Yo-Yo Ma, Martha Graham Dance, THE RIVER and More Set for UW World Series' 2015-16 Season

Executive and Artistic Director Michelle Witt today announced the UW World Series 2015-16 Season, featuring internationally acclaimed artists in music and dance from around the globe.

The line-up includes 27 artists and ensembles from 16 countries, including Brazil, Cuba, Senegal, Russia, Denmark, Haiti, China, India, Spain and Japan.

"Each of the artists on the 2015-16 Season are catalysts for the creative exchange of art and ideas and embody the transformative potential of the performing arts across many cultures and traditions," remarks Witt.

"Presenting the mastery of Yo-Yo Ma again at Meany Hall, after 30 years, is especially exciting; and we are honored that the pioneering Trisha Brown Dance Company will present their final proscenium performance here in Trisha's home state of Washington as we celebrate the company's legacy to modern dance. Expanding adventurous new work continues to be a priority, with our commission of the multi-media collaboration between film-maker David Michalek and leading violinist Gil Shaham."

Other highlights of the 2015-16 Season include:

• Nine artists and ensembles make their Seattle debuts: MalPaso Dance Cuba, Akram Khan Company, Yulianna Avdeeva, Igor Levit, Vicente Amigo, globalFEST's Casuarina, Emeline Michel and Brushy One-String, and Jane Comfort and Company.
• The North American premiere of Sankai Juku's Umasuna: Memories Before History.
• Two events on the World Dance Series feature live music: Cuba's MalPaso Dance Company, accompanied live by Arturo O'Farill & The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, winners of the 2015 Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album; Martha Graham Dance Company performs Rust, a new work from Nacho Duato that features an all-male chorus.
• New York's global music phenomenon, globalFEST, takes the party on the road with Creole Carnival, a one-night mini-festival spotlighting artists from Brazil, Haiti and Jamaica.
• The world premiere of The River, a water-themed program of multiple works performed by chamber ensemble ETHEL with Native American flutist Robert Mirabal.
• The world premiere of a new work by internationally acclaimed composer and UW School of Music faculty, Huck Hodge, performed by Daedalus Quartet.
• The farewell tour of the all-female vocal ensemble, Anonymous 4, performing a "best of" anthology of works.

Season tickets for all four Series (President's Piano, International Chamber Music, World Dance and World Music & Theatre), as well as Choose Your Own packages, are on sale now. Single tickets for all events go on sale August 3, 2015. Tickets to Yo-Yo Ma and the five Special Events may be purchased in advance by season ticket holders.

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Jonathan Biss
Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $41-$46

Jonathan Biss, whom The New Yorker describes as playing with "unerring sophistication," made his New York Philharmonic debut in 2001 when he was 20 years old. Since then he has appeared with the foremost orchestras of North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. His virtuosity and spirit have been recognized since he began playing, having won multiple awards including Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award, The Avery Fisher Prize, and Leonard Bernstein Award. Constantly striving to challenge himself, Biss is on his fourth volume of Beethoven's Sonatas, hoping to record all 32 by 2020. NPR said of Biss' Beethoven project that "Biss unreels the music like a prayer to the universe." He returns to Meany Hall for the first time in over a decade.

Yulianna Avdeeva
Tuesday, December 1, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $37-$42

Yulianna Avdeeva rose to fame when she won First Prize in the Chopin Competition in 2010. She has since embarked on a world-class career and her artistic integrity is rapidly ensuring her a place among the most distinctive artists of her generation. Yulianna Avdeeva's Chopin performances have drawn particular praise, marking her out as one of the composer's foremost interpreters. Making her Seattle debut at Meany Hall, the Russian pianist is a young force in the world of classical music. Says The Guardian, "Her pacing is born of intelligent feeling and clarity of thought, and her ability to finesse Chopin's inner voices puts many to shame."

Garrick Ohlsson
Tuesday, January 12, 2016, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $37-$42

Well-known to Seattle audiences, Garrick Ohlsson returns to our Series for the 16th time. Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a pianist of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Although he has long been regarded as one of the world's leading exponents of the music of Frédéric Chopin, Mr. Ohlsson commands an enormous repertoire, which ranges over the entire piano literature. A student of the late Claudio Arrau, Mr. Ohlsson is praised for his masterful performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire.

