Celebrity Series of Boston Announces Winter/Spring 2022 Performances

Celebrity Series of Boston Announces Winter/Spring 2022 Performances

Adds clarinetist Anthony McGill with soprano Susanna Phillips and pianist Myra Huang at GBH’s Calderwood Studio

Paid digital performances continue with seven added in Winter/Spring

Pre-sale begins November 16, 2021; all tickets on sale January 4, 2022

High resolution image gallery link

Highlights of the Winter/Spring 2022 performances include:

• Neighborhood Arts presents Solo(s) Together– a new commissioning project for quartets featuring five contemporary composers: Nathalie Joachim, Valerie Coleman, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Amir Bitran, and Paul Desenne. The new works premiere this spring by local ensembles Hub New Music, Unitas Ensemble, Boston String Academy, and Castle of our Skins
  
  
• An in-person and streaming recital by clarinetist Anthony McGill, soprano Susanna Phillips, and pianist Myra Huang is added on March 13, 2022
• A new, multi-night jazz festival at the Artists For Humanity EpiCenter, featuring the Matthew Whitaker Quartet, violinist Regina Carter, vocalist Veronica Swift, Anat Cohen Quartetinho, and pianist Christian Sands in March 2022
  
  
• Expanded digital streaming options, with seven performances added
  
  
• A new series of three free Neighborhood Arts concerts added at the Cambridge Public Library, marking the debut of Neighborhood Arts concerts at this venue
• Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Emanuel Ax, and violinist Leonidas Kavakos in recital on March 9, 2022 at Symphony Hall
  
  
• Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell, director/violin soloist, on March 6, 2022 at Symphony Hall
  
  
• Multimedia project The Just and the Blind, conceived and written by Marc Bamuthi Joseph with original music by Daniel Bernard Roumain, addresses the urgent social issues of racial profiling and mass incarceration and meditates on Black parenthood using music, dance, spoken word, and film, April 1 & 2, 2022
  
  
• Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, April 28-May 1, 2022 at the Boch Center Wang Theatre

 

The Celebrity Series of Boston announces updates to the winter/spring 2022 programming, including an expansion of streaming concert options, new details about the commissioning project Solo(s) Together, and additional programming.

Added to the season are a recital by clarinetist Anthony McGill, soprano Susanna Phillips, and pianist Myra Huang on March 13, 2022 at GBH’s intimate Calderwood Studio. Neighborhood Arts adds three free concerts at the Cambridge Public Library, the first time the Series has presented performances at this venue.

Seven additional performances in 2022 will receive a digital broadcast, in addition to their in-person performances. These streaming additions are: jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant (February 5, 2022); violinist Simone Porter (February 9, 2022); Imani Winds & Catalyst Quartet (March 5, 2022); clarinetist Anthony McGill, soprano Susanna Phillips, and pianist Myra Huang (March 13, 2022); Brooklyn Rider & mandolinist Avi Avital (March 18, 2022); pianist Jeremy Denk (April 2, 2022); and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason (May 7, 2022). All Neighborhood Arts performances will be posted to the Celebrity Series of Boston YouTube page the week after their in-person concert for on-demand digital viewing. Digital performances will be available to each for six days following the premiere, except for the performance by Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason, which will be available for 48 hours.

Neighborhood Arts presents Solo(s) Together – a new commissioning project for quartets featuring five contemporary composers: Nathalie Joachim, Valerie Coleman, Amir Bitran, Paul Desenne, and Daniel Bernard Roumain. The composers were commissioned to write a short piece for a quartet that consists of four solos for each musician and an ending that includes all four musicians. Participating Neighborhood Arts ensembles include Hub New Music, Unitas Ensemble, Boston String Academy, and Castle of our Skins. All quartets will premiere in Spring 2022 with live concerts and on-demand online viewing.

Gary Dunning, President and Executive Director of the Celebrity Series of Boston, says, “With the return to live, in-person performances this fall, we’ve heard from audiences and artists alike how meaningful it is to share the live concert experience. We’ve also heard how grateful everyone is for sound, common sense safety protocols that make everyone feel safer and more comfortable returning to live performances. Our spring season is dense with the thrilling return of artists who we have missed over the past two seasons, and debuts by artists just arriving on the Boston scene. With an array of digitally streamed concerts, we also provide an option for those just not ready to return to the concert hall in person.”

