April & May Events

By UMS

All of our presentations are free-of-charge to audiences everywhere, and we hope that you will share them with friends and family near and far. Please join us for these upcoming programs, and sign up to receive email notifications of new presentations and live streams.

April —

Sir András Schiff, piano

On Demand Apr 8 – 18

Schiff recorded this multi-camera program for just a few US presenters in the iconic Church of St. Peter in Zurich, Switzerland’s old town. One of music’s most revered pianists, he was originally scheduled for an in-person recital this month, five years after his last UMS appearance.

Program

J. S. Bach Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in d minor, BWV 903
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 17 in d minor, Op. 31, No. 2 “The Tempest”
J. S. Bach Capriccio on the Departure of his Beloved Brother, BWV 992
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat Major, Op. 81a “Les Adieux”
Schumann Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18

Supporting Sponsor: Robert O. and Darragh H. Weisman

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

Ken Fischer and Wynton Marsalis: Everybody In, Nobody Out

Moderated by Lisa Richards Toney, President and CEO of Association of Performing Arts Professionals

Fri Apr 9 // 8 pm

This year’s final Penny Stamps Speaker Series event, sponsored by the U-M Stamps School of Art & Design, features UMS President Emeritus Ken Fischer and jazz musician and frequent UMS performer Wynton Marsalis in conversation. Wynton wrote the forward to Ken’s book, Everybody in, Nobody Out, and together they talk about finding connections to community through the performing arts, the primary focus of Ken’s book. The talk will be available on the Stamps website and on Detroit Public Television, in partnership with PBS Books.

Mapping without Boundaries:
A Collaboration between Yo-Yo Ma and the University of Michigan

Thur Apr 15 // 6 pm

Maps are used to represent physical topographies of land or borders between nations, and to assist with directing us to a desired destination. But can they also be used to represent emotions? To make unseen connections? Or to understand the past or move forward into a new future? Can the arts help to shape a new kind of map?

A new residency with international performing artist Yo-Yo Ma, launched by the University of Michigan Arts Initiative in partnership with the University Musical Society, will explore these ideas.

Ma will join a newly-formed steering committee composed of six U-M students and three Michigan-based artists from Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn—representing all three campuses—who will be charged with the development of new variations of maps that will express what the U-M community has experienced in the past year.

Join us for an event with Yo-Yo Ma to launch this collaboration.

Ancient Future Fire
Sidewalk Art Installation ft. Sacramento Knoxx

Fri Apr 17 – Fri Apr 24 // People’s Food Co-op (216 N 4th Ave, Ann Arbor)

Ancient Future Fire uplifts indigenous futures, the relationship to the land, and the sacred stewardship needed for a balanced life, with earth and all its living inhabitants in our nonlinear ecosystems.

Through this sidewalk art installation, Sacramento Knoxx revisits the brilliance of the geniuses of Turtle Island and returns to the future with ancestral technology, specifically the technology of the Great Lakes area.

This work marks the final portion of Sacramento Knoxx’s work as UMS’s Research Residency Artist. Audiences can view the installation on the sidewalk outside of the People’s Food Co-op in downtown Ann Arbor. Signage with a QR code will be available to engage further with the work.

UMS Live Session: Tunde Olaniran

Streaming Fri Apr 30 – Mon May 10

Tunde Olaniran performs an exclusive set featuring WDWHI (“WE DON’T WANNA HEAR IT”) — the first of four singles from Tunde’s forthcoming full-length album to be released during their Digital Artist Residency with UMS. Directed by Oren Goldenberg.