June 20, 2023; Amherst, Massachusetts – The UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center is proud to announce the lineup for its 2023-2024 performing arts season. Continuing a near half-century tradition of excellence, Fine Arts Center programming draws its strength from a roster of diverse and high-quality performers to present a calendar of exciting and sophisticated concerts, dance, theater, and conversations.
The mainstage season begins on September 28 with Step Afrika!, the first professional company dedicated to the art of step dance as historically practiced by African American fraternities and sororities. Other cultural dance and theater company performances as part of the 23-24 season include the crowd-favorite Momix’s take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland on October 25, family-friendly circus troupe Cirque Mechanics’ new ecologically-based presentation Zephyr on February 15, Trinity Irish Dance Company’s invigorating Irish step show JIG on February 28, the pop jukebox musical The Simon & Garfunkel Story on March 1, and flamenco dance from New York City’s Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana on April 20.
Late Fine Arts Center Director Emeritus Frederick C. Tillis, in whose honor the Fine Arts Center’s main performance hall is named, was known for presenting the most robust jazz programming on the college circuit. Following in his footsteps, this year’s schedule features concerts with legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis and his quartet on October 5; the innovative and prolific jazz pianist Emmet Cohen on October 19; hot jazz specialists The Hot Sardines performing their Holiday Stomp concert on December 7; modern jazz stars Joel Ross, Emmanuel Wilkins, Gerald Clayton, Matt Brewer, and Kendrick Scott celebrating the 85th anniversary of Blue Note Records on February 22; and the Mingus Dynasty band, playing the compositions of the great Charles Mingus on April 6.
The UMass Fine Arts Center also offers exceptional contemporary and traditional classical performances from some of the world’s best companies and soloists, featuring classical saxophonist Steven Banks on February 24, Grammy award-winning chamber ensemble Attacca Quartet on March 7, classical guitarist JIJI on April 11, and crossover superstar violinist Ray Chen on April 19. The popular UMass ¡Guitarra! series showcases classical wizards on the guitar with René Izquierdo on November 18 and Bokyung Byun on March 16.
One of the 2023-2024 Season’s emphases is on global inclusivity. That focus is reflected in our selection of musicians from around the world, including Indonesian indie rock singer/songwriter Stephanie Poetri on October 11, avant-garde art-pop singer songwriter Sirintip on October 14, Gullah music folk rockers Ranky Tanky alongside R&B singer Lisa Fischer on November 8, Japanese taiko drum theater company Drum Tao on February 1, and instrumental family ensemble Heart of Afghanistan on March 13.
The University’s Codemakers series initiates conversations and open discussions with the great creative minds of our generation. This season’s participants include Chilean singer-songwriter Nano Stern on October 2, the choreographer Rennie Harris on March 27, vocalists and composers Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat on March 29, and the theater director Peter Sellars on May 1.
Line listings and performance details all 2023/2024 UMass Fine Arts Center programming follows below; all dates, times and lineups are subject to change. Tickets to all events are on-sale as of today for UMass Subscription purchasers. To find out more and to sign up for a 2023/2024 UMass FAC Subscription, click here. Ticket discounts for Five College students and attendees under the age of 17 are available for most shows. The up-to-date schedule for the Fine Arts Center is available by clicking here.
2023-2024 Performing Arts Season
- September 22 – Words and Music: An Evening with Stephen Kellogg
- September 28 – Step Afrika!
