2017-2018 Spring Guide | Moss Arts Center

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Welcome In these tumultuous times, the Moss Arts Center provides a trusted place for those who are hungry for civil discourse and creative viewpoints, and who believe that the arts bring us together and lift us up as a community.

This spring: We traverse the continents with artists from Sweden, Australia, and Cuba.

Spring Performances January

March

April

25 ALARM WILL SOUND, 1969

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28 L.A. THEATRE WORKS, The Mountaintop

10 CIRCA, Carnival of the Animals

28 URBAN BUSH WOMEN, Hair and Other Stories

February

17 SALAAM: EXPLORING MUSLIM CULTURES

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THE HELSINGBORG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF SWEDEN

10 MANUAL CINEMA, Ada/Ava

We experience the beauty of bodies in motion with three major American dance companies.

We celebrate groundbreaking artistic voices of the 20th and 21st centuries on stage and in our galleries.

Throughout all of these experiences in the weeks ahead, we are here for you and hope you will be all in with us.

LIMÓN DANCE COMPANY

21 NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF CUBA

May 4

MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA

24 SARAH KOENIG + JULIE SNYDER, Binge-Worthy Journalism

23 DORRANCE DANCE, ETM: Double Down

Coming This Summer June

August

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REUNION WEEKEND CONCERT (TBA)

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AN EVENING WITH SIERRA HULL

CUBE FEST 2018

20-23 FREE SUMMER CHAMBER SERIES

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

Watch for announcements and summer shows on sale starting in February 2018!

Broad Channel: Vorticella Polyptych, 1991 Watercolor on rag paper under shaved beeswax 60 panels; overall dimensions 98 x 360 inches Collection of the Nevada Museum of Art Gift of Howard Risatti in memory of James Risatti

RAY KASS

far left Eddy–Maury River, 2003 Water media, smoke, and mica on rag paper under shaved beeswax 44 x 67 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches Capital One Financial Corporation, Corporate Collection, Richmond, Virginia

Thursday, January 18-Saturday, March 31, 2018 All galleries Free Ray Kass, a prominent Virginia artist with a long record of national and international exhibitions, is well known not only for the quality and breadth of his art but as a pivotal, even catalytic figure in this region. Over the years Kass stood out as an exemplary artist, here and in the art world beyond, as well as a distinguished art professor at Virginia Tech. Among his many accomplishments was establishing and directing the Mountain Lake Symposium and Workshop programs, through which he brought art-world luminaries to this region—Clement Greenberg, Donald B. Kuspit, and John Cage, among others—and subsequently influenced generations of artists in Virginia and the southeast.

This exhibition highlights exemplary work from Kass’ prolific career, ranging from his large-scale, multi-panel Polyptych (1961-2003) paintings to his most recent Still Lifes (2015-2018), created with stencils in an inventive layering of water media, oil emulsion, and dry pigment on rag paper. Among the key works in the exhibition is the monumental painting Broad Channel: Vorticella Polyptych, 1991 from the permanent collection of the Nevada Museum of Art, which will be seen in Virginia for the first time in 30 years.

Corollary exhibitions featuring other aspects of Kass’ work will be on view simultaneously at Virginia Tech’s Perspective Gallery and Armory Gallery on January 16-March 3 and January 18-February 16, 2018, respectively.

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visual expressions | artscenter.vt.edu

left Winter Cauliflower, 2009 (detail) Water media, oil emulsion, and dry pigment on rag paper under shaved beeswax, mounted on primed wood panel 42 ½ x 69 ½ inches Courtesy of the artist

OPENING RECEPTION Thursday, January 18, 2018, 5-7 PM Grand Lobby Free Join us in honoring one of the most important and influential artists in our region. artscenter.vt.edu | visual expressions

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VIRGINIA TECH HONOR BAND-A-RAMA © Michal Ramus

The Jazz Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, and the Marching Virginians perform for the participants of the School of Performing Arts’ Honor Band Weekend. Open to all.

Friday, January 19, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre Free

ALARM

WILL SOUND

1969

“… a tightly scripted, continuously morphing collage of music, dialogue, and visual images that explores the compositional and political currents that swirled in the late 1960s and continue to resonate.”

