UW World Series to Feature Works from Israel, Mali, Ukraine & More in 2014-15 Season

The UW World Series brings Seattle audiences some of the most exciting artists and companies from around the globe. The tradition continues into the 2014-15 season with a stellar line-up of living masters and emerging talents curated by Artistic Director Michelle Witt in her third year of programming the Series. 23 artists and companies from over 21 countries will be represented, including Israel, Mali, Ukraine, Great Britain, Spain, France, Canada, Russia, Hungary, the USA, and the eleven countries that make up the Nile basin.

"Programming always starts with inspirational artists and work that presents a fresh approach and mastery of a form," says Witt. "Each season is a balancing act: the international perspective is critically important to us at the UW World Series, but we want to provide a platform for the great work American artists are making, as well."

"One of the performances I am most excited about next season is Noche Flamenca's world premiere of Antigona-a flamenco retelling of Sophocles' ancient Greek tragedy. We'll be doing more than just presenting this work, however; Noche Flamenca and noted theater director Lee Breuer will be in residence here prior to the performance, actually finishing it. It's the realization of a goal I've had since arriving at Meany Hall three years ago: that the UW World Series could move from being merely a presenter of the performing arts to becoming an active supporter of the creative process of artists."

Other highlights of the 2014-15 Season include:

• Four artists and ensembles make their Seattle debuts: Vadym Kholodenko, Jerusalem Quartet, Catalyst Quartet, and The Nile Project.

• Mark Morris Dance Group returns to Meany Hall for the first time in nearly a decade performing an evening of Seattle and West Coast premieres with live music by the group's ensemble. Live music will also be featured as part of two other events of the World Dance Series, Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, and Urban Bush Women.

• The International Chamber Music Series focuses on the art of the String Quartet, with five notable ensembles exploring great masterworks and composers of the 21st century, including the renowned Jerusalem and Takács Quartets.
• The President's Piano Series includes two Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Gold Medalists, Vadym Kholodenko and Olga Kern, who perform on the Series with audience favorites Jon Kimura Parker, Simone Dinnerstein, and Angela Hewitt.
• The Nile Project on our World Music & Theatre Series will use music, education, and community outreach to raise awareness about the complex cultural, environmental, and water rights challenges of the Nile basin.

• Grammy-Award winners and nominees round out the lineup in three Special Events: MacArthur Geniuses, mandolinist Chris Thile and bassist Edgar Meyer, present a program that crosses classical, bluegrass, newgrass and jazz; Branford Marsalis joins the English Chamber Orchestra for a program of baroque masterpieces; and world music superstar Anoushka Shankar performs a tribute to her legendary father, the late Ravi Shankar.

Season tickets for all four series go on sale Wednesday, March 19, 2014. Single tickets for all Series and Special Events go on sale August 1, 2014. Tickets to the three Special Events may be purchased in advance by season ticket holders.

Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca
Thursday-Saturday, October 23-25, 2014, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $47-$52

Hailed by critics everywhere for their transcendent and deeply emotional performances, Noche Flamenca is one of the most authentic flamenco companies in the world today, and Soledad Barrio is its star. Now, in a unique creative partnership, this remarkable company joins with acclaimed American theater director Lee Breuer, to create a new work Antigona, based on Sophocles' ancient Greek heroine. Combining live music, song, and dance, Noche Flamenca's Antigona will bring the fiery, expressive nature of flamenco to one of the world's great tragedies in an evening-length work that promises to be both gripping and intensely moving. The UW World Series is proud to host Noche Flamenca in a creative development residency and to present Antigona in its world premiere.

David Roussève / REALITY
Thursday-Saturday, November 20-22, 2014, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $41-$46

Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellow, and Bessie Award-winning choreographer, writer, and director David Roussève juxtaposes the intimate romanticism of Nat King Cole standards with the rough-edged, hip-hop-inflected original music of d. Sabela Grimes to redefine the coming-of-age story for the electronic age. Lush, jazz-inflected dancing is leavened by frenetic, angular representations of an African American gay urban teen's anxious dreams and challenges-visible only through his emotion-laden tweets and text messages, which are projected onto multiple surfaces. Stardust explores the evolving nature of intimacy in our technology-driven, furiously paced world.