Igor Levit
Wednesday, February 10, 2016, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $41-$46

Probing, intelligent and one of the most accomplished artists of the new generation, Russian-German pianist Igor Levit makes his Seattle debut at Meany Hall. Levit has appeared in major concert halls and music festivals around the world. He's won several international awards, including second prize at the International Maria Callas Grand Prix, first prize at the International Piano Academy Competition in Hamamatsu, and the Luitpold Prize for young artists in Bad Kissingen. Recently a member of the BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artist program, Igor Levit is at the beginning of a very promising career. In the words of The New York Times, "A major new pianist has arrived."

Jeremy Denk
Friday, March 18, 2016, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $45-$50

One of America's most thought-provoking, multi-faceted and compelling artists, pianist Jeremy Denk is the winner of a 2013 MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America's 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year award. He incites renewed love for pieces commonly played in the repertoire and shines new light onto works less popular. Denk is particularly known for his love of the Baroque repertoire and the contrapuntal genius of Bach.The New York Times called Denk a musician "you want to hear no matter what he performs." Denk has steadily built a reputation as one of today's most compelling and persuasive artists with an unusually broad repertoire.

Danish String Quartet
Wednesday, November 4, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $38-$43

The Danish String Quartet has established a reputation for possessing an integrated sound, impeccable intonation and judicious balance. With their technical and interpretive talents matched by an infectious joy for music-making and "rampaging energy" (The New Yorker), the quartet has been acclaimed as one of the "best quartets before the public today" (Washington Post). Since making their debut in 2002 at the Copenhagen Festival, the group of musical friends has demonstrated a passion for Scandinavian composers, who they frequently incorporate into adventurous programs, while also proving skilled and profound performers of the classical masters.

Program:
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 18, No. 1
Per Nørgaard: Quarteto Breve
Schnittke: Quartet no 3 (built on Grosse Fuge theme)
Beethoven: Grosse Fuge, Op. 133

Anonymous 4
Friday, December 4, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $45-$50

Celebrating almost 30 years together, this internationally beloved all-female vocal ensemble presents a very special concert program as part of their historic farewell tour, Anthology 25, featuring ancient, traditional and modern works from each of their 20 critically acclaimed recordings. Ranging from 11th-century plainchant, richly harmonic English conductus and spicy French motets of the 13th century to exotic 15th-century Hungarian polyphony, 19th- and 20th-century American ballads, gospel songs and contemporary works, this "best-of" final Seattle performance is not to be missed.

S? Percussion
Sunday, January 31, 2016, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $35-$40

For over a decade, S? Percussion has redefined the modern percussion ensemble as a flexible, omnivorous entity, pushing its voice to the forefront of American musical culture. Praised by The New Yorker for their "exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam," S? Percussion's career now encompasses 16 albums, touring around the world, a dizzying array of collaborative projects and several ambitious educational programs.

Program includes:
John Cage's Third Construction (composed while Cage was working at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle)
Steve Reich Mallet Quartet
Bryce Dessner's Music For Wood and Strings

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Saturday, March 19, 2016, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $40-$45

Members of the acclaimed Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center return to Meany Hall with the breathtaking program Virtuosity featuring music that combines the intensity of extraordinary ensemble playing with the virtuosity of the soloist. CMS Co-Artistic Director and pianist Wu Han, and violinists Sean Lee and Benjamin Beilman, take solo turns in dazzling music by Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn. The multigenerational musicians of the CMS, one of 11 constituents of the largest performing arts complex in the world, perform in New York City at Alice Tully Hall and on tours throughout the world.

Musicians:
Wu Han, piano
Benjamin Beilman, Kristin Lee, Sean Lee, violin
Richard O'Neill, viola
Nicholas Canellakis, cello

Program:
Mozart: Quartet in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, K. 493
Schubert: Rondo in A major for Violin and Strings, D. 438
Mendelssohn: Double Concerto in D minor for Violin, Piano and Strings

Daedalus Quartet
Friday, April 29, 2016, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $34-$38

Praised by The New Yorker as "a fresh and vital young participant in what is a golden age of American string quartets," the Daedalus Quartet has established itself as a leader among the new generation of string ensembles. In the 12 years of its existence the Daedalus Quartet has received recognition from critics and listeners alike for the security, technical finish, interpretive unity and intensity of its playing. This Seattle premiere performance features Beethoven Quartet's Op. 18 and Op. 132, as well as a new work by UW composer Huck Hodge, commissioned by Harvard's Fromm Foundation.

