Between classical soloists, Americana acts and dance companies, the UGA Performing Arts Center presents a slate of orchestras in its 25th anniversary season. And these orchestras could not be more different, as they range from the world’s leading big band to Georgia’s own major symphony to the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.
First up is the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with trumpeter and director Wynton Marsalis (Dec. 7 and 8). Featuring soulful versions of the season’s greatest classics, Big Band Holidays is a joyful, uplifting program starring 15 of jazz music’s leading performers. Under the leadership of Marsalis, this remarkably versatile group performs concerts and educational events in New York, across the U.S., and around the globe. Tickets for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s postponed concerts on March 28, 2020, and April 8, 2021, will be honored for these performances. Contact the Performing Arts Center Box Office for more information.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra makes two appearances in Hodgson Hall this season. In the first (March 4, 2022), pianist Michelle Cann is the soloist in the lyrical Piano Concerto in One Movement by Black American composer Florence Price. Conductor Donald Runnicles also leads Gustav Mahler’s sweeping First Symphony, which begins with the sounds of nature and ends in a blaze of glory.
The ASO and Runnicles return to Athens on May 1, 2022, with a robust program of symphonic classics for the final concert of the Performing Arts Center’s 25th anniversary gala celebration week. The Scottish maestro leads the orchestra in Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy—a four-movement fantasia on folk melodies in which ASO Concertmaster David Coucheron and principal harpist Elisabeth Remy Johnson bring the piece’s Celtic flavors to life—and Beethoven’s influential “Eroica” Symphony.
In addition, string orchestra The Scottish Ensemble appears with legendary double bassist Edgar Meyer (April 1, 2022). Their program includes beloved works by Holst and Vaughan Williams, as well as pieces by J.S. Bach, Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw and Meyer himself.
An ensemble of a completely different kind appears April 3, 2022. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain takes tunes as diverse as “Orange Blossom Special,” “Shaft” and “Psycho Killer” and turns them into toe-tapping—if deadpan—comic ditties.
For a complete list of UGA Presents performances, visit pac.uga.edu/events.
Three Ways to Order
- Purchase tickets online at pac.uga.edu.
- Call the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 706-542-4400, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Visit the UGA Performing Arts Center box office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (five-minute parking is available in the drop off circle at the Performing Arts Center for purchasing or picking up tickets.)
COVID protocols
For information about the Performing Arts Center’s COVID-19 protocols, visit pac.uga.edu/safety-first. Flexible ticketing will be in place for all performances occurring through December 2021. Patrons may exchange tickets for another performance (including those in spring 2022) or receive a full refund until noon on the day of the performance, if occurring on a weekday, or by Friday at 5 p.m. if occurring on a weekend.