The Modlin Center for the Arts kicks off the 2019-2020 season welcoming country music torchbearer Marty Stuart as he celebrates the 20th anniversary of his iconic album The Pilgrim. While he’s too gracious to admit it himself, the GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter, and musician is living, breathing, country music history. Join Marty Stuart as he shares his remarkable life through story and song.

SEASON OPENING CELEBRATION Join us beginning at 6:00 PM to enjoy live music, food from local food trucks, and tours of University Museums as we celebrate the launch of our 2019-2020 season

On Tuesday, September 10, 2019 the wait will be over…The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s highly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, is revealed. The momentous literary event will be celebrated with an exclusive live cinema broadcast, as Fane Productions present an evening with the Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic and inventor.

The publication of Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985 and the current, Emmy Award-winning television series have created a cultural phenomenon, as handmaids have become a symbol of women’s rights and a protest against misogyny and oppression. Live from the London stage, Atwood will be interviewed by broadcaster and author Samira Ahmed in a conversation spanning the length of Atwood’s remarkable career, her diverse range of works, and why she has returned to her seminal handmaid story, 34 years later.

“Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in.”

With exclusive readings from the new book by special guests, this will be an unmissable and intimate event with Atwood, spotlighting her signature insight, humour and intellect. The Testaments will be published by Vintage on September 10, 2019.

This is an encore presentation.

One of the most decorated bands in bluegrass, 2018 International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) Entertainer of the Year Balsam Range returns to the Modlin Center with an astounding thirteen IBMA Awards and eight critically acclaimed albums. The six-member ensemble of acoustic superstars is the musical embodiment of the culture and traditions of their namesake, the Great Balsam Range in their home county of Haywood, North Carolina.

Three-time GRAMMY® Award winner, Lucinda Williams has been carving her own path for more than three decades. Williams will perform the entirety of her highly influential album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road in celebration of the 20th anniversary of this cornerstone of Americana, using visual elements to enhance her storyteller style. The concert’s second set will feature songs from throughout her remarkable career.

by Richard Bean
based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, with songs by Grant Olding

Featuring a Tony Award-winning performance from host of the The Late Late Show, James Corden, the hilarious West End and Broadway hit One Man, Two Guvnors returns to cinemas to mark National Theatre Live’s 10th birthday.

Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancée’s dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who’s been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers.

Holed up at The Cricketers’ Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.

About National Theatre of London Live
The groundbreaking series National Theatre Live brings the best of British theatre direct from the stages of London to movie theatres around the world. Each performance is captured live in high definition and broadcast via satellite to participating venues.

This is an encore presentation.

Founded in 2006, Camille A. Brown & Dancers is a Bessie Award-winning dance company, known for its brilliant combination of theatricality, contemporary and social dance, gesture, and live music. Artistic Director Camille A. Brown is a celebrated choreographer of Broadway’s Once on This Island and NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Brown’s choreography leads her dancers through excavations of ancestral stories, encouraging each dancer to embrace their unique embodiment of the artistic vision. A rising star on Broadway and in concert dance, her work inspires dialogues about race, culture, and identity. The evening’s program offers highlights from her critically acclaimed African-American identity trilogy including the Bessie Award-winning Mr. TOL E. RAncE, BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, and ink.

ARTIST VOICES
Stay after the performance for a Q&A discussion with members of the Company.

Nobuntu is an African concept that values humbleness, love, unity, and family from a woman’s perspective. As the only all-female mbube (South African vocal music) ensemble in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Nobuntu draws upon those values to create moving performances that range from traditional Zimbabwean songs to Afro Jazz to Gospel. Their pure voices, minimalistic percussion, traditional instruments such as the mbira (thumb piano) are how they work to transcend racial, tribal, religious, gender, and economic boundaries in their native Zimbabwe and around the world.

Shanghai Quartet; renowned for its passionate musicality, impressive technique, and multicultural innovations has become one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles. For this season's Modlin Center performance, violinist Soovin Kim and pianist Orion Weiss will join Shanghai Quartet for Chausson’s powerful and dramatic concerto for violin, piano, and string quartet. One of the most sought-after soloists of his generation, pianist Orion Weiss has brought his deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances to major American orchestras. Called “a superlative soloist” by the Miami Herald, violinist Soovin Kim is an exciting young player equally gifted in concerto, recital, and chamber music repertoire.

