TEXAS PERFORMING ART IS CELEBRATING 30 YEARS
WITH A WORLD-CLASS 2011-2012 SEASON!
SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW!

Texas Performing Arts is turning 30, and we have a lot to celebrate!

Over the past three decades, Texas Performing Arts has sold more than six million tickets to more than 4,500 performances. We are proud to continue this legacy with the announcement of our 30th anniversary 2011-2012 season.

From the Texas premieres of Rappahannock County and The Infernal Comedy starring John Malkovich, to an evening with four-time Grammy Award-winning soprano Dawn Upshaw, to a return engagement by the National Theatre of Scotland performing the state premiere of Long Gone Lonesome, the 2011-2012 Texas Performing Arts Season continues to bring world-class entertainment experiences to Central Texas audiences. “Our 11-12 season honors the remarkable contributions that Texas Performing Arts has made to our community over the last 30 years, and celebrates our vision for the future,” says Texas Performing Arts Director and Associate Dean Kathy Panoff. “As we continue to upgrade our classical offerings, Texas Performing Arts is building a strong theatre component, which I’m proud to say that, for the first time ever, will include a UT Theatre & Dance production on the season.”

“Texas Performing Arts continues to strengthen our cultural leadership agenda this season by bringing in even more key community-based presenting partners,” says Panoff. “They include Fusebox Festival, L Style G Style, the Austin Classical Guitar Society, Cactus Café, KUT-FM, and The Long Center for the Performing Arts. These alliances are essential in strengthening the bond between Texas Performing Arts and our community.”

Four (or more) performance subscription packages are now on sale starting at $57.00; and this year you may choose one Broadway show as part of your Texas Performing Arts subscription, including WICKED! Becoming a subscriber not only ensures great seats for each subscription performance, but also offers a host of additional benefits including15% off ticket prices to all season performances; flexible ticket concierge service; free and easy ticket exchanges; free ticket insurance; a private subscriber hotline; advance notification and priority purchase opportunities to Fine Arts, Broadway, and concert events before they are available to the general public; an invitation for 2 to the Texas Performing Arts’ season preview party; and guest passes to Bass Concert Hall’s Texas Inner Circle Lounge.

Texas Performing Arts offers so much more than what you see on our stages. University funding (just 15% of our budget) and ticket sales do not fully cover the cost of presenting the finest performing arts events from around the world or the many engagement programs we offer to the UT campus, Austin, and the Central Texas region. We rely on Texas Inner Circle members to bridge this gap. Exclusive benefits for members include priority seating for your season subscription, unlimited access to the Texas Inner Circle Lounge at Bass Concert Hall, and two free parking passes.

To subscribe to the 2011-2012 Texas Performing Arts Season or to join Texas Inner Circle, please visit texasperformingarts.org or call 512.471.4454.

Groups of 15 or more may be eligible to receive a 10% discount off the original ticket price. Groups of 40 or more may be eligible for a 15% discount. For more information on group discounts, please visit texasperformingarts.org, call 512.471.0648, or email groupsales@texasperrformingarts.org.

Texas Performing Arts continues a tradition of presenting the best of touring Broadway in Bass Concert Hall with partner Broadway Across America – Austin. The sensational 2011-2012 Broadway season includes RAIN – A Tribute to the Beatles (September 20 – 25, 2011 at The Long Center for the Performing Arts), SOUTH PACIFIC (November 8-13, 2011), Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (December 14-18, 2011), Disney’s and Cameron Mackintosh’s MARY POPPIN’S (April 10-15, 2012), and LES MISÉRABLES (May 29 – June 3, 2012). The Broadway smash-hit, WICKED returns as a season special, January 25 – February 12, 2012. For more information or to subscribe to the 2011-2012 Broadway Across America – Austin season, please visit BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com/Austin or call 800.731.SHOW (7469) Monday through Friday from 10am to 5pm.

