PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT: Teri Mumme, Director of Marketing & Communications
206-685-0995
tmumme@uw.edu

Photos available for download here

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEANY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON ANNOUNCES ITS 2022–23 SEASON

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

THE SEATTLE DEBUT OF RUBBERBAND PERFORMING THE WORLD PREMIERE OF RECKLESS UNDERDOG CHOREOGRAPHED BY VICTOR QUIJADA

A MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION OF MEXICAN MUSIC AND PAINTING FROM TWO-TIME LATIN GRAMMY WINNERS CUARTETO LATINOAMERICANO

THE RETURN OF MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY WITH A “LOST” GRAHAM WORK, CANTICLE FOR INNOCENT COMEDIANS, REINTERPRETED BY EIGHT DIVERSE CHOREOGRAPHERS AND FEATURING A NEW SCORE FROM JAZZ PIANIST JASON MORAN

PULITZER PRIZE WINNING COMPOSER AND 2022 GRAMMY WINNER CAROLINE SHAW JOINS SO PERCUSSION TO PERFORM A POWERFUL NEW SET OF CO-COMPOSED MUSIC, “LET THE SOIL PLAY ITS SIMPLE PART”

THE 21 A CAPELLA SINGERS OF THE 2022 GRAMMY WINNING LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE PERFORM ORLANDO DI LASSO’S RENAISSANCE MASTERPIECE LAGRIME DI SAN PIETRO IN A STAGING BY VISIONARY THEATER AND OPERA DIRECTOR PETER SELLARS

THREE MEANY CENTER CO-COMMISSIONED WORKS, INCLUDING STEP AFRIKA!’S DRUMFOLK, RAGAMALA DANCE COMPANY’S FIRES OF VARANASI AND TWO WORKS BY COMPOSER JÖRG WIDMANN TO BE PERFORMED BY THE JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET

SINGER SONGWRITER GABRIEL KAHANE PERFORMS MAGNIFICENT BIRD, A COLLECTION OF SONGS FROM HIS RECENT ALBUM, COMMISSIONED AND WORKSHOPPED BY MEANY CENTER

GROUNDBREAKING CHOREOGRAPHER BILL T. JONES JOINS MEANY CENTER AS GUEST ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE TO LAUNCH BECOMING: AT HOME IN THE WORLD, A SERIES CENTERING FIVE SOCIAL JUSTICE-BASED ARTISTS TO BE ANNOUNCED IN MAY

SEASON TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE.

SINGLE TICKETS GO ON SALE AUGUST 3.

SEATTLE, WA, April 4, 2022 — The University of Washington’s Meany Center for the Performing Arts today announces its 2022–23 Season, presenting 20 visionary artists and ensembles who are pushing artistic boundaries, blending genres and bringing more diverse creative representation to the stage. With the world opening back up to travel, this season also marks the resumption of international touring artists to each series of the season. In an ongoing commitment to supporting performing artists, Meany Center is inviting to the stage many of the visiting artists whose performances were canceled due to the pandemic. Artists whose work was presented virtually on Meany Center’s digital stage, Meany On Screen, will perform new programs for their live events.

“Several of our artists were originally scheduled for the 2020–21 Season, and we are thrilled we can bring them to Meany Center next year,” said Michelle Witt, executive and artistic director. “As we welcome back creative visionaries from around the globe, we know the arts are a powerful force for transformation, expanding our humanity and connecting us together during increasingly fractious times. We’ve embraced creativity and diversity in our programming by continuing to expand repertoire, support a broad range of artists on our stage, and through deepened partnerships within the community and on campus. We also continue to support exciting new work and creative processes through commissions and premieres, Meany On Screen artist conversations, and a range of innovative audience engagement.”

“We’re thrilled that MacArthur award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones will join us for the 2022–23 Season as guest artistic associate,” Witt continued. “Bill is curating an intimate, innovative series that challenges the status quo and asks questions about what it means to be a ​well-rounded citizen of the world. Becoming: At Home in the World invites five artists whose work is intersectional, inclusive and unapologetic in its call for social justice. We look forward to announcing the artists next month.” 

Pilobolus

BIG FIVE-OH!

Thursday–Saturday, October 20–22, 2022 at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 22, 2022 at 2:00 p.m.

Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

For 50 years, Pilobolus has tested the limits of human physicality with choreography that changed the look of modern dance. Now for this anniversary celebration, Pilobolus questions its own “givens,” turns its traditions sideways, and brings its past into the future. As fresh and vibrant as ever, this feisty, shape-shifting arts organism puts the “Oh!” in ​BIG FIVE-OH! and continues to morph its way thrillingly into audiences’ hearts and minds. The celebration includes signature works, from vintage classics to their trendsetting innovations in shadow play.   

Please note: this performance includes partial nudity.

Martha Graham Dance Company

Thursday–Saturday, November 17–19, 2022 at 8:00 p.m.