This evening’s program will include Haydn’s String Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4; Dun’s Feng Ya Song (String Quartet No. 1 revised 2018); and Chausson’s Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet in D Major, Op. 21.

ARTIST VOICES
Arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with members of the ensemble, led by WCVE Music classical host Mike Goldberg.

by William Shakespeare
directed by Lyndsey Turner

Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock, Doctor Strange) plays the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.
Now seen by over 900,000 people worldwide, the original broadcast returns to cinemas to mark National Theatre Live’s 10th birthday.
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.

About National Theatre of London Live
The groundbreaking series National Theatre Live brings the best of British theatre direct from the stages of London to movie theatres around the world. Each performance is captured live in high definition and broadcast via satellite to participating venues.

This is an encore presentation.

Presented by
University of Richmond
Department of Theatre and Dance
Sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences
by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
directed by Dorothy Holland

Winner of the 2014-2015 Obie Award for Best New American Play, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Appropriate, tells the story of the Lafayette clan descending upon the crumbling Arkansas homestead of their newly-dead patriarch. As they sort through a lifetime of hoarded mementos and junk, a disturbing discovery surfaces among their father's possessions, and the reunion takes a turn for the explosive, unleashing a series of crackling surprises and confrontations.

Join the Modlin Center for the Arts and University Museums in Booth Lobby from 1:00 to 3:00 PM for our annual arts-centered family event featuring activity tables, art projects, food, and more!

Life is an adventure no matter where you wind up — at least for Pete the Cat. Jimmy Biddle, the most organized secondgrader on planet Earth, never strays from his routine. The minute the groovy blue cat moves in with the Biddles for the summer, he gets the whole family rocking.

ARTIST VOICES
Stay after the performance for a brief Q&A with the performers.

The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in contemporary dance since 1926. With programs that offer a rich thematic narrative, the Company embraces a vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham as well as newly commissioned works by contemporary artists.

The EVE Project commemorates the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the power to vote. The project brings together classic works of Martha Graham, such as Secular Games (1962), a comedic look at the universal antics of humans trying to impress each other; Ekstasis (1933 and 2017), a reimagining of a sculptural Graham solo; and Chronicle (1936), Graham’s stirring response to the rise of fascism in 1936 and to the unmatched power of the collective will. Other works on the program are by renowned female choreographers Pam Tanowitz, with her new work Untitled (Souvenir), and Maxine Doyle and Bobbi Jene Smith, with their new work, Deo.

ARTIST VOICES
On October 9, arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with Janet Eilber, Artistic Director of Martha Graham Dance Company.

On October 10, stay after the performance for a Q&A discussion with Janet Eilber and members of the Company.

by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power
directed by Sam Mendes

The story of a family and a company that changed the world, told in three parts on a single evening.

Academy Award-winner Sam Mendes (Skyfall, The Ferryman) directs Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Ben Miles who play the Lehman Brothers, their sons and grandsons.

On a cold September morning in 1844 a young man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside. Dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers and an American epic begins. 163 years later, the firm they establish – Lehman Brothers – spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, and triggers the largest financial crisis in history. This critically acclaimed and five-time Olivier Award nominated play features stunning set design from Es Devlin (NT Live: Hamlet) and will be broadcast live from London’s West End as part of National Theatre Live’s 10th Birthday season. About National Theatre of London Live
The groundbreaking series National Theatre Live brings the best of British theatre direct from the stages of London to movie theatres around the world. Each performance is captured live in high definition and broadcast via satellite to participating venues.

This is an encore presentation.

As the world approaches the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, two extraordinary artists pair this giant with contemporary music’s most influential composers — Philip Glass. Pianist Simone Dinnerstein and cellist Matt Haimovitz collaborate on a dynamic program that includes a Beethoven Cello Sonata alongside a Glass Partita, and solo piano and cello repertoire by both composers.

