskaja appears regularly with artists such as Polina Leschenko, with whom she toured recently to Japan and the U.S; Reto Bieri, with whom she and Leschenko premiered a new trio program at Wigmore Hall which will tour this season; and cellist Jay Campbell, whom she will join in January 2020 for recitals in Washington, Boston, Santa Barbara and San Francisco. In addition to her regular performance schedule, Kopatchinskaja continues to curate interesting and original projects including her most recent, “Pierrot Lunaire,” which was performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker this summer and followed the success of “Dies Irae” and “Bye Bye Beethoven.” As a passionate campaigner against global warming, Kopatchinskaja partnered last season with musicians from the Staatskapelle Berlin (founders of the Orchester des Wandels) to perform “Dies Irae” in support of the NaturTon Foundation. Kopatchinskaja is also a humanitarian ambassador for Terre des Hommes, the leading Swiss child relief agency. Kopatchinskaja held the position of artistic partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 2014 to 2018. She was awarded the Swiss Grand Award for Music by the Federal Office of Culture for Switzerland in 2017 and has held positions as artist in residence at various festivals including Lucerne (2017) and Ojai (2018). In 2018, she won a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber and Small Ensemble Performance category for Death and the Maiden with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (Alpha) and was nominated in 2014 in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category (Naïve).
Jay Campbell Praised by The New York Times for his “electrifying performances” which “conveyed every nuance,” American cellist Jay Campbell has already forged a reputation as a spellbinding artist. Campbell has collaborated with musicians including Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, David Lang and John Zorn to members of Radiohead and Einstürzende Neubauten. Campbell holds the distinction of being the only artist ever to receive two Avery Fisher Career Grants – in 2016 as a soloist and again in 2019 as a member of the JACK Quartet. In the 2019-2020 season, Campbell will serve as co-curator of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella series opener with composer John Adams. He will also embark on a duo recital tour in major U.S. cities with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and will make his recital debut at New York City’s 92nd Street Y. Previous highlights include his Berlin debut at the Berlin Philharmonie with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and his New York Philharmonic debut performing Tan Dun’s “Silk Road Encounters” from Crouching Tiger Concerto at Avery Fisher Hall. Campbell has premiered nearly 100 works by composers including Chris Rogerson, David Lang, Michael Van der Aa and Luca Francesconi, to name just a few. Campbell’s close association with John Zorn led to the release of the album Hen to Pan featuring a collection of new compositions written for him by Zorn. The Seattle Symphony released two recordings featuring Campbell: the first, in 2018, featured George Perle’s Cello Concerto (Bridge), and the second, in 2019, included a recording of Marc-André Dalbavie’s Cello Concerto (Seattle Symphony Media). Upcoming releases include a disc with works of Beethoven, Debussy, Stravinsky and Pintscher (Victor Elmaleh Collection) and a collection of works commissioned for Campbell by David Fulmer (Tzadik).
Recent releases include Michael Hersch’s Violin Concerto, recorded with International Contemporary Ensemble, Deux, a duo recital disc with Polina Leschenko and her first release with Camerata Bern, Time and Eternity (Alpha).
As a chamber musician, Campbell is a member of the JACK Quartet, as well as the Junction Trio with violinist Stefan Jackiw and pianist Conrad Tao.
www.patriciakopatchinskaja.com
Campbell plays on a cello crafted in the 1750s by Italian luthier Paolo Antonio Testore of Milan. www.jay-campbell.net
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@ArtsAndLectures
Black Violin Impossible Tour
Tue, Jan 28 / 7 PM (note special time) / Granada Theatre
photo: Mark Clennon
Kev Marcus, violin Wil Baptiste, viola, vocals Nat Stokes, drums DJ SPS, DJ
Program will be announced from the stage
“We had a wall that we wrote stuff on,” Wil Baptiste says, describing the process that led to Black Violin’s new album, Take the Stairs. “We had all the ideas about what story we were going to convey. And it kept coming back to the idea of hope – songs that spoke about going against the grain, carrying through struggle, being optimistic. We wanted to say, ‘it’s tough now, but hang in there.’” Much like the ways their instruments interact on stage, Baptiste’s creative collaborator Kev Marcus echoes this theme, and then expands on it. “Hope is the thread that keeps this thing together, it’s the heartbeat of this album,” he says. “But then a lot of tentacles went different ways – the song ‘Impossible is Possible’ is about challenging people. So it went different directions from just being hopeful, we took it a little further.” The first single released ahead of Take the Stairs was the timely and inspiring “Dreamer,” with a message that was immediately embraced by several commercial campaigns. “This is the day when I go all the way/I make it my own/Here’s to the dreamers,” Baptiste sings. “That just really hit home,” Marcus says. “It got to the heart of what we’re about.” For more than a dozen years, Black Violin has been all about taking things further, exceeding expectations, challenging conventions. The classical-meets-hip hop duo has steadily built a devoted following and a diverse touring base, while occupying a musical lane that’s entirely its own. “When you do something you love, it’s not difficult,” Baptiste says. “I’m just going on stage and being who I am. When
people want to listen, when you touch them and make them want to keep fighting – to see that spreading out to more people, it’s about way more than just the music.” Indeed, Black Violin’s work extends far beyond the stage, reaching deep into urban communities with numerous free performances for students and hands-on engagement with youth symphonies and community centers. Through the TurnAround Arts program, Baptiste and Marcus connect with more than 100,000 students throughout the year, mostly at low-income and Title I schools. In Bethune Elementary in Florida’s Broward County (near where they grew up), they initiated an ongoing mentorship program. Baptiste expresses the idea that, no matter how unique Black Violin’s music may be, it is ultimately more than just a creative enterprise. “It’s really a movement,” he says, “an organism that’s its own thing and really feels necessary.” With Take the Stairs, Black Violin are striving to take their message of unity and inclusiveness even further, moving Baptiste’s vocals further forward while continuing to explore the possibilities of merging classical virtuosity and structure with modern beats and tones. “We wanted something different, beautiful songs that could go to radio,” Baptiste says. “I sing every night, so that’s nothing new, but we felt like we’ve never had that one song that can help elevate us to the next level. This album has records like ‘One Step’ that can appeal to everybody, so we lean a bit more on that, but we still had to keep that quintessential Black Violin sound.”
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“When you’re a creative musician,” Marcus adds, “when you press record, you let the music lead you. The vocals have definitely stepped up each time – Wil becomes more of a vocalist on each album and finds his voice a little more. It solidifies us as artists, too, trying to make a bigger stamp.”
the Stairs tracks] and he said ‘That has a cool bounce to it – let’s funk out that groove and put an Al Green-style bass line on it. We both played violas over that, which I’d never heard. So that one is funk mixed with a Czech Slavonic dance with an Al Green sample and viola solos.”
The members of Black Violin first met in Fort Lauderdale and played together in the orchestra at the Dillard High School of the Performing Arts. (Baptiste originally wanted to play saxophone in the band, but the orchestra teacher got him assigned to his class by winning a golf bet with the band instructor.) Classically trained by day, they faithfully put on their headphones and listened to the hottest rap records each night. They went to different colleges – Marcus attended Florida International University and Baptiste went to Florida State – but then reconvened, moved into an apartment together and started trying to produce other musicians.
The members of Black Violin both point to their own personal evolution and maturity and to the ways this growth came out on Take the Stairs. “This time, every ‘i’ is dotted and ‘t’ is crossed,” says Marcus. “There was a rush to the last album, a deadline we had to hit after we signed our record deal. This one we funded and produced ourselves, then shopped the record. So it was a really well-thought out and more deliberate process; we had more time to live with everything and feel comfortable with it.”
They developed an act covering hip-hop songs on their violins, which became popular in local clubs. Two years after sending in a tape to Showtime at the Apollo, they were invited to appear on the show – which they won, and they kept winning. They were approached by Alicia Keys’ manager, who asked them to perform with the singer at the Billboard Awards. Other offers followed – they toured with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, opened for the Wu-Tang Clan, scored an episode of CSI: New York. Individually and together, Baptiste and Marcus have worked with everyone from Kanye West to Tom Petty, Lupe Fiasco to Aerosmith. All the while, Black Violin continued touring non-stop (playing as many as 200 shows a year) and released two independent, self-financed albums before putting out the acclaimed Stereotypes in 2016. The 13 tracks on Take the Stairs reveal the range and diversity of their influences and vocabulary, from “Showoff ” (which Baptiste calls a “classic instrumental”) to the Curtis Mayfield-inspired “Lost in the Garden.” One favorite is “A Way Home” – “That should be the Olympics theme song!,” Baptiste says. “I can see us going from country to country, engaging with different cultures. I played it for my wife and she started crying – that’s a special song right there.” Marcus notes that “inspiration can come from anywhere – the cable guy played me an Ethiopian tune when he was fixing my modem.” He points to the track “Al Green” as an example of the journey that Black Violin songs can take. “I had a Dvořák piece called ‘Slavonic Dancers’ and I was into that vibe,” he says. “I played it for Salaam Remi [who has worked with the likes of Nas, Amy Winehouse and the Fugees and who co-produced and is featured on several Take
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Baptiste says that Black Violin isn’t always explicit with its message, but that they don’t have to be – that the creation of an audience that is multi-generational, and ethnically and economically diverse, is a powerful statement of its own. “The stereotypes are always there, embedded so deep in our culture,” he says. “Just by nature of our existence – the idea that these black guys who could be football or basketball players are playing the violin – we challenge those ideas. It’s a unique thing that brings people together who aren’t usually in the same room, and in the current climate, it’s good to bring people together.” It’s all wrapped up in the name of the album. “For 16 years, we’ve slowly been taking the stairs,” Marcus says. “It’s a gradual kind of snowball where now we have control, we can tour in Alaska – we took the hard way for so many years, now we can look back and see what we’ve learned. “You’ve got to work hard to get what you want. But you shouldn’t be looking for the easy way, anyway, because the hard way is where the real lessons are.” Listen to Take the Stairs here: https://orcd.co/takethestairs Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
Special thanks to
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Jon Meacham
America Then and Now: What History Tells Us About the Future
photo: Gasper Tringale
Thu, Jan 30 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre Presented in association with the UCSB Division of Humanities and Fine Arts and the UCSB Department of History Presented through the generosity of Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli and Stacy & Ron Pulice History Matters Series Sponsors: Loren Booth and Ellen & Peter O. Johnson
Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham is one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals. A contributor to Time and The New York Times Book Review, Meacham is a highly sought-after commentator, regularly appearing on CNN and MSNBC. Known as a skilled orator with a depth of knowledge about politics, religion and current affairs, Meacham brings historical context to the issues and events impacting our daily lives. His latest New York Times bestseller, Songs of America, is a celebration of the music that helped shape a nation. Co-written by musician Tim McGraw, Songs of America was praised as “a glorious celebration of our diversity” by Quincy Jones and an “unusually well-written and moving story” by Ken Burns. Meacham’s No. 1 New York Times bestseller, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, examines the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in U.S. history when hope overcame division and fear. He is a co-author of the recently released book, Impeachment: An American History, which reveals the complicated motives behind three impeachments in U.S. history. His Presidential biography, Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. He also delivered eulogies for both President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. Meacham’s other national bestsellers include Franklin and Winston, American Gospel and American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009.
A contributing editor at Time, Meacham writes for the magazine’s Ideas section. He also pens “The Long View” column in The New York Times Book Review in which he “looks back at books that speak to our current historical and cultural moment.” He served as Newsweek’s managing editor from 1998 to 2006 and editor from 2006 to 2010. The New York Times called him “one of the most influential editors in the news magazine business.” Named a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a fellow of the Society of American Historians and chairs the National Advisory Board of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University. Meacham is a Distinguished Visiting Professor of History at The University of the South and a Visiting Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt. He is currently at work on a biography of James and Dolley Madison. Books are available for purchase in the lobby and a signing follows the event
Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
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Santa Barbara Debut
Hanzhi Wang, accordion
photo: Matt Dine
Sat, Feb 1 / 4 PM (note special time) / Hahn Hall
Corporate Sponsor: Grafskoy Hindeloopen Up Close & Musical Series Sponsor: Dr. Bob Weinman
Program
Hanzhi Wang
Johannes Sebastian Bach: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 (arr. Busoni)
Praised for her captivating stage presence and performances that are technically and musically masterful, the groundbreaking young musician Hanzhi Wang is the only accordionist to ever win a place on the roster of Young Concert Artists (YCA) in its 59-year history. She is proving herself to be the perfect ambassador for her instrument.
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in D Minor, K. 9 Sonata in C Major, K. 159 Sonata in G Major, K. 146 Jean-Philippe Rameau: Selections from Pièces de Clavecin L’ Egyptienne La Livri Le rappel des oiseaux – Intermission – Alfred Schnittke: Revis Fairy Tale I. Chichikov’s Childhood II. Officials III. Waltz IV. Polka Edvard Grieg: Selections from Holberg Suite, op. 40 Prélude Gavotte Rigaudon
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Other firsts include being named Musical America New Artist of the Month, an interview and performance on the 2,145th episode of New York WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase as the first solo accordionist on the program and the Naxos label’s first-ever solo accordion CD, Wang’s On the Path to H.C. Andersen, which was nominated for the prestigious DR (Danish Radio) P2 Prize in 2019. First Prize Winner of the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Wang’s debut opened the 20182019 YCA Series in New York in the Peter Marino Concert at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, and her Washington, D.C. debut opened the 40th Anniversary Young Concert Artists Series at the Kennedy Center, co-presented with Washington Performing Arts. This season, the Young Concert Artists Series will present her in New York with YCA’s Omer Quartet in the Summis Auspiciis Concert at The Morgan Library and Museum. Wang was awarded YCA prizes for performances for Candlelight Concert Society in Columbia, Md.; Sinfonia Gulf Coast in Destin, Fla.; Tri-I Noon Recitals at Rockefeller University in New York City; Vancouver
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Recital Society; Tannery Pond Concerts (N.Y.); Usedom (Germany) Festival; Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle (N.C.); University of Florida Performing Arts Prize; and Krannert Center at the University of Illinois in Urbana. In addition, Alan and Judy Kosloff and Mike Lubin and Anne-Marie McDermott sponsor her YCA Fellowship, and she holds the Ruth Laredo Prize and Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women Artists of YCA. Additional invitations to perform have come from the Oregon Music Festival for a performance as soloist with orchestra, IRIS Orchestra in Tennessee, Palm Beach Symphony, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center (Ala.), Leaf Peeper Concerts (Mass.), Grand County (Colo.) Concert Series, the Bravo! Vail and Ibagué (Colombia) Music Festivals and YCA alumnus Alexander Fiterstein’s Clarinet Academy in Minneapolis.
Coming in Spring Only U.S. Appearance
Yefim Bronfman and the New York Philharmonic String Quartet Frank Huang, violin Sheryl Staples, violin Cynthia Phelps, viola Carter Brey, cello
Wang won First Prize in the 40th Castelfidardo International Accordion Competition in Italy. She inspires the next generation of accordionists with lectures, performances and master classes at the Manhattan School of Music, Royal Danish Academy of Music, Tianjin Music Conservatory, Ghent Music Conservatory (Belgium) and in Norway and Portugal. Composers Martin Lohse, James Black and Sofia Gubaidulina have written and dedicated works to her.
photo: Dario Acosta
Wang earned her Bachelor’s degree at the China Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She completed her Master’s degree at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with the renowned accordion professor Geir Draugsvoll and now serves as an assistant teacher at the Academy.
“Yefim Bronfman pushes [the] boundaries of what’s possible on piano. He demonstrated artistic finesse and surprising grace alongside the fabulous, fearsome technique that has made [him] a keyboard legend.” The Seattle Times Presented in association with the UCSB Department of Music
Tue, Apr 7 / 7 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall Tickets start at $40 / $15 UCSB students
(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
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An Evening with
Chris Thile
Tue, Feb 4 / 8 PM / Campbell Hall Program will be announced from the stage
Presented through the generosity of Marcia & John Mike Cohen Multiple Grammy Award-winner and MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile, a member of Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek and host of the radio program Live from Here, is a mandolin virtuoso, composer and vocalist. With his broad outlook, Thile transcends the borders of conventionally circumscribed genres, creating a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike. A child prodigy, Thile first rose to fame as a member of Grammy Award-winning trio Nickel Creek, with whom he released four albums and sold more than two million records. In 2014, along with a national tour, the trio released a new album, A Dotted Line, their first since 2005. As a soloist, Thile has released several albums including his most recent, Thanks for Listening, produced by Thomas Bartlett, a collection of recordings originally written as Songs of the Week for Live from Here.
