Trevor Noah, Wynton Marsalis & More Announced for University Musical Society 2022-2023 Season

The University Musical Society has announced its 144th season, which runs from September 2022 through April 2023. One of the most acclaimed and innovative performing art presenters in the nation, UMS offers expansive programming that creates unique and engaging ways for audiences to connect with the artists on stage through live performances, education and community engagement events, and digital programming. Committed to serving the Southeast Michigan community and inspiring individuals through uncommon artistic experiences, UMS commissions and produces new work, nurtures artistic relationships through artist residencies, and organizes collaborative projects with local, national, and international partners. After presenting a paired down season amid the global pandemic in 2021/22, UMS returns with a full docket of music, dance, and theater performances for the 144th season. A complete list of performances by series is included at the end of this release, and a chronological listing is available for download at ums.org/press.

Season tickets go on sale on Tuesday, May 10, and tickets to individual events will be available on Tuesday, August 2. Current season ticket holders may renew beginning Thursday, April 28. Season ticket packages are available at ums.org or by calling 734-764-2538. Phone lines are open Monday-Friday from 10 am to 5 pm, with the in-person Ticket Office open at the Michigan League from 1-5 pm Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday each week.

"After a year in which many artists and large ensembles were rightly cautious about touring, we are excited to announce that our 2022/23 season showcases a scale of season that feels more familiar, including the return of our popular genre-based fixed packages," said UMS president Matthew VanBesien. "No fewer than six great orchestras will appear on the the Hill Auditorium stage, including orchestras whose leaders are all taking an exciting, thoughtful, active approach to reshaping much of their programming, charting a more inclusive future that is long overdue.

"We're also thrilled to be in partnership once again with our longtime friends Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra - this time in a week-long residency that will include both his symphonic masterpiece All Rise and a big band concert by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, as well as a featured appearance during a Michigan Marching Band halftime show."

UMS anticipates that the 2022/23 season may be a return to a pre-pandemic normal, at least in terms of health and safety requirements for live events. Specific protocols will be announced closer to the beginning of the fall season, and season ticket holders will continue to have complete flexibility when it comes to ticket returns and exchanges.

Digital programs will continue and will be announced throughout the season.

Season Launches with Trevor Noah Tour

Trevor Noah opens UMS's 144th season with a bang in his stand-up set "Back to Abnormal" on Friday, September 16 at 8 pm in Hill Auditorium. Following his widely-viewed virtual talk with U-M students in 2020, Noah, the host of Comedy Central's Emmy and Peabody Award-winning The Daily Show, comes to Ann Arbor for his first live UMS stand-up set. Noah is widely known for his social commentary touching upon issues of racism, immigration, incarceration, and the protest movement. Born in South Africa to a Black South African mother and a white European father during apartheid, Noah knows what it means to live in a divided nation, and he brings a unique perspective in his incisive social and political criticism of the larger issues at play in the U.S. and in the world today.

Wynton Marsalis Returns for Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Residency

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis returns to Ann Arbor for a week-long residency that will include two public concerts, a School Day Performance for K-12 students, connections with students at the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance - and a halftime appearance with the Michigan Marching Band! On Friday, October 14 at 8 pm in Hill Auditorium, the ensemble will be joined by the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra and Choirs, as well as the UMS Choral Union, for Marsalis's epic blues suite, All Rise (Symphony No. 1). Blending influences from African chant, New Orleans parade music, gospel, symphonic modernism, and Latin-based music, All Rise is a 12-movement arc built on the structure of the Blues that moves from uplifting and energetic to dark and distressing to Marsalis's vision of the "togetherness and ascendance" of humanity.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis returns in its big band format for an afternoon of jazz Sunday, October 16 at 4 pm in Hill Auditorium. In between the two performances, the group will be the featured performer for the Michigan Marching Band's halftime show during the Penn State game on Saturday, October 15.