Urban Bush Women
Thursday-Saturday, February 12-14, 2015, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $41-$46

Celebrating 30 years as an unstoppable force in American dance, Urban Bush Women con­tinues to make visceral, politically-charged work that is electric and inspiring. With Hep Hep Sweet Sweet, founder and choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar presents an earthy and provocative new take on the music and culture fueled by the Great Migration that emerged at jazz clubs in Harlem and Zollar's native Kansas City. The program also includes, Walking with 'Trane, a work inspired by the life of John Coltrane and by his seminal jazz suite A Love Supreme, with live music by pianist George Caldwell.

Mark Morris Dance Group
Thursday-Saturday, March 5-7, 2015, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $53-$58

Returning to Meany Hall for the first time in a decade, the Mark Morris Dance Group has enthralled critics, dance enthusiasts, and novices alike with its amazing technical expertise, unique artistry, and its signature use of live music. Proclaimed "the most prodigiously gifted choreographer of the post-Balanchine era" (Time Magazine), Mark Morris has had a profound impact on the dance world ever since he burst onto the scene in 1980, and continues to create important new works with a singular ability to combine beautiful music, graceful movement, and delicious wit. The program will include Seattle premieres with live musical performances by the group's ensemble of The Italian Concerto (J.S. Bach), Jenn & Spencer (Henry Cowell), Crosswalk (Carl Maria von Weber), and the West Coast premiere of Words (Felix Mendelssohn).

Lyon Opera Ballet
Thursday-Saturday, April 16-18, 2015, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $47-$52

One of the world's leading contemporary dance companies, The Lyon Opera Ballet is renowned for its vast repertory of work by emerging and established choreographers. The company has acquired and commissioned ballets by a wide range of international dance makers including Jirí Kylían, Nils Christe, Nacho Duato, Trisha Brown, Ralph Lemon, and Bill T. Jones, among others. Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times hailed Lyon Opera Ballet as "a company full of surprises," marked by "impressive individuality [and] versatile dancers." The company returns to Meany Hall with a mixed program of three works that includes William Forsythe's Steptext, a quartet set to a J.S. Bach, and Sarabande by Benjamin Millipied.

Pilobolus
Thursday-Saturday, May 14-16, 2015, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $51-$56

Named after a barnyard fungus that propels its spores with extraordinary speed, accu­racy, and strength, Pilobolus is a dance company founded by a group of Dartmouth Col­lege students in 1971. The company continually forms diverse collaborations that break down barriers between disciplines and challenge the way we think about dance. Beloved by audiences worldwide, Pilobolus maintains its own singular style, evolving interplay with shape-shifting, shadow play and other explorations, and enjoys a fervent and ever ex­panding following. The company has been featured on Oprah, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Academy Awards, and was nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award for the video for OK Go's All Is Not Lost.

The Touré-Raichel Collective

Saturday, November 15, 2014, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

Malian guitar virtuoso Vieux Farka Touré and Israeli superstar Idan Raichel join together to create masterworks of collaboration and improvisation. Their album, The Tel Aviv Ses­sion, was hailed as "the best album this year" (Pop Matters.com), reached the number one spot on the iTunes World Music sales charts and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard World Music Chart. Their recording sessions - acoustic, spontaneous, entirely improvised, and stunningly beautiful - can only be described as magic. The group's live concerts reflect the same natural spontaneity and free-form creativity, allowing audiences to experience first hand the invention of sublime and transcendent music that crosses boundaries of country, culture, and tradition.

The Nile Project
Friday, January 30, 2015, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $35-$40

Inspired by Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, Egyptian musicologist Mina Girgis and Ethiopian-American singer Meklit Hadero created their own, localized version - to use the power of music to raise awareness of the cultural and environmental challenges along the world's longest river. The Nile Project brought together musicians from 11 countries across the Nile basin to share a deeply collaborative creative process resulting in its debut album Aswan, named one of the "5 Must-Hear International Albums" of the year by NPR. Now on tour, The Nile Project bridges the polyrhythmic styles of Lake Victoria and the pointed melodies of the Ethiopian highlands with the rich modal traditions of Egypt, Sudan, and others to create the new sound of a shared Nile identity.