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In February 2013, Thile won a Grammy Award for his work on The Goat Rodeo Sessions, collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan. In September 2014, Thile and Meyer released their latest album collaboration, Bass + Mandolin, which won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Punch Brothers released their latest album, the Grammywinning All Ashore, in July 2018 with PopMatters describing the album as â&#x20AC;&#x153;a call to savor, to pay attention, to step back from the hustle and bustle and remember the importance of being calm.â&#x20AC;? Special thanks to
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Joy Harjo
An Evening with the U.S. Poet Laureate Wed, Feb 5 / 7:30 PM / Fleischmann Auditorium Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Presented in association with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
photo: Matika Wilbur
Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin Dick Wolf Major Sponsor: Zegar Family Foundation
Presented through the generosity of Diana & Simon Raab
In 2019, Joy Harjo was appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold the position. Born in Tulsa, Okla., Harjo is an award-winning poet, writer, performer and saxophone player of the Muskogee Creek Nation. Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Paul Winter says, “Joy Harjo is a poet of music just as she is a poet of words.” She is the author of nine books of poetry and a memoir. Her many writing awards include the 2019 Jackson Prize from the Poetry Society of America, the Ruth Lilly Prize from the Poetry Foundation, the 2015 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. Harjo’s poetry collections include An American Sunrise (2019), Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (2015), How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems (2002) and She Had Some Horses (1982). Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings was shortlisted for the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize and added to the American Library Association’s 2016 Notable Books List. Her memoir, Crazy Brave (2012), won several awards including the PEN USA Literary Award for Creative Non-Fiction and the American Book Award. Harjo is currently working on her next memoir, and she has a commission from the Public Theater of New York to write We Were There When Jazz Was Invented – a musical play that will restore Southeastern natives to the American story of blues and jazz.
Soul Talk, Song Language (2011) is a collection of Harjo’s essays and interviews. She co-edited an anthology of contemporary Native women’s writing, Reinventing the Enemy’s Language: Native Women’s Writing of North America, one of the London Observer’s Best Books of 1997. She wrote the award-winning children’s book The Good Luck Cat, and in 2009, she published a young adult coming-of-age-book, For a Girl Becoming, which won a Moonbeam Award and a Silver Medal from the Independent Publishers Awards. A renowned musician, Harjo performs with her saxophone nationally and internationally, solo and with her band, The Arrow Dynamics. She has five CDs of music and poetry including her most recent award-winning album of traditional flute, Red Dreams: A Trail Beyond Tears and Winding Through the Milky Way, which won a Native American Music Award (NAMMY) for Best Female Artist of the Year in 2009. She also performs her one-woman show, Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light, which premiered at the Wells Fargo Theater in Los Angeles in 2009. Harjo is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the Rasmuson United States Artist Fellowship. In 2014, she was inducted into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame. Books are available for purchase in the lobby and a signing follows the event
(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
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Co-presented with
Thu, Feb 6 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall / FREE Presented in association with Breast Cancer Resource Center, Ridley-Tree Cancer Center at Sansum Clinic, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics and UCSB Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Sponsored by the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara, proud supporter of the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center and its Genetic Counseling Program
Dr. Mary-Claire King
The Genetics of Inherited Breast and Ovarian Cancer: From Gene Discovery to Precision Medicine and Public Health Mary-Claire King, Ph.D., is American Cancer Society Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. She was the first to show that breast cancer is inherited in some families, as the result of mutations in the gene that she named BRCA1. In addition to inherited breast and ovarian cancer, her research interests include the genetic bases of schizophrenia, the genetic causes of congenital disorders in children and human genetic diversity and evolution. She pioneered the use of DNA sequencing for human rights investigations, developing the approach of sequencing mitochondrial DNA preserved in human remains, then applying this method to the identification of kidnapped children in Argentina and subsequently to cases of human rights violations on six continents. Dr. King grew up in Chicago. She received her BA cum laude in Mathematics from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn.; her Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California at Berkeley; and her postdoctoral training at UC San Francisco. Her Ph.D. dissertation with Allan Wilson was the demonstration that protein-coding sequences of humans and chimpanzees are 99% identical. She was a professor at UC Berkeley from 1976-1995 and has been at the University of Washington in Seattle since 1995.
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Dr. King has served on multiple councils and study sections of the N.I.H. and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. She was consultant to the Commission on the Disappearance of Persons of the Republic of Argentina and carried out DNA identifications for the United Nations War Crimes Tribunals. She is past president of the American Society of Human Genetics and a past member of the Council of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. King has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine (formerly IOM), the American Philosophical Society and as a foreign member of the French Academy of Sciences. She has received 19 honorary doctoral degrees, from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Rockefeller, Leuven (Belgium), Tel Aviv (Israel) and Ben Gurion (Israel) universities; the University of Michigan; the State University of New York; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Hong Kong University; the University of British Columbia; and Carleton, Smith, Bard, Dartmouth and Williams colleges. Her awards include the Gruber Foundation Prize in Genetics, the Dan David Prize, the Shaw Prize, the Lasker Foundation Special Achievement Award for Medical Research and the United States National Medal of Science. Special thanks to
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Santa Barbara Debut All-Bach Program
Daniil Trifonov, piano
photo: Dario Acosta
Fri, Feb 7 / 7 PM / Campbell Hall
Presented in association with the UCSB Department of Music
Program Johann Sebastian Bach: Chaconne from Partita No 2. in D Minor, BWV 1004 (arr. Brahms) Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (arr. Rachmaninoff) Prelude Gavotte Gigue Johann Sebastian Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542 (arr. Liszt, S.463) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Intermission â&#x20AC;&#x201C;
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 Contrapunctus I Contrapunctus II Contrapunctus III Contrapunctus IV Contrapunctus V Contrapunctus VI (in Stylo Francese) Contrapunctus VII (per Augmentationem et Dimintionem) Contrapunctus VIII Contrapunctus IX (alla Duodecima) Contrapunctus X (alla Decima) Contrapunctus XI (a 4) Contrapunctus XIIa (a 4, rectus) Contrapunctus XIIb (a 4, inversus) Contrapunctus XIIIa (a 3, rectus) Contrapunctus XIIIb (a 3, inversus) Contrapunctus XIV (a 4)
(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
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About the Program Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Chaconne from Partita No 2. in D Minor, BWV 1004 (arr. for left hand by Brahms) The magnificent Chaconne that concludes the Partita No. 2 for Unaccompanied Violin is some of the most intense music Bach ever wrote, and it has worked its spell on musicians everywhere over the last two and a half centuries. The violin is a linear instrument, and the full harmonic textures implied in the original seem to cry out for performances that can project these more satisfactorily than can the solo violin. Schumann and Mendelssohn both wrote piano accompaniments for Bach’s solo violin music, and the Chaconne itself has been transcribed for many other instruments and combinations of instruments, including versions for keyboard alone by Joachim Raff and Ferruccio Busoni. But the most distinctive transcription was made by Johannes Brahms, who arranged it for left hand only. Brahms knew and loved the music of Bach at a time when it was still primarily a historical curiosity to audiences (and to many professional musicians), and for the Chaconne in particular he felt an admiration that left him almost helpless. In 1877 Brahms made his piano transcription of the Chaconne and sent a copy to Clara Schumann. The letter that accompanied the manuscript is worth quoting at length: The Chaconne is in my opinion one of the most wonderful and incomprehensible pieces of music. Using the technique adapted to a small instrument the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I could picture myself writing, or even conceiving, such a piece, I am certain that the extreme excitement and emotional tension would have driven me mad. If one has no supremely great violinist at hand, the most exquisite of joys is probably simply to let the Chaconne ring in one’s mind. But the piece certainly inspires one to occupy oneself with it somehow… There is only one way in which I can secure undiluted joy from the piece, though on a small and only approximate scale, and that is when I play it with the left hand alone…. The same difficulty, the nature of the technique, the rendering of the arpeggios, everything conspires to make me – feel like a violinist! That final note is important: the Chaconne is rigorous violin music, and Brahms preserves some of that discipline by making the transcription for left hand only. In contrast to the Busoni arrangement, which uses both hands and aims for an almost organ-like voluptuousness of sound, Brahms
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limits himself to the resources of five fingers. There may have been a purely academic reason for this – Brahms occasionally made transcriptions of other composers’ music for one hand just to improve his technique in that hand – but more likely Brahms was drawn to Bach’s ability to wring so much from the relatively limited resources of the solo violin and wished to present himself a similar compositional challenge. A chaconne is one of the most disciplined forms in music: it is built on a ground bass in triple meter over which a melodic line is repeated and varied. Here the four-bar ground bass repeats 64 times during the quarter-hour span of the Chaconne, and over it Bach spins out gloriously varied music, all the while keeping these variations firmly anchored on the ground bass. At the center section Bach moves into D major, and here the music relaxes a little, content to sing happily for a while; after the calm nobility of this interlude, the quiet return of D minor sounds almost disconsolate. Bach drives the Chaconne to a great climax and a restatement of the ground melody at the close.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (arr. Rachmaninoff) Serge Rachmaninoff made a number of transcriptions of the music of other composers, including Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schubert, Bizet and others. During the crest of his performing career (the 1920s and 1930s, an era less consumed than our own with purity and authenticity – and probably better for it), these transcriptions of songs and instrumental works appeared frequently on Rachmaninoff ’s recitals and were sometimes used as encores. And during the Second World War, Rachmaninoff ’s stirring transcription of The Star-Spangled Banner opened a number of his concerts. Bach wrote his works for unaccompanied violin about 1720, when he was kapellmeister at the court of Leopold in AnhaltCöthen, and the Partita in E Major has always been one of the most popular of those six formidable pieces. In September 1933 Rachmaninoff made piano transcriptions of three of its six movements: the famous Prelude (which has been arranged for a variety of instruments by a number of composers), the graceful Gavotte, and the lively concluding Gigue.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542 (arr. Liszt, S.463) We have fallen victim to the stereotype of Liszt as the master showman who made a career of playing his own works before swooning audiences caught up in the frenzied excitement of watching one of the first touring virtu-
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osos. But there were other, more important sides to Liszt. Despite his reputation as a self-conscious stage presence and self-promoter, Liszt was generous in his service to contemporary composers: he played music of Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Weber, and many other living composers. And Liszt was equally generous in his service to composers of the past, in particular Bach, who was being “rediscovered” at the time Liszt was launching his career as a touring virtuoso: Liszt performed The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations at a time when this music was utterly unknown to audiences. Liszt – who also played the organ – was particularly drawn to Bach’s works for organ, and he arranged a number of these for piano and performed them on his recitals. Liszt made his arrangement of Bach’s Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor about 1863. Bach had written this music about a century and a half earlier, probably first during his tenure as an organist in Weimar, and then revised it over the next decade. In 1720, Bach, then music director at the court of AnhaltCöthen, became interested in the post of organist at the Jakobikirche in Hamburg, and he traveled there to audition for that post. Evidence suggests that the Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor may have been one of the pieces Bach played in his (unsuccessful) audition for that post. Certainly this music would make a staggering impression on such an occasion. The Fantasy – quite free in matters of harmony – is an imposing piece on its own, full of imitative writing and daring chromatic tension. Bach follows this with a grand fugue whose subject is thought to be derived from a Netherlands folk-tune. Leopold Stokowski made an orchestral arrangement of the fugue, and this is music that can benefit from the sonic resources of a full symphony orchestra. Liszt’s transcription for piano is generally faithful to Bach’s original, though he makes some small adjustments as he re-casts it for piano. Liszt tries to make the piano generate an organ-like sound and so falls back on such pianistic resources as passages in octaves, but in general his version remains faithful to Bach’s original – Liszt respected this music enough that he wanted it presented to audiences in a version as close to the original as he could make it.
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 About 1740, Bach’s life underwent a quiet but profound change. While he retained his position as cantor at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, his musical interests began to evolve. He had long before given up his initial responsibility to compose cantatas, passions and other liturgical music, and in 1741, he relinquished the directorship of the Collegium Musicum, the small semi-professional orchestra he had led over the previous decade. Now, at age 55 (and perhaps with
the first indications of the eye trouble that would eventually leave him blind), Bach began to take stock of his career and redirect his energies. He put some of his earlier music in final form, and this involved the completion of the Mass in B Minor and the ongoing publication of keyboard works. Perhaps this helped stimulate his already reawakening interest in keyboard music, and now he composed the second book of The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations. And he felt a renewed interest in what had always been a consuming passion: contrapuntal music and its possibilities. In 1747 came one of the most famous signs of this interest. On a visit to Berlin, Bach played before Frederick the Great, who in turn gave Bach a theme and asked him to extemporize a six-part fugue on it. Bach improvised a three-part fugue for Frederick on the spot and then – back in Leipzig – took that “royal” theme through 13 further contrapuntal extensions, which he presented to the King as A Musical Offering. But Bach’s interest in exploring the contrapuntal possibilities of a single theme extended well beyond the famous visit to Berlin in 1747, as the Goldberg Variations (1742) and the canonic variations Vom Himmel Hoch (1747) make clear. Evidence suggests that about 1740 Bach had begun a lengthy work consisting of a series of fugues and canons based on one theme. His work on this project continued across the decade, even during the years of his increasing blindness, and in fact the project would remain unfinished – at the time of his death on July 28, 1750, Bach was working on a triple fugue that was left incomplete. Bach had prepared the first 11 fugues for publication, and after his death all of the pieces based on this one theme were gathered by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel and published in the fall of 1751 under the name The Art of the Fugue, a title the composer probably never heard or imagined. The fact that the work was left unfinished has created a number of problems. Principal among these is Bach’s failure to indicate the instrumentation he had in mind for this music, and some have wondered whether he intended the work to be performed at all. Its complexities – and the lack of indicated instrumentation – have led some to believe that these works were unplayable, intended only as cerebral exercises on the lofty plain at which Bach had finally arrived. That the music can be performed – and that it is magnificent, moving music – has been demonstrated by many performers, but the instrumentation remains an open question: The Art of the Fugue has been performed by harpsichord, piano, organ, string quartet, chamber orchestra and full symphony orchestra. It has also been recorded by such unexpected ensembles as brass quintet and saxophone quartet, an indication of the powerful appeal of this music to a wide range of performers.
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In The Art of the Fugue Bach preferred the title Contrapunctus – “counterpoint” – to Fugue, and he arranged the fugues in a sequence of increasing complexity. Bach’s fundamental theme seems simplicity itself: in D minor, it is only four measures long, and – even at its steady tempo – it gives the impression of increasing speed, as the half-notes of the opening measures give way to quarters in the third and to eighths in the final measure. The first group is of four relatively straightforward fugues. Contrapunctus I introduces Bach’s fundamental fugue subject in its simplest form, worked out here without countertheme. Contrapunctus II is based on the same subject, though Bach increases textural complexities by dotting the rhythms of the eighth-notes. Contrapunctus III presents the theme in inversion (upside down) and offers a tightly-chromatic countertheme beginning on the third statement of the subject. Contrapunctus IV also has the subject in inversion, here developed with unusual harmonic freedom. The second group, Contrapuntcus V-VII, are stretto fugues, which introduce subsequent entries of the fugue subject before the initial statement is complete. All three of these are mirror fugues as well, in which the subject and its inversion are treated simultaneously; Bach increases the contrapuntal complexity of each successive fugue with different kinds of rhythmic elaboration. Contrapunctus V, which presents the fugue subject with its steps filled out with dotted rhythms and steady strands of eighths, offers the theme first in inversion, and the two forms – the original and the inversion – are developed simultaneously; subsequent entries of the fugue subject come after three bars rather than after the full four-bar theme is complete. Contrapunctus VI is subtitled “in Stile francese,” and here “the French style” can be heard in the heavily-dotted rhythms and decorative runs that Bach associated with French music. Again, the theme is presented both normally and in inversion, and the rhythmic augmentation takes the form of doubling the speed of some of the entrances. Contrapunctus VII takes this one step further, simultaneously halving and doubling (diminution/augmentation) the tempo of the original subject.
emotionally overpowering and quite transparent. By contrast, the brief Contrapunctus IX is a spirited double fugue on a new theme; as it progresses it incorporates as its second subject the original fugue theme, combined at the interval of a twelfth, hence alla Duodecima. Contrapunctus X is a double fugue based on two themes in inversion and combined at the interval of a tenth, so alla Decima; that theme is a variant of the third theme from Contrapunctus VIII. The concluding Contrapunctus XI, a triple fugue, is a sort of mirror image of Contrapunctus VIII, for it is based on inversions of the three themes (or close variants) from the earlier fugue. Yet it is not simply that earlier fugue heard upside down but an entirely new treatment of the inverted material, and like Contrapunctus VIII it drives to a grand and powerful close. Contrapunctus XIV was left unfinished at the time of Bach’s death in July 1750. By this time almost totally blind, he composed by dictating to an amanuensis. This fugue has provoked a great deal of interest and controversy. It was to be the culmination of this project, but it does not make use of the fundamental theme of The Art of the Fugue. Instead, it was to be a massive triple fugue: a lengthy working-out of the first subject, a second subject which is combined with the first as it is worked out, and a third section built in part on a subject whose notes are based on the letters of Bach’s last name (B-flat/A/C/B-natural). Just at the point at which he combined these subjects (at measure 239), Bach – aging, weak, and blind – gave up work on this fugue and dictated (to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel) the chorale prelude Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit. Various musicians, including Donald Francis Tovey and Ferruccio Busoni, have completed the fugue on their own, and Contrapunctus XIV is sometimes performed in one of these “completed” versions, while other performers break off abruptly at measure 239. Program notes by Eric Bromberger
The next four fugues begin and conclude with two of the grandest sections of The Art of The Fugue. All are on multiple subjects: Some introduce new material, and at the same time Bach incorporates variants of the original subject as they have appeared in previous movements. Contrapunctus VIII is the longest and perhaps most impressive section of The Art of the Fugue. It is a triple fugue based on three sharply-varied subjects, the last of which is an inversion and variation of the original theme, and Bach works out all three subjects over the long span of this Contrapunctus, which magically combines all three subjects in a close that is both
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Daniil Trifonov Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov (dan-EEL TREE-fon-ov) – winner of Musical America’s 2019 Artist of the Year – has made a spectacular ascent of the classical world as a solo artist, concerto collaborator, chamber musician and composer. An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, he recently added a first Grammy Award to his string of honors, winning Best Instrumental Solo Album of 2018 for his Liszt collection, Transcendental. The Times of London calls him “without question the most astounding pianist of our age.” This fall brings the Deutsche Grammophon release of Trifonov’s Destination Rachmaninov: Arrival, following Destination Rachmaninov: Departure and the Grammy-nominated Rachmaninov: Variations, both also recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. As 2019-2020 Artist-in-Residence of the New York Philharmonic, the pianist joins the orchestra for concertos in New York and Europe and gives the New York premiere of his own Piano Quintet. His upcoming highlights also include collaborations with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New World Symphony and San Francisco Symphony; Bachthemed solo recitals in New York, Chicago, Boston and Europe; and a return to Carnegie Hall with fellow pianist Sergei Babayan.