- October 2 – Codemakers: Nano Stern
- October 5 – An Evening with Branford Marsalis
- October 11 – Stephanie Poetri
- October 14 – Sirintip
- October 19 – Emmet Cohen Trio
- October 25 – MOMIX: Alice
- November 8 – Ranky Tanky with Very Special Guest Ms. Lisa Fischer
- November 18 – ¡Guitarra!: René Izquierdo
- December 7 – Holiday Stomp with The Hot Sardines
- February 1 – Drum Tao
- February 15 – Cirque Mechanics: Zephyr
- February 22 – Blue Note 85th Anniversary Concert
- February 24 – Steven Banks
- February 28 – Trinity Irish Dance Company: JIG
- March 1 – The Simon & Garfunkel Story
- March 7 – Attacca Quartet
- March 13 – Heart of Afghanistan
- March 16 – ¡Guitarra!: Bokyung Byun
- March 27 – Codemakers: Rennie Harris
- March 29 and 31 – Codemakers: Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat
- April 6 – Mingus Dynasty
- April 11 – JIJI
- April 19 – Ray Chen
- April 20 – Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana: Fronteras
- May 1 – Codemakers: Peter Sellars
| 2023-2024 Performing Arts SeasonPerformance Details |
Words and Music: An Evening with Singer-Songwriter and Author Stephen Kellogg
Friday, September 22, 7:30 p.m.
Bowker Auditorium
Reserved Tickets Start at $30
Youth under 17 and Five College students $15, $12, $10
Join the UMass Amherst Libraries and the Fine Arts Center as we welcome a celebrated and beloved UMass alumnus back to campus for a very special event. Singer-songwriter Stephen Kellogg has been wowing audiences on campus and across western Massachusetts since his days as a UMass student in the late ’90s. He’s kept up his connection to the university and the region over the ensuing decades as he’s built a national following with his roots-rock songwriting, friendly, engaging stage presence, and extensive touring. Kellogg and his band the Sixers — which includes fellow UMass alums Boots Factor and Kit Karlson — notably returned to campus in 2010 to make a video featuring the UMass Minuteman Marching Band for the song “Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts.” (The marching band, by the way, is still using the dance moves created for that video.) For this event, Stephen will take the stage with his guitar in one hand and a copy of his book, Objects in the Mirror: Thoughts on a Perfect Life from an Imperfect Person, in the other. He’ll discuss themes from the book — a collection of essays that explores what it means to be alive — play some favorite songs, and connect with friends old and new.
Thursday, September 28, 7:30 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $35
Youth under 17 and Five College students $15, $12, $10
Founded in 1994 by C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika! is the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Step Afrika! blends the percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities; traditional African dances; and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience. The group’s performances are much more than dance shows – they integrate songs, storytelling, humor and audience participation. Under Williams’ leadership, stepping has evolved into one of America’s cultural exports, touring more than 60 countries across the globe, and the Company now ranks as one of the top ten African-American dance companies and arts education institutions in the United States.
Monday, October 2, 7:30 p.m.
Bowker Auditorium
Reserved Tickets Are $20
Youth under 17 and Five College students $15
The inaugural event in our 2023-2024 Codemakers series includes a performance and question-and-answer session with Chilean singer-songwriter and political activist Nano Stern, as well as the North American premiere of the documentary film, We’ll Be Singing by September. The film explores the history, development and transcendence of Chilean music during the socialist government of Allende, and examines the importance of the resistance music form Nueva Cancion through a series of interviews with some of the movement’s most prominent figures.
Stern will help cast the film in a modern context. One of the leading Chilean songwriters and musicians of the last two decades as well as one of most important political voices in modern Chilean music, Stern will perform a short selection of songs, focusing on material from his latest album, Nano Stern Canta a Victor Jara. The record finds Stern revisiting the work of the legendary folk singer Jara, who was tortured and murdered by the Pinochet regime. Stern will also engage in a dialogue with the audience about the film and the enduring influence of Nueva Cancion on Chilean and South American music.
An Evening With Branford Marsalis
Thursday, October 5, 7:30 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $40
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15
Post-performance Reception Tickets Are $40
After four decades in the international spotlight, the achievements of saxophonist Branford Marsalis continue to grow. From his initial recognition as a young “jazz lion,” he has expanded his vision as an instrumentalist, composer, bandleader and educator. Marsalis is a multi award-winning artist with three Grammys, a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master, and a modern avatar of contemporary artistic excellence. Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with his siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. The Branford Marsalis Quartet, formed in 1986, remains his primary means of expression. In its virtually uninterrupted three-plus decades of existence, the Quartet has established a rare breadth of stylistic range as demonstrated on the band’s latest release, The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul. A frequent soloist with classical ensembles, Branford has played with acclaimed orchestras around the world. His legendary guest performances with the Grateful Dead and collaborations with Sting have made him a fan favorite in the pop arena. Marsalis’ work on Broadway has garnered a Drama Desk Award and Tony nominations for the acclaimed revivals of Children of a Lesser God, Fences, and A Raisin in the Sun. His screen credits include original music composed for: Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks starring Oprah Winfrey and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman.
