APRIL 2018 AT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY S CENTER FOR THE ARTS

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1 Press Calendar For Immediate Release: March 14, 2018 APRIL 2018 AT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY S CENTER FOR THE ARTS featuring: Virginia Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor L.A. Theatre Works: The Mountaintop The King s Singers: 50th Anniversary Tour The Hot Sardines Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel and many more! (FAIRFAX) George Mason University s Center for the Arts released today its schedule of performances and events for April 2018 as part of the Great Performances at Mason series. The calendar includes tragic opera, historical theater, masterful a cappella, innovative jazz, and classical music for piano. Mason alum, students, and faculty are also featured in theater productions and classical and jazz music concerts. Tickets are available at cfa.gmu.edu. The month s programming kicks off on April 7 and 8 with Virginia Opera s final production of the season, Lucia di Lammermoor one of the most famous bel canto Italian operas featuring star-crossed lovers and their feuding families. L.A. Theatre Works presents The Mountaintop on April 14, a play inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. s historical speech and that portrays what may have happened on the last night of his life. The King s Singers bring their 50th Anniversary Tour on April 20 with repertoire ranging from madrigals to contemporary and popular music. On April 22, The Hot Sardines transport audiences to New York speakeasies and Parisian cabarets. Lastly, Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey SIegel closes the season on April 29 with a program that explores Bach s influence on Chopin. A full schedule of performances for April 2018 is below. Unless otherwise noted, performances will take place in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall located at 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax, Virginia. Tickets are available for purchase in person at the Center for the Arts Ticket Office (open Tuesday Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), by calling , or through the Center for the Arts website.

2 Great Performances at Mason Virginia Opera Lucia di Lammermoor Saturday, April 7 at 8 p.m. Sunday, April 8 at 2 p.m. The Virginia Opera concludes its season with the most famous of all bel canto operas, Gaetano Donizetti s tragic Lucia di Lammermoor. This intense tale of star-crossed lovers revolves around two feuding Scottish families, the Ravenswoods and the Lammermoors. Lucia di Lammermoor loves Edgardo Ravenswood, but when her brother s political activity put him at odds with the king, he decides to reestablish his family s status by forcing Lucia into an arranged marriage that culminates in the most spectacular mad scene in all of opera. Metropolitan Opera soprano Rachele Gilmore makes her Virginia Opera debut in the title role of Lucia, a woman at her emotional breaking point. Complementing her as Edgardo is tenor Joseph Dennis, also in his Virginia Opera debut. Don t miss this dramatic masterpiece of thwarted love and dashed expectations. Sung in Italian with English supertitles. Tickets: $110, $90, $54 Pre-Performance Discussion with Dr. Glenn Winters "Dr. Opera. L.A. Theatre Works The Mountaintop Saturday, April 14 at 8 p.m. Images: L.A. Theatre Works: The Mountaintop Fifty years ago, on April 3, 1968, after delivering his famously prescient speech, punctuated by the immortal line, I ve been to the mountaintop, an exhausted Martin Luther King Jr. retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. By the following evening, Dr. King had been assassinated. In her provocative play, The Mountaintop, Katori Hall imagines what may have transpired between the legendary civil rights leader and a seemingly inconsequential hotel maid on the eve of his assassination when a storm rages outside. Winner of the prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Play, L.A. Theatre Works applies its signature style, complete with sound effects made the old-fashioned way on stage, to this acclaimed and gripping play rife with humor, political jabs, and an intimate glimpse at Dr. King s hopes, regrets, and fears. On this solemn anniversary, don t miss this radio-style production of a contemporary play about this great man. The Mountaintop contains mature language. Tickets: $44, $37, $26

