For immediate use: Friday, May 16, 2014
Carolina Performing Arts at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will welcome back 18 artists and companies to celebrate its 10th season in 2014-2015. In addition to returning favorites, CPA is partnering with Wilson Library’s Southern Folklife Collection as they celebrate 25 years; the Institute of Arts and Humanities’ campus-wide World War I Centenary Project; and will present a three-performance program in its inaugural Curatorial Fellowship through CPA’s Arts@TheCore initiative.
The 2014-2015 season will feature additional internationally renowned performers and emerging artists for a total of 51 performances and presentations representing a vast diversity of styles, forms and origins. CPA also will present a number of free and public events designed to take the audience deeper into the role of the artist and the creative process.
“Our 10th season allows us, first and foremost, to celebrate our audiences,” said Emil Kang, CPA’s executive and artistic director. “It is their enthusiasm, willingness to take risks and thoughtful engagement that has compelled artists to return to Chapel Hill. We’re thrilled to welcome back 18 artists and companies who have left an indelible mark on our brief history.”
Designated “CPA 10 Artists,” returning companies and performers include Youssou N’Dour; Mitsuko Uchida; Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis; Ian Bostridge; Dianne Reeves; National Theatre of Scotland; the Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev; Shantala Shivalingappa; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma; Pierre-Laurent Aimard; Martha Graham Dance Company; and Sir John Eliot Gardiner with the Monteverdi Choir.
“We are proud of the relationships we have fostered with artists over these 10 seasons, and our success during the next 10 will be gauged on how well we move these relationships beyond the walls of the hall, onto campus and in the community at large,” Kang said. “To this end, we’re thrilled to partner with the Southern Folklife Collection, Institute of the Arts and Humanities and other campus groups, including our new Arts@TheCore Curatorial Fellowship, as part of our 10th season.”
The 2014-2015 season will kick off Aug. 22 with a double bill featuring brass band giants Rebirth Brass Band and Dumpstaphunk, followed by country legend Merle Haggard with Tift Merritt on Aug. 23. These performances are presented as part of the Southern Folklife Festival to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Southern Folklife Collection.
In conjunction with the Institute of Arts and Humanities’ World War I Centenary Project, CPA will present a slate of performances marking the anniversary: “The 1910s” by renowned performance artist Taylor Mac; “Prelude to a Black Hole and Beyond Zero: 1914-1918” featuring the Kronos Quartet; Britten’s “War Requiem,” where soprano Christine Goerke, , tenor Anthony Dean Griffey , and baritone Nathan Gunn join the UNC Symphony Orchestra with conductor Tonu Kalam and Carolina Choir with director Susan Klebanow. There also will be an unforgettable performance in the loading dock setup from Dutch theater group Hotel Modern and Arthur Sauer, where performers roam miniature worlds projected on a large screen as World War I testimonies and soldiers’ letters are read aloud.
The inaugural program presented through the newly established Curatorial Fellowship is an extension of the Arts@TheCore initiative and features a mini-series curated by Afroz Taj, UNCdepartment of Asian studies professor, under the theme “Streams of Spirit: Water Music from South Asia.”
Carolina Performing Arts will also present several free events including “Veils and Vesper,” a unique meditative soundscape installation by 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams with a special guest appearance by Brooklyn Rider. It also will present a conversation with Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble as the 2015 Frey Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Single tickets go on sale to the general public June 5. Subscriptions are available on June 3. For more details on the 2014-2015 season, including ticket information and an interactive, digital brochure, please visit www.carolinaperformingarts.org.
2014-15 Season
Fall 2014
- Aug. 22: Rebirth Brass Band and Dumpstaphunk (Southern Folklife)
- Aug. 23: Merle Haggard with Tift Merritt (Southern Folklife)
- Sep. 9: “Tales from the Cosmic Ocean” – An Evening of Yakshagana featuring Vidya Kolyur (Streams of Spirit)
- Sep. 13,- 14: Liz Magic Laser and Wendy Osserman – “From North Carolina to South Korea”
- Sep. 16: Youssou N’Dour (CPA 10 Artist)
- Sep. 25-26: Dorrance Dance – “The Blues Project” featuring Michelle Dorrance and Toshi Reagon
- Sep. 28: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck, conductor and music director, Valentina Lisitsa, piano
- Oct. 1-2: “The 1910s” – Taylor Mac (WWI)
- Oct. 8: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (CPA 10 Artist)
- Oct. 10: The Robert Cray Band
- Oct. 11: Shabana Azmi – “Perilous Crossings” (Streams of Spirit)
- Oct. 22: Gabriel Kahane – “The Ambassador”
- Nov. 6-7: “Curlew River” – Benjamin Britten’s Homage to the Japanese Noh Play (CPA 10 Artist)
- Nov. 14: Mipso and Steep Canyon Rangers
- Nov. 16: Dianne Reeves (CPA 10 Artist)
- Nov. 21: Batsheva Dance Company – SADEH21
- Nov. 22: Milton Nascimento
- Dec. 6-7: “The Nutcracker” – Carolina Ballet (CPA 10 Artist)
- Dec. 8: “Jazz for the Holidays” – NC Jazz Repertory Orchestra with René Marie (CPA 10 Artist)
Spring 2015
- Jan. 29-30: National Theatre of Scotland and Royal Shakespeare Company present “Dunsinane” (CPA 10 Artist)
- Jan. 31 and Feb. 1: The Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev, conductor and artistic director, Behzod Abduraimov, piano, Denis Matsuev, piano (CPA 10 Artist)
- Feb. 6: Audra McDonald
- Feb. 12: Kronos Quartet – “Prelude to a Black Hole and Beyond Zero: 1914-1918” (WWI)
- Feb. 15: Irvin Mayfield and The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
- Feb. 18: Shantala Shivalingappa – “Akasha” (CPA 10 Artist)
- Feb. 20: Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band (CPA 10 Artist)
- Feb. 24-25: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (CPA 10 Artist)
- Feb. 26: A Conversation with Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble – FREE EVENT
- Feb. 27: The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma (CPA 10 Artist)
- March 5: Britten’s “War Requiem” with Christine Goerke, soprano, Anthony Dean Griffey, tenor, Nathan Gunn, baritone, UNC Symphony Orchestra with Tonu Kalam, conductor and Carolina Choir with Susan Klebanow, director (WWI) (CPA 10 Artist)
- March 18: Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich, pianos (CPA 10 Artist)
- March 20: Sanam Marvi – “Songs from the Land of Five Rivers” (Streams of Spirit)
- March 25-26: John Luther Adams – “Veils and Vesper” – An installation with special guest appearance by Brooklyn Rider – FREE EVENT
- March 28: Brooklyn Rider (CPA 10 Artist)
- April 1: “Celebrating Congo” – A public forum featuring Petna Ndaliko Katondolo, Ray Lema and Faustin Linyekula – FREE EVENT
- April 11-12: Hotel Modern and Arthur Sauer – “The Great War” (WWI)
- April 14-15: Martha Graham Dance Company (CPA 10 Artist)
- April 17: Dorothea Röschmann, soprano, and Mitsuko Uchida, piano (CPA 10 Artist)
- April 19: Monteverdi – “Vespers” of 1610, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, conductor (CPA 10 Artist)
- April 21: Wendy Whelan – “Restless Creature”
Carolina Performing Arts contact: Joe Florence, (919) 843-0516, joe_florence@unc.edu
News Services contact: Robbi Pickeral, (919) 962-8589, robbi.pickeral@unc.edu