What a year of unforgettable memories! From our No Safety Net 3.0 Festival to our Arts & Resistance theme semester events at U-M, we thank you for joining us in 2023. Enjoy a look back at some of our favorite moments of the year:

The Plastic Bag Store Opens No Safety Net 3.0

Family Day “shoppers” exploring The Plastic Bag Store

Robin Frohardt’s performance installation of The Plastic Bag Store offered more than 40 public performances throughtout UMS’s No Safety Net 3.0 Festival. In total, more than 5,000 audience members of all ages participated in No Safety Net, which featured five unique performances centered around critical topics in today’s modern world.

See more from No Safety Net 3.0

Spotlighting the Frieze Memorial Organ

Scott Hanoian with the Brno Philharmonic and the UMS Choral Union

We’re still talking about Brno Philharmonic’s epic UMS debut, which featured Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with the UMS Choral Union, as well as a work by U-M emeritus professor and Pulitzer Prize winner William Bolcom. The program also showed off Hill Auditorium’s Frieze Memorial Organ, played by Christian Schmitt, who also filmed and recorded a special UMS Live Session digital performance.

Christian Schmitt recording on Hill Auditorium’s Frieze Memorial Organ

A New Take on Swan Lake

Ballet Preljocaj’s Swan Lake

UMS and Detroit Opera co-presented Ballet Preljocaj’s modern take on Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet in three performances at the Detroit Opera House. In this adaptation, blending classical and new, the evil sorcerer von Rothbart was portrayed as an industrialist who wanted to exploit fossil fuels against a backdrop of unbridled capitalism, while Siegfried and Odette were two eco-conscious heroes who tried to thwart his plans.

A Stepped-Up School Day Performance

Step Afrika! performing at a sold-out School Day Performance in Hill Auditorium

UMS welcomed 3,500+ young audience members in a sold-out School Day Performance performance by Step Afrika! in Hill Auditorium. The energy of the hall was literally through the roof!

Chineke’s Debut

Violinist Elena Urioste performing with the Chineke! Orchestra

In March, UK-based Chineke! Orchestra made its much-anticipated UMS debut on the ensemble’s first-ever North American tour. The ensemble was founded in 2015 as Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra. Soloist Elena Urioste stunned the audience with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s violin concerto, and maestro Andrew Grams led Florence Price’s first symphony.

First Ypsilanti Freighthouse Residency

Families and K-12 students participated in interactive breakdancing and art-making workshops led by Maurice Archer and Curtis Wallace.

In April 2023, UMS piloted a week of arts programming at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse, in advance of new four-week residencies that will take place at the historic Depot Town venue each Fall and Spring. The pilot week included nine unique programs — all free or Pay What You Wish — and brought together multi-generational audiences from Ypsilanti and beyond.

See more from UMS’s April 2023 Residency at the Ypsi Freighthouse

Pride Digital Presentation

Music collective Wild Up recording for their UMS Live Session

UMS presented the debut of Wild Up, a Los Angeles-based musical collective whose most recent work has been to celebrate the legacy of Julius Eastman — one of the most overlooked and underappreciated composers of the 20th century, and a trailblazer as a young, gay, and Black artist who challenged the norms and conventions of his time.

After Wild Up’s performance of Julius Eastman’s Femenine in Rackham Auditorium, we filmed LA-based music collective Wild Up in two other works by Eastman for a UMS Live Session digital presentation, which was offered for Pride month in June.

Read more about Julius Eastman and his minimalist masterpiece, Femenine.

A Powerhouse Opening Week

Standing ovation for Shakti in Hill Auditorium

The 23/24 UMS performance season opened with a powerhouse week of performances, including superband Snarky Puppy and the 50th-anniversary world tour with the legendary ensemble Shakti — a tour that also featured special guest Béla Fleck as its opening act.

Meaningful Sonic Contributions

Marcus Elliot’s Sonic Contributions at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse

Detroit-based saxophonist Marcus Elliot led a seven-piece band of musicians and artists as part of UMS’s Fall residency at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse, in Sonic Contributions — a special collaboration with the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County that celebrated the history of Ypsilanti as a refuge for Black Americans dating back to the 1830s. The work was also filmed and will be released for streaming in February 2024. Sign up for our digital presentations newsletter for a reminder when it becomes available.

See more from UMS’s Fall 2023 residency at the Ypsi Freighthouse

Renée and Inon

Inon Barnatan and Renée Fleming

In addition to the world premiere of their Voice of Nature recital program, soprano superstar Renée Fleming and pianist Inon Barntan immersed themselves on the U-M campus.

Fleming led a Music and Mind panel discussion that explored the relationships between the arts and neuroscience, presented in partnership with Michigan Medicine.

Inon Barnatan’s week-long residency included a week-long series of performances and activities at the University of Michigan, with master classes at the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance plus a preview solo recital of his just-released new album, Rachmaninoff Reflections.

Arts & Resistance at U-M

Ukrainian “ethno-chaos” group DakhaBrakha performing in Hill Auditorium

This fall, UMS presented performances and many campus engagement events surrounding the University of Michigan’s Arts & Resistance semester theme. Performances included the return of Ukrainian band DakhaBrakha, Ireland’s Druid Theater with SeanO’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy (including a 7-hour long immersion day!), and Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World by British-Iranian theater artist Javaad Alipoor.

NPR’s Neda Ulaby, theater maker Javaad Alipoor, and musician King Raam in a Penny Stamps lecture

See more from UMS’s campus-wide engagements in November

Minería’s Extraordinary Debut

Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería’s UMS debut

The energy and passion of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería sent the Hill Auditorium audience into rapturous applause following the ensemble’s debut UMS performance in October. Mexico’s top orchestra was led by maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto and featured pianist Gabriela Montero, who performed her own Piano Concerto No. 1, as well as an encore improvisation of a song suggested on the spot by an audience member.

Holidays in Hawai’i

Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro with students after his School Day Performance

Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro has been a favorite artist for Ann Arbor families since his UMS debut 10 years ago! This December he returned for an-in person and livestreamed School Day Performance, followed by a family-friendly holiday-themed concert in Hill Auditorium. His music and messages of kindness always warm up Hill Auditorium, no matter the time of year!

UMS gift certificates or tickets to UMS performances create unforgettable experiences for you or anyone on your holiday list! Check out our recommendations for a new year of performances to remember:

For the Film Buff

The Godfather Live
Sun Jan 7 at 3 pm // Hill Auditorium

Talk about epic family drama! With all of the plot twists, emotional outbursts, and suspenseful scenes of a true grand opera, Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece gets a full sensory experience with the Grand Rapids Symphony.

