Stanford Live Announces 2014-15 Season: Expanded Lineup of More Than 60 Music, Dance, and Multimedia Events (Sept 21–June 6)

Stanford Live broadens its performing arts offerings in the coming season with a diverse and eclectic lineup of more than 60 music, dance, and multimedia events, all presented on the Stanford University campus. The centerpiece of the 2014-15 season, as announced today by executive director Wiley Hausam, is a collaborative Arts and Ideas series focused around three key projects: the world premiere of The Demo, a visually immersive music-theater work exploring the dawn of the digital age; “The Nile Project,” which investigates water and sustainability; and a campus-wide examination of “Haydn—Patronage & Enlightenment.” Other highlights include guest appearances by the Kronos Quartet, Lang Lang, Susan Graham, Dianne Reeves, Emmylou Harris, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, San Francisco Symphony, Moscow State Orchestra, Chanticleer, Dan Zanes and Friends, and many more, while the resident St. Lawrence String Quartet celebrates its silver anniversary with a trio of new commissions, including a world premiere by John Adams. The majority of performances in the Stanford Live 2014-15 season, which runs from September 21 to June 6, take place in the university’s Bing Concert Hall, which has been hailed by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “architecturally and acoustically…without peer.”

“Stanford Live’s 2014-15 season, our third in the glorious Bing Concert Hall, embraces multiple visions and celebrates imagination and daring,” explains executive director Wiley Hausam. “We will be launching a live performance and learning program that is eclectic, enriched, and evolved, and with over 60 mainstage events it is noticeably expanded as well. While classical music remains the core of our program, with such familiar artists as Chanticleer, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and the Emerson String Quartet, we’re committed to presenting the full range of music with an increased emphasis on contemporary programming. You will find global music with rising stars DakhaBrakha, jazz legends such as Dianne Reeves, performances of the American songbook, spoken word, puppetry, more dance, and programs for families.”

Other highlights include a trio of commissions from composers John Adams, Jonathan Berger, and Jaroslaw Kapuscinski to celebrate the St. Lawrence String Quartet’s 25^th anniversary; a season-opening concert by Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer, both multiple Grammy Award-winners and recipients of the MacArthur Foundation “genius” grants; solo appearances by piano virtuoso Lang Lang, singer/songwriter Emmylou Harris, and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham; dance programs by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and Compagnie Käfig; performances by the San Francisco Symphony, early music legend Jordi Savall, and Brad Mehldau’s jazz trio; Dan Zanes and Friends and the puppetry theater group Blind Summit; a Sondheim Songbook; and a campus-wide exploration of the life and music of Joseph Haydn with concertsfeaturing the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Stanford Chamber Strings, the Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra, and Stanford Chamber Chorale.

As Hausam notes, the organization will offer a new series of talks, panels, and seminars to more fully examine key themes across the season. “We believe Stanford’s unique intellectual life and the ideas embedded in the arts can weave an even richer, unifying tapestry for the season. To that end we’ve conceived our new Arts and Ideas program. It will include an exploration of arts philanthropy in connection with Joseph Haydn, water and sustainability with “The Nile Project,” and—as a highlight of the season—life in the digital age with the world premiere of The Demo. What could be more Stanford or more Silicon Valley?”

The Stanford Live season will be anchored by a new event series called Live Context: Arts and Ideas, an in-depth exploration of some of the themes that unify the season’s offerings. The series begins with “Haydn—Patronage & Enlightenment,” which investigates culture and the arts in the late 18^th century. Stanford Live, Music at Stanford, and the Arts Institute will collaborate with other Stanford partners to present three concerts offering a broad selection of Haydn’s music performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Stanford Chamber Strings,the Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra, and Chamber Chorale (Feb 13–15).These form part of a campus-wide exploration of the life and music of Haydn, through classes, symposia, exhibitions, and plans for a program organized by the Stanford Humanities Center on patronage in the modern era.

Continuing the “Arts and Ideas” series is “The Nile Project,” in which musicians representing Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia bring musically diverse styles to Bing Concert Hall for a global conversation about water, conflicting interests, collaboration, and sustainability. A pan-African percussion section will play ancient and modern instruments, joined by the voice of Ethiopian-American singer Meklit Hadero (Feb 18).