2011-2012 TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS SEASON

Michael Feinstein: Sinatra Project
9/8/11 | 8 Pm | Bass Concert Hall

The Other Europeans
9/13/11 & 9/14/11 | 8 Pm | McCullough Theatre

Rappahannock County
9/21/11 & 9/22/11 | 8 Pm | McCullough Theatre

Crisol Danza Teatro
9/28/11 | 8 Pm | McCullough Theatre

Turtle Island Quartet With Mike Marshall
9/30/11 & 10/1/11 | 8 Pm McCullough Theatre

An Da Union
10/13/11 | 8 Pm | Bass Concert Hall

Jonathan Franzen
10/14/11 | 8 Pm | Bass Concert Hall

Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet
10/18/11 | 8 Pm | Bates Recital Hall

The Infernal Comedy Featuring John Malkovich
10/24/11 & 10/25/11 | 8 Pm | Bass Concert Hall

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
10/28/11 – 11/6/11 | B. Iden Payne Theatre

The Miles Davis Experience
11/2/11 | 8 PM | Bass Concert Hall

Interpreti Veneziani
11/3/11 | 8 Pm | Bass Concert Hall

Luna Negra Dance Theatre
11/18/11 | 8 Pm | Bass Concert Hall

David Hidalgo & Mark Ribot
11/30/11 | 8 Pm | Bass Concert Hall

National Theatre Of Scotland: Long Gone Lonesome
1/19/12 – 1/21/12 | 8 Pm
1/21/12 | 2 Pm | Bass Concert Hall Stage

Dawn Upshaw, Soprano
1/22/12 | 7 Pm | Bates Recital Hall

David Finckel & Wu Han
2/6/12 | 8 Pm | Bates Recital Hall

Shanghai Chinese Orchestra
2/18/12 | 8 PM | Bass concert hall

Angela Hewitt, Piano
2/19/12 | 7 PM | Bates Recital Hall

Diavolo
2/23/12 & 2/24/12 | 8 PM | Bass Concert Hall

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester
2/26/12 | 7 PM | Bass Concert Hall

Maura O’Connell & Solas
3/2/12 | 8 PM | Bass Concert Hall

Chanticleer
3/4/12 | 7 PM | Bass Concert Hall

Sō Percussion
3/6/12 & 3/7/12 | 8 PM | McCullough Theatre

Batsheva Dance Company
3/20/12 | 8 Pm | Bass Concert Hall

Spokfrevo Orquestra
3/24/12 | 8 PM | Bass Concert Hall

Roy Haynes Fountain Of Youth Band
3/30/12 | 8 PM | Bass Concert Hall

UT Jazz Orchestra With John Clayton
4/14/12 | 7:30 Pm | Bates Recital Hall

Joan Jonas
5/4/12 & 5/5/12 | 8 Pm
5/5/12 | 2 Pm | McCullough Theatre

• * * * *

Michael Feinstein Big Band
The Sinatra Project
September 8, 2011, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented In Partnership With KLRU And L Style G Style

Michael Feinstein—long a champion of the Great American Songbook—opens Texas Performing Arts’ 30th anniversary season by paying tribute to the ultimate interpreter of song, Ol’ Blue Eyes himself. The Sinatra Project is an evening based on Feinstein’s hit album of the same title. Backed by a 17-piece big band, Feinstein focuses on songs written for Sinatra that were never recorded during his golden years at Capitol Records, and includes classics such as Begin the Beguine, Under My Skin, Fools Rush In, I’ve Got a Crush on You, and many more. “For years I’ve had the desire to celebrate Sinatra’s musical sensibilities, but had no desire to copy the classic songs that he rendered better than anyone else. I wanted to explore his style of singing and his style of music,” says Feinstein.

“...Feinstein Sang It In His Signature Style – A Sotto Voice Approach That Brought Out The Romance Of The Lyrics.” – Kansas City Star

The Other Europeans
September 13 & 14, 2011, 8 pm | McCullough Theatre

Presented in partnership with the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, the Romani Archive and Documentation Center, and the Jewish Community Center of Austin

Fourteen of the hottest musicians in the klezmer and Lautari traditions converge on the McCullough Theatre stage for two extraordinary evenings. Created and directed by Yiddish music revivalist Alan Bern, this new intercultural super-group creates powerful, deeply emotional, and virtuosic music. It restores a centuries-old cooperation between two groups who cohabited the same space in present-day Moldova before being torn apart by war, holocaust, and immigration. These distinguished soloists from seven countries are connecting cultures to create a new heritage and an exciting contribution to a shared new European and cosmopolitan identity.