In 2010-2011, Trifonov took First Prize in Tel Aviv’s Rubinstein Competition, Third Prize in Warsaw’s Chopin Competition and First Prize and Grand Prix in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition. Having won Italy’s Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Instrumental Soloist in 2013, three years later he was named Gramophone’s Artist of the Year. Born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1991, he attended Moscow’s Gnessin School of Music before pursuing piano and composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. daniiltrifonov.com twitter.com/daniil_trifonov facebook.com/daniiltrifonov.page instagram.com/daniil_trifonov Exclusive Management: Opus 3 Artists 470 Park Avenue South, Fl. 9 N New York, NY 10016 Mr. Trifonov records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon Special thanks to
Trifonov recently undertook four major season-long residencies: at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Musikverein, and with the London Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic. Other recent highlights include launching the New York Philharmonic’s 2018-2019 season, headlining the gala finale of the Chicago Symphony’s 125th anniversary celebrations and collaborating with such preeminent ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He regularly gives solo recitals at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Boston’s Celebrity Series, London’s Barbican and Royal Festival Halls, Paris’ Théâtre des Champs Élysées and Salle Pleyel, Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Berlin’s Philharmonie, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Vienna’s Musikverein, Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Opera City, the Seoul Arts Center and Melbourne’s Recital Centre.
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FLIP Fabrique Blizzard
photo: StéphaneBourgeois
Sun, Feb 9 / 6:30 PM (note special time) / Granada Theatre
Presented through the generosity of Kay McMillan and Susan McMillan
Artists Bruno Gagnon, juggler, acrobat Ben Nesrallah, musician Camila Comin, high flyer, acrobat Jérémy St-Jean, carrier, acrobat Hugo Ouellet-Côté, straps, acrobat Justine Méthé-Crozat, voice, high flyer William Jutras, high flyer, acrobat Samuel Ramos, Russian cradle
About the Company
About the Program
Whether in conjunction with the Ville de Québec for its summer shows Crépuscule and Féria – seen by 350,000 people between 2015 and 2018 – or through its many artistic collaborations, FLIP Fabrique brings a fresh take on contemporary circus, coupled with an uncanny ability to have fun and move an audience. They translate from life to life, from heart to heart, from body to body.
What if winter has taken over? Not just outside, in the streets and in the fields, But also in houses, in bedrooms Underneath our clothes, and even right into our hearts. Everything, absolutely everything, buried under the snow, Obliterated by a white-out. The north wind freezes time as it flows over us. Would it be a catastrophe? Or a chance to start over, To fix our mistakes? A new blank page In the shape of a blizzard.
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FLIP Fabrique grew out of the friendship and dream of circus performers in 2011. The company designs high-quality, playful shows punctuated by breathtaking and truly elegant acts. With more than 700 performances to their credit, and with shows such as Attrape-moi, FLiP in Berlin and Transit in more than 15 countries, FLIP Fabrique is made up of world-class multidisciplinary performers. They have worked with the prestigious Cirque du Soleil and Cirque Éloize and taken part in many international circus festivals. FLIP Fabrique debuted its newest creation, Blizzard, in the summer of 2019.
About the Artists Born in 1988, Bruno Gagnon was the most hyperactive student of his class. The day of his 18th birthday, he followed the circus life and joined Cirque du Soleil’s show Corteo. Two million spectators and 1,534 performances later, he had had enough. He missed his home and his friends. Soon after, FLIP Fabrique was born. Now on tour with his friends, it always feels like home. (Continued on page 51)
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Have fun tonight. Plan for tomorrow. Help sustain Santa Barbaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vibrant cultural life for the benefit of future generations, by making Arts & Lectures part of your estate plan.
Sammy Miller and The Congregation Thu, Feb 13 / Campbell Hall
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Access for All
A&L’s educational outreach program serves more than 30,000 community members annually. Our gratitude to the following education sponsors:
Dance Theatre of Harlem dancers with more than 1,300 schoolchildren at The Granada Theatre
“Arts & Lectures was established to promote the arts as an integral and necessary facet of education that elevates the human spirit, provokes the imagination, inspires personal discovery and intellectual inquiry, and sustains an inclusive and diverse community.” – Certificate of Commemoration presented by Santa Barbara Mayor Cathy Murillo, honoring UCSB Arts & Lectures on its 60th Anniversary Here are just a few examples of what we do:
• Assemblies in elementary and secondary schools • Workshops and conversations with artists and speakers • Ticket subsidies for students at all levels • The Thematic Learning Initiative’s lifelong learning
opportunities • School-time presentations for students at The Granada Theatre • Lecture-demonstrations and artist panels in University classes • Master classes for students and community members • Post-show Q&As with audiences of all ages • Free family performances in underserved neighborhoods
photo: David Bazemore
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¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara! brings people together to share the rich cultural heritage of Latin America, serving more than 15,000 each year throughout Santa Barbara County. Viva builds bridges through live performance, shared experience and joyful, personal discovery. Created in 2006 out of a commitment to arts access for all, Viva works with dozens of local partners to present high-quality touring artists – Grammy winners and recognized cultural ambassadors – who share their knowledge, passion and commitment. Neighborhood spaces in schools, afterschool programs and community centers come alive in these free programs for youth and families. Join our community partners and the many contributors whose hard work and generosity make Viva possible. 1. Martin Granados of La Patronal teaches Adams students to dance in the tradition of the Diablicos de Túcume 2. Quique Escamilla and McKinley students inspect details on his vintage guitar after an assembly 3. Ballet Folklórico de Los Angeles and Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime
Cuellar perform for families at Isla Vista School
¡Viva el Arte de Santa Bárbara! is a collaboration between UCSB Arts & Lectures, The Marjorie Luke Theatre, the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center, and the Isla Vista School Parent Teacher Association serving Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Goleta, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Guadalupe and New Cuyama.
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To inquire about supporting Arts & Lectures, including joining our Leadership Circle ($10,000+), please call Director of Development Dana Loughlin at (805) 893-5679 to discuss a customized membership experience. 46
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ro du ce rs C ut ive P
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photo: David Bazemore
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The Danish String Quartet performs for students in BRAVO! at Monroe Elementary
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UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures is honored to recognize contributors whose lifetime giving to A&L has made a profound impact on our community. Anonymous Jody & John Arnhold Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher Eva & Yoel Haller
The Orfalea Family Susan McCaw SAGE Publishing Sara Miller McCune
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We also recognize contributors whose lifetime giving to A&L is $100,000 or more. We are very grateful for their longtime, visionary support of A&L and for believing, as we do, that the arts and ideas are essential to our quality of life. Recognition is based on cumulative, lifetime giving.
Anonymous (3) Judy & Bruce Anticouni Monica & Timothy Babich Mary Becker Barrie Bergman Loren Booth Meg & Dan Burnham Annette & Dr. Richard Caleel Marcy Carsey Marcia & John Mike Cohen Margo Cohen-Feinberg & Robert Feinberg Barbara Delaune-Warren Ralph H. Fertig* Erika & Matthew Fisher Genevieve & Lewis Geyser
Patricia Gregory, for the Baker Foundation The James Irvine Foundation Luci & Rich Janssen Ellen & Peter O. Johnson Tom Kenny Dorothy Largay & Wayne Rosing Gretchen Lieff Robert Lieff Lillian Lovelace lynda.com Marilyn & Dick Mazess Susan McMillan Kay R. McMillan Mission Wealth Montecito Bank & Trust Jillian & Pete Muller
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Arts & Lectures Legacy Circle
Arts & Lectures is privileged to acknowledge our Council, a group of insightful community leaders and visionaries who help us meet the challenge to educate, entertain, and inspire.
Arts & Lectures is pleased to acknowledge the generous donors who have made provisions for future support of our program through their estate plans.
Rich Janssen, Co-chair Kath Lavidge, Co-chair Timothy Babich Barrie Bergman Dan Burnham Marcy Carsey Marcia Cohen Timothy O. Fisher Tom Kenny Patricia MacFarlane Susan McCaw Sara Miller McCune Natalie Orfalea Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree Tom Sturgess Anne Towbes Lynda Weinman
Judy & Bruce Anticouni Estate of Helen Borges Estate of Ralph H. Fertig Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher Eva & Yoel Haller Susan Matsumoto & Mel Kennedy Sara Miller McCune Lisa A. Reich Estate of Hester Schoen Connie J. Smith Heather & Tom Sturgess Leslie S. Thomas Dr. Bob Weinman Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin Irene & Ralph Wilson
Arts & Lectures Program Advisor Bruce Heavin
Arts & Lectures Ambassadors Arts & Lectures is proud to acknowledge our Ambassadors, volunteers who help ensure the sustainability of our program by cultivating new supporters and assisting with fundraising activities. Judy Anticouni Monica Babich Meg Burnham Annette Caleel Eva Haller Hollye Jacobs Luci Janssen Maxine Prisyon Heather Sturgess Anne Towbes Sherry Villanueva
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Leadership Circle Our Leadership Circle members, a group of key visionaries giving $10,000 to $100,000 or more each year, make a significant, tangible difference in the community and help bring A&L’s roster of premier artists and global thinkers to Santa Barbara. List current as of December 17, 2019
$100,000+ Anonymous (2) Jody & John Arnhold Marcy Carsey Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher ◊‡ Erika & Matthew Fisher William H. Kearns Foundation Sara Miller McCune ◊‡ Natalie Orfalea & Lou Buglioli Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree SAGE Publishing ‡ Merryl Snow Zegar & Charles Zegar Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin ◊‡ Dick Wolf
$50,000+ Anonymous Monica & Timothy Babich Loren Booth Marcia & John Mike Cohen ‡ Ellen & Peter O. Johnson Dorothy Largay & Wayne Rosing Susan McCaw Jillian & Pete Muller Diana & Simon Raab Heather & Tom Sturgess ◊‡
$25,000+ Anonymous Betsy Atwater Mary Becker ‡ Albert & Elaine Borchard Foundation Meg & Dan Burnham ‡ Annette & Dr. Richard Caleel Casa Dorinda Retirement Residence Margo Cohen-Feinberg & Robert Feinberg Martha Gabbert Luci & Rich Janssen ‡ Irma & Morris Jurkowitz Manitou Fund Marilyn & Dick Mazess Mission Wealth Montecito Bank & Trust Dori Pierson Carter & Chris Carter Stacy & Ron Pulice Justine Roddick & Tina Schlieske Jill & Bill Shanbrom Laura Shelburne & Kevin O’Connor Russell Steiner Barbara Stupay Sheila Wald Dr. Bob Weinman Susan & Bruce Worster Yardi Systems, Inc.
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Producers Circle Recognition is based upon a donor’s cumulative giving/pledges within a 12-month period. Every effort has been made to assure accuracy. Please notify our office of any errors or omissions at (805) 893-2174. List current as of December 17, 2019
Executive Producers Circle $5,000+ Anonymous Libby Aubrey Porter & Rick Porter Paul Blake & Mark Bennett Jennifer & Jonathan Blum Lyn Brillo Brillo-Sonnino Family Foundation Sarah & Roger Chrisman NancyBell Coe & William Burke ‡ Sue & Jay W. Colin Wendy & Jim Drasdo G.A. Fowler Family Foundation Andrea & Mark Gabbay Larry & Robyn Gottesdiener Judith L. Hopkinson ‡ Shari & George Isaac Susan & Palmer Jackson Jr. Sharyn Johnson Elaine & Herbert Kendall Maia Kikerpill & Daniel Nash Nancy & Linos Kogevinas The Leni Fund Chris & Mark Levine Denise & George Lilly Suzanne & Duncan Mellichamp Peter R. Melnick Leila & Robert Noël Ann & Dante Pieramici Mary Beth Riordan Kyra & Tony Rogers Susan Rose Stephanie & Fred Shuman Jessica Smith & Kevin Brine Mark Sonnino Joan Speirs Carol Spungen & Debbi Spungen Linda Stafford-Burrows Leah & Robert Temkin Anne Towbes ‡ Sandra & Sam Tyler Betsey Von Summer-Moller & John Moller Carolyn & Philip Wyatt Crystal & Clifford Wyatt Laura & Geofrey Wyatt
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Bill Cushman Adrianne & Andrew Davis Paul Debruynkops Lila Deeds Joan & Thomas Dent John Dishion Kathryn Downing James Du Phil Easterday Brook & Jasper Eiler Randall Encinas Robert Etling Ornella Faccin Monica Fernandez Isabel Gaddis Tish Gainey & Charles Roehm Jim Gallagher Janet Giler Susan Gionfriddo Stephanie Glatt Michael Gordon Linda & Robert Gruber Jane Gutman Lee Heller Talina Hermann Kristine Herr Susan Hodges Jane & Terrance Honikman Melinda Horwitz Janice Hubbell Vikki Hunt Tania Israel Emily Izmirian Hannah-Beth Jackson & George Eskin James Jackson Sarah Jacobs Ann James Deborah & Jay James Stacey & Raymond Janik Martin Jenkins Carol & Stephen Jones Mary Ann Jordan & Alan Staehle Lene Joy Susan Kadner Lois Kaplan Rebecca & Chuck Kaye Jean Keely Carole Kennedy Paula Kislak Bruce Klores Anna & Peter Kokotovic George Kurata Martha & William Lannan Antonia LaRocca & Christopher Johnson Janet Larson Dunbar Alan Lash Carol & Don Lauer Vicky Blum & David Lebell Cynthia Lee Jenny Levion Aaron & Melinda Lewis Lawrence Li
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Adam Liff Phoebe Linden Sheila Lodge Karin Lohwasser Carrie Lombardi Karen Lyons Karen Madden Gail & Robert Magnuson Stacey Matson Joan Mazza Christine & James McNamara Patrick McNulty Marcel Meier Christina Meldrum Katharine Metropolis & Jeff Richman Cathy Milner Jeffrey Moody Anne E. Murphy Carolyn & Dennis Naiman Paul Nay Susan & Max Neufeldt Nancy O’Connor Belita Ong Mitzi Overland Tom Parker Kathleen Paulson Juliet Penn Dennis J. Perry Colette Phillippi Andrew Primack Robert Pugsley Deborah Reber Loretta Redd Ph.D Albert Reid Susan Renefrew Ilene Resnick Katherine Reynolds Robin Riblet Kathy & Mark Rick Barbara Robins Charlie & Dr. Herb Rogove Adele Rosen Jennifer Rosner Andra Rubcic Linda Ryles Carol Sacks James Sadler John Sanford Nora Scheinberg Mark & Sandra Scher Helen & Justus Schlichting Christiane Schlumberger Manfred Schmiedl Erlaine H. Seeger Meghan & Margaret Shrontz Richard Shultz Joan & Steven Siegel Donald Simons Jan & George Sirkin Melissa Smith & Charles Hale Susan Speers Terry & Art Sturz
Patricia Tenney Paul Tonkin Lila Trachtenberg & George Handler Marion & Frederick Twichell Marta Ulvaeus Christine Van Gieson & John Benson Clayton Verbinski Vickie Ascolese & Richard Vincent Susan Washing Carole Wasserman Jean & Mark Weeks Maryellen & Paul Weisman Howard Wenger Scott Wenrich Leslie & Carla Wilson Barbara Witucki Marcia Wright Kathryn Yates Gary Yencich *In Memoriam ◊ Indicates those who have made plans to support UCSB Arts & Lectures through their estate. ‡ Indicates those that have made gifts to Arts & Lectures endowed funds in addition to their annual program support.
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Thank You! Arts & Lectures is especially grateful to UCSB students for their support through registration and activity fees. These funds directly support lower student ticket prices and educational outreach by A&L artists and writers who visit classes.