ARTIST VOICES
Arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with Simone Dinnerstein and Matt Haimovitz, led by WCVE Music classical host Mike Goldberg.

At the center of every circus, we find a 42-foot ring full of thrills, laughs, and excitement. In 42FT– A Menagerie of Mechanical Marvels, Cirque Mechanics dares you to leap into the circus ring to experience the endurance of this evolving art form. The show’s unique mechanical interpretation is on full display with theatricality and modern sensibility highlighted by a galloping mechanical metal horse and a rotating tent frame for strongmen, acrobats, and aerialists.

After meeting in Germany in 2015, the American jazz pianist and composer Brad Mehldau and universally admired British tenor Ian Bostridge quickly professed their admiration for each other’s work and discovered a shared love of Bach, jazz, and lieder (typical nineteenth century German songs). As their friendship grew, so did the idea of a song cycle centered on investigating the themes of the modern sinuous nature of human desire as it exists in love and adoration. As a result, Mehldau began composing a set of music with lyrics drawn from the poetry of Blake, Yeats, Shakespeare, Goethe, and others. In 2019, Bostridge and Mehldau premiered this new song cycle, The Folly of Desire, fittingly paired in a program with Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe (The Poet’s Love).

Jennifer Tipton is well known for her lighting design for theatre, opera, and dance. Her recent work in theater includes To Kill A Mockingbird on Broadway, in opera David Lang’s The Loser at the Los Angeles Opera, and in dance Justin Peck’s Principia for New York City Ballet. She teaches lighting at the Yale School of Drama. In 2008 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. Tipton will speak about her work as an award-winning lighting designer for dance, theatre, and opera.

2019-2020 Tucker-Boatwright Festival
of Literature and the Arts
Dancing Histories: This Ground
The University of Richmond’s 2019-2020 Tucker-Boatwright Festival of Literature and the Arts will be hosted by the Department of Theatre & Dance, in collaboration with the Modlin Center for the Arts. This year’s events will focus on the theme “Dancing Histories: This Ground.” The festival will present performances, lectures, panel discussions, and residencies by artists whose works reflect a unique engagement with contemporary politics and the interplay between history and memory.

All performances and events are free. More information can be found at https://as.richmond.edu/tucker-boatwright/

by William Shakespeare

A feuding fairy King and Queen of the forest cross paths with four runaway lovers and a troupe of actors trying to rehearse a play. As their dispute grows, the magical royal couple meddle with mortal lives leading to love triangles, mistaken identities and transformations… with hilarious, but dark consequences.

Shakespeare’s most famous romantic comedy will be captured live from the Bridge Theatre in London. Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Oliver Chris (Green Wing, NT Live: Young Marx), David Moorst (NT Live: Allelujah!) and Hammed Animashaun (The Barber Shop Chronicles) lead the cast as Titania, Oberon, Puck, and Bottom. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will build on the success of his immersive staging of Julius Caesar (NT Live 2018). The Bridge Theatre will become a forest –– a dream world of flying fairies, contagious fogs and moonlight revels, surrounded by a roving audience following the action on foot.

About National Theatre of London Live
The groundbreaking series National Theatre Live brings the best of British theatre direct from the stages of London to movie theatres around the world. Each performance is captured live in high definition and broadcast via satellite to participating venues.

This is an encore presentation.

SEVEN is a riveting documentary play by seven female writers based on personal interviews with seven remarkable women who faced life-threatening obstacles before bringing heroic changes to their home countries of Pakistan, Nigeria, Ireland, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Russia, and Cambodia. SEVEN forms a tapestry of stories that weave together the words of these women, dramatizing their struggles and triumphs over resistance, death threats, entrenched norms, and pervasive violence. Created with support of the Vital Voices Global Partnership, SEVEN makes the powerful and timeless statement that even in the darkest times, one person, one voice, and a single act of courage can change the lives of thousands.

ARTIST VOICES
Stay after the performance for a Q&A discussion with members of the cast.

