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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEANY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ANNOUNCES ITS 2026–27 SEASON

SEATTLE, WA, April 1, 2026 —  Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington today announced its 2026–27 Season, bringing internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles to Seattle for a dynamic year of dance, chamber music, piano recitals, global music and innovative cross-genre collaborations. Renowned theater and opera director Peter Sellars returns for a second season as Meany Center’s Artistic Partner. 

“Our 2026–27 Season is designed as a set of pathways,” said Michelle Witt, Executive and Artistic Director of Meany Center. “Across dance, music and interdisciplinary performance, artists are in dialogue with one another around what it means to live in relationship to history, to ecology, to faith and to our communities. Whether it’s the ritual power of rhythm, the intimacy of chamber music or the sheer joy of shared movement, each performance offers a chance to see how art can sustain us, invite reflection and spark new connections.” 

The season’s three curatorial “clusters” — Interdependence of Worlds, Joy and Celebration and Love, Memory and Transformation — weave through all of Meany’s series. Audiences will encounter works that explore freedom and constraint, solidarity and shared responsibility; nights that revel in sound, movement and communal delight; and programs that turn the concert hall into a place where inner life and collective reflection meet. Together, these clusters create multiple entry points for audiences to discover new artists, revisit favorites and experience unexpected resonances across the year.

Peter Sellars’ ongoing partnership with Meany Center continues to bring bold theatrical imagination and spiritual depth to the stage, inviting audiences into performances that are as emotionally resonant as they are artistically groundbreaking. Sellars reunites with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, one of the nation's most celebrated professional choruses, for Music to Accompany a Departure, a deeply moving meditation on grief, mourning and transformation inspired by the sacred music of Heinrich Schütz. 

“This music was written in a time of war, plague and displacement, when people were living with constant loss,” says Sellars. “It’s not about despair; it’s about how communities create rituals of care so that no one has to leave this world alone. In Seattle, my hope is that the hall at Meany becomes a place where we can sit with grief honestly, listen for one another’s pain and, in that shared listening, begin to feel the possibility of renewal.”

PREMIERES, DEBUTS AND LOCAL CONNECTIONS

Internationally renowned Indian composer and environmentalist Ricky Kej opens the season with a concert marking Gandhi’s birthday. The three-time Grammy Award winner and Padma Shri recipient is joined by Seattle-area singers, musicians and dancers in a community celebration presented in partnership with the Consulate General of India, Seattle.

Taiwan’s Hung Dance makes its Seattle debut with BIRDY, choreographed by founder Lai Hung-Chung, a leading voice in a new generation of Asian choreographers.

The renowned Arditti Quartet will perform on the Meany stage for the first time, performing works from their vast repertoire. A late-night lobby performance follows the main concert, featuring a composition by Joël-François Durand, Director and Aura B. Morrison Endowed Professor at the UW School of Music, and selections from the ensemble’s modern repertoire.

In its inaugural performance in Seattle, Canada's leading contemporary dance company, Ballet BC presents a program showcasing works by Vancouver choreographer Crystal Pite, founder and artistic director of Kidd Pivot.

Step Afrika!, the world’s leading authority on the art of stepping, performs the Northwest premiere of its newest work, The Fruits of Our Labor, choreographed by South Africa’s Vusi Mdoyi, internationally acclaimed for creating rhythmically driven works rooted in cultural storytelling and community.  

Spoken-word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph and composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) perform the Northwest premiere of TOMORROW, LOVE…, a new work for voices, violin and piano inspired by author bell hooks. A gospel ensemble of Seattle community singers provides the chorus.

Australia’s acclaimed acrobatic ensemble Circa is joined by 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Silver Medalist Vitaly Starikov, making his Seattle debut in a thrilling exploration of Bach’s The Art of Fugue. 

Sō Percussion joins Portland-based Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Caroline Shaw, alongside the electro-pop duo Ringdown for Who Turns Out the Light, an immersive performance blending percussion, vocals, electronics and film into a vivid theatrical soundscape.

Hung Dance

BIRDY

Thursday–Saturday, November 19–21, 2026  at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Taiwan's Hung Dance makes its Seattle debut with BIRDY, a powerful and poetic work choreographed by the company’s founder and artistic director Lai Hung-Chung. Performed by eight dancers, the piece blends contemporary dance with elements of Chinese opera, Tai Chi and myth. Using striking props like rattan poles and flowing pheasant feathers (Ling Zi), BIRDY explores the tension between freedom and constraint, personal feeling and social pressure. The movement is bold, fluid and deeply human. BIRDY invites audiences to reflect on the desire to break free, and the quiet strength it takes to keep moving within the world around us. Presented in partnership with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle.

