Celebrity Series of Boston, Winter-Spring Events January 2016
David Finckel, Wu Han, and David Shifrin
Friday, January 15, 2016, 8pm
NEC’s Jordan Hall: 30 Gainsborough St., Boston, MA
Tickets: $35 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
Cellist David Finckel, pianist Wu Han, and acclaimed clarinetist David Shifrin team up for an exciting evening of chamber music performing Beethoven’s Trio in B-Flat Major, Opus 11, Bruch’s From Eight Pieces, and the Brahms Clarinet Trio in a minor, Opus 114.
BEETHOVEN Trio in B-flat Major, Opus 11
MAX BRUCH From Eight Pieces, Opus 83
BRAHMS Clarinet Trio in a minor, Opus 114
Wednesday, January 20, 2016, 8pm
Pickman Hall: 27 Garden St., Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $20 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Red line to Harvard Square
Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin was launched onto the international scene after winning First Prize in the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels at the age of 23. His utter command, both technically and artistically, combined with a clearly communicated sense of joy are quickly making him one of his generation’s most in demand pianists.
HAYDN Sonata in D Major, Hob. XVI: 32
BRAHMS Fantasien, Opus 116
RACHMANINOV Variations on Theme by Corelli
HAYDN Sonata No. 47 in B minor
FRANCK Prelude , Choral and Fugue
PROKOFIEV Sonata No. 7
Billy Billy Childs’ Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro
Featuring Becca Stevens and Alicia Olatujaja
Friday, January 22, 2016, 8pm
Sanders Theatre: Memorial Hall, Harvard University, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $30 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Red line to Harvard Square
When jazz pianist and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient Billy Childs was 11 years old, his older sister introduced him to the work of singer-songwriter, Laura Nyro (1947-1997). Her blend of Broadway inspired melodies, jazz improvisation and socially conscious lyrics stayed with him, and in 2014 Childs released his two Grammy Award winning tribute, Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro. Joined by an extended ensemble including saxophone, harp, guitar and string quartet and vocalists Becca Stevens and Alicia Olatuja, Childs brings us an evening of Nyro’s songs made famous by other artists including Barbra Streisand, The 5th Dimension, Patti LaBelle, and Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Del McCoury and Woody Guthrie
Saturday, January 23, 2016, 8pm
Sanders Theatre: Memorial Hall, Harvard University, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $30 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Red line to Harvard Square
An evening of unheard lyrics from America’s great folk poet, Woody Guthrie, with music by the most awarded artist in the history of bluegrass. To help bring new life to the work of American folk poet Woody Guthrie, his daughter, Nora Guthrie, gave Del McCoury exclusive access to the archives of her father’s unpublished work.
Orchestre National de France, Daniele Gatti, and Alexandre Tharaud
Sunday, January 24, 2016, 3pm
Symphony Hall: 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA
Tickets: $45 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
One of the most prestigious orchestras in France, Orchestre National de France has long served as France’s musical ambassador around the world. Conductor Daniele Gatti leads the ensemble with pianist Alexandre Tharaud in a program of Debussy, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky.
DEBUSSY Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No 5
BalletBoyz
Friday, January 29 | 7:30pm
Saturday, January 30 | 8pm
Citi Shubert Theatre: 270 Tremont St., Boston, MA
Tickets: $60 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line to Boylston
The brainchild of former Royal Ballet principal dancers, Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt, BalletBoyz was founded in 2001. An all-male company of ten dynamic dancers, BalletBoyz is one of the most original and innovative forces in modern dance, celebrated for its energy and grace. Program will include Christopher Wheeldon’s Mesmerics, originally created for the company in 2003 and now reworked for the current ensemble.
February 2016
Mack Avenue Superband
Gary Burton vibraphone, Tia Fuller saxophone, Sean Jones trumpet, Christian McBride Trio
Thursday, February 4, 2016, 8pm
Citi Shubert Theatre: 270 Tremont St., Boston, MA
Tickets: $40 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line to Boylston
The Christian McBride Trio forms the backbone of the Mack Avenue Superband. With a front line that boasts Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra alum Sean Jones on trumpet and saxophonist Tia Fuller from Beyoncé’s all-female band as well as musical direction from bassist Christian McBride and legendary vibraphonist Gary Burton, this band has everything it needs.