“…intoxicating, heady stuff, and the symbiosis of the two styles is nearly seamless.” – Bangor Daily News

Rappahannock County
A New Music Theater Piece About Life During The Civil War
September 21 & 22, 2011, 8 pm | McCullough Theatre

Ricky Ian Gordon, composer
Mark Campbell, lyrics and concept
Kevin Newbury, director
Rob Fisher, musical director
Ricky Ian Gordon & Bruce Coughlin, orchestrators
Robert Wierzel, lighting designer
Wendall Harrington, scenery and projection designer
Edward L. Ayers, creative advisor

Co-commissioned by the Virginia Arts Festival, Virginia Opera, the Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Richmond, and Texas Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin.

This moving new music theater work was co-commissioned by Texas Performing Arts to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. Renowned composer Ricky Ian Gordon (creator of the Obie Award-winning Orpheus and Euridice and the acclaimed opera Grapes of Wrath) has composed music for 20 songs with stories and words created by celebrated librettist/lyricist Mark Stephen Campbell (Volpone, Later Same Evening, and Songs from an Unmade Bed). Drawn from diaries, letters, and personal accounts, this fictional song cycle explores war’s impact, from secession to defeat, on a community of Virginians—black and white, rich and poor, soldiers, nurses, widows, and survivors.

This exclusive multi-media event is enhanced by projections of Mathew Brady’s renowned Civil War photography, illustrations, documents, and other moving visuals. It features five principal singers performing more than 30 roles, backed by an orchestra of 17 musicians.

“The personal is political. The piece brings the sense of a lens closing in on a spectrum of individuals and their feelings around slavery and morality in a profound and poignant way. The cunning libretto by Mark Campbell beautifully shows what everyone has to lose.” – Ricky Ian Gordon, composer

Crisol Danza Teatro
Clepsidra, Tiempo Y Agua
September 28, 2011, 8 pm | McCullough Theatre

Presented in partnership with the University of Guadalajara

Texas Performing Arts presents the U.S. premiere of Crisol Danza Teatro of
Guadalajara, Mexico. Described as a perfect flow of body, motion, word, mind, spirit, voice, dance, and theatre, Crisol draws from a variety of acting and dancing techniques to create distinctly unique performances. Formed in 2009 by four women with diverse origins and proficiencies in the scenic arts, Crisol exudes authenticity by presenting the intimate truths of its characters without self-censorship or prejudices. From a spiritual and emotional angle, they explore their intimate universes, exposing their vulnerability and generating spaces of silence, of void, of no time.

ArtesAméricas performance

“…physical energy that tackles a complicated theme in a visceral manner.”
– La Voz de Durango

Crossroads:
Turtle Island Quartet
With special guest Mike Marshall, mandolin
September 30 & October 1, 2011, 8 pm | McCullough Theatre

Presented in partnership with the Cactus Cafe and the Austin Classical Guitar Society

Sit back and take a musical journey through the American landscape with two-time Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet and special guest Mike Marshall, acoustic musician extraordinaire. Stops along the way include American fiddle and folk music, modern and vintage jazz, Latin American and South Indian music, the myriad folk and classical traditions of Europe, and more.

Since its inception in 1985, the Turtle Island Quartet has been a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings. The group has virtually redefined the state of the art by fusing the classical quartet esthetic with contemporary American musical styles.

Marshall is one of the most accomplished and versatile acoustic musicians performing today. Master of the mandolin and guitar, he is well known for his collaborations with artists such as Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, and Chris Thile.

“It must have been like this when Beethoven was taking Vienna by storm – the exhilaration of seeing the future of classical music unfold before your eyes and ears.” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Marshall is a one-man talent pool.” – Frets Magazine

An Da Union
October 13, 2011, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with the Asian American Cultural Center

Hailing from the Xilingol Grassland area of Inner Mongolia, An Da Union makes their Texas debut at Texas Performing Arts. Part of a musical movement that is finding inspiration in old and forgotten songs, this vibrant young group of musicians and singers draw from a repertoire of enchanting music that had all but disappeared during China’s tumultuous recent past. Holding on to the essence of Mongolian music while creating a form of new music, they perform with indigenous instruments – the morin huur (horse head fiddle), the maodun chaoer (a three-holed flute), Mongolian versions of the lute, and the mouth harp – combining different traditions and styles of music from all over Inner and Outer Mongolia. Excerpts from the documentary film, An Da Union from the Steppes to the City, which is scheduled for release in Fall 2011, will be featured in the performance.