For this performance, Marsalis will be joined by Joey Calderazzo (piano), Eric Revis (bass), and Justin Faulkner (drums).
Wednesday, October 11, 8 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $20
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15
Co-sponsored by the UMass Amherst Korean Students Association and the UMass Vietnamese Students Association.
Stephanie Poetri’s music has a softness to it, an ethereal quality that comes through crystal clear in her stunning alto voice. But even if her vocals are a bit otherworldly, that’s where the manic pixie dream girl trope ends. Poetri’s sound is so much bigger than that pigeonholed lane of singer-songwriter. It was tropical house of Kygo and the melodies of K-pop that cemented Poetri’s early interest in music while she was growing up in Indonesia. Poetri rose to stardom in 2019 on the strength of her self-released single, “I Love You 3000,” a worldwide hit with 425 million streams across various platforms, and more than 150 million views of the DIY video that Poetri and her sister made to accompany it. 2023 finds the 22-year-old Poetri living in L.A. signed to 88rising and incorporating edgier rock sounds into her music. A healthy dose of indie pop and indie rock is forever part of Poetri’s musical DNA. But while her style continues to evolve, Poetri’s mission is the same now as when she started recording: “There weren’t a lot of female artists in that world back then, so I see myself wanting to fulfill that position, and make songs that have a little bit of edge. I want to put some more femininity into indie rock.
Saturday, October 14, 3 p.m.
Location TBA
Part of Asian and Asian American Arts and Culture Program and Arts. Sustainability. Activism.
FREE
This solar-powered, carbon-neutral performance is presented as part of Family Weekend at UMass Amherst.
Thai-Swedish multimodal artist, singer and producer Sirintip creates works that center climate action through empathy and meaningful connections. She has released three critically-acclaimed albums, Carbon (Ropeadope), The Lost World (GroundUP) and Tribus (GroundUP), and has collaborated on albums from Bill Laurance of Snarky Puppy, Sasha Berliner, Kengchakaj Kengkarnka, and The Fur. Ethereal but impassioned, Sirintip’s vocals move nimbly across sophisticated harmony, soar over dense walls of sound, and pulse through rhythmic modulations. Through her work, Sirintip seeks to create bridges of empathy. She aims to uncover and create connections through her music and her interdisciplinary works, arriving at moments of greater understanding. Sirintip plans over the next seven years to shift her entire creative process into a sustainable practice. This shift includes scheduling more solar-powered performances, recording at solar-powered studios, printing bioplastic vinyls, and reducing her touring carbon footprint through efficient booking strategies. Sirintip hopes to engage more researchers on her artist path toward becoming more climate change-conscious: “I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can, through art, to make a change,” she explains.
Thursday, October 19, 7:30 p.m.
Bowker Auditorium
Billy Taylor Jazz Residency
Reserved Tickets Start at $25
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15
Multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is one of his generation’s most pivotal artists. Leader of the Emmet Cohen Trio and creator of the Masters Legacy Series, he is an internationally acclaimed jazz artist, a dedicated educator, the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards, and a finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. Cohen headlines regularly at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Village Vanguard, and Birdland. He has appeared at the Newport, Monterey, and North Sea jazz festivals. Cohen’s entrepreneurial energies led to “Live From Emmet’s Place,” his live-streamed “Harlem rent party” uniting a worldwide audience via tens of millions of internet views. Cohen has released over ten albums as a bandleader and has performed or recorded with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Houston Person, Christian McBride, and Kurt Elling.
