Moss Arts Center 2018-2019 Season Guide

Cover photo: David Roussève/REALITY, photo by Rose Eichenbaum

chamber

american

expressions roots + jazz Sunday, September 30, 2018, 4 PM ITZHAK PERLMAN, violin ROHAN DE SILVA, piano

Friday, November 30, 2018, 7:30 PM MARTHA REDBONE Roots Project

Friday, October 19, 2018, 7:30 PM LES VIOLONS DU ROY ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO, countertenor Handel/Glass Vocal Program

Sunday, February 10, 2019, 7 PM JOHN HOLLENBECK LARGE ENSEMBLE

Friday, February 15, 2019, 7:30 PM BERLIN PHILHARMONIC WIND QUINTET Sunday, April 7, 2019, 4 PM AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

dance +

motion

Friday, September 14, 2018, 7:30 PM SEASON OPENER PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY PABLO ZIEGLER ENSEMBLE Piazzolla Caldera and other repertory Friday, October 26, 2018, 7:30 PM NW DANCE PROJECT Woolf Papers and other repertory Wednesday, January 30, 2019, 7:30 PM CIRQUE ÉLOIZE Saloon Saturday, March 30, 2019, 7:30 PM DAVID ROUSSÈVE/REALITY Halfway to Dawn: The Strayhorn Project Saturday, May 11, 2019, 7:30 PM PILOBOLUS Shadowland 2: The New Adventure

Saturday, March 23, 2019, 7:30 PM POSTCLASSICAL ENSEMBLE Deep River: The Art of the Spiritual Friday, April 12, 2019, 7:30 PM TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET CYRUS CHESTNUT, piano Carry Me Home Friday, April 26, 2019, 7:30 PM FRED HERSCH, piano KURT ELLING, vocals KATE MCGARRY, vocals Leaves of Grass

orchestral

sounds Friday, October 12, 2018, 7:30 PM AMBIENT ORCHESTRA MAYA BEISER, cello David Bowie’s Blackstar Saturday, December 8, 2018, 4 PM ROANOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Holiday Pops Concert Friday, February 22, 2019, 7:30 PM CZECH NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Bernstein Centennial Celebration Tour

special

event Friday, November 2, 2018 6 PM Reception, 7:30 PM Concert 5TH ANNIVERSARY GALA CALLAS IN CONCERT

theatre

+ words Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 7:30 PM OPERA ROANOKE A Little Night Music Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 7:30 PM THEATRE RE The Nature of Forgetting Friday, March 1, 2019, 7:30 PM Saturday, March 2, 2019, 7:30 PM THE TEAM NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND Anything That Gives Off Light Tuesday, March 19, 2019, 7:30 PM ZADIE SMITH, author Monday, April 1, 2019, 7:30 PM TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS, author, environmentalist, and activist

world

beats Friday, October 5, 2018, 7:30 PM EL SEPTETO SANTIAGUERO Thursday, November 8, 2018, 7:30 PM AN EVENING WITH BÉLA FLECK, banjo ZAKIR HUSSAIN, tabla EDGAR MEYER, bass Saturday, February 2, 2019, 7:30 PM SOUNDS OF CHINA Saturday, March 16, 2019, 7:30 PM DANÚ St. Patrick’s Celebration

This year we mark the fifth anniversary of the Moss Arts Center’s opening. We celebrate this milestone throughout the coming season with the program hallmarks you have come to expect—breadth, depth, diversity, and excellence—and with special events and new ways for people to connect and take part.

Here is your first glance at the year ahead and our invitation to: Listen to legendary voices that transcend time, from David Bowie and Leonard Bernstein; Harry Burleigh, Virginia Woolf, and Walt Whitman; to Billy Strayhorn, John Coltrane, and Maria Callas.

Discover powerful artists of today that inspire new ways of seeing the world, including Zadie Smith and Terry Tempest Williams; John Hollenbeck and Martha Redbone; Pilobolus and The TEAM. Transcend the everyday with timeless classics from the world’s masters, including Itzhak Perlman and Anthony Roth Costanzo; the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet.

Step up and stretch your imagination. Explore the unfamiliar. Go beyond.

With warm regards, Ruth Waalkes Associate Provost for the Arts Executive Director, Moss Arts Center

© Paul B. Goode

Friday

September 14

7:30 PM

DANCE + MOTION TIMELESS

“There’s no question that Ziegler takes the tango to levels of sophistication and refinement probably undreamed of by Piazzolla.”

—The Chicago Tribune

SEASON OPENER

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY PABLO ZIEGLER ENSEMBLE Piazzolla Caldera and other repertory

Celebrate the opening of our season with two greats, Paul Taylor and Pablo Ziegler, who join forces for this passionate performance.

Taylor is an American titan of modern dance, a soloist with Martha Graham and George Balanchine, who has led the dance world through his own choreography since 1954. Fresh from his 2018 Grammy win for Best Latin Jazz Album, Argentine pianist Ziegler realized his own tango visions after touring the world with tango grand-maestro Astor Piazzolla’s quintet for over a decade. Ziegler’s quintet moves the nuevo tango tradition into fresh territory in the program’s opening set, followed by repertory from the Paul Taylor dancers and culminating with their combined Piazzolla Caldera. Taylor’s poetic masterwork exploring tango’s sultry, raging essence springs to life with live music provided by Ziegler.

Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25 $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

dance + motion | artscenter.vt.edu

05

September 30 4 PM

CHAMBER EXPRESSIONS TIMELESS

ITZHAK PERLMAN, violin ROHAN DE SILVA, piano Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician.

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 came to New York and soon propelled to national recognition with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. He has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003, the National Medal of Arts in 2000, and a Medal of Liberty in 1986. Longtime collaborator Rohan de Silva has performed with Perlman and other violin greats in venues and festivals around the world.

Category A $125 | Category B $75 | Category C $50, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

06

artscenter.vt.edu | chamber expressions

Š Lisa Marie Mazzucco

Sunday

Friday

October 5

7:30 PM

WORLD BEATS GLOBAL (CUBA), JOYFUL

EL SEPTETO SANTIAGUERO The Cuban ensemble El Septeto Santiaguero infuses an adventurous streak into the traditional son music of its native Santiago de Cuba. Before winning the 2015 Latin Grammy Award for Best Traditional Tropical Album and sparking collaborations with salsa stars like José Alberto (“El Canario”) and Rubén Blades, the seven captivating performers honed their sound at the famous Casa de la Trova nightclub, cultivating an infectious call-and-response style that heats up dance floors wherever they go.

Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

world beats | artscenter.vt.edu

07

© ioulex

Friday

October 12

7:30 PM

ORCHESTRAL SOUNDS DEEPER

“The truth is, of course, is that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time.”

—David Bowie

AMBIENT ORCHESTRA David Bowie’s Blackstar Evan Ziporyn, conductor Maya Beiser, cello Composer and MIT professor Evan Ziporyn formed the Ambient Orchestra in the wake of David Bowie’s death to perform a tribute concert. This rendition of Bowie’s swan song album, Blackstar—which was released on the singer’s 69th birthday and just two days before he died—stays true to and amplifies Bowie’s themes of transformation. The program features cellist Maya Beiser, who collaborated with Ziporyn to re-imagine Bowie’s complete final album as a cello concerto. Beiser has reinvented solo cello performance in the mainstream classical arena and has performed on the world’s most prestigious stages. The Boston Globe declares, “With virtuoso chops, rock star charisma, and an appetite for pushing her instrument to the edge of avant-garde adventurousness, Maya Beiser is the post-modern diva of the cello,” while Rolling Stone calls her a “cello rock star.”

Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25 $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

orchestral sounds | artscenter.vt.edu

09

Tuesday

October 16 7:30 PM

THEATRE + WORDS TIMELESS

OPERA ROANOKE A Little Night Music

Scott Williamson, artistic director Since its Broadway premiere in 1973, Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music has moved audiences around the world. The lives, loves, and regrets of couples gathered on a Swedish summer’s eve in the country reveal themselves through Sondheim’s complex music and elegant lyrics.

From the company’s opening Night Waltz to Desiree’s poignant Send In the Clowns, we are swept up in their passions and desires. Clive Barnes, in his New York Times review of the original Broadway production, called the musical “heady, civilized, sophisticated, and enchanting… an orgy of plaintively memorable waltzes, all talking of past loves and lost worlds.”

Category A $75 | Category B $60 | Category C $40, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

10

artscenter.vt.edu | theatre + words

© Marco Borggreve

Friday

October 19

7:30 PM

CHAMBER EXPRESSIONS GLOBAL (CANADA), TIMELESS

LES VIOLONS DU ROY

Handel/Glass Vocal Program

Jonathan Cohen, music director Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor This vocal music concert contrasts Handel’s exquisite baroque music and electrifying vocal works by Philip Glass.

The performance features the 15-member Les Violons du Roy and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo. Taking its name from the renowned string orchestra of the court of the French kings, Les Violons du Roy specializes in the vast repertoire of music for chamber orchestra, performed in the stylistic manner most appropriate to each era.

Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of 11 and has appeared since in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway. According to Quebec City newspaper Le Soleil, “Costanzo and the Violons du Roy have offered a unique, refined and explosive concert…. Their sublime interpretation of Handel’s music and galvanizing works of Philip Glass gave us a tingling in the chest. We felt them resonate long after we left the concert hall.”

Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

chamber expressions | artscenter.vt.edu

11

Friday

October 26

7:30 PM

DANCE + MOTION DEEPER

NW DANCE PROJECT Woolf Papers and other repertory Sarah Slipper, artistic director Dedicated to the creation and performance of innovative contemporary dance works from established and emerging dance-makers, NW Dance Project brings a program that will feature a selection of company repertoire, including Le Fil Rouge and Sarah Slipper’s Woolf Papers, a provocative and deeply moving reinvention of Virginia Woolf’s classic novel Mrs. Dalloway. Founded in 2004 by acclaimed dancer, mentor, and choreographer Sarah Slipper in Portland, the company has fostered the creation and Portland premiere of over 190 original contemporary dance works to date. Dance International Magazine noted that NW Dance Project has become “a laboratory, factory, and repository for risk-taking new works from the next generation of choreographers from Europe and North America.”

Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25 $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

dance + motion | artscenter.vt.edu

13

Friday

November 2

6 PM Reception, 7:30 PM Concert SPECIAL EVENT TIMELESS

5TH ANNIVERSARY GALA

CALLAS IN CONCERT Constantine Kitsopoulos conducting the

Roanoke Symphony Orchestra The Moss Arts Center marks its fifth anniversary with a special gala reception and an extraordinary performance. The opera world lost a legend with the death of Maria Callas in 1977. Her exquisite voice and performances astounded audiences, and her loss devastated millions of fans, many of whom never had the chance to see her perform live. Now Callas returns to the stage through groundbreaking holographic technology, confirming her immortality to fans all over the world. Callas in Concert brings the beloved soprano to the Moss Arts Center to perform with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra in this extraordinary melding of art and technology. Fully remastered recordings of her most iconic performances of Bellini, Bizet, Verdi, and Puccini come to life as she sings them before your eyes.

Experience her rapturous voice and timeless beauty, and the legendary emotional force that is Maria Callas as she inhabits her characters and evokes the drama that inspired the world to call her “La Divina.�

Category A $150 | Category B $125 | Category C $100

special event | artscenter.vt.edu

15

Thursday

November 8 7:30 PM

WORLD BEATS GLOBAL (INDIA/U.S.), JOYFUL

“The world of music seems to have fewer and fewer borders these days. Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Zakir Hussain are three players who regularly cross the frontier.”

—NPR’s Weekend Edition

AN EVENING WITH

BÉLA FLECK, banjo ZAKIR HUSSAIN, tabla EDGAR MEYER, bass Three masterful genre-benders and the undisputed leading virtuosos on their respective instruments, Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer move with ease among the worlds of classical, bluegrass, and world music. In the 2009-2010 season, they came together for the first time in trio concerts of original music. All three limitless creators and composers, Fleck, Hussain, and Meyer share an unprecedented array of projects and pairings among them that touch every geographical and stylistic corner of the musical world.

Category A $75 | Category B $60 | Category C $40, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

16

artscenter.vt.edu | world beats

© Danilo Moroni

Wednesday

November 14 7:30 PM

THEATRE + WORDS GLOBAL (ENGLAND), DEEPER

“There is something, way down deep that’s eternal about every human being… And that’s what’s left when memory is gone.”

—Thornton Wilder

THEATRE RE

The Nature of Forgetting

Conceived and directed by Guillaume Pigé Born at the intersection of art and science, The Nature of Forgetting bursts with creativity, joy, and heartache.

Theatre Re collaborated with London neuroscientist Kate Jeffery to create a moving articulation of the countless dimensions of memory and amnesia, linking science with real life experiences. Through physical theatre and compelling live music, The Nature of Forgetting tells the story of Tom, a middle-aged father struggling in the early stages of dementia. The piece, and Tom’s memories, are a life-affirming journey into a weakened mind, where broken does not have to mean defeated. It is a journey of shining humanity and the celebration of a life well lived.

The Nature of Forgetting premiered in January 2017 at the London International Mime Festival and ran to acclaim in August 2017 at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

theatre + words | artscenter.vt.edu

17

Friday

November 30 7:30 PM

AMERICAN ROOTS + JAZZ DEEPER

“Poised to be Americana’s next superstar…”

—The Village Voice

MARTHA REDBONE Roots Project Martha Redbone is one of the most vital voices in American Roots music. A multi award-winning musician, she is celebrated for her tasty gumbo of roots music, embodying the folk and country sounds of her childhood in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky mixed with the eclectic grit of her teenage years in Brooklyn. With her gospel-singing father’s voice and the spirit of her Cherokee/ Shawnee/Choctaw mother’s culture, Redbone broadens the boundaries of Americana, embracing folk, country, Piedmont blues, gospel, bluegrass, soul, and traditional American Indian music. Her latest album, The Garden of Love—Songs of William Blake, was produced

by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band founder John McEuen, and her album Skintalk is recognized as an example of contemporary Native American music in the permanent library collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. She was awarded a National Artist Fellowship in 2015 by the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20 $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

american roots + jazz | artscenter.vt.edu

19

Saturday

December 8 4 PM

ORCHESTRAL SOUNDS JOYFUL

ROANOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Holiday Pops Concert

David Stewart Wiley, conductor The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra returns with everyone’s annual favorite, the Holiday Pops program. Gather your friends and family, and celebrate the season with a merry musical program for audiences of all ages.

Presented in partnership with the New River Valley Friends of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra Category A $75 | Category B $60 | Category C $40, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

20

artscenter.vt.edu | orchestral sounds

© Laurence Labat

Wednesday

January 30 7:30 PM

DANCE + MOTION GLOBAL (CANADA), FRESH

CIRQUE ÉLOIZE Saloon

The wild, wild west comes alive with Cirque Éloize’s newest creation, Saloon. Swing open the saloon doors, belly up to the bar, and lasso up some fun for the entire family.

The Montreal-based company creates a mythical world where theatre and circus collide for 80 minutes of nonstop live folk music, featuring songs from Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash, combined with strength, agility, and original choreography. Under the spell of Saloon’s beautiful Belle, the lover sets off on a chase worthy of the greatest Westerns for an action-packed theatrical thrill-ride!

Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

dance + motion | artscenter.vt.edu

21

Saturday

February 2 7:30 PM

WORLD BEATS GLOBAL (CHINA), FRESH

SOUNDS OF CHINA Ma Jiuyue, composer and director Led by composer Ma Jiuyue, Sounds of China is a highly polished ensemble from Beijing that blends traditional Chinese music with forward-looking arrangements, mixing the ancient and the modern. While the group incorporates plenty of traditional instruments, Jiuyue’s arrangements recast the ancient melodies into thoroughly contemporary, rock-oriented settings with electric guitar, synthesizers, and a standard drum kit, giving the performances a pop-like energy and sheen. The ensemble features some of China’s greatest musicians from both the classical world and the pop realm. Jiuyue incorporates a wide variety of ideas, mixing in bits of new age, pop, progressive rock, jazz, and cinematic grandeur.