—The New York Times

VIRGINIA TECH HONOR BAND CONCERT The 20th annual Virginia Tech Honor Band Weekend culminates in a concert showcasing talented high school participants from around the region in this School of Performing Arts performance.

Sunday, January 21, 2018, 1 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre Free

Just over 45 years ago, the Beatles and composer Karlheinz Stockhausen were fabled to have arranged to meet in New York City to plan a joint concert. No such performance would ever take place, but its tantalizing promise is the departure point for Alarm Will Sound’s 1969. Told through their own words, music, and images, 1969 is the story of great musicians—John Lennon, Stockhausen, Paul McCartney, Luciano Berio, Yoko Ono, and Leonard Bernstein—striving for new music and a new world amidst the turmoil of the late 1960s. Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member band committed to innovative performances and recordings of today’s music.

The versatility of the group allows it to take on music from a wide variety of styles ranging from the arch-modernist to the pop-influenced.

Thursday, January 25, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre DEEPER Images + Sound Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20 | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

artscenter.vt.edu | images + sound

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© Samra Habib

© Matt-Petit

OPEN WORKSHOP:

SABA TAJ

Create visual arts projects with guidance from guest artist Saba Taj. Taj is a Pakistani-American artist and activist native to North Carolina.

Drawing from her identity as a queer Muslim in the American South, her work challenges racism and xenophobia through empowered representations of people of color. Through interdisciplinary practices, Taj explores hybrid identities, inherited trauma, and revolution.

This event is part of the Moss Arts Center project SALAAM: Exploring Muslim Cultures and is made possible by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals; Building Bridges: Arts, Culture, and Identity, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. Monday, January 29, 2018, 6 PM Merryman Family Learning Studio (253), Moss Arts Center

L.A. THEATRE WORKS

Free; first-come, first-served, but to guarantee your seat, register at bit.ly/WorkshopTaj.

Susan Albert Loewenberg, producing director, presents

The Mountaintop

by Katori Hall

“It is a relationship that is breathtaking, hilarious, and heart-stopping in its exchanges and in its speedy ability to reveal character and pull the audience into the ring.”

—The New York Times Critics’ Pick

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated outside room 306 of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. In this internationally acclaimed play, author Katori Hall imagines what may have transpired in the overnight hours between the legendary civil rights leader and a seemingly inconsequential hotel maid. The play will star film, television, and stage actors Karen Malina White and Gilbert Glenn Brown. Shirley Jo Finney will direct. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play, The Mountaintop gives a glimpse at the human side of Martin Luther King Jr. The Mountaintop premiered in London in 2009 and subsequently ran on Broadway, starring Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson. The program contains some mature language.

ColorsVA is the media sponsor for this event.

Sunday, January 28, 2018, 4 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre DEEPER Theatre + Words Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20 | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under | 20%-30% subscription discounts available

Sunday, January 28, 2018, following the performance POST-PERFORMANCE QUESTION-AND-ANSWER SESSION Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre After experiencing L.A. Theatre Works’ performance, engage with the performers in this informal discussion.

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theatre + words | artscenter.vt.edu

Stefan Solyom, principal conductor and artistic advisor Catherine Manoukian, violin

Enjoy an all-Beethoven program performed by one of Sweden’s most venerated orchestras. Founded in 1912, its principal conductors have included Sten Frykberg, John Frandsen, Okko Kamu, and Andrew Manze. The Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra of Sweden has had many successes at prominent European venues. Violinist Catherine Manoukian has been praised for her innate musicality and imaginative artistry on orchestral, chamber music, and recital stages. The Beethoven pieces featured in this program will include the Egmont Overture, op. 84; Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 61, featuring Manoukian; and Symphony no. 3, Eroica, op. 55.

Saturday, February 3, 2018, 4 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre TIMELESS, GLOBAL (Sweden) Orchestral Sounds Category A $75 | Category B $60 | Category C $40 | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under 20%-30% subscription discounts available

Saturday, February 3, 2018, 3 PM TALK: STEFAN SOLYOM Cube Directly before the performance by the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra of Sweden, hear from Stefan Solyom, principal conductor and artistic advisor to the ensemble.