For the Piano Enthusiast

Hélène Grimaud, piano
Thu Jan 18 at 7:30 pm // Hill Auditorium

French pianist Hélène Grimaud makes her much-anticipated UMS recital debut, bringing her thoughtful and tenderly expressive sound to the stage in a program of Beethoven, Brahms, and J.S. Bach.

Igor Levit, piano
Fri Mar 8 at 7:30 pm // Hill Auditorium

Praised as “one of the most important artists of his generation” by The New York Times, pianist Igor Levit returns to the Hill Auditorium stage for the first time since 2016, performing transcriptions of Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony and the Adagio from Mahler’s unfinished 10th symphony.

For the Friend Who’s Always on the Dance Floor

LaTasha Barnes’ The Jazz Continuum
Jan 19-20 // The Power Center

LaTasha Barnes presents The Jazz Continuum, a new production centering the prolific artistry of jazz music and dance as a cornerstone of Black American culture and community.

For the Whole Family

Mariachi Herencia featuring La Marisoul
Tue Jan 23 at 7:30 pm // Hill Auditorium

A new generation takes mariachi to whole new heights when Latin Grammy nominee Mariachi Herencia de México presents Herederos (the “heirs”). Los Angeles-born singer La Marisoul, the lead singer of La Santa Cecilia, fronts the Mariachi ensemble with powerful and captivating vocals.

For Those Looking for New Experiences

Nkeiru Okoye’s When the Caged Bird Sings
Sat Feb 10 at 7:30 pm // Hill Auditorium

This world première performance by composer Nkeiru Okoye fuses elements of oratorio, theater, and opera in a multi-movement musical ceremony that invokes the ritual of the concert experience as a ritual of community. Drawing inspiration from the Black church, it celebrates the spirit of rising above expectations and transforming adversity into triumph.

Weather Bird:
Sullivan Fortner, piano and Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet
Fri Mar 22 at 7:30 pm // Rackham Auditorium

Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and pianist Sullivan Fortner join forces for a program unique to UMS, inspired by the collaboration between the great Louis Armstrong and Earl “Fatha” Hines, whose unparalleled improvisations resulted in spontaneous and playful musical storytelling.

For the Midcentury Modern Collector

Martha Graham Dance Company
Feb 17-18 // The Power Center

The Martha Graham Company, recognized as a primal artistic force of the 20th century, gives a performance rooted in cultural history. These performances will include a new work choreographed by Jamar Roberts and set to music by Rhiannon Giddens, as well as Agnes DeMille’s 1942 classic Rodeo, with its iconic score by Aaron Copland reorchestrated for a bluegrass ensemble. Martha Graham’s final complete work, Maple Leaf Rag, rounds out the program.

For the Francophile

Orchestre de Paris
Thu Mar 14 at 7:30 pm // Hill Auditorium

The Orchestre de Paris returns to Hill Auditorium for the first time since 2002, featuring the UMS debuts of two young superstar artists — music director Klaus Mäkelä and Van Cliburn gold medal-winning pianist Yunchan Lim — in a program of Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky.

For the Hard-to-Please

Samara Joy
Wed Mar 27 at 7:30 pm // Hill Auditorium

Absolutely no one can resist Samara’s voice. At 24, Samara Joy is already setting the music world on fire, winning the 2023 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album, as well as Best New Artist — only the second time in Grammy history that award has been bestowed upon a jazz musician.

For the Choir Singer

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Apr 20-21 // Hill Auditorium

The Philadelphia Orchestra and music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin close our 23/24 in two programs, including Sunday’s performance of Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem with the full force of the UMS Choral Union.

Still can’t decide?

Personalize a UMS Gift Certificate, valid for 5 years and redeemable for any UMS events.

The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, and for good reason. The 1972 epic crime drama, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based on the novel by Mario Puzo, tells the story of the Corleone family, a powerful mafia clan in New York City. The film is full of memorable scenes that showcase the brilliant acting, writing, directing, and cinematography of the movie.

Preview some of the most pivotal scenes in The Godfather before UMS’s upcoming presentation of The Godfather Live with the Grand Rapids Symphony on Jan 7, 2024.

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The opening scene

The film begins with a close-up of a man named Bonasera, who is asking Don Vito Corleone, the head of the family, for a favor. He wants the Don to avenge his daughter, who was brutally beaten by two men. The scene establishes the power and influence of the Don, as well as his code of honor and loyalty. The scene also introduces the iconic line “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse,” which is repeated throughout the film.

The horse head scene

One of the most shocking and disturbing scenes in the film is when Jack Woltz, a Hollywood producer, wakes up to find the severed head of his prized racehorse in his bed. The scene is a result of Woltz refusing to cast Johnny Fontane, a singer and godson of Don Corleone, in his new movie. The scene shows the ruthless and violent nature of the mafia, as well as the lengths that the Don will go to protect his interests and family.

The restaurant scene

One of the most pivotal and suspenseful scenes in the film is when Michael Corleone, the youngest son of Don Corleone, kills two men in a restaurant. The men are Sollozzo, a drug dealer who tried to assassinate the Don, and McCluskey, a corrupt police captain who was protecting Sollozzo. The scene marks Michael’s transition from a war hero and outsider to a cold-blooded killer and heir to the family business. The scene is masterfully executed, with the tension building up as Michael retrieves a hidden gun from the bathroom and shoots both men in the head.

The baptism scene

One of the most iconic and contrasting scenes in the film is when Michael becomes the godfather of his sister’s baby, while simultaneously ordering the murders of his enemies. The scene intercuts between the solemn ceremony in a church and the brutal executions in various locations. The scene shows Michael’s complete transformation into a ruthless and powerful mafia boss, as well as his hypocrisy and loss of morality.

The closing scene

The film ends with a chilling scene that mirrors the opening scene. Michael lies to his wife Kay about his involvement in the murders, while his men address him as “Don Corleone.” The scene shows Michael’s isolation and deception, as well as his ascension to the throne of the family. The final shot is of Kay looking at Michael through a door that closes on her face, symbolizing her exclusion from his world and his secrets.

Annmarie and Neil Hawkins

Neil and Annmarie Hawkins are film buffs, longtime supporters of UMS, and enthusiastic sponsors of The Godfather Live in our 23/24 performance season. We sat down with Neil to discuss his interest in the film and why he thinks it’s one of the great movies of all time.

UMS presents The Godfather Live with the Grand Rapids Symphony and conductor John Varineau on Sunday, January 7 at 3 pm in Hill Auditorium (presented with subtitles and performed with one intermission).

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Sara Billmann, UMS: Neil, can you start off telling us a little bit about yourself?

