UC Davis Events Calendar

In 1972, a group of young artists made history by creating an orchestra without a conductor in which musicians led themselves democratically. Since then, the Grammy award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has recorded over 70 albums on all major classical labels, toured to 46 countries across four continents, and collaborated with hundreds of world-class soloists. Saxophonist Branford Marsalis, equally renowned for his jazz and classical playing, joins Orpheus for this eclectic program of works written for chamber orchestra and saxophone, including works by Debussy, Ravel, Satie and a commissioned Jazz Suite on the themes of Carmen.

Gioachino Rossini        Overture to The Barber of Seville            
Joaquín Rodrigo           Suite from Soleriana
Claude Debussy            Rhapsody for Alto Saxophone & Orchestra
Erik Satie                       Gymnopédie No. 1 for Alto Saxophone & Orchestra
Maurice Ravel              Piéce en Forme de Habanera for Saxophone & Orchestra
Joaquín Turina             La oración de torero Op. 34
Courtney Bryan            Carmen, Jazz suite on themes by Bizet (Orpheus Commission)

Led by consummate trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and comprised of 15 of the finest soloists, ensemble players and arrangers, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has been hailed as “the greatest large jazz ensemble working today” by the Chicago Tribune. Over his many cherished appearances at the Mondavi Center, Marsalis has compelled and charmed audiences while presenting the full vigor and vision of America’s music, as interpreted by some of our finest living musicians. The Orchestra will draw from a repertoire that includes classic Blue Note Records selections and tunes made famous by John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis and more.

Opera is an artistic medium that articulates and confronts human passions with powerful immediacy. This conviction is what drives Heartbeat Opera’s desire to rejuvenate opera and to transform its recognized masterpieces from venerated relics into freshly challenging encounters. 

In this stunning adaptation of Beethoven’s Fidelio, a black activist is wrongfully incarcerated.  His wife, Leah, disguises herself to infiltrate the system and free him. But when injustice reigns, one woman’s grit may not be enough to save her love. Fidelio’s live cast of five singers and seven musicians are joined by a prerecorded virtual chorus of more than 100 incarcerated singers from six prison choirs in the United States. The result is “Imaginative, vital and heartbreaking” (The New Yorker).  This daring work pits corruption against courage, hate against hope.

Weaving in and out of the jazz piano tradition, Connie Han pays tribute to legends like McCoy Tyner, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Kirkland with her own unique edge at the piano. The New York Times describes her as “the rare musician with fearsome technical chops, a breadth of historical knowledge and enough originality to write tunes that absorb your ear easily.” Her debut, Crime Zone, sounds nothing like a first album, and her follow up, Iron Starlet, proves her staying power. This is an artist who has absorbed the work of her heroes, and emerged with a powerful voice of her own.

Weaving in and out of the jazz piano tradition, Connie Han pays tribute to legends like McCoy Tyner, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Kirkland with her own unique edge at the piano. The New York Times describes her as “the rare musician with fearsome technical chops, a breadth of historical knowledge and enough originality to write tunes that absorb your ear easily.” Her debut, Crime Zone, sounds nothing like a first album, and her follow up, Iron Starlet, proves her staying power. This is an artist who has absorbed the work of her heroes, and emerged with a powerful voice of her own.

Weaving in and out of the jazz piano tradition, Connie Han pays tribute to legends like McCoy Tyner, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Kirkland with her own unique edge at the piano. The New York Times describes her as “the rare musician with fearsome technical chops, a breadth of historical knowledge and enough originality to write tunes that absorb your ear easily.” Her debut, Crime Zone, sounds nothing like a first album, and her follow up, Iron Starlet, proves her staying power. This is an artist who has absorbed the work of her heroes, and emerged with a powerful voice of her own.