Free; first-come, first-served, but to guarantee your seat, register through the box office.

© CAMI

Free

THE HELSINGBORG

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF SWEDEN

© Feng Hai

© Yi Zhao

CHINA NATIONAL

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Chinese New Year Celebration Tan Dun, artistic director and conductor Sandy Cameron, violin Liu Wenwen, suona

We regret to note that the China National Symphony Orchestra has cancelled their 2018 tour to the United States, including the February 16, 2018 Chinese New Year Celebration concert at the Moss Arts Center. Please contact the box office by phone at 540-231-5300 if you would like to exchange your tickets or request a credit toward the purchase of tickets to a future Moss Arts Center performance.

CANCELLED

MANUAL CINEMA

Ada/Ava

“… this Chicago troupe is conjuring phantasms to die for in an unclassifiable story of spectral beauty…”

—The New York Times Critics’ Pick

The cinema experience is transformed, infused with liveliness, ingenuity, and theatricality by Manual Cinema, a performance collective, design studio, and film and video production company founded in 2010. They combine handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, and innovative sound and music to create immersive visual stories for stage and screen. Using vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live feed cameras, multi-channel sound design, and live music, Manual Cinema presents Ada/Ava, the story of 70+ year old Ada who, bereaved of her twin sister, Ava, solitarily marks time in the patterns of a life built for two. However, a traveling carnival and a trip to a mirror maze plunges her into a journey across the thresholds of life and death. Set in a landscape of the New England gothic, Ada/Ava uses a story of the fantastic and supernatural to explore mourning and melancholy, self, and other.

Saturday, February 10, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre FRESH Images + Sound Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20 | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under | 20%-30% subscription discounts available

Friday, February 9, 2018, 6-8 PM WORKSHOP: MANUAL CINEMA Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre Learn about Manual Cinema’s work with video samples and audio story techniques through exercises in sound design, music composition, and a guided sound walk. Explore basic cinematic puppetry and the company’s visual storytelling techniques. Participants will create and perform short narrative pieces using the company’s equipment and puppets.

Free; first-come, first-served, but to guarantee your seat, register through the box office.

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VIRGINIA TECH WIND ENSEMBLE AND SYMPHONY BAND Join the Virginia Tech Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band for an afternoon of wind band masterworks and contemporary compositions in this School of Performing Arts performance.

Sunday, February 18, 2018, 3 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre $10 general admission, $7 students

OPEN WORKSHOP: KARIM NAGI

Learn numerous Arab music and dance styles from guest artist Karim Nagi.

This event is part of the Moss Arts Center project SALAAM: Exploring Muslim Cultures and is made possible by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals; Building Bridges: Arts, Culture, and Identity, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

© Matthew Murphy

Nagi, a native Egyptian drummer, DJ, composer, and folk dancer, is the creator of Turbo Tabla and has released four internationally distributed CDs of his unique brand of Arab house/electronica using acoustic instruments.

Monday, February 19, 2018, 6 PM Merryman Family Learning Studio (253), Moss Arts Center Free; first-come, first-served, but to guarantee your seat, register at bit.ly/WorkshopNagi.

DORRANCE

DANCE

OPEN WORKSHOP:

OMAR OFFENDUM

Create poetry, spoken word, or hip hop lyrics with guest artist Omar Offendum.

Offendum is a Syrian-American hip-hop artist born in Saudi Arabia; raised in Washington, D.C.; and living in Los Angeles. He was one-half of The N.O.M.A.D.S., co-produced the critically acclaimed FREE-THE-P compilation, participated in the Arab Summit project, and co-authored the Brooklyn Beats 2 Beirut Streets performance-lecture. Offendum helped raise thousands of dollars for humanitarian relief organizations and has toured the world to perform his solo album, SyrianamericanA. This event is part of the Moss Arts Center project SALAAM: Exploring Muslim Cultures and is made possible by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals; Building Bridges: Arts, Culture, and Identity, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. Tuesday, February 20, 2018, 6 PM Merryman Family Learning Studio (253), Moss Arts Center Free; first-come, first-served, but to guarantee your seat, register at bit.ly/WorkshopOmar.

