Highlights include Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Faye Driscoll's multi-sensory dance sculpture and Paola Prestini's Hemingway-inspired opera
Chapel Hill, North Carolina--(Newsfile Corp. - July 25, 2023) - Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (CPA) has announced the lineup for its 23/24 season. The schedule features a diverse range of top-flight performers and emerging voices, offering audiences the chance to connect with artists from around the world and across the South.
Rhiannon Giddens, photo credit: Ebru Yildiz
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Single tickets and ticket packages will become available to the public starting August 8. Ticket sales for current donors will begin July 31 according to gift level.
"Our season's focus is on fostering a culture of belonging," said Alison Friedman, the James and Susan Moeser Executive and Artistic Director at CPA. "We're doing this through the vibrant group of artists that we've chosen to commission and present, including globe-trotting orchestras, iconic dance companies, innovative theater-makers and community arts pillars."
Throughout the 23/24 season, CPA will showcase performances that open new avenues of inquiry about pressing global questions. This initiative will kick off in the fall with a visit from The Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. On September 20 & 21, the Orchestra will partner with composer and guzheng player Wu Fei, as well as other featured soloists, to explore the role cultural diplomacy plays in shaping relationships and forging connections as it commemorates the 50th anniversary of its historic 1973 trip to China.
On February 2, CPA will partner with the UNC Music Department's State Department-funded hip-hop diplomacy initiative, Next Level, to co-create a concert that features international artists and pays tribute to the bridges hip-hop can build across cultures. The next evening, celebrated pianist Lara Downes and Pulitzer-winning poet Rita Dove will present Tomorrow I May Be Far Away, their cross-genre collaboration highlighting stories of migration and transformation.
A week later, on February 10, The Old Man and the Sea will arrive in Chapel Hill. This Paola Prestini opera, co-commissioned by CPA, combines elements of Hemingway's novel with original portraits of daily life to examine age-old questions on art and passion. Then, from February 22 through February 24, audiences can witness another CPA co-commission: Weathering, choreographer Faye Driscoll's latest work. This living, multi-sensory sculpture uses bodies, sounds, scents and more, inviting audiences to explore the forces that shape human existence.
The 23/24 season will also look homeward to examine questions of belonging in the American South. To this end, the organization will co-produce 100% The Triangle, a statistics-driven performance created by German theater group Rimini Protokoll in partnership with Carolina Demography. The production, featuring 100 non-actor participants from North Carolina's Research Triangle, is scheduled to take the Memorial Hall stage on October 14 and October 15.
November 3-4 will see the return of Creative Futures Artist-in-Residence Toshi Reagon. As CPA's longest-running artist-in-residence, Reagon has collaborated with artists from all over North Carolina to cultivate vibrant, community-minded work. With Meet You at the Crossroads IV, the latest iteration of her ongoing project, Reagon hopes to open new conversations on interpersonal connection and cultural change-making through the arts.
In a similar vein, the 23/24 season will feature the Hip Hop South Workshop Series. Over four separate sessions, CPA will partner with area artists to spotlight the global impact of Southern hip-hop. The list of hosts includes a group of community mainstays: Mir.I.Am's Carolina Waves (September 23), the Underground Collective (November 8), the Raleigh Rockers B-Boy Crew (February 1) and Piedmont Laureate Dasan Ahanu (March 5).
CPA will continue this exploration of belonging with a slate of reimagined classics. Dance fans will love Dorrance Dance's new interpretation of the Nutcracker Suite, scheduled for December 13. This original take on Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's interpretation of the Tchaikovsky favorite promises to provide soul and spirit in equal measure. The performance will pair well with a December 9 visit from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis - a cherished holiday tradition.
Next, from February 27 through February 28, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will return to highlight work from a diverse group of emerging choreographers alongside beloved Ailey masterpieces. This visit will be followed by an April 5 performance from the Martha Graham Dance Company, America's oldest modern dance company. The company will premiere a newly commissioned collaboration between Southern Futures Artist-in-Residence Rhiannon Giddens and former Ailey dancer-choreographer Jamar Roberts.
The season will feature visits from acclaimed musicians too, including Rounder Records' Sierra Hull (October 27); pianists Aaron Diehl and Clara Yang (January 26); and Grammy Award-winning vocalist Arooj Aftab (March 23). Additionally, on March 26, Giddens will team up with Martha Redbone, Pura Fé and Charly Lowry for an evening of performances that center on belonging from the perspective of Indigenous artists.
Single tickets and ticket packages will become available to the public starting August 8. Ticket sales for current donors will begin July 31 according to gift level.
Carolina students are eligible for $10.75 tickets for select seats on a first-come, first-served basis. Current employees of UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC Health receive a 15% faculty/staff discount on tickets to CPA performances. A valid UNC One Card/ID is required for student/faculty/staff discounts; limits apply. Active or retired military personnel and patrons 65 and older receive a 10% discount on CPA performances with a valid ID; limits apply.
For full performance listings, pricing details and venue information, click here, or visit carolinaperformingarts.org.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jana Jackson
jana.jackson@unc.edu
415-405-5102
Rimini Protokoll 100% Berlin Reloaded
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About Carolina Performing Arts
Carolina Performing Arts is the leading multi-arts presenter in the American South, housed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Our mission is to spark curiosity and inspire community members to discover and more deeply engage with the world. We collaborate with artists from Carolina's campus and across the globe to create performing arts experiences. In under two decades, CPA has presented thousands of performances and master classes by more than 450 artists from 56 countries and territories, commissioned 69 new works and hosted 48 world and U.S. premieres. Our performances, engagement efforts and campus partnerships have reached hundreds of thousands of patrons, students and faculty.
About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation's first public university, is a global higher education leader. Carolina is passionately public, with a commitment to ensuring that every student who earns admission can come to Carolina and thrive. Addressing the greatest challenges of our time through innovative teaching, research and public service, Carolina is an engine of opportunity for the next generation of students, the economy and innovation in North Carolina and beyond. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. More than 361,000 alumni of Carolina's 15 schools including the College of Arts and Sciences live in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories and 149 countries. Nearly 190,000 live in North Carolina.
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