For this performance, Cohen will be joined by Philip Norris on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums
Wednesday, October 25, 7:30 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $35
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $18, $15, $12
Known internationally for work of exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty, MOMIX is a company of dancer-illusionists under the direction of Moses Pendleton. In addition to stage performances world-wide, MOMIX has worked in film and television, with performances on PBS’s Dance in America series, France’s Antenne II, and Italian RAI television. MOMIX was featured in Imagine, one of the first 3-D IMAX films to be released in IMAX theaters world-wide. Travel down the rabbit hole MOMIX-style with Moses Pendleton’s newest creation, Alice, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. As Alice’s body grows and shrinks and grows again, Pendleton’s dancers extend themselves by means of props, ropes, and other dancers. Alice is an invitation to invent, to let imagination run and play outside. Audiences will be taken on a journey that is both magical, mysterious, fun, eccentric, and much more. As Alice falls down the rabbit hole and experiences every kind of transformation, so will you.
Ranky Tanky with Very Special Guest Ms. Lisa Fischer
Wednesday, November 8, 7:30 p.m.
Bowker Auditorium
Reserved Tickets Start at $25
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15
Grammy-winning band Ranky Tanky from Charleston, South Carolina — whose name is taken from a Gullah phrase for “get funky” — have established themselves as passionate global ambassadors for their local culture and community. The five lifelong friends are committed to preserving musical traditions that originated with enslaved Africans and their African American descendants in the coastal South. Ranky Tanky has been featured on NPR’s Fresh Air, The Today Show, PBS Newshour and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In 2021, they had the honor of performing as featured artists at President Biden’s inauguration event, We The People.
Ms. Lisa Fischer spent four decades as a featured background singer, working with such icons as Luther Vandross, The Rolling Stones, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, and Nine Inch Nails, before taking center stage for herself. The 2013 Best Documentary Oscar winning film Twenty Feet from Stardom put the spotlight on Fischer’s musical journey, telling her story with clips of her legendary duets with Sting and Mick Jagger, leaving audiences eager to see and hear more.
Saturday, November 18, 8 p.m.
Part of the ¡Guitarra! Series
Old Chapel
General Admission $20
Through his “unforgettable versatility, sensitivity and sublime musicianship” (Classical Guitar Magazine), Cuban-born René Izquierdo has firmly established himself as one of the world’s great classical guitar virtuosos. He is celebrated for his ability to weave an unparalleled technical command of his instrument with his gift of storytelling, accomplishing an intimate musical experience with his audience. Whether as a solo performer, chamber musician, or as a guest soloist with orchestras, he has performed to critical acclaim, touring extensively throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He is frequently invited by renowned festivals and institutions, having played at stages such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Manaus Opera House in Brazil, and National Recital Hall in Taiwan. Through his discography, René seeks to expand the guitar repertoire frequently performing new arrangements, lesser-known music of the 20th century as well as world premieres of concertos and new compositions.
Master Class
Sunday, November 19, 10 a.m.
Observer Tickets $15
René Izquierdo will conduct a master class with advanced guitar students. The class is open to observers. Enjoy the interaction between this superb musician and select classical guitar students.
Holiday Stomp with The Hot Sardines
Thursday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $35
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15
With accolades spanning a No. 1 album on the iTunes jazz chart that also debuted on the Billboard Top 10, The Hot Sardines’ own “potent and assured” (The New York Times), “simply phenomenal” (The Times of London) brand of reinvigorated classic jazz make old sounds new again and prove that joyful music can bring people together. Featuring horns, piano and a gifted chanteuse — as well as a wildly percussive tap dancer — the group tours across the nation and abroad, including performing with the Boston Pops and headlining at Lincoln Center. Kick off the holiday season with a rollicking, razzle-dazzle celebration featuring Swing & Jazz Christmas favorites, along with original tunes, performed by this sizzling 8-piece band!