Neil Hawkins: I’m president of the World Environment Center and also a Harvard professor. The World Environment Center is a sustainable business organization headquartered in Washington, DC and focused on bringing together business to solve sustainability challenges, which fits closely with my career. In my Harvard role, I teach sustainability in their master’s program. That’s what I do. I’m a sustainability guy, professionally, when I’m not doing film.

Sara: And how did you get involved with UMS?

Neil: I met [UMS president emeritus] Ken Fischer at a U of M football game about 10 years ago, and Ken and I were talking about theater. We’re big theater junkies, and we wanted more theater in UMS, and he said, “Hey, you get involved with us. We’ll find a way to have more theater,” and that’s how I became involved with UMS. Later on, I met [former board chair] Rachel Bendit, who introduced me to Matthew VanBesien, and then two of them brought me onto the board in 2021.

Sara: That’s excellent, and we’ve really enjoyed your perspective as a board member. So, give us a little bit of the backstory on The Godfather Live and how you ended up sponsoring it. What is it about the film with live music concept that’s compelling to you?

Neil: Okay. First off, we’re really very keen on theater and film, the Hawkins family, Annmarie and I. For me, the film part of that goes back to when I was in high school and college. I have 40 years of intensive film study, and I went through a period of time where, in one year, I was watching about two films a day because I was trying to catch up on all of the classic canon of films.

This love of film is a big thing.

Most cinema, most films have a very integral relationship with the music. There’s this whole subculture of writing scores and performing scores that it’s an art form in and of itself, the writing of a score to match a film. You’ll have a director that has an artistic vision that they put onto film, but then they have to marry that with a composer that really understands what they’re trying to achieve in that scene. When that really works and when it meshes, it’s magical. It’s very fun to experience. It’s very meaningful. The depth of the experience is much greater than if you just had the visual without the score, and the score is not particularly meaningful without the visual because it was written specifically for it.

When you hit those magical moments in cinema and film where you have both, it’s very exciting. If you go back to the silent era, you had music performed in the theater live with organs and whatnot. I recognize and enjoy the interaction of scores with film and scenes. That’s something longstanding.

When we moved to Michigan in 1988, within a few months of moving to Michigan, I noticed in the [Detroit] Free Press that the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was going to have a screening of Alexander Nevsky with the DSO playing the score. It was an amazing experience. Alexander Nevsky was a film from the silent era, a film created and filmed by Sergei Eisenstein, and the score was written by Sergei Prokofiev, one of the great Russian composers of that century. It was magical to be able to see the silent classic and to experience an orchestra playing that miraculous score by Prokofiev. That was my first experience seeing the performance of a score with a film, and that really got me excited about it. It made an impression that this is an area of performance art that the melding of the two can really be spectacular.

UMS has put on some amazing [film-in-concert] performances. I saw On the Waterfront with the New York Philharmonic, which is a fantastic film, but the score is equally amazing. UMS did Amadeus with an orchestra, but also with the chorus singing the Requiem and other choral parts. That was amazing. You’ve also done 2001: A Space Odyssey. So I said to Matthew, “Look, given my longtime interest in film and orchestral performance, we should try to have one.” And he worked on it, and was able to put together The Godfather for the current season.

The Godfather

Sara: You said you first saw The Godfather in high school or college. What would you want people to know about the film?

Neil: The Godfather is one of the great films of all time. It has one of the great film performances of actors, Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, Robert Duvall. These are just spectacular performances. They’re once-in-a-career performances.

The story was based upon a Mario Puzo book, and he also adapted it for the screenplay with Francis Ford Coppola. I actually recently saw the annotated screenplay out in a museum in LA where Francis had… It was the screenplay, and then he was writing in his notes around what he was trying to do with the actors in the scene.

[Read more: Inside Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Godfather’ Notebook: Never-Before-Seen Photos, Handwritten Notes]

It’s one of the great movie experiences. On paper, it might seem to be about violence. It’s really not. There’s plenty of violence in the film, but I would say it’s more about family. It’s about family ties. It’s about the loyalty within the family. The Godfather himself is extremely loyal to both his family, and to his friends… He really built his crime family through assisting people, not so much the violent kind of crime we think of today associated with organized crime. It was a little different. I’m not saying it was good, but it’s not just a straight violent crime story.

Sara: I love that you focus on it not really being a movie about violence, but more about family. I think I mentioned to you that, over the last, since the pandemic, I’ve been working my way through The Sopranos for the first time, and the same thing strikes me with that. I mean, there are certainly those brutal moments that are eye-averting and pretty awful to watch. But at the end, I think what I find so compelling about it is there’s this person who appears to be in control of everything, but who is also super vulnerable and the tiniest slights really hurt him so deeply. Ultimately, I think both of the shows are really human stories more than anything.

Neil: You have the Godfather, Vito Corleone, and you have Michael, you have Sonny and you have Fredo. You have four godfather men. Plus, you have Tom, who’s sort of an adopted son. Just seeing the differences in the Godfather himself versus Fredo and Michael and Sonny, they’re very different people, yet they’re all in the same family, and the hopes and aspirations that the family had for each of them was very different. It’s very interesting. I know we’re only watching The Godfather coming up here, but The Godfather II is really an outstanding film. The background on how The Godfather got to where he is really completes the family story a lot, and I would recommend that highly.

Let me comment also on the score. I recently re-watched it, and I’ve watched this film many times. I’ve probably seen it 50 times, so quite a few times.

Sara: No kidding? 50 times?!?

Neil: Well, I’m guessing. Let’s say it’s 30, but it’s definitely more than 20.

Sara: That’s amazing.

Neil: Well, I tend to study films, so then, once I’ve watched it, if I think it’s good, I’ll watch it again. I recently watched it, and there’s actually a lot of parts to this film where it’s silent in the background. I had never thought about that before because, a lot of films, it’s playing the whole time. This one, there’s a lot of parts where the orchestra will just be sitting there. I think it’ll be very interesting to experience that feeling of the orchestra coming in after long pauses and understanding where in the film they chose to do that.

Sara: That’s so interesting that you say that because I think I mentioned to you that I did my Godfather immersion last week and watched all three films over five days. I think you’re right about the silence of the orchestra, and I think, particularly in the live orchestra experience, it becomes so much more potent about how important the music is to the film when you have the immediacy right there. It doesn’t fade into the background, and the silent moments are all the more powerful.

Neil: The score itself was written by Nino Rota. It has great beauty and it’s very provocative. It elicits a lot of emotion. I think that it will be thrilling for the audience to hear that score and, at critical moments, match that to what’s going on. Nino Rota was the composer that did almost all of Federico Fellini’s films. I’m a big Federico Fellini fan, and seeing, hearing Nino Rota as part of, I don’t know, 10 or a dozen Fellini films like La Strada or 8½, those are great, great films that are driven by the scores. Linking Nino Rota to Francis Coppola, this is pretty exciting.