“One of the best young choreographers working in Taiwan today.” — Taipei Times

Compagnie Hervé KOUBI

Sol Invictus

Thursday–Saturday, February 11–13, 2027 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Radiant, fearless and profoundly human, Sol Invictus by Compagnie Hervé KOUBI is a celebration of light, love and connection. Blending contemporary and urban dance with capoeira and martial arts, the dancers perform with breathtaking physicality and poetic force. Named for the “invincible sun,” the work upholds solidarity as humanity’s saving grace. Set to a powerful score by Mikael Karlsson, with music by Steve Reich and Maxime Bodson, Sol Invictus unfolds as a supercharged ritual of unity, resilience and hope.

“They fly. They spin. They change how you see the amazing.” — The New York Times

Pilobolus

Trips

Thursday–Saturday, March 25–27, 2027 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Blast off into the Pilobolus multiverse with Trips, a seamless journey through gravity-defying feats and emotional landscapes. Each piece flows seamlessly into the next, featuring explosive athleticism, physical poetry and sly humor that will transport you on a journey to infinite realities. From the skies to the soul to galaxies beyond, Trips isn’t just a series of works — it’s a single, shifting experience on a voyage through the world of Pilobolus.

“[Pilobolus] takes the imagination into another orbit.” — Dance Magazine

Step Afrika!

The Fruits of Our Labor

Thursday–Saturday, April 15–17, 2027 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Following the success of Drumfolk, Step Afrika! returns with The Fruits of Our Labor, a bold new work created by celebrated South African choreographer Vusi Mdoyi and longtime collaborator Jakari Sherman. Blending stepping, body percussion and contemporary dance with the vibrant energy of isipantsula and South African gumboot dance, the production unites virtuosic performers in a dynamic fusion of rhythm, ritual and storytelling. Together, Mdoyi and Sherman lead an ensemble whose bodies become instruments, clapping, striking and stepping in mesmerizing unison.

“In the bodies of these skilled performers, the beat is obviously unstoppable.” — The New York Times

Ballet BC

Thursday–Saturday, May 13–15, 2027 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Founded in 1986, Ballet BC is Canada’s leading contemporary dance company, renowned for bold artistry and boundary-pushing movement. Based in Vancouver and led by Artistic Director Medhi Walerski, the company performs throughout British Columbia and on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. Comprised of fearless, inquisitive dancers, Ballet BC champions new works alongside acclaimed masterworks. The program showcases the powerful and emotionally resonant choreography of Crystal Pite, one of today’s most influential voices in contemporary dance.

“These dancers are so vividly alive … with quicksilver reflexes and fizzing energy.” — The Guardian

The Arditti Quartet

Friday, October 16, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. 
Free late-night concert to follow at 9:30 p.m. in the lobby
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

The Arditti Quartet enjoys a worldwide reputation for its spirited and technically refined interpretations of contemporary and 20th-century music. Since its founding in 1974 by violinist Irvine Arditti, the Quartet has inspired hundreds of composers to write groundbreaking works specifically for the ensemble, shaping how this music is heard and played. As explorers of cutting-edge string quartet music, their Meany debut features selections from the wide collection of the Quartet’s repertoire. Presented in partnership with the UW School of Music.

“The world’s pre-eminent contemporary music quartet.” — The Guardian

PROGRAM
Ludwig van Beethoven: Grosse Fuge, Op.133 
György Ligeti: String Quartet No. 2
Alban Berg: String Quartet, Op. 3

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with Isata Kanneh-Mason

Friday, November 13, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Isata Kanneh-Mason joins artistic forces with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, celebrated for its trademark conductor-less precision and collective spirit. The award-winning pianist from the renowned Kanneh-Mason family and the Grammy Award-winning orchestra present a program of favorites by Mozart and Haydn with Suites No. 1 and No. 3 from Handel’s Water Music and a newly commissioned work by Katie Jenkins, performed with the mindset of a collaborative chamber ensemble.

“[Isata Kanneh-Mason] is a pianist who makes lines sing beautifully and virtuosic passages dance, finding intimacy and eloquence at telling moments.” — BBC Music Magazine 

“Playing with perfect unanimity, [Orpheus Chamber Orchestra’s] performances have polish and spirit, and display an infectious love for making music.” — The New York Times

PROGRAM
George Frideric Handel: Suite No. 1 in F Major, HWV 348 (Water Music)
George Frideric Handel: Suite No. 3 in G Major, HWV 350 (Water Music)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major, K.595  
Katie Jenkins: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Commission (for strings)
Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 91 in E-flat Major, Hob.I:91

Danish String Quartet

Saturday, February 27, 2027 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

The Danish String Quartet is celebrated not only for their integrated sound and impeccable technique, but for the infectious joy they bring to music-making. “An exceptional quartet, whatever repertoire they play” (The New York Times), they bring their warmth and wit to an imaginative program that finds beauty in the intersection of traditional and new music: Ravel’s elegant String Quartet in F Major, alongside the bold, contemporary voice of Seattle composer Gabriella Smith, plus Beethoven’s Quartet No. 13, one of the most emotionally expansive works of his late period.

