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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEANY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ANNOUNCES ITS 2025–26 SEASON

SEASON TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE.

SINGLE TICKETS GO ON SALE AUGUST 5.

SEATTLE, WA, April 1, 2025 — The Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington announces its 2025-26 Season, featuring inspiring artists from around the globe. The legendary director Peter Sellars will be Meany Center’s Artistic Partner for the season. The centerpiece of his residency will be the West Coast premiere of the chamber opera Music for New Bodies created in collaboration with composer Matthew Aucoin and performed by the American Modern Opera Company.

The 2025-26 Season emphasizes themes of healing, community and resilience. Throughout the season, the Meany Center invites audiences to explore how art can foster a sense of belonging, promote unity and create connections through shared experiences.

“At the core of this season lies the belief that art can be a powerful catalyst for change,” said Meany Center Executive and Artistic Director Michelle Witt. “Our artists explore themes of resilience, healing and interconnectedness, addressing both personal and collective challenges. We are honored to welcome leading director Peter Sellars as our Artistic Partner. His unique approach to staging classical music often blurs the lines between performers and audience and creates immersive experiences that challenge and inspire us. This is a rare opportunity for personal engagement with students, faculty and our Seattle-area communities with an artist of this stature.”

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

Director Peter Sellars and composer Matthew Aucoin’s newest work, Music for New Bodies, has its West Coast premiere. Performed by five vocalists with the American Modern Opera Company, this bold chamber opera confronts pressing questions about our relationship with the planet, the ethics of AI, and the search for meaning in a rapidly evolving world.

In An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma: Reflections in Words and Music, the legendary cellist performs in recital and reflects on the profound role art plays in shaping humanity’s understanding of itself and its future. 

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Sutra features 19 monks from China’s Shaolin Temple in an award-winning production that explores the philosophy and faith behind the Shaolin tradition and its relationship with kung-fu within a contemporary context.

The genre-leading sextet yMusic performs Aquatic Ecology from Seattle-based composer Gabriella Smith integrating underwater field recordings of marine life to create a unique auditory experience that connects audiences with ecological themes.

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company remounts Still/Here, Jones’ iconic dance theater work created during the AIDS epidemic that explores loss and survival.

Ephrat Asherie Dance makes its Seattle premiere with original music composed and performed live by Grammy-winner Arturo O’Farrill.

Dianne Reeves rings in the holidays with Christmas Time Is Here. The renowned jazz vocalist brings unmatched virtuosity and improvisational flair to holiday classics.

A trio of events celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, including Americana! repertoire from pianist Jon Kimura Parker, Min Kwon’s America/Beautiful project, and the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dances to American Music: Soul of America showcases the nation’s rich musical and cultural heritage.

2025 Grammy-nominated husband and wife duo The Baylor Project celebrate Valentine’s Day with a jazzy, uplifting gospel-filled concert.

An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma: Reflections in Words and Music

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

This special performance from Yo-Yo Ma pairs repertoire from the center of his musical firmament with reflections on how it has shaped his thinking about art, human nature and our search for meaning.

“I believe that art, music and the humanities help us fulfill unwritten contracts. They help us sympathize with the human condition and examine how we relate to one other. They help us receive the wisdom of the past, they help us understand today’s problems, and they empower us to imagine a better world.” — Yo-Yo Ma

A Sadler’s Wells and Shaolin Temple presentation

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Sutra

with monks from the Shaolin Temple

Thursday–Saturday, November 13–15, 2025 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Sutra, the award-winning collaboration between choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, sculptor Antony Gormley and 19 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China, is a breathtaking spectacle of athleticism that explores the philosophy and faith behind the Shaolin tradition and its relationship with kung-fu within a contemporary context. With Antony Gormley’s striking set of 21 wooden boxes and Polish composer Szymon Brzóska’s specially commissioned score performed live, Sutra is an incomparable work that has captured the hearts and imaginations of people the world over, as one of the stage’s most sophisticated productions and a true work of art.

Co-produced with Athens Festival, Festival de Barcelona Grec, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, La Monnaie Brussels, Festival d’Avignon, Fondazione Musica per Roma and Shaolin Cultural Communications Company.