[Learn more on our blog: Why Nino Rota’s Score for ‘The Godfather’ is So Memorable]

The other thing is that the 50th anniversary of this film just came by a year or so ago, so this should be a new print that is very high quality. Most people who have seen The Godfather have never seen a clean print. From what I understand, it will be much brighter in the backgrounds compared to what most people have seen so they’ll be able to see pieces of it that they’ve not actually seen before.

Sara: This has been such a fun conversation, and I so appreciate your taking the time to chat about the film. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Neil: One other thing, you may or may not know this, but on Paramount+ Streaming, there’s a fantastic show called The Offer, which was based upon a book written by the producer of the film, and it’s the backstory on how The Godfather was made. It’s fascinating. How did Marlon Brando get in the film? How did Al Pacino get in the film? The studio did not want Pacino because he was a unknown stage actor in New York. They wanted other people to play that role. There’s just a lot in there, and most of it is accurate. It’s a narrative, fictionalized account, but from what I understand about The Godfather, it’s actually pretty accurate.

The man who produced it, he was actually a Rand Corporation security analyst who was a genius, who was bored and decided to get into movies. This was only his second film. He also had to deal with the Mafia itself, because the Mafia was concerned about this movie coming out. The book had already upset them, but then, having a movie about it, that was potentially a problem. He had to negotiate with the organized crime families of that time to get their agreement to allow it to be made. One of the things they insisted upon is they did not want the word Mafia used, and so, actually, in the first film, I don’t think there’s any reference to Mafia. It was due to their sensitivities, but they were pleased at the final result. It required this newcomer producer to manage the studio, manage the Mafia, work with Marlon Brando and all these folks. You would enjoy it. You ought to watch it.

Sara: Ok, I have to ask one last question, which is: what is your favorite scene, favorite lines from the movie?

Neil: Well, The Godfather is full of famous lines, so I don’t really necessarily have a favorite. I think my favorite scene is when his dad has been shot and he’s in the hospital and he goes to see his dad, and all his policemen and protectors are gone, and he’s moving him around within the hospital to protect him, and then Enzo the baker comes. I don’t know if you remember this. Enzo the baker comes and helps, and he’s shaking when he’s trying to light a cigarette. That’s my favorite scene. Enzo the baker. He’s in that first scene where the Godfather’s granting audiences and giving out favors. He is one of the people that gets a favor. He’s not asking for it, but he gets the favor. I will stop what I’m doing and watch that scene every time.

How does one transform into a musical legend? Actor and director Bradley Cooper spent six years preparing for his role as Leonard Bernstein in the much-anticipated film, Maestro. He learned how to conduct music in the style of Bernstein, and was coached by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra (who, coincidentally, will be closing the 23/24 UMS season in April).

Nézet-Séguin also served as the conductor on the film’s soundtrack by the London Symphony Orchestra, and handpicked Bernstein’s compositions from his musicals and operettas to be featured in the film. (Maestro: Music by Leonard Bernstein (Original Soundtrack) is now available for streaming on Apple Music and Spotify.)

Maestro is now showing in theaters (view showtimes at The Michigan Theater) and will be coming to Netflix on December 20, 2023. Learn how Bradley Cooper immersed himself in the life of Leonard Bernstein in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, then explore Bernstein’s cherished conducting history at UMS.

Bernstein’s History in Hill Auditorium

UMS presented Leonard Bernstein in eight Hill Auditorium appearances across 25 years, from 1963 – 1988. View all programs in detail on our UMS Rewind archive, and explore highlights below:

1963-1968 // Bernstein and New York

In September 1963, Leonard Bernstein made his UMS debut in his sixth year as music director of the New York Philharmonic. The program included Johannes Brahms’s Academic Festival Orchestra, William Schuman’s Symphony No. 3, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4.

Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic returned again in Fall 1967, in two different programs. It would then be another 17 years until Ann Arbor audiences would experience the maestro on the Hill Auditorium stage again…

1984 // Bernstein and Vienna

Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic, February 15-16, 1984

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra had only performed in Hill Auditorium once before, in 1956. In February 1984, they triumphantly returned, with Leonard Bernstein at the podium — the first of their three trips together to Ann Arbor within the decade.

1987 // “I love this town”

In September 1987, UMS presented Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in two different programs, which included Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, and Bernstein’s own Symphony No. 1

UMS President Emeritus Ken Fischer had just begun his tenure earlier that year. After the second performance, he approached Bernstein about a return to Ann Arbor the following season, to commemorate both Bernstein’s 70th birthday and Hill Auditorium’s 75th. In his memoir, Everybody in, Nobody Out, Ken recalls this momentous moment at the start of his career at UMS:

When Bernstein invited me into the conductor’s dressing room, he had taken a shower, donned his bathrobe, and taken the one chair in the room. He had a scotch in one hand and a cigarette in the other. It was finally my chance to be alone with him and make my pitch.

Leonard Bernstein and UMS President Emeritus Ken Fischer

Unable to sit and aware that standing over Bernstein was not the best way to make my pitch, I got down on my right knee and looked him in the eye. Without much in the way of preamble, I invited him to return in 1988. He responded in these exact words: “I love this town, I love the people of this town, and I love this hall. We’ll be back.” A few weeks later, he chose New York’s Carnegie Hall, Washington’s Kennedy Center, Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall, and Ann Arbor’s Hill Auditorium as the stops on his birthday tour. Ann Arbor would be first. The concert was scheduled for October 29, 1988. 

1988 // 70th Birthday Tour

For Leonard Bernstein’s Ann Arbor stop on his 70th birthday celebration tour, UMS made 550 student tickets available at $10 each. The first students arrived 14 hours in advance of the ticket office opening, and the line grew to more than 400 by the morning!

The first 10 students to purchase a ticket, along with 20 previously ticketed music students, were invited to a post-concert gathering at U-M President James Duderstadt’s residence, with Bernstein in attendance.

Leonard Bernstein and students at U-M President James Duderstadt’s home on October 29, 1988

This would be Leonard Bernstein’s final performance in Ann Arbor, which poignantly featured Brahms’s fourth symphony — a work Bernstein had also led in his UMS debut 25 years earlier with the New York Philharmonic.

Leonard Bernstein passed away on October 9, 1990, just shy of two years after this last Ann Arbor appearance. His remarkable performances in Hill Auditorium will always remain treasured memories for UMS and milestones in the University of Michigan’s history of artistic excellence.

