FALL 2024
Yanira Castro: Exorcism = Liberation
Thursday, September 12, 6 p.m.Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts lobby
General admission, free (ticket required)
Throughout election season, interdisciplinary artist Yanira Castro will challenge the UMass campus and broader regional community to contemplate and confront questions related to decolonization, natural and political history, and community. Castro's public art project kicks off with this speaking event.
Victory Players: El Puerto Rico
Post-show community event featuring Bomba de Aquí
Saturday, September 14, 3 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall and Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts lobby
Reserved $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Classical ensemble Victory Players present music composed for them by ten of the most exciting new voices in Puerto Rican music. They invite the audience to consider the commonalities of European and Afro-Caribbean music and culture while confronting the divisive legacy of colonialism. In their post-concert event, Bomba de Aqui will invite audience members to participate in a celebration of Puerto Rican heritage through music, dance, and food.
Bia Ferreira
Tuesday, September 24, 8 p.m.The Drake
General admission $25 advance, $30 at the door
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $12.50 advance, $15 at the door
Brazilian artist-activist Bia Ferreira calls her mind-blowing blend of R&B, funk, blues, reggae, and folk Música de Mulher Preta (Black Woman Music). Ferreira’s lyrics are unflinching in their honesty. They touch on LGBTQ+ issues, anticolonialism, anti-racism, feminism, and an array of other subjects. And Ferrera’s stage presence is not merely powerful, but downright gravitational.
Terence Blanchard: Flow
Thursday, September 26, 8 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $75, $60, $50, $40
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20, $17, $15
Eight-time Grammy winner and two-time Oscar nominee Terence Blanchard and his sextet launch our mainstage performing arts season and stellar jazz series all at once! The celebrated trumpeter and his band will focus on music from the critically acclaimed 2005 album Flow, on which Blanchard explored themes related to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s theories on the connections between creativity, a sense of meaning, and happiness.
A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham
Friday, October 4, 8 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $70, $55, $45, $35
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20, $17, $15
Kyle Abraham is one of America's leading contemporary choreographers working in concert dance. Abraham’s mission with A.I.M., the company he founded in 2006, is to create a body of dance-based work that is galvanized by Black culture and history and features the rich tapestry of Black and queer stories. A.I.M.’s work entwines a sensual and provocative vocabulary with a strong emphasis on music, text, video, and visual art.
Mariza
Tuesday, October 8, 8 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $75, $60, $47.50, $35
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20, $17, $15
The world’s premier fado artist returns to our stage after an eight-year absence. Born in Portuguese Mozambique but raised in Lisbon, Mariza grew up singing in a variety of styles. She turned her focus to fado early in her professional career. Mariza's powerful, expressive soprano will reduce you to tears and raise your heart to the rafters by turns. And her ability to bring in elements of samba, morna, and soul while remaining true to fado tradition is pure sorcery.
Fran Lebowitz: A State of the Union Conversation
Thursday, October 10, 7:30 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $75, $62.50, $50, $40
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Author, essayist, satirist, actor, raconteur, Martin Scorsese film subject … Fran Lebowitz is America’s leading teller of harsh and unfiltered truths. Acerbic, opinionated, unhindered by the rules of polite society, and NYC to the core, Lebowitz is a reliable antidote to BS, which makes her exactly what every election season needs.
Frankenstein Live with the Pioneer Valley Symphony
1931 film with music by Michael Shapiro
Friday, October 18, 7:30 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Family pack: 25% off of up to two adult tickets with the purchase of at least one youth ticket
A screening of the classic Boris Karloff Frankenstein with a live performance of composer Michael Shapiro’s score by Greenfield’s estimable Pioneer Valley Symphony. Ticket buyers also are invited to join us for a pre performance cosplay event. Get spooky and gear up for Halloween with a visit to Castle Frankenstein, featuring music, games, door prizes, and fun.
Max Roach Centennial Celebration
featuring Makaya McCraven
Friday, October 25, 8 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $50, $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Drummer/bandleader Makaya McCraven leads a spectacular ensemble in a concert to mark the 100th birthday of legendary drummer, composer, bandleader, activist, and educator Max Roach. Trumpeter Marquis Hill, saxophonist Greg Ward, and bassist Junius Paul will be among the band members paying tribute to Roach, who among other things, was instrumental in transforming UMass into an international center for jazz education.
Dropkick Murphys with Pennywise and The Scratch
Sunday, October 27, 7 p.m.The Mullins Center
Reserved $77.50, $65, $49.50
General admission floor $49.50
(Tickets via Mullins Center box office)
Dropkick Murphys proudly remain Boston’s rock ‘n’ roll underdogs turned champions. They make music that’s meant to be chanted at last call, in packed arenas, and during comeback rallies. Their 2022 acoustic album This Machine Still Kills Fascists, and followup, Okemah Rising, breathe musical life into mostly unpublished lyrics by the legendary Woody Guthrie as curated for the band by Woody’s daughter Nora. This event is not eligible for inclusion in Fine Arts Center subscription packages and is exempt from Fine Arts Center discounts.