This performance is supported in part by touring assistance from Arts Midwest.

Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

22

artscenter.vt.edu | world beats

© Lukas Beck

Sunday

February 10 7 PM

AMERICAN ROOTS + JAZZ FRESH

JOHN HOLLENBECK LARGE ENSEMBLE Drummer and composer John Hollenbeck is one of the rare artists who has mastered the tradition of big band composition while crossing aesthetic boundaries and speaking directly to the time we live in today. His music is a daring mix of pure, heart-on-sleeve lyricism and robust rhythmic propulsion, and is an audacious example of the power of big band jazz to express emotions well beyond swing-era clichés. His music for this group, a band consisting of top New York musicians, has earned acclaim for its rich, panoramic orchestral textures that retain the power of its members’ individual voices. The Large Ensemble’s second album, eternal interlude, and their debut album, A Blessing, earned Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Large Ensemble Album.

Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

american roots + jazz | artscenter.vt.edu

23

February 15 7:30 PM

CHAMBER EXPRESSIONS GLOBAL (GERMANY), TIMELESS

“It is rare to hear man perfectly integrated with music—when the two are so inextricably linked, so aware yet selfless, that distinctions between them are rendered meaningless.”

—Washington Post

BERLIN PHILHARMONIC WIND QUINTET Michael Hasel, flute Andreas Wittmann, oboe Walter Seyfarth, clarinet Fergus McWilliam, horn Marion Reinhard, bassoon The first permanently established wind quintet in the famous orchestra’s rich tradition of chamber music, the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet was founded in 1988 during the era of Berlin Philharmonic principal conductor Herbert von Karajan. The ensemble continues to astonish audiences worldwide with their range of expression, tonal spectrum, and conceptual unity. Indeed, many listeners and critics agree that the ensemble has succeeded in virtually redefining the sound of the classic wind quintet.

On this, their final North American tour, the ensemble will perform works spanning the late 19th and 20th centuries from composers Reicha, Hindemith, Tomasi, and Taffanel.

Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

24

artscenter.vt.edu | chamber expressions

© Peter Adamik

Friday

Š Paul de Hueck

Friday

February 22

7:30 PM

ORCHESTRAL SOUNDS GLOBAL (PRAGUE), TIMELESS

CZECH NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Bernstein Centennial Celebration Tour John Mauceri, conductor Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano

We celebrate the legacy of Leonard Bernstein with this program commemorating the 100th anniversary of his birth. John Mauceri, a mentee and conducting fellow with Leonard Bernstein himself, and singer Isabel Leonard, critically acclaimed for her performances of Bernstein repertoire, join the Czech National Symphony Orchestra (CNSO) in honoring the world-renowned American composer, conductor, and pianist through his music for the concert hall and theatre. The CNSO is renowned for its versatility and range, from classical through contemporary genre, film scores, jazz, and musicals. Leonard, in demand for both opera and recital performances, recently won a Grammy for Best Opera Recording for Thomas Ades’ The Tempest and received the 2013 Richard Tucker Award.

Category A $75 | Category B $60 | Category C $40, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

orchestral sounds | artscenter.vt.edu

25

© Eoin Carey

Friday + Saturday

March 1+2 7:30 PM

THEATRE + WORDS GLOBAL (SCOTLAND/US), FRESH

THE TEAM NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND Anything That Gives Off Light

Written by Jessica Almasy, Davey Anderson, Fraser Ayres, Rachel Chavkin, Brian Ferguson, and Alexander Grierson Music and lyrics by The Bengsons Created in collaboration with Matt Hubbs, Nick Vaughan, Brian Hastert, and Libby King Directed by Rachel Chavkin, with associate director Davey Anderson A co-production by the TEAM, National Theatre of Scotland, and Edinburgh International Festival National mythologies and personal histories collide in this rowdy collaboration between The TEAM and the National Theatre of Scotland.

An American woman and two Scotsmen meet in a London pub, nursing their individual grievances and sense of political betrayal. When the ashes of a legendary social activist and feisty grandmother demand to be laid to rest, the trio head off on a transformative journey between the past and present, the real and imagined, Scottish highlands and Appalachian mountains, in search of a fitting ending. In 2016 the artists spent two weeks in residence at Virginia Tech, meeting with people throughout the New River Valley to learn about the cultural and political legacy of the Scots and Scotch-Irish in the area. This research helped shape this performance, which features a throbbing score by award-winning duo the Bengsons that mixes the Scottish-American folk tradition with stomping punk and the TEAM’s trademark athletic performance style.

Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20 $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

theatre + words | artscenter.vt.edu

27

7:30 PM

WORLD BEATS GLOBAL (IRELAND), JOYFUL

“...[Danú] stirs the blood and lifts the heart.”

—Irish Music Magazine

DANÚ

St. Patrick’s Celebration Celebrate St. Patrick’s weekend with one of the world’s current leading traditional Irish ensembles. Hailing from historic County Waterford, Danú will make its second visit to the Moss Arts Center. Their standing room only concerts throughout Ireland feature high-energy performances and a glorious mix of ancient Irish music and new repertoire. For two decades, Danú’s virtuosi players on flute, tin whistle, fiddle, button accordion, bouzouki, and vocals (Irish and English), have performed around the globe and recorded seven critically acclaimed albums. Danú will take you on a musical journey to their native Ireland, offering a moving and memorable concert experience.