“This is one of the best quartets before the public today.” — The Washington Post

PROGRAM
Gabriella Smith: Carrot Revolution 
Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F Major
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130

Dover Quartet

Wednesday, March 31, 2027 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Hailed as “the next Guarneri Quartet” by the Chicago Tribune, the Dover Quartet is one of the most in-demand chamber ensembles in the world. Known for their expressive interpretations and deep musical connection, the group swept the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2013 and has since been honored with numerous accolades. Dover returns to Meany with a compelling program uniting Grieg’s storm‑touched lyricism, Sibelius’s introspective modernism, and the brooding, tightly structured intensity of Brahms.

“Few young American ensembles are as exciting and accomplished as the Dover Quartet.” — The New Yorker

PROGRAM
Edvard Grieg: Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 27
Jean Sibelius: Quartet in D Minor, “Voces Intimae,” Op. 56
Johannes Brahms: String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 51, No. 1

Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw and Ringdown
Who Turns Out the Light

Saturday, May 1, 2027 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Sō Percussion and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw expand their long-running collaboration with Ringdown — Shaw’s cinematic electro-pop duo with Danni Lee Parpan. Ringdown’s vocals and electronics intertwine with Sō’s intricate percussion textures and Shaw’s songs, creating a hybrid sound world that moves fluidly between contemporary classical, experimental percussion and vivid indie-pop atmospheres. The evening-length performance is a band-driven theatrical experience, building from a lone spotlight on Shaw to the full ensemble performing with films by Jason Treuting splashed across the stage. The production combines DIY design with dazzling original music to sensational effect.

“[An] exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam.” — The New Yorker

Ricky Kej

Friday, October 2, 2026 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

On Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, three-time Grammy Award-winning composer Ricky Kej performs music from his acclaimed album Gandhi — Mantras of Compassion. Kej, a UN Goodwill Ambassador and recipient of India’s fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Shri, blends ancient Indian mantras with global musical traditions and contemporary orchestration. His sweeping melodies and meditative soundscapes honor Gandhi’s legacy, inviting audiences to reflect on the power of nonviolence, compassion and unity in today’s world. Presented in partnership with the Consulate General of India, Seattle 

“The music Kej makes is not just immersive and meditative — it’s a medium to appreciate the whole reason behind our existence.” — Rolling Stone

Meshell Ndegeocello

Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Meshell Ndegeocello, a bass player above all else, brings her warm, melodic groove to everything she does. The Grammy Award-winning musician eschews musical trends in favor of musical truths, exploring jazz, R&B, hip-hop and rock — all bound by a search for love, justice, respect and resolution. For more than 30 years, her sonic investigations have defied and redefined expectations for women, queer artists and Black music.

“The world needs more musicians like her: creatively restless and ambitious.” — NPR Music

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

South Africa’s five-time Grammy Award-winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo has warmed the hearts of audiences worldwide with their a capella harmonies, signature dance moves and engaging onstage banter. Introduced globally through Paul Simon’s 1987 Graceland album, the group was honored by the late Nelson Mandela as “South Africa’s cultural ambassadors to the world.” Their performances radiate joyful energy, offering an unforgettable experience that touches the heart and lifts the spirit.

“It isn’t merely … the beauty of their singing that rivets … but the sheer joy and love that emanates.” — Paul Simon

TOMORROW, LOVE...

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, spoken word
Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), music
Directed by Kamilah Forbes
A SOZO Production

Saturday, April 3, 2027 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

TOMORROW, LOVE… is a new work for voices, violin and piano that explores love as a transformative force. Inspired by bell hooks’ landmark book All About Love, Marc Bamuthi Joseph guides audiences through memory, music and myth — tracing those who shaped him, the cultural icons we’ve revered, and how our world teaches — or fails to teach us — in how to love. DBR’s score breathes with the intimacy of their own truths, leading to gospel singers soaring as chorus and heartbeat. TOMORROW, LOVE... is an inquiry and a celebration: a hopeful reckoning with how we might reimagine love as a radical inheritance for the future.