GRAMMY® Award-nominated vocalist Jazzmeia Horn has a name that speaks for itself, capturing her very essence. Since winning the Thelonious Monk Competition in 2015, Horn’s star has continued to rise, along with her reputation as an artist with an assured maturity and a vocal confidence far beyond her years.

ARTIST VOICES
Arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with Jazzmeia Horn, led by WCVE Music jazz host Peter Solomon.

Master guitarist Leo Kottke returns to the Modlin Center for an evening of acoustic guitar and humor. Wit, charm, and mesmerizing finger-picking wrap around jazz, bluegrass, rock, and Americana when Leo Kottke takes the stage. A GRAMMY® Award-nominated musician, he has performed and recorded for five decades.

by Simon Wood

Hansard; noun. The official report of all parliamentary debates.

See two-time Olivier Award winners, Lindsay Duncan (Birdman, About Time) and Alex Jennings (The Lady in the Van, The Queen), in this brand-new play by Simon Wood, broadcast live from the National Theatre in London.

It’s a summer’s morning in 1988 and Tory politician Robin Hesketh has returned home to the idyllic Cotswold house he shares with his wife of 30 years, Diana. But all is not as blissful as it seems. Diana has a stinking hangover, a fox is destroying the garden, and secrets are being dug up all over the place. As the day draws on, what starts as gentle ribbing and the familiar rhythms of marital scrapping quickly turns to blood-sport.

Don’t miss this witty and devastating portrait of the governing class, directed by Simon Godwin (NT Live: Antony & Cleopatra, Twelfth Night) and part of National Theatre Live’s 10th birthday season. About National Theatre of London Live
The groundbreaking series National Theatre Live brings the best of British theatre direct from the stages of London to movie theatres around the world. Each performance is captured live in high definition and broadcast via satellite to participating venues.

This is an encore presentation.

Daniel Hope joined the Zurich Chamber Orchestra as Musical Director in 2016, although his connection to the orchestra dates back to his childhood, when his mother served as manager for the legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin, at whose Gstaad Festival the Zurich Chamber Orchestra regularly performed.

As Music Director, Hope brings the Orchestra together with esteemed conductors and soloists to perform programs that span musical eras and styles. His inspired perspectives offer new depth and insight into his carefully crafted programs, which make the most of the Orchestra’s unique sound.

This evening’s performance titled, A Tribute to Yehudi Menuhin, includes Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, Pärt’s Darf ich, Glass’ Echorus, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in D Minor, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A Minor, El Khoury’s Unfinished Journey, and Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances.

ARTIST VOICES
Arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with Daniel Hope, led by WCVE Music classical host Mike Goldberg.

Tintoretto: A Rebel in Venice fully immerses audiences in the life of the last great artist of the Italian Renaissance. With the enchanting narrative voice of twice Academy Award nominee Helena Bonham Carter, cinema audiences visit places that evoke and preserve the memory of the painter, including the State Archives, the Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Square, the Church of San Rocco, and more, all in celebration of the 500th anniversary of Tintoretto’s birth.

About Great Art on Screen
Great Art on Screen, new to the Modlin Center this season and in partnership with University Museums, is a series of film documentaries featuring an in-depth look at the most extraordinary and groundbreaking art masters of their time.

Presented by
University of Richmond
Department of Theatre and Dance
Sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences
by Carlyle Brown
directed by Chuck Mike

The high-stakes world of Civil War-era horse racing is the stage for this riveting drama of slavery and Reconstruction. Both Simon Cato, a smart cocky “colored” jockey, and his horse, Pure Confidence, are owned by Colonel Wiley Johnson. Cato uses his wits and his championship winnings to buy his wife’s and his own freedom. But the Civil War changes everything, and the passage of time doesn’t bring Cato the success he expects in this surprisingly funny, daring, and emotionally moving look at the complexity of race, humanity, love, and dignity in the second half of the nineteenth century. The year 2020 marks 400 years since Africans set foot on American shores. Pure Confidence commemorates this event.

