Dear Friends,

Since 1938, you’ve trusted the Celebrity Series to bring the world’s greatest artists to Boston. When we announce the 2020-2021 season on May 6, you’re putting trust in us not only to present a thrilling season of diverse and inspiring artists—but to also protect the well-being of our audiences and artists. We assure you that the health of our community is our highest priority, and we are closely monitoring the public health situation as it affects live performing arts and public gatherings. Please look for updates on specific venues and performances at celebrityseries.org.

In the meantime, we offer a few more sneak peeks at next season, and the continuation of our Celebrity Series at Home digital concert series. 

Let us know where you are finding inspiration using #CelebritySeriesAtHome on social media and tag us @celebrityseries. 

Celebrity Series at Home brings you new digital content specially curated by our talented and inspiring Neighborhood Arts artists. This week, violinist and composer Shaw Pong Liu will perform a Facebook Live concert on Friday, May 1 at 8 pm. As a City of Boston Artist-in-Residence and Neighborhood Arts artist, she used songwriting and performances to support healing and dialogue around violence and racism. Join us this Friday for her concert!

Sneak Peek at 2020 - 2021

"Music... helps heal," said Itzhak Perlman, who appears in this video on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on the 60th anniversary of his performance at age 13 on the Ed Sullivan Show, on the very same stage. Itzhak Perlman will turn 75 later this year, and to celebrate, he has prepared a special multimedia evening of music and stories from his life and career with longtime pianist Rohan DaSilva. Join us for the celebration in April 2021 at Symphony Hall!

Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Aoife O'Donovan released their Grammy Award-winning debut album, The Goat Rodeo Sessions, in 2011 and played their first live concert at The House of Blues in Boston as part of our 2011-2012 season. Their long-anticipated sophomore album, Not Our First Goat Rodeo, will be released in May. Watch their video for "Scarcely Cricket" off the new album and see them live at Symphony Hall this October!

Monica Bill Barnes & Company delighted us in March 2019 with the best office party ever in Happy Hour at District Hall. Grab a beer and some popcorn and relive the fun in their two-minute recap of Happy Hour—then look ahead to their newest project, The Running Show: "a live documentary about the life of a dancer, and what it means to fall in love with dance in a young age, and to pursue it professionally, and to keep moving as long as we can." The Running Show will take the Shubert Theatre stage in March 2021!

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater would have been arriving this week, and while we can't see them on stage this weekend, you can join them in your living room! The Company has extended Ailey All Access through June, and will present Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts' Ode on Thursday, April 30, coinciding with what would have been our opening night and Boston premiere of Ode. And for more good news, the Company will be back in Boston in April/May 2021.

Last week we celebrated the virtual world premiere of Castle of our Skins’ Associate Artistic Director and composer Anthony Green’s newest work, Catto’s Courage. Commissioned by the Celebrity Series, this piece was supposed to be premiered as part of our Neighborhood Arts South End Stringfest. You can now view Catto’s Courage on-demand with members of Castle of our Skins and partner school students from the Boston String Academy and Josiah Quincy Elementary School Orchestra Program. 

Your investment in the Celebrity Series is more important than ever! Your tax-deductible donation will help the Celebrity Series team continue to bring high-quality artistic programming to households in Boston and beyond. Whether that programming takes place onstage, in the community, or online, your gift will ensure that Celebrity Series remains strong, innovative, and resilient now and in the future.

Not Our First Goat Rodeo and An Evening with Itzhak Perlman are generously sponsored by Eleanor & Frank Pao. An Evening with Itzhak Perlman is also made possible in part by support from Celebrity Series LIVE PERFORMANCE! Arts for All Endowment & Innovation Funds, with support provided by Anonymous, Reuben Reynolds & Bill Casey, Alfred & Joan Goldberg, Randolph Hawthorne & Carliss Baldwin, Theresa C. McLoud, MD, Sally S. Seaver, PhD, Eric & Sarah Ward, and Yukiko Ueno & Eran Egozy. We thank our Dance Series Sponsors - Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, Cynthia & John S. Reed Foundation, and Royal Little Family Foundation – for their generous support of Monica Bill Barnes & Company’s The Running Show and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.