In the almost 90 years that Middlebury College has supported arts and cultural performances, hundreds of world-class performers have graced College Hill. Once called the "Entertainment Program," the offerings evolved into the Middlebury College Concert Series, and then in 2001, the program was again renamed the Performing Arts Series. This name reflects the rich, multi-disciplinary character of the Series.
For a full calendar of events, including departmental events and offerings from other areas, click here.
Browse the Series Archives 1919-present
2008-2009 Performing Arts Series
Audio and Video samples available.
September 19, Friday
Vladimir Feltsman, piano
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Widely regarded as one of the most inventive and accomplished pianists of our time, Vladimir Feltsman is a regular guest soloist for leading orchestras throughout the
United States. New York Times critic Paul Griffiths described his performance: “He was phenomenally alert and dexterous, brilliant in color, neat in shaping, exact at high speed and all the time utterly relaxed, as if he could let his fingers just get along with the job by themselves.” |
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At Middlebury, Feltsman performs works by Bach, Schubert, and Mussorgsky. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $20/15/5. Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $20.
For more information, please click here.
September 28, Sunday
Takács Quartet
Edward Dusinberre, violin; Károly Schranz, violin; Geraldine Walther, viola; András Fejér, cello
3:00 p.m., Mead Memorial Chapel
For well over a decade, the Takács Quartet has played annual concerts at Middlebury. During this time they have risen to the peak of world chamber ensembles, acclaimed for their impeccable execution, elegant sound, and deep reading of the music’s intention. Their past performances of Bartók, Beethoven, Schubert, Janáček, and Brahms at Middlebury are remembered fondly. This season, they play works by Mozart, Bartók (the sixth quartet), and Robert Schumann. This free Performing Arts Series concert is made possible with generous support from the Institute for Clinical Science and Art, established by the late Dr. F. William Sunderman of Philadelphia. Free, no tickets required.
For more information, please click here.
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October 5, Sunday
Ken Cowan, organ
3:00 p.m., Mead Memorial Chapel
After studying at Curtis and at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, organist Ken Cowan held important church organ positions in New York and Philadelphia and is now on the faculty at Westminster Choir College in Princeton. He has been a featured artist at the national convention of the American Guild of Organists, a meeting often featured on the great radio program, Pipedreams. At Middlebury, he plays works by Bach, Vierne, Liszt, and Reger. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Tickets: $20/15/5. |
For more information, please click here.
October 6–7, Monday–Tuesday
The Kite Runner
7:30 p.m., Wright Memorial Theatre
From the first novel about contemporary Afghanistan to be written in English, this verbatim theatrical adaptation portrays the improbable friendship between two boys on opposite ends of their society. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of Afghanistan |
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in the ’70s, the play is a profound exploration of courage, betrayal, and devotion. From the novel by Khaled Hosseini, performed by Arian Moayed of American Place Theatre (APT), and adapted and directed by APT artistic director Wynn Handman. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series and the Theatre Program. Tickets: $20/15/5.
There is an associated Behind-the-Scenes Lunch and Discussion on Monday, October 6, at 12:30 p.m. in Wright Memorial Theatre. Lunch is provided.
For more information, please click here.
October 17, Friday
Kartik Seshadri, sitar
Arup Chattopadhyay, tabla
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
North Indian classical music reflects profound and disciplined imagination and requires the performers’ devotion to the improvisatory nature of the music. For the listener, the music teaches patience, consideration, attentiveness, and surrender. This concert by masters of this fascinating genre features both sitar and tabla. Musician Rajeev Taranath, originally scheduled to appear on this concert program, will not perform due to illness. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Tickets: $20/15/5.
For more information, please click here.