3 Pre-Performance Discussion with a Member of the Company. The King s Singers 50th Anniversary Tour Friday, April 20 at 8 p.m. Images: The King s Singers This acclaimed a cappella sextet offers a sublime performance of diverse and compelling vocal works. From Renaissance madrigals to contemporary, popular music, The King s Singers is known for its extensive repertoire and strong command of varied styles. Consummate entertainers, the singers renditions are marked by immaculate intonation, vocal blend, diction, and incisive timing. At a recent concert, The Washington Post affirmed, Their vocal production was effortless, stylistically varied and beautifully blended, even in the most complex polyphony. Over the past fifty years, The King s Singers has secured its place as the superlative vocal sextet (The Times, London). Tickets: $50, $43, $30 Pre-Performance Discussion with a Member of the Company. The Hot Sardines Sunday, April 22 at 7 p.m. Images: The Hot Sardines One of the best jazz bands in New York today (Forbes) makes its debut at the Center where they transport the audience to New York speakeasies, Parisian jazz cabarets, and New Orleans jazz clubs. Acclaimed for their brassy arrangements, rollicking piano melodies, and smoky vocals, The Hot Sardines stand apart for the innovation, verve, and sheer joy they bring to music, both old and new. Pianist Evan Bibs Palazzo and singer Miz Elizabeth Bougerol, met in 2007 at a jazz jam session and bonded over their love for Fats Waller. Also influenced by such greats as Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday, they began playing small gigs, and by 2011, they were headlining Midsummer Night Swing at New York s Lincoln Center. Recently, they have been featured at the Newport Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival, have sold out top NYC venues, toured from Chicago to London, and have released two critically acclaimed albums. Tickets: $48, $41, $29 Pre-Performance Discussion with a Member of the Company.

4 Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel Bach and Chopin A al Kinship Sunday, April 29 at 7 p.m. Images: Jeffrey Siegel Did you know that Bach was Chopin's favorite composer? Become a classical music insider when virtuoso pianist and entertaining storyteller Jeffrey Siegel returns to our stage with a program exploring Bach s influence on Chopin. Hear vivacious dances, dramatic Preludes, and romantic, improvisational Fantasies by both composers. Popular with classical music aficionados and novices alike, Siegel s unique concerts with commentary format tells the story behind the music. A first-class musician who can sketch and color with greatness (The London Times). An interactive Q & A concludes this program. Tickets: $42, $36, $25 Big Band Showdown Monday, April 2 at 8 p.m. Mason Student and Faculty Performances Join the Mason Jazz Ensemble (director, Jim Carroll) for an evening that celebrates the hot sounds and swinging beats of the Big Band era! Tickets: $12 adults, $8 seniors, $5 youth Theater The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail Thursday, April 5 Saturday, April 7 at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 7 Sunday, April 8 at 2 p.m. By Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee; Directed by Edward Gero A Mainstage Production With contemporary resonance, Lawrence and Lee imagine circumstances surrounding 19th Century writer Henry David Thoreau s imprisonment for his refusal to pay a poll tax designed to support an unpopular war. Reflected through the memories of his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, the play explores the roles of government and the governed, civil disobedience, education, and the interdependence of man and nature. Tickets: $30 General Admission, $15 students, staff, seniors and groups

5 Jazz Combos and Steel Pan Ensemble Concert Wednesday, April 11 at 8 p.m. delaski Performing Arts Building Performance by the Mason Jazz Combos, under the direction of jazz pianist, Wade Beach. Visit Mason Jazz online at: Led by Victor Provost, steel pan students learn to play the steel drum (steel pan, or pan) in a variety of settings, focusing on repertoire from a variety of genres including various music of the Caribbean. Dance Spring New Dances Thursday, April 12 Saturday, April 14 at 8 p.m. Meet the next generation of contemporary choreographers. Tickets: $15 full; $10 students, staff and seniors; $7 groups of 10 or more Theater Café George Friday, April 13 at 8 p.m. The Annual Café George is an evening for dessert and Broadway music. The Mason Chorale, under conductor Dr. Lisa A. Billingham, will perform a cabaret style concert on the stage of the Center for the Arts. This event features small group numbers as well as soloists from the Chorale. A silent auction will be held as a part of the evening s performance. Tickets: $25 Mason Guitar Ensemble Concert with Special Guest Lake Braddock Guitar Ensemble Saturday, April 14 at 8 p.m. delaski Performing Arts Building Join us for the George Mason University Guitar Ensemble s concert. The program will include music for two, three, and four guitars, as well as music for large ensemble. Under the direction of Professor Matt Trkula, the George Mason University Guitar Ensemble features School of guitar students from a variety of majors including guitar performance, music technology, and music education. The group performs music that spans the entire course of Western music ranging from Renaissance to contemporary composers.