“An Da Union connects with their audience via a bridge of timeless music.” – ECC Observer

Jonathan Franzen
In Conversation with Lev Grossman
October 14, 2011, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with the Texas Book Festival

Texas Performing Arts presents an evening with award-winning novelist Jonathan Franzen, touring on the heels of his 2010 best-seller Freedom. Lev Grossman, Time Magazine senior writer and book critic, will lead the conversation.

Franzen is the author of the 2001 international best-selling novel The Corrections. With translations in 35 languages, American hardcover sales of nearly one million copies and nominations for nearly every major book prize in the country, Franzen was awarded the National Book Award for this novel.

His popularity soared after a public relations imbroglio over his conflicted reaction to his book’s endorsement by Oprah’s Book Club. Franzen’s other books include The Twenty-Seventh City, Strong Motion, How to Be Alone, and The Discomfort Zone.

In addition to his position at Time Magazine, Grossman is the author of the bestselling novel The Magicians. The New York Times called him one of this country’s smartest and most reliable critics. His writings have also appeared in The Times, The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Salon, Lingua Franca, and The Wall Street Journal, and he appears as a frequent guest on NPR.

BookPeople will be on hand to sell copies of Franzen’s books.

“A masterpiece of American fiction. Once again Franzen has fashioned a capacious but intricately ordered narrative that in its majestic sweep seems to gather up every fresh datum of our shared millennial life.”
The New York Times Book Review, on Freedom

Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet
October 18, 2011, 8 Pm | Bates Recital Hall

Presented in partnership with the Butler School of Music

Texas Performing Arts welcomes back for a command performance the ensemble that has virtually redefined the sound of the classic wind quintet. The first permanently established wind quintet in the famous orchestra’s history, the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet consistently performs to sold-out houses, astonishing audiences worldwide with their range of expression, tonal spectrum, and conceptual unity. Their repertoire covers the spectrum of the wind quintet literature, and the ensemble’s stellar reputation has led to collaborations with such legendary conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, and Daniel Barenboim.

The program will include works by Mozart and Ligeti.

“Superb… Dazzling… Astonishing… in shifts of tempo and dynamics, I doubt a strand of hair could have been put between the sound of one player and another.” – The Indianapolis Star

The Infernal Comedy
Confessions Of A Serial Killer
A stage-play for Baroque Orchestra, two sopranos and one actor

Written and Directed by Michael Sturminger
Featuring John Malkovich with Louise Fribo and Martene Grimson
Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra
Martin Haselböck, music director & music concept
Adrian Kelly, conductor

October 24 & 25, 2011, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with Fusebox Festival and L Style G Style

Texas Performing Arts presents Hollywood legend John Malkovich starring in the state premiere of a stirring play based on the real-life story of celebrated Austrian author and notorious serial killer Jack Unterweger. Written and directed by Michael Sturminger, this cutting-edge presentation is propelled by a series of monologues paired with arias by Gluck, Boccherini, and Mozart accompanied by an on-stage Baroque orchestra. Don’t miss this exclusive opportunity to see Malkovich perform on the Bass Concert Hall stage.

“Hollywood star John Malkovich excels as serial killer Jack Unterweger. A melodic ride to hell with humour and irony.” – Die Presse

“This is a touch of grand opera with a focus on the art of acting.” – Kurier

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Directed by Daria Davis
October 28 – November 6, 2011 | B. Iden Payne Theatre

Presented by the Department of Theatre and Dance

In Jeffrey Hatcher’s retelling of this classic tale, Dr. Henry Jekyll is tormented by his own creation, Mr. Edward Hyde. Mesmerizing and intense, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde delves into jealousy, paranoia, and addiction and reveals the monster that may lie beneath the surface. As his psyche splinters, Jekyll must confront Hyde – himself – and the darkness that exists in both men.

“Man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” – C. G. Jung

The Miles Davis Experience
1949-1959
A Collaboration with Blue Note Records
November 2, 2011, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Immerse yourself in everything Miles! This new multi-media musical production recaptures the historical and cultural context of this critical period of American sound through the lens of jazz music and its most iconic innovator.

The tribute features the celebrated trumpet player and winner of the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, Ambrose Akinmusire, with his Quintet. The band stays true to the sound and feel of the original recordings, drawing from the most noted and accessible Miles tracks from 1949 and continuing through his Blue Note years, culminating in his masterpiece and commercial breakout, Kind of Blue.