The legendary Martha Graham Dance Company continues to foster Graham’s spirit of ingenuity and artistic collaboration, while inspiring new generations of dance lovers and choreographers. Among the works the company will perform is a reimagined Canticle for Innocent Comedians, based on the themes and format of Graham’s original “lost” work — a celebration of the power of nature and the elements. The series of vignettes features today’s Graham stars in solos, duets and trios by eight diverse choreographers, with a lyrical, ruminative score from jazz pianist Jason Moran. The choreographers are Emmy and Tony award winner Sonya Tayeh, Kristin and Sade Alleyne, Sir Robert Cohan, Juliano Nunes, Yin Yue, Micaela Taylor and Jenn Freeman.

Ragamala Dance Company

Fires of Varanasi

Thursday–Saturday, February 9–11, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.

Meany Hall — Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

The exquisite Ragamala Dance Company “imbues the South Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam with a thoroughly contemporary exuberance” (Dance Magazine). In Fires of Varanasi, Ragamala brings to life the spirit of the sacred Indian city — its cremation fires and the ashes that drift through the waters of the Ganges River — bridging the space between the profane world and a sacred state of mind. With their visionary approach to this ancient art form, the dancers create a powerful metaphor for resilience and the profound belief in the tenacity of people and cultures. 

Fires of Varanasi is co-commissioned by Meany Center.

Camille A. Brown and Dancers

BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play

Thursday–Saturday, March 16–18, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.

Meany Hall - Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater

Camille A. Brown’s BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play draws on the games little girls play to tell a story of black female empowerment. One of the most important American choreographers of our time, Brown uses African American vernacular forms — social dancing, Double Dutch, hand-clapping games, ring shout — to evoke the self-discovery and playfulness of childhood in a work The New York Times calls “by turns, clever and tender.” Brown, a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow, Bessie Award winner and Tony Award nominee is known for imaginative works that address issues of identity and social justice. 

Brown is a Mellon Creative Research Fellow at the University of Washington for the 2022–23 Season.

Step Afrika!

Drumfolk
Thursday–Saturday, April 20–22, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.

The acclaimed Step Afrika! is the world’s first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping — a polyrhythmic, percussive dance form that uses the body as an instrument. The company presents its latest work, Drumfolk, a powerful piece inspired by the Stono Rebellion of 1739. Step Afrika! blends songs, storytelling and dance to explore a little-known event in American history that led to some of our country’s most distinct performance traditions. New percussive forms took root when the beats found their way into the body of the people, the Drumfolk, in a way that would forever transform African American life and culture. 

Drumfolk is co-commissioned by Meany Center.

RUBBERBAND

Reckless Underdog
Thursday–Saturday, May 11–13, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.

Choreographer and RUBBERBAND founder Victor Quijada brings together hip-hop, contemporary dance and ballet like no one before him. His creative style of movement has uprooted the boundaries of modern dance by fusing urban style and classical composition. Reckless Underdog is his newest work in three parts — each part creating a unique, complex world. With its distinctive scenography, music and movement aesthetic, Reckless Underdog will transport you through a lyrical reconstruction of pedestrian movement that defies the limits of time and space.

Cuarteto Latinoamericano

MEXICAN MUSIC AND PAINTING
From the Post-Revolutionary Period to the Present

Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.

Cuarteto Latinoamericano has been on a mission to present great works of the chamber repertoire since its founding 40 years ago. Winner of two Latin Grammys for Best Classical Recording, the quartet represents an innovative voice in classical music devoted to adventurous programming, commissioning new works and championing the voices of contemporary composers. In this unique concert, the group explores connections in Mexican visual art, history and culture through the music of five iconic composers, alongside a narrated multimedia presentation of paintings ranging from Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera to today.

PROGRAM

GUSTAVO CAMPA: Trois Miniatures 
MANUEL PONCE: Estrellita and Gavota 
SILVESTRE REVUELTAS: Música de feria, R. 28 
CARLOS CHÁVEZ: Quartet No. 3 (1st mov.) 
GABRIELA ORTIZ: La Calaca 

Juilliard String Quartet

Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. 

The Juilliard String Quartet delves into the wonders of the string quartet literature with irrepressible energy and unceasing curiosity. During its 75-year tenure as the string quartet in residence at The Juilliard School, the storied ensemble has embraced its mission “to play new works as if they were established masterpieces and established masterpieces as if they were new” in a vibrant combination of the familiar and the daring. They will present their distinct perspective on two of Beethoven’s late quartets, along with a contemporary view of Beethoven by the multifaceted German composer Jörg Widmann. 

The two works by Jörg Widmann are co-commissioned by Meany Center.

PROGRAM 
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130
JÖRG WIDMANN: Quartet No. 8 Study on Beethoven III 
JÖRG WIDMANN: Quartet No. 10 Study on Beethoven V 
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Quartet No. 17 in B-flat Major, Op. 133, Grosse Fuge 

Takács Quartet

Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

The Takács Quartet is known for “making the most traditional of works feel radical once more” (The New York Times). Recognized as one of the world’s great ensembles, they have garnered accolades for their exciting and passionate performances, including the Wigmore Hall Medal and induction into the Gramophone Hall of Fame. The quartet brings a powerful dynamic and interpretive range to a program inspired in part by their Felix & Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartets, voted 2021 Recording of the Year by Presto Music, plus works by Antonín Dvořák and Benjamin Britten.

