Worcester To Enter New Worlds With Bill Murray And Friends

The spoken word and music come together in new and powerful ways when actor and comedian Bill Murray and award-winning cellist Jan Vogler team up to present Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends: New Worlds, an evening of music, poetry and prose. This unique show will play at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts on Sunday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are now on sale to theatre members and go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 16 at 10 a.m.

Bill Murray and Jan Vogler met during their travels and became friends in New York. Curious about each other's artistic worlds and interests, the actor and the cellist soon had the idea to work together on a project that showcases the core of American values in literature and music and communicates the bridges artists have built between America and Europe. Twain, Hemingway, Whitman, Cooper, Bernstein, Gershwin and Foster are some of the strongest voices that influenced generations of humans in America and gave the world a picture of the charm, energy and creative force of the New World.

Tickets to Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends - New Worlds start at $45. Discounts are available to members of The Hanover Theatre and groups of 10 or more. Tickets are available online at TheHanoverTheatre.org, by phone at 877.571.SHOW (7469) or at The Hanover Theatre box office located at 2 Southbridge Street in downtown Worcester.

Bill Murray, raised in a large Irish family from Wilmette, Illinois, made his first comedic mark on the nation appearing on television in Saturday Night Live in 1976, along with his National Lampoon Radio Hour pals Dan Ackroyd, Jon Belushi and Gilda Radner. His memorable and offbeat comic skills earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.

Murray went on to star in a slew of highly successful comedic films, consistently creating anti-heroes who resonated with an American audience, but also reached audiences the world over. His bold, irreverent brand of humor became emblematic of Hollywood comedies of the 1980's, including "Caddyshack," "Ghostbusters" and "Groundhog Day."

In 1998, Murray began a long and fruitful collaboration with writer-director Wes Anderson, creating a long list of unique, genre-bending films including "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou."

His role in Sofia Coppola's 2003 "Lost in Translation" garnered numerous awards including Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Murray also received Golden Globe nominations for? "Ghostbusters," "Rushmore," ""?Hyde Park on Hudson," "St. Vincent" and the HBO miniseries "Olive Kitteridge," for which he later won his second Primetime Emmy Award.

Beyond acting, Murray was recognized in 2016 as a Humorist with the award of the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Murray's accessible everyman characters, his embodiment of both comic and tragic, and his renowned ability for turning every moment into art has given him the moniker of comic genius. But his ability to share those gifts off-screen with his audience, as well as his passions for the American pastimes of baseball and golf, have elevated him in recent years to American folk hero.

Jan Vogler is one of today's most renowned soloists, praised for his "soulful, richly hued playing" (New York Times) and his "spiraling virtuosity" (Gramophone Magazine).

A prolific and multi-award-winning recording artist, Jan Vogler records exclusively for Sony Classical. He performs with leading international orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston, Montreal and Bavarian Radio symphony orchestras, the Deutsche Symphonie - Orchester Berlin, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and the Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and collaborates with conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Fabio Luisi, Sir Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Thomas Hengelbrock, Manfred Honeck and Kent Nagano.

In the 2017-18 season, he is Artist in Residence with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He will also perform in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski, the Philharmonia Zurich and the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under the baton of Fabio Luisi, as well as the Toronto Symphony Orchstra and Peter Oundjian with Wolfgang Rihm's Double Concerto for violin and cello. He frequently appears in recitals with his duo partners Hélène Grimaud, Martin Stadtfeld and Lise de la Salle.

Jan Vogler plays the 1707 Stradivari 'Ex Castelbarco/Fao' cello and is represented worldwide by Tanja Dorn at Dorn Music.

The Hanover Theatre continues to draw over 197,000 patrons annually with world-class performances and headlining acts including Broadway hits ("Les Misérables," "Kinky Boots"), comedians (Dave Chappelle, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld), musical acts (Neil Young, Aretha Franklin, John Legend, Tony Bennett) and everything in between ("A Christmas Carol," Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Alton Brown, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson). POLLSTAR consistently ranks The Hanover Theatre as one of the Top Theatres in the World. After nine seasons, the award-winning, historic theatre continues to establish its place as a world-class performing arts venue, acting as a catalyst for the economic development of downtown Worcester. The Hanover Theatre's recently acquired 551 Main Street houses new function space, offices, rental space for a restaurant on the ground floor and The Hanover Theatre Conservatory for the Performing Arts on the lower level.

Worcester Center for Performing Arts, a registered not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, owns and operates The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

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