11-Concert Choral Union Series Features Six Orchestras, Including Two Concerts with Berlin Philharmonic

In addition to the performance of Wynton Marsalis's All Rise on Friday, October 14, the Choral Union Series includes performances by six visiting orchestras. The Berlin Philharmonic's new chief conductor, Kirill Petrenko, makes his UMS debut with this two-concert residency, one of only a handful appearances by the celebrated ensemble in the US this season. For his debut concert on Friday, November 18, he conducts Andrew Norman's 10-minute orchestral joyride Unstuck, Mozart's first violin concerto, and Erich Korngold's only symphony. The second program, on Saturday, November 19, features Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 7. Other orchestral appearances include the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mirga Gražinyt?--Tyla and featuring cello soloist Sheku Kanneh-Mason (Wednesday, October 19), the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra on its 25th anniversary tour with conductor Tito Muñoz and soprano Aundi Moore (Sunday, January 29), the Brno Philharmonic, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies (Friday, February 10), Daniel Hope with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (Friday, March 17), and the Chineke! Orchestra from England, with conductor Andrew Grams and violinist Elena Urioste (Saturday, March 25).

Featured recitalists include pianist Sir András Schiff (Friday, October 7); violinist Itzhak Perlman along with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Emanuel Ax, and the Juilliard String Quartet (Saturday, December 10); and violinist Joshua Bell (Tuesday, February 7).

The 11-concert series costs $184-$850.

Six-Concert Chamber Arts Series Balances Old and New

The six-concert Chamber Arts Series features three string quartets, including the farewell tour of the Emerson String Quartet (Saturday, October 1), and the return of the Danish String Quartet as part of its Doppelgänger initiative (Friday, October 28) and the Takács Quartet with pianist Jeremy Denk (Wednesday, January 18). Detailed programs are listed at the end of this release.

The series also features pianist Aaron Diehl in a program that explores the intersection of J.S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier and bebop (Friday, January 27); the great Iraqi maqam singer Farida, performing with the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble (Sunday, March 19); and Julius Eastman's Femenine, performed by the chamber music collective Wild Up, led by Christopher Rountree (Sunday, April 16).

The six-concert Chamber Arts Series is available for $140-$280.

Dance Series Features Performances in Ann Arbor and Detroit

The pioneering work of the late choreographer Pina Bausch is on display for the first time at UMS, as part of a pairing with a new work created, performed, and inspired by the lives of two remarkable women: École des Sables of Senegal founder Germaine Acogny and Malou Airaudo, an iconic dancer in early works from Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. The performances, on Friday-Saturday, October 21-22 at Ann Arbor's Power Center, feature a newly assembled company of dancers from more than a dozen African countries performing Bausch's The Rite of Spring from 1975, followed by the new work common ground[s].

UMS partners with Detroit Opera in the 2022/23 season, bringing the French company Ballet Preljocaj to Detroit for the first time after several appearances in Ann Arbor since its 2001 debut. UMS and Detroit Opera will co-present Ballet Preljocaj's Swan Lake for three performances Friday-Sunday, February 17-19, putting a contemporary take on Tchaikovsky's classical masterpiece. Artistic director Angelin Preljocaj reinvents the timeless tale of love, betrayal, seduction, and remorse into a contemporary ecological tragedy, with the evil sorcerer von Rothbart portrayed as an industrialist who wants to exploit fossil fuels against a backdrop of unbridled capitalism, while Siegfried and Odette are the two eco-conscious heroes who try to thwart his plans.

And the country's first professional dance company dedicated to the tradition of stepping, Step Afrika! makes its UMS debut in Hill Auditorium on Sunday, March 12 in Hill Auditorium.

The three-performance Dance Series is available for $140-$210.

Jazz Series Includes Five Performances

In addition to the two performances by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (All Rise on Friday, October 14 and the big band concert on Sunday, October 16), the Jazz Series includes two women at the forefront of jazz today: Maria Schneider, making her UMS debut (Saturday, March 11) and Cécile McLorin Salvant, who makes her Hill Auditorium debut after several appearances in other Ann Arbor venues (Friday, April 14). Additionally, Aaron Diehl brings his trio to Rackham Auditorium in a program that explores the intersection between J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and bebop, in a program that is cross-packaged with the Chamber Arts Series (Friday, January 27).

The five- concert Jazz Series is available for $190-$260.