ETM: Double Down

Michelle Dorrance, artistic director “[F]resh and innovative … When ETM: Double Down is rocking, Dorrance Dance is one big band.”

—The New York Times

This dance company incorporates electronic tap boards, which turn the entire stage into an instrument, to push the tradition of tap rhythmically, technically, and conceptually. Founded in 2011 by Artistic Director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance, the company’s inaugural performance garnered a Bessie Award for “blasting open our notions of tap” and countless more accolades since then across the U.S. and Europe.

This performance is supported in part by a gift from Sherwood Quillen.

Friday, February 23, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre FRESH Dance + Motion

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

Friday, February 23, 2018, 10-11 AM SCHOOL-DAY PERFORMANCE: DORRANCE DANCE Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre For 6th-12th grades. Open to public and private schools, and homeschool families. Tailored to the Virginia Standards of Learning.

Free; registration required. To learn more and reserve your seats, visit dorrance.eventbrite.com.

artscenter.vt.edu | dance + motion

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© Damien Bredberg

© Beatriz Schiller

LIMÓN DANCE

COMPANY

Colin Connor, artistic director

“All the performers have a beautiful understanding of Limón’s rich, strong style and the curving gestures that suspend—as in a caught breath—yet acknowledge the pull of the earth.”

—The Village Voice

Acclaimed for its dramatic expression, technical mastery, and expansive, yet nuanced movement, the Limón Dance Company illustrates the timelessness of José Limón’s work and vision. The company has been in the vanguard of dance since its inception in 1946, distinguishing itself as the first dance group to tour internationally under the auspices of the State Department and the first modern dance company to perform at the Lincoln Center in New York. The company is the living legacy of dance theatre developed by Limón and his mentors, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, whose innovative works revolutionized American dance. Thematically, founder Limón possessed a social awareness that transcended distinct groups to address the search for commonality, earning him a special place in American culture. His works continue to influence the evolution of the art form more than 40 years after his passing. This program will feature the company’s historic repertoire by founders Humphrey and Limón.

Saturday, March 3, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre TIMELESS Dance + Motion Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25 | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under 20%-30% subscription discounts available

Saturday, March 3, 2018, 6 PM TALK: COLIN CONNOR, LIMÓN DANCE COMPANY Cube Directly before the performance by Limón Dance Company, hear from Colin Connor, artistic director of the company.

Free; first-come, first-served, but to guarantee your seat, register through the box office

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CIRCA

Carnival of the Animals Yaron Lifschitz, artistic director

“Our zebras juggle and flip…

Our kangaroos skip and somersault…

We’ve elephants with street-cred and rhythm…

And even our dinosaur bones shake, clatter, and roll to the music.”

The lines between movement, dance, theatre, and circus are beautifully blurred by the Circa carnival and its whimsical tales of creatures of land and sea, who tumble, fly, leap, and spin their way through the many wondrous worlds of the animal kingdom. Since 2004 the Australia-based Circa has been at the frontier of new circus, creating powerful works that challenge, thrill, and delight. Carnival of the Animals whisks you away on a thrilling escapade inspired by the music of Camille Saint-Saëns. A delightful salute to feathers, fur, and fins, Circa’s acrobats bring this classical music suite to life for a new generation of circus, music, and animal lovers. A work of sophisticated and delightful family entertainment, it is at once both contemporary and old world and amazes, amuses, and uplifts.

These performances are supported in part by a gift from the Merryman family.

Saturday, March 10, 2018, 2 PM Saturday, March 10, 2018, 7 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre JOYFUL, GLOBAL (Australia) Dance + Motion $20 general admission | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

artscenter.vt.edu | dance + motion

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SALAAM:

EXPLORING MUSLIM CULTURES PERFORMANCE The Moss Arts Center celebrates the voices and creative work of Virginia Tech students and community members, developed in collaboration with visiting artists Omar Offendum, Saba Taj, and Karim Nagi throughout the 2017-2018 academic year.

