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The Performing Arts Series’ 2022–2023 season is a dynamic line-up that continues our mission to highlight new and diverse programming across performing arts disciplines. Our 103rd season also examines exciting themes: the conclusion of our “year of the cello” celebrating the centennial of Pablo Casals’ 1922 performance on our series; music in honor of composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday; and an exploration of healing and technology’s intersection with the arts.
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Thank you and we’re looking forward to being all together!
Fresh from the Van Cliburn Competition finals, pianist Clayton Stephenson makes his Vermont debut with an opulent program including Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Beethoven’s “Appassionata” sonata.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Choral Chameleon Chorus makes its Vermont debut with a sound bath: a unique, healing choral experience. Collaborating with certified sound healers, the audience will be surrounded by the singers of the chorus and “bathed” in the layered sounds of voices, Tibetan singing bowls, chimes, gongs, and more. This intensive sound experience is designed to wash over the body for healing, peace, and restorative contemplation.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Named the inaugural Hans Keller String Quartet in Residence at the University of Oxford and Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist of the Year, the Castalian Quartetfirst visited Middlebury on their US debut tour in 2019. They return to treat us to a free concert of exceptional works: Janácek’s Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata”; Sibelius’ Quartet in D Minor, “Voces intimae”; and Beethoven’s Op. 130 Quartet, with the epic Grosse Fuge finale.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
It’s a family affair when our friends the Jupiter Quartet joins the Jasper String Quartet—between these two acclaimed ensembles, there are three siblings, two married couples, and several former college roommates! Their collaborative concert concludes our “year of the cello” celebration with performances of Schubert’s cello quintet, Reena Esmail’s Ragamala, and the beautiful Mendelssohn Octet.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Following up on their smash 2019 presentation at Middlebury, the interdisciplinary performance collective Manual Cinema takes on Charles Dickens’s holiday classic A Christmas Carol with a visually inventive adaptation made for the screen. In this version, avowed holiday skeptic Aunt Trudy has been recruited to channel her late husband Joe’s famous Christmas cheer.
Virtual Middlebury
Open to the Public
The Heart of Afghanistan project features four brilliant Afghan musicians—famed singer/Afghan TV star Ahmad Fanoos on vocals & harmonium, his sons Elham on piano and Fanoos on violin, and Hamid Habibzada on tabla—who are currently unable to perform inside Afghanistan, where the Taliban has banned all music. The group carries the flame of Afghanistan’s rich and complex musical heritage from its pre-Islamic Buddhist period to the modern era.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Audiences so loved our virtual presentations of the Chamber Music Society (CMS) of Lincoln Center that we jumped at the chance to bring them live to Robison Hall. This “Magical Schubert” program celebrates Franz Schubert’s genius with three of his most significant chamber works—the lighthearted fantasy for Violin and Piano in C Major; his splendid Piano Trio in B-flat Major, No.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Assistant Professor of Dance Laurel Jenkins presents her new mixed-reality performance experience where movement instantly becomes music, and emerging technology allows dancers to create an immersive journey of sound, light, and visual media in real time. Live dancers with motion capture technology and simultaneous animation create The Wilds before your eyes.
Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre
Open to the Public
Assistant Professor of Dance Laurel Jenkins presents her new mixed-reality performance experience where movement instantly becomes music, and emerging technology allows dancers to create an immersive journey of sound, light, and visual media in real time. Live dancers with motion capture technology and simultaneous animation create The Wilds before your eyes.
Mahaney Arts Center Dance Theatre
Open to the Public
The Choral Chameleon Ensemble features 16 professional NYC singers with a diversity of musical backgrounds.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
The celebrated Dover String Quartet joins forces with award-winning Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang to bring us our next Music Accord co-commission: the Vermont premiere of Marc Neikrug’s Piano Quintet No. 2. Subtitled “In Six Parts,” Neikrug’s work is designed to highlight the virtuosity of each individual musician. Since our centennial season, commissioning new works is part of the Performing Arts Series’ mission to support the future of chamber music. The work is paired with Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
The Westerlies, a most innovative brass quartet of trumpet and trombone players who skirt the boundaries of jazz, classical, and pop, have paired with Theo Bleckmann, one of today’s most in-demand composers/vocalists.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Acclaimed Cellist Sophie Shao collaborates with our Performing Arts Series each season to bring a fresh chamber music performance—this year, responding to our request for a program celebrating composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday. She’s joined by violinist Scott Yoo and pianist John Novacek for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Trio élégiaque No.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Open to the Public
Legendary jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim last performed at Middlebury 30 years ago, mere days before the opening of the now Mahaney Arts Center. This time he’ll grace our Robison Hall stage with his band Ekaya, which means “home”—during a weekend that celebrates both South African Freedom Day and International Jazz Day.
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
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
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