Finally, the world premiere of The Demo reflects on a pivotal moment in Silicon Valley’s history, taking as its basis Douglas Engelbart’s 1968 demonstration of the fundamental features of personal computing in San Francisco, which was a watershed moment in the world of technology. This music-theater work, created by composer Mikel Rouse, performer Ben Neill and director Bob McGrath, reimagines his demonstration as a technologically infused music and media event that will showcase Bing Concert Hall’s capacity for immersive video. Set simultaneously in the 1960s and today—with Rouse portraying Engelbart and Neill playing his technical assistant, William English—the piece will include re-enactments of the demonstration, live vocal and electronic music, interactive video, computer-based voice processing and triggering, and Neill’s interactive electro-acoustic instrument, the mutantrumpet. The typed text of the original demo serves as the libretto for the vocals, performed by Rouse and others (April 1 & 2).

The Demo is commissioned and developed by Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in association with eDream Institute (NCSA) at University of Illinois, Champaign.

San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet, now in its 41^st year, launches Stanford Live’s chamber series with another adventurous program highlighted by the world premiere of silsila by Santa Ratniece (Oct 5).

The St. Lawrence String Quartet, Stanford’s Grammy-nominated resident ensemble, will celebrate its 25^th anniversary next season with a trio of concerts highlighted by a world premiere by America’s foremost contemporary composer, John Adams (Jan 18), and new works by Stanford composers Jonathan Berger (Oct 19) and Jaroslaw Kapuscinski (April 12).

A longtime friend of Stanford’s music community, the multiple Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet makes its Bing Concert Hall debut with new cellist Paul Watkins (Feb 5).

Early music legend Jordi Savall brings his 21^st-century Hespèrion XXI septet to Bing, where they perform their “Istanbul” program with music from the Ottoman Empire, in dialogue with Armenian, Greek, and Sephardic traditions (Feb 22).

The celebrated mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, equally masterful in Monteverdi, Mozart, and Massenet, will be joined by pianist Malcolm Martineau for an intimate recital (March 5). Canada’s Cecilia Quartet, a recipient of the St. Lawrence String Quartet’s annual John Lad Prize, returns to Bing for its first solo appearance (March 8).

One of the world’s premier wind quintets, Imani Winds—last seen at Stanford in a joint recital in 2008—makes its Bing debut (April 26). Since 1997, the group has vastly expanded the repertoire for wind quintet, commissioning music from prominent classical and jazz composers. Stanford Live also welcomes the young Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital (May 3) known for his agile performances of Baroque, 20^th-century, and new music.

Stanford Live’s partnership with the renowned period-instrument ensemble Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra continues for a third season. Three eminent soloists will join the orchestra for next year’s series: British cellist Steven Isserlis (Oct 9), German countertenor Andreas Scholl (Nov 5), and British violinist Rachel Podger, who plays an all-Vivaldi program (March 11).

The Moscow State Symphony, led by Pavel Kogan—who has conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, and other top ensembles—brings a program featuring works by Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich (Nov 2). The renowned Cleveland-based Baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire performs one of its signature works, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, with a chamber choir and seven vocal soloists (Nov 14).

Returning for the first time since Bing Concert Hall opened, the San Francisco Symphony performs masterworks by Handel and Haydn under the baton of the eminent Dutch conductor and harpsichordist Ton Koopman (March 19). The Australian Chamber Orchestra juxtaposes music by Haydn and Prokofiev with Anders Hillborg’s Clarinet Concerto “Peacock Tales,” featuring clarinetist Martin Fröst, and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood’s Water (2014), which was written expressly for the orchestra (April 10).

Bing Concert Hall also hosts a series of performances from its resident ensembles, including the Stanford Symphony Orchestra and the Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra. The full schedule and program will be announced in September.

San Francisco’s Grammy Award-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 the past two decades.

The culturally diverse Los Angeles Children’s Chorus offers a program showcasing California composers, including Mark Grey, Paul Gibson, Henry Mollicone, and Brian Adams, and will be joined by Stanford’s own Chamber Chorale (April 19).

