CENTER STAGE

N E W T H I S Y E A R

CENTER STAGE

BOSTON CONSERVATORY AT BERKLEE CURATED PERFORMANCES

In August 2018, Boston Conservatory at Berklee announced a new, curated performance collection called Center Stage to showcase the Conservatory’s most innovative performances in dance, music, and theater, and to spotlight the extraordinary talent of its student performers.

Each year, Boston Conservatory presents more than 700 free and low-cost performances in dance, music, and theater as part of the school’s rigorous degree programs. Center Stage, which focuses on eight of the most exciting performances from the 2018–2019 lineup, gives new audiences an unforgettable introduction to Boston Conservatory, and gives longtime patrons a wonderful new way to appreciate the school’s finest presentations.

“Center Stage is not your typical conservatory fare,” said Boston Conservatory at Berklee Executive Director Cathy Young. “These performances push limits and explore new territories; many feature collaborations with world-class guest artists. This performance collection is representative of where we’re headed as a leading school for training performing artists—presenting work that is both sophisticated and engaging, thrilling and thought provoking, and highlighting our extraordinary students, the influential artists of tomorrow.”

Center Stage kicked off on October 30 with Boston Conservatory’s Contemporary Classical Music Ensemble, contraBAND, and continues through the spring with an impressive lineup that includes Boston Conservatory Orchestra with Silkroad Artists, Mary Zimmerman’s play Metamorphoses, the operas Hydrogen Jukebox and The Consul, a symphonic rendition of icon David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, and the Spring Dance Concert: Limitless.

Contemporary Classical Music Ensemble: CONTRABAND October 30 Works by contemporary African composers Ayo Ogunranti, Kevin Volans, Vimbayi Kaziboni, Hamza El Din, and Joshua Uzoigwe. Conducted by Boston Conservatory’s newest conductor, Vimbayi Kaziboni, a Zimbabwean-born conductor, composer, and former Fulbright Fellow.

Boston Conservatory ORCHESTRA with SILKROAD ARTISTS November 16 Featuring Boston Conservatory Orchestra and soloists Sandeep Das (tabla), Maeve Gilchrist (Celtic harp), and Kaoru Watanabe (Japanese shinobue flutes/taiko drums) from the Grammy Award–winning Silkroad Ensemble, presenting an eclectic program of poetry-inspired orchestral works by Tan Dun, Dinuk Wijeratne, Maeve Gilchrist/Luke Benton, Gabriela Lena Frank, Alexander (Li) Rahbari, Kaoru Watanabe, Osvaldo Golijov, and Colin Jacobsen/ Siamek Aghaei.

METAMORPHOSES December 12–15 Mary Zimmerman’s play Metamorphoses, directed by dramaturg, stage director, and Boston Conservatory Professor of Theater Theresa Lang, brings Ovid’s tales to life with stunning visuals. Set in and around a river of water on stage, the play juxtaposes the ancient and the contemporary in both language and image to reflect the variety and persistence of narrative in the face of inevitable change.

HYDROGEN JUKEBOX February 7–10 This contemporary American opera directed by Boston Conservatory Associate Professor of Opera Nathan Troup is an innovative multidisciplinary piece combining the distinctly American voices of Allen Ginsberg and Philip Glass to create a personal portrait of America from the 1950s through the 1980s. Featuring content from Ginsberg’s poems and his reflections on social issues, including the anti-war movement, the sexual revolution, drugs, Eastern philosophy, and environmental awareness.

Bowie Symphonic: BLACKSTAR February 28 Boston Conservatory at Berklee musicians join the Ambient Orchestra, led by composer/conductor Evan Ziporyn and featuring internationally renowned cellist Maya Beiser as soloist, for performances of cultural icon David Bowie’s complete final album, Blackstar, in a stunning new arrangement for orchestra and cello by Ziporyn, written for Beiser. The collaboration, Bowie Symphonic: Blackstar, will be performed on tour across the country.

CABARET March 7–10 2018–2019 Boston Conservatory at Berklee Kunkemueller Artistin-Residence Otis Sallid directs Kander and Ebb’s seminal classic Cabaret. A Broadway veteran and notable producer, director, and choreographer in film and television, Sallid has worked with such artists as Spike Lee, Alvin Ailey, and Debbie Allen, and will bring his diverse range of skills not only to direct Cabaret, but also at the finale of Center Stage in the spring dance concert, Limitless.

THE CONSUL March 28–31 Directed by Boston Conservatory Professor of Opera Johnathon Pape, this Pulitzer Prize–winning opera by Gian Carlo Menotti was a response to the many stories of refugees fleeing Eastern Europe after World War II. The opera was inspired by real refugee stories and Menotti’s own experience being labeled by the U.S. as an “enemy alien” because of his Italian citizenship during the war. First performed in 1950, The Consul remains a powerful and relevant story almost 70 years later.

Spring Dance Concert: LIMITLESS April 11–14 Boston Conservatory’s spring dance concert, Limitless, features a thrilling lineup of masterwork reconstructions and world premieres by José Limón and Otis Sallid, as well as a special Boston Conservatory/Berklee College of Music collaboration of Metallica’s “The Unforgiven,” featuring the Berklee Indian Ensemble, the Berklee Balkan Choir, and the Berklee American Roots Ensemble.