Nava Dance Theatre: Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies
Friday, November 1, 7:30 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $45, $32.50
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
San Francisco-based Nava Dance Theatre’s Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies is a bharatanatyam, experimental movement, and live music production that explores the labor and lived experiences of South Asian immigrant women in the United States. It is inspired by the oral histories of Indian nurses who arrived as a result of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.
Angélique Kidjo
Thursday, November 14, 8 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $75, $60, $47.50, $35
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20, $17, $15
Afropop legend Angélique Kidjo’s magnetic stage presence, expressive, crystalline vocals, and infectious songs have kept music fans across the globe rapt for more than 35 years. Kidjo is a five-time Grammy winner in the Best Contemporary World Music Album and Best Global Music Album categories. She is Afropop’s most visible and popular artist. And Time Magazine called her “Africa’s premiere diva” and in 2021 included her in the Time 100 list of the world’s most influential people.
¡Guitarra! Drew Henderson
Saturday, November 16, 7:30 p.m.Bezanson Recital Hall
General admission $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20
Master Class
Sunday, November 17, 10 a.m.
Old Chapel
Oberver tickets $15
Toronto-based Drew Henderson performs on six-, seven- and eight-string guitars, and has adapted works from such composers as Bach, Paganini, and Schubert.
No-No Boy
Tuesday, November 19, 8 p.m.The Drake
General admission $25 advance, $30 at the door
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $12.50 advance, $15 at the door
No-No Boy’s music will challenge your concept of Americana. And a good bit more than that. No-No Boy is a project of songwriter and scholar Julian Saporiti, whose music is equally reflective of his hometown, Nashville, and his Vietnamese American roots, employing country, bluegrass and other American roots music forms as the foundation for songs that explore the Asian American experience.
Seo Jungmin
Friday, November 22, 7:30 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
General Admission, $32.50, $25
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15, $12.50
Seo Jungmin, composer and virtuoso of the 25-string gayageum, and her trio combine Korean musical tradition with modern expression to rapturous effect. In One, My Utopia! Seo’s masterful gayageum playing is complemented by You Byoungwook’s percussion and Kim Yulhee’s pansori (traditional Korean story song) vocals.
Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre
Wednesday, December 4, 7:30 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $37
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
New York-based Yaa Samaar! Dance Theatre, seeks to create invigorating education and performance programs that expand access to, and promote understanding through, the arts. The company will perform Losing It, an exploration of generational trauma through solo dance of a female Palestinian living in a war zone, and Noah, which presents themes of love, courage, and regret through one man's personal history.
Electric Root Presents: The Sound of (Black) Music
Sunday, December 8, 3 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $60, $45, $35
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
The Sound of (Black) Music is a vibrant one-act concert reimagining the songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s beloved musical The Sound of Music through a utopian, Afrofuturistic lens full of love. Cherished songs including “Edelweiss,” “I Have Confidence,” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain'' are recast through a soulful music kaleidoscope of jazz, gospel, blues, soul, funk and Afrobeat.
SPRING 2025
Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp:
Celebrating 30 Years of Friendship and Music
Friday, January 31, 8 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $75, $60, $40
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20, $15
Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, original stars of RENT, team up in a brand new duo show celebrating thirty years of friendship and music. Expect songs from throughout their careers, including some iconic hits from RENT, as well as music that has influenced and inspired Pascal and Rapp on stage and in life.
Endea Owens and The Cookout
Friday, February 7, 8 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Grammy and Emmy award-winning bassist-bandleader Endea Owens and her band the Cookout bring their uplifting brand of jazz to the Bowker Auditorium stage. Most recognizable for her tenure as bassist for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s house band, Stay Human, Endea Owens has emerged as a growing force in jazz through a critically acclaimed debut album, Feel Good Music (2023), and a reputation for delivering captivating live sets.
Limón Dance Company
Thursday, February 13, 7:30 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $70, $55, $45, $35
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20, $17, $15
The Limón Dance Company has been at the vanguard of modern dance since its inception in 1946. Company founder José Limón has a special place in American culture for a social awareness that transcended distinct groups in order to address the ways in which we all search for commonality. Limón’s company continues to commission works by critically acclaimed and emerging international voices fifty years after its founder's passing.
The Power and the Glory
with Fleur Barron and Kunal Lahiry
Saturday, February 22, 8 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $50, $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Singaporean-British mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron and Indian American pianist Kunal Lahiry explore diverse perspectives of colonial history through music and poetry. The program includes works by Gustav Mahler, Kurt Weill, Ilse Weber, Arnold Schönberg, Chen Yi, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Theodoro Varcárcel, OIivier Messiaen, Xavier Montsalvatge, Kamala Sankaram, and Ernesto Lecuona.