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October 24–25, Friday–Saturday
Lisa Gonzales ’94 and
Darrell Jones: Traitor
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
In this premiere dance work by Lisa Gonzales ’94 and Darrell Jones, unexpected actions provoke the steady dismantling of constructed identities. Catapulted into charged moments, this edgy pair tracks embodied experience to redefine their relationship to self. Visit www.middlebury.edu/arts for details on residency activities and master classes. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series and the Dance Program. Tickets: $20/15/5. |
For more information, please click here.
November 2, Sunday
Keller Quartett
András Keller, violin; Janós Pilz, violin;
Zoltán Gál, viola; Judit Szabó, cello
3:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Founded over 20 years ago at the Liszt Conservatory of Music in Budapest, the Keller Quartett made an early and positive impression on the world’s music scene with a remarkable recording of Bartók’s string quartets. Since then, they have played in Europe and North America and have continued to issue significant recordings, many on the elegant ECM label, of music by Bach, Kurtag, Schnittke, and Shostakovich. Their Middlebury program consists of works by Mozart, Kurtag, and Schubert (the G Major quartet). Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $20/15/5. Pre-performance brunch: Rehearsals Cafe, 1:30 p.m. Tickets: $20.
For more information, please click here.
November 7, Friday
Pieter Wispelwey, cello
Alexander Melnikov, piano
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Two years ago, cellist Pieter Wispelwey and pianist Dejan Lazić braved one of the great snowstorms in modern Vermont history to play Beethoven’s complete music for cello and piano for a Middlebury audience. Wispelwey returns with a new musical partner, pianist Alexander Melnikov, in (we hope) better weather to play works by Barber, Chopin, Martinů, and Rachmaninoff. Wispelwey’s playing is distinctive; his sound is like that of a light but absolutely solid, impeccably tuned, pliant, virtuosic, human voice. Sponsored by the Middlebury |
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College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $20/15/5. Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $20.
For more information, please click here.
November 14, Friday
Cedric Tiberghien, piano
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
French pianist Cedric Tiberghien has already played a number of recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, as well as recitals at Vienna’s Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and New York’s Carnegie Hall and Frick Collection. He has also played at the prestigious Edinburgh, City of London, Cheltenham, and Yokahama Festivals. He has made numerous recordings, including one of the Chopin and Brahms Ballades. His Middlebury program includes music by Chopin, Bartók, and Brahms (the Hungarian Dances). Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $20/15/5. Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $20.
For more information, please click here.
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January 10, Saturday
Sophie Shao and Friends
Tai Murray, violin; Eric Nowlin, viola; Sophie Shao, cello;
Pei-Yao Wang, piano
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Winner of the Rostropovich Competition, the XII Tchaikovsky Competition, and the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, cellist Sophie Shao has garnered international acclaim for her brilliant, mature interpretations of a diverse repertoire. The Strad praised her “superior sense of style,” and World News described her “sensitive, stylistic playing, with great |
finesse, emotion, and gorgeous tone.” She returns to Middlebury in this fresh combination of stellar young chamber musicians to treat us to three fine piano quartets: the Brahms Quartets in G Minor and C Minor, and the Mozart Quartet in E-flat Major. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $20/15/5. Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $20.
For more information, please click here.
January 16, Friday
Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano
Anthony Spiri, piano
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink sings with great orchestras and in the finest concert halls throughout the world; one of her recent American performances was with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle. She has also made extraordinary recordings of songs by Robert Schumann, Berlioz, Ravel, Dvořák, Brahms, and Schubert. Of her recording of Berlioz’s cycle Nuits d’été, noted reviewer David Hurwitz wrote, “She perfectly captures the subdued passion of Le Spectre de la Rose, demonstrating exactly how a touch of restraint at the climaxes creates greater emotion through the power of suggestion.” At Middlebury she sings songs by Schubert and Dvořák. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Tickets: $20/15/5.
For more information, please click here.