PROGRAM
BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Quartet No.1 in D Major, Op. 25
FANNY MENDELSSOHN HENSEL: Quartet in E-flat Major
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106

Dover Quartet

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

After their stunning sweep at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Dover Quartet has rapidly become one of the most in-demand ensembles in the world. Known for expressive interpretations and a deep musical connection, the Grammy-nominated group has been honored with an Avery Fisher Career Grant and awards from Chamber Music America and Lincoln Center. In addition, they are Ensemble in Residence at their alma mater, the renowned Curtis Institute of Music. Their much-anticipated performance includes music by Amy Beach, Antonín Dvořák and George Walker.

PROGRAM
AMY BEACH: Quartet for Strings (In One Movement), Op. 89
GEORGE WALKER: Quartet No. 1, Lyric
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 51

Los Angeles Master Chorale

Lagrime di San Pietro

Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

From visionary theater and opera director Peter Sellars comes his most personal work to date, a staging of Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro (The Tears of Saint Peter). This profoundly moving Renaissance masterpiece depicts the grief and remorse of the Apostle Peter after he disavows knowledge of Jesus Christ on the day of his arrest and crucifixion. Sung by the 21 a cappella singers of the 2022 Grammy winning Los Angeles Master Chorale, Lagrime is refracted through Mr. Sellars signature contemporary lens, suggesting a powerful allegory about facing our past head-on in order to forge a more fulfilling future.

Sō Percussion With Caroline Shaw

Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 8:00 p.m.

Pulitzer Prize and 2022 Grammy winner Caroline Shaw combines forces with Sō Percussion to perform a powerful new set of co-composed music in Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part. Shaw’s faultless ear for melody and harmony, united with Sō’s rhythmic invention and compositional experimentation, create an imaginative world of sonic richness. It is a journey across the landscape of the soul, told through the medium of distinctly contemporary songs. Also on the program is Jason Treuting’s remarkably beautiful and ethereal work, Amid the Noise.

Kodō

One Earth Tour: Tsuzumi

40th Anniversary Commemorative Performance

Friday–Saturday, January 27–28, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.

An international phenomenon for four decades, Kodō explores the limitless possibilities of the traditional Japanese taiko drum, forging new directions for a vibrant living art form. With Tsuzumi, the company traces its origins back to its beginnings and reflects on its legacy. The program includes the celebratory Dya-Hu, given as a gift from composer Maki Ishii for the ensemble’s debut in 1981, along with Ishii’s masterpiece Monochrome and other Kodō signature works.

Strings For Peace 

A Concert with Amjad Ali Khan, Sharon Isbin, Amaan Ali Bangash & Ayaan Ali Bangash

Friday, March 24, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.

Amjad Ali Khan is an undisputed virtuoso of the sarod and one of India’s most celebrated classical musicians. Performing with his talented sons, this first family of the sarod represents seven generations of sarod players and musicians. In Strings for Peace, Khan and his sons are joined by Grammy-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin. By interweaving the two distinct worlds of Spanish guitar and Indian ragas, these legendary artists make an eloquent and impassioned call for harmony across cultures.

Fatoumata Diawara

Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.

Fatoumata Diawara’s captivating stage presence and contemporary perspective make her one of Africa’s most vital international stars. A multiple Grammy nominee noted for the electric power of her music, her live performances “scream with energy” (NPR). Diawara harmonizes the Wassoulou traditions of Southern Mali with soul, R&B and funk to create a boldly experimental sound uniquely her own. Her vivid and original songs cover such timeless subjects as love, respect, migration, family and how to build a better world.

Gabriel Kahane

Magnificent Bird

Friday, October 7, 2022 at 8 p.m.

Meany Hall — Studio Theatre

Considered by The New Yorker to be “one of the finest, most searching songwriters of the day,” Gabriel Kahane reveals his most personal work in a decade. Written during a self-imposed year off the internet, Magnificent Bird is a collection of songs that gives us a window into a mercurial mind associating freely. Suffused with impressions of the physical world, the narrative reveals an internal landscape that accompanies life in a wounded world. Kahane brings this fully realized set of songs back to Meany after a work-in-process performance in fall 2021. 

The collection of songs for Magnificent Bird were commissioned by Meany Center.

Venue and Ticket Information

Full Series subscriptions are on sale now. Choose Your Own Series packages will go on sale June 1. Single tickets go on sale August 3.

Regular prices for Full Series subscriptions to the Dance Series begin at $267; the Piano Series at $196; the Chamber Music Series at $198; and the Crossroads Series at $124.

Meany Center offers subscription discounts for UW students, UW employees, UW retirees, members of the UW Alumni Association, seniors and youth. Two free youth subscriptions are available with every adult subscription purchased to the Piano or Chamber Music Series, ages 5–17 only.

Subscriber benefits include priority seating, free ticket exchanges (upgrade charges may apply), 10% off additional single ticket purchases and lost ticket replacement. Subscribers also have the opportunity 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 for the 2022–23 Season 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 and schedules are subject to change.