Arts & Lectures Staff Celesta M. Billeci, Miller McCune Executive Director Roman Baratiak, Associate Director Meghan Bush, Deputy Director Ashley Aquino, Contracts Administrator Sarah Jane Bennett, Performing Arts Manager Michele Bynum, Senior Artist Lyndsay Cooke, Outreach Coordinator Stacy Cullison, Senior Director of Development & Special Initiatives Lilly Erickson, Marketing & Programming Specialist Erica Jane Flores, Director of Development Marisa Flores, Financial Analyst Amanda Garcia, Development Analyst Kevin Grant, Senior Business Analyst Loribeth Gregory-Beck, Director of Education & Community Engagement Benjamin Harris, Performing Arts Coordinator Lauren Labadie, Programming & Events Manager Rachel Leslie, Manager of Ticketing Operations Mari Levasheff, Marketing Manager Dana Loughlin, Director of Development Hector Medina, Marketing & Communications Production Specialist Bonnie A. Molitor, Chief Financial & Operations Officer Caitlin O’Hara, Senior Writer/Publicist James Reisner, Assistant Ticket Office Manager
(Continued from page 42) Performer, writer, arranger, recording artist and teacher, Ben Nesrallah is a musical jack-of-alltrades and under-cover classical pianist quickly establishing himself as one of his generations most promising musical talents. From 2016 to 2018, Nesrallah toured as a multi-instrumentalist and singer in Cirque Éloize’s Saloon. With five albums under his belt and a wealth of touring experience, Nesrallah is very excited to have joined the FLIP Fabrique family. Camila Comin started doing gymnastics at 5 years of age. When she was 8 years old, she won her first gold medal and from that came national and international championships and two Olympic Games: Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. In 2007, after 18 years as a gymnast, she made the transition from athlete to artist when, at the age of 23, she joined Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo. Comin is an attentive and innovative artist. She is proud to be part of FLIP Fabrique, where she is always in search of perfection, without fear of surpassing limits. Raised in Quebec City since the age of 5, Jérémy St-Jean Picard has always been eager to uncover his many passions. That is why, at a considerably young age, he discovered a love for theater, dance and circus. During his formative years at the École de cirque de Québec, he familiarized himself with a wide range of circus disciplines, all the while refining his skills as a base porter. After five years of globe-trotting for different companies such as Cirque du Soleil and Cirque Éloize, he continues to evolve as a multidisciplinary artist. As a child, Hugo Ouellet-Côté’s flips and jumps always needed to be higher. His quest led him to study in two different circus schools in Quebec and perform for Cirque Éloize. Ouellet-Côté traveled the world to follow his passion and perfect his trade. He never really questioned the path he was on. He simply followed the flow and took off! At the age of 8, Justine Méthé-Crozat had discovered her passion for circus in Quebec City. Small and dynamic, she specializes as a flutter at ENC where she graduated in 2007. Since then, this globetrotter at heart has performed more than 1,750 times in more than 25 countries with companies such as Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Éloize and Les 7 doigts, as well as in Germany’s big cabarets like Palazzo, GOP and Chamäleon with FLIP Fabrique, where she pushes her artistic desires and where she takes up new challenges. Since graduating from Quebec City’s Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, Olivier Normand (Stage Director) has become one of the most prominent actors of the capital, thanks to his performances in Les Feluettes (Lilies), The Misanthrope and Britannicus. Since 2013, he has been part of the cast of Ex Machina’s Jeux de cartes: Coeur, by Robert Lepage. His talents
have earned him many awards. A creative, hands-on artist, Normand is also interested in writing and directing. Following Attrape-moi, he reconnected to success and circus in 2015 and in 2016 with the staging of Crépuscule, which has been seen by more than 220,000 people. From a young age, William Jutras developed a passion for acrobatics and specializes in tumbling. His sports career led him to participate in national competitions where he won several prizes. Having a strong fondness for the arts, Jutras decided to mix his two passions to make a career. In 2009, he joined the professional circus arts training at the École de cirque de Québec where he specialized in Icarian games and Chinese pole. It is also where he discovered lifts and handling the hula hoop. Samuel Ramos discovered circus and circus life during his studies at the École de cirque de Québec. His passion and talent took him around the world right after graduating, and he has performed hundreds of times throughout the United States with prestigious companies such as Cirque Éloize. Now, with FLIP Fabrique, Ramos continues to push the limits of his specialty, the Russian cradle. Truly passionate about the discipline, he wishes to share his art with the public as much as possible.
Blizzard Credits Original concept: FLIP Fabrique Artistic Direction: Bruno Gagnon Director: Olivier Normand Scenic Design: Marie-Renée Bourget Harvey Costumes: Erica Schmitz Lighting Design: Caroline Ross Music: Ben Nesrallah www.flipfabrique.com @flipfabrique
Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
Special thanks to
(805) 893-3535 www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
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David Brooks
The Quest for a Moral Life
photo: Howard Schatz
Tue, Feb 11 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre
David Brooks has a gift for bringing audiences face to face with the spirit of our times, with humor, insight and quiet passion. He is a keen observer of the American way of life and a savvy analyst of present-day politics, culture and foreign affairs. For audiences in all areas of health care, Brooks brings important insights into the politics of health care and a focus on character as the key to our health care debates, health care delivery and mission-driven leadership. As a commentator, Brooks holds prestigious positions as an op-ed columnist for The New York Times and a regular analyst on PBS NewsHour and NPR’s All Things Considered. In his most recent book, The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life, Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith and to a community. Brooks’ New York Times bestseller, The Road to Character, tells the story of 10 great lives that illustrate how character is developed and how we can all strive to build rich inner lives, marked by humility and moral depth. In a society that emphasizes success and external achievement, The Road to Character is a book about inner worth. His previous book, The Social Animal: A Story of How Success Happens, uses the story of a fictional American couple to explain the importance of neuroscience and sociology in understanding America’s politics, culture and future. His other books, Bobos in Paradise and On Paradise Drive are in a style he calls “comic sociology” – descriptions of how we live and “the water we swim in” that are as witty
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Presented through the generosity of Jillian & Pete Muller Corporate Sponsor: Casa Dorinda and entertaining as they are revealing and insightful. Bobos in Paradise was a New York Times bestseller. Brooks is currently teaching a course at Yale University. He holds honorary degrees from Williams College, New York University, Brandeis University and Occidental College, among others. In 2010, Brooks became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Brooks has worked at The Weekly Standard, joining the magazine at its inception and serving as senior editor. He has been a contributing editor at Newsweek and The Atlantic. He worked at The Wall Street Journal for nine years in a range of positions, including op-ed editor. Books are available for purchase in the lobby and a signing follows the event
Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
Special thanks to
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Sammy Miller and The Congregation Leaving Egypt Tour
Thu, Feb 13 / 8 PM / Campbell Hall
Sammy Miller, drums, vocals Ben Flocks, tenor saxophone “Tall Sam” Crittenden, trombone Corbin Jones, upright bass, sousaphone “Sister” Molly Miller, guitar David Linard, piano Sammy Miller and The Congregation are on a mission, crisscrossing the country like a vaudevillian revival show with evangelic fervor for music. The band is pulling people out of their solitary lives and putting them in the moment with a bracing dose of joyful jazz performed with infectious theatricality. The New York City-based, familial collective has captured its frenetic energy and unflinchingly optimistic songwriting on its debut album, Leaving Egypt. “We want to get people back in a room together,” Sammy Miller says. “I love the idea of being unhinged, sincere, vulnerable and breaking down walls through humor. Music is an uplifting gift, and I want to be generous in sharing it with people.” Sammy Miller and The Congregation has been described as a mashup of the sensibilities of Ben Folds and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The band freely mixes vocal and instrumental tracks live and on record, asking the audience to go along for the ride with the lead melody being carried by vocalists half the time, and instruments the other half. The group is a community of adventurous and charismatic superstar musicians who are conservatory-trained but who have not lost their childlike wonder and awe for playing music. The band lineup is Sammy Miller, drums and vocals; Sam Crittenden, trombone; Ben Flocks, tenor sax; Sammy’s sister Molly Miller on guitar; Alphonso Horne, trumpet; Corbin Jones, bass and tuba; and David Linard, piano. Independently, the band members have performed and recorded with notable artists including Wynton Marsalis, Lady Gaga, Jason Mraz and Beyoncé.
Sammy Miller convened the band in 2014, and 2015, he earned a Grammy Award nomination for his work as a drummer with Joey Alexander. Since the band’s inception, The Congregation has played nonstop around the world. Select highlights include performances at Umbria Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The White House, The Kennedy Center, Prokofiev Concert Hall (Russia) and the Newport Jazz Festival, where the group received a standing ovation. The band has also garnered critical acclaim from such venerated outlets as Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, SF Weekly, Vanity Fair and Jazz Journal, among other publications. In addition to these accolades and accomplishments, the award-winning theater incubator Ars Nova selected The Congregation for the Makers Lab to develop their genre-bending show, Great Awakening. Sammy Miller and The Congregation have also done an exuberant TEDx video illustrating their philosophy on jazz and showcasing their irresistible theatricality and musicality. Miller started playing drums at age 5 in a group with his five siblings. “After school we would teach ourselves rock songs, disco songs and country songs – everything was fair game” he recalls. When he got a little older, he discovered an all-consuming love of comedy and jazz. As a kid, he’d go to the library and check out 30 CDs a time, alphabetically exploring the jazz section from Ahmad Jamal to Zoot Sims. He also became obsessed with comedians such as Chris Rock, Lenny Bruce and Bobby Slayton. “I’ve always loved the risk-takers in entertainment – the people who would rather get it real than right,” Miller shares.
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Starting his career at an improbably young age, Miller was cast on Mad TV at 11 years old. At 18, he moved from LA to New York City; at 21 he started studying for his master’s in jazz at Juilliard. “When I was at Juilliard, I realized jazz couldn’t just live in a conservatory vacuum. It needed to provide its initial function of being an expansive creative outlet where the rules are there for you to break and improvisation went beyond notes and into an experience,” Miller says. He soon found a cadre of jazz students who felt similarly – outliers who were fiercely individual on their instruments, but also craved a manner of expression beyond the solo. “We all went to Juilliard and have these credentials, but we didn’t like the insular feeling of the jazz scene. We were seeking warmth and connection,” Sammy says. These misfit creatives descended on venues around NYC where the genre was not played. “I wanted to find a new audience,” Miller says. “We played in dive bars where people were scared of jazz.”
Leaving Egypt was cut in four 16-hour days at the legendary United Studios where the many famed Count Basie sides were tracked. The band enlisted drummer extraordinaire Jay Bellerose (Alison Krauss, Ray LaMontagne, Robert Plant, B.B. King) to supervise and produce the proceedings. The debut represents a milestone for Sammy Miller and The Congregation’s creative continuum. It captures the group’s vulnerability, communal nature, warm wit and playfully virtuosic musicality. “This is us,” Miller says of the album. “I’m proud of it, and I’m eager to embark on our mission to bring joy to people’s lives through music.”
Their live show grew to be something of a mix between a comedy troupe and a dazzling rock band that played a vigorously reimagined strain of jazz. “We let ourselves be free on the bandstand and we took the audience with us,” Miller says. The band’s boundless energy, inclusive ideals, catchy songwriting and revue-style presentation made them a word-of-mouth buzz band. The group expanded its reach through adopting the rock band philosophy of touring endlessly in a van to build a fanbase. The Congregation’s nine-song debut album, Leaving Egypt, opens with the lone drum figure of “Searching for Ragtime.” Here, the music is stripped down to its essentials, its heartbeat. The journey from there spans rollicking gospel-tinged jazz, rowdy and funky New Orleans second-line music, smoky back alley blues-jazz and stately balladry. The album concludes bookended with a tender solo piano track “When I’m Gone.” Select album standouts include the singles “Shine,” “Date a Jew,” “Bluebird” and “It Gets Better.” The track “Shine” boasts Miller’s ingratiating vocals, undeniably uplifting lyrics, playful piano hooks and an imaginative arrangement with dynamic horn and backup vocal-driven crescendos. Miller sweetly tucks in some purposeful messaging in “Date a Jew.” This is a simmering narrative track that showcases The Congregation’s groove pocket and its subtle musical interplay. The balmy “Bluebird” exudes a Paul Simon-imbued folk elegance. “It Gets Better” bursts forth with a loping groove, and cleverly unfolds with moody passages that veer into the sunny side of the street.
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Tue, Feb 18 / 7 PM (note special time) / Granada Theatre
photo: Pierre Manning
Running time: approx. 85 min., no intermission
Corporate Sponsor:
Jeannot Painchaud, President and Creative Director Emmanuel Guillaume, Director Éloi Painchaud, Composer, Musical Director, Arranger and Soundtrack Director Artists Andrei Anissimov (the lovers), hand to hand, Chinese pole, hula hoop, trombone Antonin Wicky (the chameleon), clown, cascade, Chinese pole, hula hoop, trumpet Augustin Thériault (the twins), Icarian games, Chinese pole, acrobat, saxophone Cory Marsh (the groom), Cyr wheel, Chinese pole, hula hoop, DJ Éléonore Lagacé (the bride), singer Jérémy Vitupier (the maître d’hôtel), clown, slack wire, hula hoop, alto saxophone Philippe Dupuis (the jack of all trades), juggling, Chinese pole, hula hoop, saxophone Santiago Esviza (the twins), Icarian games, Chinese pole, acrobat, triangle Soen Geirnaert (the lovers), hand to hand (acrobat), hula hoop, trumpet Una Bennett (the maid), aerial rope, hula hoop, Chinese pole, trumpet, sousaphone Vanessa Aviles (the star), tension tissu, hula hoop
About the Program Cirque Éloize welcomes you into this timeless art deco hotel, a place where strangers of all walks of life meet. Hotel is the story of a place full of stories. This is the place where we mingle with strangers for a moment. From the waiter, overwhelmed by the events, to the mischievous maid, to the devoted handyman and his inseparable dog, Carpette, the hotel’s staff is like each of us, the privileged witnesses to slices of the lives of colorful individuals. Carried by the voice of the client on the top floor who comments, testifies and tells the story, meet the lovers who still do not know they are meant to be, these improbable travelers and this celebrity who goes out of her way to win her place in the firmament while revealing the depth of her being. Enter the lobby doors of this grandiose place and discover the intricately woven story of these travelers!
About the Company A driving force of Quebec culture and a leader in the contemporary circus world, for 25 years Cirque Éloize has brought together the circus arts with other art forms as well as technology to thrill audiences seeking sensually rich entertainment. Its creations, including iD, Cirkopolis and Saloon, have been acclaimed by more than 3.5 million spectators and performed more than 5,000 times in some 550 cities all over the world.
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About the Artists Andrei Anissimov was plunged into the art world at a very young age when he attended his sister’s voice lessons. He followed in her musical footsteps studying voice as well as piano, guitar and domra. This led him into musical theater, where he was initiated into dance. Unable to stay in one place for a second, he threw himself into a range of sports before focusing on artistic gymnastics, just as his grandfather had. He eventually left the family nest to move to Montreal and continue his training in hand-to-hand and Chinese pole at the National Circus School. Anissimov is now ready to discover the nomadic circus life with his partner Emma. Antonin Wicky began his training in artistic gymnastics at the age of 5. At the age of 16, he caught the performance bug and became involved with theatrical improvisation, which also led him to an interest in circus. He started developing his skills in circus arts and decided to attend Lezarti’cirque, a circus school in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland. This training confirmed his passion for the circus arts and the incomparable adrenaline rush they provided. To further his training, he entered the National Circus School in Montreal. His talent was recognized at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in 2016 where he won the bronze medal for his clown duo act with Jérémy Vitupier. He has been part of the Cirkopolis cast since 2015. As a student of civil engineering and then anthropology, a national level athlete, a visual artist and a climber, Augustin Thériault dreamed for years of blending his eclectic areas of interest. His answer came late but marked a huge turning point in his life. In 2015, he decided to take a break from his studies to pursue a career that would allow him to combine his physicality, creativity and intellect: the circus. Ever since, he’s dedicated his time to mastering the Chinese pole and discovering movement in general. With his past experiences (and just the right amount of madness), Thériault loves to create colorful vibes and curious characters on stage. Since graduating from l’École de Cirque de Québec in 2019, he’s been working as a team with his Chinese pole partner and developing his skills in Icarian games and Chinese rings. Cory Marsh launched his career in competitive national gymnastics, particularly in floor acrobatics. He made the transition to the circus at 18 when he registered at the National Circus School in Montreal, where he specialized in Cyr wheel. Always on the lookout for new challenges, he also got into the world of DJing and began mixing and producing music. Ever since, he’s been looking out for
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new, original ways to combine these two worlds. With his rhythm, technique and passion, Marsh will get any audience moving. Born into a family of musicians, Éléonore Lagacé grew up hanging out backstage at her parents’ shows. Her mom would often invite her on stage to act or sing in a duet, so performing is ingrained in her DNA. Lagacé’s artistic background spans television, cinema, theater and singing. After performing on the talent show The Voice in 2014, she went on to play the lead in musical plays including Grease, Décembre de Québecissime and Footloose. Jérémy Vitupier developed an appreciation for the performing arts as a child, thanks to his parents, who exposed him to shows of various kinds. First, he obtained a university degree in social studies. His studies led him to teach circus, clowning and performance. He then entered the National Circus School in Montreal. His talent was recognized at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in 2016, where he won the bronze medal for his clown duo act with Antonin Wicky. He has been part of the Cirkopolis cast since 2015. Philippe Dupuis was born and grew up in Quebec. Before doing his high school and college studies at the National Circus School in Montreal, he was already training in diving and trampoline. Always seeking new challenges, Dupuis collected a variety of artistic experiences such as acrobatics and juggling before he graduated. Not only is he crazy about the circus, he also loves music, design and cuisine! Born in Argentina, Santiago Esviza dreamed of becoming a soccer player since he was 6 years old. But because of his small size, he soon realized that competitive sports weren’t for him. In 2004, he finally found a place where his small stature would work to his benefit: the circus. He’s since become an expert in the Chinese pole, and a perfect acrobat thanks to his size. With his own unique style of body language, Esviza likes to create unusual and aspirational universes on stage, always with an ironic twist. Involved in the circus arts from an early age, Soen Geirnaert has a special talent for freestyle acrobatics. She performed in various competitions in Belgium, as well as in the European and world championships, where she caught the eye of Cirque du Soleil talent scouts who quickly offered Geirnaert her very first contract to perform in the show Varekai. After working on the production for more than four years, she signed contracts with Cirque du Soleil for the Joya show, with the French company XY and most
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recently with Les 7 doigts. Driven by her lifelong passion and a desire to learn, Geirnaert continues to develop her circus art skills, evolving as an acrobat in the hand-tohand, Icarian games and Banquine disciplines.
director, director and teacher at Montreal’s National Circus School. She tackles creation with a complete approach that encourages the fusion of forms and genres.