Spoken-word drives the narrative in the style of the period, drawing from the noted poets of the era and the writers who influenced Miles. Images from performances and recording sessions will be projected as backdrops along with candid photos of Miles.

“Miles Davis is the most revered jazz trumpeter of all time, not to mention one of the most important musicians of the 20th century.” – Rolling Stone

“Akinmusire and his band demonstrated a remarkably fluid, adventurous interplay and a patiently imaginative way with melody that sounded as steeped in the music’s history as it was hard-wired with the sound of something new.”
The Los Angeles Times

Interpreti Veneziani
November 3, 2011, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with the Butler School of Music and the Austin Classical Guitar Society

Experience the romantic charm of Venice with this internationally renowned chamber music ensemble. Based in Italy’s most passionate city, the nine-member ensemble is hailed for its exquisite musicianship and vast repertoire of classical works. They frequently perform at the historic San Vidal Church, where Antonio Vivaldi regularly played. Recognized for playing original instruments of the Baroque period, Interpreti Veneziani breathes new life into this timeless music.

The performance will feature works by Vivaldi, Boccherini, Bartók, and Bach.

“A group of finely tuned individual soloists.” – Kansas City Review

Luna Negra Dance Theatre
November 18, 2011, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with the Department of Theatre and Dance

Chicago’s Luna Negra Dance Theatre delivers richly textured and highly original contemporary dance in a distinctive style that blends the discipline of ballet with the fiery energy of Latin and Afro-Caribbean forms and rhythms. This innovative company – performing at Texas Performing Arts for the first time – collaborates with visual and media artists, musicians, and composers, to consistently push the creative limits of their performances.

ArtesAméricas performance

“The rapidly developing company is composed of sensational dancers capable of shifting from one style to another with breathtaking facility.”
The Chicago Sun Times

Border Music:
David Hidalgo, guitar, vocals, and Mark Ribot, guitar
November 30, 2011, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with the Jewish Community Center of Austin and the Austin Classical Guitar Society

Guitar meets guitar as Texas Performing Arts hosts the U.S. premiere of this rocking post-roots, pan-Latin, rave-up/descarga. David Hidalgo is the driving vocal and guitar force of East LA’s Los Lobos and Latin Playboys, the former of which took border-hopping cultural collisions onto the world stage with a series of chart-topping songs and albums. Marc Ribot combines musical excursions between cultures, styles, and genres, forging a unique partnership where immigrant neighborhoods meet intellectual nuance – creating truly new music to stir your heart, challenge your head, and move your body. Hidalgo and Ribot will be joined by Brad Jones (bass) and Anthony “The Professor” Coleman (keyboards), both original Cubanos Postizos, and drummer Cougar Estrada of Los Lobos.

ArtesAméricas performance

“At times Ribot played with the wasp-like sting of the young, Bluesbreakers-era Eric Clapton, Hidalgo replying with legato lines rich in lyricism. At other times they
reversed these roles or mixed them up. The result: a profoundly memorable evening.” – The Australian

National Theatre Of Scotland
Long Gone Lonesome
A Celebration of the Life of Thomas Fraser
Written by Duncan McLean
Directed by Vicky Featherstone
Featuring The Lone Star Swing Band

January 19 – 21, 2012, 8 pm
January 21, 2012, 2 PM
Bass Concert Hall stage

Presented in partnership with Fusebox Festival

The National Theatre of Scotland, having played to sold out performances of Black Watch last season, returns to the Bass Concert Hall stage with an evening of song and story-telling about one of Scotland’s least known but most fascinating musical heroes, Thomas Fraser.

Fraser (1927 – 1978) was a fisherman and crofter from the remote island of Burra, Shetland. Obsessed with country and the blues, Thomas mastered the styles of his idols – such as Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, and Big Bill Broonzy – and made their songs his own. A shy, retiring man, he avoided public performance. Instead, he gave family and friends tapes he lovingly recorded in his croft. Thomas laughed at the idea that the wider world might appreciate his talent. But thirty years after his untimely death, those precious, fragile tapes have been reissued on several CDs, and his fame has spread to Nashville
and beyond.