This project will include numerous education and outreach activities, both on the UW Campus and in the community.

Carolina Chocolate Drops

Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

The Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops create an infectious modern sound from old-time fiddle and banjo-based music. Reclaiming the African-American string band tradition, the Chocolate Drops reveal the celebratory, interconnected cur­rents running through blues, country, and bluegrass, bringing brash, youthful energy to old-time music rooted in the red soil of the southern Piedmont region. The New York Times declared their concerts, "an end-to-end display of excellence ... They dip into styles of southern black music from the 1920s and '30s-string- band music, jug-band music, fife and drum, early jazz-and beam their curiosity outward." Their ever-evolving sound is scrupulously researched, passionately delivered, and "unlike anything else in today's popular music" (SoulTrain.com).

The fourth event in the World Music Series is To Be Announced.

Jon Kimura Parker

Friday, November 14, 2014, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

Insightful and energetic, Jon "Jackie" Kimura Parker is one of today's most sought-after pianists. His incredible showmanship, coupled with a fine-tuned attention to detail, is a signature of his illustrious performing career. As an Officer of The Order of Canada, he has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, the United States Supreme Court, and the Prime Ministers of Canada and Japan. He is also Artistic Advisor of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. Known for his transcriptions of orchestral masterworks, Parker will exploreThe Wizard of Oz with us in recital.

Vadym Kholodenko
Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $36-$41

In June 2013, Vadym Kholodenko became the recipient of the Gold Medal at the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Since then it has been a busy and exciting time for the young pianist with extensive touring throughout Europe, Asia, and the USA to great critical acclaim. His recent debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra led to Daniel Webster of the Philadelphia Enquirer praising Kholodenko's "absorbing melodic shadings, glittering passage work, and a sense of sound that erased any fears about the stereotype of the competition winner." This will be Kholodenko's Seattle debut.

Olga Kern
Thursday, March 12, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

Now recognized as one of her generation's great pianists, Olga Kern was born into a family of musicians with direct links to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. In 2001, she became the first woman in over 30 years to receive the Gold Medal at the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and subsequently her career has brought her to many of the world's most important venues. With her vivid stage presence, passionately confident musicianship, and extraordinary technique, the striking young Russian pianist continues to captivate fans and critics alike.

Simone Dinnerstein
Thurs, April 23, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

American pianist Simone Dinnerstein is a searching and inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. The Independent praises the "majestic originality of her vision" and NPR reports, "She compels the listener to follow her in a journey of discovery filled with unscheduled detours . . . She's actively listening to every note she plays, and the result is a wonderfully expressive interpretation." The New York-based pianist gained an international following because of the remarkable success of her recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which she raised the funds to record. Released in 2007 on Telarc, it ranked No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many "Best of 2007" lists including those of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker.

Angela Hewitt
Monday, May 18, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

One of the world's leading pianists, Angela Hewitt regularly appears in recital and with major orchestras throughout Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Her performances and recordings of Bach have drawn particular praise, distinguishing her as one of the composer's foremost interpreters of our time. Angela Hewitt was named Artist of the Year at the 2006 Gramophone Awards. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000 and was awarded an Order of the British Empire at the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2006.

Miró Quartet
Tuesday, November 18, 2014, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $38-$43

The dynamic Miró Quartet enjoys its place at the top of the international chamber music scene. Now in its second decade, this American quartet continues to captivate audiences with its startling intensity, fresh perspective, and mature approach. Founded in 1995 at the Oberlin Conservatory, the Miró Quartet met with immediate success winning first prize at the 50th annual Coleman Chamber Music Competition in April 1996. In 2005, the Quartet received the Cleveland Quartet Award and was the first ensemble ever to be awarded the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant. Their program includes a newly commissioned string quartet by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gunther Schuller.

