Stanford Live Announces 2013-14 Season

• Highlights include Season-Opening concert with Itzhak Perlman and the Perlman Music Program, evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin and recitals by violinist Joshua Bell, sopranos Deborah Voigt and Angela Brown, and pianist Richard Goode

• World premiere of Linked Verse, a collaboration between Stanford assistant professor of music Jaroslaw Kapuscinski and artistic collective OpenEndedGroup, features evening-length concerto for cello, shô and live 3D stereoscopic visual projection

• New project Atlantic Crossing brings San Francisco’s Chanticleer and New Century Chamber Orchestra together for first collaboration

• Dance returns with multi-performance Jérôme Bel festival, presented in association with Stanford Dance Department, and two appearances by Brazil’s ballet company Grupo Corpo

• San Francisco Opera’s Falstaff, starring Bryn Terfel, to be simulcast live to Frost Amphitheater

The 2013-14 Stanford Live season, announced today by executive director Wiley Hausam, will feature nearly 40 music, dance and multimedia events from September 22 to May 16 on the Stanford University campus. All but a few performances will take place at the recently opened Bing Concert Hall.

Highlights include the world premiere of Linked Verse, a multimedia collaboration between Stanford composer Jaroslaw Kapuscinski and New York’s OpenEndedGroup, presented with the Department of Music; new works by Philip Glass, Samuel Carl Adams and Valentin Silvestrov; a special concert with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin; a festival of works by French choreographer Jérôme Bel, co-presented with Stanford Dance Department; collaboration between Chanticleer and the New Century Chamber Orchestra entitled Atlantic Crossing; performances by the Young Virtuosos of the Perlman Music Program, the Estonian National Symphony, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra of Israel and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; a live simulcast of San Francisco Opera’s Falstaff, starring Bryn Terfel; appearances by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the fado singer Mariza and the Asif Ali Khan Ensemble; and recitals by violinist Joshua Bell, sopranos Deborah Voigt and Angela Brown, and pianist Richard Goode.

Subscription packages are now on sale and single tickets go on sale Saturday, September 7.

“Bing Concert Hall has indeed been transformational for music at Stanford and on the Peninsula,” says executive director Wiley Hausam. “Stanford Live’s second season will advance an exciting new era for the arts at Stanford. In particular, Bing is an ideal environment for the nuanced, delicate and complex textures of the string quartet literature and next season we will focus our chamber music program around a deep exploration of that repertoire. The heart of our chamber experience is the St. Lawrence String Quartet who will also sponsor a young quartet, the Aeolus, whom we are excited to introduce to our audience. To these, we add the unstoppable Kronos and the Takács, one of the world’s preeminent interpreters of Bartók’s string quartets.”

Bing Concert Hall has indeed been transformational for music at Stanford and on the Peninsula.

“We’ve also broadened the scope of offerings in our second season with an eclectic mix of world music and—which I’m extremely pleased to announce—dance performances. The French choreographer Jérôme Bel will bring us a festival of three different pieces, which we will present with the Stanford Dance Division. The acclaimed Brazilian company, Grupo Corpo, known for their joyous and sensuous athleticism, will present entirely different but equally satisfying work.”

The main hub for Stanford Live’s artistic presentations is the 842-seat Bing Concert Hall. “Architecturally and acoustically, it is without peer,” wrote San Francisco Classical Voice following the January 11 opening. Bing features an award-winning design team led by Richard Olcott of Ennead Architects, with acoustic design by Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics and theatrical design by Fisher Dachs Associates. A major milestone in the university’s Arts Initiative, Bing provides students, faculty, artists and the Bay Area community with an exceptional new resource for creative exploration.

Chamber & Recital

The grand master of the violin Itzhak Perlman will open the 2013-14 Season (Sept. 22) with his Perlman Music Program, which offers a musical community to young virtuoso musicians. Perlman will act as the host and conductor of this special concert.

Stanford’s Grammy-nominated resident ensemble, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, will launch its annual Sundays with the St. Lawrence series with a program featuring the West Coast premiere of a new string quartet by Stanford alumnus Samuel Carl Adams (Oct. 13). The SLSQ returns twice more, with San Francisco Symphony principal violist Jonathan Vinocour (Jan. 12) and soprano Jessica Rivera (Apr. 27).

Celebrating its 40th-anniversary season, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet returns to Bing Concert Hall (Jan. 15) with a Stanford-only program featuring two new Kronos-commissioned works by Philip Glass and Valentin Silvestrov. In its first appearance at Bing, the Hungarian Takács Quartet—one of the world’s consummate interpreters of Bartók’s string quartets—brings Bartók’s entire cycle to Stanford in two evenings (Jan. 25 & 26).

Stanford Live welcomes Joshua Bell, one of the world’s most celebrated musicians, in a solo violin recital (Feb. 8). Two internationally renowned Bay Area ensembles, Chanticleer and the New Century Chamber Orchestra, will join forces for the first time in a unique combination of male chorus and chamber orchestra (Mar. 20). Entitled Atlantic Crossing, the work evokes the time between the two world wars, imagining a cruise ship traveling between Germany and New York and incorporating the music of the 1920s and 1930s.