Thursday, February 1, 7:30 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Asian and Asian American Arts and Culture Program
Reserved Tickets Start at $35
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15, $12, $10
Drum Tao celebrates 30 years at the vanguard of taiko. Founded in 1993 with the objective of creating the world’s greatest show using wadaiko (Japanese drums), Drum Tao has spread out from their base in Oita, Japan, Drum Tao to perform in front of more than nine million spectators in 26 countries across four continents. The troupe’s performances are magnificent spectacles of musicianship and movement, incorporating wadaiko (or taiko) drumming, Japanese flute and harp, and extraordinary, acrobatic choreography. In their 30th anniversary tour, Drum Tao will revisit some of their greatest performance pieces.
Thursday, February 15, 7:30 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $35
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15, $12, $10
In Zephyr — A Whirlwind of Circus the ever-inventive Cirque Mechanics offer the latest expression of their celebrated blend of ingenuity, theater, and circus arts. Founded in 2004 by Boston native and German wheel artist Chris Lashua, Las Vegas-based Cirque Mechanics, quickly established itself as a premier American circus troupe. The company is revered for its unique approach to performance, inspiring storytelling, and innovative mechanical staging. Spectacle hailed it as “the greatest contribution to the American circus since Cirque du Soleil.” Zephyr tells the story of Nigel, a mill owner and operator, and his complicated relationship with wind, the natural resource that powers his flour mill. Humans have been harnessing the power of the wind for thousands of years. And it was the beauty of that timeless process that inspired the creative team at Cirque Mechanics to create Zephyr, a show that features a performance windmill as its multi-functional mechanical centerpiece, but that ultimately harnesses not wind but human power to generate an energetic, acrobatic experience.
Blue Note Records 85th Anniversary Celebration Starring The Blue Note Quintet
Thursday, February 22, 7:30 p.m.
Bowker Auditorium
Reserved Tickets Start at $30
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $10
For 85 years, Blue Note Records has been synonymous with jazz. As one the oldest and most storied labels in American history, Blue Note’s elevation of bop, post-bop, and avant-garde jazz has redefined the very nature of the genre. The greatest names in jazz – Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sidney Bechet, Lee Morgan, Eric Dolphy, Dexter Gordon – all produced some of their most renowned work on Blue Note.
This anniversary line-up offers a look into the future of what the label has to offer with a band led by pianist Gerald Clayton and featuring the next generation of stars, including Joel Ross on vibraphone, Immanuel Wilkins on saxophone, Matt Brewer on bass, and Kendrick Scott on percussion.
Saturday, February 24, 7:30 p.m.
Bezanson Recital Hall
FREE (General Admission, Ticket Required)
Presented in conjunction with the UMass Department of Music and Dance’s 41st Annual New England Saxophone Festival.
Winner of the prestigious 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Steven Banks is an ambassador for the classical saxophone. Having established himself as both a compelling and charismatic soloist, dedicated to showcasing the vast capabilities of the instrument, he has also positioned himself as an avid advocate for expanding its repertoire. Banks has recently appeared as soloist with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Oregon Mozart Players, Colorado Music Festival, Colorado Symphony, Utah Symphony, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and on subscription with the Cleveland Orchestra, performing with such conductors as John Adams, Peter Oundjian, Earl Lee, Xian Zhang, Nicholas McGegan, and Rafael Payere. Upcoming orchestral engagements include the Kansas City Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Detroit Symphony, New World Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Banks is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in music education, performance, and newly commissioned works in the classical realm. He was recently chosen to join WQXR’s 2022 Artist Propulsion Lab, a program designed to advance the careers of artists and support the future of classical music.
Trinity Irish Dance Company: JIG
Wednesday, February 28, 7:30 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $25
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15, $12, $10
Trinity Irish Dance Company (TIDC) has significantly changed the direction and scope of Irish dance, re-introducing the art form as the phenomenon it is known as today. Founded in 1990, this innovative, nonprofit, repertory company was created to celebrate the pioneering work of Founding Artistic Director Mark Howard. Howard’s uniquely Irish-American company was the birthplace of progressive Irish dance, an innovative movement genre which “ushered in a new era for Irish step dance” (The Chicago Tribune), opening new avenues of artistic freedom that led directly to commercial productions such as Riverdance. Considered an American treasure by critics and enthusiasts worldwide, TIDC has performed sold-out tours in Europe, Asia, and North America, appearing in distinguished venues, such as New York’s The Joyce Theater, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, UCLA’s Royce Hall, Princeton’s McCarter Theater, among many others. The Company has traveled to entertain dignitaries as varied as Monaco’s royal family, Irish and American presidents, Japanese royalty, and Indian meditation masters.
