Last night, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Performing Arts rolled out the roster for its 2016-2017 season. The organization announced three distinct pillars of programming to define much of the year.
“Glass at 80″—a large look at perhaps the most famous member of American minimalism’s big four, Philip Glass—is the largest and most specific point of interest. The ten-day festival in February will celebrate the life and work of the composer. Of special interest, on February 3, a “Heroes Tribute” will nod to Glass as well as David Bowie and Brian Eno, with a “Merge Records Group” joining the ensemble: Destroyer’s Dan Bejar, Mac McCaughan, William Tyler, Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner, Ken Vandermark, and Brad Cook.
One theme that stretches across the season is Sacred/Secular: A Sufi Journey, which will focus on and explore Sufism as “a spiritual and cultural lens into Islam.” Performances by artists rooted in Senegal, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Iran shape the core of that curriculum. American female choreographers are another season highlight, with performances from zoe | juniper, Michelle Dorrance, and Nora Chipaumire.
Several perennial CPA favorites will return to Chapel Hill, including mandolin master Chris Thile, the rootsy UNC alums of Steep Canyon Rangers, and the new music quartet Brooklyn Rider. Tickets go on sale June 8 (earlier if you are a big donor, faculty or staff member, or student).
In the meantime, you can check out the full schedule below.
Fall 2016
Sept. 9 “Mystical Music” – Hossein Alizadeh
Sept. 12 Chris Thile
Sept. 14 & 15 “ETM: Double Down” – Dorrance Dance
Sept. 18 “Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity” – Ping Chong + Company
Oct. 5 & 6 “Clear & Sweet” – zoe | juniper
Oct. 7 Brooklyn Rider with Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Oct. 14 Richard Thompson
Oct. 25 “Sufi Songs” – Youssou N’Dour
Oct. 28 “The House is Black” – Sussan Deyhim
Nov. 7 Isabelle Faust, violin and Alexander Melnikov, piano
Nov. 10 “portrait of myself as my father” – nora chipaumire
Nov. 11 Steep Canyon Rangers
Nov. 16 & 17 “Labels” – Joe Sellman-Leava
Dec. 3 & 4 “The Nutcracker” – Carolina Ballet
Dec. 8 China Philharmonic Orchestra Long Yu, music director and conductor Clara Yang, piano
Dec. 10 “Big Band Holidays” Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Catherine Russell, vocalist
Spring 2017
Jan. 13 Shemekia Copeland
Jan. 20 “Wayang Bocor” – Eko Nugroho
Jan. 27 Nani Topeng Losari
Feb. 1 Bruckner Orchester Linz Performs Philip Glass Dennis Russell Davies, chief conductor Robert McDuffie, violin
Feb. 3 “Heroes Tribute”: A Celebration of the Music of Philip Glass, David Bowie and Brian Eno featuring A Merge Records Group and UNC Symphony Orchestra with Tonu Kalam, conductor
Feb. 6 “The Complete Piano Etudes” by Philip Glass
Feb. 7 “Dance” – Lucinda Childs Dance Company
Feb. 9 “Dracula” – Philip Glass and Kronos Quartet Michael Riesman, conductor
Feb. 10 “Words and Music in Two Parts” – Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson, featuring The Philip Glass Ensemble Michael Riesman, music director and conductor
Feb. 17 Marcus Roberts and the Modern Jazz Generation
Feb. 23 & 24 “Bayou Blues” – Shaina Lynn
Feb. 27 Vienna Philharmonic Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Mar. 2 “Dara” – Ajoka Theatre
Mar. 3 Steve Earle
Mar. 7 Vijay Iyer Sextet
Mar. 8 Mark Padmore, tenor and Jonathan Biss, piano
Mar. 23 & 24 Martha Graham Dance Company
Mar. 31 Sounds of Kolachi
Apr. 5 & 6 San Francisco Symphony Michael Tilson Thomas, music director and conductor Gautier Capuçon, cello
Apr. 12 Sanam Marvi
Apr. 14 J.S. Bach’s “St. John Passion” Bach Collegium Stuggart and Gächinger Kantorei Hans-Christoph Rademann, music director and conductor
Apr. 18 Behzod Abduraimov, piano