The Performing Arts Center has announced the roster of artists for the 2008-2009 season. The upcoming season encompasses seven different series, showcasing some of the world’s best performers in classical, folk, jazz and world music as well as ballet and modern dance.
“We are looking forward to our lucky 13th season of bringing the finest national and international performers to Athens and Northeast Georgia,” said Timothy A. Bartholow, director for the Office of Performing Arts. “I’m especially pleased that we are presenting some UGA graduates who have now established successful careers for themselves.”
The Performing Arts Center opens the season on Sept. 21 with the Georgia Guitar Quartet, four UGA graduates who are garnering fans and critical acclaim from coast to coast. Another UGA alumnus featured in 2008-2009 will be soprano Anne-Carolyn Bird who has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera and will make her return to Athens on the Ramsey Concert Hall Series on April 4, 2009.
Returning favorites on the schedule include the Vienna Choir Boys, Ballet Flamenco José Porcel, Georgia native and award-winning violinist Robert McDuffie performing with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg performing with guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad.
Notable debuts include the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Male Choir of St. Petersburg in its first U.S. tour, the Song and Dance Ensemble of West Africa and the dynamic Seán Curran Dance Co. founded by an original member of Stomp!
The Performing Arts Center’s 2008-2009 season will include a special Irish Christmas concert starring Eileen Ivers, the popular Irish fiddler with her trademark blue violin. The season also will feature the a cappella male choir Cantus in a stirring program entitled All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 and a performance from L.A. Theatre Works of The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial, recreating the landmark 1925 trial of Tennessee teacher John Scopes.
The Performing Arts Center will begin its second decade of recording concerts for broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today, heard by 1.5 million listeners across the country and more around the world via the Internet.
Subscriptions to the 2008-2009 season are on sale now. For more information or a free brochure, contact the Performing Arts Center box office at (706) 542-4400 or toll free at (888) 289-8497 or online at www.uga.edu/pac.