We invite you to celebrate his life and legacy in Bradley Cooper’s new film, Maestro, now playing at the Michigan Theater.

Michigan Theater Showtimes

UMS’s mission is to connect audiences with artists in uncommon and engaging experiences, and we take pride in programming unique interactive opportunities for students and community members alike. This past month has been an exceptionally rewarding period with multiple on- and off-campus events with our visiting artists.

From two Arts & Resistance theme semester performances to guest lectures and school visits, discover how UMS has activated the performing arts across the University of Michigan campus and our Southeast Michigan community.

DakhaBrakha

DakhaBrakha Rocks Hill Auditorium

Ukrainian “ethno-chaos” band DakhaBrakha opened our November lineup with a thrilling return to Hill Auditorium. This performance was presented in association with the Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies (CREES), and was one of two UMS programs this month that tie in with the University of Michigan’s Fall 2023 Arts & Resistance theme semester.

Now Entering the M-Zone

A new pilot program this year, M-Zone seats make it easier for students to get the absolute best front-and-center seats in Hill Auditorium for just $20 per ticket. We celebrated the kick off of the M-Zone at the DakhaBrakha performance with pre-show pizza and free UMS swag. Learn more about M-Zone and all our student ticket opportunities.

Student Meet and Greets

Immediately after their performance, the musicians of DakhaBrakha were introduced to CREES students backstage for an intimate meet-and-greet. The following morning, DakhaBrakha joined CREES students and professors for brunch and a tour of the Center’s special exhibition, Guardian Passage: The Power of Ukrainian Cultural Memory in the Face of War, on display now through November 29.

Akropolis Reed Quintet

Back to School(s)

The Akropolis Reed Quintet with students at Scarlett Middle School

The Akropolis Reed Quintet’s residency was particularly meaningful, as we welcomed back these five Michigan alums for their first-ever UMS performance. Their residency included a class visit to second-grade students at Estabrook Elementary in Ypsilanti, a concert and Q&A at Tappan Middle School in Ann Arbor, and a short performance and woodwind coaching session to students of Ann Arbor’s Scarlett Middle School.

A Welcome Homecoming

Akropolis also returned home to their alma mater, leading a chamber music master class for students at the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

A Musical Dream

The Akropolis Reed Quintet performed a virtuosic UMS debut in Rackham Auditorium, with an innovative, genre-defying program that included an arrangement of Gershwin’s An American in Paris, followed by jazz pianist and composer Pascal Le Boeuf and drummer Christian Euman in the spectacular Are We Dreaming The Same Dream?.

Sign up for Akropolis’ newsletter to follow along their musical adventures and get a reminder when the full album of Are We Dreaming releases in Spring 2024.

The Javaad Alipoor Company

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

Neda Ulaby, Javaad Alipoor, and King Raam in Penny Stamps lecture. Photo by A.J. Saulsberry

In advance of their UMS performances of Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, theater maker Javaad Alipoor and musician/activist King Raam began their Ann Arbor residency with a Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series lecture at the Michigan Theater hosted by NPR’s Neda Ulaby.

The full lecture is available to stream on demand:

Class Visits and a School Day Performance

The day after the Penny Stamps lecture, Javaad Alipoor visited Pioneer High School’s World Literature classes to discuss and preview his work. The students then took a field trip to experience a School Day Performance of Things Hidden the following week.

Engaging Arts & Resistance Across Campus

Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World was supported by the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, and represented UMS’s final program as part of the U-M Arts & Resistance Theme Semester. Javaad Alipoor’s residency had multidisciplinary student engagements across the U-M campus, which included a visit to the Arts & Resistance history course, On Revolutionary Iran, as well as a performance practice workshop at the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

Six Culminating Performances

UMS presented five public performances and a School Day Performance of The Javaad Alipoor Company’s Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World at the Arthur Miller Theatre. This new work represented a full-circle moment for UMS, as it concludes a trilogy of Alipoor’s works that explores the relationship between contemporary technology and contemporary politics. UMS presented the first, The Believers Are But Brothers, as part of its No Safety Net 2.0 Festival in early 2000.

Sign up for The Javaad Alipoor Company’s newsletter to follow along with new creative opportunities.

Thank You

Thank you to all our audience members and sponsors of these programs, for making November a profoundly impactful month for UMS, the University of Michigan, our communities, and our audiences.

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Ever since UMS’s establishment in 1879, the yearly showcase of Handel’s Messiah at Hill Auditorium has been a cherished holiday tradition. On December 2-3, the UMS Choral Union and Ann Arbor Symphony will return, conducted by Scott Hanoian and joined by four guest soloists.

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Meet our four amazing soloists this year: Rachele Gilmore, Gina Perregrino, Paul Appleby, and Nicholas Newton. 

Rachele Gilmore, soprano

Acclaimed for her “silvery soprano, with an effortlessness that thrills her audience,” Atlanta native Rachele Gilmore is consistently praised as “the vocal standout” on both opera stage and in the concert hall. A renowned bel canto singer, her repertoire spans a wide range, including Donizetti, Mozart, Verdi, Strauss, as well as the French and modern composers. 

She is a regular performer in America, Europe, and Asia and has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including The Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Bayerische Staatsoper, La Monnaie, Grand Théâtre de Geneve, and Festival d’Aix en Provence. She has also regularly appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, as well as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra led by Manfred Honeck.

Watch Rachele’s resounding rendition of Olympia in her 2011 Met Debut:

Gina Perregrino, alto

Gina Perregrino’s work has been critically interpreted as “potent,” possessing “swaggering strength” and “urgency” (Opera News), as she wraps her artistry in the deep roots of her own sensuality. As a performer, whether she is on the stage, behind the screen, or she is speaking, her goal is to actively embody feminine freedom and give women the permission to be unapologetically themselves.

Due to her notable work in opera, she has collaborated alongside authors such as Salmon Rushdie and Khaled Hosseini. Behind the screen, Gina has also been featured in the film Baawal (2023), directed by award-winning director Nitesh Tiwari. The most recent opera/film-hybrid collaboration was with Afghan film director Roya Sadat and Roya Film House during the world premiere of the opera 1000 Splendid Suns with Seattle Opera. She is a regular performer with the Athena Music Foundation in New York City, where she is often called to sing programs centering around Bizet’s Carmen.

Check out Gina’s riveting interpretation of Bizet’s Adieux de l’hôtesse arabe:

Paul Appleby, tenor

Admired for his interpretive depth, vocal strength, and range of expressivity, tenor Paul Appleby is one of the most sought-after voices of his generation. He graces the stages of the world’s most distinguished concert halls and opera houses and collaborates with leading orchestras, instrumentalists, and conductors. Opera News writes, “[Paul’s] tenor is limpid and focused, but with a range of color unusual in an instrument so essentially lyric… His singing is scrupulous and musical; the voice moves fluidly and accurately.”