February 14, Saturday
Christianne Stotijn,
mezzo-soprano
Joseph Breinl, piano
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
A great favorite of conductor Bernard Haitink, with whom she has performed Mahler and Bach, Dutch Music Prize recipient Christianne Stotijn returns to Middlebury this Valentine’s Day to sing a program of songs by Brahms, Robert Schumann (the Eichendorff Lieder), and Tchaikovsky. “Christianne Stotijn puts her deep, attractive mezzo-soprano to the service of a sure and sensitive musicianship.”—Daily Telegraph. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Tickets: $20/15/5.
Press release here.
More information here. |
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March 6–7, Friday–Saturday
Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE:
One Shot
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
EVIDENCE Dance Company’s return to Middlebury features One Shot, an exuberant new work by Ronald K. Brown, inspired by the life and art of noted African American photojournalist Charles “Teenie” Harris. Using the music of Phyllis Hyman, Billy Strayhorn, and other jazz masters, the work offers a series of “shots” or vignettes with Harris’s stunning photos as a backdrop. A post-performance discussion with Ronald K. Brown will follow Friday's program. For information on additional residency activities and classes, please contact the Dance Program office at 802.443.5245. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series and the Dance Program. Tickets: $20/15/5.
For more information, please click here.
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March 13, Friday
Arabella Steinbacher, violin
Robert Kulek, piano
8:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
When violinist Arabella Steinbacher made her 2007 American orchestral debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she played the Sibelius Concerto. Critic John Von Rhein, of the Chicago Tribune, wrote, “The central Adagio came off especially beautifully, Steinbacher conveying its brooding melancholy with a rich vibrato, impeccable intonation, and a remarkable breadth of phrasing. The sound she drew from her 1716 ‘Booth’ Stradivari stood out from the orchestra: limitless tonal depth swaddled in velvet.” |
At Middlebury she plays Bach, Beethoven, Schnittke, and Ravel. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $20/15/5. Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $20.
For more information, please click here.
UPDATE: Ms. Steinbacher will be featured on "In Concert" on VPR Classical on Wednesday, March 11, 2009, at 8:00 P.M. The program: the Sibelius Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Listen to a live stream here or check the VPR site for broadcast frequencies in your area.
March 19, Thursday
Johannes Quartet
Soovin Kim, violin; Jessica Lee, violin;
Choong-Jin Chang, viola; Peter Stumpf, cello
7:30 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
The Johannes Quartet consists of four outstanding musicians who take time from other busy careers to play quartets together. Two of the members are principals of major American symphony orchestras, and two are major international string competition winners; they play annual concerts on the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Philadelphia series. Their playing is polished, mature, and perfectly meshed. Their Middlebury program includes works by Bartók, Webern, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Schubert (the C Major Cello Quintet). The second cello in the Schubert Quintet will be Theodore Nelson. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $20/15/5.
Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:00 P.M. Tickets: $20.
For more information, please click here.
April 19, Sunday
Ivan Moravec, piano
3:00 p.m., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Ivan Moravec is one of the legendary pianists of our time, and we have been fortunate to hear him play at Middlebury a number of times. During this visit, he plays a program of his specialties, works by Janáček, Debussy, and concluding with two Ballades by Chopin. “In Moravec’s hands, the piano seems the utter antithesis of a percussion instrument. Notes aren’t so much struck as set aglow. And tonal color is a real priority.”—Scott Cantrell, Kansas City Star. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $20/15/5. Pre-performance brunch: Rehearsals Cafe, 1:30 p.m. Tickets: $20.
For more information, please click here.
May 8, Friday
Paul Lewis, piano
8:00 p.m. , Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Pianist Paul Lewis enjoys something of a cult status among Middlebury concert audiences, ever since his triumphant Beethoven sonata series here in 2005–2007. Last season’s recital of Mozart, Ligeti, and Schubert announced Lewis’s virtuosity across musical boundaries. He has earned his reputation as one of his generation’s most sought-after musicians. This season Lewis plays Schubert’s Impromptus, opus 142, and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $20/15/5.
For more information, please click here.