Due to COVID considerations, all three of our Performing Arts Series events in January 2022 will now be presented virtually.
While we’re disappointed not to host these events live at Robison Hall, we’re glad that we’re able to offer this safe, stay-at-home option. Virtual tickets ($15, or $5 for Middlebury College students) are available now. Please note ticket sales will be online only.
Please check back for updates, or watch ArtsMail for announcements. Thank you.
The Performing Arts Series’ Winter–Spring 2022 season is a dynamic line-up that includes works, words, and performances by women and BIPOC artists; folk/world music; dance and theatre; and a collaborative chamber music concert. Details are to be announced in December.
We are announcing our 102nd season, one semester at a time, to allow for the greatest responsiveness to college and state health guidelines. Email and social media will be our primary mode of communication, so please sign up for our mailing list or like us on facebook. Thank you and we’re looking forward to being all together!
One hundred years ago this week, The Middlebury Campus headline read “Casals Captivates Large Audience: World’s Greatest Cellist Plays in Chapel,” when famed Catalan cellist Pablo Casals appeared during our Performing Arts Series’ third season. Sophie Shao’s 2022 concert will kick off our yearlong celebration of Casals and the cello.
MAC Virtual Stage
Open to the Public
The great Catalan cellist Pablo Casals (1876–1973) stands alone as arguably the most influential and universally revered instrumentalist of all time. He was first cellist in history to recognize Bach’s Six Solo Suites as great music, and the first to record them. This was only one of the musical milestones of this extraordinary man, who not only dominated cello playing for more than half a century, but also served as an uncompromising and indisputable voice of social conscience.
MAC Virtual Stage
Open to the Public
Extraordinary Vermont-based cellist and composer Zoë Keating continues our cello celebration with a contemporary lens. A one-woman orchestra, she uses a cello and a foot-controlled laptop to record layer upon layer of cello, creating intricate, haunting, and compelling music. Keating has a devoted global audience and her self-released albums have reached #1 several times on the iTunes classical chart. She has composed music for ballet, theater, film, and radio and lends her music regularly to film, tv, dance productions, and commercials.
MAC Virtual Stage
Open to the Public
Nobuntu, the dazzling female a cappella quintet from Zimbabwe, has drawn international acclaim for its inventive performances that range from traditional Mbube songs to Afro Jazz and Gospel. The ensemble’s concerts are performed with pure voices, augmented by minimalistic percussion, traditional instruments such as the Mbira, and organic, authentic dance movements. Their traditional Mbube songs (mostly in native languages) center around family, work, faith, and home, and are affirming, authentic, and celebratory.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
One of the most historied Shakespeare theatre companies in the world takes on the Bard’s comedic masterpiece, exploring two wildly different romances, each wrapped in secrets and trickery. Co-founded by Sir Patrick Stewart in 1975, Actors From The London Stage embraces theatrical simplicity at its finest. Five actors take the stage, with minimal props and costumes, and direct themselves in a performance of a complete Shakespeare play, with each actor portraying multiple roles.
Wright Theatre
Open to the Public
One of the most historied Shakespeare theatre companies in the world takes on the Bard’s comedic masterpiece, exploring two wildly different romances, each wrapped in secrets and trickery. Co-founded by Sir Patrick Stewart in 1975, Actors From The London Stage embraces theatrical simplicity at its finest. Five actors take the stage, with minimal props and costumes, and direct themselves in a performance of a complete Shakespeare play, with each actor portraying multiple roles.
Wright Theatre
Open to the Public
One of the most historied Shakespeare theatre companies in the world takes on the Bard’s comedic masterpiece, exploring two wildly different romances, each wrapped in secrets and trickery. Co-founded by Sir Patrick Stewart in 1975, Actors From The London Stage embraces theatrical simplicity at its finest. Five actors take the stage, with minimal props and costumes, and direct themselves in a performance of a complete Shakespeare play, with each actor portraying multiple roles.
Wright Theatre
Open to the Public
Hailing from historic County Waterford, Danú is one of the leading traditional Irish ensembles of today. Their standing-room only concerts throughout Ireland are true events featuring high-energy performances and a glorious mix of ancient Irish music and new repertoire. Danú’s virtuosi players on flute, tin whistle, fiddle, button accordion, bouzouki, and vocals (Irish and English), have performed around the globe and recorded seven critically acclaimed albums. Their Middlebury debut program is sure to warm your spirits in advance of St. Patrick’s Day.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Conference of the Birds is an evening-length, multi-media movement theater work inspired by the epic poem of Farid Ud din Attar, embodying modern-day stories of migration. Attar’s The Conference of the Birds is the tale of a group of birds that set off in search of a mythical being, the Simurgh. Many of the birds abandon the quest. When the remaining birds arrive in the land of the Simurgh, they find themselves reflected—they are the very deity they seek.
Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre
Open to the Public
Conference of the Birds is an evening-length, multi-media movement theater work inspired by the epic poem of Farid Ud din Attar, embodying modern-day stories of migration. Attar’s The Conference of the Birds is the tale of a group of birds that set off in search of a mythical being, the Simurgh. Many of the birds abandon the quest. When the remaining birds arrive in the land of the Simurgh, they find themselves reflected—they are the very deity they seek.
Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre
Open to the Public
Cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han are not only “chamber music’s busy power couple”(New York Times) but also two of Middlebury’s most frequent and beloved performers. In this video presentation, they’ve invited us into their Westchester home for a French-inspired program of cello sonatas by Saint-Saëns and Franck. Special commentary by the artists and a surprise encore included. Part of our 2022 celebration of the cello.
GET FREE TICKETS.
MAC Virtual Stage
Open to the Public
We’re thrilled to welcome back the acclaimed Takács Quartet, long-time friends of the Performing Arts Series and “one of the world’s greatest string quartets” (The New York Times) for their 27th appearance at Middlebury. For this unique collaborative concert, the Takács will be joined by Julien Labro, one of the foremost accordion and bandoneon players in both the classical and jazz worlds. His artistry, virtuosity, and creativity as a musician, composer, and arranger have earned him international acclaim.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Alumni of the Bowers Program at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Schumann Quartet has been lauded as “one of the most exciting string quartets of the present day” by Fono Forum. Named BBC Music Magazine’s 2016 Best Newcomers of the Year, they make their Middlebury debut with a program including Mendelssohn’s Quartet in A Minor and Ravel’s Quartet in F Major.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Pre-concert lecture with Professor of Music Larry Hamberlin.
Professor Hamberlin’s lecture will be streamed on our Facebook page. It will stay on the page through the remainder of the evening.
Vaccinations and masks required. Additional health and safety information here. Performance subject to change.
Mahaney Arts Center 125
Open to the Public
At just 20 years old, jazz keyboardist Matthew Whitaker is a once-in-a-generation musical talent. He’s been performing across the globe since age eleven, opening for Stevie Wonder at the Apollo Theater. At a tender 13, Whitaker was the youngest artist to be endorsed by Hammond organs and was soon named a Yamaha Artist, becoming the youngest musician to join their stellar roster of jazz pianists.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Middlebury is honored to present the New England premiere of A Standing Witness,* written by Grammy-winning composer Richard Danielpour and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove. Performed by acclaimed Music from Copland House ensemble and “America’s favorite mezzo”
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
“A Standing Witness: Artistic Discussion with Rita Dove, Richard Danielpour, and members of Music from Copland House,” a pre-recorded conversation from our friends at UChicago Presents.
Mahaney Arts Center 125
Open to the Public
Hailed as “one of the best young string quartets’’ by Gramophone, the Doric String Quartet has emerged as a leading British ensemble of its generation.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Pre-concert lecture by Professor of Music Larry Hamberlin.
Vaccinations and masks required. Additional health and safety information here. Performance subject to change.
Accessibility Services information here.
Mahaney Arts Center 125
Open to the Public
Originally scheduled for April of 2020, the Imani Winds and Catalyst Quartet join forces for a special program entitled (im)migration: music of change.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
At the end of every calendar year, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center has a tradition of presenting the complete set of six Brandenburg Concertos. It seems only fitting that we air this joyous broadcast at the end of our academic year—in line with Middlebury’s Bach Festival history.
Virtual Middlebury
Open to the Public
Same but Different is a collaborative duet between Middlebury dance faculty Christal Brown and Lida Winfield, exploring their similarities and differences in a cultural commentary on race, age, and gender. 42 years young and recently orphaned, Lida grew up in the North, Christal grew up in the South, both of them grew up inhabiting small towns. Lida is white, Christal is black. As children, Christal was considered a genius and Lida was labeled dumb.
Virtual Middlebury
Open to the Public
Experience the peerless artistry of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS), with this extraordinary HD concert, featuring archival CMS video recordings of some of Vivaldi’s most beloved concertos and sonatas. In Vivaldi Explosion, an extraordinary assemblage of musicians grace the stage, including Israeli mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital.
Virtual Middlebury
Open to the Public
Grammy Award-winning pianist Sullivan Fortner has gained international praise as a pianist, composer, and band leader, and for his collaborative work with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles, Cecile McLorin Salvant, John Scofield, and more. In 2019, Fortner earned recognition in multiple DownBeat Critics Poll categories, winning first place in Rising Star Piano and Rising Star Jazz Artist.
Virtual Middlebury
Open to the Public
Winner of the Young Concert Artists auditions, a Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant, pianist Anne-Marie McDermott has enjoyed a celebrated, worldwide concert career for over 25 years. She serves as artistic director of the Bravo! Vail Music and Ocean Reef Music festivals, as well as Curator for Chamber Music for the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego. Her award winning recordings include works by Prokofiev, Bach, Gershwin, most recently Haydn.
Virtual Middlebury
Open to the Public
Violinist Cho-Liang Lin—Musical America’s 2000 Instrumentalist of the Year—is lauded the world over for the eloquence of his playing and for superb musicianship. In a concert career spanning more than 30 years, he is equally at home with orchestra, in recital, playing chamber music, and in the teaching studio. An avid chamber musician, he’s made recurring appearances at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.
Virtual Middlebury
Open to the Public
The Middlebury Performing Arts Series opens its Winter 2021 Virtual Season with pianist Gloria Chien—an equally acclaimed performer, concert presenter, and educator. Selected by the Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, Taiwanese-born Chien has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician around the globe, and performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as an alumna of its Bowers Program.
Virtual Middlebury
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