Brooklyn Rider with Gabriel Kahane
Friday, February 5, 2016, 8pm
Sanders Theatre: Memorial Hall, Harvard University, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $30 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Red line to Harvard Square
Two artists featured as part of the Celebrity Series’ Stave Sessions performances last season, Brooklyn Rider and Gabriel Kahane are at the vanguard of a new generation. Hailed as “the future of chamber music” (Strings), Brooklyn Rider performs eclectic repertoire in arresting performances that have attracted legions of fans and rave reviews from classical, world, and rock critics alike. Though much of his work to date is considered in the classical tradition, Kahane’s 2014 recording, The Ambassador, a unique and personal examination of Los Angeles, has drawn critical raves. Program will include selections from the Brooklyn Rider Almanac and Kahane’s Come On All You Ghosts for quartet and voice, Bradbury Studies and excerpts from The Ambassador.
Ana Gasteyer in Concert
Saturday, February 6, 2016, 8pm
Sanders Theatre: Memorial Hall, Harvard University, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $30 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Red line to Harvard Square
When Saturday Night Live alum Ana Gasteyer steps up to the mic, she evokes the swagger of an era when a lady ruled a nightclub and an audience knew they were in for good time. From songs like One Mint Julep and Proper Cup of Coffee to a surprisingly smooth rendition of Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats, Gasteyer’s saucy selections tell stories with humor, heartbreak…and just a little splash of soda. The patter is real, the themes adult; the lyrics timeless, and the music swings like crazy!
Miloš Karadaglić, guitar
Sunday, February 21, 2016, 3pm
NEC’s Jordan Hall: 30 Gainsborough St., Boston, MA
Tickets: $35 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
Guitarist Miloš Karadaglić topped the UK classical charts in 2011 with his first solo recording, and the young guitar phenomenon continues to enjoy a meteoric rise.
Sir András Schiff, piano
Friday, February 26, 2016, 8pm
NEC’s Jordan Hall: 30 Gainsborough St., Boston, MA
Tickets: $40 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
In his program The Last Sonatas, Sir András Schiff includes the final three sonatas of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.
“The Last Sonatas”
HAYDN Sonata No. 62 in E-flat Major
BEETHOVEN Sonata in c minor, Opus 111
MOZART Sonata in D Major, K. 576
SCHUBERT Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960
Christian Tetzlaff, Tanja Tetzaff, Lars Vogt Trio
Saturday, February 27, 2016, 8pm
NEC’s Jordan Hall: 30 Gainsborough St., Boston, MA
Tickets: $45 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
Violinist Tetzlaff and pianist Vogt, both well-known and beloved by Boston audiences add cellist Tanja Tetzlaff to round out a phenomenally talented ensemble. Don’t miss this brilliant piano trio in its Celebrity Series debut.
SCHUMANN Trio No. 2 in F Major, Opus 80
DVOŘÁK Trio in E minor, Opus 90, “Dumky”
BRAHMS Trio No. 1 in B Major, Opus 8
Akram Khan and Israel Galván, Torobaka
Saturday, February 27 | 8pm
Sunday, February 28 | 3pm
Citi Shubert Theatre: 270 Tremont St., Boston, MA
Tickets: $35 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line to Boylston
Akram Khan is one of the most respected dance artists in the world today. Israel Galván has been at the forefront of contemporary flamenco for 20 years. Two tremendously gifted dancers, each from different disciplines –kathak and flamenco– face off in a program of extraordinary dancing and live music. Torobaka, the creation of Britain’s Akram Khan and Spain’s Israel Galván is a dance tour de force that will leave you breathless.
March 2016
What Makes It Great? With Rob Kapilow, NEC Philharmonia and Beethoven Symphony No. 1
Sunday, March 6, 2016, 3pm
NEC’s Jordan Hall: 30 Gainsborough St., Boston, MA
Tickets: $30 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
You’ll want to be on hand as Rob Kapilow performs another of his inimitable high energy deconstructions of a great classical work in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. Kapilow will guide his audience past the ghosts of Haydn and Mozart that linger here while showing audiences how, with this work, the great Beethoven boldly introduced himself to the world as symphonic composer. Kapilow’s collaborators for this project will be New England Conservatory’s top orchestra, NEC Philharmonia.
