NEWS RELEASE

6/5/01

Barbara L. Bickerman, public relations coordinator, Stanford Lively Arts: (650) 723-2551, (650) 725-1960, bick@stanford.edu

John Sanford, writer, News Service: (650) 736-2151, jsanford@stanford

Upcoming Lively Arts season includes world premieres

Revisit Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, listen to Mozart's music as the composer would have heard it, spend an evening with National Public Radio stars Terry Gross and Ira Glass, watch Shaolin monks perform stunning martial arts or listen as Ladysmith Black Mambazo performs its vocal feats ­ Stanford Lively Arts presents all this and much more during its 2001-02 season, which will run from Sept. 28 to May 10.

"It's a season for the discerning ear, the person who thrives on the performing arts, and especially for the arts explorer," said Lively Arts Director Lois Wagner.

The lineup of music, theater and dance ­ including two world premieres ­ will feature performing artists from Asia, Europe, Africa and the United States.

Premiering will be British composer Sir John Tavener's Lamentations and Praises, sung by the celebrated a capella group Chanticleer in Memorial Church, as well as a new arrangement of a traditional Irish piece performed by the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet.

The Lively Arts season also will feature five West Coast premieres, including Cry of a People: The Jewish Soul, Journey of the American Jew, featuring violinist Daniel Heifetz, soprano Carmen Balthrop and The Classical Band; the Hong Kong Ballet's performance of The Last Emperor; and new dances by the acclaimed American choreographer Paul Taylor, performed by the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

Below are more of the events in store for the upcoming season.

Classical music

Classical and chamber concerts will include the six-time Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet, which will perform Haydn, Bartók and Shostakovich.

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, a period-instrument ensemble from Canada, will present "The Grand Tour: Music from Venice, Paris, London, Rome and Germany," including selections by Handel, Vivaldi and Telemann. In addition, a narrator will read from composer and musicographer Charles Burney's 18th-century accounts of music halls, taverns and more to give some flavor of the period.

The Academy of Ancient Music, under the direction of conductor Christopher Hogwood, also will perform on period instruments in an all-Mozart program. And making its first West Coast appearance, the Fleisher-Jolley-Tree Trio will perform rarely heard selections for horn by Brahms and Beethoven.

Banjo-player Béla Fleck and bass- and piano-player Edgar Meyer will team up for their fresh take on classical music and also offer up some original compositions. And Grammy-winning violin- and fiddle-player Mark O'Connor is scheduled to return to Stanford after successful appearances in 1996 and 1997. He will be joined by Ann Gref on piano and viola.

Pianist Marc Neikrug and violinist Pinchas Zukerman will perform music by a diverse set of composers ­ from Schubert to Takemitsu ­ as well as the West Coast premiere of a new work by Neikrug.

Also premiering on the West Coast will be a new work by American composer Lowell Lieberman, performed by the chamber ensemble composed of pianist Navah Perlman, violinist Kurt Nikkanen and cellist Zuill Bailey. The trio also will perform selections by Beethoven and Brahms.

Vocal music

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, whose style epitomizes a genre that originated in the mines of South Africa, kicks off the Lively Arts season with its Sept. 28 performance. The vocal group has released 30 albums and appeared on Paul Simon's album Graceland.

The Dutch choral group Capella Pratensis will present "A Magical Mass by a Master Musician," performing music by Guillaume Dufay in Memorial Church. The church also will be the venue for the women of Anonymous 4 and the men of Lionheart, who will team up in presenting "Gods and Mortals," a program of 16th-century music. The all-female group Sweet Honey in the Rock also will perform its a cappella music, drawn from blues, reggae and traditional African music, beneath the church's arches.

World music

World music fans have a diverse selection to choose from this coming season. Burhan Öçal and the Istanbul Oriental Orchestra will perform Gypsy music, and The Chieftains, an award-winning group with more than 35 albums to its name, will bring its Irish music to campus. Clarinetist David Krakauer's quintet, Klezmer Madness!, which gives the traditional music a twist by integrating aspects of jazz, rock, funk and classical music, also will be coming to Stanford.

Dance

In addition to the Paul Taylor Company and Hong Kong Ballet, the season will feature performances by Brazil's 26-year-old dance troupe Grupo Corpo, which will be making its Northern California debut. And artistic director Herbin "Tamango" Van Cayseele's dance troupe, Urban Tap, will perform "Caravane," a show that's as much a jazz concert, folk festival and party as dance performance.

Spoken word

In addition to an appearance by Terry Gross and Ira Glass, the SITI Company will perform War of the Worlds, Orson Welles' radio play that shocked American audiences when it was first aired in 1938 (some people believed Martians actually were invading Earth).

Performance and recording artist Laurie Anderson will unveil her latest work in Dinkelspiel Auditorium, and award-winning storyteller Brenda Wong Aoki will perform Uncle Gunjiro's Girlfriend, her one-woman show about her great-uncle and the first Asian-Caucasian marriage in California. The musical score for the show is composed and will be performed by Mark Izu.

Brochures for Stanford Lively Arts' 2001-02 season will be available in early July. For a copy, which details program information, subscriber benefits and seat-assignment schedules, call the Ticket Office at (650) 725-ARTS or visit the Lively Arts website at http://livelyarts.stanford.edu. A schedule of events also is online. Faculty and staff should check their brochures for discount information.

Lively Arts subscriptions will go on sale July 18. Priority seating is offered to partners and subscribers. Single tickets go on sale beginning Aug. 22.

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By John Sanford