Una Bennett has been practicing the circus arts since she was a young girl. Soon after learning to tie her shoes, she was on her way touring street festivals with her brother, ball-walking, hula-hooping and playing the violin. Before joining the National Circus School in Montreal, Bennett trained at Versatile Arts in Seattle and Circus Smirkus, a traveling youth circus. She loves to create, whether it’s on her aerial rope, knitting socks or even doing her hair, by always asking herself, “What would happen if…?”
She is a choreographer, artistic director and stage director. She has worked with a wide variety of performance troupes, such as Cirque du Soleil, Just for Laughs Productions and various theatrical companies.
After discovering acrobatics at just 4 years old, Vanessa Aviles went on to compete in artistic gymnastics at a high level until she was 18. That’s when she discovered the circus world, falling instantly in love with aerial silks. For two years, she performed in shows in Las Vegas and California, before joining the National Circus School of Montreal (ENC). Vanessa graduated in 2017 and has been developing her performance skills ever since. Specializing in aerial silks, her passion extends to other disciplines including aerial hoops, aerial straps, handstands and the Cyr wheel. One of the biggest highlights of her career so far? She invented an original apparatus called Tension Tissu with the help of her coaches. Today, she continues to share her invention with the circus community and the world, performing with the Tension Tissu in Cirque Éloize productions like Nezah, The Pirate Child and Hotel.
About the Creative Team Jeannot Painchaud, President and Creative Director The creative director of all Cirque Éloize’s creations, he connects people from different backgrounds and combines various art forms with acrobatic gestures.
Emmanuel Guillaume, Director A close collaborator of Cirque Éloize, he shares his 20 years of experience and skills in the theatrical industry. An artist and craftsman at heart, he studied music. He loves to combine singing and dancing in his creations.
Frédéric Bélanger, Artistic Director and Associate Director Julie Lachance, Assistant to the Director and to the Creative Director, Choreographer
Annie St-Pierre, Choreographer
Caroline Torti, Associate Choreographer Passion and perseverance have always been at the heart of every step Torti has taken in her professional dance career. She has performed on international stages and is sought out as a choreographer by some of the most prestigious dance organizations worldwide.
Éloi Painchaud, Composer, Musical Director, Arranger and Soundtrack Director A multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter, he has been working in the music industry since 1995. He is renowned for being a cofounder of Okoumé, a band he played with for more than eight years.
Habib Zekri, Additional Musical Arranger As an experienced pianist and singer, Zekri frequented several ensembles and choirs. With his multiple musical talents, he was called upon to collaborate as a composer on several major projects including youth musicals, circus shows and video games.
Nicolas Boivin-Gravel, Acrobatic Designer and Head Coach He’s a specialist of juggling and has been collaborating with Cirque Éloize for the past few years on various productions as an artist, coach and designer. He’s also a teacher at the National Circus School of Montreal and has a passion for acrobatic research.
Nadia Richer, Assistant to the Acrobatic Designer and Coach Inspired by the movement of body and soul, Richer has loved the circus arts and dance since a young age. After a career in gymnastics and circus with Cavalia and Cirque du Soleil, now turned to teaching and design.
Francis Farley-Lemieux, Set and Props Designer An engineer and graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, he fell for the craft of set and prop design.
Starting out in the dance world, she has been moving in circus circles for 30 years now, as a choreographer, artistic
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Mathieu Poirier, Lighting Designer With 15 years under his belt as a lighting designer and photographer, two media that he has always explored in parallel, he has worked with companies in dance, opera and circus all around the world.
Lucien Bernèche, Costume Designer Once he completed his studies at Montreal’s Institut Supérieur de Design de Mode in 1996, Lucien Bernèche’s drive to create became an essential need. For the next two consecutive years, he was a Canadian finalist in Paris at the Concours des jeunes créateurs de mode, where he made a splash with his style and creativity. His calling as a designer was soon confirmed, as the quality of his creations was admired in cities around the world, in Europe, North Africa and America. Next, Bernèche put his art to work principally on Cirque du Soleil touring shows and special events. His creativity makes a bold impression as he continuously seeks to create costumes where ecology, flexibility and technology come together skillfully. Bernèche has also dressed dancers for pop stars Beyoncé and Shakira and for circus shows for the companies Les 7 doigts and Cirque Éloize.
Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
Special thanks to
Camille Sabbagh-Bourret, Makeup Designer A makeup artist and hair stylist in film, photography and in theater since 2014, Camille Sabbagh-Bourret studied artistic makeup at Montreal’s Inter-Dec College and professional haircare with Alexandra Munoz and Kevin Murphy. Resourceful and efficient, she draws upon the variety of techniques she’s mastered to always be inventive.
Colin Gagné, Sound Designer A graduate in composition at the University of Montreal, he now works in sound design and composition with Cirque Éloize, the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde and Les 7 doigts.
Jocelyn Bigras, Musical Coach and additional participation to the musical arrangements Émilie Grenon-Émiroglou, Artistic Director After traveling the world at a young age with Cirque du Soleil, she continued her training in acting and voice. She enjoyed a rich, multi-disciplinary career, then she moved on to creation. After years of collaborating closely with Cirque Éloize, she is now an artistic director.
Pascal Auger, Producer A graduate of HEC Montreal in management and of the National Theatre School of Canada in production, he has worked with various companies in the Montreal theater scene.
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Kicking off the UCSB Feminist Futures Initiative
Anita Hill
From Social Movement to Social Impact: Putting an End to Sexual Harassment Wed, Feb 19 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall
photo: PR Newswire
Presented in association with the UCSB Feminist Futures Initiative, the Blair Hull Chair in Women’s Studies, the Division of Social Sciences and the UCSB Women’s Center Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin Dick Wolf Major Sponsor: Zegar Family Foundation
Presented through the generosity of Sara Miller McCune
An American women’s rights icon, historic figure, attorney and powerful advocate for equality, Anita Hill brought the issue of sexual harassment to the forefront of our national conversation in her historic testimony before the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Clarence Thomas. Her bravery empowered women from all walks of life to bring forth their own sexual harassment lawsuits and helped revolutionize equality for women in the workplace. That was more than 28 years ago, and today – in the wake of the #MeToo movement, the Judge Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings and the volatile social and political climate – Anita Hill is more important than ever. Inspiring others to get engaged, find their voice and speak truth to power, she explains how we must change the overarching culture and systems of our society in order to foster true change. “I think we have to understand the root problem for what it is. It’s not just about sexual harassment. In many ways, that’s just the tip of the iceberg… We have to see this as a problem of power – power alignment and abuse, overall.” Hill argues that this abuse of power in a corporate or academic setting profoundly affects an institution’s culture, morale and reputation. By taking action, individuals can go beyond just prevention and policy to redefining structure and culture that includes equal voice, leadership opportunities and pay for women.
With #MeToo breaking open the entrenched pattern of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry, Hill brings her formidable experience to challenge the status quo as the chair of the Hollywood Commission on Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace. Hill lectures on anti-discrimination law, gender, race, social policy and legal history as professor of Social Policy, Law and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University. In this role, she is actively leading the conversation about Title IX by outlining specific structural changes that companies, schools and organizations can make to step up and increase opportunities. A trailblazer and crusader for gender and racial equality, Hill is empowering a new generation of women to fight for change and embrace feminism as a gateway to activism and social justice. Special thanks to
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Lyle Lovett and his Acoustic Group Thu, Feb 20 / 8 PM / Campbell Hall Program will be announced from the stage
Presented through the generosity of Loren Booth A singer, composer and actor, Lyle Lovett has broadened the definition of American music in a career that spans 14 albums. Coupled with his gift for storytelling, the Texasbased musician fuses elements of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel and blues in a convention-defying manner that breaks down barriers. Whether touring as a duo or with his Acoustic Group or his Large Band, Lovett’s live performances show not only the breadth of this Texas legend’s deep talents, but also the diversity of his influences, making him one of the most compelling and captivating musicians in popular music. Since his self-titled debut in 1986, Lyle Lovett has evolved into one of music’s most vibrant and iconic performers. Among his many accolades, besides the four Grammy Awards, he was given the Americana Music Association’s inaugural Trailblazer Award and was named Texas State Musician. His works, rich and eclectic, are some of the most beloved of any artist working today. Special thanks to
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Jill Lepore
This America: The Case for the Nation Fri, Feb 21 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall Presented with the UCSB Division of Humanities and Fine Arts and the UCSB Department of History Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin Dick Wolf
photo: Stephanie Mitchel
Major Sponsor: Zegar Family Foundation
Presented through the generosity of Meg & Dan Burnham Additional Support: Judy Wainwright & Jim Mitchell History Matters Series Sponsors: Loren Booth and Ellen & Peter O. Johnson
Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University. She is also a staff writer at The New Yorker. Her latest book is This America: The Case for the Nation (2019). Her 2018 book, These Truths: A History of the United States, was a New York Times bestseller, widely translated and published around the world. Lepore received a bachelor’s degree in English from Tufts University in 1987, a master’s degree in American Culture from the University of Michigan in 1990 and a doctorate degree in American Studies from Yale University in 1995. She joined the Harvard History Department in 2003 and was chair of the History and Literature Program in 2005-2010, 2012 and 2014. In 2012, she was named Harvard College Professor in recognition of distinction in undergraduate teaching. Lepore is the recipient of many honors, awards and honorary degrees and has been a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Magazine Award and (twice) for the Pulitzer Prize. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the American Philosophical Society. Her research has been funded by the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Pew Foundation, the Gilder Lehrman Institute, the Charles Warren Center, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Much of Lepore’s scholarship explores absences and asymmetries in the historical record, with a particular emphasis on the histories and technologies of evidence. A prize-winning professor, she teaches classes in evidence, historical methods, the humanities and American political history. (On teaching the writing of history, see “How to Write a Paper for This Class.”) In 2017, she launched the Democracy Project: Arguing with American History, a onesemester undergraduate course on the history of the United States, undertaken through weekly debates in which students use primary sources to argue over competing historical interpretations of turning points in American history. She also teaches at Harvard Law School. Lepore is currently writing a history of the Simulmatics Corporation. In 2018, as part of that research, represented by the Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, Lepore filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, requesting the unsealing of grand jury records pertaining to the Pentagon Papers investigation in Boston in 1971. Lepore has been contributing to The New Yorker since 2005, writing about American history, law, literature and politics. Her essays and reviews have also appeared in The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, The Journal of American History, Foreign Affairs, The Yale Law Journal, American Scholar and the American Quarterly; have been
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translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Latvian, Swedish, French, Chinese and Japanese; and have been widely anthologized, including in collections of the best legal writing and the best technology writing. Three of her books derive from her New Yorker essays: The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death (2012), a finalist for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction; The Story of America: Essays on Origins (2012), shortlisted for the PEN Literary Award for the Art of the Essay; and The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle for American History (2010), a Times Book Review Editors’ Choice.
Coming in Spring Part of the History Matters Series
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross
The Secret History of Wonder Woman (2014) was a national bestseller and winner of the 2015 American History Book Prize. Lepore’s earlier work includes a trilogy of books that together constitute a political history of early America: The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity (1998), winner of the Bancroft Prize, the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award and the Berkshire Prize; New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery and Conspiracy in EighteenthCentury Manhattan (2005), winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Award for the best nonfiction book on race and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin (2013), Time magazine’s Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, winner of the Mark Lynton History Prize and a finalist for the 2013 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Lepore has lectured widely. Among her recent scholarly and public addresses, she has delivered the F. E. L. Priestley Memorial Lectures in the History of Ideas at the University of Toronto (2018), the George Bancroft Memorial Lecture at the United States Naval Academy (2017), the Richard Leopold Lecture on Public Affairs at Northwestern University (2016), the Patten Lectures at Indiana University (2016) and the Theodore H. White Lecture on the Press and Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (2015). Lepore is a past president of the Society of American Historians and a former commissioner of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. She has been a consultant and contributor to a number of documentary and public history projects. Her three-part story, “The Search for Big Brown,” was broadcast on The New Yorker Radio Hour in 2015. Among her interviews, she has appeared on Fresh Air and on The Colbert Report. Books are available for purchase in the lobby and a signing follows the event
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“A history that very much needs telling and hearing in these times.” The New York Times Explore the history of African-American people with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the country’s most influential cultural historians. Gates’ vast narrative spans from the origins of slavery in Africa through the present, as well as the cultural institutions, political strategies and the perspectives African Americans developed against unimaginable odds. Presented in association with the UCSB Division of Humanities and Fine Arts and the UCSB Department of History
History Matters Series presented through the generosity of Loren Booth and Ellen & Peter O. Johnson
Sat, Apr 18 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall Tickets start at $35 / $15 UCSB students Presented in Association with the UCSB Division of Humanities and Fine Arts and the UCSB Department of History
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Miloš and Friends The Voice of the Guitar
Sun, Feb 23 / 4 PM (note special time) / Hahn Hall
photo: Mélanie Gomez Photography
Miloš, classical guitar 12 ensemble: Elisa-Fleur Thom, violin Alessandro Ruisi, violin Matthew Kettle, viola Max Ruisi, cello Toby Hughes, double bass Up Close & Musical Series Sponsor: Dr. Bob Weinman
Program Johann Sebastian Bach: Selections from Goldberg Variations Luigi Boccherini: “Fandango” from Guitar Quintet No. 4 in D Major, G. 448
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Prelude No. 1 Máximo Diego Pujol: “Milonga” from Suite del Plata No. 1 Isaias Savio: Batucada
Enrique Granados: Spanish Dance No. 5, “Andaluza”
Astor Piazzolla: Cafe 1930
Enrique Granados: Spanish Dance No. 2, “Oriental”
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel: The Sound of Silence
Manuel De Falla: “Danza del Molinero (Farruca)” from El sombrero de tres picos
Thom Yorke, Edward O’Brien, Colin Greenwood, Jonathan Greenwood and Philip Selway (Radiohead): Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Manuel De Falla: Nana Isaac Albéniz: Asturias Anonymous: “Spanish Romance” Astor Piazzolla: Libertango – Intermission –
John Lennon and Paul McCartney: Yesterday John Lennon and Paul McCartney: Eleanor Rigby John Lennon and Paul McCartney: Fool on the Hill George Harrison: Here Comes the Sun
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Miloš “Love at first listen” is how Miloš describes the moment when, as a child in Montenegro, he first picked up the old guitar that was lying around his childhood home gathering dust. Montenegro in the early 1990s was not an obvious gateway to future classical success, hence his family were cautiously supportive when, aged 14, Miloš decided to go to a specialist music school rather than a grammar school. Leaving the Balkans and arriving in London to take up a coveted place at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music was, he says, “a bit like going to Mars. I was clueless.”
Verbier and Rheingau Musik festivals, as well as a major tour of the Voice of the Guitar program with the 12 ensemble throughout the U.K., U.S. and Asia.