Pictures at a Cuban Exhibition II
While walking through a flea market in Havana, Cuba, Dr. Mike Davison was amazed by the quality and quantity of Cuban paintings for sale. Our 2018 Cuban Spectacular was modeled after Russian composer, Modest Mussorgsky’s great work, Pictures at an Exhibition. This year’s version will feature new paintings and new Latin jazz compositions depicting original Cuban artwork. The University of Richmond Jazz Ensemble will be joined by many guest artists performing side-by-side with the students.

Free, Tickets Required

by Noël Coward

Matthew Warchus directs Andrew Scott (BBC’s Sherlock, Fleabag) in Noël Coward’s provocative comedy Present Laughter.

As he prepares to embark on an overseas tour, star actor Garry Essendine’s colourful life is in danger of spiralling out of control. Engulfed by an escalating identity crisis as his many and various relationships compete for his attention, Garry’s few remaining days at home are a chaotic whirlwind of love, sex, panic and soul-searching.

Captured live from The Old Vic in London, Present Laughter is a giddy and surprisingly modern reflection on fame, desire, and loneliness.

About National Theatre of London Live
The groundbreaking series National Theatre Live brings the best of British theatre direct from the stages of London to movie theatres around the world. Each performance is captured live in high definition and broadcast via satellite to participating venues.

This is an encore presentation.

Hot on the very high heels of the wildly successful epic extravaganza, A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, the incomparable Taylor Mac makes his Richmond, Virginia debut to share a little holiday sass and dazzling glitter with Holiday Sauce. It’s Christmas as calamity when MacArthur Fellow (2017) and Pulitzer Prize finalist Taylor Mac celebrates the season's dysfunction in the ultimate holiday survival guide. Joined by longtime collaborators Machine Dazzle and Matt Ray, and a spectacular band, Mac reframes the songs you love and the holidays you hate in a brilliant, and at times shocking, take-down of the sentimentality of the holidays.

After Party
On December 8, join the Modlin Center for the Arts as we celebrate the holiday season with a post-performance reception in Booth Lobby.

Join us before the matinee show for a storytelling workshop led by the Tall Stories cast. Find out how to create a story in pictures, how to create a character using your body – and then tell your own story in small groups. The workshop is a fast-moving, enjoyable introduction to storytelling in theatre – using games, freeze frames, and well-known tales. Pre-registration required when you purchase your ticket to the Wilde Creatures performance (free, no additional charge). Space is limited. Each registration includes one parent and one child. Best suited for ages 6 to 11.

Thirty-six years of outstanding, multi-disciplinary collaborations for the stage place Alonzo King LINES Ballet at the forefront of artistic innovation in ballet. While adhering to the classical form, the Company has collaborated with noted composers, musicians, and visual artists to create performances that alter the way we look at ballet today.

In their return to the Modlin Center, Alonzo King LINES Ballet explores the power of lost languages in Figures of Speech. Over half the world’s nearly 7,000 languages are at risk of vanishing by the end of the century. Poet and activist Bob Holman is a leading advocate of linguistic preservation and revitalization in indigenous communities. His recorded collection of native peoples’ poetry and song informs the soundscape of this stunning evening-length ballet.

ARTIST VOICES
Stay after the performance for a Q&A discussion with members of the Company.

Indians throw crazy parties. Heard of Diwali? A million lamps floating on a river and fireworks to wake the dead. Heard of Holi? An explosion of color and joy and a massive dry-cleaning bill? Heard about Onam? It could be the craziest of them all. Indian Ink Theatre Company bridges cultures and expands boundaries with this utterly disarming comedy that seats the audience around the dining table and at the kitchen bench in the back room of an Indian-run convenience store. Now that her son is grown up, Mrs. Krishnan is thinking of selling the shop. It’s Onam, a time to celebrate life, death, and rebirth, and Mrs. Krishnan has to throw the party of her life.

Choose your experience: This performance will offer a variety of immersive options, from the fully participatory dinner table seating to the wallflower option.
General admission seating is in order of most to least participatory:
Top Table (Contact Box Office for seating in this section), Inner Circle, Cheeky Seats, Wallflower

ARTIST VOICES
Stay after the performance for a Q&A discussion with the performers and a vegetable dahl tasting.