Both multiple Grammy Award winners and recipients of the MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant, double bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolinist Chris Thile will open the season with an evening of duets (Sep 21). Stanford Live also welcomes one of Africa’s greatest musicians, Toumani Diabaté, master of the kora, the 21-string West African harp (Sep 28).The legendary Emmylou Harris takes the Bing Concert Hall stage on October 2. A winner of 13 Grammy Awards and a Billboard Century Award recipient, Harris has worked as a singer and songwriter for more than four decades.

The celebrated jazz pianist and composer Brad Mehldau brings his longtime trio members, Jeff Ballard and Stanford-educated Larry Grenadier (Dec 5). Last seen at Stanford in 2007, the regal-voiced Dianne Reeves returns with “Strings Attached,” her intimate trio featuring guitarists Romero Lubambo and Russell Malone (Feb 6). The Ukrainian folk-punk quartet DakhaBrakha (April 15), whose name means “give-take” in old Slavonic, bring their unique sound that melds traditional Ukrainian folk music, African grooves and Eastern colors. Some of jazz’s greatest improvisers and composers come together in the SFJAZZ Collective, an octet that celebrates the music of the modern jazz masters and creates new music (April 22). 

Stanford Live brings puppetry to Bing with the popular British theater group Blind Summit. The group performs its 2011 hit, The Table, which stars a cantankerous two-foot cardboard character named Moses, who lives on a table (Oct 30–Nov 2).

More dance returns in the upcoming season with the renowned Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. In a rare stage appearance, Jones narrates the 70 one-minute vignettes his dancers perform in Story/Time, a multidisciplinary work whose stories about family, lovers, and others are drawn from his life or were passed down to him (Jan 30). Compagnie Käfig—led by French-Algerian choreographer Mourad Merzouki—features eleven male Brazilian dancers in two works mixing hip-hop and samba, electronic music, and the martial art of capoeira (April 21).

The national public radio program Selected Shorts—which serves up stories by writers from Gustave Flaubert to Flannery O’Connor, brought to vivid life by accomplished actors—brings its touring show to Bing (May 15). And the Broadway musical director and longtime Stephen Sondheim collaborator Ted Sperling presents his Sondheim Songbook, which will feature a trio of Broadway singers in a celebration of the great genius of late 20^th-century American musical theater (May 20).

The biggest name in American family music, Dan Zanes, whose 2006 Catch the Train! CD won the Grammy Award for Best Children’s Album, will be joined by his singing Friends, a multicultural seven-piece string band (Oct 18).

Compagnia T.P.O. presents immersive multimedia shows, using high-tech sensors that let children in the audience alter sounds with their voices and interact with digital images using their bodies. In “Bleu!” the Bing Studio will be transformed into an ocean voyage that stops at bustling Mediterranean seaports merging music, dance, sculpture, projections and light (June 5 & 6).

The daredevil troupe Cirque Mechanics performs its latest show, “Pedal Punk,” a production with flying unicycles and floating trapeze artists in a post-apocalyptic world inspired by steampunk culture (March 22).

The piano prodigy Lang Lang, who made his Beijing concert debut playing Chopin at 13—and who became a sensation at 17 when he stepped in on short notice to play Tchaikovsky—will play a solo recital in the intimacy of Bing Concert Hall. Bing Members and Stanford Live Performance Sponsors will receive tickets to “Bing Fling,” which includes prime seats to Lang Lang’s performance and a special pre-concert reception and dinner (March 20). A limited number of tickets for the concert only will be available for purchase—details to be announced.

The Anderson Collection at Stanford University, one of the most outstanding private collections of 20^th-century American art in the world, will open to the public in September. Stanford Live welcomes this latest addition to the Stanford arts district with a joint Open House featuring special timed-entry viewings and a musical parade to Bing Concert Hall (Sep 27). Details to be announced.

Stanford Live and Music at Stanford will once again co-present the annual “Harmony for Humanity”: Daniel Pearl World Music Days Concert—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 (Oct 14). And in its annual Good Friday Concert, the St. Lawrence Quartet will give a free performance of Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, in partnership with the Office for Religious Life (April 3).