No Safety Net 3.0 Creates Space for Community Dialogue on Socially-Engaged Art

UMS's renegade theater festival, No Safety Net, returns for its third installment in January-February 2023. The festival launches with the Belgian theater company Ontroerend Goed with a uniquely palindromic work about the environment, - a piece that uses creative stagecraft to give hope that we can undo some of the damage that has already been done. Details on the remaining productions and artists, along with a robust set of contextual activities, will be announced in Fall 2022.

Plus Much More - Including Series:You and Marathon Series!

Additional events in the UMS season include Trevor Noah's Back to Abnormal Tour, which opens the season on Friday, September 16; the great Mexican ranchera singer Aida Cuevas (Friday, November 4); the annual performances of Handel's Messiah (Saturday-Sunday, December 3-4); and a double bill of Béla Fleck's My Bluegrass Heart and Punch Brothers (Friday, December 16).

All of these events, in addition to those listed above, are available for UMS's "choose your own" series, Series:You. Series:You buyers must select at least five events from the UMS season for a 10% discount. Those who wish to purchase all 28 different programs - Marathon Series Subscribers - receive a 25% discount.

Information about contextual events for audiences, as well as other education and community engagement activities, will be announced in the fall, and free digital programs will be announced throughout the season.

Ticketing Information for the 2022/23 Season

Season Tickets will be available to the public beginning Tuesday, May 10. Tickets to individual events will go on sale on Tuesday, August 2. To be added to the mailing list, please contact the UMS Ticket Office at 734.764.2538 or visit ums.org.

Phone lines are open Monday-Friday from 10 am to 5 pm, with the in-person Ticket Office open at the Michigan League from 1-5 pm Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday each week.

About UMS

A recipient of the 2014 National Medal of Arts, UMS (also known as the University Musical Society) contributes to a vibrant cultural community by connecting audiences with performing artists from around the world in uncommon and engaging experiences. One of the oldest performing arts presenters in the country, UMS is an independent non-profit organization affiliated with the University of Michigan, presenting up to 70 music, theater, and dance performances by professional touring artists each season, along with over 100 free educational activities. UMS is committed to bold artistic leadership, engaged learning through the arts, and access and inclusiveness. Since 1990, the organization has co-commissioned and supported the production of nearly 80 new or reimagined works. Matthew VanBesien became the organization's seventh president in July 2017.

UMS 2022/23 SEASON

Digital Programs and Education and Community Engagement activities to be announced

SEPTEMBER

Trevor Noah: Back to Abnormal

Friday, September 16 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

OCTOBER

Emerson String Quartet

Saturday, October 1 // 8 pm

Rackham Auditorium

Program

Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12

Johannes Brahms String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 67

George Walker Lyric for Strings

Antonín Dvořák String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat Major, Op. 105

Sir András Schiff, piano

Friday, October 7 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Wynton Marsalis's All Rise

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra and Choirs

Kenneth Kiesler, conductor

Friday, October 14 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Sunday, October 16 // 4 pm

Hill Auditorium

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Mirga Gražinyt?--Tyla, conductor

Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello

Wednesday, October 19 // 7:30 pm

Hill Auditorium

Program

Benjamin Britten Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes

Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in e minor, Op. 85

Thomas Adès The Exterminating Angel Symphony

Claude Debussy La mer

The Rite of Spring / common ground[s]

Pina Bausch Foundation and École des Sables of Senegal

Pina Bausch / Germaine Acogny & Malou Airaudo, choreographers

Friday, October 21 // 8 pm

Saturday, October 22 // 8 pm

Power Center

Danish String Quartet

Friday, October 28 // 8 pm

Rackham Auditorium

Program

Franz Schubert Quartet No. 14 in d minor, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden")

Lotta Wennäkoski Pige

Franz Schubert "Death and the Maiden" (Song arr. by the Danish String Quartet)

NOVEMBER

Aida Cuevas

Friday, November 4 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Berliner Philharmoniker