Category A $75 | Category B $60 | Category C $40, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

28

artscenter.vt.edu | world beats

© John D. Kelly

Saturday

March 16

© Dominique Nabokov

Tuesday

March 19

7:30 PM

THEATRE + WORDS FRESH

ZADIE SMITH author

New York Times bestselling novelist Zadie Smith was born in North London in 1975 to an English father and a Jamaican mother and graduated from Cambridge in 1997.

Her acclaimed first novel, White Teeth, is a vibrant portrait of contemporary multicultural London, told through the stories of three ethnically diverse families. The book won many awards, including the Guardian First Book Award, the Whitbread First Novel Award, the Commonwealth Writers Prize, and two awards from the Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy. Smith’s On Beauty was one of the New York Times’ “10 Best Books of 2012.” Since her debut novel, Smith has established herself not just as one of the world’s preeminent fiction writers, but also a brilliant and singular essayist. She regularly contributes to The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books. Just released in February, her collection of essays, Feel Free, offers a survey of important recent events in culture and politics, as well as her own life. Smith is a tenured professor of creative writing at New York University.

Presented in partnership with the Department of English Visiting Writers Series and the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech in celebration of its 25th anniversary $25 general admission, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under 20%-30% subscription discounts available

theatre + words | artscenter.vt.edu

29

Saturday

March 23 7:30 PM

AMERICAN ROOTS + JAZZ FRESH

POSTCLASSICAL ENSEMBLE

Deep River: The Art of the Spiritual Kevin Deas, bass-baritone Virginia Tech and Mixed Choruses Angel Gil-Ordóñez, conductor Written and produced by Joseph Horowitz Visual track by Peter Bogdanoff Dwight Bigler, choral director Harry Burleigh (1866-1949) is a forgotten hero of American music. Antonin Dvořák’s assistant in New York City from 1892 to 1895, Burleigh was subsequently the composer and singer most responsible for turning spirituals into art songs. His Deep River (1915), a sensation in its day, took an obscure upbeat spiritual and turned it into the reverent song made famous by Burleigh, Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, and countless others. This program delves deeper into Burleigh’s impact. Angel Gil-Ordóñez and Joseph Horowitz founded PostClassical Ensemble (PCE) in 2003 as an experimental orchestral laboratory committed to radically rethinking the concert experience and to refreshing both format and repertoire. They lift up works deserving greater advocacy, believing that music of consequence should be contextualized in new spaces for audiences, old and new, in search of deeper paths of engagement both intellectual and spiritual. As of fall 2017, PCE is the ensemble in residence at the Washington National Cathedral.

Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

30

artscenter.vt.edu | american roots + jazz

© Rose Eichenbaum

Saturday

March 30

7:30 PM

DANCE + MOTION DEEPER

DAVID ROUSSÈVE/ REALITY

Halfway to Dawn: The Strayhorn Project David Roussève’s latest work is an evening-length blend of dance, music, video, text, theatre, and visual design that seeks to redefine biography and find the truth of the life of composer Billy Strayhorn. As Duke Ellington’s main arranger and writing collaborator, Strayhorn (1915-1967) wrote or co-wrote Ellington signatures like A Train, Satin Doll, Something to Live For, and Rain Check. Being gay, out, and living in Harlem in the 1940s to 1960s, however, he never received full credit for his work. He chose instead to lead a remarkably private life, whether by choice or, as suggested by biographer David Hadju, because he knew that the larger public would not be as accepting of his sexual identity as was the Ellington extended family. Hajdu writes, “It really was truth or consequences, and Billy went with truth.” Choreographer, writer, director, and filmmaker Roussève is a Guggenheim Fellow and is a professor of choreography with UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance. He founded the dance-theatre company REALITY in 1988, which has toured throughout the U.S., Europe, and South America.

This program was made possible in part by 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, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

dance + motion | artscenter.vt.edu

31

© Zoë Rodriquez Photography, Zoë and Robert Swift Rodriquez

Monday

April 1

7:30 PM THEATRE + WORDS DEEPER

“My only advice is to read the book. And then read it again, with pen in hand. And then visit a national park…”

—New York Times

TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS author, environmentalist, and activist

Terry Tempest Williams has been called “a citizen writer,” a writer who speaks and speaks out eloquently on behalf of an ethical stance toward life. A naturalist and fierce advocate for freedom of speech, she has consistently shown us how environmental issues are social issues that ultimately become matters of justice. Known for her impassioned and lyrical prose, Williams is the author of environmental literature classic Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, Finding Beauty in a Broken World, and When Women Were Birds, among others. Her most recent book, The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks, honors the centennial of the National Park Service and is a New York Times best seller. Among many awards, she is the recipient of a Lannan Literary Fellowship and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in creative nonfiction. In 2014, on the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, she received the Sierra Club’s John Muir Award honoring a distinguished record of leadership in American conservation. Williams also received the 2017 Audubon New York Award for Environmental Writing.

Presented in partnership with the Department of English $25 general admission, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under 20%-30% subscription discounts available

theatre + words | artscenter.vt.edu

33

4 PM

CHAMBER EXPRESSIONS GLOBAL (AUSTRALIA), TIMELESS

“Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra are renowned for pushing the envelope with their adventurous collaborations and dramatic audiovisual presentations.”