In addition to providing reserved, subsidized tickets exclusively for Stanford students, Stanford Live offers many opportunities for students to deepen their experiences of the performing arts. The organization hosts workshops and master classes, residence-hall performances and discussions, open rehearsals and a program that puts students onstage with professional artists. Through the Stanford Live Student Ambassador Program, students gain hands-on experience in arts administration, including the curation of student performances and the organization of annual events like the Next Bing Thing student showcase and the Bing Studio Sessions cabaret series.

Stanford Live also provides a variety of immersive, free and low-cost programs that increase arts access for the community. Activities include Student Matinees for K-12 students, professional development workshops for teachers, artist workshops at area schools and community organizations, pre- and post-performance talks with artists and scholars and unique special events each season. Details will be announced in the coming months. 

Subscriptions for the 2014-15 season go on sale to renewing subscribers on June 1, following a pre-sale period for Stanford Live donors and Bing Members.  Subscriptions go on sale to the general public on June 23 and single tickets go on sale September 7. See live.stanford.edu for more information.

Stanford Live is Stanford University’s performing arts presenter and producer, committed to sharing, celebrating and advancing the art of live music, dance, theater, and opera. Stanford Live unites celebrated and emerging artists with the Stanford campus and greater Bay Area communities in a broad range of experiences that engage the senses and emotions, stimulate minds, and enrich lives. The organization values artistic vitality, learning and an inclusive community. In addition to its home in Bing Concert Hall, Stanford Live also presents performances at other campus venues including Memorial Auditorium, Memorial Church and Frost Amphitheater.

Except where noted, all events take place at Bing Concert Hall, 327 Lasuen Street, Stanford University.

Sep 21, 7pm

Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer

Duets

Sun, Sep 28, 7pm

Toumani Diabaté

Oct 2, 7:30pm

Emmylou Harris

Oct 5, 7pm

Kronos Quartet

Program includes Santa Ratniece: silsila (world premiere)

Oct 9, 7:30pm

Philharmonic Baroque Orchestra

Mozart: Symphony No. 33 in B-flat, K. 319

Boccherini: Cello concerto No. 7 in G, G. 480 (with Steven Isserlis, cello)

C. P. E. Bach: Cello concerto in A, Wq. 172 (with Steven Isserlis, cello)

Haydn: Symphony No. 67 in F   

Oct 14, 7:30pm

Memorial Church, Stanford University

“Harmony for Humanity”: Daniel Pearl World Music Days Concert

St. Lawrence String Quartet and other faculty and students from Stanford’s music department

Oct 18, 11am & 2:30pm

Dan Zanes & Friends

Oct 19, 2:30pm

St. Lawrence String Quartet: 25^th Anniversary Concert

With special guest David Finckel, cello

Haydn: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 9, No. 4

Jonathan Berger: new work

Schubert: String Quintet in C, D. 956 (Op. post. 163)

Oct 30, 7:30pm; Oct 31, 7:30pm; Nov 1, 2:30pm & 7:30pm; Nov 2, 2:30pm

Blind Summit Theatre

The Table

Nov 2, 7pm

Moscow State Symphony / Pavel Kogan

Dvorák: Carnival Overture, Op. 92

Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 (with Joshua Roman, cello)

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor

Nov 5, 7:30pm

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra / Julian Wachner

J. S. Bach: Sinfonia to Cantata No. 42

Handel: arias including “Va tacito” from Giulio Cesare (with Andreas Scholl, countertenor)

Telemann: Concerto in F for violin, oboe, and two horns, TWV 54:F1

J. S. Bach: Cantata No. 170, Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170 (with Andreas Scholl, countertenor)

J. S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F, BWV 1046

Nov 14, 7:30pm

Apollo’s Fire

Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610

Dec 5, 7:30pm

Brad Mehldau Trio

Dec 11, 7:30pm

Memorial Church, Stanford University

“A Chanticleer Christmas”

Jan 18, 7pm

St. Lawrence String Quartet

John Adams: new work (world premiere); others TBA 

Jan 30, 7:30pm

Memorial Auditorium, 551 Serra Mall, Stanford University

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company

Story/Time

Feb 5, 7:30pm

Emerson String Quartet

Feb 6, 7:30pm

Dianne Reeves

“Strings Attached”