This program is part of the Moss Arts Center project, SALAAM: Exploring Muslim Cultures and is made possible by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals; Building Bridges: Arts, Culture and Identity, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. Saturday, March 17, 2018, 8 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre GLOBAL World Beats © Jim Thomas

Free, open to the public, no tickets required

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF

CUBA

Enrique Pérez-Mesa, conductor Featuring Yekwon Sunwoo, piano, 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold medalist Direct from Havana, the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba brings a Latin-flavored and dance-inspired program that includes Ravel’s Boléro; other great Latin works from de Falla, Farinas, and Roldan; and Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, op.16, performed by the Cliburn gold medalist Yekwon Sunwoo. Since its inception in 1960 the NSO of Cuba has been instrumental in developing and introducing Cuban and Latin American music to the international classical music community. Sunwoo appears by arrangement with the Cliburn.

VIRGINIA TECH SPRING CHOIR SHOWCASE The Virginia Tech Chamber Singers, Tech Men, and Women’s Chorus share the stage for an afternoon of inspiring and entertaining harmony in this School of Performing Arts performance.

Sunday, March 18, 2018, 4 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre $10 general admission, $7 students

Wednesday, March 21, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre TIMELESS, GLOBAL (Cuba) Orchestral Sounds Category A $75 | Category B $60 | Category C $40 | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

Wednesday, March 21, 2018, 6 PM TALK: CUBAN MUSICAL CULTURE Merryman Family Learning Studio (253), Moss Arts Center The rich mix of cultures, people, religions, and arts in Cuba shapes the island’s unique musical genres. Explore this ajiaco, or cultural stew, and its influence on the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba with Joseph L. Scarpaci, Ph.D., Latin American Studies scholar and executive director of the Center for the Study of Cuban Culture + Economy.

Free; first-come, first-served, but to guarantee your seat, register at bit.ly/CubaTalkMAC

artscenter.vt.edu | orchestral sounds

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EXPOSITION V: CINESCAPES

SHAKESPEARE’S GARDEN: AN IMMERSIVE SOUND STROLL THROUGH HIS SONNETS, SOLILOQUIES, AND SCENES

Join talented students and faculty for a stunning musical showcase of choral and instrumental music in this School of Performing Arts performance of classical music made famous (or infamous) through their inclusion in film.

Using the spatial audio capabilities of the Cube, this project creates an immersive theatrical experience. Actively engaged in their own exploration of Shakespeare’s garden, audience members follow a meandering path through the space. As you stroll, you will hear Shakespearean sonnets, soliloquies, and scenes performed by Virginia Tech theatre students. Curation and direction by Amanda Nelson and Natasha Staley, and music composition by Charles Nichols, all faculty in the School of Performing Arts; and projection design by Meaghan Dee, School of Visual Arts.

Sunday, March 25, 2018, 4 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre $25 general admission, $20 seniors, $5 students

This project has been made possible through the generous support of the School of Performing Arts and the Humanities at Virginia Tech.

MUSIC ON MONDAYS

Thursday, March 22, 2018, 1-9:30 PM Friday, March 23, 2018, 10 AM-9:30 PM Saturday, March 24, 2018, 10 AM-9:30 PM Cube

This School of Performing Arts performance features guest artist Jennifer Parker Harley, flute, and associate professor of music Tracy Cowden, piano.

Monday, April 2, 2018, 8 PM Cube

Free

$15 general admission, $12 seniors, $7 students

© Nick Caito

SARAH KOENIG + JULIE SNYDER

Binge-Worthy Journalism

“[Serial] was a true cultural phenomenon, and radio was once again front and center in our daily lives.”

—Ewan McGregor

Award-winning podcast Serial has become an internet sensation, downloaded more than 300 million times since it launched in 2014. Sarah Koenig, host and co-creator of Serial, began her career as a newspaper reporter and in 2004 became a producer for the radio show This American Life. Julie Snyder is co-creator of Serial and executive producer of the Serial production, S-Town. In 2013 Snyder and Koenig decided to try something new: making a show that does not follow the usual format of a different story every week, but instead making a show that covers one story over the course of an entire season. The format meant they could use all the tools of narrative journalism to report an in-depth story that featured twists, turns, tangents, and suspense along the way. Serial has received several awards, including the Peabody, Edward R. Murrow, duPont-Columbia, and Scripps Howard Awards and the Silver Gavel Award for Media and the Arts.