Paul Appleby’s calendar of the 2023-24 season includes a debut at La Monnaie in the world premiere of Cassandra, written by Bernard Foccroulle and Matthew Jocelyn under the baton of Kazushi Ono, a debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the principal role of Caesar in the European premiere of John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra, and a return engagement with Glyndebourne to sing Tamino in Die Zauberflöte.

Listen to Paul’s powerful execution in Mozart’s Don Giovanni:

Nicholas Newton, bass-baritone

Hailed for his “polished vocal technique” and “heart-tugging emotional communication” (San Diego Story), Nicholas Newton is garnering due attention as an up-and-coming bass-baritone in the classical music world. Nicholas’ 2023-24 season features the Houston Grand Opera world premiere of Intelligence, a new American epic created by a powerhouse trio: composer Jake Heggie, librettist Gene Scheer, and director/choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, founder of Urban Bush Women. 

In addition to his burgeoning profile on international opera and concert stages, Nicholas is an independent researcher whose main focus is Black composers and their operatic and vocal concert repertoire. He is building a Black Opera Database; an in-progress resource created to archive, celebrate, and preserve the vocal compositional output of Black composers and works that chronicle the Black experience.  He conducts most of his in-person research in New York at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and in Chicago at the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College Chicago.

Listen to Nicholas’s expressive performance of Handel’s Sibilar gli angui d’Aletto:

Legendary film composer Nino Rota

Fans of classic cinema have likely heard of Nino Rota, the Italian composer who created some of the most memorable film scores of all time. Rota is best known for his collaboration with Federico Fellini, for whom he composed the music for masterpieces like La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, and 8 1/2. But Rota also worked with other acclaimed directors, such as Luchino Visconti, Franco Zeffirelli, and Francis Ford Coppola.

One of Rota’s most famous and influential scores is the one he wrote for Coppola’s The Godfather, the 1972 epic that tells the story of the Corleone family, a powerful Mafia clan in America. The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, and its music is an integral part of its success. Rota’s score captures the essence of the film’s themes, characters, and emotions, and creates a distinctive atmosphere that evokes both the Italian heritage and the American reality of the Corleones.

The main theme of The Godfather is known as “The Godfather Waltz”, a haunting melody that is played by a solo trumpet at the beginning of the film, over a black screen.

The waltz is then repeated throughout the film, in different variations and arrangements, to underscore different scenes and moments. It is associated with Vito Corleone, the aging patriarch of the family, played by Marlon Brando. The trumpet represents his voice, his authority, and his legacy. The waltz is also a symbol of nostalgia, a longing for a simpler and more honorable past that is fading away in the face of violence and corruption.

Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in The Godfather

The waltz is contrasted with a different love theme used in the film as an instrumental motif for Michael Corleone, Vito’s youngest son, played by Al Pacino.

Diane Keaton as Kay and Al Pacino as Michael in The Godfather

Michael is initially reluctant to join the family business, but he gradually becomes more involved and ruthless as he tries to protect his father and his interests. The theme represents his love for Kay Adams, his girlfriend and later wife, played by Diane Keaton, and also reflects his inner conflict and struggle between his personal feelings and his family loyalty.

The Godfather‘s love theme was lyricized into the romantic ballad, “Speak Softly, Love”, and versions were released by vocalist Andy Williams, as well as Al Martino, who played Johnny Fontaine, singer and godson of Vito Corleone, in the film.

Rota’s score for The Godfather was nominated for an Academy Award, but it was later disqualified because it was discovered that Rota had reused some parts of his previous score for Fortunella, a 1958 Italian comedy. This was a controversial decision, as many critics and fans argued that Rota had transformed and adapted his own material in a creative and original way, and that his score deserved recognition. Despite this setback, Rota’s score for The Godfather remains one of the most admired and influential film scores of all time, and it has been covered and sampled by many artists in various genres.

We hope you join us for The Godfather Live, Sunday, January 7, 2024 in Hill Auditorium, presented in partnership with the Grand Rapids Symphony and Cineconcerts. Tickets start at just $14, and $12-20 student tickets are available.

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Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World is the final part of a trilogy of shows that began in 2017. At the heart of this trilogy has been a single thread: the relationship between contemporary technology and contemporary politics.

My idea was that the relationship between contemporary technology and contemporary politics is revealing things about how our minds work, and that to try and get to grips with what is going on in the world today, we have to understand, at the same time, how we train ourselves to think about them.

Each part of the trilogy has tried to refract this idea through different lenses. The Believers Are But Brothers, the first part of the trilogy, used instant messaging technology like WhatsApp to think about masculinity, extremism, and the Internet. Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran used Instagram and video messaging to explore the Anthropocene, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and the collapsing promise of the 20th century’s moments of revolution. This final part uses Wikipedia and murder mystery podcasts to confront the way the world seems to be moving closer together, at the same time that we find it harder and harder to understand each other.

At its heart is a true story. The unsolved murder of Fereydoun Farrokhzad, an iconic Iranian pop star, living as a refugee in Germany in the early 1990s.

When I first began work on it in the middle of the pandemic it had a certain context. At its heart, it’s a piece about the responsibilities that people in richer and more democratic countries have towards people and countries who are fighting for more democracy. And this necessitates it also being about translation. Too often, people in our part of the world, problematically grouped together as the West, use the rest of the world as examples that flesh out their preconceived ideas about how things work.

On the right they want to claim that the world would be fine if everyone followed their example; and on the left they want to say that the West is the font of all evil. But the reality of the countries at the forefront of this struggle, whether Iran, Hong Kong, Syria, or Ukraine, is that they upend such preconceived notions. It needs to stop putting ourselves at the center.

So while Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World is in part a sort of protest song about the murder of Fereydoun Farrokhzad, it’s also about how we try and process stories like that.

It’s about the possibility of political and social solidarity in a world of superhuman complexity and interconnectedness. It’s about the thousands of ways that our brains, our devices, and our histories seduce us into simplification or terrify us into inaction. It’s about the feeling of being both overstimulated and stuck, and it’s about the bravery we need to abandon all that.

As the trilogy has developed, the level of ambition that I’ve tried to bring to it has grown, too. Collaboration has been key to all these works, and in this show, the team has been bigger and more talented than ever before. As well as the performers and creatives you see on stage and operating the show, the project would not have happened without the initial conversations I had with my co-creator, dramaturge, and partner Natalie Diddams. The co-writing relationship with Chris Thorpe that resulted in the script we perform has come out of five years of working together.

