10x10 Arts Series
This year’s 10x10 lineup:
Emerson String Quartet Oct. 9 / more info
With more than 30 acclaimed recordings, nine Grammy® Awards, three Gramophone Awards and the coveted Avery Fisher Prize, The Emerson String Quartet stands alone in the history of string quartets. After more than 33 years of extensive touring and recording, the Quartet continues to perform with the same benchmark integrity, energy and commitment that it has demonstrated since it was formed in 1976. The Quartet's Walton Arts Center program will include Haydn's op. 77#2, a piece composed just for the Emerson String Quartet by Jalbert, and Beethoven's op. 135.;
Aquila Theatre’s The Importance of Being Earnest Nov. 5 / more info
The “classically trained, modernly hip troupe” (The New York Times) Aquila Theatre offers a delightful production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Promising to overflow with humor, elegance and romantic comedy, this like other productions of Wilde's masterpiece is full of hilarious insights into the flamboyant lifestyle of the fashionable British upper classes.
Join us on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2pm in the Walker Community room at the Fayetteville Public Library for the 2nd in our Countdown Conversation series, featuring UA Professor David Joliffe and WAC VP of Communications Jodi Beznoska. More info here.
Poncho Sanchez Jan. 20 / more info
If music were about pictures, Mexican-American percussionist Poncho Sanchez's music would best be described as a kaleidoscopic of some of the hottest colors and brightest lights to emerge from either side of the border. At any given show or on any given record, fragments of Latin jazz, swing, bebop, salsa and other infectious grooves collide and churn in a fiery swirl, with results that are no less than dazzling.
Mark Morris Dance Company Feb. 2 / more info
Under the artistic direction of legendary dancer, choreographer and director Mark Morris, this Brooklyn-based dance company collaborates with leading orchestras, opera companies and musicians to produce a high-energy dance and live music experience. The Mark Morris Dance Group comes to Walton Arts Center to perform their classic Grand Duo and Festival Dance, which debuted in March 2011.
Time for Three Feb. 3 / more info
This groundbreaking, genre-defying musical trio transcends traditional classification, with elements of classical, country western, gypsy and jazz idioms forming a blend all its own. When performing, the ensemble – Zachary De Pue (violin), Nicolas Kendall (violin) and Ranaan Meyer (double bass) – display equal passion and skill for improvisation, composing and arranging.
TAO: The Art of the Drum Feb. 28 / more info
In this brand new production for North America, elite athletes and contemporary costumes meet explosive Taiko drumming and innovative choreography in a show that has critics going wild. Called "powerful, dynamic and unique" by Time Out, TAO: The Art of the Drum showcases extraordinary precision, energy, and stamina, offering a young and vibrantly modern take on a traditional art form.
Don’t miss the next 10x10 Countdown Conversation Series program on Sunday February 12, 2pm as Kyle Kellams, KUAF News Director and host of “Ozarks at Large,” and special guests discuss world drumming traditions as well as the upcoming performance of TAO: The Art of the Drum.
To learn more about the 10x10 Countdown Conversation Series and find wonderful content about this performance and art form, click here.
San Francisco Jazz Collective Mar. 15 / more info
VIDEO: SFJZAZZ performing Stevie Wonder's Superstition
The SFJAZZ Collective is a working jazz band unlike any touring the world now. Each year the accomplished stars are willing to park their own bands to participate in a genuine collective that looks back and re-arranges famous compositions from past jazz masters, including Coltrane, Hancock, Coleman, Shorter, Monk and Tyner, and adds original compositions that have been informed by this rich history. During 2011-2012, the Collective explores the compositions of the incomparable Stevie Wonder. On their tour, the Collective will be featuring timeless Stevie Wonder Hits including "Superstition" arranged by Miguel Zenón, "Sir Duke" arranged by Avishai Cohen, "My Cherie Amour" arranged by Edward Simon, "Visions" arranged by Stefon Harris, "Blame it on the Sun" arranged by Mark Turner, and "Do I Do" arranged by Eric Harland.
The Whiffenpoofs of Yale Apr. 6 / more info
Founded in 1909 and comprised of 14 senior Yale men, the Whiffenpoofs are the oldest and best-known collegiate a cappella group in the world. With a repertoire that incorporates modern hits as well as classics as old as the group itself, the "Whiffs" will visit Walton Arts Center during their annual world tour that spans three months and features dozens of foreign destinations.
Diavolo May 11 / more info
Diavolo is 10-member company comprised of dancers, gymnasts and actors who deliver large-scale interdisciplinary performances that examine the funny and frightening ways individuals behave within their environment. Known for outrageous and surrealistic set designs, Diavolo performances use everyday items such as doors, chairs and stairways provide the back-drop for dramatic movement that creates metaphors for the challenge of relationships, the absurdities of life and the struggle to maintain our humanity in an increasingly technological world. The company will perform Fearful Symmetries, a dance that illuminates the parallel between mathematics and the human soul by creating a metaphor of bodies and geometry interacting.
Fearful Symmetries starts and ends as a cube. This cube symbolizes the beginning of consciousness, representing mankind’s relationship with wisdom, truth and science. Fearful Symmetries illuminates the parallel between mathematics and the human soul by creating a metaphor of bodies and geometry interacting. Like a sculptor carving a raw piece of stone, the performers act as abstract factory workers to discover and explore the possibilities of the cube and their environment
Artosphere Festival Orchestra June 18 / more info
Hot off of their world premiere as part of Artosphere 2011, the Artosphere Festival Orchestra is now part of the 10x10 Arts Series! Don’t miss it as more than 80 musicians from around the world come together to explore music and nature through great orchestral works under Music Director Corrado Rovaris.
