Joshua Bell
UNC News Services
Aretha Franklin, Yo-Yo Ma, k.d. lang and Brazilian vocalist Caetano Veloso will be among artists presented in the 2007-2008 Carolina Performing Arts season at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Three major international orchestras also will perform during the organization’s third season in Memorial Hall – including the legendary Saint Petersburg Philharmonic with chief conductor Yuri Temirkanov in a rare
Further diversifying the line-up will be the African dance troupe Spirit of Uganda, classical pianist Mitsuko Uchida, new-music ensemble Bang on a Can, pop-country singer and songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, Cuban jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, soprano Kathleen Battle and rhythm and blues a cappella group Take 6.
Building on the first two hugely successful seasons of Carolina Performing Arts, UNC-Chapel Hill is positioning itself as one of the nation’s major university performing arts presenters, he said.
With 35 performances from September through May 2008, the season will feature a rare trio performance by mandolin player Sam Bush, dobro maestro Jerry Douglas and bassist Edgar Meyer; Murray Perahia with the
As in the 2006-2007 season, the William R. Kenan Jr. Trust Endowment of Chapel Hill will make possible the six classical music series concerts – the Kenan Great Performances.
The university’s current emphasis on globalization will be represented in the lineup, as will new works, emerging artists and collaboration with the UNC-Chapel Hill music department and campus academic programs.
Dancers from
With the UNC-Chapel Hill music department, Carolina Performing Arts commissioned a project entitled “10×10,†through which 10 new works will be commissioned for performance by 10 music faculty members over 10 years. The first, to premier next March in Memorial, will be a vocal work by Cuban-American composer Tania León, to be written for UNC-Chapel Hill music professor and soprano Terry Rhodes.
Carolina Performing Arts also will present world premieres of two new pieces it commissioned, written by rock musicians Glenn Kotche of Wilco and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. They will perform the songs with the musicians of Bang on a Can, a New York-based organization that commissions, creates, performs and records contemporary music.
Ticket sales for the new season will include new Web-ordering options that allow purchasers to choose their own seats and see a view of the stage from those seats online.
Current subscribers may renew now at www.carolinaperformingarts.edu or by calling or visiting the Memorial Hall Box Office on Cameron Avenue, (919) 843-3333, open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
New subscription orders will be processed after May 14. Subscribers will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets to special events.
Single tickets to all performances will go on sale July 23.
Prices will vary by performance and seat location, but again this year, tickets for UNC-Chapel Hill students will be $10 each. Students are encouraged to note on-sale dates if they would like to order by Web or phone while they are away from campus for the summer.
The season highlights include:
• Season Opening Celebration,
Aretha Franklin: Concert,
• Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of
• Khmer Arts Ensemble: “Pamina Devi: A Cambodian ‘Magic Flute,’†Friday, Oct. 5,
• St. Petersburg Philharmonic and conductor Yuri Temir,kanov, pianist Nelson Freire, Friday, Oct. 26,
•Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (dobro) Edgar Meyer, (double bass), Sunday, Nov. 4,
• Caetano Veloso, Wednesday, Nov. 7,
• Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Pinchas Zukerman, conductor and violinist, Wednesday, Jan. 9,
• Mary Chapin Carpenter, Friday, Feb. 15,
• Yo-Yo Ma and Friends, Wednesday, Feb. 27,
• Nrityagram Dance Ensemble of
• k.d. lang, Wednesday, March 5,
• Joshua Bell, violin, Thursday, March 6,