The Performing Arts Series’ 2023–2024 season is a dynamic line-up that continues our mission to highlight diverse programming across performing arts disciplines. Our 104th season champions innovative artists shining a light on climate change and presents world-renowned performers who are celebrated game-changers.
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This ambitiously inventive Nordic trio is one of the world’s most talked-about acts in the acoustic realm. Their hit “The World Was Waiting” feels spot-on, as we’ve been eagerly awaiting their return ever since their joyous, sold-out Middlebury performance in March 2020, just before the pandemic hit.
Wilson Hall, McCullough Student Center
Open to the Public
“Song of Rapa Nui” tells the story of Mahani Teave, who left Rapa Nui (Easter Island) at age 9 to pursue her dream of becoming a classical pianist. At age 30, on the brink of international success, Teave gives up her career to pursue a new dream; a free music school for the island’s children. Teave hopes to shape a bold future for Rapa Nui and inspire change on Earth, our island home. Enjoy the screening in advance of Teave’s Middlebury concert on Friday. A brief Q&A with Teave will follow the film.
Mahaney Arts Center 125
Open to the Public
Award-winning pianist and humanitarian Mahani Teave is a pioneering artist who bridges the creative world with education and environmental activism. She is also the only professional classical musician on her native Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
See the premiere of choreographer Christal Brown’s evening-length dance and installation, inspired by the writings of poet Remica Bingham-Risher, as well as Brown’s caregiver journey with Alzheimer’s and dementia and her explorations of legacy. The artists’ bodies become instruments that question, connect, and dismantle the tangible and intangible histories present in us all. This soulful, profound performance is a physical examination of the capacity of human life and the intricacies of the mind.
Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre
Open to the Public
See the premiere of choreographer Christal Brown’s evening-length dance and installation, inspired by the writings of poet Remica Bingham-Risher, as well as Brown’s caregiver journey with Alzheimer’s and dementia and her explorations of legacy. The artists’ bodies become instruments that question, connect, and dismantle the tangible and intangible histories present in us all. This soulful, profound performance is a physical examination of the capacity of human life and the intricacies of the mind.
Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre
Open to the Public
See the premiere of choreographer Christal Brown’s evening-length dance and installation, inspired by the writings of poet Remica Bingham-Risher, as well as Brown’s caregiver journey with Alzheimer’s and dementia and her explorations of legacy. The artists’ bodies become instruments that question, connect, and dismantle the tangible and intangible histories present in us all. This soulful, profound performance is a physical examination of the capacity of human life and the intricacies of the mind.
Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre
Open to the Public
Named “one of the best string quartets before the public today” by the Washington Post, the Danish String Quartet certainly made an impression when first performing here in 2017: Our sold-out audience gave them a standing ovation before we even hit intermission, and audiences have been asking for their re-engagement ever since. Join us for a mixed program that’s worth the wait: works by Purcell, Haydn, and Shostakovich, plus the quartet’s acclaimed arrangements of Nordic folk music.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
This sonically-innovative harpist is revolutionizing her instrument for the digital era. Over the past 15 years, she has worked relentlessly to stretch boundaries and limitations for harpists. In 2022, she made history by becoming the first black woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. That same year, she was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Her trio’s Vermont debut at Middlebury will include jazz standards and original works.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the PublicProfessor Emeritus of Music Larry Hamberlin explores the Tákacs Quartet’s Bartók cycle program.
Mahaney Arts Center 125
Open to the Public
Now in their 49th season and “the Takács Quartet remains one of the greatest chamber string ensembles we have on the world stage.” (Scherzo magazine) Finally we can present their entire Bartók string quartet cycle, delayed from our 100th anniversary season in 2020. This ensemble has always had a particular association with Béla Bartók, the great 20th-century Hungarian composer whose six quartets are among the pinnacles of 20th-century chamber music.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Now in their 49th season and “the Takács Quartet remains one of the greatest chamber string ensembles we have on the world stage.” (Scherzo magazine) Finally we can present their entire Bartók string quartet cycle, delayed from our 100th anniversary season in 2020. This ensemble has always had a particular association with Béla Bartók, the great 20th-century Hungarian composer whose six quartets are among the pinnacles of 20th-century chamber music.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the PublicProfessor Emeritus of Music Larry Hamberlin explores Le Consort’s program entitled “Hidden Treasures of the Baroque.”
Mahaney Arts Center 125
Open to the Public
The Middlebury Performing Arts Series proudly presents Le Consort on their North American debut tour. Never heard music by Dandrieu, Merula, Guignon, or Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre?? Not to worry—Le Consort will introduce you to these unjustly neglected Baroque masters and more, in a program titled “Hidden Treasures of the Baroque.”
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Written and performed by Rachel Mars. Award-winning theatre maker Rachel Mars performs a gloriously rude new solo show that unearths the hot-as-hell letters that make sexts blush. Before sexts there were hand-written letters—and loads of them were properly filthy. With the help of the internet, friends, and two sexologists, Mars has unearthed missives dating back centuries.
Wright Theatre
Open to the Public
Written and performed by Rachel Mars. Award-winning theatre maker Rachel Mars performs a gloriously rude new solo show that unearths the hot-as-hell letters that make sexts blush. Before sexts there were hand-written letters—and loads of them were properly filthy. With the help of the internet, friends, and two sexologists, Mars has unearthed missives dating back centuries.
Wright Theatre
Open to the Public
The 2023 Grammy-nominated British vocal ensemble VOCES8 inspires people through their music and by sharing their joy of singing. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble’s performance and education ethos. Their performances are praised for their meticulous timing and tuning, impressive blend, and radiant sound. VOCES8’s Vermont debut program, entitled “20 Songs from 20 Years,” features beloved music from across the centuries and pieces by contemporary composers that the ensemble proudly calls friends.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Small Island Big Song is a multi-platform project uniting the seafaring cultures of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, a region at the frontline of the climate crisis. Indigenous artists come together with filmmakers and poets to present irresistible oceanic grooves and soulful island ballads collected across 16 countries, all guided by the artists on their respective islands. Experience the concert event that Billboard calls “one coherent jaw-dropping piece.”
Wilson Hall, McCullough Student Center
Open to the Public
Meet the composer! Learn more about the work “Spiral Galaxy” in a free pre-concert lecture by composer David Ludwig, Dean and Director of Music at the Juilliard School.
Mahaney Arts Center 125
Open to the Public
Applauded by the New York Times for her “eloquent, powerful” interpretations, cellist Sophie Shao has a gift for assembling impromptu chamber ensembles that are brimming with passion and talent. If you’ve never heard her play before, or if you’re a veteran of her concerts, you’ll realize why no season is complete without one of her marvelous performances! The concert program will include Messiaen’s Quartet for The End of Time, and Vermont composer David Ludwig’s Spiral Galaxy.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
The dynamic and charismatic Heath Quartet—our series’ first quartet-in-residence—is one of the most exciting British chamber ensembles of the moment, steadily building a reputation for their upbeat and integrated sound. We celebrate our 20th year of support from the Sunderman Family Concert Fund with this free concert, including works by Bach, Haydn, Henriette Bosmans, and Erick Korngold.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
One of the world’s finest chamber ensembles, nine-time Grammy winners, and longtime friends of our Performing Arts Series, the Emerson String Quartet visits our campus on their farewell tour. In this, their 33rd and final Middlebury appearance, they play quartets by Shostakovich and Ravel, Walker’s Lyric for Strings, and our Music Accord co-commission Drink the Wild Ayre by Sarah Kirkland Snider.
Middlebury Chapel
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