Program:
Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 18
Huck Hodge: New Work
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132

ETHEL with special guest Robert Mirabal presents The River
Thursday, October 8, 2015, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $29-$32

Critically acclaimed string quartet ETHEL continues its successful six-year collaboration with Native American flutist and three-time Grammy Award winner, Robert Mirabal, with this world premiere performance. Using the river as the inspiration for their collaboration, their music explores water as the embodiment of spirit and its essential role in life on earth in a cross-cultural, chamber experience. Using music, narrative and ritual their performance evokes timeless Native American traditions through contemporary musical artistry. To complement the music created by ETHEL and Mirabal, ETHEL will also perform part of Gabriela Lena Frank's epic Andean Walkabout and Phil Kline's The River.

Youssou N'Dour
Sunday, November 8, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

Boldly called "the world's greatest pop vocalist" by the Village Voice, Youssou N'Dour is more than a Senegalese musician who has popularized mbalax, a form of Senegalese music. N'Dour absorbs the entire Senegalese musical spectrum in his work, often filtering it through the lens of genre-defying rock or pop music from outside Senegalese culture. Named "African Artist of the Century" by Folk Roots, N'Dour is also an accomplished politician and is currently the tourism and culture minister of Senegal.

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

On the heels of their eponymous album release, husband and wife musicians Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn bring their banjos and Appalachian sound to Meany Hall. Béla is an innovator of jazz, classical and world music, with more multi-category Grammy wins than any other artist (15 total); and Abigail is a formidable talent with triumphs in songwriting, theater, performance and even Chinese diplomacy by way of banjo. No stranger to UW World Series, Béla Fleck was last seen at Meany Hall accompanying Brooklyn Rider.

Vicente Amigo
Wednesday, March 16, 2016, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $35-$40

Latin Grammy Award-winning flamenco guitarist, Vicente Amigo, will make his Seattle debut. A Spanish flamenco composer and virtuoso, he is hailed as the "Sultan of Duende." Amigo's shows are famed for their transporting power. He possesses an ethereal, otherworldly quality and music seemingly flows from his guitar without effort. Wrote one critic, "Vicente Amigo represents the introspective exploration of flamenco with all its passion, grace and fire. He stands alone in a space which he carved out for himself."

globalFEST On The Road - Creole Carnival
Thursday, April 14, 2016, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

Over the past decade, globalFEST has become one of the most dynamic global music platforms in North America with stages at SXSW, Bonnaroo and beyond. What started as an annual showcase in New York has grown into an international brand, building audiences for such celebrated artists as Mariza, Lila Downs and The Nile Project. Now globalFEST is taking the party on the road, launching its first North American tour. Creole Carnival shines the spotlight on Emeline Michele, the reigning Queen of Haitian song; Casuarina, a Brazilian samba combo; and Brushy One-String, a Jamaican one-string guitarist.

Sankai Juku
Thursday-Saturday, October 1-3, 2015, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

Declared "one of the most original and startling dance theater groups to be seen " by The New York Times, Sankai Juku weaves meticulous spellbinding movement with breathtaking visual spectacle to create deeply moving theatrical experiences. The work of choreographer Ushio Amagatsu and his company are known worldwide and have won countless awards, confirming their status as Japan's finest example of contemporary Butoh. For their Meany Hall performance, Sankai Juku will perform their latest creation, Umasuna: Memories Before History. The work evokes the essence of duality and unity encapsulated in the Chinese characters for "birth" and "earth" that combine to form the work's title.

Akram Khan Company
Thursday-Saturday, November 12-14, 2015, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $43-$48

One of the most intriguing dance artists on the international scene today, Akram Khan is known for his fusion of the classical Indian form of Kathak with contemporary dance. As a choreographer, he stages stark visual landscapes populated by witty or mysterious figures and explores the intersection of different cultures and creative disciplines. The company makes its Northwest debut with Kaash, described as "startling, original, and beautiful" (The Guardian). Hindu Gods, black holes, Indian time cycles, tablas, creation and destruction are the themes of this new piece danced by a five-strong international cast of performers.