Ira Glass, the beloved host and creator of NPR’s hit weekly radio show  This American Life, invites us into his creative process, mixing audio clips, music, and video to tell captivating stories live onstage, and sharing lessons and insights gathered over his career. This American Life  is heard each week by over 2.2 million listeners on more than 500 public radio stations, with another 2.5 million downloading each podcast. 
Under Glass’s editorial direction, This American Life has won the highest honors for broadcasting and journalistic excellence, including six Peabody awards. In 1999, the American Journalism Review declared that This American Life was “in the vanguard of a journalistic revolution” and since then, a generation of podcasts and radio shows have sprung up — Radiolab, Invisibilia, StartUp, Reply All, Love + Radio, Heavyweight — building on the style of narrative journalism championed by Glass and his staff. 
“A storyteller who filters his interviews and impressions through a distinctive literary imagination, an eccentric intelligence, and a sympathetic heart.” –The New York Times

Ellen Forney is an author, artist, teacher, and mental health coach. Her work includes The New York Times bestselling graphic memoir, and the selection for the UC Davis  Campus Community Book Project, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me, the story of her diagnosis and struggle with bipolar disorder. Its companion book, Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life, a handbook for mental health. was featured in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA)’s “Best of Graphic Medicine 2018”, and the book’s self-care framework is widely used by therapists and clinicians. Forney has given talks and lectures internationally at universities, conferences, and institutions, including her TED talk, “Finding balance in bipolar,” as keynote speaker at the Comics & Medicine Conference at Johns Hopkins. She was awarded fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Civitella Ranieri, Artist Trust, and the Hedgebrook Foundation. Forney grew up in Philadelphia and lives in Seattle.

Nella’s music is a meeting place for her country’s folklore roots, the influence of her contemporaries, and the music of the Andalusian region. Born in Isla Margarita, an island off the north-eastern coast of Venezuela, Nella has performed with artists such as Alejandro Sanz, Jennifer Lopez, Susana Baca, Carlos Vives and many more. Her debut album, Voy, produced by Javier Limón, earned her a Best New Artist Latin Grammy and praise from The New York Times as a singer “who can convey flamenco tension even in a near whisper.” This is a rare chance to see an emerging superstar in the intimate confines of the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre.

Nella’s music is a meeting place for her country’s folklore roots, the influence of her contemporaries, and the music of the Andalusian region. Born in Isla Margarita, an island off the north-eastern coast of Venezuela, Nella has performed with artists such as Alejandro Sanz, Jennifer Lopez, Susana Baca, Carlos Vives and many more. Her debut album, Voy, produced by Javier Limón, earned her a Best New Artist Latin Grammy and praise from The New York Times as a singer “who can convey flamenco tension even in a near whisper.” This is a rare chance to see an emerging superstar in the intimate confines of the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre.

New work for String Quintet                          Richard Danielpour
String Quintet in C Major,  D. 956                Schubert

Each year, Curtis on Tour shines a light on the talented students, faculty and alumni of the esteemed Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, PA. This year’s tour features Schubert’s masterful quintet for two violins, viola and two cellos paired with a quintet by Curtis composition faculty member Richard Danielpour. The ensemble will be led by Curtis faculty members, alongside Ida Kafavian and Peter Wiley, both former members of the acclaimed Beaux Arts Trio. 

Curtis on Tour is the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music. 
This is a free, ticketed event. Limit of two tickets per household.

In 2021, Ballet Folklórico de México will return to the United States for an extended multi-city tour featuring renewed performances of the company’s classic choreography. Founded in 1952 by dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernández, Ballet Folklórico brings together the music, dance and costume of Mexican folklore from pre-Colombian civilizations through the modern era. With its permanent home at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, one of Mexico City’s most historic venues, the company has developed choreography for 40 ballets, composed of 76 folk dancers who have performed extensively across Mexico and abroad.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater grew from a now-fabled performance in March 1958 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Led by Alvin Ailey and a group of young African American modern dancers, that performance changed forever the perception of American dance. The Ailey company has gone on to perform for an estimated 25 million people at theaters in 48 states and 71 countries on six continents – and has reached millions more online and through television broadcasts. This long-awaited return to the Mondavi Center of an iconic American company will feature two performances, each featuring Ailey’s landmark work Revelations.