Ephrat Asherie Dance with Arturo O'Farrill
Shadow Cities

Thursday–Saturday, January 29–31, 2026 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Ephrat Asherie’s exhilarating choreography remixes street and club dance styles with the live Latin jazz sound of Grammy-winner Arturo O’Farrill. Shadow Cities asks how and why we can feel our most enlivened selves when we are halfway between disparate extremes in time, space and state. With an amalgam of cultures, our identities are fixed and infinitely fluid, our movements malleable and explosive.

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company

Still/Here

Thursday–Saturday, February 26–28, 2026 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Thirty years after its historic premiere, the groundbreaking dance theater work by Bill T. Jones returns to the stage. Created during the AIDS epidemic, Still/Here shatters boundaries between the personal and the political, exemplifying a form of dance theater that is uniquely American. At the heart of the piece are “survival workshops” Jones conducted with people living with life-threatening illnesses. The participants are the essence of the piece: their gestures inform the choreography, their words the lyrics, their images the stage; they will always be Still/Here, and this work exists to honor their strength.

The New York Times Best Dance Performances of 2024

Circa: Duck Pond

Thursday–Saturday, April 2–4, 2026 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Feathers will fly in this exuberant take on Swan Lake by the Australian contemporary circus group Circa. The world’s most romantic ballet is re-imagined as a circus spectacular, full of Circa’s signature physicality and shot through with cheeky humor and a thoroughly contemporary energy. Be swept away by this tale of swans and hapless princes sparkling with quirky touches like the sequined flipper-wearing duck army and a burlesque black swan. There are sumptuous aerials, jaw-dropping acrobatics and of course…feathers! Touching, funny and utterly entertaining, Duck Pond is a tale of identity and finding your true self.

“Hugely entertaining and impressive” — Limelight (Australia)

Mark Morris Dance Group
Dances to American Music: Soul of America

Thursday–Saturday, May 7–9, 2026 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with Dances to American Music: Soul of America, a captivating performance by one of the country’s leading dance companies. Choreographed by the legendary Mark Morris, this program blends jazz, classical and folk music by iconic American composers, including Samuel Barber, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and James P. Johnson. With Broadway show tunes, Jazz-age rhythms and charming melodies, the Seattle-born Morris brings his unique creativity and musical precision to life. Featuring live music, this performance honors the vibrant spirit and diversity of America’s artistic heritage.

Jerusalem Quartet

Wednesday,  October 21, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

For over a quarter century, the Jerusalem Quartet has toured the world, earning rave reviews for its warm, full sound — a balance so finely tuned that The New York Times described the ensemble as “a single instrument with 16 strings.” They return to Meany Center with a dynamic program featuring jewels of the string quartet repertoire by Haydn and Beethoven plus Janáček’s dramatic “Kreutzer Sonata.”

“Passion, precision, warmth, a gold blend” — The New York Times

PROGRAM
Franz Joseph Haydn: Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 4 “Sunrise”
Leoš Janáček: Quartet No. 1 “Kreutzer Sonata”
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 (with Grosse Fugue finale, Op. 133)

Karim Sulayman, tenor & Sean Shibe, guitar
Broken Branches

Saturday,  January 17, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Karim Sulayman — lauded for his “velvety tenor and pop-star charisma” (BBC Music Magazine) — joins guitarist Sean Shibe, whose “music-making is masterful, beautiful and convincing in every way” (The Times, UK), for an intimate recital of music ranging from the Middle Ages to the present. This compelling musical journey examines the close cultural and musical ties between East and West, reflecting the artists’ personal experiences with roots in Lebanon and Japan.

PROGRAM
Henry Purcell: Music for a While
John Dowland: Praeludium; Fantasia; Time Stands Still
Giulio Caccini: Dalla porta d'oriente
Claudio Monteverdi: Si dolce è'l tormento; La mia turca
Traditional: La prima vez (Sephardic) 
Traditional: Lamma bada yetathanna (Arab Andalusian)
Sayed Darwish: El Helwa Di
Rodrigo/Fairuz: Li Beirut
Jonathan Harvey: Sufi Dance
Layale Chaker: A Butterfly in New York
Tōru Takemitsu: In the Woods: Wainscot Pond
Benjamin Britten: Songs from the Chinese

yMusic

Saturday, February 21, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

yMusic — named for Generation Y — is a genre-leading American chamber ensemble renowned for its innovative and collaborative spirit. yMusic has a unique mission: to work on both sides of the classical/popular music divide, without sacrificing rigor, virtuosity, charisma or style. The adventurous ensemble's Meany debut features Gabriella Smith's Aquatic Ecology. Using a blend of acoustic performance and processed field recordings, Smith invites listeners to connect with the natural world and the fragile beauty of aquatic ecosystems threatened by climate change.