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TICKET INFORMATION
Donors of $100 and recent subscribers are invited to lock in full subscriber benefits without fees by purchasing one or more in-person performance during their presale period, which begins as soon as November 16, 2021. When subscriptions go on sale to the public on December 7, there will be a minimum of two performances to subscribe and a flat $15 subscription fee for the season. Tickets for single performances will go on sale to the public on January 4.

Subscribers enjoy benefits such as early access to seats before the general public, guaranteed pricing, advance notice of additional performances, and ticket exchange privileges.

Tickets for performances through January 2022 are on sale now.

Performance and ticketing updates may be found at celebrityseries.org. For more information about Covid safety protocols, visit: celebrityseries.org/safety. For more detailed information on this season’s more flexible ticketing policies, please visit celebrityseries.org/FAQ.

Venues, artists, and programs are subject to change.

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FEBRUARY – MAY 2022 SUSCRIPTION SEASON PERFORMANCES

Pianist Alexander Malofeev makes his Boston debut as part of the Debut Series. The recital, with works by Mozart, Schubert, Medtner, and Rachmaninoff, is on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 8pm at Longy’s Pickman Hall. The 2021/22 Debut Series is sponsored by Harriet & David Griesinger and the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

Jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant brings her fresh and fearless music to the Berklee Performance Center on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at 8pm. This performance will also be streamed. Media Partner is 89.7 GBH.

Violinist Simone Porter in her Boston recital debut as part of the Debut Series on Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at 8pm at Longy’s Pickman Hall. The program sees the Boston premiere of a new work by Reena Esmail, as well as works by Andrew Norman, Heinrich Biber, Esa Pekka Salonen, and César Franck. This performance will also be streamed. The 2021/22 Debut Series is sponsored by Harriet & David Griesinger and the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

Songwriter Anaïs Mitchell whose Broadway hit Hadestown won 8 Tony Awards, shares songs from her forthcoming album as well as from her back catalogue before joining Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats and The Shins) and Josh Kaufman (Hiss Golden Messenger, Bob Weir, and The National) to form folk supergroup Bonny Light Horseman on Friday, February 18, 2022 at 8pm at the Berklee Performance Center.

A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul with Damien Sneed and Karen Clark Sheard brings an accomplished cast of jazz, gospel, and soul musicians in a heartfelt tribute to “The Queen of Soul” on Friday, February 25, 2022 at 8pm at the Berklee Performance Center. This performance is sponsored by Julia Byers & Steven Holtzman.

Sankofa Danzafro brings Rafael Palacios’ full-length work for the Colombian dance company, Accommodating Lie, to the Boch Center Shubert Theatre Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 8pm and Sunday, February 27, 2022 at 3pm. Accommodating Lie showcases seven dancers with live music, and seeks to dismantle stereotypes, clichés, and falsehoods about the Black body and what it means to be of African descent. Palacios most recently collaborated with the Series on the storytelling and movement project, Black Voices Boston. The 2021/2022 Dance Series is sponsored by Leslie & Howard Appleby, Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, Foley & Lardner LLP, Cynthia & John S. Reed Foundation, and Royal Little Family Foundation.

Imani Winds & Catalyst Quartet’s program, (im)migration: music of change, highlights the experience of migration. The program features the Boston premiere of the co-commissioned work, Sergeant McCauley by Jessie Montgomery, Valerie Coleman’s arrangement of Afro Blue by Ramón “Mongo” Santamaría, Florence Price’s Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint, and Roberto Sierra’s Concierto de Cámara. The concert is on Saturday, March 5, 2022 at 8pm at First Church in Cambridge. This performance will also be streamed. This performance is an Aaron Richmond Recital.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell, director/violin soloist returns for their 13^th Celebrity Series performance with Florence Price’s “Adoration”; Dvorák’s Violin Concerto; and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90 on Sunday, March 6, 2022 at 3pm at Symphony Hall. Media Partner is 99.5 CRB. Sponsored by The Rabb Family.

Pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma join forces as a powerhouse trio for this all-Beethoven concert on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 8pm at Symphony Hall. Media partner 99.5 CRB. This performance is sponsored by Susan & Michael Thonis and Foley & Lardner LLP.