—The Daily Telegraph

AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Richard Tognetti, artistic director Inon Barnatan, piano Internationally renowned for inspired programming and the rapturous response of audiences and critics, the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) returns to the Moss Arts Center for their second visit. The ACO’s unique artistic style encompasses both the masterworks of the classical repertoire and innovative cross-art form projects and a vigorous commissioning program. Richard Tognetti became artistic director and lead violin in 1989. Under his inspiring leadership, the ACO has performed as a flexible and versatile ensemble of soloists, on modern and period instruments, as a small chamber group, as a small symphony orchestra, and as an electro-acoustic collective. Their program will include a new work by Samuel Adams, premiering on this tour, and Mozart’s Piano Concerto, no. 12 in A Major, featuring Inon Barnatan on piano. Barnatan, celebrated for his poetic sensibility, musical intelligence, and consummate artistry, recently completed his third season as the first artist in association of the New York Philharmonic.

Category A $75 | Category B $60 | Category C $40, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

34

artscenter.vt.edu | chamber expressions

© Gary Heery

Sunday

April 7

Friday

April 12

7:30 PM AMERICAN ROOTS + JAZZ TIMELESS

TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET Carry Me Home

Š Jati Lindsay

Cyrus Chestnut, piano Renowned jazz master Cyrus Chestnut and the Grammywinning Turtle Island Quartet continue their remarkable journey together as they traverse the myriad colors of jazz and beyond. Their collaboration is infused with the global reach of gospel and sacred music, ranging from the Appalachian Mountains to the spiritually defined musical landscape of Bach. Presenting a moving night of music from Duke Ellington, Bill Monroe, Bill Withers, John Coltrane, Bach, and more, these five multi-stylistic, singularly gifted musicians come together to embrace the transcendental power of great music and dip into the rhythms of world cultures.

Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

american roots + jazz | artscenter.vt.edu

35

April 26

7:30 PM

AMERICAN ROOTS + JAZZ TIMELESS

FRED HERSCH, piano KURT ELLING, vocals KATE MCGARRY, vocals Leaves of Grass

Music by Fred Hersch Words by Walt Whitman Jazz composer and pianist Fred Hersch’s Leaves of Grass premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2005. It celebrates the life and poetry of the American bard Walt Whitman, whose work redefined American poetry and had a significant, lifeaffirming impact on Hersch. Led by Hersch on piano, an eight-piece ensemble evokes sweeping melodicism, while vocalists Kurt Elling and Kate McGarry present Whitman’s words with grace, emotion, and lyrical sweetness. It has been over 160 years since Whitman wrote his epic masterwork, Song of Myself, the centerpiece of Hersch’s Leaves of Grass, and its messages seemed almost alien to society at the time. Now, its promotion of unapologetic love for one’s true self, appreciation of the present, wonder at the miracle of nature, and the openhearted love of all beings is especially timely and important. It is a powerful experience to witness this profound poetry spun into song by one of today’s leading musical visionaries.

Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

36

artscenter.vt.edu | american roots + jazz

© John Abbott

Friday

Saturday

May 11

7:30 PM DANCE + MOTION JOYFUL

PILOBOLUS

Shadowland 2: The New Adventure In the more than 40 years since its beginnings as a dance class assignment at Dartmouth College, Pilobolus has performed on Broadway, at the Oscars, and at the Olympic games; appeared on television and in movies, advertisements, schools, and businesses; and has created more than 120 dance works seen around the world.

Pilobolus’ new evening-length show, Shadowland 2: The New Adventure, tells a love story about two people and their quixotic quest to save an imaginary bird. Developed in collaboration with SpongeBob SquarePants lead writer Steven Banks, the production uses animation, video, and shadow-theatre for an adventure that dips its toes into the genres of science fiction, film noir, and romantic comedy. With Pilobolus’s acrobatic movement, the humor of cartoons, and the heart of a love story, Shadowland 2 celebrates the power of dreams to help us discover who we’re born to be.

Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25, $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

dance + motion | artscenter.vt.edu

37

BROADWAY

IN BLACKSBURG The Moss Arts Center will be adding new events throughout spring and summer 2019, including touring Broadway productions and more! Season subscribers—at the silver, gold, and premier levels—will have advance access to purchase tickets (prior to public single ticket sales) for these events during the 2018-2019 season.

Watch for more information on advance and single ticket sale dates!

2018 Friday, September 14, 2018, 7:30 PM SEASON OPENER PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY PABLO ZIEGLER ENSEMBLE Piazzolla Caldera and other repertory Sunday, September 30, 2018, 4 PM ITZHAK PERLMAN, violin ROHAN DE SILVA, piano Friday, October 5, 2018, 7:30 PM EL SEPTETO SANTIAGUERO Friday, October 12, 2018, 7:30 PM AMBIENT ORCHESTRA MAYA BEISER, cello David Bowie’s Blackstar Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 7:30 PM OPERA ROANOKE A Little Night Music Friday, October 19, 2018, 7:30 PM LES VIOLONS DU ROY ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO, countertenor Handel/Glass Vocal Program Friday, October 26, 2018, 7:30 PM NW DANCE PROJECT Woolf Papers and other repertory Friday, November 2, 2018 6 PM Reception, 7:30 PM Concert 5TH ANNIVERSARY GALA CALLAS IN CONCERT