Saturday, March 24, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre FRESH Theatre + Words $25 general admission | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under, 20%-30% subscription discounts available

SALAAM:

SABA TAJ

Thursday, April 5-Saturday, April 21, 2018 Francis T. Eck Exhibition Corridor Free

A selection of vibrant and evocative mixed-media works by North Carolina-based artist and activist Saba Taj. This program is part of the Moss Arts Center project, SALAAM: Exploring Muslim Cultures and is made possible by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals; Building Bridges: Arts, Culture and Identity, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. Hope, from An-Noor (The Light), 2012 (detail) Acrylic paint and rhinestones on canvas 30 x 40 inches Courtesy of the artist

VIRGINIA TECH PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE The Virginia Tech Percussion Ensemble, directed by Annie Stevens, will perform various works featuring a multitude of percussion instruments, including Mallet Quartet by Steve Reich. Utilizing many of the spatial audio capabilities of the Cube, they will also present Marimbas Everywhere by Eric Lyon, associate professor of music at Virginia Tech.

Saturday, April 14, 2018, 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM Cube $10 general admission, $7 students

VIRGINIA TECH MUSIC DAY: UT MUSICA FACIAM/THAT I MAY MAKE MUSIC Members of the Virginia Tech community as well as the greater Blacksburg area will come together to share their sounds for the third annual Music Day! Musicians of all kinds will be featured at locations across campus, including War Memorial Hall, Turner Place, West End Market, Squires Student Center, the Graduate Life Center, and more. If you are interested in performing or volunteering, email VTMusicDay@gmail.com.

This event is presented by the Moss Arts Center Student Ambassadors.

Presented in conjunction with the Virginia Tech Student Experiential Learning Conference Friday, April 13, 2018, 10 AM-8 PM Across campus Free

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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST: A TRIVIAL COMEDY FOR SERIOUS PEOPLE Virginia Tech students and faculty in the School of Performing Arts present this favorite Oscar Wilde satire. 1890s London sets the stage for two fun-loving bachelor friends that have both taken the pseudonym Ernest to escape from their social responsibilities. When they both fall in love with two women using the same name, hilarity ensues.

Wednesday, April 18-Saturday, April 21, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre $12, $10 seniors and students

© Hayim Heron

URBAN

BUSH WOMEN

Hair and Other Stories

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, artistic director “…the Urban Bush Women are committed, triple-threat performers who dance, sing, and act with a sometimes searing sense of truthfulness.”

—The New York Times

LAURIE ANDERSON: INVENTED INSTRUMENTS Thursday, April 26-Saturday, June 9, 2018 Ruth C. Horton Gallery Free

Laurie Anderson: Invented Instruments features a selection of Anderson’s invented musical instruments and unusual musical scores developed over a quarter-century as key creative tools in the artist’s much-heralded career.

The exhibition includes works such as Tape Bow Violin (1977), in which the horsehair of the bow is replaced with prerecorded magnetic tape and a tape recorder playback head is mounted on the violin’s body, allowing the performer to “remix” human speech by selectively dragging the tape forward and backward over the playback head to create new phrases and languages.

The exhibition coincides with Virginia Tech’s presentation of the 2018 annual conference of the international organization New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME).

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For more than 30 years, choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s company, Urban Bush Women, has given expression to the vitality and boldness of African American women. Hair and Other Stories is a multidisciplinary work addressing matters of race, gender identity, and economic inequality in the lives of African American women. The company has made an indelible mark on the field with bold, innovative, demanding, and exciting works that challenge long-held assumptions about women, people of color, body types, movement styles, society, and history. The company weaves contemporary dance, music, and text with the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of African Americans and the African diaspora.

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.

Saturday, April 28, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre DEEPER Dance + Motion Category A $45 | Category B $35 | Category C $20 | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under | 20%-30% subscription discounts available

Saturday, April 28, 2018, 6 PM TALK: URBAN BUSH WOMEN Merryman Family Learning Studio (253), Moss Arts Center Before experiencing Urban Bush Women’s Hair and Other Stories, engage with members of the ensemble during this talk.