Orcadian western swingers, The Lone Star Swing Band, tell this upbeat story through song and words, with novelist, playwright and musician Duncan McLean at the helm. After the show, the audience will be invited to join The Lone Star Swing Band for dancing in the Texas Dance Hall tradition.

“…a curious hybrid of music and theatre that recalls the Ceilidh spirit of John McGrath’s The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil… a rousing set of blues-tinged Americana standards that, with fiddle and slide guitar, make the connection between windswept island and lonesome prairie.” – The Guardian

“It’s a cheery piece of work, with a bit of Country and Western keenly thrown in, a couple of the sort of lines quoted you expect to hear late on after a few whiskies.”
Hi-arts.co.uk

Dawn Upshaw, soprano
January 22, 2012, 7 pm | Bates Recital Hall

Presented in partnership with the Butler School of Music

Four-time Grammy Award-winning soprano Dawn Upshaw makes her Texas Performing Arts debut in celebration of this 30th anniversary season. Upshaw is a worldwide celebrity on both opera and concert stages, with a diverse repertoire that ranges from classic works of Bach to the freshest sounds of today. She reaches into the heart of music and text, drawing the devotion of an exceptionally diverse audience and a list of awards and distinctions bestowed on only the most distinguished of artists.

“…the classical music world has many singers with magical voices, but Upshaw’s rare gift as a performer is an ability to inhabit a work on the most profound levels, to live the music on stage rather than sing it at you…” – The Boston Globe

David Finckel, cello
and Wu Han, piano
February 6, 2012, 8 pm | Bates Recital Hall

Presented in partnership with the Butler School of Music

Hailed as “America’s power couple of chamber music” by The Wall Street Journal, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han rank among the most esteemed and influential classical musicians in the world.

Distinguished cellist for the Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet, Finckel and wife Wu Han serve as artistic directors of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In high demand year after year among chamber music audiences worldwide, they make a rare stop in Austin to celebrate our 30th anniversary.

The duo will perform Schubert through Brahms: The Romantic Legacy.

Chamber ensemble of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra
Wang Fujian, conductor
February 18, 2012, 8pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with the Asian American Cultural Center

Enjoy an evening of traditional and contemporary Chinese music as the Chamber Ensemble of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra makes its Texas debut. Founded in 1952, this is the first modern Chinese orchestra in China and is renowned for its harmonious collaboration among its members and outstanding mastering of all types of works, including original compositions. Under the direction of Wang Fujian, their eclectic performance repertoire includes Chinese orchestral works, stringed and wind instrumental pieces, Cantonese music, plucked-strings instrumental ensemble, and percussion instrumental ensemble.

“The first truly modern Chinese classical music ensemble.”
BC Magazine, Hong Kong

Angela Hewitt, piano
February 19, 2012, 7 pm | Bates Recital Hall

Presented in partnership with the Butler School of Music

Award-winning Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt makes her first appearance at Texas Performing Arts to help us celebrate this milestone season. London’s Sunday Times calls her one of the reliably mesmerizing musicians of the day and the complete performer. Hewitt’s eleven-year project to record the entire major keyboard works of Bach has been hailed as one of the recorded glories of our age and her musicianship and virtuosity make her one of the most captivating and in-demand classical performers.

The program will feature works by Bach and Ravel.

“Ms. Hewitt is one of those rare musicians who seem to get something into their heads and hearts and find it at their fingertips instantaneously.”
The New York Times

Diavolo
Jacques Heim, artistic director
February 23 & 24, 2012, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with L Style G Style and the Department of Theatre and Dance

Program:
Fearful Symmetries
Trajectoire

Diavolo reinvents dance, re-imagines theater, and redefines thrills. Dancers, gymnasts, and actors take movement, athletics, and daring to the extreme, creating abstract narratives through surreal tableaux. Founded in 1992 in Los Angeles by Jacques Heim, Diavolo creates an almost cinematic experience of powerful images that develop conceptual accounts of the human condition, utilizing everyday items such as doors, chairs, and stairways to provide the backdrop for an evening of dramatic movement.