Stanford Live introduces the Aeolus Quartet (Apr. 6), a young ensemble championed by Stanford’s own St. Lawrence String Quartet and a participant in their summer seminar series. And finally, pianist Richard Goode closes the season with a solo recital (May 16). He has been acknowledged worldwide as one of today’s leading interpreters of Classical and Romantic music and is the first American-born musician to have recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas—a recording that was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Symphonic Music

After the success of the Department of Music’s sold-out Beethoven Project, the Stanford Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra will present another series of concerts at Bing Concert Hall in 2013-14. The full schedule and program will be announced in September.

Neeme Järvi will lead the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (Nov. 2) with Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, winner of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition. First seen in the U.S. in 2009, the orchestra enjoys increasing acclaim for its concerts, Grammy Award-winning recordings and festival appearances in Scandinavia, elsewhere in Europe and in the former Soviet Union.

Stanford Live’s partnership continues with the most lauded period-instrument orchestras in the country, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. The four-concert series, with Nicolas McGegan conducting, offers a “Grand Tour” of Europe with Baroque music from London, Berlin, Vienna and Venice (Dec. 10, Feb. 5, Mar. 6, Apr. 2).

Stanford Live also welcomes Israel’s illustrious Haifa Symphony Orchestra on its first coast-to-coast tour of the United States (Mar. 16). Under the direction of Music Director Noam Sheriff, the orchestra will be joined by virtuoso pianist Roman Rabinovich—the 2008 winner of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition.

New Music

Bing Concert Hall has proved to be a multimedia venue “made for adventure” (Los Angeles Times) and Stanford Live will continue to explore the technological capabilities, which were hinted at during the inaugural season’s commissions from artists such as Laurie Anderson with the Kronos Quartet and Stanford composer Jonathan Berger.

Next season, Stanford Live and the Department of Music will present the world premiere of a newly commissioned work, Linked Verse (Dec. 7), by Stanford faculty member and composer Jaroslaw Kapuscinski and the New York-based digital media collective OpenEndedGroup. This evening-length multimedia concerto will bring together two renowned musicians, shô player Ko Ishikawa and cellist Maya Beiser, in a visually immersive performance environment featuring live 3 D stereoscopic video. The soloists will exchange musical passages while sounds and images recorded in Japan and the U.S.—projected on a transparent scrim in front of the stage—undergo an evolving, interlinked transformation. 3 D glasses will be provided.

The Kronos Quartet returns (Jan. 15) with performances of newly-commissioned works by two illustrious composers: Philip Glass, a towering figure in American music and a longtime Kronos collaborator, and, in the Bay Area premiere of his Third String Quartet, Ukraine’s Valentin Silvestrov.

Dance

The French choreographer Jérôme Bel will bring a festival of three pieces, presented in partnership the Stanford Dance Division. Bel enjoys a reputation as one of the most engaging and intriguing conceptual dance makers whose ironic, anti-theatrical productions elude definition and question the nature of dance and the dividing line between audience and performer.

The Show Must Go On (Nov. 13) challenges the relationship between fine art and audience expectations. In a minimal set up characteristic of Bel’s work, the cast will include a mix of Bay Area professional dancers with untrained Stanford (students, faculty, staff) and Silicon Valley “civilians” who, as prompted by a live D.J., will act out the lyrics to their own classic pop soundtrack via headset. In an autobiographical solo entitled Cédric Andrieux (Nov. 18), the audience will spend an intimate 80 minutes with Andrieux during which he tells his story and also dances phrases and short sections of the famous ballets and Merce Cunningham choreography that defined his career. Bel requires the veteran dancer to confront the question of white drives him as an artist. The festival closes with Pichet Klunchun and Myself (Dec. 2), a filmed dance dialogue between Bel and classical Thai dance master Pichet Klunchun who come together for a fascinating exchange of ideas and movement. Jérôme Bel will be present at this screening and will answer questions about his work onstage following the film.

The acclaimed Brazilian ballet troupe Grupo Corpo will present two performances at Memorial Auditorium, an evening-length program—featuring two different works Sem Mim and Ímã (Jan. 31)—and an abridged family matinee (Feb. 1). Translated as “Body Group,” the company combines the sensuality of Afro-Brazilian dance forms and the technical prowess of ballet with a contemporary, highly theatrical sensibility.

Jazz & World Music

Stanford Live’s jazz series continues to develop with the support of the Koret Jazz Project (a multi-year initiative generously funded by the Koret Foundation) and through collaborations with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and Stanford Jazz Workshop.

Treme, the popular HBO television series famous for its portrayal of New Orleans music and tales of musicians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, brings its soundtrack to Bing Concert Hall, courtesy of the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band (Sept. 29). Preservation Hall will be joined by Ivan Neville, son of Aaron Neville and leader of Dumpstaphunk; Leo Nocentelli, guitarist from the Meters and Stanton Moore, drummer of Galactic.