Fast forward to 2010, Miloš signed his first record deal with Deutsche Grammophon and before long, he was performing sold-out concerts as a soloist with international orchestras and in recitals. He appeared in some of the most important concert halls and at major festivals around the world, while continuously topping music charts with his bestselling recordings. One of the highlights of that period was his solo guitar recital for a full house at Royal Albert Hall.
www.milosguitar.com
Miloš’ early albums, Mediterraneo and Latino, were hugely successful, while his 2014 recording of Rodrigo’s concertos with the London Philharmonic and Yannick NezetSeguin had the Sunday Times calling him “The King of Aranjuez.” His 2016 record, Blackbird – The Beatles Album, which included duets with Gregory Porter, Tori Amos, Steven Isserlis and Anoushka Shankar, was received with unanimous acclaim. His career was almost cut short when a hand injury left him unable to play. With a new record in development and a major international concert tour already booked for the 20172018 season, Miloš was forced to pull out of multiple engagements, with no real sense of if or when he might recover. Thankfully, in August 2018, fully-recovered and mentally as well as physically stronger, Miloš made a triumphant return to the stage. In front of 6000 people at the BBC Proms, he performed the world premiere of Joby Talbot’s Ink Dark Moon guitar concerto, written especially for him, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Committed to commissioning new repertoire for the guitar, Miloš joined the NAC Ottawa in May 2019 to perform the world premiere of The Forest by Howard Shore. The concerto was recorded and will be released on Decca along with the Talbot Concerto in 2020. Highlights of Miloš’ 2019-2020 season include performances of the Talbot Concerto with the Atlanta Symphony and Borusan Orchestras, solo recitals at Wigmore Hall and the
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In autumn 2019 he released his fifth album, Sound of Silence, a musical treasure trove that includes brand new arrangements of classical repertoire, affectionate nods to the pop world and collaborations with friends. “Sound of Silence is my reflection on that time. It’s a personal scrapbook of music that will always have a special meaning to me.”
12 ensemble The 12 ensemble has rapidly developed a reputation as one of the U.K.’s leading string orchestras. A bold, versatile and virtuosic ensemble, the group is built around a core of 12 of London’s finest and most exhilarating chamber musicians. Always playing without a conductor, the ensemble’s performances combine the raw energy, excitement and creativity of a string quartet with the breathtaking sound afforded by twelve brilliant string players. Founded in 2012 by Artistic Directors Eloisa-Fleur Thom (principal violin) and Max Ruisi (principal cello), the group’s youthful energy and passion for chamber music is at the heart of their music-making. Fearlessly programming bold new works alongside the greats of the string orchestral repertoire, the ensemble strives to bring exceptional music to as diverse an audience as possible. Performing a broad range of music, alongside the core formation of 12 players the group also perform regularly in formations ranging from duos to 23 strings and more. The 12 ensemble perform at leading venues throughout the U.K. and Europe, with recent performances at the Barbican, Berlin Philharmonie and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, plus tours to South Korea, Iceland and Italy. In both 2018 and 2019, the ensemble held a three-day residency at the Barbican for the Sound Unbound festival and in 2018 featured as ensemble-in-residence for Max Richter and Yulia Mahr’s Sounds and Visions festival. In 2019 they made their BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall in Prom 36: Late-night Mixtape. Their debut album Resurrection, released in September 2018, has receivedwidespread critical acclaim: “The 12 ensemble render the entire programme with fearless resolve. An impressive debut” (Gramophone, U.K.).
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Grupo Corpo
Paulo Pederneiras, Artistic Director Rodrigo Pederneiras, Choreographer Tue, Feb 25 / 8 PM / Granada Theatre
photo: Jose Luiz Pederneiras
Running time: approx. 85 min., plus intermission Mature content
Presented in association with the UCSB Department of Theater and Dance Dance Series Sponsors: Annette & Dr. Richard Caleel, Margo Cohen-Feinberg & Bob Feinberg, Irma & Morrie Jurkowitz, Barbara Stupay, and Sheila Wald
Program Bach (1996) Choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras Music: Marco Antônio Guimarães (about J. S. Bach’s work) Set Design: Fernando Velloso and Paulo Pederneiras Costume Design: Freusa Zechmeister Lighting: Paulo Pederneiras
The rites of Umbanda – one of the most widely-practiced Brazil-born religions, which resulted from a combination of Candomblé with Catholicism and Kardecism – serve as the great source of inspiration for the aesthetic scene design of Gira. Exu, the most human of the orixás – without whom, in religions of African origin, the ritual simply won’t happen – is the main poetic imagery for Gira. It evokes the 11 musical themes especially created by Metá Metá.
It’s like a game between what one hears and sees when Bach’s baroque and the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais’ baroque come together in the form of dance. The choreography aspires to bring the visuals together, while the music reaches inside Bach’s music score, which composer Marco Antonio Guimarães help us unveil. Among shades of blue, gold and darkness, a dance celebrates the architecture of life: The continuous flow from where surprising kinetic constructions emerge.
First and foremost, the artistic creators of Grupo Corpo had to delve into the universe of Afro-Brazilian religions in preparation for the theme Metá Metá proposed. However, the performance is far from being a mimetic representation of these syncretic rituals. Instead, the choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras (re)constructs the powerful glossary of gestures and movement he accessed as he experienced rites of Camdomblé as well as Umbanda, particularly in Exu ceremonies (giras de Exu).
– Intermission –
Paulo Pederneiras conceived the stage design as an installation or a non-setting, in which he covers the bodies of the dancers off-stage with the same black tulle as the three walls of the black box, turning them into the ether and this way creating an eerie atmosphere of endlessness.
Gira (2017) Choreography: Rodrigo Pederneiras Music: Metá Metá Set Design: Paulo Pederneiras Costume Design: Freusa Zechmeister Lighting: Paulo Pederneiras and Gabriel Pederneiras
As for the costumes, Freusa Zechmeister adopts the same language for the whole cast, both female and male dancers: naked torso and the other half of the body in white skirts of primitive cutting and raw linen.
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Artistic Director: Paulo Pederneiras Choreographer: Rodrigo Pederneiras Dancers: Ágatha Faro, Bianca Victal, Dayanne Amaral, Débora Roots, Edésio Nunes, Edmárcio Júnior, Edson Hayzer, Elias Bouza, Filipe Bruschi, Helbert Pimenta, Janaina Castro, Jonathan de Paula, Karen Rangel, Luan Batista, Lucas Saraiva, Malu Figueirôa, Mariana do Rosário, Rafael Bittar, Rafaela Fernandes, Sílvia Gaspar, Williene Sampaio, Yasmin Almeida Rehearsal Director: Carmen Purri Choreography Assistants: Ana Paula Cançado, Carmen Purri, Miriam Pederneiras Ballet Mistress: Bettina Bellomo Pianist: Anna Maria Ferreira Technical Director: Pedro Pederneiras Technical Coordinator: Gabriel Pederneiras Technicians: Átilla Gomes, Murilo Oliveira, Stefan Böttcher Wardrobe Assistants: Alexandre Vasconcelos, Maria Luiza Magalhães Administrator: Marcello Cláudio Teixeira Administrative Manager: Kênia Marques Administrative Assistant: Marcel Gordon Firing Secretary: Flávia Labbate Documentation: Cândida Braz Communication Director: Cristina Castilho Communication Assistant: Mateus Castilho Program Director: Cláudia Ribeiro Executive Producer: Michelle Deslandes Production: Instituto Cultural Corpo www.grupocorpo.com facebook.com/grupocorpo twitter.com/grupocorpo instagram.com/grupo_corpo youtube.com/grupocorpooficial vimeo.com/grupocorpo/vod_pages
About the Company Grupo Corpo is from Minas Gerais, Brazil, but their ballet crosses borders. Brazil as a whole, with all its cultural diversity, can see itself in Grupo Corpo. The dance company was founded in 1975 in Belo Horizonte. In a world where the speed of information is producing an increasingly homogeneous landscape, they stand out for having developed a signature of their own. There are three basic reasons for the uniqueness of the company in the contemporary dance scene. First, there is Rodrigo Pederneiras, the house choreographer: one of the few able to mix classic ballet and folk dances and then set to motion bodies that push the limits of technical rigor. Second, there is the wisdom with which Paulo Pederneiras transforms choreography into a dance artwork. Besides directing the company, he signs the scenography and lighting designs that customize the scenic finishing for each production with a kind of quality that continues to introduce new references. Part of those are the costumes by Freusa Zechmeister, the result of a skill capable of translating clothing into movement. And third, there is a balanced cast of dancers, stars in their own right, fine-tuning each other with exquisite precision. When one sees Grupo Corpo dance on stage it is as if all questions concerning the transit between nature and culture were being fully answered. All facets of Brazil, past and future, erudite and popular, foreign influence and local color and the urban and the suburban come to being as art. Brazilian art. World art. – Helena Katz Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
Special thanks to
Grupo Corpo is sponsored by
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UCSB Environmental Studies Program’s 50th Anniversary Celebration
Bill McKibben
Our Changing Climate: A Global Movement of Reform
photo: Nancie Battaglia
Sat, Feb 29 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall
Presented in association with Community Environmental Council Forces of Nature Series Lead Sponsors: Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher and Erika & Matthew Fisher in memory of J. Brooks Fisher
Environmentalist, activist and author Bill McKibben wrote the first book about global warming for a general audience: 1989’s The End of Nature. It has been translated into 24 languages.
Award for Nonfiction Writing, the Gandhi Prize and the Thomas Merton Prize. He holds honorary degrees from 18 colleges and universities and was even asked by Bernie Sanders to help write the DNC climate platform of 2016.
He then went on to found 350.org, which has become the biggest grassroots climate campaign in the world. He has been called “probably America’s most important environmentalist” by the Boston Globe and “perhaps the planet’s best green journalist” by Time magazine.
McKibben is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was named one of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers by Foreign Policy. A Harvard graduate, McKibben wrote for and was president of the Harvard Crimson.
His latest book, Falter, is a New York Times bestseller. It offers a piercing look at our environmental challenges, but also at the existential questions that come with new technologies. In talks, McKibben shares examples of “the right kind of pressure” to make change, like getting college campuses to divest from fossil fuels. He also explores the environmental possibilities of technology, like the use of solar panels across Africa. McKibben offers a dual approach to saving our planet: yes, we must make informed choices as individuals, but we also need to think as members of a mobilized group. When it comes to building a movement, we should consider “being a little bit less of an individual,” he says. As an activist he sees things on a global scale, but he is still invested and active in grassroots movements around the world.
He is the author of 15 books, including Radio Free Vermont, Enough, The Age of Missing Information, Oil and Honey, Deep Economy and American Earth. McKibben is also the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College. Books are available for purchase in the lobby and a signing follows the event
Co-presented with
McKibben was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the “alternative Nobel.” He has lectured and organized on every continent, including Antarctica, and has been the recipient of many awards, including the Lannan
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An Evening with
Bill Bryson
The Body: A Guide for Occupants
photo: Catherine Williams
Mon, Mar 2 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre
Bestselling author Bill Bryson has established himself as one of the world’s most beloved and prolific commentators by finding delight in the minutiae of travel and the subtleties of culture. He has chronicled everything from hiking the Appalachian Trail in the immensely popular A Walk in the Woods, named one of Time magazine’s All-Time 100 Best Nonfiction Books, to capturing the zeitgeist of the roaring ’20s in One Summer: America 1927. Bryson shot to prominence in the United Kingdom with Notes From a Small Island, a humorous travel book that takes readers on an exploration of Great Britain, which was also adapted for television. He received further widespread recognition from A Short History of Nearly Everything, a book widely acclaimed for its approachable communication of science. With more than 20 books in circulation, it is his unique comic sensibility that continues to entertain. “Bryson could write an essay about dryer lint or fever reducers and still make us laugh out loud,” says the Chicago Sun Times of the man known for his quirky observations. For all the acclaim, the award-winning Bryson is as unassuming as any Iowa-born British citizen can be. He charms audiences with the same warmth, goofy wit and dry, self-effacing humor that has made his work so universally appealing. Books are available for purchase in the lobby and a signing follows the event
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Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal She Remembers Everything
Wed, Mar 4 / 8 PM / Campbell Hall
photo: Michael Lavine
Program will be announced from the stage
Rosanne Cash is on tour with She Remembers Everything, a poetic, lush and soulful collection of songs that reckon with a flawed and intricate world. She Remembers Everything follows Cash’s triple-Grammy Award-winning 2014 album The River & the Thread and marks a return to more personal songwriting after a trio of albums that explored her southern roots and family heritage. In the wake of the latest tsunami of survivor stories, Cash has embraced women’s narratives in this powerful material. “There is a woman’s real life, complex experiences and layered understanding in these songs,” Cash says. “I could not have written them 10 years ago – not even close. Time is shorter, I have more to say.” She Remembers Everything was produced by collaborator John Leventhal and Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket, Mavis Staples, Neko Case). One of the country’s pre-eminent singer-songwriters, Rosanne Cash has released 15 albums of extraordinary songs that have earned four Grammy Awards and 11 nominations, as well as 21 top 40 hits, including 11 No. 1 singles. Cash is also an author whose four books include the bestselling memoir Composed, which the Chicago Tribune called “one of the best accounts of an American life you’ll likely ever read.” Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Oxford American, The Nation and many more print and online publications. A new book, Bird on a Blade, blending the images of acclaimed artist Dan Rizzie with strands of lyrics from a variety of Cash’s songs, has just been published by the University of Texas Press. In addition to regular touring, Cash has partnered in programming collaborations
Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin Dick Wolf Major Sponsor: Zegar Family Foundation
with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, San Francisco Jazz, Minnesota Orchestra and the Library of Congress. She was awarded the SAG/AFTRA Lifetime Achievement award for Sound Recordings in 2012 and received the 2014 Smithsonian Ingenuity Award in the Performing Arts. She was chosen as a Perspective Series artist at Carnegie Hall for the 2015-2016 season and curated a series of American roots music, including her own performance. She continues her association with Carnegie Hall as a creative partner for the 2019-2020 season. She also served as 2015 artist-in-residence at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame that same year. And for the 2017-2018 seasons she was a resident artistic director at SFJAZZ. Last year, Cash was awarded with the Spirit of Americana: Free Speech Award by the Americana Music Association and received an honorary doctorate degree from the Berklee College of Music. Cash is currently writing the lyrics for a musical, Norma Rae, with John Leventhal, composer, and John Weidman, book writer. Special thanks to
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David Wallace-Wells Surviving the World: Making the Best of a Burdened Planet
photo: Beowulf Sheehan
Thu, Mar 5 / 7:30 PM / The New Vic
The future is being transformed by climate change faster and more dramatically than we realized. Politics, technology, cities, business – even our sense of history, human rights and justice – will all be changed by this massive force. But how? To what degree? In his critically-hailed instant New York Times bestseller The Uninhabitable Earth, David Wallace-Wells tells the epic story of our time. He asks urgent questions – how will the map of global power shift as coastlines are redrawn? – and reminds us that everything is within our control, so long as we resist complacency. A celebrated journalist, Wallace-Wells moves beyond “what must be done” to investigate “what will the world actually look like.” A look at geopolitical and economic consequences of climate change, The Uninhabitable Earth was named to the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2019, GQ’s Best Books of 2019, and was chosen as one of Time magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2019. How will humans live together on a degraded planet? Will carbon become a central topic of the 21st century the way human rights were to the 20th? How will the dynamics
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Forces of Nature Series Lead Sponsors: Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher and Erika & Matthew Fisher in memory of J. Brooks Fisher
Presented through the generosity of Leslie Sweem Bhutani between nations shift as a result of divergent climate impacts? Wallace-Wells also examines how public sentiment and political action are changing – again, much faster than anyone might have predicted. He reminds us that no sector will be left untouched – but change will vary. This, he says, is the moment to truly engage with what climate change really means, a time for human action after decades of inaction. Wallace-Wells is deputy editor at New York magazine, where he writes a column on climate change, and where his viral cover story “The Uninhabitable Earth” was met with widespread acclaim, paving the way for his book. Formerly the deputy editor of The Paris Review and a National Fellow at the New America Foundation, he is the co-host of the podcast 2038, which interrogates predictions about the next two decades. Books are available for purchase in the lobby and a signing follows the event
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The Wood Brothers Fri, Mar 6 / 8 PM / Campbell Hall
Chris Wood, bass, harmonica, vocals Oliver Wood, guitar, vocals Jano Rix, drums, shuitar, keyboards, vocals
photo: Alysse Gafkjen
Program will be announced from the stage
The Wood Brothers didn’t know they were making a record. Looking back, they’re grateful for that. “If we had known, we probably would have been too self-conscious to play what we played,” reflects bassist/vocalist Chris Wood. “At the time, we just thought were jamming to break in our new studio, so we felt free to explore all these different ways of performing together without worrying about form or structure. It was liberating.” Recorded live to tape, those freewheeling, improvised sessions became a vast pool of source material from which The Wood Brothers would go on to draw Kingdom in My Mind, their eighth studio release and most spontaneous and experimental collection yet. While on past records, the band – Chris, guitarist/vocalist Oliver Wood and drummer/ keyboardist Jano Rix – would write a large batch of songs and then record them all at once, Kingdom found them retroactively carving tunes out of sprawling instrumental jam sessions like sculptors chipping away at blocks of marble. A testament to the limitless creativity of the unharnessed mind, the record explores the power of our external surroundings to shape our internal worlds (and vice versa), reckoning with time, mortality and human nature. The songs here find strength in accepting what lies beyond our control, thoughtfully honing in on the bittersweet beauty that underlies doubt and pain and sadness with vivid character studies and unflinching self-examination. Deep as the lyrics dig, the arrangements always manage to remain buoyant and light, though, drawing from across a broad sonic spectrum to create a transportive, effervescent blend that reflects the trio’s unique place in the modern musical landscape.