“Heim puts his feel for props, his knack for kinetic drama and his taste for danger in the service of a metaphor, and the result is dazzling.” – Newsday

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester
Berlin Nocturne
February 26, 2012, 7 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Step into the streets of nocturnal Berlin with charismatic German cabaret crooner Max Raabe and his 12-piece big band ensemble Palast Orchester. Since 1986, Raabe and Palast Orchester have transported audiences to Berlin’s Weimar-era cabaret scene of the 1920s and early ’30s with nostalgic renditions of Cole Porter and George Gershwin—and cabaret-style parodies of Britney Spears and Tom Jones. The evening is filled with romantic melodies such as Leben ohne Liebe kannst du nicht (You Can’t Live Without Love), big band arrangements of standards like Amapola, and a variety of classics like Sie Sind mir so sympathisch (I Find You So Sympatico). Slick, nostalgic, and unmistakably modern, their performances are executed with uncanny precision, drama, and humor.

“A natural baritone, he pitched his singing voice high, relying on a nasal head tone with a bit of a snarl behind it, and then rising —a born crooner—to a soft white-colored falsetto calculated to melt your heart…” – The Washington Post

Special double-bill
Maura O’Connell & Solas
March 2, 2012, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with KUT’s Across the Water

Texas Performing Arts celebrates the best of Celtic music with an extraordinary double-bill featuring Irish singing sensation Maura O’Connell and the internationally acclaimed super-group Solas.

Irish-born singer O’Connell combines traditional Celtic music with modern folk sensibilities to create an unmistakable sound. From her days as lead singer of DeDanaan to a successful solo career, O’Connell has earned a legion of fans around the world. Her groundbreaking musical penchant for blending Celtic traditions with a wide variety of other genres has led to collaborations with Van Morrison, James Taylor, Nanci Griffith, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, The Chieftains, and Roseanne Cash.

Heralded by fans and critics alike as the most popular, influential, and exciting Celtic band to ever emerge from the United States, Solas has garnered worldwide attention by mixing fire-tested tradition and contemporary sensibility with an ease and naturalness that is as astonishing as their overwhelming musicianship. As a result, they transcend musical genres into the realm of pure musical expression that only a handful of musicians attain.

“Truly interpretive singers are a rare commodity outside of country and pop. O’Connell is as good as she is rare.” – The New Yorker

“Mind-blowing Irish folk music, maybe the world’s best.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Chanticleer
March 4, 2012, 7 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Presented in partnership with L Style G Style

Hailed by The New Yorker as “the world’s reigning male chorus,” San Francisco’s Grammy Award-winning Chanticleer returns to Texas Performing Arts to help celebrate our 30th season. The choir is recognized around the world as an orchestra of voices for the seamless blend of its twelve male voices ranging from countertenor to bass. From Renaissance to jazz, gospel to adventurous new music, Chanticleer’s programs are rich with original interpretations of vocal literature. Their Bass Concert Hall performance will include works by Tavener, Pärt, and Mahler.

“The singing of Chanticleer is breathtaking in its accuracy of intonation, purity of blend, variety of color and swagger of style.” – The Boston Globe

We Are All Going In Different Directions: A John Cage Celebration
SŌ PERCUSSION
with special guests,
Cenk Ergün, composer
and Beth Meyers, viola
March 6 & 7, 2012, 8 pm | McCullough Theatre

Presented in partnership with Fusebox Festival

Coined New York City’s “experimental powerhouse” by The Village Voice, Sō
Percussion is America’s premiere modern performance ensemble. After a sold-out performance at McCullough Theatre in 2010, they return to Texas Performing Arts—along with guest composer Cenk Ergün and violist Beth Meyers—to present the Austin premiere of a new two-concert program commemorating the life and work of composer John Cage in his 100th birthday year.

Sō Percussion is hailed for navigating through the many extremes of emotion
and musical possibility. Called “astonishing and entrancing” by Billboard Magazine and “brilliant” by The New York Times, Sō’s innovative work is paired with original music by some of today’s most exciting composers.

In this comprehensive retrospective of Cage’s work, Sō Percussion presents two distinct programs over the course of two evenings. The first night is dedicated to
music that shares a kinship with Cage’s work and includes everything from music that has been written for Sō, original compositions, and collaborations with musicians of different backgrounds. The second evening consists of Cage compositions, providing a look at the music that has been so crucial to Sō and to the idea of the percussion quartet.