Friday, March 1, 8 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $40
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $30, $25, $20, $15
The Simon & Garfunkel Story is an immersive concert-style theater show that chronicles the amazing journey of the folk-rock duo, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. The show uses huge projection photos and original film footage and features a full live band performing all the hits including “Mrs. Robinson,” “Cecilia,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Homeward Bound” and many more. It tells the duo’s full story, from their humble beginnings as Tom & Jerry to their incredible success as one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s to their dramatic split in 1970. It culminates with the famous Concert in Central Park reunion in 1981 with more than half a million fans in attendance.
Simon & Garfunkel’s perfect harmonies and songs that poignantly captured the times made them one of the most successful folk-rock duos of all time with more than 100 million album sales. Simon & Garfunkel won ten Grammy Awards over the years. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2003, Simon & Garfunkel were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. And the following year saw their song “The Sound of Silence” earn a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.
Thursday, March 7, 7:30 p.m.
Bowker Auditorium
Reserved Tickets Start at $25
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15
Grammy award-winning Attacca Quartet, in the words of The Nation, “lives in the present aesthetically, without rejecting the virtues of the musical past.” And it’s the musicians’ ability to glide with dexterity from the music of the eighteenth through to the twenty-first century that places the New York based chamber group as one of the most versatile and outstanding ensembles of the moment – a quartet for modern times. Passionate advocates of contemporary repertoire, the quartet is dedicated to presenting and recording new works. The quartet’s recent recorded work includes Evergreen (Nonesuch Records), a collaboration with Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award–winning composer Caroline Shaw, Becca Stevens | Attacca Quartet (GroundUP Music), with the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, and Of All Joys (Sony Classical), a genre-busting, powerful musical journey that folds late twentieth century minimalism back onto the music of the Renaissance.
The program for this event will include work by Shaw and Mexican composer and music educator Gabriela Ortiz, along with Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 131.
Wednesday, March 13, 7:30 p.m.
Bowker Auditorium
Asian and Asian American Arts and Culture Program
Reserved Tickets Start at $25
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $12
Heart of Afghanistan features four brilliant Afghan musicians: famed singer and Afghan TV star Ahmad Fanoos on vocals and harmonium, his sons Elham Fanoos on piano and Mehran Fanoos on violin, and Sohail Karimi on tabla. Though they are unable to perform inside Afghanistan, where the Taliban has banned all music, these musicians carry the flame of their homeland’s rich and complex musical heritage, from its pre-Islamic Buddhist period to the modern era. Included in the program will be traditional ghazals based on the Sufi-inspired poetry of Rumi (who was born in Afghanistan), Afghan folk music, and the iconic hits of legendary singer Ahmad Zahir, first recorded in the 1960s and ’70s and still wildly popular today. Only recently reunited in the United States, the ensemble offers a 360-degree view of Afghan culture through music and cultural heritage.
Part of the ¡Guitarra! Series
Saturday, March 16, 8 p.m.
Old Chapel
General Admission $20
Praised by Classical Guitar Magazine as “confident and quite extraordinary,” the Korean guitarist Bokyung Byun enjoys a reputation as one of the most sought-after guitarists of her generation. Byun holds the distinction of being the first female winner of the prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, where Falletta herself described Byun’s performance as “stunning, showcasing her gorgeous tone, immaculate technique, and sophisticated musicianship.” In recent seasons, Byun has performed as a soloist with orchestras, including the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony, West Los Angeles Symphony, New Juilliard Ensemble, the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, among others. Her solo recital highlights include performances at the Kumho Young Artist Series, Philadelphia Guitar Festival, Aspen-Salida Concert Series, Toronto Guitar Weekend, Guitar Montréal, and San Diego Guitar Festival.
Master Class
Sunday, March 20, 10 a.m.