With Romero Lubambo and Russell Malone, guitars

Feb 13, 7:30pm

Haydn—Patronage & Enlightenment

St. Lawrence String Quartet

Haydn: Trio for Flute, Violin, and Cello in G, Hob. IV: 3, “London” (with Tara Helen O’Connor, flute)

Haydn: String Quartet in C, Op. 76, No. 3, “Emperor”

Haydn: Symphony No. 102 in B-flat

Feb 14, 7:30pm

Haydn—Patronage & Enlightenment

Stanford Chamber Chorale, Stanford Chamber Strings, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra / Jindong Cai and Stephen M. Sano

Haydn: Missa in Angustiis (“Nelson” Mass)

Symphony No. 44 in E minor (“Mourning”)

Feb 15, 2:30pm

Haydn—Patronage & Enlightenment

Stanford Chamber Chorale, Stanford Chamber Strings, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra / Jindong Cai and Stephen M. Sano

Haydn: Missa in Angustiis (“Nelson” Mass)

Haydn: Symphony No. 104 in D (“London”)

Feb 18, 7:30pm

The Nile Project

Feb 22, 2:30pm

Jordi Savall with Hespèrion XXI 

“Istanbul”

March 5, 7:30pm

Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano, with Malcolm Martineau, piano 

March 8, 2:30pm

Cecilia String Quartet

Mozart: String Quartet No. 23 in F, K. 590

Katarina Curcin: Walking Away From…

Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2

March 11, 7:30pm

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

With Rachel Podger, violin and leader

Vivaldi: Violin concertos from L’estro armonico, Op. 3, and La Cetra, Op. 9

March 19, 7:30pm

San Francisco Symphony / Ton Koopman

Handel: Water Music

Haydn: Trumpet Concerto (with Mark Inouye, trumpet)

Haydn: Symphony No. 90

March 20, 8pm

“Bing Fling”

Lang Lang, piano

March 22, 2:30pm

Memorial Auditorium, 551 Serra Mall, Stanford University

Cirque Mechanics

“Pedal Punk”

April 1 & 2, 7:30pm

The Demo (world premiere)

Mikel Rouse, Co-creator, composer, and performer

Ben Neill, Co-creator, composer, and performer

Bob McGrath, Director

April 3 at 5pm

Good Friday Concert

With the St. Lawrence String Quartet

Memorial Church, Stanford University

Franz Joseph Haydn: Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross

April 10, 7:30pm

Australian Chamber Orchestra / Richard Tognetti

Jonny Greenwood: Water

Anders Hillborg: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, “Peacock Tales” (with Martin Fröst, clarinet)

Prokofiev: Visions fugitives (arr. Barshai/Tognetti)

Haydn: Symphony No. 49 in F minor, “La passione”

April 12, 2:30pm

St. Lawrence String Quartet

Haydn: String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat, Op. 1, No. 0 (Opus 0)

Jaroslaw Kapuscinski: new work (with Aiyun Huang, percussion)

Erwin Schulhoff: Five Pieces for String Quartet

Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat, Op. 33, No. 2

April 15, 7:30pm

DakhaBrakha

April 19, 2:30pm

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus

With Stanford Chamber Chorale

Works by Mark Grey, Paul Gibson, Henry Mollicone, and Brian Adams

April 21, 7:30pm

Memorial Auditorium, 551 Serra Mall, Stanford University

Compagnie Käftig

“Käftig Brasil”

April 22, 7:30pm

SFJazz Collective

April 26, 2:30pm

Imani Winds

May 3, 2:30pm

Avi Avital, mandolin

May 15, 7:30pm

Selected Shorts: Live in Performance

May 20, 7:20pm

Sondheim Songbook

June 5, 4pm & 7pm; June 6, 11am, 2pm, & 4pm

Bing Concert Hall (Studio)

Compagnia TPO

“Bleu!”

Subscriptions for the 2014-15 season will go on sale to renewing subscribers beginning June 1, following a pre-sale period for Stanford Live donors and Bing Members.  Subscriptions will go on sale to the general public on June 23. 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. Visit live.stanford.edu for more information or call 650-724-2464 (BING).

Glenn Petry

21C Media Group

[email protected]

212-625-2038

Robert Cable

Stanford Live

[email protected]

650-736-0091

Photos are available here: live.stanford.edu/content/2014-15-season-highlights.