Trisha Brown Dance Company
Thursday-Saturday, February 4-6, 2016, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

A maverick and pioneer of postmodern dance, Washington State native Trisha Brown has spent a lifetime exploring movement that finds the extraordinary in the everyday and challenges existing perceptions of performance. She has pushed the limits of choreography and changed modern dance forever. At 77, Brown has choreographed her last works. A farewell tour, called Proscenium Works, 1979-2011, makes its final stop in her home state, offering Seattle audiences one last chance to celebrate Brown's legacy and see her major works in their original context. "Invariably sensuous, characterized by inventive wit...she keeps adding to the sum of human happiness" (The New York Times). Program to include Present Tense (2003) and Son of Gone Fishin' (1981), among others.

MalPaso Dance Company
Thursday-Saturday, March 3-5, 2016, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $43-$48

Founded in 2013 under the artistic direction of Osnel Delgado, MalPaso Dance Company expresses the passion and uncertainties that define Cuban life and are embodied in the country's rich dance tradition. Touring the U.S. for the first time, the company exhibits its trademark fresh contemporary spirit in a program featuring 24 Hours and a Dog, a new contemporary dance piece by Delgado set to music by Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer Arturo O'Farrill, who will perform live with members of the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble. Also on the program is a new work yet to be announced.

Grupo Corpo
Thursday-Saturday, March 24-26, 2016, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $53-$58

Brazil's internationally acclaimed dance company Grupo Corpo combines the precision of classical ballet with the sensuality and passion of Latin dance rhythms. Translated as "Group Body," the name Grupo Corpo reflects the movement style of the dancers, whose stunning physicality, dynamic ability and rich visual finesse fill the stage with theatrical, joyful dance. "Grupo Corpo's dancers are justly celebrated for their virtuosity, and when 22 of them are moving in rippling, flickering, high kicking unison, the audience are guaranteed a physical thrill" (The Guardian).

Martha Graham Dance Company
Thursday-Saturday, May 5-7, 2016, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

Described by The Washington Post as "one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe" and by The New York Times as "one of the great companies of the world," the Martha Graham Dance Company returns to Meany Hall on their 90th Anniversary Tour. A pioneer of modern dance, Martha Graham stands alongside Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, George Balanchine and Coco Chanel as an icon of 20th-century modernism. She revolutionized dance with her unorthodox movement language and socially charged exploration of spiritual and emotional themes. The company continues to foster Graham's spirit of ingenuity, inspiring new generations of choreographers and dance lovers. Program to include Nacho Duato's new work, Rust, with an all-male chorus, Graham's Diversion of Angels, and others.

An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma
Tuesday, December 8, 2015, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices start at: $165

The world's most famous living cellist, Yo-Yo Ma, returns to the Meany Hall stage for a solo Bach recital. Ma has enjoyed a prolific career as both a soloist performing with orchestras around the world and as a recording artist. As a boy, he played for President Kennedy-and professional success has not abated since his career began in the mid-1970s. His 90 albums have received 17 Grammy Awards. In 2011, Mr. Ma was recognized as a Kennedy Center Honoree, serves as a UN Messenger of Peace and as a member of the President's Committee on the Arts & the Humanities. He plays two instruments, a Venetian cello, known as the Montagnana, made in 1733 by Antonio Stradivari and the 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius.

This appearance presents a rare opportunity for audience members to experience Ma's virtuosity in a far more intimate space than is usual for an artist of his stature-a venue with outstanding acoustics where no seat is farther than 90 feet from the stage.

The Peking Acrobats
Saturday, January 23, 2016, 3pm & 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

The Peking Acrobats are a UW World Series favorite, and for good reason - they are astonishing. They perform daring maneuvers atop a precarious pagoda of chairs; are experts at trick-cycling, precision tumbling, somersaulting and gymnastics; and defy gravity with amazing displays of contortion, flexibility and control. Masters of agility and grace, they push the envelope of human possibility. Often accompanied by live musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments and high-tech special effects, The Peking Acrobats are an exuberant entertainment event with all the excitement and festive pageantry of a Chinese Carnival.

Jane Comfort and Company
Thursday-Saturday, April 7-9, 2016, 8pm
Please note: this performance takes place in the Meany Studio Theatre
Regular single ticket price: $35

Declared "a postmodernist pioneer in the use of verbal material in dance" by The New York Times, Jane Comfort addresses contemporary social and cultural issues with compassion and wit. The company is an extraordinary group of dancers, actors and singers whose multiple talents allow Comfort to create layered works utilizing a wide range of theatrical elements. The program features the critically acclaimed Beauty. This provocative dance theater work explores the American notion of female attractiveness by framing the dialogue of the cultural pressures surrounding women's physique, attire and appearance around the quintessential image of Barbie. Beauty is "wickedly funny and ...isn't interested in forgiveness" (The New York Times).

