Folk Singer-Songwriter Carrie Newcomer Coming to Pepperdine's Smothers Theatre

Folk singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer brings her intimate, introspective performance to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre at 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 21 at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts.

Tickets, starting at $20 for adults and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or visiting arts.pepperdine.edu.

Described as a "prairie mystic" by the Boston Globe, Newcomer is known for her "deep, rich alto and penchant for exquisite melodies," and interweaving her music with her contemplative Quaker faith. Newcomer has shared the stage with artists like Alison Krauss, and has collaborated with influential authors, scientists, and theologians like Parker J. Palmer, Jill Bolte Taylor, Philip Gulley, Scott Russell Sanders, Rabbi Sandy Sasso, and Barbara Kingsolver. Both a performer and educator, Newcomer speaks and teaches about creativity, vocation, and activism at colleges, conventions, and retreats. She has appeared on programs such as public radio's On Being with Krista Tippett and PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, where she has discussed her use of creative art-form as a spiritual/mindfulness practice, her work in social/environmental justice, interfaith dialogue, progressive spirituality, and as a champion for a new political conversation.

In the fall of 2009 and 2011 Newcomer was a cultural ambassador to India, invited by the American Embassy of India. In October 2011, she released her interfaith collaborative benefit album, Everything is Everywhere, with world master of the Indian Sarod, Amjad Ali Khan. In June 2012 Carrie Newcomer traveled to Kenya, Africa, performing in schools, hospitals, spiritual communities, and AIDS hospitals. In 2013 Carrie visited organizations dedicated to nonviolent conflict resolution through the arts and the empowerment of women in the Middle East. Huffington Post Religion Community listed her song, "Holy as the Day is Spent," as one of the best spiritual songs of 2012. She was listed as one of "the 50 most influential folk musicians of the past 50 years" by Chicago's WFMT. Boston's WBEZ listed her as one of the most influential folk artists of the last 25 years.

Newcomer has written two collections of essays and poetry as companion pieces to her most recent albums: A Permeable Life: Poems and Essays (2016), and The Beautiful Not Yet: Poems and Essays (2014). In 2016, Goshen College awarded her with an honorary degree of Bachelor's of Music in Social Change.

Newcomer's first theatrical production, Betty's Diner: The Musical, was produced as part of the Purdue University 2015/2016 theatrical season to rave reviews and a totally sold out run. The music for Betty's Diner: The Musical was written in collaboration with Richard K. Thomas and arranged by Gary Walters.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from over 800 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.

IF YOU GO:

CARRIE NEWCOMER

Sunday, January 21, 2018 at 7 p.m.

At Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA

Tickets: (310) 506-4522 or arts.pepperdine.edu

Prices: $20-$40 for adults, $10 for Pepperdine students