6 Free and open to the public. Jazz Workshop Concert Sunday, April 15 at 7 p.m. Jazz Saxophone faculty, Rick Parrell directs the Mason Jazz Workshop big band in their Spring concert! Free and open to the public. Mason Opera: Albert Herring Friday, April 20 Saturday, April 21 at 8 p.m. Sunday, April 22 at 2 p.m. A comic opera by Benjamin Britten. Tickets: $20 adults, $15 seniors, $5 youth Mason Wind Symphony & Symphonic Band Concert Thursday, April 26 at 8 p.m. Mason Wind Symphony under the direction of Professor Mark Camphouse and Mason Symphonic Band under the direction of Professor John Kilkenny and Denton Stokes. Tickets: $12 adults, $8 seniors, $5 youth through grade 12 Theater Mason Players Originals! Friday, April 27 at 8 p.m. delaski Performing Arts Building Expect a few changes to our approach to student artistic expression! New scripts, artistic performances and creative offerings inspired by our students will drive this final theatrical celebration of the season. Tickets: Daily Pay What You Can ($5 increments only).

7 Other Performances and Events Fairfax Symphony Orchestra: Connections Through Time Christopher Zimmerman, conductor Simone Dinnerstein, piano Saturday, April 21 at 8 p.m. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in G minor, BWV 1058 Glass: Piano Concerto No. 3 (Regional Premiere) Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Elgar: Introduction and Allegro for Strings Simone Dinnerstein returns to perform the regional premiere of a new concerto written for her by renowned composer Philip Glass. "I have been a fan of Glass since my teens. In fact, his music drama "The Photographer" was the first live event I attended without an adult, and I have always associated his music with coming of age says Dinnerstein. There are almost no concertos written for piano and strings since Bach's time. Both Glass and I have a strong interest in Bach and how his music impacts us today. The pairing of the Bach concerto with his own composition will create myriad strands of connectivity enabling the listener to create bridges between the old and new." Pre-Performance Discussion with Conductor Christopher Zimmerman and special guests. Tickets: $65, $53, $39 Student Tickets: $15 Project Trio Performance Monday, April 23 at 12:30 p.m. Project Trio is a passionate, high-energy chamber music ensemble comprised of three virtuosic composer/performers from Brooklyn, New York. Following the performance, Project Trio will hold a Q&A session with School of students. Free and open to the public. About Great Performances at Mason Great Performances at Mason is a program of George Mason University s Center for the Arts, the professional presentation and production arm of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA). CVPA provides an academic environment in which the arts are explored as individual disciplines and interdisciplinary forms that strengthen one another. The college prepares students for careers as creators, performers, teachers, scholars, arts leaders and arts entrepreneurs. Understanding that an education in the arts is deepened by regular contact with

8 the work of distinguished visiting artists, the Center for the Arts, the professional presentation and production arm of the college, welcomes a variety of professional and world-renowned artists, musicians and actors to its stage. Students have the opportunity to perform, create and exhibit their work in a wide variety of public venues including a 2,000-seat Concert Hall. CVPA is home to the Schools of, Dance, Art and Theater, as well as the Computer Game Design, Arts Management, and Film and Video Studies programs. About George Mason University George Mason University is Virginia s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls 35,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. For more information, please visit: George Mason University s Center for the Arts #MasonArts # # # PRESS CONTACTS Camille Cintrón Devlin Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications cdevlin6@gmu.edu Hyla S. Helsel London Director of Marketing hhelsel@gmu.edu