“He’s been hailed by critics as one of the most compelling and important spoken-word performance artists.” — Miami New Times, on Marc Bamuthi Joseph

“About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets.” — The New York Times, on Daniel Bernard Roumain

Aga Khan Master Musicians

with Vincent Peirani and Vincent Ségal

Friday, April 23, 2027 at 8 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

The Aga Khan Master Musicians — an exceptional collective of world-class artists devoted to preserving and reimagining Central Asian and Middle Eastern musical traditions — join eminent French musicians Vincent Peirani and Vincent Ségal for a cross-continental collaboration. The ensemble features qanun virtuoso Feras Charestan, celebrated Uzbek doira player Abbos Kosimov, Syrian-born multi-instrumentalist Basel Rajoub, Turkish oud master Yurdal Tokcan and pipa luminary Wu Man. Interweaving ancient musical traditions with jazz, contemporary music and improvisation, the seven accomplished artists perform jointly created works inspired by the historic trade routes linking Asia and the Mediterranean.

“It’s thrilling to have a group of (largely) traditional instruments playing new music that is inventive and attractive.” — Songlines

Michael Feinstein

Coming Home: The Holiday Celebration

Wednesday, December 2, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Celebrate the season with the legendary Michael Feinstein in a festive evening of song and storytelling. A champion of the Great American Songbook, Feinstein brings signature warmth, wit and impeccable style to beloved holiday classics and timeless standards. Backed by lush arrangements, he delivers an elegant, nostalgic journey filled with heart and swing. This joyful concert promises an unforgettable night celebrating the magic, romance and spirit of the holidays.

“Michael Feinstein is as much a Christmas season ritual as the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall or visiting the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.” — The New York Times

Kodō

One Earth Tour: Luminance

Friday–Saturday, January 29–30, 2027 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

For more than four decades, Kodō has toured the world under its “One Earth” banner, uniting audiences across cultures through the resonant, pulse-pounding power of taiko drumming. In Luminance, the ensemble presents signature works refined over years of global touring, including the mighty O-daiko drum solo and the climactic, high-energy Yatai-bayashi finale. The program also honors Maki Ishii’s evocative “Monochrome” and, for the first time in decades, features bold, genre-crossing original compositions by guest artists.

“Superlatives don’t really exist to convey the primal power and bravura beauty of Kodo.” — Chicago Tribune

Circa
The Art of Fugue 

Australia’s acclaimed acrobatic ensemble Circa is joined by 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Silver Medalist Vitaly Starikov in a thrilling exploration of Bach’s The Art of Fugue. Under Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz, Circa’s performers use intricate, gravity-defying choreography to illuminate the contrapuntal genius of Bach, translating interweaving lines and complex musical structures into astonishing feats of strength. Starikov’s “raw, deeply felt and powerful” presence (La Scena) complements the ensemble’s virtuosity, creating a performance that fuses daring physical artistry with musical brilliance.

“A seamless marriage of music, balletic tumbling and mind-blowing balancing acts … simply breathtaking.” — Daily Telegraph, Australia

Created by Yaron Lifschitz with the Circa Ensemble, based on the original production created with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and its Artistic Director, Paul Dyer. 

Circa acknowledges the assistance of the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body and the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. 

Commissioned by the Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech and the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center.

VOCES8

Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble VOCES8 captivates audiences with luminous a capella performances that are both technically dazzling and deeply expressive. Celebrated for its versatility, the British octet performs music ranging from Renaissance polyphony and classical masterworks to jazz, folk and contemporary works. Balancing precision with warmth, VOCES8 transforms the concert hall into an intimate, immersive space where voices alone create richness, resonance and connection.

 “Eight beautifully integrated solo voices … persuasive and committed singing.” — BBC

Los Angeles Master Chorale

Music to Accompany a Departure

Directed by Peter Sellars

Saturday, May 8, 2027 at 7:30 p.m.
Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Following their acclaimed collaboration on Lagrime di San Pietro, director Peter Sellars reunites with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, one of America's most celebrated professional choruses, for a deeply personal meditation on saying goodbye in times of struggle. Inspired by the luminous music of Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz, Music to Accompany a Departure is presented as a ritual of leave-taking for our time. Solo voices interact with a constantly shifting choral ensemble, creating a ceremony of remembrance and devotion. The result is a stirring work that reminds us that grief and transformation are eternally linked, and that saying farewell can be a source of inspiration and strength.

“Transcendent … incomparably moving.”— Los Angeles Times

Ticket Information

Full Series subscription packages are on sale now. Choose Your Own Series packages go on sale Tuesday, June 9 at noon. Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, August 4 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 $228; the Piano Series at $196; the Chamber Music Series at $196; and the Crossroads Series at $212.

Discounted subscriptions are available for UW Students at 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.

All subscription orders include a $12 processing fee per order.

Subscriber benefits include priority seating, pre-sale access for 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 the Meany Center 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.