“The range of colors and voices that Sō Percussion coaxes from its menagerie is astonishing and entrancing.” – Billboard Magazine

“Anyone who feels that percussion music must by definition be merely ‘noise’ would have heard that idea discredited at this concert.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Batsheva Dance Company
Max
Ohad Naharin, artistic director
March 20, 2012, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Sponsored by the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies

Presented in partnership with the Department of Theatre and Dance and the Jewish Community Center of Austin

Classic, modern, and contemporary dance forms come together with awe-inspiring synergy as Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company brings their vibrant piece, Max, to the Bass Concert Hall stage. Founded in 1964 by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, the troupe is now one of the most inspirational and sought-after dance companies in the world. Through their revolutionary movement language, Gaga, Batsheva’s dancers continually push artistic boundaries, creating new movement possibilities and awakening dynamic sensitivity.

An original work by Batsheva artistic director Ohad Naharin, Max is a journey into the human spirit, a primal expression of pain and happiness, the solitude of the individual, the essence of the couple, the essence of a team, and of society as a whole.

Spokfrevo Orquestra
Inaldo Cavalcante de Albuquerque “Spok,” musical director
March 24, 2012, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Texas Performing Arts presents the Austin debut of this Brazilian big band sensation, touring the United States for the first time. Fronted by musical director/saxophonist Maestro Spok, this 17-musician outfit—saxophone, trumpet, trombone, rhythm sections, bass, and guitar—draws inspiration from frevo, a vibrant music of elaborate arrangements and deep roots. SpokFrevo Orquestra consistently pushes musical boundaries by texturing tradition with complex jazz improvisation, reinventing tradition without subverting it.

ArtesAméricas performance

Roy Haynes
Fountain of Youth Band
March 30, 2012, 8 pm | Bass Concert Hall

Roy Haynes, often called the pulse of legendary jazz, makes his first appearance at Texas Performing Arts. For more than a half-century, Haynes has influenced and innovated, shaping some of the greatest recordings in jazz. His joyous drumming with the legends of the genre altered the very fabric and direction of jazz improvisation. His distinct style has driven the beat on classic recordings by Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Longhorn Jazz Festival
UT Jazz Orchestra
Jeff Hellmer, director
with special guest
John Clayton, bass
April 14, 2012, 7:30 pm | Bates Recital Hall

Presented in partnership with the Butler School of Music

Grammy Award-winning bassist John Clayton joins the UT Jazz Ensemble as part of the Butler School of Music’s annual Longhorn Jazz Festival.

Directed by Professor Jeff Hellmer, the UT Jazz Orchestra is the Butler School of
Music’s premiere jazz ensemble. The Jazz Orchestra has performed in recent years with such luminaries as Michael Brecker, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, Conrad Herwig, and Stefon Harris. The ensemble’s eclectic repertoire features original compositions of its members.

Bassist extraordinaire John Clayton is recognized in both the jazz and classical fields. Co-leader of the Grammy-nominated Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, he served as the artistic director of jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1998 through 2001 and has written and arranged music for legendary artists including Milt Jackson, Nancy Wilson, McCoy Tyner, Quincy Jones, and Gladys Knight.

“John Clayton is one of the most technically imposing bassists in jazz…”
The New York Times

Joan Jonas:
The Shape, The Scent, The Feel of Things
Original music performed live by Jason Moran
May 4 & 5, 2012, 8 pm
May 5, 2012, 2 pm | McCullough Theatre

Sponsored by the College of Fine Arts

Seminal video and performance artist Joan Jonas presents her cutting edge multi-media video installation. Since the 1970s, Jonas has worked between various mediums, freely incorporating video, movement, music, sculpture, and the spoken word into open-end narratives. Featuring music by Jason Moran, this collaborative work evokes the American Southwest through an artistic consideration of the Hopi snake dance, a ritual that affected Jonas during visits to Arizona in the 1960s.

“For The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things, I went to Arizona and I was thinking about memories of the American landscape, by which I mean memories from before the Europeans came here. The Southwest is a perfect example of different cultures layered on top of each other, and next to each other. I’m very interested in how stories are retold, of course. That’s what we do—we retell stories.” Joan Jonas

A featured performance of the 2012 Fusebox Festival

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Electronic Images Available At:
flickr.com/photos/utperformingartscenter/collections

PRESS CONTACT:
Gene Bartholomew
512.471.0632
gbartholomew@texasperformingarts.org

Download the 2011-2012 Texas Performing Arts Season press release – PDF 197 KB