Hamilton College Performing Arts announces an exciting season of music, theater and dance for the 2015-16 season in Wellin Hall, Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts. All performances are at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
The season opens with the Alash Ensemble on Saturday, Sept. 26. The award-winning Alash Ensemble of Tuva will bring the beautiful and exotic sounds of their Inner Asian homeland to Hamilton College with a program of Tuvan throat singing, a technique which allows vocalists to sing multiple pitches at one time. Ensemble members also play a variety of Tuvan traditional instruments, contributing to an overall musical experience that a Washington Post review described as “absolutely stunning.”
The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble performs on Friday, Oct. 9. Drawn from the principal players of the full orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble was created in 1967 to perform the larger chamber works with players who customarily work together instead of the usual string quartet with additional guests. The Hamilton College program includes Dvorák’s String Quintet in G major, Op.77 and Schubert’s Octet in F major for Winds & Strings, D. 803.
The fall series continues with the Hugo Wolf Quartet on Friday, Oct.30. Named for the Austrian composer of the same name, the Hugo Wolf Quartet has been a fixture on the international chamber music scene for over 20 years. In this program, mezzo-soprano Olivia Vote joins the quartet performing the music of their namesake, along with other repertoire for string quartet and voice.
Cellist Matt Haimovitz comes to Hamilton College on Saturday, Nov.7, with a unique concert-going experience -- a moveable feast of Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. On Friday, Nov. 6, he’ll begin the feast by performing three Bach suites in three separate locations across campus and in the village of Clinton. Each suite will be accompanied by overtures recently commissioned by Haimovitz. The feast culminates on Saturday in Wellin Hall with a concert of the balance of the suites as well as overtures by Vijay Iyer, Mohammed Fairouz and Luna Pearl Woolf. The mini-concerts in multiple locations are free. Tickets are required only for the Wellin Hall performance.
The fall series concludes with Pallade Musica on Saturday, Nov.14. Pallade Musica (Athena’s Music) brings together four of Montreal’s most promising Early Music performers: Tanya LaPerrière, Baroque violin, Elinor Frey, Baroque cello, Esteban La Rotta, theorbo, and Mélisande McNabney, harpsichord. This program centers on two major works from the collection called “Rosary” or “Mystery” sonatas of H.I.F. Biber along with works by Dietrich Buxtehude, J.S. Bach, and Georgius Schieferlein.
Symphoria returns to Hamilton College on Sunday, Jan. 24, at 3 pm. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Fawzi Haimor conducts a program that includes Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, Mozart’s Symphonia Concertante, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4.
February brings jazz to the Hill with the Robert Glasper Trio on Saturday, Feb. 20. Ten years after making his Blue Note debut, and following two Grammy-winning volumes of his critically and commercially successful R&B-oriented Black Radio albums, pianist Robert Glasper returns to acoustic jazz. Glasper is joined by Vincente Archer, bass, and Damion Reid, drums for this performance.
From jazz to dance, Step Afrika! performs on Saturday, Feb. 27. Founded in 1994, Step Afrika! was the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping. The company blends stepping (the percussive dance styles practiced by historically African-American fraternities and sororities) with African traditional dance and influences from a variety of other dance and art forms.
The program features fresh, innovative dance works and exciting collaborations with hip-hop, spoken word and the African-American spiritual. This performance is sure to please the entire family.
The series concludes with The Crooked Road on Tour: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail on Friday, April 8. The Crooked Road on tour celebrates the traditional music that has been kept by families and communities since colonial times in southwest Virginia. This three-part concert includes performances by the Whitetop Mountain Band, whose deep roots in mountain music preserve the Whitetop region’s style of old time fiddling and banjo picking; singer, songwriter and guitarist Sandy Shortridge, whose ballads convey the emotions and pride that many mountain people share for their home and culture; and award-winning flatfoot dancer and clawhammer style banjo player, Julie Shepherd-Powell.
All concerts will be held in Wellin Hall, Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. Seating is general admission. Individual ticket prices are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens and Hamilton employees, and $5 for students. Discounted series rates are available. For more information, call the box office at 859-4331 or visit www.hamiltonpa.org.