Thursday, November 8, 2018, 7:30 PM AN EVENING WITH BÉLA FLECK, banjo ZAKIR HUSSAIN, tabla EDGAR MEYER, bass

Friday, March 1, 2019, 7:30 PM Saturday, March 2, 2019, 7:30 PM THE TEAM NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND Anything That Gives Off Light

Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 7:30 PM THEATRE RE The Nature of Forgetting

Saturday, March 16, 2019, 7:30 PM DANÚ St. Patrick’s Celebration

Friday, November 30, 2018, 7:30 PM MARTHA REDBONE Roots Project

Tuesday, March 19, 2019, 7:30 PM ZADIE SMITH, author

Saturday, December 8, 2018, 4 PM ROANOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Holiday Pops Concert

2019 Wednesday, January 30, 2019, 7:30 PM CIRQUE ÉLOIZE Saloon Saturday, February 2, 2019, 7:30 PM SOUNDS OF CHINA Sunday, February 10, 2019, 7 PM JOHN HOLLENBECK LARGE ENSEMBLE

Saturday, March 23, 2019, 7:30 PM POSTCLASSICAL ENSEMBLE Deep River: The Art of the Spiritual Saturday, March 30, 2019, 7:30 PM DAVID ROUSSÈVE/REALITY Halfway to Dawn: The Strayhorn Project Monday, April 1, 2019, 7:30 PM TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS, author, environmentalist, and activist Sunday, April 7, 2019, 4 PM AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Friday, April 12, 2019, 7:30 PM TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET CYRUS CHESTNUT, piano Carry Me Home

Friday, February 15, 2019, 7:30 PM BERLIN PHILHARMONIC WIND QUINTET

Friday, April 26, 2019, 7:30 PM FRED HERSCH, piano KURT ELLING, vocals KATE MCGARRY, vocals Leaves of Grass

Friday, February 22, 2019, 7:30 PM CZECH NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Bernstein Centennial Celebration Tour

Saturday, May 11, 2019, 7:30 PM PILOBOLUS Shadowland 2: The New Adventure

SUBSCRIPTION SALES BEGIN

TUESDAY, MAY 22!

/artscenteratvt

40

@artscenteratvt use #attheMAC

@artscenteratvt use #attheMAC

GIVE TO THE MOSS ARTS CENTER It is hard to imagine Blacksburg or Virginia Tech without the Moss Arts Center. It all started five years ago with YOU. Future generations will appreciate, as you do, the rare joy of living in this beautiful little corner of the world and still having access to world-class arts experiences. You have made the Moss Arts Center the vibrant cornerstone of our community it is. Please help us ensure it will always flourish for generations to come.

In honor of our fifth anniversary season, our goal is to receive donations of any size from 500 people. Please consider making a gift to the Moss Arts Center today. All donors giving by June 30, 2018, will be recognized in the Moss Arts Center programs during the 2018-2019 season. For information about ways to support the Moss Arts Center, please email givetoarts@vt.edu or call 540-231-0616. To give online, please visit http://bit.ly/givetoMAC, our secure giving page. Thank you!

Join with patrons and friends in supporting the Moss Arts Center. Choose your level of giving, each with its own benefits.

Recognition in Moss Arts Center performance programs

Access to season preview event and advance ticket sales

Special invitation to pre- and post-event activities, exhibition previews, and Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology programs

Recognition in Virginia Tech’s 1872 Society*

LEADERSHIP PATRONS AND FRIENDS $5,000+

SUSTAINING PATRONS AND FRIENDS $1,000-$4,999

CONTRIBUTING PATRONS AND FRIENDS up to $999

















Invitations to artist meet-and-greets, as available 

Recognition at the Moss Arts Center performances or exhibitions (varies)**



* Virginia Tech’s 1872 Society recognizes gifts for current use or operational support at the following levels. The Grove Circle recognizes supporters who provide annual gifts of $25,000 or more. Burruss Hall Circle honors those who make annual gifts of $10,000 to $24,999. Drillfield Circle recognizes members who provide annual gifts of $5,000 to $9,999. ** Recognition at performances and exhibitions varies and is commensurate with giving levels.

artscenter.vt.edu

41

DIRECTIONS FROM I-81 (Northbound and southbound)

Take exit 118B onto 460 West towards Virginia Tech. Continue for 8.5 miles to the Prices Fork Road exit for “Downtown.”

The exit ramp will veer right. Continue on Prices Fork Road for 1.2 miles, and take a right onto Turner Street. This street leads you to the parking deck and the center. Parking will be on your left at North End Parking Garage. The Moss Arts Center will be ahead on the right.

DIRECTIONS FROM I-77 (Northbound)

Take exit 32 onto I-81 North. Continue for about 29 miles, then follow the directions above for I-81 northbound.

DIRECTIONS FROM I-77 WEST VIRGINIA TURNPIKE (Southbound)/460 West (Eastbound) In West Virginia, take Exit 9, “U.S. 460-Princeton/ Pearisburg, VA.” Turn left at the stoplight at the end of the ramp onto U.S. 460 East. Continue on U.S. 460 East for about 44.9 miles (11.6 in West Virginia, 33.3 in Virginia).

Travel east for approximately 47 miles, then take the Prices Fork Road exit. At the top of the exit ramp, take a left.