Free; first-come, first-served, but to guarantee your seat, register at bit.ly/UBWtalkMAC.

artscenter.vt.edu | dance + motion

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FESTIVAL OF BANDS Join the Virginia Tech Campus Band, Symphony Band, Wind Ensemble, and Highty-Tighties, as well as the Blacksburg Community Band, for an afternoon of wind band music in this School of Performing Arts performance. Come enjoy part or all of this music-filled afternoon!

Sunday, April 29, 2018, 1 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre $10 general admission, $7 students

ICAT CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION DAY Learn more about the research happening at the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT). Meet the faculty and students who are crossing the boundaries of science, engineering, arts, and design to develop new possibilities for exploration, expression, and creativity.

Monday, April 30, 2018, 10 AM-4 PM Throughout the Moss Arts Center Free

DISIS CONCERT: ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC AND MULTIMEDIA Featuring composer Gary Lee Nelson

This School of Performing Arts concert features electronic and computer music by faculty and students in the Creative Technologies and Composition programs at Virginia Tech, as well as the Linux Laptop Orchestra and guest composer Gary Lee Nelson.

Monday, April 30, 2018, 7:30 PM Cube Free; first-come, first-served, but to guarantee your seat, register through the box office.

ICAT:

OPEN (AT THE) SOURCE Monday, April 30-Sunday, June 9, 2018 Francis T. Eck Exhibition Corridor Free

Open (at the) Source is a unique collaboration between the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT), one of the seven research institutes at Virginia Tech, and the Moss Arts Center. One of the key axioms at ICAT is that innovation flourishes at the nexus of science, engineering, art, and design (SEAD). Showcased in this annual exhibition are examples of what can emerge from this nexus: interactive, immersive, and transdisciplinary research-based creative projects supported through ICAT’s programs. artscenter.vt.edu | visual expressions

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NEW RIVER VALLEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND COMBINED CHOIRS The New River Valley Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Tech Combined Choirs, and the Blacksburg Master Chorale join forces to present Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in this School of Performing Arts performance.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre $10 general admission, $7 students

VIRGINIA TECH STRING PROJECT Students from the Virginia Tech String Project perform their annual spring concert in this School of Performing Arts performance. The Virginia Tech String Project is a non-profit instructional program dedicated to offering affordable string instrument instruction to elementary students while training future string music educators.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018, 7 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre Free

SOVA

SENIOR SHOW

Thursday, May 3-Saturday, May 12, 2018 Miles C. Horton Jr. Gallery and Sherwood Payne Quillen ‘71 Reception Gallery Free Portfolio selections from graduating seniors in the Virginia Tech School of Visual Arts showcase creative development and exploration in traditional and digital media. artscenter.vt.edu | visual expressions

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MARIA

SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA “Maria Schneider is a national treasure.”

—National Public Radio

The music of Maria Schneider blurs the lines between genres and is described as evocative, majestic, and magical. The recipient of two Grammy Awards in 2016 and one of very few artists to have received the award in both jazz and classical categories, Schneider’s commissioners are quite varied, stretching from Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, Monterey Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra to her Grammy-winning collaboration with David Bowie. In 1994 she founded the 17-member Maria Schneider Orchestra, which features some of the finest jazz musicians today.

This performance is supported in part by gifts received in the memory of Michael Hyer.

Friday, May 4, 2018, 7:30 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre TIMELESS World Beats Category A $55 | Category B $40 | Category C $25 | $10 students with ID and youth 18 and under | 20%-30% subscription discounts available

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world beats | artscenter.vt.edu

COMMENCEMENT CONCERT With music from the 2017-2018 school year, as well as some Virginia Tech classics, the Virginia Tech Wind Ensemble performs a free Commencement Concert sponsored by the Office of the President and the School of Performing Arts; open to all.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 6 PM Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre Free

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SOUNDSCAPES

Seating chart Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre

Thursday, May 17-Saturday, June 9, 2018 Miles C. Horton Jr. Gallery and Sherwood Payne Quillen ‘71 Reception Gallery

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.