Remixing roots music and telling modern day stories, Las Cafeteras create a vibrant musical fusion with a unique East LA sound and a positive message. Their Afro-Mexican beats, rhythms, and rhymes deliver inspiring lyrics that document stories of a community seeking love and justice in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles. Using traditional Son Jarocho instruments like the jarana, requinto, quijada (donkey jawbone) and tarima (a wooden platform), Las Cafeteras sing in English, Spanish, and Spanglish and add a remix of sounds, from rock to hip-hop to rancheras. Las Cafeteras use music as a vehicle to build bridges among different cultures and communities, and create ‘a world where many worlds fit’.

For more than 60 years, the Mozart Orchestra of New York has been known for impeccable musicianship and innovative, thoughtful programs. Under the leadership of Gerard Schwarz, the group brings Mozart’s final three symphonies to life all in one evening. In Mozart’s time, chamber orchestras were the norm, so this is an opportunity to hear the music as Mozart would have, albeit on modern instruments. All written in 1788, the final three symphonies display an almost impossible variety, from the humor and elegance of 39, the melancholy of 40 and the growing spirituality of number 41. 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart       
Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, KV 543
Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, KV 550
Symphony No. 41 in C Major (Jupiter), KV 551

Actor and Filmmaker Rob Reiner has cemented his place in pop culture for his iconic work on film and television. During his prolific career, which spans over five decades, Reiner has written for The Smothers Brothers and All in the Family (also playing the character Michael Stivic), and directed a number of standout features, including Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, This Is Spinal Tap, Misery, and the poignant Being Charlie. In his speaking events, Reiner discusses the enduring legacy of his work, from the revived cultural relevance of All in the Family to the perpetual popularity of many of his films.

Alexander Scriabin            Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 70
                                              Valse, Op. 38

Maurice Ravel                    La Valse
Frédéric Chopin                Four Scherzos 
                                             Scherzo No. 1, Op. 20 
                                             Scherzo No. 2, Op. 31 
                                             Scherzo No. 3, Op. 39 
                                             Scherzo No. 4, Op. 54 

Italian pianist Beatrice Rana first attracted international attention for her win at the Montréal International Competition in 2011. In the decade since, Rana has built an enviable list of credits including Carnegie Hall recitals and as a soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw, Philadelphia and the London Philharmonic Orchestras. Her debut recital at the Mondavi Center features work that will display her technical and expressive range: Scriabin’s final sonata, a buzzing, trilling piece he referred to as “a sonata of insects,” Ravel’s extremely difficult piano transcription of La Valse, and the emotionally dynamic four Chopin Scherzos.

Red Sky Performance is a Canada-based company of contemporary Indigenous performers led by Artistic Director Sandra Laronde of the Teme-Augama Anishinaabe (People of the Deep Water). Red Sky’s evening-length work Trace (2019) brings us into the cosmic realm. Inspired by Anishinaabe sky and star stories, Trace offers a glimpse into our origins and our future; how we are traceable to the very beginnings of the universe, and how our ancestral origins stretch from the Milky Way to the atoms burning inside us in the ‘here and now’ on earth.

An evocative performance that combines music, information, and imagery, merging the intellectual with the visceral to take audiences from understanding to action. Rising Tide unfolds in a series of vignettes exploring the natural world from which we have emerged—and the human world that has emerged from us. With an original score by composer Laura Kaminsky and narration by physicist Rob Davies.

Presented in conjunction with the SHAPE course

Envisioning Climate Futures. shape.ucdavis.edu

An evocative performance that combines music, information, and imagery, merging the intellectual with the visceral to take audiences from understanding to action. Rising Tide unfolds in a series of vignettes exploring the natural world from which we have emerged—and the human world that has emerged from us. With an original score by composer Laura Kaminsky and narration by physicist Rob Davies.

Presented in conjunction with the SHAPE course

Envisioning Climate Futures. shape.ucdavis.edu