University Concert & Lecture Series
Upcoming 2008-09 Performances
Lily Tomlin
Saturday, October 11, 2008, at 8:00 p.m. NEW DATE
Lily Tomlin, one of America's foremost comediennes, continues to venture across an ever-widening range of media, starring in television, theater, motion pictures, animation, and video. Throughout her extraordinary entertainment career, Tomlin has received numerous awards, including: six Emmys; a Tony for her one woman Broadway show, Appearing Nitely; a second Tony as Best Actress, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics’ Circle Award for her one woman performance in Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe; a CableAce Award for Executive Producing the film adaptation of The Search; a Grammy for her comedy album, This is a Recording as well as nominations for her subsequent albums Modern Scream, And That's the Truth, and On Stage; and two Peabody Awards--the first for the ABC television special, Edith Ann’s Christmas: Just Say Noël and the second for narrating and executive producing the HBO film, The Celluloid Closet. Visit Lily Tomlin's official web site.
Capitol Steps
Saturday, November 1, 2008, at 8:00 p.m.
The Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them.
In the years that followed, many of the Steps ignored the conventional wisdom ("Don't quit your day job!"), and although not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of eighteen Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience.
Since they began, the Capitol Steps have recorded 27 albums, including their latest, Springtime for Liberals. They've been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS, and can be heard 4 times a year on National Public Radio stations nationwide during their Politics Takes a Holiday radio specials. Visit the Capitol Steps web site.
Pilobolus
Tuesday, November 11, 2008, at 8:00 p.m.
Pilobolus (crystallinus) is a phototropic zygomycete - a sun-loving fungus that grows in barnyards and pastures. It grows on a stalk as a small bladder, pressurized by cell sap and topped with a tiny black cap filled with spores. When time and Pilobolus are ripe, this entire sporangium is blasted off with incredible force and the little spore bags can shoot over a cow like clowns out of a cannon. It's reported that the acceleration - from 0-45 mph in the first mm of flight - is the second fastest in nature.
Pilobolus, the arts organism, germinated in the fertile soil of a Dartmouth College dance class in 1971. What emerged was a collaborative choreographic process and a unique weight-sharing approach to partnering that gave the young company a non-traditional but powerful new set of skills with which to make dances. The group was immediately acclaimed for its startling mix of humor and invention and Pilobolus soon became a self-sufficient organization, its members choreographing, dancing, managing, and publicizing their own programs. Visit the Pilobolus web site.
African Children's Choir
Friday, January 30, 2009, at 8:00 p.m.
Following the brutal reign of Idi Amin in Uganda, during which hundreds of thousands of children were orphaned and left starving to death, the African Children’s Choir™ was born.
In fact it was the singing of one small child that inspired the founder Ray Barnett and his team of volunteers to recruit the first African Children’s Choir™ from amongst these desperate children. Their mission was and still is to show the world that Africa’s most needy and vulnerable children have beauty, dignity and unlimited ability. Visit the African Children's Choir web site.
The Irish Tenors
Saturday, February 28, 2009, at 8:00 p.m.
Since they first joined voices in 1998, The Irish Tenors have made countless traditional treasures breathe with new life. Moreover, they've proven themselves gifted interpreters of a wide range of material, with such songs as "My Heart Will Go On" (made famous by Celine Dion), "Fairytale Of New York" (previously recorded by Kirsty MacColl and The Pogues) and even Jimmy Kennedy's "South Of The Border" (Down Mexico Way). These songs live comfortably in their repertoire alongside "Danny Boy", "My Wild Irish Rose" and "Fields Of Athenry".
The Irish Tenors have been thrilling audiences for nearly a decade. Their incredible music and delightful Irish charm have endeared them to people across the country and around the world. Their eight bestselling CDs have brought them a huge and dedicated following, and their unprecedented five PBS specials have taken them into homes and hearts all over the globe.
From Boston to Belfast, Sydney to Seattle, New York to New Zealand, The Irish Tenors have packed houses and elevated concerts into the realm of the breathtaking. Anxiously awaiting the entrance of this super-group, audience excitement is palpable; even the orchestra is enthusiastic as the maestro taps his baton.
The worldwide success of The Irish Tenors has spawned many imitators, but make no mistake: there is only one group with the impeccable harmonies, the sweeping orchestration, the international following, the endurance, class and sheer talent of The Irish Tenors.
Ireland’s Best Living Tenor: Anthony Kearns, Ireland’s Romantic Singer: Finbar Wright, and Ireland’s Sweetest Tenor Voice: Karl Scully are … The Irish Tenors. Visit the official web site of The Irish Tenors.
Moscow Festival Ballet: Swan Lake
Tuesday, April 7, 2009, at 8:00 p.m.
The Moscow Festival Ballet was founded in 1989 when legendary principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet Sergei Radchenko sought to realize his vision of a company which would bring together the highest classical elements of the great Bolshoi and Kirov Ballet companies in an independent new company within the framework of Russian classic ballet.
Leading dancers from across the Russias have forged under Radchenko’s direction an exciting new company staging new productions of timeless classics such as Giselle, Don Quixote, Paquita and Carmen.