When Giselle learns that her beloved Albrecht is promised to another woman, she dies of a broken heart in his arms. While Albrecht grieves, she returns from the dead as a Wili, a vengeful spirit meant to make unfaithful men dance until death. Prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova personifies this ultimate ballerina role in the classical repertoire, alongside the sensational Sergei Polunin as Albrecht, in this chilling, yet luminous ballet that continues to captivate audiences for over 150 years at the Bolshoi.

About Pathe Live's Bolshoi Ballet
The Modlin Center for the Arts, in partnership with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, will broadcast the eighth season of Pathe Live’s Bolshoi Ballet, featuring ballet productions direct from the grand Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Audiences will enjoy these outstanding performances with the Bolshoi principals, soloists, and corps de ballet. Each production will feature behind-the-scenes programming, including interviews with the cast and creative teams, either prior to the start of the production, or during intermission.

Described by critics as a charismatic and rhythmically propulsive drummer with melodic sensibility, Allison Miller engages her deep roots in jazz improvisation as a way to explore all music. The critically acclaimed percussionist and Yamaha clinician will be joined by her stellar band, Boom Tic Boom, for the Richmond premiere of her new Modlin Center for the Arts co-commissioned work, In Our Veins: Rivers and Social Change

Rivers are the lifeline of America. In Our Veins: Rivers and Social Change is a multimedia suite for chamber jazz ensemble and tap dancer centered around five American rivers (Susquehanna, Delaware, James, Hudson, Schuylkill) and the social and environmental changes they inspired.

ARTIST VOICES
Arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with Allison Miller, led by WCVE Music jazz host Peter Solomon.

The GRAMMY® Award-winning band and world-class musicians, The SteelDrivers, have carved out a career that spans more than a decade — one that encompasses four highly acclaimed albums and a sound The Tennessean describes as “gutsy, gritty bluegrass songs.” The SteelDrivers return to the Modlin Center with new lead singer Kelvin Damrell, whose vocals and fretwork add a fresh voice to the mix.

We are proud to welcome percussionist Pedrito Martínez back to the Modlin Center along with pianist Alfredo Rodríguez. Both GRAMMY® Award-nominated artists first worked together on Rodríguez’s 2012 release Invasion Parade. Rodríguez, who was trained in the rigorous classical conservatories of Havana, Cuba, is a protégé of Quincy Jones, who took him under his wing when he defected to the United States in 2009. His riveting artistry is informed as much by Bach and Stravinsky as it is by his Afro Cuban and jazz roots. Martínez’s musical training came directly from the streets of his childhood neighborhood, Cayo Hueso in Old Havana, and he has subsequently performed with artists such as Sting, Paul Simon, and Wynton Marsalis.

ARTIST VOICES
Arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martínez, led by WCVE Music jazz host Peter Solomon.

The Prado Museum: A Collection of Wonders celebrates the 200th anniversary of the storied Prado Museum -- one of the most-visited museums in the world. Hosted by Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons, this cinematic journey offers viewers a spell-binding experience, telling the story of Spain and beyond, through the works of Vélazquez, Rubens, Titian, Mantegna, Bosch, Goya, El Greco, and more.

About Great Art on Screen
Great Art on Screen, new to the Modlin Center this season and in partnership with University Museums, is a series of film documentaries featuring an in-depth look at the most extraordinary and groundbreaking art masters of their time.

Takács Quartet, now entering its 45th season, is renowned for the vitality of its interpretations. The Financial Times described the quartet as “these players show no fear, injecting the music with a heady sense of freedom. At the same time, though, there is an uncompromising attention to detail: neither a note nor a bow-hair is out of place.” Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, Edward Dusinberre (violin), Harumi Rhodes (violin), Geraldine Walther (viola) and András Fejér (cello) perform eighty concerts a year worldwide.

This evening’s performance includes Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 18, No. 6; Fanny Mendelssohn’s String Quartet; and Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 131.