Last seen at Stanford during 2009’s Miles Davis “Kind of Blue” celebration, the young jazz leader Jon Batiste returns with his band Stay Human (Oct. 27) featuring Eddie Barbash, alto sax; Joseph Saylor, drums and tambourine; Ibanda Ruhumbika, tuba and trombone; and Philip Kuehn, acoustic and electric bass.

Of both Portuguese and African descent, the “diva of world music” (The Guardian) Mariza reinterprets the classical style of “fado tradicional,” with her acoustic ensemble (Nov. 1) consisting of Jose Neto, Portuguese guitar; Pedro Jóia, acoustic guitar; Nando Araujo, acoustic bass; and Vicky Marques, percussion. The reigning prince of Qawwali music, Asif Ali Khan, and his ensemble take the Bing stage (Apr. 1) as part of its first West Coast tour. And Stanford Live presents ‘ukulele wizard Jake Shimabukuro (Apr. 24) who, in his short career, has almost singlehandedly revived the popularity of the instrument while earning comparisons to Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis. 

Vocal Music

The Grammy-winning “orchestra of voices,” Chanticleer, will perform its beloved holiday program amid the rich acoustics and ornate interior of Memorial Church (Dec. 11)—a tradition for nearly two decades. Holiday music continues with a concert by the San Francisco Boys Chorus (Dec. 15), led by Artistic Director Ian Robertson and Associate Artistic Director Margaret Nomura Clark.

Two different sopranos will take the Bing stage next season in a pair of solo recitals. Angela Brown (Feb. 23), whose career was launched after her 2004 Metropolitan Opera debut in Verdi’s Aida, makes her Stanford debut in a program entitled “Opera…From a Sistah’s Point of View” with pianist Kelleen Strutz. Later in the season, Stanford Live welcomes back Deborah Voigt (Apr. 11), one of the world’s reigning dramatic sopranos, internationally revered for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.

Family Friendly

Stanford Live renews its commitment to performances for the entire family. The acclaimed pianist and host Christopher O’Riley will return with his popular radio program From The Top (Nov. 10) in a performance taped live from Bing Concert Hall with some of the Bay Area’s most talented young musicians. Comic genius and virtuoso vaudevillian Tomáš Kubínek brings his intrepid brand of slapstick humor to Bing for two performances (May 4), including a special family matinee.

Other family-friendly events will include the season-opening Itzhak Perlman and the Young Virtuosos (Sept. 22), holiday concerts with Chanticleer (Dec. 11) and the San Francisco Boys Chorus (Dec. 15), and a matinee dance performance by Brazil’s Grupo Corpo (Feb. 1)

Special Event Concert

Tony Award-winning actors Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin bring the thrill of Broadway to Bing Concert Hall in a special evening for musical theater fans (Apr. 26). These lifelong friends and master interpreters of everything from Cole Porter to Sondheim, who costarred in the original 1979 Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, are reunited to share a musical love story.  Bing Members and Performance Sponsors will receive tickets to this Spring Event concert plus pre-concert supper. A limited number of tickets for the concert only will be available for purchase—details to be announced.

Free Events

Stanford Live and Music at Stanford once again co-present the annual Harmony for Humanity: Daniel Pearl World Music Days Concert (Oct. 9)—a tribute honoring the life and memory of the slain Wall Street Journal reporter, musician and Stanford graduate Daniel Pearl—with faculty and students from Stanford’s music department including the St. Lawrence String Quartet. This event is presented in partnership with the Office for Religious Life at Stanford University.

For the first time since the highly successful debut simulcast of Rigoletto in 2006, San Francisco Opera returns to Stanford’s beloved Frost Amphitheater with Verdi’s Falstaff, starring Bryn Terfel in the title role (Oct. 11). Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts the performance, which will be simulcast live from the War Memorial Opera House to Stanford, projected on a large screen.

Stanford Live Outreach

Stanford students enjoy many opportunities to deepen their experiences of the performing arts by engaging with visiting artists. Stanford Live offers workshops and master classes, residence-hall performances and discussions, open rehearsals and a program that puts students onstage with professional artists. Through Stanford Live Opening Acts, students will curate short performances by student ensembles that “open” select events at Bing Concert Hall (to be announced). Beginning next season students will also take the stage in the annual Shenson Student Performance Festival and Shenson Cabaret Series.

Stanford Live also provides a variety of immersive, free and low-cost programs that increase arts access for the community. Programs include Student Matinees for K–12 students and professional development workshops for teachers, free “Informance” concert/discussion series at Mountain View’s Community School of Music and Arts, artist workshops at area schools and community organizations, campus talks with visiting artists, Jazz Talks series at the Cantor Arts Center (presented in partnership with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem) and pre- and post-performance talks with artists and scholars.

Tickets And Information 

Subscriptions for Stanford Live’s 2013-14 season may be purchased online at http://live.stanford.edu, by phone at (650) 725-2787 (ARTS) or in person at the Stanford Ticket Office, located at Tresidder Memorial Union on the Stanford University campus. All subscriptions are “choose your own” and are available as a full (6 or more performances) or a mini package (3-5 performances). Single tickets will go on sale September 7.

Please note that evening performance times have been changed to 7:30 p.m. (except for Sunday evenings, which will remain at 7:00 p.m.).