Observer Tickets $15
Bokyung Byun will conduct a master class with advanced guitar students. The class is open to observers. Enjoy the interaction between this superb musician and select classical guitar students.
Wednesday, March 27, 5 p.m.
Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts Lobby
FREE
The acclaimed hip-hop choreographer whose groundbreaking dance company, Rennie Harris Puremovement, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2022, takes some time during his Five College Dance residency to discuss his work as an artist and an educator in hip-hop culture. Rennie Harris is a self-taught dancer who got his start as a teenager in his native Philadelphia. His dance groups performed with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC, Salt-n-Pepa, and the Sugar Hill Gang, among many others. He worked as both dancer and choreographer for television and the stage incorporating his mastery of hip-hop styles including stepping, poppin, boogaloo, b-boy, Campbell locking, house, and was instrumental in the development of hip-hop dance as a concert form. His numerous honors include the Kennedy Center’s Master of African-American Choreography, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His choreographed works have been performed around the world by troupes including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Philadanco! – The Philadelphia Dance Company.
Codemakers: Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat
Friday, March 29, 12 p.m.
Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts Lobby
Asian and Asian American Arts and Culture Program
FREE
Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat in Concert
Sunday, March 31, 3 p.m.
Co-presented by Smith College and the UMass Fine Arts Center
Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College
FREE (General Admission, Ticket Required)
Sisters Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat are award-winning Iranian vocalists, composers and cultural activists. Each has developed a performance style rooted in Persian classical and regional vocal music traditions and infused with contemporary and innovative expressions and influences. Mahsa has dedicated herself both to her musical and artistic path and to the greater cause of freedom of expression. Her artistry has offered audiences around the globe a deeper appreciation of Iranian poetry and music. Marjan believes in her music’s ability to express a universal message of humanism and freedom.
Saturday, April 6, 8 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $30
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $10
Charles Mingus remains an imposing figure in jazz even some 45 years after his early death. The master of the double-bass, accomplished pianist, bandleader, and composer was instrumental in moving jazz forward during his lifetime. And his multitudinous body of compositions — Mingus continued to write even after ALS robbed him of his ability to play — continue to be explored, reinterpreted, and recorded by the best musicians and bandleaders in jazz, and hold a prominent place in curricula at all levels of jazz education. So it’s fitting that Mingus Dynasty, the first ensemble constituted by Mingus’s widow, Sue, after her husband’s death, comes to UMass Amherst as part of our annual collaboration with the Department of Music and Dance’s High School Jazz Festival. Having spent the day working with young jazz students from across the region, the members of Mingus Dynasty will take the Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall stage to cap the day with one of their signature master performances of Mingus compositions. Formed in 1979, just after Mingus’s death, and originally made up of musicians who had recorded and played with Mingus, the ensemble has been carrying the legacy of its eponym for more than four decades. Mingus Dynasty’s shifting but always virtuosic members invariably perform awe-inspiring live sets as they celebrate and explore Charles Mingus’s rich and varied musical legacy.
Thursday, April 11, 7:30 p.m.
Bowker Auditorium
Co-sponsored by the UMass Korean Students Association
Reserved Tickets Start at $20
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $10
Praised by The Washington Post for her “mesmerizing” and “stirring” performances, JIJI is an adventurous guitarist known for her virtuosity and command of diverse repertoire. Equally at home with both acoustic and electric guitar, her concert programs range from traditional and contemporary classical to free improvisation. JIJI has premiered solo and chamber works by a diverse range of musical artists, including Michael Gilbertson, Hilary Purrington, Shelley Washington, Kate Moore, Chris Rountree, Gulli Bjornsson, Molly Joyce, and Paul Lansky. In 2023, JIJI released UNBOUND, the culmination of a multiyear commissioning and recording project. A sought-after and versatile collaborator, JIJI’s recent chamber and ensemble performances include appearances with the New York Philharmonic’s Nightcap Series; Cuarteto Latinoamericano; the Verona Quartet; Wildup; Duo Linu; and soprano Molly Netter, among others.