Clarinetist Anthony McGill, soprano Susanna Phillips, and pianist Myra Huang in recital and streaming on Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 3pm at GBH’s intimate Calderwood Studio. The program is Schubert’s The Shepherd on the Rock; James Lee III’s Chavah's Daughters Speak; William Grant Still’s Romance; and Schubert’s Sonata in A minor, D. 821, "Arpeggione." This performance will also be streamed. The 2021/22 season performances at GBH Calderwood Studio are sponsored by Susan & Michael Thonis and the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative.

Brooklyn Rider & mandolinist Avi Avital perform the third and final appearance of the Brooklyn Rider series of concerts on Friday, March 18, 2022 at 8pm at GBH Calderwood Studio. This performance will also be streamed. The 2021/22 season performances at GBH Calderwood Studio are sponsored by Susan & Michael Thonis and the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative. Additional support provided by The Consulate General of Israel to New England.

Multimedia project The Just and the Blind, conceived and written by Marc Bamuthi Joseph with original music by Daniel Bernard Roumain, and direction by Michael John Garcés, addresses the urgent social issues of racial profiling and mass incarceration and meditates on Black parenthood using music, dance, spoken word, and film, April 1 & 2, 2022 at 8pm at the Emerson Paramount Center with accompanying events to be announced. This performance is generously sponsored by the Stephanie L. Brown Foundation with support provided by the Barr Foundation and its ArtsAmplified initiative.

Pianist Jeremy Denk performs Bach’s complete “Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1” twice: on Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 8pm and Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 3pm at GBH Calderwood Studio. This performance will also be streamed on April 2, 2022. The 2021/22 season performances at GBH Calderwood Studio are sponsored by Susan & Michael Thonis and the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative. This performance is An Aaron Richmond Recital.

SFJAZZ Collective: New Works Reflecting the Moment is a vital program of new compositions by the band inspired by and in response to the extraordinary social and global issues faced over the last year. The performance is Friday, April 8, 2022 at 8pm at Berklee Performance Center. Lineup is: Chris Potter, tenor & soprano saxophones; David Sánchez, tenor saxophone; Etienne Charles, trumpet; Warren Wolf, vibraphone; Edward Simon, piano; Matt Brewer, bass; Kendrick A.D. Scott, drums; Gretchen Parlao, vocals; and Martin Luther McCoy, vocals. Media Partner is 89.7 GBH.

Saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade perform A MoodSwing Reunion on Sunday April 24, 2022 at 7pm at Symphony Hall.  This seminal quartet returned to the studio 25 years after the release of their celebrated 1994 album MoodSwing to record RoundAgain and have joined forces for a limited tour.  Media Partner is 89.7 GBH. This performance is sponsored by Susan & Michael Thonis.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is one of the world’s premier modern dance companies. Under the direction of Robert Battle, the company nurtures a new generation of choreographers steeped in the African American experience while performing works from around the world. They return to the Boch Center Wang Theatre April 28–May 1, 2022. The 2021/22 Dance Series is generously sponsored by Leslie & Howard Appleby, Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, Foley & Lardner LLP, Cynthia & John S. Reed Foundation, and Royal Little Family Foundation.

Takács Quartet with Julien Labro, bandoneon perform two new Boston premiere commissions by Bryce Dessner and Claire Assad for quintet, as well as a solo set by Labro and Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major on Saturday, April 30, 2022 at 8pm at First Church in Cambridge. This performance is An Aaron Richmond Recital.

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason take the stage at Symphony Hall for their triumphant return to Boston after their sold-out debut performance in 2019. The sibling duo performs cello and piano sonatas by Beethoven, Shostakovich, Frank Bridge, and Britten on Saturday, May 7, 2022 at 8pm at Symphony Hall. This performance will also be streamed for 48 hours. Media Partner is 99.5 CRB. This performance is sponsored by Stephen C. Perry & Oliver Radford.

 

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JAZZ FESTIVAL AT THE Artists for Humanity EpiCenter

The 2021/22 Jazz Festival is sponsored by Leslie & Howard Appleby with support provided by the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative.