The first part of this trilogy received its US premiere here at Ann Arbor as part of the No Safety Net festival in 2020, and so it feels like an honor to share this final part with the unique community around UMS.

— Javaad Alipoor

Experience Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, Nov 15-18 at the Arthur Miller Theatre.

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On Sunday, November 12, the Akropolis Reed Quintet will open its debut UMS recital with George Gershwin’s An American in Paris arranged by saxophonist Raaf Hekkema. University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance professor Mark Clague, also director of the U-M Gershwin Initiative, shares some background on the composer’s unexpected inspiration behind this iconic work:

Paris in the 1920s served as a kind of spiritual home for American art, especially for music as New World composers required a refuge from the pervasive influence of the German masters. Yet, the essential inspiration for George Gershwin’s tone poem An American in Paris was not the Eiffel Tower, but New York City’s Hudson River. In January 1928, Gershwin began work on an “orchestral ballet” starting with a melody he had sketched out nearly two years earlier on a trip to Paris. Contemplating this snippet which he had labeled “Very Parisienne,” Gershwin looked out from his home on 103rd Street toward the Hudson. “I love that river,” Gershwin later reported, “and I thought of how often I had been homesick for a sight of it, and then the idea struck me—An American in Paris, homesickness, the blues.” He continued to work on the piece while visiting Europe that summer.

Overall, Gershwin’s tone poem follows a three-part ABA structure in which an intrepid American traveler revels in the dizzying soundscape of Paris, is overcome by memories of home, struggles to recover, and finally triumphs over his homesickness, enthusiastically returning to the sights. Gershwin later offered this succinct program to the work:

This piece describes an American’s visit to the gay and beautiful city of Paris. We see him sauntering down the Champs Elysées, walking stick in hand, tilted straw hat, drinking in the sights, and other things as well. We see the effect of the French wine, which makes him homesick for America. And that’s where the blue[s] begins…. He finally emerges from his stupor to realize once again that he is in the gay city of Paree, listening to the taxi-horns, the noise of the boulevards, and the music of the can-can, and thinking, “Home is swell! But after all, this is Paris—so let’s go!”

In 1928, of course, the sale of alcohol was illegal in the U.S, but not in Europe. In a letter preserved in the Library of Congress, Gershwin endorses the use of An American in Paris for an anti-prohibition concert!

The piece not only captures Gershwin’s personal experiences in France, but here the composer uncovers a new depth of artistry. His early success with Tin Pan Alley songs and Broadway shows made him both hugely popular and wealthy, yet classical composers and critics remained skeptical of his aspirations to write serious music. Many dismissed works such as Rhapsody in Blue (1924) as untutored. Written just four years later, An American in Paris exhibits Gershwin’s trademark popular appeal, yet musically it is a one-movement symphony, as closely related to the economical construction of Beethoven as to the jazz stylings of Fletcher Henderson and Willie “The Lion” Smith. The musical building blocks of Gershwin’s tone poem are small motives that could only be imagined for instruments. These are repeated and passed from one voice to another in a rich tapestry of counterpoint. Gershwin’s motives represent everything from laughing passersby and taxicabs (a three-note motif featuring real car horns) to drunken tourists stumbling down the street and a brisk walking tune to accompany a stroll along Paris’s romantic Left Bank.

You may hear the colorful influence of French composers such as Claude Debussy and Les Six that Gershwin was consciously trying to evoke, as well as a bit of J. S. Bach’s famous “Air” in the bluesy “homesick” trumpet theme. The reed quintet arrangement by Raaf Hekkema of the Calefax Reed Quintet captures all the excitement, reverie, jazzy verve, and storytelling drama of Gershwin’s full orchestra original.

Listeners curious to know more might pick up Howard Pollock’s monumental study George Gershwin: His Life and Work or Summertime: George Gershwin’s Life in Music by U-M Professor Emeritus Richard Crawford. Fans of An American in Paris, in particular, might also want to rent the MGM film of the same title. It won the 1951 Oscar for Best Picture and features Gene Kelly, pianist Oscar Levant, and love interest Leslie Caron in bringing the story of Gershwin’s musical poem to life. The movie influenced a recent Broadway show.

Hear the Akropolis Reed Quintet perform An American in Paris, Sunday, November 12, 2023 in Rackham Auditorium.

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UMS is pleased to welcome Anthony Feimster, better known by his stage name Feimstro, as this season’s UM-Flint Artist in Residence. Feimster is a Flint-based pianist, vocalist, and composer who hopes to use his residency to collaborate with musicians and other artists to create new work. On Friday, November 3, Feimster will release an acoustic version of his 2022 album, Nina, recorded in live performance in early October, that takes inspiration from legendary singer/songwriter Nina Simone.

UMS Learning and Engagement student staff member Schnadè Saintïl recently interviewed Feimster about his influences, his community, and his artistry:

How would you describe your musical sound and its influences? How has the city of Flint influenced you?

It originated from gospel roots coming from the blues and growing up in church. And Ray Charles is my greatest inspiration for a plethora of reasons. He comes from hard knocks, is a pianist, sings and plays at the same time — very soulful, very bluesy, very churchy. The musicians in my city definitely inspired me growing up. On the album cover of Nina are the names of Sidney Oliver, Rufus Ferguson, Sam Doans, Adam Bearyman, and Mike Mobley. They had a huge impact on me because they introduced me to artists outside of gospel industries.

Sydney Oliver is more of a father figure to me. He’s the one who cultivated this idea of who James Taylor is and who Steely Dan is. When I was growing up, I said, “Man, what is this stuff he got me listening to?” And now that I’m older, I just can’t get away from it. So he’s the largest influence all my life, hands down.

Why have you chosen Nina Simone for the spotlight on this project?

Listening to a lot of Nina Simone, I came across a lot of videos that inspired me. She had me thinking, “I want to speak boldly. I want to speak my mind.” I wanted to say things on this project that were really dear to me at the time. She was clever. She was a statement artist. I want to exemplify that in my writing like Nina. She was so much of herself that it makes you think about who you are. I want to be a statement writer. I want to be clever in my writings, like Nina, and it was a way to pay homage to her.

Why are you recording a live version of the album when you have a polished studio recording?

Live performance touches the soul. There are things that you can capture in live performances that you can’t capture in the studio. That’s why a lot more people are trying to get more people in the studio so they can record that moment. Having piano and vocals leaves room for more creativity — for example in not having bass, I have to create a rhythm myself, figuring out an alternative to the bassline.