"...deeply, profoundly skilled. They've formed a language all their own" — NPR

Augustin Hadelich, violin & Francesco Piemontesi, piano

Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Known for his phenomenal technique and ravishing tone, German virtuoso Augustin Hadelich is one of the greatest violinists of our time. His musical partner, the Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi, performs with sensitivity and poetry combined with power and brilliance. Together, they embark on an evening of French music, from Rameau and Poulenc to Franck, Debussy and Kurtág.

PROGRAM
Nicolas de Grigny: Récit du chant de l’hymne précédent
Claude Debussy: Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor
Jean-Philippe Rameau: Pièces de Clavecin en Concert: Concerto in G “La Boucon”
Francis Poulenc: Sonata for Violin and Piano
György Kurtág: Tre Pezzi, Op. 14e
César Franck: Sonata for Violin and Piano

East Coast Chamber Orchestra with Shai Wosner, piano

Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

ECCO (East Coast Chamber Orchestra) is a dynamic collective that combines the strength and power of a great orchestra with the sensitivity of superb chamber music. Drawing from the leading soloists and orchestral musicians of today’s younger generation, ECCO is joined by Shai Wosner, a pianist of exceptional artistry and creative insight. Their Meany debut features Vijay Iyer’s Handmade Universe, a new piano concerto written for Shai Wosner and ECCO that blends jazz harmonies with intricate orchestrations. Presented in partnership with Emerald City Music. 

"These youthful players are helping form classical music’s future. Long may they ECCO." — The Washington Post

PROGRAM
Edward Elgar: Serenade for Strings
David Ludwig: Virtuosity: Five Micro-Concertos for String Orchestra
Vijay Iyer: Handmade Universe
J.S. Bach: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004

Mariachi Herencia de México

La Nueva Generación Tour

Friday, October 17, 2025 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

¡Viva el mariachi! A new generation takes mariachi to whole new heights. Two-time Latin Grammy-nominee Mariachi Herencia de México pushes the boundaries of mariachi music with swaggering jazz, driving horns and a vibrant percussion line. The virtuosic band puts their unique spin on traditional mariachi, creating an explosion of colors and sounds all their own. Known for chart-topping albums like Nuestra Herencia and Heredero, they simultaneously honor the past and celebrate the present, bringing you an electrifying and unforgettable night of Mexican music and culture.

"Mariachi Herencia de México brings mariachi music to the charts, while staying true to their Mexican roots" — Billboard

Amadou & Mariam

Saturday, November 8, 2025 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Superstars of the global music stage, Amadou & Mariam blend the dynamic rhythms of Malian blues with rock, hip-hop and disco influences, creating an irresistible Afropop sound. With nearly five decades of music-making, their vibrant melodies and Mariam’s soulful vocals draw listeners into an atmosphere that transcends borders. Their Grammy-nominated music is infused with infectious energy, delivering “spine-tingling harmonies that make the music soar” (Spin).

"Among the world’s most renowned African musical acts" — The New York Times

The Baylor Project

Saturday, February 14, 2026 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with The Baylor Project, a Grammy-nominated husband-and-wife duo featuring vocalist Jean Baylor and drummer Marcus Baylor. Steeped in the heart of jazz, with dynamic performances that are soulful to the core, their musical roots are deeply planted in gospel, blues and R&B. Their eclectic sound and infectious chemistry provide the perfect backdrop for a memorable evening filled with vibrant, spiritual, feel-good music.

"Jean and Marcus Baylor are a married couple whose buoyant, convivial music unites gospel, jazz and R&B" — The New York Times

Ted Poor & Friends

Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Experience the exhilarating musical world of Ted Poor, a renowned drummer whose innovative projects showcase his ability to blend jazz, deep swing and rock influences. His adventurous, soulful playing has vaulted him to the stages of some of today’s most vital artists, including Paul Simon, Chris Thile, Andrew Bird, Bill Frisell and many others. Don't miss this chance to see one of today's most in-demand musicians on the Meany stage with an all-star lineup to be announced soon.

