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NEWS RELEASE
5/6/03
Barbara
L. Bickerman, public relations coordinator, Stanford
Lively Arts: (650) 725-1960; bick@stanford.edu
John Sanford, News Service: (650) 736-2151; jsanford@stanford.edu
EDITORS:
Print-quality images are available at the Stanford
Lively Arts Press Center: http://livelyarts.stanford.edu/presscenter
.
Relevant
Web URLs:
http://livelyarts.stanford.edu
Shankar, Marsalis, Sedaris among names on tap for Lively Arts 2003-04 season
The upcoming Lively Arts season, which kicks off in October, features a wide range of talent from a variety of musical traditions.
"Global arts are such a critical part of what we do," said Lois Wagner, vice president and executive director of Stanford Events, which oversees Lively Arts. "It's one way of promoting better understanding among cultures."
The multicultural lineup includes the Cool Crooners of Bulawayo, who will perform mbaqanga, a music that blends African rhythms and traditional chants with Western doo-wop and swing, on Oct. 15.
Legendary sitarist Ravi Shankar, whom the late George Harrison called "the godfather of world music," will perform Oct. 25 with his 21-year-old daughter and heir-apparent, Anoushka Shankar, the youngest person (and first woman) to have been awarded a House of Commons Shield from the British Parliament.
On Dec. 14, the rollicking Klezmer Conservatory Band will play its trademark music, rooted in 14th-century Germany but flavored with hints of Gypsy song, Hebrew prayer, Mediterranean rhythms, early jazz, swing, tango and blues.
The Basque people call the diatonic accordion -- or trikitixa -- the "bellows from hell," but it is considered an instrument of ethereal beauty in the hands of Kepa Junkera, who will perform Jan. 16. A world musician in the broadest sense, Junkera has collaborated with musicians including Béla Fleck, Carlos Nuńez and Paddy Maloney of the Chieftains, the Grammy Award-winning Celtic music group that is scheduled to perform on campus Jan. 24.
On March 19, the award-winning Children of Uganda return to Stanford to present a program of East African music and dance. Ranging from ages 6 to 17, the young performers are orphans; most lost one or both parents to AIDS.
On April 3, Simon Shaheen and the Near Eastern Musical Ensemble will present a "Tribute to Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Um Kalthum." One of the Arab world's greatest singers, Kalthum, who rose to eminence in the 1930s, became known as "the voice and face of Egypt." At the same time, composer Wahab profoundly transformed Egyptian music. Shaheen will lead the ensemble, with vocalist Rima Khcheich.
For a peek at the other world-music concerts on the 2003-04 calendar, go to the Lively Arts website at http://livelyarts.stanford.edu.
Returning favorites
Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, humorist and National Public Radio commentator David Sedaris and Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell are just a few of the names returning to Stanford for the 2003-04 season, which opens Oct. 8 with a concert by the venerable Emerson String Quartet. (The quartet will return to Stanford April 4 to perform with celebrated bassist Edgar Meyer.)
Marsalis, who will appear March 9 with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, has earned nine Grammy Awards and is the first jazz composer to have won a Pulitzer Prize, awarded to him in 1997 for his epic-length Blood on the Fields. Marsalis is artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and music director of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Time magazine named him one of the "America's 25 Most Influential People."
On Oct. 31, Sedaris will read from his work; in the spirit of Halloween, event-goers are invited to show up in costume. Sedaris is best known for his humorous NPR commentaries and books, including Barrel Fever, Naked and, most recently, Me Talk Pretty One Day. He was named Time's "Humorist of the Year" for 2001. The same year, he was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
Bell was barely out of his teens when he first drew a standing ovation at Stanford's Campbell Recital Hall. He returns for an encore March 14 with Stanford's ensemble-in-residence, the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
On April 16, the Kronos Quartet will play the world premiere of a composition by the latest winner of the ensemble's "Under 30 Project." Roughly 150 composers under 30 years old have submitted their compositions to Lively Arts to compete for the honor, which includes a week-long residency with Kronos at Stanford.
Other classical music performances set for 2003-04 include the Peabody Trio on Oct. 29 and an all-Beethoven program with the Takács Quartet on Feb. 27.
Dance
The athletic Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the direction of Jim Vincent, will present the West Coast premiere of a work co-commissioned by Lively Arts, as well as other pieces, Oct. 10 and 11.
A special tribute to the late dancer and composer Alwin Nikolais is scheduled for Oct. 24. Alwin Nikolais: A Celebration Tour, a presentation of the Nikolais/Louis Dance Foundation in collaboration with the Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, is the first program dedicated solely to his works to go on tour in more than a decade.
On April 24, the Garth Fagan Dance company will reprise Griot New York. First presented at Stanford 10 years ago, the piece combines the tradition of a griot a West African storyteller with a score by Wynton Marsalis. Accompanying the performance will be the Wycliffe Gordon Septet. Fagan won a 1998 Tony Award for his choreography of the Broadway musical The Lion King.
Subscription/ticket info
Season subscriptions go on sale June 25. Single tickets go on sale beginning Aug. 25. For a copy of the season brochure, which details program information, subscriber benefits and seat assignment schedules, visit the website or call the Stanford Ticket Office at 725-2787. The brochure is set to become available in July.
Stanford faculty and staff with valid ID receive a 10 percent discount on individual ticket prices and mini-subscriptions, which include three to five shows plus priority seating. Full subscriptions (six or more performances and priority seating) also receive a 10 percent discount.
Stanford students and youths ages 15 and under save 50 percent off regular ticket prices at all times. For information on other discounts, visit the Lively Arts website.
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