Continue on Prices Fork Road for 1.2 miles, and take a right onto Turner Street. This street leads you to the parking deck and the center. Parking will be on your left at North End Parking Garage. The Moss Arts Center will be ahead on the right.

42

artscenter.vt.edu

SEATING CHART AA29 10

BB29

BB1

CC30

CC1

DD26

DD1

A28

A1

10

B29

B1

15

C30

C1

D26

F14

E2

G14

F2

H14 R26

G2 H2

J12

J2

K12

S24

EVEN

K2

L10

T22

M6

L2 M2

U18

E116 F116

108

S2 T2 U2 V2

R2

V124

F101 H101

J116

J101

K116

K101

L116

L101

M116 P112

T125

E101 G101

H116

M101

BX 107101

F13

E1

G13

F1

H13

G1

J11

H1 J1

K11

K1

R25

S23

L9

L1

108

111

STAGE

U17 R1

P101

S1

R101 S101 111

ODD

T21

M1 M5

N101

R122 S125

U128 V129

E13

G116

N114

V8

These seating charts show the three levels and ticket pricing structure for most of our performances. Please contact the Moss Arts Center box office at 540-231-5300 with any questions.

D1 15

E14

BX 108102

Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre

AA1

T101

U101 V101

V7

T1 U1

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE AA29

AA1

10

BB29

BB1

CC30

CC1

DD26

V1

A28

B29

V106

D1

F14

E2

G14

F2

G2 H2

J12

J2

K12

S24

K2

L10

T22

M6

L2 M2

U18 V8

BX 230224

E116

108

F115

S2 T2 U2

R2 R122 S125 T125

V124

F101

G101

H115

H101

J116

J101

K115

K101

L116

L101

M115

M101

BX 107101

F13

E1

G13

F1

H13

G1

J11

H1 J1

R25

K11

K1

S23

L9

L1 M1 M5

T21

ODD

PREMIER SUBSCRIPTIONS P112

U128 V129

E13

E101

G116

N114

V2

BX 229223

C1

15

E14

H14

EVEN

B1

With three ways to subscribe to 2018-2019 Moss Arts Center performances, there is a package that is right for everyone.

D26

R26

A1

15

C30

BX 108102

DD1

10

U17

N101

108

R1

P101

S1

R101 S101

T1 U1

V7

The greatest value; includes all 26 performances, ensures you will not miss a single exciting performance, and includes our deepest discount of 30 percent off ticket prices 111

111

T101

U101 V101

V1

V106

ORCHESTRA

BX 222216

BX 221215

EVEN

ODD

BX 207213

BX 214208

V2 BX 206202

BX 205201 A48

B1 C1

D49 E48

Entitles you to 15 or more performances at a 25 percent discount off ticket prices

A1

B49 C48

D1

25

GOLD BUILD YOUR OWN SUBSCRIPTIONS SILVER BUILD YOUR OWN SUBSCRIPTIONS

E1

25

Entitles you to 5 to 14 performances at a 20 percent discount

S ubscription sales begin Tuesday, BX 326332

BX 323317

BX 318324

EVEN

May 22, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. Order online at artscenter.vt.edu, by phone at 540-231-5300, or in person at the Moss Arts Center box office.

BX 331325

ODD

BX 315309

BX 310316

BX 307301

BX 302308 A52

A1

B1

B51

C1

C50

D1

D49 E48

V2

E1

26 F1

F45

26

artscenter.vt.edu

43

GALLERY HOURS

PARKING

The galleries in the Moss Arts Center are open Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street. Event parking for visitors is $5 and may be purchased when entering the garage (cash only, free for Virginia Tech faculty and staff possessing a valid Virginia Tech parking permit). Visitors can park in the Virginia Tech faculty/staff street parking spaces and lots after 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and at any time on weekends. A limited number of accessible parking spaces are available in front of the Moss Arts Center at both the Alumni Mall and Turner Street entrances.

BOX OFFICE HOURS The box office in the Moss Arts Center is open for in person and phone ticket sales at 540-231-5300 on Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; and an hour and a half before performances. Tickets may also be purchased anytime online at artscenter.vt.edu.

GROUP TICKET SALES Groups of 10 or more may receive a 10 percent discount; for more information, contact the box office at 540-231-5300.

Beverages and snacks will be available for purchase before performances and during intermissions at most performances. Food and drinks are not permitted inside the Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre.

SUPPORT Every gift to the Moss Arts Center helps us raise the curtain on exciting new experiences in visual and performing arts and supports learning opportunities that encourage creativity, exploration, and expression. For information about ways to support the Moss Arts Center, please email givetoarts@vt.edu or call 540-231-0616. To give online, please visit http://bit.ly/ givetoMAC, our secure giving page.

artscenter.vt.edu

/artscenteratvt

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Kacy McAllister at 540-231-5300 or email kacy@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.

INCLEMENT WEATHER

CONCESSIONS

44

ACCESSIBILITY

Moss Arts Center performances and events will be cancelled for inclement weather only in extreme cases. If a performance must be cancelled due to inclement weather, we will send an email to all ticket holders and call patrons for whom we have no email address. Please check our website and call the box office at 540231-5300 for timely information about closures.

Programs are subject to change.

@artscenteratvt use #attheMAC

@artscenteratvt use #attheMAC

NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID BLACKSBURG, VA 24060 PERMIT NO. 28

MOSS ARTS CENTER 190 Alumni Mall, Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 24061