UGA Performing Arts Center announces 2012-2013 season

By Bobby Tyler

 

The University of Georgia has announced the roster of artists for the 2012-2013 season. “This will be a year filled with incomparable performances, a truly magical season and one of the best in the PAC’s seventeen-year history," said PAC director George Foreman.

One of the highlights of the 2012-2013 season will be a performance by world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman. “Last season we presented Yo-Yo Ma. When I was planning the new season, I thought there was only one way to top that, by bringing the world’s best violinist to Hodgson Hall,” Foreman stated.

The Performing Arts Center will continue its partnership with the Classic Center with three special collaborations, Willie Nelson, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and Blue Man Group. 

The PAC’s classical music series, Masterworks and Classics, will feature the world’s finest orchestras and musicians in addition to classical ballet. The series will include renowned flutist Sir James Galway performing with his wife, Lady Jeanne, on his Legacy Tour, as well as the Athens debut of Nobuyuki Tsujii, the blind pianist who won the Van Cliburn Gold Medal.

National Public Radio’s From the Top returns to record its popular program live in Hodgson Hall, and England’s beloved King’s Singers return with their impeccable vocal style and unique British wit.

The world’s premier banjo player, Béla Fleck, makes two appearances next season. He will perform in the fall with the jazz ensemble, the Marcus Roberts Trio, and again in the spring with the UGA Symphony Orchestra, playing his own Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra.

The Franklin College Chamber Music Series will feature the world’s finest chamber ensembles, notably the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, which continues its relationship with UGA in the Arch Chamber Music Festival. The don’t-miss concert on the Franklin series will undoubtedly be the Tokyo String Quartet in its final season.

The Show Biz and Off-Broadway series will offer something for everyone with Celtic and world music, comic magicians, Broadway song and dance, and even talking dogs. The Capitol Steps return to perform their trademark political satire one week prior to the Presidential election, and Youtube sensations Igudesman and Joo will combine classical music with comedy in the style of P.D.Q. Bach and Victor Borge.

In 2012-2013, the Performing Arts Center will begin its fifteenth year recording concerts for broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today, enjoyed by millions of listeners across the country and around the world. The Performing Arts Center will also continue its educational programs, offering master classes and lecture/demonstrations for UGA students and local public school students.

Subscriptions to the 2012-2013 season are on sale now. For more information or a free brochure, contact the Performing Arts Center box office at (706) 542-4400 or toll free at (888) 289-8497. The 2012-2013 season brochure can be viewed online by visiting the PAC’s newly redesigned website 

 Single tickets for individual Performing Arts Center events will go on sale August 27, 2012. On-sale dates for Classic Center events will vary.

Here is the 2012-2013 season by series:

Special Events

Willie Nelson

Friday, August 10 • 8:00 p.m.
Classic Center Theatre
One of the most prolific and recognizable figures in popular music, Willie Nelson is an American icon. With hits such as “On the Road Again” and “Always on My Mind,” Nelson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993.

Itzhak Perlman, Violin

Sunday, December 9 • 3:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

The reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. His recordings regularly appear on the best-seller charts and have garnered fifteen Grammy Awards. Perlman was honored to take part in the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, premiering a piece written for the occasion by Oscar-winning composer John Williams.

Blue Man Group

Tuesday, November 6 • 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 7 • 8:00 p.m.

Classic Center Theatre

A worldwide phenomenon, Blue Man Group is best known for multi-media performances that feature three bald and blue characters who take the audience on a journey that is funny, intelligent, and visually stunning. Accompanied by a live band, Blue Man Group creates a new form of entertainment with a jaw-dropping combination of theatricality and performance art.

(NOTE: Blue Man Group is also offered on the Show Biz and Off-Broadway series.)

The Boston Pops Orchestra

Keith Lockhart, Conductor

Wednesday, February 27 • 8:00 p.m.
Classic Center Theatre

Maestro Lockhart and the orchestra present a Bright Lights, Big City tribute to the Big Apple with works by Bernstein, Gerswhin, and Duke Ellington. Special guest, vocalist and songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway, joins the orchestra in a tribute to Barbra Streisand.

Masterworks

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Asher Fisch, Conductor

Stewart Goodyear, Piano

Sunday, November 4 • 3:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Guest conductor Asher Fisch is joined by pianist Stewart Goodyear in a program that includes Mozart’s Rondo in D Major and Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss, and Richard Wagner’s Suite from Die Meistersinger.

State Ballet Theatre of Russia

Cinderella

Tuesday, January 15 • 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 16 • 8:00 p.m.

Fine Arts Theatre

A favorite with Athens audiences, the company returns with its enchanting fully-staged production of Cinderella. The beloved fairy tale comes to life in a beautiful performance filled with Prokofiev’s unforgettable music, stunning dancers, beautiful sets, and dazzling costumes.