Takács Quartet
Tuesday, January 13, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

Recognized as one of the world's great ensembles, the Takács Quartet plays with excitement, warmth and humor, combining four distinct musical personalities to bring fresh insights to the string quartet repertoire. In 2012, Takács was the only string quartet to be inducted into Gramophone's first Hall of Fame. In that same year, the Quartet was appointed as the first-ever Associate Artists at Wigmore Hall in London. Known for their award-winning recordings of the complete Beethoven Cycle, their Meany performance features Beethoven's great Op. 130. Of their Late Quartets, the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote "The Takács might play this repertoire better than any quartet of the past or present."

Jerusalem Quartet
Thursday, February 19, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

Since their debut in 1996, these Israeli musicians continue as acclaimed performers at major venues throughout the world. Their wide repertoire and stunning depth of expression is grounded in a warm, full sound balancing high and low voices that refine its interpretations of the classical repertoire as well as works of our time. Their recordings of Haydn's String Quartets have won BBC Music Magazine and Diapson d'Or Arte awards, while their release of Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" received an ECHO Klassik Award. In 2003, the Quartet was recipient of the first Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and was named as a BBC New Generation Artist. This performance features Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" and Bartok's Quartet No. 4. This will be the Quartet's first Seattle performance.

Catalyst Quartet
Thursday, March 19, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $35-$40

Hailed by The New York Times as "invariably energetic and finely burnished...playing with earthy vigor," the Catalyst Quartet, prize-winners of the Gianni Bergamo Classical Music Award 2012, is comprised of top Laureates of the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Competition. The mission of the ensemble is to advance diversity in classical music and inspire new and young audiences with dynamic performances of cutting-edge repertoire by a wide range of composers. Founded by the Sphinx Organization, the Catalyst Quartet combines a serious commitment to education with a passion for contemporary works. In their Seattle debut, the Quartet will perform a program featuring American composers Jessie Montgomery, Joan Tower, George Philip Walker, Phillip Glass, Samuel Barber, and Gabriela Lena Frank.

Emerson String Quartet
Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

The Emerson String Quartet stands apart in the history of string quartets with an unparalleled list of achievements over three decades: more than thirty acclaimed recordings, nine Grammys (including two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, Musical America's "Ensemble of the Year," and collaborations with many of the greatest artists of our time. For this concert, the Emerson performs a newly commissioned string quartet by Lowell Liebermann, as well as leading works from the standard repertoire.Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer

Wednesday, September 17, 2014, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

Bassist/composer Edgar Meyer and mandolinist/composer Chris Thile, of Punch Brothers, will team up again in Fall 2014. These two MacArthur Fellows will cross traditional boundaries in a diverse program of largely original music. The duo has collaborated on several critically acclaimed projects including the Grammy-winning Goat Rodeo Sessions, a 2008 recording of original compositions (Nonesuch Records) and, most recently, Chris Thile's 2013 solo recording, Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1, produced by Meyer. The duo's next recording of new original material will be released in 2014 on Nonesuch Records.

Marsalis "Well-Tempered"
featuring The English Chamber Orchestra and Branford Marsalis
Saturday, October 4, 2014, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

Renowned Grammy Award-winning saxophonist, Tony Award nominee, and composer Branford Marsalis joins the highly celebrated English Chamber Orchestra in Marsalis "Well-Tempered," performing Baroque masterpieces by Albinoni, Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and others. Known for their "flawless sense of style," (The Times, London), The English Chamber Orchestra has played with many of the world's greatest musicians and is the most recorded chamber orchestra in the world, with a discography of over 1,500 works by more than 400 composers, including the prizewinning soundtracks for Pride and Prejudice and Atonement.

Anoushka Shankar
Friday, November 7, 2014, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

Sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar emits sonic beauty as she explores Indian music, electronica, jazz, flamenco, and Western classical music. The daughter and student of the legendary Ravi Shankar, her genre-defying style produces music as intriguing as it is beautiful. A three-time Grammy nominee, Shankar has collaborated with a diverse roster of artists including Sting, Mstislav Rostropovich, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Thievery Corporation, Herbie Hancock, and her half-sister Norah Jones. In concert, Shankar will perform music from her latest album, Traces of You-an elegant, evocative tribute to her late father.