Friday, April 19, 7:30 p.m.
Buckley Recital Hall, Amherst College
Tickets via Music at Amherst
Violinist and online personality Ray Chen redefines what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st century. With a global reach that enhances and inspires a new classical audience, Chen’s remarkable musicianship transmits to millions around the world online and live with the foremost orchestras and concert halls around the world. Initially coming to attention via wins at the Yehudi Menuhin (2008) and Queen Elizabeth (2009) Competitions, he has built an ever-growing profile in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and his native Australia both live and on disc. Signed to Decca Classics, 2017 saw the recording of his first album with the London Philharmonic following his previous three critically acclaimed albums as a soloist. Profiled as “one to watch” by The Strad and Gramophone, Chen is also acclaimed on the Forbes list of “30 Most Influential Asians Under 30,” appearing in major online TV series Mozart in the Jungle, a multi-year partnership with Giorgio Armani (who designed the cover of his Mozart album with Christoph Eschenbach) and performing at major media events such as France’s Bastille Day (live to 800,000 people), the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm (telecast across Europe), and the BBC Proms. He has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Munich Philharmonic, and many more.
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana: Fronteras
Saturday, April 20, 8 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved Tickets Start at $35
Youth under 17 and Five College Students $15
Founded in 1983, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana is one of America’s premier flamenco companies. Based in New York City and Durham, North Carolina, the company seeks to promote flamenco as a living art form and a vital part of Hispanic heritage; produce and perform high quality dance works; provide arts education programs that catalyze connections among young people; and nuture the next generations of Spanish dance artists and educators. Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana believes the universal spirit of flamenco – with diverse influences from Arab, Jewish, Roma, Spanish, African, and Latin American cultures – gives the art form a unique power to build bridges between people.
FRONTERAS is a new work choreographed by two of flamenco’s most exciting artists: Jose Maldonado and Karen Lugo, with an original score by Jose Luis de la Paz. FRONTERAS asks, “What is stronger – what unites us or what separates us?” The New York Times hails FRONTERAS as offering “an uncommonly deft balancing of the individual and the group in flamenco, and solid entertainment to boot.”
Wednesday, May 1, 7:30 p.m.
Bowker Auditorium
FREE (General Admission, Ticket Required)
The iconic stage director Peter Sellars is renowned internationally for his unique and original takes on great works and his sharp and influential engagement with creative forces on new projects. Among Sellar’s many innovative and striking productions, he has found new settings for classical work. His version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni was staged in an urban ghetto, his Così fan tutte in a diner, and his Marriage of Figaro in a corporate high-rise. Sellars is well-known for his storied and successful collaborations with opera composer John Adams, including Nixon in China (1987), Doctor Atomic (2005), and A Flowering Tree (2006).
About the UMass Fine Arts Center
The UMass Fine Arts Center seeks to engage and inspire the campus and regional communities in the arts through a broad array of exemplary performances, exhibitions, and educational programs. Since our founding in 1975, the UMass Fine Arts Center has been a central force in the cultural, social and academic life of the university, the Five Colleges, and the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts. The Fine Arts Center’s combination of educational, visual, and performing arts programs not only makes us distinct, but also secures a vital and necessary position for us to meet the diverse needs of scholars, faculty, students, alumni and the broader community. We offer a variety of stellar arts and education programs that create a unique delivery service for the arts with many points of entry. We provide a variety and depth of experiences that touch the lives of students from the University of Massachusetts and the Five Colleges, as well as the campus and regional communities. Each program engages its audience with a curatorial vision appealing to individuals and groups both on and off campus. These programs fulfill the Center’s mission by providing affordable access to high quality arts programming and engaging in public service that advances knowledge and improves lives. For more information, visit https://fac.umass.edu.
In a consultative and deeply collaborative process with respected advisors from local Tribal Nations, the UMass Native Advisory Council has co-developed a campus Land Acknowledgement. This Acknowledgement affirms our campus connection and relationship to the land the campus is built upon and our continued connection to the Nations who were the original inhabitants and caretakers of this land. Read the Land Acknowledgement.