"The way Ted flows in and out of cohesive ideas when he’s playing improv is a sight and sound to behold"  — Drumhead Magazine

Pablo Sáinz-Villegas

Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Hailed as the “global ambassador of Spanish guitar” by Billboard Magazine, Pablo Sáinz-Villegas is widely acclaimed as the successor to Andrés Segovia. His playing dazzles with vibrant colors and deep emotion, captivating audiences with its expressiveness. Sáinz-Villegas’ guitar evokes intimacy and passion, weaving haunting melodies that transport listeners to a place of reverie and reflection. An exceptional performer, he stands as a living testament to music’s profound power to touch the depths of the human soul.

"Virtuosic playing characterized by its vividly shaded colors and irresistible exuberance" — The New York Times

Music for New Bodies

Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. 
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

West Coast Premiere
Composed and conducted by Matthew Aucoin
Directed by Peter Sellars
Texts by Jorie Graham

If you are captivated by the grandeur of orchestral music or the powerful storytelling of opera, Music for New Bodies is an unmissable event. This ambitious work by Matthew Aucoin, with poetry by Jorie Graham and directed by the visionary Peter Sellars, features the American Modern Opera Company creating a dramatic musical experience in the tradition of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.

A “song of the earth” for the present day, Music for New Bodies confronts the most pressing questions of our era: What is the future of humanity? How have we altered our planet? And, in an age dominated by disembodied AI, how can we reclaim the value of a life lived in a mortal, embodied human form? With its stirring symphonic intensity and thought-provoking lyrics, this concert performance piece offers a deep and urgent meditation on the challenges we face as a species.

Dianne Reeves

Christmas Time is Here

Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Dianne Reeves — one of the pre-eminent jazz vocalists in the world today — brings her fresh interpretations of Christmas standards to Meany for a night of holiday magic. Her brilliant virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz flair are showcased in a set of music from her celebrated album, Christmas Time Is Here. A multiple Grammy winner and NEA Jazz Master, the legendary Reeves is a natural wonder not to be missed. Wynton Marsalis calls her, “one of the most powerful, purposeful, and accurate voices of this or any time.”

"The most admired jazz diva since the heyday of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday" — The New York Times

MOMIX

ALICE

Friday-Saturday, April 24-25, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Seamlessly blending illusion, acrobatics, magic and whimsy, MOMIX sends audiences flying down the rabbit hole in Moses Pendleton’s newest creation, ALICE, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland. Join this dazzling company on a mind-bending adventure, as Alice encounters time-honored characters including the undulating Caterpillar, a lobster quadrille, frenzied White Rabbits, a mad Queen of Hearts and a variety of other surprises.

"MOMIX’s Alice fills the stage with a marvelously dizzying flow of physical activities and illusions amid expansive, artful projections" — The Wall Street Journal

Venue and Ticket Information

Full Series subscription packages are on sale now. Choose Your Own Series packages will go on sale Monday, June 9 at noon. Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, August 5 at noon.

Subscribers save 20 percent on regular single ticket prices when purchasing a Full Series package. Full Series subscriptions to the Dance Series begin at $224; the Piano Series at $199; the Chamber Music Series at $199; and the Crossroads Series at $198.

Discounted subscriptions are available for UW Students for just $50 per series in seating zones 2 and 3. Two free youth subscriptions are available with every adult subscription purchased in seating Zones 2 and 3 to the Piano or Chamber Music Series, ages 5–17 only.

Subscriber benefits include priority seating, pre-sale access for An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma and other special events, free ticket exchanges (upgrade charges may apply), 10% off additional single-ticket purchases, and the option to purchase pre-paid parking passes. 

Season tickets may be purchased online and through the ArtsUW Ticket Office:

Online: meanycenter.org
Phone: (206) 543-4880
In Person: ArtsUW Ticket Office, 1313 NE 41st Street, Seattle, WA 98105

Meany Center also offers a variety of lectures, master classes, workshops, pre-and post-show conversations, free campus concerts and community events in tandem with visiting artist engagements. These events will be added at a later date. Check back on our website for updates throughout the season.

ABOUT MEANY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington fosters innovative performances that advance public engagement, cultural exchange, creative research and learning through the arts. Meany Center provides opportunities for diverse artists, community, students and faculty to connect in the discovery and exploration of the boundless power of the arts to create positive change in the world.

Artists, programs, prices and schedules are subject to change.