“My brother came to this band from the blues and gospel world, and my history was all over the map with jazz and R&B,” says Chris, who first rose to fame with the pioneering trio Medeski Martin & Wood. “The idea for this group has always been to marry our backgrounds, to imagine what might happen if Robert Johnson and Charles Mingus had started a band together.” Kingdom in My Mind follows The Wood Brothers’ most recent studio release, 2018’s One Drop of Truth, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and garnered the band their first Grammy Award nomination for Best Americana Album. NPR praised the record’s “unexpected changes and kaleidoscopic array of influences,” while Uncut hailed its “virtuosic performances and subtly evocative lyrics,” and Blurt proclaimed it “a career-defining album.” Tracks from the record racked up roughly eight million streams on Spotify alone, and the band took the album on the road for extensive tour dates in the U.S. and in Europe, including their first-ever headline performance at Red Rocks, two nights at San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore (captured on their 2019 release, Live at the Fillmore) and festival appearances everywhere from Bonnaroo to XPoNential. Special thanks to
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Michael Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble
photo: Marcus Höhn
Sat, Mar 7 / 4 PM / Hahn Hall
Michael Barenboim, violin Assif Binness, cello Miriam Manasherov, viola Sindy Mohamed, viola Samir Naser Abdel Hamid Obaido, violin Yamen Saadi, violin Astrig Spidak Siranossian, cello David Strongin, violin Up Close & Musical Series Sponsor: Dr. Bob Weinman
Program
About the Program
Franz Schubert: Rondo in A Major for Violin and Strings, D.438
Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Rondo in A Major for Violin and Strings, D.438
Giuseppe Tartini: Violin Sonata in G Minor (“Devil’s Trill”) Larghetto affetuoso; Allegro energico Grave; Allegro assai Benjamin Attahir: 117:2c – Intermission – Felix Mendelssohn: String Octet in E-flat Major, op. 20 Allegro moderato, ma con fuoco Andante Scherzo: Allegro leggierissimo Presto
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Schubert wrote no concertos. Though he played both violin and piano and though much of his music demands virtuoso performers of the highest ability, Schubert seems not to have been at all attracted by the idea of a solo instrument accompanied by orchestra or by music that emphasized technical display for its own sake. The score of the Rondo in A Major notes that it is for violin with the accompaniment of string quartet, and while this is usually taken to mean a small string orchestra, the intimacy of this music makes a performance with a quartet entirely appropriate. The Rondo dates from 1816, when the 19-year-old composer was still a schoolteacher in Vienna and was working on his Fourth Symphony. A graceful Adagio opens the work, and soon the solo violin soars high above the accompaniment. The music comes to a pause, and the solo violin presses ahead at the Allegro giusto with a more vigorous theme of its own. A few moments later comes one of those glorious melodies that are pure Schubert: The violin sings a graceful, lyric and beautifully-balanced phrase, which alternates with the Allegro giusto theme throughout the rest of the work. There is little development of these two themes in the Rondo: the episodes repeat – often literally – rather than grow and evolve. Throughout, Schubert emphasizes the lyric side of the violin rather than the virtuosic, and the Rondo closes as gracefully as it began.
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Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770): Violin Sonata in G Minor (“Devil’s Trill”) The life of Giuseppe Tartini reads like something out of a novel rather than a music history text. As a boy, he learned to play the violin and to fence and was so good at both that he supported himself at law school by giving violin and fencing lessons – he even thought briefly of making a career as a fencing-master. But fate intervened, as it so often does: at age 20, Tartini eloped with one of his violin students, only to discover that his youthful bride was under the protection of her uncle, the archbishop of Padua, who came after Tartini with a vengeance. The young violin-and-fencing teacher had to flee Padua for Assisi, where he hid in a monastery. Only after the archbishop had calmed down (which took two years) could Tartini return to Padua. He had used his time in the cloister to study composition, and he now devoted himself completely to music, becoming music director of Saint Anthony’s in Padua and eventually founding a violin school; this became so famous that it attracted students from all over Europe, earning it the nickname “School of the Nations.” A prolific composer (about 350 works survive), Tartini devoted himself to mathematical speculation and studies in musical theory during his later years. His most famous work is the Violin Sonata in G Minor, which Tartini said was inspired when the devil appeared to him one night in a dream and played it through for him; the next day Tartini wrote down what he could remember of the sonata he had heard in his dream. The music acquired the nickname “Devil’s Trill” from the fiendishly-difficult trilled passages in its last movement – many is the violinist who, faced with having to play these passages, has been quite ready to agree that this music did in fact come straight from the devil. The sonata’s difficulties lie not just in the last movement’s famous trills, for the violinist must also be able to execute graceful string crossings, double-stops, quick grace notes and the sudden alternation of a cantabile line with fiery attacks. Furthermore, the violin plays during every second of this music. The “Devil’s Trill” is in three movements. The opening Larghetto affetuoso, somber and wistful, gives way to an Allegro that alternates dramatic gestures with fluid and flowing passages demanding the most poised bow arm possible. The famous last movement is actually two movements in one, for Tartini alternates the opening Grave and the Allegro assai, with its infamous trills. What makes these trills so difficult is that the violinist must simultaneously play a bowed melody on another string; near the close Tartini has the violinist break away for a long solo cadenza before a grand close on the Grave melody.
The “Devil’s Trill” is one of the great violin sonatas, but Tartini was not fully satisfied with it. Much later, he wrote to a friend: “The piece I then composed, ‘The Devil’s Sonata,’ although the best I ever wrote, how far was it below the one I heard in my dream!”
Benjamin Attahir (b.1989): 117:2c (See insert)
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): String Octet in E-flat Major, op. 20 It has become a cliché with a certain kind of critic to say that Mendelssohn never fulfilled the promise of his youth. Such a charge is a pretty tough thing to say about someone who died at 38 – most of us would think Mendelssohn never made it out of his youth. And such a charge overlooks the great works Mendelssohn completed in the years just before his death: the Violin Concerto, the complete incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Elijah. But there can be no gainsaying the fact that the young Mendelssohn was a composer whose gifts and promise rivaled – perhaps even surpassed – the young Mozart’s. The child of an educated family that fully supported his talent, Mendelssohn had by age 9 written works that were performed by professional groups in Berlin. At 12 he became close friends with the 72-year-old Goethe, at 17 he composed the magnificent overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and at 20 he led the performance of the St. Matthew Passion that was probably the key event in the revival of interest in Bach’s music. Mendelssohn completed his Octet in October 1825, when he was 16. One of the finest of his early works, the Octet is remarkable for its polished technique, its sweep, and for its sheer exhilaration. Mendelssohn’s decision to write for a string octet is an interesting one, for such an ensemble approaches chamber-orchestra size, and a composer must steer a careful course between orchestral sonority and true chamber music. Mendelssohn handles this problem easily. At times this music can sound orchestral, as he sets different groups of instruments against each other, but the Octet remains true chamber music – each of the eight voices is distinct and important, and even at its most dazzling and extroverted the Octet preserves the equal participation of independent voices so crucial to chamber music. Mendelssohn marked the first movement Allegro moderato ma con fuoco, and certainly there is fire in the very beginning, where the first violin rises and falls back through a range of three octaves. Longest by far of the movements, the first is marked by energy, sweep and an easy exchange
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between all eight voices before rising to a grand climax derived from the opening theme. By contrast, the Andante is based on the simple melody announced by the lower strings and quickly taken up by the four violins. This gentle melodic line becomes more animated as it develops, with accompanying voices that grow particularly restless. The Scherzo is the most famous part of the Octet. Mendelssohn said that it was inspired by the closing lines of the Walpurghisnacht section near the end of Part I of Goethe’s Faust, where Faust and Mephistopheles descend into the underworld. He apparently had in mind the final lines of the description of the marriage of Oberon and Titania: Clouds go by and mists recede, Bathed in the dawn and blended; Sighs the wind in leaf and reed, And all our tale is ended. This music zips along brilliantly. Mendelssohn marked it Allegro leggierissimo – “as light as possible” – and it does seem like goblin music, sparkling, trilling and swirling right up to the end, where it vanishes into thin air. Featuring an eight-part fugato, the energetic Presto demonstrates the young composer’s contrapuntal skill. There are many wonderful touches here. At one point sharp-eared listeners may detect a quotation, perhaps unconscious, of “And He Shall Reign” from the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel’s Messiah, and near the end Mendelssohn skillfully brings back the main theme of the Scherzo as a countermelody to the finale’s polyphonic complexity. It is a masterstroke in a piece of music that would be a brilliant achievement by a composer of any age. Program notes by Eric Bromberger
About the Ensemble The West-Eastern Divan Ensemble, led by the orchestra’s concertmaster Michael Barenboim, draws upon players of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Founded in 1999, the origins of the orchestra lie in the conversations between its founders, Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim. Over the course of their great friendship, the Palestinian author/scholar and Israeli conductor/pianist discussed ideas on music, culture and humanity. In their exchanges, they realized the urgent need for an alternative way to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The opportunity to do this came when Barenboim and Said initiated
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the first workshop using their experience as a model. This evolved into the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra that global audiences know today. The group is comprised of Arab and Israeli musicians, defying fierce political divides in the Middle East and globally. Through its work and existence, they demonstrate that bridges can be built to encourage people to listen to the narrative of the other. The West-Eastern Divan Ensemble is the most recent imprint of this project and brings the highly praised artistry of the large orchestra into an intimate chamber music format. As the orchestra celebrates its 20th anniversary, Michael Barenboim, who as a soloist has recently appeared with Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony amongst many others, founds this ensemble to spread the ideas behind the WestEastern Divan Orchestra even further and to give the public an opportunity to experience the musicians’ unique artistry and personality up close.
Michael Barenboim While committed to the core Classical and Romantic repertoire, Michael Barenboim is deeply invested and especially recognized for his performances of 20th-century and contemporary music. He celebrates a long history of collaboration with the late Pierre Boulez, whose pieces he regularly performs. His second solo recording, with works by Sciarrino, Berio and Paganini, was released in early 2018 and hailed by the critics as “visionary programming” (BBC Music Magazine), “breathtakingly compelling, and one that’s full of brilliant revelations” (The Strad). Recent highlights include debuts with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with Robert Trevino and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and with San Diego Symphony and Dresden Philharmonic, performing Glazunov’s Violin Concerto. Michael Barenboim’s debut with the Berlin Philharmonic performing Schönberg’s Violin Concerto was critically-acclaimed, and followed debuts with the Vienna Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony and Israel Philharmonic. He has also appeared with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and with the BBC Philharmonic performing Berg’s Violin Concerto. The 2019-2020 season brings debuts with the Orchestre National d’Ile de France, where he will perform in a regional tour of the Ligeti Concerto with Case Scaglione conducting, and with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, where he will perform Dutilleux’s Concerto with Fabien Gabel. He will also return to the Enescu Festival
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Orchestra to perform J. Widmann’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and will reprise the Schönberg Concerto, this time at the Musikverein with the ORF RadioSymphonieorchester Wien under the baton of Pinchas Steinberg. Trio performances with Daniel Barenboim and Kian Soltani will be featured at the Boulez Saal in Berlin, and Michael Barenboim will be soloist and leader of a new chamber ensemble of musicians from the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, known as Michael Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble, which will tour the U.S. extensively from coast to coast. Banreboim is a founding member of the Erlenbusch Quartet and frequently invited at such festivals as the Lucerne Festival, Verbier, Aix en Provence and Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival. He collaborates regularly with his mother, the pianist Elena Bashkirova, as well as with such artists as Franz Helmerson, Julian Steckel, Guy Braunstein, András Schiff and Martha Argerich. He also serves as concertmaster of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and cultivates a continuous and strong involvement in educational activities. He is head of chamber music at the Barenboim-Said Academy and gives master classes around the world.
Coming in Spring The Must-see Classical Music Pairing of the Season!
Gautier Capuçon, cello Yuja Wang, piano
Michael Barenboim is represented by CAMI Music LLC worldwide Javier Manzana – General Manager Cell: +34 618.378.678 | jmf@camimusic.com www.camimusic.com Special thanks to
Program Chopin: Sonata in G Minor, op. 65 Chopin: Polonaise brillante in C Major, op. 3 Franck: Sonata in A Major Incandescent pianist Yuja Wang returns in an exceptional duo alongside the dazzling French cellist Gautier Capuçon, her close friend and source of inspiration. Presented in association with the UCSB Department of Music
Mon, Apr 27 / 7 PM / Granada Theatre Tickets start at $45 / $19 UCSB students A Granada facility fee will be added to each ticket price
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Buddy Guy Jimmie Vaughan Charlie Musselwhite Sat, Mar 7 / 7 PM (note special time) / Arlington Theatre Program will be announced from the stage
Presented with additional support from Sharon & Bill Rich
Buddy Guy The title of Buddy Guy’s latest album says it all: The Blues Is Alive and Well. The legendary blues artist’s 18th solo LP and follow-up to 2015’s Born to Play Guitar showcases his raw and unadulterated sound, its 15 tracks a true pleasure for aficionados and genre newcomers alike. “I got children and grandchildren who didn’t know who I was, but nowadays we can play outdoor concerts and see kids that are 8, 9, 12 years old coming to me and saying, ‘I didn’t know who you was, but I read what Eric Clapton said about you,’” Guy explains when discussing his mindset around the new record. “I’m always trying to make an album that someone accidentally plays where some kid hears it, picks up a guitar and helps keep the blues alive.” It only takes one listen to The Blues Is Alive and Well to realize that Guy’s mission has been more than accomplished. The record is arriving on the heels of a spate of high visibility for the 83-year-old performer: At the 2016 Grammys, he picked up a trophy for Best Blues Album honoring Born to Play Guitar, and that same year, he hit the road for a U.S. tour opening for Jeff Beck. In addition to bringing the house down at a recent sold-out performance commemorating the closing of New York City’s B.B. King’s Blues Club and Grill, he recently appeared on David Letterman’s Netflix talk show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. A truly restless and energetic performer, The Blues Is Alive and Well is the latest triumph in an already-legendary career.
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The Blues Is Alive and Well began to come together when Guy’s frequent collaborator and producer Tom Hambridge came to Guy with a collection of songs he figured would be perfect for a new full-length. “He’s like some of the older guys I used to play with,” Guy enthuses about working with Hambridge. “When you play with a band for 10 or 12 years, they almost know what you’re gonna do. He’s the type of guy who feels what I’m gonna do. Even in my early Chess Records days, you had Willie Dixon and several other guys affiliated with those hit records, and this kid just has that feel too. He brought the songs in, and hopefully we did a good job.” And how: The Blues Is Alive and Well’s 15 tracks feature pristine production without losing the signature lived-in grit that Guy’s been known for his entire career, from the low-slung riffage of “Bad Day” to the squealing solos of “Somebody Up There.” Guy sounds every bit as vital and youthful here as he did dating back to his early collaborations with the late Junior Wells, and it’s inspiring to hear a veteran artist laying down the blues with such gusto. Among the contributors to The Blues Is Alive and Well: young gun James Bay, who joins him on the aching “Blue No More,” as well as Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who contributes to the stomping barroom rambler “You Did the Crime.” “Mick made a comment to me when he heard the song: ‘Is that my voice? I didn’t know it was still that strong,’” Guy states. “Before the late Junior Wells passed away, we did a whole tour with Mick. They ex-
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posed us a lot. I owe a lot of things to those guys, because they put us in places that we hadn’t been, and they haven’t forgotten that. We got a relationship between us. Whenever they come to town, they stop in the loudest blues club in Chicago and call me, and I’ll go in the kitchen and fix us something. We still have a lot of fun.” And Jagger’s not the only Rolling Stone to hop on The Blues Is Alive and Well: Keith Richards contributes to the warm “Cognac,” as does Jeff Beck. “Those guys have been my friends before they got famous,” Guy reminisces while discussing his rejoining with old friends. “I went to England and those guys looked at me while I was playing a Stratocaster and said, “Don’t you know a Stratocaster can’t play the blues?” I said, “What do you mean?” It was a joke, because it was a country/western instrument before that – it wasn’t supposed to play the blues. We all bought Stratocasters after that.” And even as Guy pushes forward with his astounding career, he’s careful not to forget his late contemporaries who inspired him along the way. “I went to sleep yesterday and woke up and all the great blues players are no longer with us. Muddy, Wolf, B.B. – they’re all gone. Before they passed away, when they were in their prime, we used to have a drink and a laugh and talk about how when one of us is gone, the others have to keep it going. I’m trying to do something to keep this music that I love so well alive.” And with The Blues Is Alive and Well, it’s clear that the music – and Guy himself – ain’t going away anytime soon.
