2021-2022 Season

We close our 105th season with the dynamic duo of violinist Alina Ibragimova and pianist Cédric Tiberghien. The two developed a tremendous rapport during their term as individual BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists, where their unique partnership was observed by The Times of London: “Both of these players have the potential to conquer the world.” During this Middlebury return, Ibragimova and Tiberghien will play Janácek, Enescu, Gerald Barry’s vivacious Triorchic Blues, and Beethoven’s iconic “Kreutzer” sonata.

Learn more about this concert’s music in a free pre-concert lecture by Professor Emeritus of Music Larry Hamberlin.

Faculty musicians from the Music Institute of Long Island (MILI) treat us to an evening of chamber music including Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Turina, Mendelssohn, and more!  Established in 1990, MILI is a classical music school staffed by exceptional instructors from many of the most prestigious conservatories and graduate music schools in the United States and Europe. This performance is the culminating event of their current Rothrock Residency working with Middlebury students.

About the Artists: 

The visiting faculty ensemble from the Music Institute of Long Island (our Rothrock Residency artists) share what recordings they are listening to that inspire them.  Open to all Middlebury ID holders. Bring your own lunch or grab from Ross Dining upstairs.  A free playlist will be provided after lunch. Signup at go/listeninglunch

Pianist Steven Osborne, OBE is one of Britain’s most treasured musicians. His performances exude an immense depth of musicality and exceptional refinement of expression across diverse repertoire, be it in Beethoven or Messiaen, Schubert or Ravel, Prokofiev, or jazz improvisations. His many honors include The Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year, two BBC Music Magazine Awards, and two Gramophone Awards.

Making their Middlebury debut, the Isidore String Quartet are winners of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition. Their concert program “Unrequited” explores the intersection of treasured classics and contemporary perspectives, providing a winding path into the complicated labyrinth that is human compassion and love, featuring works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Billy Childs. Thanks to the Sunderman Family Concert Endowment Fund, this concert is free and open to all.

Acclaimed Jordanian-Palestinian pianist Iyad Sughayer embodies a captivating blend of exceptional skill and profound musicality.

Learn more about this concert’s music in a free pre-concert lecture by Professor Emeritus of Music Larry Hamberlin.

About tonight’s weather: as of this time, this show is planned to go on as scheduled. If that changes, we will post updates here.

An interactive textual analysis workshop for actors from on- and off-campus, led by Robert Cornelius (playing West in Two Trains Running) and other members of the The Acting Company. Free, but advanced sign up required.

Theatre Workshop with The Acting Company
Mahaney Arts Center, Room 232

A workshop for Middlebury theatre students, led by Robert Cornelius (playing West in Two Trains Running) and other members of the The Acting Company. After an introduction to August Wilson, his Century Plays, and his overall impact on the American Theater, conversation will narrow in on the details of Two Trains Running, and the specific choices that created this production. Participants will also get up on their feet for theatre exercises.

Professors Claudio Medeiros (Theatre) and Jerry Philogene (Black Studies) will lead a cozy book club session about August Wilson’s Two Trains Running. Refreshments provided. This event is a lead-up to the production at Wright Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 13, performed by The Acting Company and presented by the Middlebury Performing Arts Series.

NOTE: Sign-up for this event is now closed as capacity for attendance has been reached.

Choral Chameleon treats our audience to an outside-the-box concert experience! Listeners will move through the Mahaney Arts Center lobbies to hear “I AM,” a world premiere, large scale choral installation written just for Middlebury by Choral Chameleon’s Founder and Artistic Director Vince Peterson. Imagine being guided through choral vignettes around the building, much as you would move through exhibits in a gallery. Featuring singers drawn from the Middlebury student body and the greater community, coordinated by Ronnie Romano ’20, performing alongside the professional ensemble.

Choral Chameleon is a dynamic ensemble renowned for their innovative programming and fearless exploration of vocal artistry. Audiences have clamored for their return ever since their choral sound bath event and their concert at Middlebury in 2022. Now Choral Chameleon returns with CONTROL, a program exploring the timeless and complex relationship between parents and children and the eternal push and pull between generations, bound by love yet separated by perspective.

Join us for the Vermont premiere of Sky Was Possible, a song cycle for soprano, flute, and piano composed by Middlebury’s own Fletcher Professor of the Arts and Music Department Chair Su Lian Tan, with texts by Middlebury President and Professor of Religion Laurie Patton. Sky Was Possible consists of four poems from Patton’s books Fire’s Goal: Poems from a Hindu Year and House Crossing, taking us on a journey through love, love lost, and love passing. Soprano Kristen Watson and pianist John McDonald will start the evening with J.S.

New York based, Canadian born musician Bria Skonberg stormed onto the jazz scene with her smoky vocals, blistering trumpet, and compelling compositions and arrangements. She’s been described as one of the “most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation” by the Wall Street Journal. Skonberg sold out our hall almost a decade ago, and returns to Middlebury just in time for the holidays with a new program entitled “Jingle Bell Swing,” featuring her take on seasonal favorites including her hit cover of “All I Want For Christmas is You.”

Jazz trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg leads an engaging jazz improvisation workshop just for Middlebury College students.  Please note: There is a limited capacity for this popular workshop and signup is required. Please come warmed up and ready to play!

Sean Dorsey is an Emmy Award-winning choreographer, dancer, writer, educator, and activist. Long recognized as the U.S.’ first acclaimed transgender modern dance choreographer, Dorsey brings his newest work—and his explicitly trans-positive pedagogy—for his Performing Arts Series debut. The Lost Art of Dreaming is a full-evening fusion of full-throttle dance, intimate storytelling, intricate costuming, and exquisite queer partnering, all performed with Sean Dorsey Dance’s signature technical precision, guts, and deep humanity.

This trans-friendly movement workshop is suitable for terrified beginners through all-levels and are led by Sean Dorsey and Sean Dorsey Dance company dancers. These classes and workshops are designed to be supportive of transgender, trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming bodies and creative expression. All-gender bathrooms are available.

This community class is free and open to anyone.

Sean Dorsey is an Emmy Award-winning choreographer, dancer, writer, educator, and activist. Long recognized as the U.S.’ first acclaimed transgender modern dance choreographer, Dorsey brings his newest work—and his explicitly trans-positive pedagogy—for his Performing Arts Series debut. The Lost Art of Dreaming is a full-evening fusion of full-throttle dance, intimate storytelling, intricate costuming, and exquisite queer partnering, all performed with Sean Dorsey Dance’s signature technical precision, guts, and deep humanity.