Marsalis, Perlman, Russell lead Green Music Center lineup

Jazz, classical, world music highlight coming season.|

The Green Music Center’s 2019–20 Season at Sonoma State University runs Sept. 14 through May 6.

The season kicks off Sept. 14 with Party for the Green, a fundraising event with dancing, dinner, a performance by Grammy award-winning jazz singer Catherine Russell and an after party. Violinist Itzhak Perlman will perform on Sept. 15. Mariachi ensemble Mariachi Sol De México de José Hernández return to Weill Hall on Sept. 29.

Continuing into October, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble presents a program of works by Mendelssohn, Brahms, and more on Oct 13. Organist Christopher Houlihan performs in recital on Schroeder Hall’s Brombaugh Opus 9 organ on Oct. 20. On Oct. 24, choreographer and educator Liz Lerman leads a discussion on the artistic process through the lens of her newest project Wicked Bodies, and on Oct. 25 Take Me To The River Live celebrates the music of New Orleans, while featuring some of the most influential figures of modern New Orleans funk, soul and jazz including the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

November begins with the season’s first performances in Weill Hall’s The Loft. Nov. 6-7 offers production by Indian Ink Theatre Company entitled “Mrs. Krishnan’s Party”; the comedy seats the audience around the dining table in the back room of an Indian-run convenience store. Jazz icon Branford Marsalis performs with his quartet on Nov. 9. Venezuelan born vocalist Nella melds folkloric traditions with contemporary styles on Nov. 10. Grammy Award-winning Kalani Pe’a delivers Hawaiian-contemporary soul on Nov. 14, and wrapping up the month is Harlem 100 a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance, a multi-media show hosted by Michael Mwenso featuring the music of Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, and Ethel Waters, as well as a nine-piece band with three dancers on Nov. 21.

An array of holiday shows in December begin Dec. 13 with Irish ensemble Danú performing Emerald Isle Christmas, an all-new concert for the holidays. The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus returns Dec. 15 with Home For the Holidays, a benefit for Face 2 Face, AIDS Services of Sonoma County. The vocal group Voctave will perform Disney and Broadway hits on Dec 19. Two-time Grammy-winning salsa and Latin jazz band Spanish Harlem Orchestra closes out the first half of the 2019–20 season on Dec. 20 with its holiday program Salsa Navidad.

Guitarist Sérgio Assad, pianist, and vocalist Clarice Assad, and Third Coast Percussion begin the second half of the season Jan. 23 with a program titled Archetypes, taking the audience on a musical journey grounded in familiar stories. In February the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic led by Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero performs Feb. 1 with violinist Bomsori Kim. Winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, pianist Jeremy Denk on Feb. 13 performs Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 in Schroeder Hall. Electroacoustic group NIYAZ on Feb. 20 presents the Fourth Light Project, an immersive, multi-sensory show combining live music, dance and interactive technologies. Two chamber ensembles Imani Winds and the Catalyst Quartet present (im)igration – music of change on Feb 23. In Celebration of Leap Day, the Green Music Center on Feb. 29 presents multiple events including performances by Las Cafeteras, Petaluma-based Play Marimba and more.

On March 3, activist and author Angela Davis discusses topics that relate to social justice in contemporary life, shedding light on what we can do to contribute to a more just world. The tap dance artistry of Dorrance Dance comes to Weill Hall with their program SOUNDspace on March 7. In honor of Charlie Parker’s 100th birthday, alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington present on March 27 Fly Higher: Charlie Parker at 100, a showcase of “Bird’s” deep repertoire and showcasing new, modern compositions.

Crossing the boundaries between classical, jazz, rock, world and experimental music, the six-member amplified ensemble Bang On A Can All-Stars performs on April 1. Hindi cinema comes to the stage with Bollywood Boulevard as they present A Journey Through Hindi Cinema Live on April 11. NEA Jazz Master Maria Schneider brings her jazz orchestra to the Weill Hall in a performance on April 17. Male vocal ensemble Cantus performs One Giant Leap on April 18. Concluding the 2019–20 season on May 6, Circa, Wolfgang’s Magical Musical Circus reinvents Mozart’s music in a family show featuring Circa’s daredevil artists and an accordionist.

Interwoven in the 2019–20 season are three performances that highlight composer Ludwig van Beethoven, 250 years after his birth. The first of these concerts is An Homage to Beethoven, performed by pianist Nikolay Khozyainov on March 29. On April 5, pianist Simone Dinnerstein and cellist Matt Haimovitz collaborate on a program of music by Beethoven paired with Philip Glass and, finally, musicians from the Valley of the Moon Festival perform Beethoven: Shattering of the Formon period instruments on Apr 26.

Tickets are available at gmc.sonoma.edu.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.