Performing Arts Series

So Percussion has redefined chamber music through their commitment to the creation and amplification of new work. The ensemble is celebrated for a dazzling range of activities: live performances, contributions to education and community, and the creation of opportunities and platforms for music and artists. In their Middlebury debut, they’ll collaborate with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, featuring songs and highlights from their latest co-composed album Rectangles and Circumstance. 

Celebrating its 30th season, the Jerusalem Quartet embodies the pinnacle of chamber music excellence, renowned worldwide for its passionate performances and impeccable precision. With a repertoire spanning the classical to contemporary, they captivate audiences with spellbinding interpretations, blending technical virtuosity with profound musical depth. The Jerusalem Quartet returns to Middlebury with a program of Haydn, Shostakovich, and Dvorák.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Attend a screening of the acclaimed 2016 film starring Denzel Washington (Oscar nominee for this role) and Viola Davis (Oscar winner for this role). Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, the film adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play takes a passionate look at former baseball player Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) as he fights to provide for those he loves in a world that threatens to push him down. Denzel Washington also directed the film.

Attend a screening of this acclaimed 2020 film starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, both nominated for Oscars for their respective roles. During a 1927 Chicago recording session, tensions and temperatures rise between Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), her ambitious horn player (Chadwick Boseman), and the white management determined to control the legendary “Mother of the Blues.” Directed by George C. Wolfe; based on Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s play.