Itzhak Perlman – 20th Anniversary “In the Fiddler’s House”
Sunday, March 6, 2016, 7pm
Symphony Hall: 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA and Time
Tickets: $45 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
Twenty years have passed since Itzhak Perlman released his stunningly successful and beloved klezmer recording and PBS special, In the Fiddler’s House. Perlman revisits this important, personal project celebrating the klezmer tradition at Symphony Hall with some of his closest musical friends.
Paul Appleby, tenor
Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 8pm
Pickman Hall: 27 Garden St., Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $20 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Red line to Harvard Square
A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and already a regular guest at the MET, rising star tenor Paul Appleby is becoming one of the most sought-after voices of his generation.
Patty Griffin, Sara Watkins and Anaïs Mitchell, Together On Stage
Thursday, March 10, 2016, 8pm
Sanders Theatre: Memorial Hall, Harvard University, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $30 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Red line to Harvard Square
In a highly anticipated collaboration, Grammy Award-winner Patty Griffin joins forces with Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek) and award-winning songwriter Anaïs Mitchell in a celebration of American songwriting and performance. This special “singers-in-the-round” style show features all three artists on stage together, sharing songs and accompanying each other for the entire evening.
Between Worlds Tour
Avi Avital mandolin, Ksenija Sidorova accordion, Itamar Doari percussion
Friday, March 11, 2016, 8pm
NEC’s Jordan Hall: 30 Gainsborough St., Boston, MA
Tickets: Visit www.celebrityseries.org for information on price for this performance.
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
Mandolinist Avi Avital is one of a generation of performers redrawing the boundaries of traditional musical genres. His ambition is to revitalize the mandolin in both solo and chamber repertoire and inspire the creation of new music for an instrument that has been unjustly neglected within classical music. Program will explore the borders between folk and classical music and include works by Kreisler, J.S. Bach, Villa-Lobos, Bartók and traditional Turkish and Israeli music.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Thursday, March 17 | 7:30pm
Friday, March 18 | 8pm
Saturday, March 19 | 2pm & 8pm
Sunday, March 20 | 3pm
Citi Wang Theatre
Tickets: $35 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line to Boylston
The Celebrity Series of Boston began its relationship with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater with a single night engagement in 1968. Since that time the annual Celebrity Series appearance by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has become a city-wide event celebrating the best of modern of dance and the relationship between Boston and this remarkable cultural treasure.
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Joshua Bell, music director & violin soloist, Pamela Frank, violin
Sunday, March 20, 2016, 3pm
Symphony Hall: 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA
Tickets: $45 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, one an artist at the peak of his powers, the other a cultural icon continuing a long and glorious reign, may well have found the perfect match in each other. Acclaimed violinist Pamela Frank will join Mr. Bell and the orchestra for the Bach Concerto for 2 violins in D minor, BWV 1043.
PROKOFIEV: Classical Symphony, op.25 (Symphony No.1)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto, op.35, TH 59, D major
J.S. BACH: Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 104
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 8, op.93, F major
Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder (Co-creators of SERIAL podcast), Binge-Worthy Journalism
Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 8pm
Symphony Hall: 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA
Tickets: $30 and up
Phone: (617) 482-6661
MBTA: Green line E to Symphony
When it launched in the fall of 2014, Serial became the fastest podcast to reach 5 million downloads in iTunes history. Co-created by veteran radio journalists and producers, Sarah Koenig & Julie Snyder, Serial quickly became the most popular podcast in the world. In this live presentation, Sarah Koenig & Julie Snyder will take the audience backstage in the creation of this cultural phenomenon. Using some of their favorite tape, they’ll tell personal behind-the-scenes stories, explain how they constructed certain episodes, and allow the audience to follow the ups and downs of creating a new form of modern journalism.
About Celebrity Series of Boston
Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario Aaron Richmond. Over the course of its 77-year history, Celebrity Series has presented an array of the world’s greatest performing artists, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arturo Toscanini, Ignace Paderewski, Artur Rubenstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern, Andrés Segovia, Kirsten Flagstad, Marian Anderson, Luciano Pavarotti, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Martha Graham, Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mstislav Rostropovich, and the New York City Opera Company.
The Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers–from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more–to Boston’s major concert halls for 77 years. The Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives and build better communities. Through its education initiatives, the Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience–on stages, in schools, at home– everywhere. For more information on Celebrity Series of Boston, call (617) 482-2595 or visit us online at www.celebrityseries.org.