Jimmie Vaughan When it comes to the blues today, there are a handful of guiding lights to make sure the music stays true to its powerful source. The sound of pleasure and pain that first sparked musicians to create such a sound is a force that can never be underestimated. The mojo has to be there. For Jimmie Vaughan, he’s dedicated his life to making sure the blues not only stays alive, but remains full of life and an inspiration to all who listen. It’s a spirit he holds close to him, and for more than 50 years of holding the blues close inside him, Vaughan isn’t about to stop now. Vaughan’s new album, Baby, Please Come Home, is a rolling and righteous celebration of everything the blues can be. The songs can go up, down, sideways and even off in their own distinctive direction, but one thing is certain: Each and every one of them is packed with pure feeling and striking originality. That’s because while the blues is almost as old as America itself; every time a musician lends their soul to living inside these songs, something new comes out. There is a
constant reinvention for musicians like Vaughan, because the blues demands it. There can be nothing less than a revelation, because that’s how the music stays alive. It is almost like an alchemy exists, where instruments and voice join together to make a joyful noise. And above all else, the blues, in the capable of hands of Vaughan and his musical cohorts, is a path to salvation – one that is birthed in the ability of songs to make life on earth a better place to be. Sometimes it takes decades to finally arrive at a place called home. When a young player starts out as a teenager to find a spot to call his own, there can be enough twists and turns to throw even the most dedicated of souls off the mark. Life can be a tricky endeavor, and between the bright lights and the dark nights, that road ahead can be full of false starts and deceiving roadblocks. But on Baby, Please Come Home Vaughan proves without doubt all his efforts and energy have taken him to the promised land. Maybe that’s because blues is really the art of distillation, seeking the sound where there are no extraneous notes, or unnecessary additions to the feeling of freedom. It takes years to get there, and patience is most definitely a virtue. Above all else, feeling is the most important element of all. With that, all else can be conquered. “Playing what I feel has always been my main goal,” Vaughan says. Considering the Texas guitarist and singer has had the kind of career that makes him a living legacy, those are no idle words. His first group when he was starting high school played Dallas’ Hob Knob Lounge six nights a week, learning the kinds of lessons that can’t be taught. They have to be lived. Other bands in the ’60s convinced the young man it was time to find a way to play the music he felt the strongest about: the blues. That took him to hitchhiking to Austin in the early ’70s and carving out a new crew of blues players who shared his musical excitement. Vaughan started in the lead, and has remained there. After worldwide success with The Fabulous Thunderbirds during the ’80s, it came time to leave that band and build his own path in exploring different approaches to the blues. He did not hesitate. And what Vaughan discovered was that he could take it anywhere; there were no boundaries. “I wanted to find out what I could really do,” he says, “and when I started singing it gave me a whole new side to explore. When I was young, I didn’t really pay much attention to categories of music. I just heard what I liked and decided to explore that. And that’s really what I’m still doing.” For the past few years, Vaughan has been recording a series of albums dedicated to the songs he’s always held in high esteem, recorded by artists that inspired him from his very earliest days of performing. The sessions have been held
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in studios near Austin, and he was surrounded by fellow musicians who understand that music is intended to ignite the heart and fill the soul. There can be no shortcuts or sleightof-hand when playing these songs. They come from writers and performers who are responsible for so much of modern popular music, some well-known but many others who are still unknown outside the blues world. On Baby, Please Come Home, some of those original artists are Lloyd Price, Jimmy Donley, Lefty Frizell, Richard Berry, Chuck Willis, Bill Doggett, T-Bone Walker, Etta James, Fats Domino, Gatemouth Brown and Jimmy Reed. In so many ways, this is a list of some of the prime purveyors of America’s greatest music. That it can range from seminal bluesmen like Jimmy Reed to one of the founding fathers of modern country music – Lefty Frizell – proves the point that Vaughan has always believed: Music is not about what it is labeled, but rather how it makes the listener feel. On Baby, Please Come Home, those feelings are played to the hilt by some of Vaughan’s long-standing A-team including George Rains, Billy Pitman, Ronnie James, Mike Flanigan, Doug James, Greg Piccolo, Al Gomez, Kaz Kazonoff, T. Jarred Bonata, John Mills and Randy Zimmerman. They are joined by guest vocalists Georgia Bramhall and Emily Gimble. These sessions, mostly held at San Marcos, Texas’ Fire Station studio, were the kinds of recordings that are based on musicians who have been playing this music for decades. They’ve come to have a near-silent style of communication, where a look or a smile communicates much more than words ever could. As bandleader, singer and guitarist, Vaughan is a master of how everything is captured for posterity. His singing voice has grown into a study in strength. And while sometimes he might say, “Sometimes you can sing and sometimes you can’t,” like everything else the Texan touches, Vaughan knows when it’s right and never stops until it is. He has always looked to his soul as the ultimate barometer of when the music is right, and when that is satisfied Vaughan knows he has found that spot where the music is ready to be shared. The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards once said, “The blues. It’s probably the most important thing America has ever given the world.” To which Vaughan would likely add, “Amen.”
One of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s (alongside Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield, among others), Musselwhite was reportedly the inspiration for Dan Aykroyd’s character in The Blues Brothers. He was born in Mississippi but spent his formative years in Memphis, Tenn. during the period when rockabilly, western swing, electric blues and other forms of African American music were combining to give birth to rock and roll. Musselwhite supported himself by digging ditches, laying concrete and running moonshine in a 1950 Lincoln automobile. This environment was Musselwhite’s school for music – as well as life – and where he acquired the nickname “Memphis Charlie.” In true bluesman fashion, Musselwhite then took off to Chicago, where he continued his education on the South Side, making the acquaintance of even more legends including Lew Soloff, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Guy, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Big Walter Horton. Musselwhite immersed himself completely in the musical life, living in the basement of Big Joe Williams and forging a lifelong friendship with John Lee Hooker. In time, Musselwhite led his own blues band, and in 1966, released the legendary Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite’s Southside Band. Since then, Musselwhite has released more than 25 albums, as well as guesting on albums by many other notable musicians including Bonnie Raitt, INXS, Tom Waits and The Blind Boys of Alabama, among others. Musselwhite recently teamed up with Ben Harper on Get Up! – the long-time-coming collaboration that took home the Grammy for Best Blues Album in 2014. Funded in part by the Community Events & Festivals Program using funds provided by the City of Santa Barbara in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture
Special thanks to
Charlie Musselwhite With an induction into the Blues Music Hall of Fame, 35 Blues Music Awards (including three wins in 2014) and 11 Grammy nominations (including a 2014 win), American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader Charlie Musselwhite has truly earned legendary status as one of blues music’s most important artists.
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Brian Greene
Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe Mon, Mar 9 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre
Presented through the generosity of Dorothy Largay & Wayne Rosing Brian Greene is one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists and a brilliant, entertaining communicator of cutting-edge scientific concepts. A professor of physics and of mathematics at Columbia University, Greene has been described by The Washington Post as “the single best explainer of abstruse concepts in the world today.” Greene is the author of three acclaimed books – The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos and The Hidden Reality – which have collectively sold more than two million copies, been translated into more than 40 languages and spent 65 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. His books are also the basis of two Emmy and Peabody Award-winning NOVA miniseries, both of which Greene hosted. His new book, Until the End of Time, will be released in late February of 2020. Greene’s illustrated novella Icarus at the Edge of Time, adapted for live symphonic presentation with an original score by Philip Glass, premiered at Lincoln Center and has been performed more than 50 times worldwide. Greene’s work for the stage, Light Falls, traces Einstein’s discovery of general relativity and features an original score by House of Cards composer Jeff Beal and visual design by the Tony Award-winning team from 59 Productions.
Together with journalist Tracy Day, Greene is the co-founder of The World Science Festival, which brings cutting-edge science programming to broad audiences. The festival’s live flagship events, in New York and Australia, have reached an audience of more than two million and more than 50 million have experienced the festival’s offerings online. A Harvard graduate and a Rhodes Scholar, Greene is a frequent television guest, joining Stephen Colbert eight times and playing himself in an episode of The Big Bang Theory. He has also had cameo roles in a number of Hollywood films including Frequency, Maze, and The Last Mimzy. Greene is currently director of Columbia University’s Center for Theoretical Physics. Books are available for purchase in the lobby and a signing follows the event
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We Can Do It!
This year-long series celebrates the evolution of women’s rights since the ratification of the 19th amendment, which gave women the constitutional right to vote.
A Century of Empowerment Martha Graham Dance Company: The EVE Project Fri, Jan 24 / 8 PM / Granada Theatre Martha Graham’s company showcases masterpieces by (and inspired by) the mother of American modern dance in this collection that makes bold statements about female power. 1
Joy Harjo
An Evening with the U.S. Poet Laureate Wed, Feb 5 / 7:30 PM / SB Museum of Natural History, Fleischmann Auditorium A visionary poet of the Muscogee Creek Nation, Joy Harjo’s wide-ranging body of work includes the landmark poetry collection She Had Some Horses, the acclaimed memoir Crazy Brave and her newest collection, An American Sunrise. In June, she became the first Native American to be named United States Poet Laureate.
Anita Hill 2
From Social Movement to Social Impact: Putting an End to Sexual Harassment Wed, Feb 19 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall A women’s rights icon and powerful advocate for equality, Anita Hill inspires others to speak truth to power in order to foster true change.
Jill Lepore
This America: The Case for the Nation Fri, Feb 21 / 7:30 PM / Campbell Hall 3
Award-winning Harvard historian, New Yorker staff writer and bestselling author Jill Lepore offers a magisterial account of the rise of America and an urgent reckoning with our divided nation.
Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal She Remembers Everything
Wed, Mar 4 / 8 PM / Campbell Hall With an iconic sound that transcends country, pop, rock and blues, Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal summon powerful material rich with history, heartache, strength and humanity. 4
Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin Dick Wolf Major Sponsor: Zegar Family Foundation 5
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1. Martha Graham Dance Company 2. Joy Harjo 3. Anita Hill 4. Jill Lepore 5. Rosanne Cash
Coming in Spring March 31 Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE
19 Ranky Tanky (note new date) 21 Brooklyn Rider, Healing Modes April 22 Jane Lubchenco, From a Rude Awakening 1 & 2 Lyon Opera Ballet to a Bold New Vision: The Path from a 3 Samin Nosrat and Yotam Ottolenghi Oil Spill to a Sustainable Future 4 Yamato 23 An Evening with John Leguizamo 5 Bryan Stevenson, American Injustice 25 Stile Antico, Breaking the Habit 7 Yefim Bronfman and the 26 Yvon Chouinard, New York Philharmonic String Quartet Protecting Public Land 13 Kandi White, Environmental Justice 27 Gautier Capuçon, cello, and Yuja Wang, piano and Indigenous Communities 29 Naomi Klein, The Case for a Green New Deal 15 Jennifer Koh and Davóne Tines, May Everything That Rises Must Converge 1 Jon Batiste and Stay Human 16 Hamza Akram Qawwal & Brothers 2 Circa, Wolfgang’s Magical Musical Circus 17 Mohsin Hamid 4 Elizabeth Rush, Rising: Dispatches in Conversation with Pico Iyer from the New American Shore 18 Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 12 Elizabeth Strout in Conversation with Pico Iyer The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross 14 & 15 Ephrat Asherie Dance
An hist oric treas ure w it h contemporary comf orts in the heart of Santa Barbara 50 Guest Rooms & Suites The Upham p roud ly s upp orts S ant a Barbar a Ar ts & Cult ure D iscounts Available f or Eve nt Att ende es 15% off weekd ay rate 10% off weekend rate
KIMPTON GOODLAND
Loves UCSB PARENTS & ALUMNI So much so, that in addition to offering the most stylishly laid-back coastal California vibe, we provide some of the best discounts around. Simply visit: thegoodland.com/santa-barbara/ucsb-hotels
5650 Calle Real, Goleta, CA 93117 | (805) 964-6241 thegoodland.com | @goodlandsb
five inviting hotels, one spectacular destination
BRISAS DEL MAR LAVENDER INN INN AT THE BEACH BY THE SEA
BEST WESTERN PLUS
BEST WESTERN PLUS
gardens, the Best Western Plus Pepper Tree Inn is a Spanish-inspired resort hotel with two heated tile pools. Located on upper State Street with easy access to Highway 101 and all Santa Barbara attractions.
Tucked away on a quiet residential street lined with historic Santa Barbara homes, the Best Western Plus Encina Inn & Suites offers all the amenities of a luxury hotel with the charm of a bed and breakfast inn.
Intimate and elegant, the Brisas Del Mar, Inn at the Beach is a romantic Mediterranean-style villa beckoning guests with its refined old-world ambiance. Just two blocks from Santa Barbaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glistening palm-lined beaches and scenic yacht harbor.
Relax amid the soothing scent of lavender and soft ocean breezes at the Lavender Inn by the Sea. Surrounded by lavender gardens, the inn is located just two blocks from Santa Barbaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s picturesque beaches and harbor.
3850 State St. Santa Barbara, CA
2220 Bath St. Santa Barbara, CA
223 Castillo St. Santa Barbara, CA
206 Castillo St. Santa Barbara, CA
PEPPER TREE INN ENCINA INN & SUITES Nestled on five acres of lush
800-338-0030
800-526-2282
800-468-1988
800-649-2669
www.sbhotels.com
INN BY THE HARBOR In a courtyard garden beneath the swaying palms, the Inn by the Harbor is an enchanting Santa Barbara escape built in the Spanish Colonial tradition. The inn is located within walking distance of the beach and yacht harbor. 433 W. Montecito St. Santa Barbara, CA
800-626-1986
sbramada.com
(805) 964-3511 (800) 654-1965 Ramada Santa Barbara
4770 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA 93110
Complimentary deluxe continental breakfast with freshly grilled waffles In room refrigerators, microwaves, coffee makers and irons Complimentary wireless high speed internet access Save up Free Parking with Three Electric Charging Stations to $650 with the Ramada Santa Year-Round Solar Heated Pool and Spa
Barbara Value Pass on Restaurants, Wine Tasting & More!
Please join us on Social Media and share your photos:
/sbramada
Find Your Happy Place
Whether youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re staying overnight or stopping by for a cornhole match, find your happy place here.
www.hiltonsantabarbarabeachfrontresort.com | 633 E. Cabrillo Boulevard | Santa Barbara, California 93103 T:+1 805 564 4333 | F:+1 805 962 8198 I Instagram: @hiltonsantabarbararesort I Facebook: @hiltonsantabarbararesort
Welcome. • Complimentary Breakfast Buffet • free Wi-fi everyWhere • fitness Center on site
• transportation to and from airport/uCsB
• Walk to restaurants & shops
www.southcoastinn.net info@santa-barbara-hotel.com 5620 Calle Real, Goleta, CA
805-967-3200
COAST TO THE BEACH & THE HEART OF SANTA BARBARA
109 BATH ST. | SANTA BARBARA | (805) 963-8845 | FRANCISCANINN.COM
44th Annual Festival / 29 Years with A&L
A browserâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paradise Over 100,000 titles in stock
40 years of excellent customer service
Locally owned and operated 3321 State St. Santa Barbara Loreto Plaza
www.chaucersbooks.com
(805) 682-6787
Two Nights! Two Programs! Wed, Mar 11 & Thu, Mar 12 / 7:30 PM / Arlington Theatre $18 / $14 UCSB students and youth (18 & under) An Arlington facility fee will be added to each ticket price
WINTER 2020 PERFORMANCE SEASON SANTA BARBARA DANCE THEATER
JAN 16 - 19 HATLEN THEATER
HOOKMAN
FEB 15 - 23 PERFORMING ARTS THEATER
UCSB DANCE COMPANY FEB 27-28 BALLET STUDIO
TARTUFFE
FEB 27 - MAR 7 HATLEN THEATER
Photo by David Bazemore
This is me. A penchant for green olives. A love of spring. The beauty of history. A green thumb and a sweet tooth. My passport. A good, thick biography. Vista del Monte
This is my community. Here, I am free to discover, learn and do what I love, in the company of good friends. There’s a whole-person approach to wellness—mind, body and spirit. In this beautiful neighborhood, set amid tall pines and just a few miles from the beach, I feel fulfilled, whole. At Vista del Monte, I’m home. INDEPENDENT LIVING
ASSISTED LIVING
MEMORY SUPPORT
NOW OPEN! Summer House Memory Care
NONPROFIT CONTINUING CARE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY WE’RE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HOUSING PROVIDER CA License # 425800464 COA# 196
NAVAJO NATION
â&#x20AC;&#x153;
I want to teach here on the Navajo Nation and give back to my people, who need our traditional teachings. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m bringing the values of my culture into this program with Fielding. Perry James
Fielding doctoral student Doctorate of Education (EdD) program
Veteran, U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division
Fielding.edu/EdD
Fielding Graduate University is working with the Navajo Nation to offer graduate study to more than 20 Navajo educators who are earning their EdD degrees in our Leadership for Change program.