Virginia Arts Festival Announces Its 2010 Performances

Since 1997, the Virginia Arts Festival has transformed the cultural scene in southeastern Virginia, presenting great performers from around the world to local audiences and making this historic, recreation-rich region a cultural destination for visitors from across the United States and around the world.

In its 14th season, the Virginia Arts Festival will bring dozens of performances to Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, and their surrounding communities, April 15-May 30, 2010.

Performances include the exclusive United States performances of Britain's acclaimed Birmingham Royal Ballet; a spectacular new staging of Leonard Bernstein's Mass; commissioned by the Virginia Arts Festival; an all-new Virginia International Tattoo featuring hundreds of performers from six countries; plus riveting modern dance and contemporary ballet, colorful performance traditions from around the world, and concerts reflecting an array of musical styles, from classical artists to bluegrass, jazz, rock and more.

In its 2010 performances, the Virginia Arts Festival proudly joins in Virginia's Statewide Celebration of Women in the Arts, "Minds Wide Open," presenting many performances by acclaimed female artists and dances by women choreographers.

Dazzling Dance

The Festival's 2010 dance offerings begin with performance by Tony Award-winning choreographer Garth Fagan, creator of the unforgettable dances in the Broadway smash The Lion King. Garth Fagan Dance performs April 15 in Norfolk's Chrysler Hall.

Britain's famed Birmingham Royal Ballet enchanted Festival-goers in 2007 with its lavish production of The Sleeping Beauty, winning standing ovations from sellout audiences. Now the company returns with another of ballet's great classics, Swan Lake, hailed by critics for its "dramatic intensity, high-flying dancing...holds its place amongst the world's great productions" (The Stage). The Birmingham Royal Ballet performs May 7-9 at Norfolk's Chrysler Hall with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra playing one of history's most memorable ballet scores; performances include a Student Matinee performance Friday, May 7.

Pilobolus Dance Theatre, the groundbreaking modern dance company co-founded by Moses Pendleton in 1971, performs May 15 and 16 in Virginia Beach's Sandler Center for the Performing Arts. Known for its acrobatic, strikingly visual, mesmerizing performances, Pilobolus is beloved by audiences as "that rarity of rarities: a profoundly serious artistic enterprise that has successfully reached out to a popular audience" (New York Daily News).

Though its official title is "State Ballet of Virginia," the fluid, beautifully trained Richmond Ballet is made up of dancers from around the world, and its fan base extends across the United States. The company will perform three contemporary ballets May 23 at Newport News' Ferguson Center for the Arts: Val Caniparoli's sleek, neoclassical Violin, set to a richly dramatic score by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber; choreographer Jessica Lang's To Familiar Spaces in Dream, danced to music by Philip Glass, John Cage, and Craig Armstrong; and Mauricio Wainrot's earthy Voyages, featuring music from all over the globe.

Classical Music

From intimate chamber concerts to a stunning new production of one of the largest and most controversial music/theater works ever created-Leonard Bernstein's Mass-the 2010 Virginia Arts Festival offers great music for every taste this spring.

Leonard Bernstein's Mass
The largest and most theatrical of the great composer/conductor's works, Mass is a simple name for a soaring work that fills the stage with choruses, a Broadway-sized cast, an orchestra, and even a rock band. This stunning new production of Bernstein's 1971 masterpiece combines music by Bernstein, Paul Simon, and Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, with stage direction by Pam Berlin, and will feature the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Todd Rosenlieb dancers, Virginia Symphony Chorus, Virginia Children's Chorus, and a host of gifted singers in what promises to be the musical event of the year. Patrons may choose from two performances, April 23 and 24 in Norfolk's Chrysler Hall.

Chamber Music

Classical guitarist David Russell brings "luminous sound and elegant simplicity" (The Ann Arbor News) to Norfolk's Chrysler Museum Theater, April 27.

Young artists take on ancient music when the Venice Baroque Orchestra breathes new life into baroque masterworks, April 28 in Portsmouth's Trinity Episcopal Church. .

Chopin lovers may hear "one of the master's most authoritative interpreters" (Chicago Tribune) when virtuoso pianist Maurizio Pollini performs in Norfolk's Harrison Opera House, May 4.

The prize-winning Cavani String Quartet performs May 6 in Norfolk's Chrysler Museum Theater.

Cantus, an all-male vocal ensemble combines innovative programming with heart-felt singing in an evening of a cappella songs in a concert that is sure to move you to your feet at its conclusion. April 19 in Old Dominion University's Chandler Hall Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center, Norfolk.

Virginia Symphony Music Director JoAnn Falletta joins the Women of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra for a special concert in the spirit of Virginia's statewide celebration of women in the arts, May 10 at Norfolk's Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

The acclaimed Orion String Quartet performs in Hampton's American Theatre, May 20, and then joins the Festival's Artistic Director for Chamber Music, renowned pianist Andre-Michel Schub May 23 at the Williamsburg Winery.

The one-of-a-kind quintet Boston Brass brings varied repertoire lightened by lively repartee, May 21 at Newport News' Ferguson Center for the Arts.

