Audiences can look forward to another stellar collection of performances during the 2015-16 season of onStage at Connecticut College.
This is one of onStage’s tightest, most explosive seasons to date, with widely acclaimed artists bringing their talents to campus for six powerful performances of music, dance and theater.
“I am thrilled with the program we’ve put together,” said the College’s Director of Arts Programming Robert Richter ’82. “We are so fortunate to have been able to book some of the country’s best performers touring this year. While they are all established, well-respected entertainers, they are also forward-thinking artists who aren’t content to rest on their laurels. They’re always experimenting and innovating without losing touch with what their audiences have long appreciated. This will be a banner year.”
This season’s lineup includes:
Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn
Saturday, Oct. 10 | 8 p.m. | Palmer Auditorium
Fifteen-time Grammy Award winner Béla Fleck is joined by Abigail Washburn for an evening of intricate duets featuring banjo and voice. Washburn’s seductive composing, playing and singing blend with Fleck’s riveting and virtuosic musicianship to create sounds both unique yet familiar in texture. The pairing should make musical history, as did Fleck’s previous collaborations with well-renowned artists Dave Matthews, Earl Scruggs and Zakir Hussain. Together, Fleck and Washburn energize and excite audiences with a rare blend of jazz, bluegrass and rock. Tickets (reserved seating): $28; Seniors: $25; Students: $14.
Doug Varone and Dancers
Saturday, Oct. 24 | 7:30 p.m. | Palmer Auditorium
Doug Varone and Dancers will perform “ReComposed,” a visual dance creation inspired by American abstract artist Joan Mitchell’s pastel drawings and set to Max Richter’s newly constructed version of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.” Varone and Dancers have been commanding the modern dance world since 1989 with grace, power and versatility. A review in Newsday noted, “This is a company of master dancers performing masterly choreography.” They have performed at a variety of prestigious venues including Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center and The Brooklyn Academy of Music, and now local audiences can witness this kinesthetically thrilling event with dancers who delve deep into the beauty of the human spirit. Tickets: $28; Seniors: $25; Students: $14.
Anonymous 4
Friday, Nov. 20 | 7:30 p.m. | Evans Hall
Vocal ensemble Anonymous 4 brings light and life to 12th-, 13th- and 14th-century music. So much so that a Los Angeles Times music critic wrote, “Angelic, indeed, Anonymous 4 … sounded as though it hovered over the hall.” Anonymous 4 has been playing to sold-out audiences in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East for decades, completing more than 20 recordings in the process and making waves on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart. For onStage at Connecticut College, they will perform “Anthology,” a celebratory program featuring ancient, traditional and modern works from their prize-winning recordings. This will be one of the last opportunities to hear them live — Anonymous 4 has announced they will disband at the end of the 2015-16 season. Tickets: $22; Seniors: $20; Students: $11.
“A Moon for the Misbegotten” — Walnut Street Theater
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 | 7:30 p.m. | Palmer Auditorium
Walnut Street Theater, America’s oldest continuously operating theater, brings to life the final work —and only love story — from Eugene O’Neill, America’s only Nobel Prize-winning playwright. Set on a Connecticut tenant farm in 1923, “A Moon for the Misbegotten” introduces one of the most important female characters to the theatrical cannon while dealing with topics of family, death and life. Tickets: $24; Seniors: $21; Students: $12. On Feb. 5, at 7 p.m., onStage at Connecticut College and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center will host a discussion of the play at O’Neill’s childhood summer home, Monte Cristo Cottage, located at 325 Pequot Avenue, New London. To register for the pre-performance discussion, go to http://bit.ly/eon-moon.
Howard Fishman Quartet
Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 | 7:30 p.m. | Evans Hall
Singer, guitarist, composer and bandleader Howard Fishman's exciting, spontaneous and unconventional music has made him a critically-acclaimed favorite at venues worldwide. Fishman combines jazz, soul, country and folk to create an entirely unique sound. The New York Times writes that Fishman’s music “transcends time and idiom.” He is a frequent guest on NPR and has performed with such distinguished artists as Andrew Bird and Yo-Yo Ma. Fishman will be sharing original sounds and songs of wide-ranging appeal. Tickets: $18; Seniors: $16; Students: $9.
Sweet Honey In The Rock®
Friday, April 1, 2016 | 7:30 p.m. | Palmer Auditorium
Sweet Honey In The Rock® is a performance ensemble rooted in African-American history and culture. The ensemble educates, entertains and empowers its audience and community through the dynamic vehicles of a cappella singing and American Sign Language interpretation for the deaf and hearing impaired. Sweet Honey’s audience and community come from diverse backgrounds and cultures throughout the United States and around the world, and includes people of all ages, economic/educational/social backgrounds, political persuasions, religious affiliations, sexual preferences and differing abilities. The Fort Worth Star Telegram calls Sweet Honey “the gold standard,” for they are able to produce a sound that “does not seem humanly possible.” Tickets (reserved seating): $28; Seniors: $25; Students: $14.
For information on onStage subscriptions, which provide discounted tickets, call 860-439-ARTS (2787) or email onstage@conncoll.edu. Visit http://onstage.conncoll.edu for additional information about performances and tickets.