Presented by
University of Richmond
Department of Theatre and Dance
Sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences
In conjunction with the Tucker-Boatwright Festival of Literature and the Arts
directed by Anne Van Gelder
costume design by Johann Stegmeir
lighting design by Maja E. White

University Dancers celebrates thirty-five years of engaging dance with their annual concert that brings to the University of Richmond the work of innovative choreographers Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Camille A. Brown, and Sean Aaron Carmon. These artist residencies are supported in part, by the Tucker- Boatwright Festival of Literature and the Arts (Dancing Histories: This Ground), hosted by the Department of Theatre & Dance. Salt Lake Citybased choreographer Charlotte Boye-Christensen’s collaborative work challenges perceptions of what defines dance, while not rejecting tradition. Boye-Christensen is the founder of NOW-ID, an interdisciplinary contemporary performance company known for its site-specific work and its commitment to inventing unique forms. Camille A. Brown’s critically acclaimed choreography has been seen in concert venues, on Broadway, and on television. Following the success of his 2018 premiere for University Dancers, Sean Aaron Carmon returns to Richmond to create a new work. Formerly an artist with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Carmon is an accomplished dancer and choreographer who currently performs in Disney’s The Lion King.

Hailing from historic County Waterford, Danú is one of today’s leading traditional Irish ensembles. Their standing-room-only concerts throughout Ireland are true events featuring highenergy performances and a glorious mix of ancient Irish music and new repertoire. For twenty-five years, Danú’s virtuosi players on flute, tin whistle, fiddle, button accordion, bouzouki, and vocals (Irish and English), have performed around the globe and recorded seven critically acclaimed albums.

ARTIST VOICES
Arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with members of the ensemble.

AFTER PARTY
Join the Modlin Center for the Arts as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a post-performance reception in Booth Lobby.

A new driving force in Nordic world music, the Danish trio Dreamers’ Circus draws inspiration from the deep traditions of the region's folk music. Their adventurous attitude, coupled with their outstanding musicianship, has brought the band to the forefront of the Nordic music scene. The ensemble has won five prestigious Danish Music Awards and collaborates regularly with the Danish String Quartet and the Copenhagen Philharmonic.

ARTIST VOICES
Arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with members of the ensemble. University Museums is open for tours beginning at 6 PM.

What if winter has taken over? Not just outside, but also inside houses, underneath our clothes, and even in our hearts? Would it be a catastrophe? Or a chance to start over? With Blizzard, the multidisciplinary and breathtakingly elegant cirque performers of Cirque FLIP Fabrique take you on a crazy, poetic, and gentle journey in the dead of winter, and invite you to lose yourself in a moment of complete wonder. With performers at the peak of their art, Blizzard promises to blow away everything in its path.

Recognized for her ethereal voice and substantive songwriting, Aoife O’Donovan is “ a vocalist of unerring instinct” (The New York Times). She is the co-founder of the bands Crooked Still and Sometimes Why and performed on the GRAMMY® Awardwinning album The Goat Rodeo Sessions with Yo-Yo Ma. O’Donovan returns to the Modlin Center following the I’m With Her tour, performing songs from throughout her expansive career alongside a string quartet.

The Ballet Folclórico Nacional de México is an institution tasked with the dissemination, preservation, and promotion of the culture of Mexico, both at home and abroad. With an artistic career spanning over fifty-six years, the Company reflects the work of Mexico’s leading researchers and practitioners of folklore, dance, music, and costumes. In its long career, the Company has performed in over forty countries and five continents, received numerous awards and prizes, and is a designated Ambassador of Mexican Culture.

Love, loss, and creation merge in unexpected ways in this thrilling classic gothic tale reconceived by Manual Cinema. The stories of Victor Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, and her Monster expose how the forces of family, community, and education shape personhood — or destroy it by their absence. Returning to the Modlin Center, internationally renowned multimedia company Manual Cinema stitches together the classic story of Frankenstein with Mary Shelley’s own biography to create an added story about the beauty and horror of creation. Manual Cinema combines handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, innovative sound, and live music to create immersive visual stories for stage and screen.

ARTIST VOICES
Stay after the performance to talk with the performers and explore the set.

