See What's Happening in February at UMS

February brings a unique blend of performing arts experiences to UMS, including a special program featuring Bruckner Orchester Linz with Beninese vocalist Angélique Kidjo, an inspiring performance by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the grand prize winners of U-M's inaugural M-Prize Chamber Music Competition, an interview-based theater production from Ping Chong + Company, and two Mack Avenue Records artists paying homage to George Gershwin and Jelly Roll Morton.

Read on for more details about these events.

Bruckner Orchester Linz

Dennis Russell Davies, conductor
Angélique Kidjo, vocalist
Martin Achrainer, baritone
Thursday, February 2 // 7:30 pm
Hill Auditorium

This unique concert features an Austrian orchestra performing works by composers who wrote about the experience of Africans and African Americans. The program features baritone Martin Achrainer in Alexander Zemlinsky's Africa Sings, which was written in 1929 and features poetry by Langston Hughes and other prominent writers from the Harlem Renaissance.

The program also includes Philip Glass's recent collaboration with the Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo, based on three poems of Ifé, where the Yoruba people believe the world was created.

Program GershwinPorgy and Bess Suite (arr. Morton Gould) ZemlinskySymphony Songs from Africa Sings, Op. 20EllingtonBlack, Brown, and Beige SuiteGlass Ifé: Three Yorùbá Songs

Presenting Sponsor: U-M Health System
Supporting Sponsor: H. Gardner and Bonnie Ackley Endowment Fund
Media Partners: Ann Arbor's 107one, WDET 101.9 FM, WGTE 91.3 FM, and WRCJ 90.9 FM

More Info Artist Website

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Kaspars Putniš, music director
Friday, February 3 // 8 pm

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir is one of the best-known Estonian music ensembles in the world. The repertoire of the choir extends from Gregorian chant and Baroque to the music of the 21st century.

Coming from a country where musical virtuosity is prized and where the choral tradition is closely linked to a sense of national identity, the 25-voice ensemble returns to Ann arbor with newly-named artistic director Kaspars Putni?š in a program called "The Unorthodox Tradition."

Program SchnittkeThree Sacred HymnsTchaikovsky Nine Sacred Pieces (excerpts)RachmaninoffThe Theotokos Ever-Vigilant in Prayer RachmaninoffAll-Night Vigil (Vespers), Op. 37 (excerpts)Schnittke Penitential Psalms (excerpts)Sviridov Inexpressible Miracle Rachmaninoff Liturgy of St John Chrysostum (excerpt)

More Info Artist Website

M-Prize Winner
Calidore String Quartet

Sunday, February 5 // 4 pm
Rackham Auditorium

The Calidore String Quartet's palpable energy and intelligent, passionate performances have led to international acclaim. In 2016, the ensemble won the grand prize at the inaugural M-Prize Chamber Music Competition at the University of Michigan, was named a BBC New Generation Artist, became the first North American ensemble to win the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, and began a three-year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two.

The group formed at the Colburn School in Los Angeles in 2010, taking its name from their home state of California and the French word for "gold." It counts the Emerson Quartet and violinist Arnold Steinhardt (Guarneri String Quartet) among its mentors.

"The Calidores were remarkable for the precision of their expression, their understated but relentless intensity...the Calidores balanced intellect and expression in such a way as to make them a pleasure to hear all afternoon. Keep your ears out for these young musicians." (Los Angeles Times)

Program MozartQuartet in d minor, K.421/417bCaroline Shaw First Essay: Nimrod (2016)MendelssohnQuartet in e minor, Op. 44, No. 2

Presenting Sponsor: Carl Cohen

Media Partner: WGTE 91.3 FM

More Info Artist Website

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Iván Fischer, conductor
Richard Goode, piano
UMS Choral Union
Laura Aikin, soprano
Kelley O'Connor, mezzo-soprano
Robert Dean Smith, tenor
Matthew Rose, bass
Friday, February 10 // 8 pm
Hill Auditorium

Pianist Richard Goode joins the Budapest Festival Orchestra for this all-Beethoven program after performing the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos with the ensemble in a "truly revolutionary" recording. (New Yorker)

The concert also features the 175-voice Grammy Award-winning UMS Choral Union in a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. As the University of Michigan celebrates its bicentennial in 2017, this program commemorates the role of the volunteer UMS Choral Union in the University's history, as an organization that has brought together the campus and the community in making music for nearly 140 years.

Program BeethovenSymphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 BeethovenPiano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in d minor, Op. 125

A Prelude Dinner precedes the performance. Reservations: 734.764.8489.

Supporting Sponsor: Karl V. Hauser and Ilene H. Forsyth Choral Union Endowment Fund, Sesi Motors, and Jim Toy, honoring the distinguished service of U-M Regent Laurence B. Deitch

Media Partners: WGTE 91.3 FM and WRCJ 90.9 FM

More Info Artist Website

Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity
Ping Chong Company

Written by Ping Chong and Sara Zatz, with Ryan Conarro
Saturday, February 18 // 8 pm
Power Center

This interview-based theater production by Ping Chong + Company explores the diverse experiences of young Muslim New Yorkers. The five participants in Beyond Sacred vary in many ways, but share the common experience of coming of age in a post-9/11 New York City, at a time of increasing Islamophobia.

Participants come from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds and include men and women that reflect a wide range of Muslim identities, including those who have converted to Islam, those who were raised Muslim, but have since left the faith, those who identify as "secular" or "culturally" Muslim, and those who are observant on a daily basis.

Beyond Sacred, part of Chong's 25-year series entitled Undesirable Elements, intends to illuminate daily experiences of Muslims, and work toward greater communication and understanding among Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

Ping Chong + Company creates theater that crosses boundaries of identity, community, and form. Chong's projects have explored a wide variety of subject matter, from a hidden genocide in Africa to class struggles in America and modernization in China, but the common thread is a unifying commitment to artistic innovation and social responsibility.

This performance will be American Sign Language interpreted.

Free Related Events:
Penny Stamps Lecture Series: Ping Chong
Established with the generous support of alumna Penny W. Stamps, the Speaker Series brings respected innovators from a broad spectrum of fields to the School to conduct a public lecture and engage with students, faculty, and the larger U-M and Ann Arbor communities. Thursday, February 16 from 5-6:30 pm at Michigan Theater (603 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor).

Investigating Islam: A Community Forum
Moderator Pauline Jones (director of the U-M Digital Islamic Studies Curriculum and professor of political science) and panelists participate in a town hall style meeting that explores the regional and global impact of Islamic cultures, and examines ways to counteract Islamophobia in our community. Panelists include Beyond Sacred cast members Kadin Herring and Amir Khafagy, and U-M associate professor of history Butch Ware. In collaboration with the U-M Digital Islamic Studies Curriculum and the U-M International Institute. Friday, February 17 from 2-4 pm in Hatcher Graduate Library Gallery (913 S University Ave, Ann Arbor).

Post-Performance Artist Q&A
Get a glimpse into the lives and minds of the artists who bring creativity to the stage. Saturday, February 18, post-performance in the Power Center auditorium.

Supporting Sponsor: Digital Islamic Studies Program of the International Institute, University of Michigan

Funded in Part By: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Endowment Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts

Media Partner: Michigan Radio 91.7 FM

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