Free

Experience an evocative world of sound art in an exhibition that features the work of seven leading contemporary sound artists, including Jana Winderen; Robin Rimbaud, aka “Scanner;” and Olivia Block. Curated specifically for the Moss Arts Center by internationally acclaimed sound artist Stephen Vitiello, the exhibition will present a range of fascinating acoustical experiences, including work using the latest developments in new technologies from an art form that has a long lineage tracing back to the Futurist manifesto through to subsequent movements and genres, such as Fluxus, conceptual art, and performance art.

STAGE STAGE

STAGE

AA29

AA1 10

BB29

BB1

CC30

CC1

DD26

DD1

A28

A1

10

B29

B1 15

C30

C1

D26

D1

EVEN

E2

G14

F2

H14 R26

G2 H2

J12

J2

K12 S24

K2

L10

EVEN T22

M6

L2 M2

U18

108

F1 G1

H115

H101

H1

J116

J101

J1

K115

K101

L116

L101

M115

M101

T125 V2

G13 H13 J11

K1

108

S1

V7 T1 U1

T101

111

C1D1

D49 C48

R1

P101

B1C1

U101 V101

D1E1

E48 D49 25

E1

E48

V1

V106

25

25 25

MEZZANINE MEZZANINE

ORCHESTRA

BX 331325 BX 331325 BX 323317 BX 323317

BX 318324 BX 318324

EVEN EVEN

A1B1

C48 B49

U17

ODD ODD

BX 205201 BX 205201

A1

A48 B49

T21

R101 S101

111

A48

ODD

L1 M1 M5

U128 V129 V124

S23

L9

BX 207213 BX 207213

BX 206202 BX 206202

R25

K11

N101

R122 S125

BX 107101

F13

E1

F101

P112

S2 T2 U2

E101

G101

G116

N114 R2

V8

E116 F115

BX 326332 BX 326332

BX 221215 BX 221215

BX 214208 BX 214208

E13

F14

BX 229223 BX 229223

BX 230224 BX 230224 BX 222216 BX 222216

EVEN

15 E14 BX 108102

STAGE STAGE

ODD ODD

BX 315309 BX 315309

BX 310316 BX 310316

BX 307301 BX 307301

BX 302308 BX 302308 A52

A1

A52

A1

B1

B51

B1 C1

B51 C50

C1

C50

D1

D49 D49 E48 E48 F45

26 26

D1E1 E1 F1 F1

F45

26 26

BALCONY BALCONY

Directions from I-81 (Northbound and southbound) BALCONY

22 STEPS

An ongoing installation that celebrates the written word Free

22 Steps is a recurring installation on the Moss Arts Center staircase off the Grand Lobby that began in 2015 as a collaboration between Meggin Hicklin, exhibitions program manager of the Moss Arts Center, and Matthew Vollmer, associate professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of English. The inaugural poem featured on the stairs, Knoxville, Tennessee, by Nikki Giovanni, prominent writer and University Distinguished Professor of English, was part of Unleashed, a unique exhibition that presented the written word as visual, spatial, and dimensional experiences throughout the Moss Arts Center.

Since its inception, 22 Steps has featured poetry by Virginia Tech faculty, local K-12 students, and notable writers in the New River Valley and beyond. New poems are selected and installed each semester to coincide with the seasons, current events, or events in the Moss Arts Center. For more information about 22 Steps, please contact Meggin Hicklin at megh79@vt.edu.

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

ORCHESTRA 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 ParkingMEZZANINE Garage. The Moss Arts Center will be ahead on the right.

MEZZANINE

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.

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Gallery hours

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.

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.

Concessions 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.

Parking 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.

Accessibility 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 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 540-231-5300 for timely information about closures.

Programs are subject to change.

You have told us that having the Moss Arts Center in our community is like having a little bit of New York in our own backyard.

Maybe because we are not in the big city, every small donation we receive makes a difference. If you love living in this community with a big arts presence, please help us continue and make a donation this spring.

Because a donation of any size makes an impact, please consider making a gift of $10 or more.

The names of donors making any gift by June 30, 2018, will be recognized in the 2018-2019 season Moss Arts Center programs.

We appreciate your friendship and loyalty!

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Click on “give� in the top left corner artscenter.vt.edu

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

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