Kristina Wong, #FoodBankInfluencer
Friday, February 28, 8 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $50, $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Performance artist, comedian, actor, and writer Kristina Wong presents an avant premiere of a new work that takes the audience through America's food insecurity issues, from big cities to the Navajo Nation. Wong will help us to look at the future of food access. If food banks were originally a stopgap for a temporary crisis and now have become a permanent part of American survival, does this mean we are in a perpetual state of crisis?
Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Bruce Liu
Tuesday, March 4, 7:30 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $75, $65, $50, $35
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20, $17, $15
One of the most venerated ensembles in Western classical music, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields is renowned for fresh, brilliant interpretations of great orchestral works. Pianist Bruce Liu, the reigning winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition, has secured a reputation as one of the most exciting talents of his generation and achieved “rock-star status in the classical music world” (The Globe and Mail).
Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet
Thursday, March 13, 7:30 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and unique interpreter of the jazz tradition, Camille Thurman is quickly becoming one of the standard bearers for the form, making a considerable and dynamic contribution to the legacy of jazz while paying tribute to its heroes. Thurman is fluid and powerful on the tenor saxophone and highly inventive as a vocalist.
¡Guitarra! Gabriele Leite
Saturday, March 15, 7:30 p.m.Bezanson Recital Hall
General admission $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20
Master Class
Sunday, March 16, 10 a.m.
Old Chapel
Oberver tickets $15
Brazilian classical guitarist and educator Gabriele Leite has stood out in several festivals, competitions, and institutions, among them the Lilian Fuchs Competition of chamber music.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show
Sunday, March 16, 3 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Family pack: 25% off of up to two adult tickets with the purchase of at least one youth ticket
Join us for an afternoon of wonderful family entertainment based on the works of renowned illustrator and author Eric Carle, who made a home in Northampton for more than thirty years. The production faithfully adapts four stories by Carle: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, The Very Lonely Firefly, and of course, the star of the show, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Etienne Charles: Creole Soul
Saturday, April 5, 8 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Trinidad-born trumpeter and bandleader Etienne Charles’ compositions evoke musical traditions from the Caribbean and across the African diaspora while remaining firmly rooted in jazz. Charles has earned critical acclaim with his exciting performances, thrilling compositions, and knack for connecting with audiences worldwide. JazzTimes calls Charles a "daring improviser who delivers with heart wrenching lyricism." DownBeat magazine says, "Charles delivers his ebullient improvisations with the elegance of a world-class ballet dancer."
An Evening with John Cameron Mitchell
featuring Amber Martin
Friday, April 11, 8 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $75, $60, $40
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20, $15
Tony Award-winning star of stage and screen John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) presents a hair-raising, hilarious romp of songs, stories and characters. The performance also features international cabaret star Amber Martin. And join us at Amherst Cinema on Saturday, April 12, for a screening of Hedwig and the Angry Inch with live director commentary from JCM. (Screening tickets available via the Amherst Cinema box office.)
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Thursday, April 17, 7:30 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $65, $50, $40, $30
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $20, $17, $15
Hailed as a “matchless American dance company” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Complexions Contemporary Ballet blends methods, styles and cultures from across the globe. The result is a continually evolving form of dance that reflects the movement of our world — and all its cultures — as an interrelated whole. The program for this performance, which is part of the company’s thirtieth anniversary celebration tour, will center on WOKE, an activist piece created in response to continuing racial violence and discrimination in American society.
Meshell Ndegeocello:
No More Water — The Gospel of James Baldwin
Thursday, April 24, 8 p.m.Bowker Auditorium
Reserved $60, $45, $35
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Meshell Ndegeocello is a virtuoso of the electric bass and a songwriter and arranger whose work spans multiple genres. She is an eleven-time Grammy nominee and two-time Grammy winner. Her first album for the iconic Blue Note label, The Omnichord Real Book (2023), took the first ever Grammy for Best Alternative Jazz Album. Here, she leads her quintet in a celebration of the late writer, civil rights activist, and UMass professor James Baldwin.
Bruce Hornsby & yMusic present BrhyM
Friday, May 9, 8 p.m.Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $99, $84, $74, $54
Youth 17 and under and Five College students $34, $24, $19
Three-time Grammy winner, hitmaker, and one-time Grateful Dead keyboardist Bruce Hornsby teams up with the progressive, inventive chamber sextet yMusic. The performance will focus on music from the partnership’s 2024 release Deep Sea Vents. The album draws on Hornsby’s passion for underwater worlds and the performers’ shared love of musical innovation and concern for the environment to produce songs that pair gorgeous sonic seascapes with lyrics that paint an unflinching portrait of an ever-worsening climate crisis.