Kirill Petrenko, chief conductor

Noah Bendix-Balgley, violin

Friday, November 18 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Program

Andrew Norman Unstuck

W.A. Mozart Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Major, K. 207

Erich Korngold Symphony in F-Sharp Major, Op. 40

Berliner Philharmoniker

Kirill Petrenko, chief conductor

Saturday, November 19 // 8:30 pm

Hill Auditorium

Program

Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 7

DECEMBER

Handel's Messiah

UMS Choral Union

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra

Scott Hanoian, conductor

Saturday, December 3 // 7:30 pm

Sunday, December 4 // 2 pm

Hill Auditorium

Itzhak Perlman and Friends

Itzhak Perlman, violin

Emanuel Ax, piano

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

Juilliard String Quartet

Saturday, December 10 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Program

Jean-Marie Leclair Sonata for Two Violins in e minor, Op. 3, No. 5

W.A. Mozart Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major, K. 493

Ernest Chausson Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21

Special Double-Bill Performance!

Béla Fleck's My Bluegrass Heart and Punch Brothers

Friday, December 16 // 7:30 pm

Hill Auditorium

JANUARY

Takács Quartet

with Jeremy Denk, piano

Wednesday, January 18 // 7:30 pm

Rackham Auditorium

Program

Franz Joseph Haydn String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77, No. 1

Fanny Mendelssohn Quartet in E-Flat Major

Robert Schumann Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major, Op. 44

Are we not drawn onward to new erA

Ontroerend Goed

Alexander Devriendt, director

Friday, January 20 // 8 pm

Saturday, January 21 // 8 pm

Power Center

Aaron Diehl Trio: Mirror

Friday, January 27 // 8 pm

Rackham Auditorium

Sphinx Symphony Orchestra

EXIGENCE

Tito Muñoz, conductor

Aundi Moore, soprano

Sunday, January 29 // 4 pm

Hill Auditorium

Program

Carlos Simon Motherboxx Connection

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Ballade for Orchestra

Valerie Coleman Seven O'Clock Shout

Michael Abels Delights and Dances

Traditional, arr. Augustus Hill Fix Me, Jesus

Carlos Cordero Holding Our Breath

Joel Thompson Seven Last Words of the Unarmed

John Legend / Common, arr. Eugene Rogers "Glory" from Selma

FEBRUARY

Joshua Bell, violin

Tuesday, February 7 // 7:30 pm

Hill Auditorium

Brno Philharmonic

Dennis Russell Davies, conductor

Brass from the U-M Symphony Band

UMS Choral Union

Christian Schmitt, organ

Friday, February 10 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Program

Leoš Janáček Sinfonietta

William Bolcom Humoresk for Organ and Orchestra

Leoš Janáček Glagolitic Mass

Ballet Preljocaj: Swan Lake

Angelin Preljocaj, artistic director and choreographer

Friday, February 17 // 7:30 pm

Saturday, February 18 // 7:30 pm

Sunday, February 19 // 2:30 pm

Detroit Opera House

MARCH

Maria Schneider Orchestra

Saturday, March 11 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Step Afrika!

C. Brian Williams, founder and artistic director

Sunday, March 12 // 4 pm

Hill Auditorium

Daniel Hope, violin

with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra

Friday, March 17 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Program

Aaron Copland "Hoe-Down" from Rodeo

Duke Ellington "Come Sunday" from Black, Brown and Beige

Florence Price Adoration

Kurt Weill American Song Suite

Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings, Op. 11

Aaron Copland "At the River" from Old American Songs

Philip Glass Echorus

George Gershwin Song Suite

Farida and the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble

Sunday, March 19 // 4 pm

Rackham Auditorium

Chineke! Orchestra

Andrew Grams, conductor

Elena Urioste, violin

Saturday, March 25 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Program

Carlos Simon Fate Now Conquers

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Violin Concerto in g minor

Florence Price Symphony No. 1 in e minor

APRIL

Cécile McLorin Salvant

Cécile McLorin Salvant, vocals

Sullivan Fortner, piano

Marvin Sewell, guitars

Alexa Tarantino, flutes

Keita Ogawa, drums and percussion

Friday, April 14 // 8 pm

Hill Auditorium

Julius Eastman's Femenine

Wild Up

Christopher Rountree, music director

Sunday, April 16 // 4 pm

Rackham Auditorium

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