Heralded as “one of the most important young artists in jazz” by the Los Angeles Times, educator, vibraphonist, and composer, Stefon Harris’ passionate artistry and astonishing virtuosity have propelled him to the forefront of the jazz scene. His long list of accolades includes a Doris Duke Artist Award in 2018, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album in 2014, four GRAMMY® Award nominations, Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, and numerous critics poll awards. Harris reunited his group Blackout for Sonic Creed, their first recording since 2009.

ARTIST VOICES
Arrive at 6:30 PM for a pre-performance discussion with Stefon Harris and Blackout, led by WCVE Music jazz host Peter Solomon.

Lío Villahermosa is a Puerto Rican interdisciplinary artist. His work addresses themes of spirituality and identity framed in imagery that refers to the traditions and cultural syncretisms of the Caribbean. He was one of the emerging artists selected for the Puerto Rican Arts Initiative after Hurricane Mari´a. Villahermosa will present a new work exploring Caribbean identity through movement, voice, and visual media.

2019-2020 Tucker-Boatwright Festival
of Literature and the Arts
Dancing Histories: This Ground
The University of Richmond’s 2019-2020 Tucker-Boatwright Festival of Literature and the Arts will be hosted by the Department of Theatre & Dance, in collaboration with the Modlin Center for the Arts. This year’s events will focus on the theme “Dancing Histories: This Ground.” The festival will present performances, lectures, panel discussions, and residencies by artists whose works reflect a unique engagement with contemporary politics and the interplay between history and memory.

All performances and events are free. More information can be found at https://as.richmond.edu/tucker-boatwright/

Since forming in 2009, the all-female string band Della Mae has established its reputation as a charismatic live act comprised of some of the finest players in bluegrass, Americana, and beyond. With timeless, lyrical truth-telling, and an unmistakably contemporary sensibility, they have earned a wide range of accolades including IBMA’s Emerging Artists of the Year, a GRAMMY® Award nomination, and Rolling Stone’s “Ten Bands to Watch for in 2015.” Opening for Della Mae will be the Jacob Jolliff Band, known as the next generation of bluegrass supergroups, led by one of the country's premier contemporary bluegrass mandolinists, Jacob Jolliff.

Internationally recognized as one of today's most acclaimed and admired pianists, Yefim Bronfman stands among a handful of artists regularly sought by festivals, orchestras, conductors, and recital series. His commanding technique, power, and exceptional lyrical gifts are consistently acknowledged by the press and audiences alike.

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, this evening’s performance will include Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 1; Piano Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 10, No. 2; Piano Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3; and Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata).

Presented by
University of Richmond
Department of Theatre and Dance
Sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences

A play by Karen Zacarías based on the novel
by Julia Álvarez
directed by Walter Schoen

Based on Julia Álvarez’s critically acclaimed, bestselling novel, Karen Zacarías’ play follows four sisters who emigrate from the Dominican Republic to New York City in 1960 because of political strife and personal danger caused by the governmental situation in their homeland. The newly arrived immigrants must adjust to a new life and a new culture while meeting the challenges that are a part of growing up. This wonderful bilingual production mixes all the elements of good theatre with a compelling story to produce an exciting evening of thought-provoking entertainment.

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn have a musical partnership like no other. Fleck is a fifteen-time GRAMMY® Award-winner who has taken the banjo across multiple genres, and Washburn is a singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who reradicalized the instrument by combining it with Asian culture and sounds. Fleck and Washburn will perform pieces from their GRAMMY® Award-winning self-titled debut as well as their new record, Echo in the Valley.

SEASON CLOSING CELEBRATION
Join the Modlin Center for the Arts as we celebrate the closing of our 2019-2020 season with a post-performance reception in Booth Lobby.

A limited number of tickets will be on sale in due course. Visit the following link to the Menuhin Competition Richmond 2020 website to sign up for the newsletter and be the first to hear when tickets go on sale: https://2020.menuhincompetition.org/programme-tickets . If you have any questions about ticketing, please contact the Menuhin Marketing & Sales Coordinator, Ashley Davis, at adavis@richmondsymphony.com or +01 (804) 788-4717 ext. 124.