Anat Cohen Quartetinho, the latest ensemble created by the clarinetist and bandleader with multi-instrumentalist members of her Grammy nominated Tentet, kicks off the new Celebrity Series Jazz Festival with a globally-inspired program on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 5pm & 8pm at the Artists For Humanity EpiCenter. This performance is sponsored by Margaret Eagle.

Matthew Whitaker Quartet showcases the astonishing talents of the 20-year old Matthew Whitaker, a piano and organ phenomenon, on Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 4pm & 7pm.

Pianist Christian Sands brings his fresh take on jazz to the Celebrity Series Jazz Festival on Friday, March 25, 2022 at 7:30pm.

Vocalist Veronica Swift and her band perform a range of reimagined classics from the Great American Songbook, jazz tunes, as well as songs that mix classical with rock and funk, all while showcasing her exceptional skills at vocalese and improvised scat singing on Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 5pm & 8pm.

Violinist and educator Regina Carter’s newest project, Gone in a Phrase of Air, explores areas across America where hundreds of thousands of its citizens, most often African Americans, immigrants, and the disadvantaged, witnessed their homes, businesses, and churches being demolished, all in the name of urban renewal. Part of the Celebrity Series Jazz Festival, the performances are on Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 4pm & 7pm. This performance is sponsored by Margaret Eagle.

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PUBLIC PERFORMANCE PROJECT: Let’s Dance Boston!

The Celebrity Series season includes the return of Let’s Dance Boston!, the five-day social dance extravaganza with five live bands and expert dance instructors, May 11-15, 2022. This wildly popular event along the Rose Kennedy Greenway is among the largest, free outdoor music and dance parties that Boston has ever experienced!

Let’s Dance Boston! is sponsored by Leslie & Howard Appleby, Amy & Joshua Boger, Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative, and Eleanor & Frank Pao.

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ARTS FOR ALL! NEIGHBORHOOD ARTS

Celebrity Series’ Arts for All! community engagement programs reach over 10,000 individuals annually, through master classes with artists in public schools and conservatories; hands-on, interactive workshops for youth led by a core group of Boston area artists; community concerts in Boston neighborhoods; free and discounted tickets to subscription season performances; and large-scale, public performance projects. Neighborhood Arts programming in 2021/22 will be anchored in partnerships with Boston-area artists and ensembles, and will showcase the rich diversity of musical offerings they perform.

Solo(s) Together

Spring 2022 sees the launch of the Solo(s) Together commissioning project that features five contemporary composers: Nathalie Joachim, Valerie Coleman, Amir Bitran, Paul Desenne, and Daniel Bernard Roumain. The composers were commissioned to write a short piece for a quartet that consists of four solos for each musician and an ending that includes all four musicians. The idea was inspired by Associate Director of Community Engagement Robin Baker’s involvement in our 2019 Public Performance Project, Concert for One. 

Participating Neighborhood Arts ensembles include Hub New Music, Unitas Ensemble, Boston String Academy, and Castle of our Skins. The quartets will premiere the composers’ pieces during their concerts in the spring of 2022. All live Solo(s) Together concerts will be recorded and available on the Celebrity Series website for later on-demand viewing. Additional Solo(s) Together programming will include masterclasses, a virtual composer panel, and composer visits.

Hub New Music premieres Nathalie Joachim’s newly commissioned work alongside compositions by Kati Agócs, Christopher Cerrone, Christian Quiñones, and Yevgeniy Sharlat in their concert, “Rogue Emojis,” on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at the More Than Words Bookstore in the South End.

Neighborhood Arts Flute Quartet premieres Valerie Coleman’s work, “Four Bostonian Scenes” alongside works by Amanda Harburg, Jessie Montgomery, and Kaija Saariaho on Saturday, April 2, 2022 at Arlington Street Church. The flute quartet includes Hub New Music composer and flutist Michael Avitabile; contemporary music champion and Boston Conservatory at Berklee Contemporary Classical Department chair Sarah Brady; Fernando Brandão, professor at Berklee College of Music and lecturer on Brazilian music; and Cynthia Meyers, Boston Symphony Orchestra piccoloist and flute faculty member at NEC. This event is co-hosted by Ágora Cultural Architects and Celebrity Series of Boston Neighborhood Arts.