The electrifying young cellist Alisa Weilerstein performs in recital May 27 at the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church, which will be recorded live for American Public Media's "Performance Today" radio broadcast. Ms. Weilerstein then performs with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by JoAnn Falletta, May 30 at the Williamsburg Lodge Virginia Room.

A perennial favorite of chamber music lovers, the Festival's "Coffee Concerts" return, bringing great artists in chamber masterworks performed in acoustically superb settings, served up with convivial company. The adventurous recorder ensemble, Quartet New Generation, performs April 27 in Hampton; the Cavani String Quartet performs May 4 in Portsmouth's Trinity Episcopal Church; pianist André Michel Schub performs with the Orion String Quartet, May 20 in the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts' Miller Studio Theater in Virginia Beach; and Virginia Symphony Music Director JoAnn Falletta gathers the Women of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra for a unique concert May 28 in the Williamsburg Winery.
Performance Traditions from Around the World

The Russian folk dance spectacular Nalmes fills the stage with 35 dancers and musicians in traditional costumes May 2 at Newport News' Ferguson Center for the Arts and May 3 at Norfolk's TCC Roper Performing Arts Center.

The Republic of Korea Traditional Army Band performs on brilliantly colored, richly detailed drums of all sizes, flourishing their instruments in choreography that bristles with the power of martial arts, April 29 at Norfolk's Chrysler Hall.

The orphaned youngsters of the African Children's Choir travel the world performing songs that ring with hope and promise, raising money for their own education and that of thousands more needy children; they perform May 12 at the Attucks Theatre in Norfolk.

Sitarist Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the great Ravi Shankar and a star in her own right, will perform in Norfolk's TCC Roper Performing Arts Center, April 16.

Music and Entertainment for Every Taste

On four Saturday evenings during the Festival, Norfolk's historic Attucks Theatre hosts the Attucks Jazz Club, April 24, May 1, May 8, and May 15.

Bluegrass fans can hear some of Virginia most accomplished traditional musicians, including balladeer Elizabeth LaPrelle, guitarist and guitar maker Wayne Henderson, lightning-fast banjo picker Sammy Shelor, fiddler and banjo players Kirk Sutphin and Eddie Bond, the Whitetop Mountain Band, and Amber Collins and No Speed Limit, in Music from the Crooked Road, April 18 at TCC Roper Performing Arts Center in Norfolk.

Known for taking long, serious subjects and reducing them into short, sharp comedies, the Reduced Shakespeare Company boils the Bard's entire oeuvre down to 97 hilarious minutes in The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged), April 21-25 in Norfolk's Wells Theatre.

Sideman to Sting, Joni Mitchell, and Paul Simon, trumpeter Chris Botti is a superstar on his own, as his chart-topping recordings and sold-out concerts attest. Botti performs May 14 at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach.

From Brent Havens, the creator of the spectacular "Music of Led Zeppelin," comes the newest rock-symphonic celebration: Music of Queen: A Rock Symphony. Performed by a 50-piece orchestra, rock band, and Vegas star Brody Dolyniuk recreating Freddie Mercury's famous vocals, the show showcases Queen's biggest hits, including "We Will Rock You," "Somebody to Love," and "We Are the Champions," May 21 in Newport News' Ferguson Center for the Arts.

Banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck explores "The Melody of Rhythm" with Zakir Hussain, tabla, and Edgar Meyer, double-bass in the Williamsburg Lodge Virginia Room, May 28.

Among the highlights of the 2009 Festival were Patti LuPone's intimate, cabaret-style performances in the Williamsburg Lodge Virginia Room. The tradition continues in 2010 when three time Tony nominee Kelli O'Hara steps into the Festival's Broadway Spotlight, May 29. Ms. O'Hara was most recently on Broadway as Nellie Forbush in "South Pacific."

Virginia International Tattoo

A tradition since the beginning of the Virginia Arts Festival, the Virginia International Tattoo honors a military tradition that dates back centuries, bringing military bands and performers from around the world to perform in Norfolk, a city with a proud military history. The Virginia International Tattoo has grown to become one of the largest such celebrations in the world, and has been designated a "Top Internationally Known Event" and one of the "Top 100 Events in North America" by the American Bus Association. The Virginia International Tattoo will bring more than 850 performers from Canada, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States to Norfolk's Scope Arena in an awe-inspiring display of music and might, April 30, May 1, and May 2.

Outdoor Celebrations

Two popular outdoor celebrations return in the 2010 Festival: the Virginia Beer Festival brings brews from distinguished international and American beer-makers, along with music and fun, to Norfolk's Town Point Park May 15. Also, the PANorama Caribbean Festival celebrates the steel drum in oceanfront performances in Virginia Beach, May 8, 9, 10. Returning this spring for the second time, the World Drum Festival at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, May 22.

Purchasing Tickets for Virginia Arts Festival Events

Tickets for 2010 Virginia Arts Festival performances are on sale starting February 7 and can be purchased at www.vafest.org or by phone at 800-982-ARTS. For more information call 757-282-2822.

 

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