The English Concert

Harry Bicket, Conductor/Harpsichord

Tuesday, February 19 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Based in London, the English Concert has been hailed by critics and audiences alike as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. For its Athens concert, the orchestra will perform a program that includes Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and Handel’s Water Music.  

Sir James Galway: The Legacy Tour

Sir James Galway, Flute

Lady Jeanne Galway, Flute

Thursday, March 7 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

The living legend of the flute, Sir James Galway is revered as both the supreme interpreter of the classical flute repertoire and a consummate entertainer whose appeal crosses all musical boundaries. For the Legacy Tour, Sir James is joined by his wife for a program that includes Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D Major, Debussy’s Clair de Lune, Bizet’s Carmen Fantasy, Irish folksongs, and Henry Mancini’s Pennywhistle Jig.

Nobuyuki Tsujii, Piano

Tuesday, March 19 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Blind since birth, Nobuyuki Tsujii captured the attention of the world when he won the Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. During the competition, the Dallas Morning News wrote, “It is almost beyond imagining that he has learned scores as formidable as Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto by ear.”

Classics

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Antoni Wit, Conductor

Yulianna Avdeeva, Piano

Thursday, November 1 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

The Warsaw Philharmonic, the National Orchestra of Poland, is treasured as one of Poland’s most distinguished musical institutions. For the Hodgson Hall performance, Maestro Antoni Wit will be joined by the brilliant young Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, the 2010 First Prize winner of the International Frédéric Chopin Competition.

Venice Baroque Orchestra

Andrea Marcon, Conductor

Sunday, January 27 • 3:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

The Venice Baroque Orchestra is one Europe’s premier ensembles devoted to period instrument performance. After an appearance at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Washington Post praised the group’s “percolating energy and lithe, silvery tone.”

The King’s Singers

Monday, February 11 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

One of the world’s most celebrated ensembles, The King’s Singers have a discography of well over 150 recordings and are known throughout the world for their television appearances, including a recent Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir that included a live audience of more than 80,000.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Robert Spano, Conductor

Olli Mustonen, Piano

Sunday, February 24 • 3:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Music director Robert Spano returns to Hodgson Hall for a concert that features Ottorino

Respighi’s Piano Concerto in A Minor with Finnish pianist Olli Mustonen. The program also includes Verdi’s Overture to La Forza del Destino and the Symphony No. 2 of Johannes Brahms.

From the Top

Christopher O’Riley, Host

Sunday, March 3 • 3:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

For the past decade, From the Top has been a showcase for America’s most talented young musicians. The San Francisco Chronicle called the weekly radio broadcast “contemporary culture’s feel-good success story.” Taped before a live audience, each program provides a compelling and entertaining window into the world of these extraordinary performers, who range in age from eight to eighteen.

Special Bonus Concert

Béla Fleck and UGA Symphony Orchestra

Mark Cedel, Conductor

Béla Fleck, Banjo

Tuesday, March 26 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Béla Fleck’s virtuosity as a banjo player is unrivaled, and the multiple Grammy Award winner is also known as one of today’s most versatile and creative performers. Fleck joins the UGA Symphony Orchestra for a performance of his new Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra. This concert will be a bonus addition to both the Masterworks and Classics series.

Franklin College Chamber Music Series 

Kopelman Quartet

The Payne Memorial Concert

Sunday, October 7 • 3:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Founded a decade ago by a group of musicians who graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire, the quartet is steeped in the standards and style of the classic Russian school. The Strad magazine praises the ensemble for bringing to its performances an “abundance of all the ingredients that weld together to make a great quartet.”

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble

Wednesday, October 24 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

The Chamber Ensemble was created in 1967 by the principal players of the famed Academy of St. Martin in the Fields orchestra. Gramophone magazine called the Chamber Ensemble “nothing short of stunning,” and the Milwaukee Sentinel says the ensemble is a “good reason to turn off the stereo and go to a real live concert.”

Tokyo String Quartet

Thursday, February 21 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

With impeccable playing that The New York Times has called “a passionate, richly toned discussion among intelligent, charismatic equals,” the Tokyo String Quartet has captivated audiences and critics around the world since it was founded forty-two years ago. This concert will be a very special opportunity to experience the quartet in its final season.

Aspen String Trio

Wednesday, March 27 • 8:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 28 • 8:00 p.m.

Ramsey Concert Hall

These three instrumentalists have a long-time association as artist-faculty with the famous Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. For the second of their two Athens concerts, the trio will be joined by UGA faculty members Michael Heald, Maggie Snyder, and David Starkweather.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Saturday, April 13 • 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 14 • 3:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

The Arch Chamber Music Festival

The Arch Chamber Music Festival presents a full weekend of performances by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, America’s foremost repertory company for chamber music. Pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel, co-directors of the CMS, head the list of musicians who will perform in Hodgson Hall. Program highlights include the Dvořák’s Piano Quintet, Beethoven’s Ghost Trio, and Weber’s Clarinet Quintet.