Anoushka Shankar
Saturday, April 9, 2016, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $50-$55

Sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar emits sonic beauty as she explores Indian music, electronica, jazz, flamenco and Western classical music. The daughter and student of the legendary Ravi Shankar, her genre-defying style produces music as intriguing as it is beautiful. A three-time Grammy nominee, Shankar has collaborated with a diverse roster of artists including Sting, Mstislav Rostropovich, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Thievery Corporation, Herbie Hancock and her half-sister Norah Jones.

Gil Shaham Bach Six Solos with original films by David Michalek
Saturday, April 16, 2016, 8pm
Regular single ticket prices: $60-$65

One of the foremost violinists of our time, Gil Shaham commands flawless technique with inimitable warmth, a combination that has solidified his legacy as an American master. "One of the few [violinists] identifiable by sound and style alone," according to The Boston Globe, the multiple Grammy Award winner plays the incomparable 1699 "Countess Polignac" Stradivarius. For his Meany Hall debut, Shaham will perform all six of Bach's sublime Sonata and Partitas for Solo Violin, among the most technically demanding and emotionally penetrating works Bach ever composed, accompanied by projections of visual imagery created by artist David Michalek.

Murray Perahia
Wednesday, April 20, 2016, 7:30pm
Regular single ticket prices: $60-$65

Declared "one of the most satisfying, illuminating, and all-around impressive pianists of any generation" by The Los Angeles Times, Murray Perahia has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time, performing in all the major international music centers and with every leading orchestra. "The qualities that make Perahia one of today's leading artists of the keyboard lie in his ability to shine a penetrating and personal light on such music, in such a way that there is nothing at all "standard" about it. In other words, the commanding insights he brings to this repertory are more than enough to breathe freshness and distinction into works we've heard many times before, but seldom played at this inspired level" (Chicago Tribune).

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Regular prices for season tickets are: World Dance Series, $243-$267 (UW Students, $60-120); International Chamber Music Series, $167-$188 (UW Students, $50-100); President's Piano Series, $168-$190 (UW Students, $50-100); World Music Series, $171-$188 (UW Students, $50-$100). UW Employees, UW Alumni Association members, non-UW Students, and Seniors (age 65 and up) receive an additional 20 percent off regular Series season ticket prices. Choose Your Own Series subscribers receive 10 percent off when purchasing four or more events as a package.

An Evening With Yo-Yo Ma and Special Event tickets are available exclusively to subscribers until single tickets go on sale August 3.

Free Youth Ticket Offer: Subscribers to the President's Piano Series or International Chamber Music Series may add up to two free youth subscriptions (ages 5-17 only) with every adult subscription purchased.

Series tickets may be purchased by calling 206-543-4880, by downloading an order form at uwworldseries.org, or by visiting the ArtsUW Ticket Office at 1313 NE 41st Street. Single tickets go on sale on August 3, 2015.

About UW World Series - The UW World Series is one of Seattle's leading performing arts organizations, presenting innovative, provocative and diverse international artists in music, theater, and dance. Over 500 visiting artists from around the world have performed as part of the UWWS. The eclectic mix of programming has given Northwest audiences a broad view of the world of performing arts, from sampling unique cultural traditions to experiencing innovative new works that expand the scope and direction of contemporary performing arts. The UW World Series' mission includes supporting the educational goals of the University of Washington by providing extensive arts learning opportunities for area school children and teachers, members of the community at large, and UW students and faculty.

Location and parking: All performances take place in Meany Hall. Meany Hall is located on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington, on 15th Avenue NE between NE 40th and 41st Streets. Parking for Meany Hall is available in the Central Parking Garage (entrance at 15th Avenue and 41st Street). On-street metered parking is also available.

Special needs: Disability seating with up to three companion seats per disability space is available for all UWWS events. Reservations for disability seating must be made at the time of purchase. Please contact the UW Arts Ticket Office at 206-543-4880 for specific seating options and availability, or for other access requests.

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