Unitas Ensemble & Boston String Academy Stringfest premieres Amir Bitran’s new work, “Morphogens,” and Paul Desenne’s “La Petite Bande à Schubert” under the baton of Lina González-Granados on Thursday, April 14, 2022 at Roxbury Community College Theatre.

Castle of our Skins, soprano Brianna J. Robinson, and pianist Zahili González-Zamorá premiere Daniel Bernard Roumain’s work, “Music for Black People, No. 1 – Relentless” for soprano, flute, cello, and piano on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at Arlington Street Church. Co-hosted by Ágora Cultural Architects and Celebrity Series of Boston Neighborhood Arts.

Cross-Cultural Collaboration

Grammy-award winners Sandeep Das and Nino de los Reyes bring a cross-cultural collaboration with an Indian classical music/flamenco dance performance on Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 3pm at the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge. This music and dance event will trace the journey of the colorful rhythms and melodies that originated with the Roma people in the Indian village of Jaisalmer and wound their way through the ages, across Europe, to Spain and later Mexico. The repertoire will feature a collection of traditional music, original compositions, and cross-cultural collaborations between performers that draw on both the Flamenco and Indian Classical traditions.

New Concerts at the Cambridge Public Library (449 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138)

Harpist Charles Overton takes the stage at Cambridge Public Library to show the range and beauty of his instrument in a solo recital on Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 7pm.

Regie Gibson & Atlas Soul Trio, Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 3pm. Poet Regie Gibson -- last seen on the Series in a digital performance in 2021 -- takes the stage as a vocalist with the band Atlas Soul Trio, performing original music that celebrates polyrhythm & melodies rooted in the Afro-Mediterranean traditions punched with organic deep funk, jazz, and intelligent hip hop.

Neighborhood Arts Cello Quartet, Thursday, March 10, 2022 at 7pm. Featuring standout cellists from our Neighborhood Arts artist roster ensembles Soul Yatra Trio, Hub New Music, and Castle of our Skins, the members of the Neighborhood Arts Cello Quartet will pair music from J.S. Bach and tango master Astor Piazzolla with global folk-inspired originals drawn from Inca chant, West African music, Turkish music, and more.

Youth Residencies and Virtual Visits

Neighborhood Arts youth residencies and virtual visits will take place over the season with Abilities Dance Boston, Castle of our Skins, percussionist Maria Finkelmeier, cuatrista Fabiola Méndez, hip-hop artist Devin Ferreira, poet Regie Gibson, Hub New Music, guitarist Albino Mbie, flamenco artist Nino de los Reyes, Mariachi singer Veronica Robles, and various Solo(s) Together composers. Youth residencies are not open to the public.

The 2021/22 Neighborhood Arts Program is sponsored by the Stephanie L. Brown Foundation.

Castle of our Skins is funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.

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CELEBRITY SERIES GALA

The 2022 SHINE! Gala will be held on Friday, May 6, 2022. Join the Celebrity Series for a spectacular evening that will recognize the Celebrity Series’ history and its impact on Boston’s cultural community. Supporters, patrons, and community leaders will come together to celebrate the future of the Celebrity Series of Boston during this black-tie event. We invite you to experience this innovative event that delights guests with dramatic surprises. Proceeds from the Gala will benefit the education, programming, and outreach efforts of the Celebrity Series.

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ABOUT CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON

Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario Aaron Richmond. Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers—from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more—to Boston’s major concert halls for 83 years. The Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives, and build better communities. Through its education initiatives, the Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience—on stages, on streets, in neighborhoods—everywhere.

Celebrity Series of Boston is grateful to our 2021/22 Season Sponsors Amy & Joshua Boger and to the many individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies whose support helps fulfill our mission to present performing artists who inspire and enrich our community. Individual and institutional supporters include Leslie & Howard Appleby, the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative, Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, D.L. Saunders Real Estate Corp., Margaret Eagle, Foley & Lardner LLP, Kathleen & Chris Gaffney, Peter & Anna Kolchinsky, Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation, Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Eleanor & Frank Pao, Stephen C. Perry & Oliver Radford, Melinda & James Rabb, Cynthia and John S. Reed Foundation, Reuben Reynolds & Bill Casey, Sally S. Seaver, PhD, Stifler Family Foundation, Susan & Michael Thonis, Dorothy & Stephen Weber, Anonymous (2), and many others.

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