Show Biz 

Leahy

Monday, October 15 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Leahy is a Canadian powerhouse of eight musical brothers and sisters who have been playing together their entire lives.  Following the release of their first album in 2007, Leahy swept the Juno Awards (Canada’s Grammys), winning Best New Group, Best Country Group, and Best Instrumental Album. Since then, the group has been winning legions of fans with an entertaining mix of folk, country, and Celtic music.

Blue Man Group

Tuesday, November 6 • 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 7 • 8:00 p.m.

Classic Center Theatre

Béla Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio

Friday, November 9 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

The world’s premier banjo player, Béla Fleck is a true musical genius. With fourteen Grammy Awards and an astounding thirty nominations to his credit, Fleck has been honored in more different music categories than anyone in Grammy history. The Marcus Roberts Trio with Roberts on piano, Jason Marsalis on drums, and Rodney Jordan on bass, is known as a keen torch holder of the classic jazz tradition.

Celtic Crossroads

Monday, March 4 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

An explosion of youthful energy and superb musicianship, Celtic Crossroads fuses traditional Irish music with Eastern European gypsy, American bluegrass, jazz, and world music. The show incorporates seven world-class musicians who play more than twenty different instruments while high-kicking from some of Ireland’s most respected dancers intensifies the pulsating rhythms of the show.

Neil Berg’s Broadway Song and Dance

Thursday, April 18 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Neil Berg’s Broadway Song and Dance is an all-new show that recreates some of the greatest moments from everyone’s favorite musicals and features some of Broadway’s most memorable choreography. The cast includes actual stars from Broadway hits such as The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Cats, and Jesus Christ Superstar performing the songs they helped make famous.

Off-Broadway

The Chipper Experience

Tuesday, October 16 • 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, October 17 • 8:00 p.m.

Ramsey Concert Hall

“An artistic cyclone of talent and comedy,” Chipper Lowell is an award-winning performer who has twice been named Comedy Magician of the Year by the International Magicians Society. Magic Magazine calls him one of the “funniest magicians performing today.”

The Capitol Steps

Tuesday, October 30 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Mark the date on your calendar as the company that put the “mock” in Democracy returns for another fast-paced evening of perfectly-timed fun just one week before the Presidential election. Will Obama win a second term? Will Mitt unseat him? The Capitol Steps can’t predict the outcome of the election, but they can certainly make the process a lot more enjoyable and much funnier.

 Blue Man Group

Tuesday, November 6 • 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 7 • 8:00 p.m.

Classic Center Theatre

Igudesman and Joo

Tuesday, January 29 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Violinist Aleksey Igudesman and pianist Hyung-ki Joo combine humor with classical music, picking up the mantle of luminaries such as Victor Borge and P.D.Q Bach and giving it a third millennium makeover. In the process, they have become an internet sensation, where their YouTube clips have already garnered more than twenty-eight million hits.

Todd Oliver’s “Dogs Gone Wild”

Friday, February 8 • 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, February 9 • 8:00 p.m.

Ramsey Concert Hall

Have you ever met a talking dog, a real talking dog? Get ready, because when comedian and ventriloquist Todd Oliver takes the stage you’ll meet three of them – Irving, Lucy, and Elvis. Oliver and his canine pals have been featured on The Today Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Letterman proclaimed him one of the “top five ventriloquists in the world.”

Ramsey Concert Hall Series

miXt

Tuesday, November 13 • 8:00 p.m.

Ramsey Concert Hall

Three dynamic young classical music stars come together in the innovative new ensemble, miXt. Spanish clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester, whose “poetic eloquence” and “technical wizardry” have been praised by the New York press, will also perform in Athens this season with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Bulgarian violinist Bella Hristova returns to Athens, where she captivated audiences with her solo recital last season. Israeli pianist Ran Dank’s astonishing energy, intensity, and brilliant technique have drawn international acclaim.

Patrice Jackson, Cello

Tuesday, February 5 • 8:00 p.m.

Ramsey Concert Hall

A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music, this St. Louis native has performed with the Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Nashville symphonies, as well as with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

George Li, Piano

Tuesday, April 2 • 8:00 p.m.

Ramsey Concert Hall

Sixteen-year-old pianist George Li possesses virtuosity and interpretive depth far beyond his years. Last season, he captured a prestigious Gilmore Young Artist Award and rounded off the year by playing for President Obama at the White House.

The Arco Series

 ARCO Chamber Orchestra

Thursday, November 15 • 8:00 p.m.

Monday, February 25 • 8:00 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall

Established in 1990 by Levon Ambartsumian during his years as professor of violin at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the ARCO Chamber Orchestra drew high critical praise during tours to Italy, Spain, Germany, Romania, France, and Korea. Since 1995, the orchestra has been based in Athens, where Ambartsumian is now the Franklin Professor of Violin at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music.