Ultimately, the piano album was an effort to create an intimate space with my fans and those who have been supporting me nonstop since I’ve started this journey. This is my way of saying thank you, by inviting a small group into this process. I’m going to create something for you. I’m going to live in this moment for you.

Who do you make music for?

I make music for myself and for the listener who enjoys live music, who enjoys a good show. I know it sounds weird, but I make music for the world, man. If I had everybody’s attention in the world right now, I would probably sing a song. And my goal is to reach the hearts of those who will accept being true to myself and seeing what I grasp from that area. I know a lot of times we spend a lot of time on who’s your fan base, what’s the age limit, who are you going after? Anywhere from the age of eight and 80; if you like raw beautiful soul music, that’s who I am going for.

Could you make a five-song playlist for someone to ease into your music?

“Roll with My Baby” – Ray Charles

“I’m Black And I’m Proud” – James Brown

“Shine” – Robert Glasper

“Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” – PJ Morton

“Shower the People” – James Taylor

How did you hear about UMS and this residency? How is it advancing you and your work?

I heard about UMS through my bassist, John Hammons. I applied and ever since then UMS has been a great help, bringing awareness to some of the things that are happening in the community. They’ve been a great help financially to solidify some of the things to make possible, such as this piano album. I am looking forward to having creative conversations with students and artists in an upcoming event called Piano Paint. It began as something I did on Instagram during quarantine, where I took online art and I created music from scratch based upon the art. So, I’m excited about the artist dialogues that we’re going to be having with the students. Personally, there’s a lot of different things that I’m looking forward to, especially in the new year, with me coming out with my album, them playing a huge role in helping me and assisting me with space and conversation and funding. This residency couldn’t have come at a greater time. And for that, I plan on helping the programs that are attached to UMS with education, artists, information, knowledge, performance, composition, wherever it may be. I’m excited to give back as well to that. UMS has been more than a blessing to me.

You’re releasing this new album on Bandcamp, an untraditional route. Not being signed to a label, is being an independent artist a status you want to keep?

I think staying independent is the goal right now. The way business is working, in 3 years of streams I’ve made around $160. With that knowledge, I do notice that I can make more money doing live shows. I can make more money by releasing my album on platforms such as Bandcamp.

I do believe that being independent is a harder role, don’t get me wrong. It’s a lot more work because you don’t have the backing of the labels and the things that they provide, A&R rep marketing, etc., but you can build yourself a team, and do things your own way. Over time, if the numbers are right, if everything lines up and the contracts are right, I wouldn’t mind signing to a label after I’ve already established myself independently, maybe, but I think independence is my current goal for the sake of freedom.

If you were a Nina song right now, what would you be?

“Seasons,” because I’m in a season of my life where things are happening that I didn’t expect to happen. Some of those things are horrible and are absolutely great. I’m taking time to balance out life, marriage, ministry, and a lot of different avenues. I’m reminded that seasons may not come, and the leaves may not fall at all. Some of the leaves in certain seasons just don’t, may not fall, who knows.

Is there anything upcoming you have coming up?

If the people could follow me on Bandcamp, as we are releasing the Nina Piano album there on November 3, 2023. I’ll also be releasing some visuals from that live recording every week. If you want to get to know me, check out my linktree.com; it has everything from new music to what I’m doing now, to events coming up, my calendar, and ways we can connect. In May, I’ll be releasing a new album entitled This Ain’t No Joke. And that whole concept is amazing in itself. But, for now, follow me everywhere at Feimstro on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Eclectic. Innovative. Captivating. DakhaBrakha’s upcoming performance in Hill Auditorium is a vital artistic contribution to the University of Michigan’s Arts & Resistance theme semester, and presented in association with the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia.

DakhaBrakha is a Ukrainian quartet that blends folk, world, rock, and avant-garde elements into a unique and mesmerizing sound. Their name means “give/take” in the old Ukrainian language, and they certainly live up to it by giving audiences a thrilling and unforgettable experience.

DakhaBrakha was founded in 2004 by Vladyslav Troitskyi, a theater director who wanted to create a musical accompaniment for his plays. He recruited four talented singers and musicians who shared his vision of exploring the rich and diverse heritage of Ukrainian culture. Together, they experimented with various instruments, vocal styles, and rhythms, creating a new musical genre they call “ethno-chaos.”

DakhaBrakha’s music is not only influenced by Ukrainian folk traditions, but also by the sounds of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. They use a wide range of instruments, from drums and accordions to cellos and flutes, as well as exotic ones like the didgeridoo, the tabla, and the darbuka. Their vocals are equally impressive, ranging from haunting chants and harmonies to powerful solos and rap-like verses. Their lyrics are mostly in Ukrainian, but they also incorporate words from other languages, such as English, Russian, Arabic, and Mongolian.

DakhaBrakha’s live performances are an absolute spectacle to behold. They dress in striking outfits that combine traditional Ukrainian costumes with contemporary fashion. They also wear tall woolen hats that add to their distinctive appearance. They interact with the audience with humor and charisma, inviting them to clap, sing, and dance along. They create a dynamic and energetic atmosphere that transcends language barriers and cultural differences.

“Considering that Ukraine has a big neighbor who thinks that even the existence of our country is a historical misunderstanding… every one of our concerts abroad can be regarded as a political act in itself.” (Marko Halanevych, DakhaBrakha)

DakhaBrakha’s upcoming presentation in Ann Arbor is part of their North American tour, which also includes stops in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Toronto. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see DakhaBrakha live in Hill Auditorium on Friday, November 3. This is a concert experience you’ll never forget!

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Every opportunity we have to introduce new artists, ensembles, and repertoire to Ann Arbor becomes a highlight on a UMS performance season. This year, we are especially proud to welcome a number of debuts on our October 27 presentation of Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, widely regarded as a top ensemble and musical institution in Mexico.

Discover the debuting artists and the music behind this program, which includes works that have never been performed before on a UMS presentation:

Meet the Artists

Carlos Miguel Prieto

Carlos Miguel Prieto is considered the leading Mexican conductor of his generation. A highly respected cultural leader, Prieto is Musical America’s 2019 Conductor of the Year. He possesses a wide-ranging repertoire, has led over 100 world premieres, and is a champion of American and Latin American composers.

In addition to his role as Artistic Director of Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, Prieto serves as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of North Carolina Symphony, and Music Director of the Orchestra of the Americas. Prieto is a graduate of Princeton University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Gabriela Montero

Latin Grammy Award-winning pianist/composer Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Celebrated for her exceptional musicality and unique ability to improvise, Montero has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras, and is a frequent collaborator with maestro Prieto.

While it is true that improvisation is more frequently associated with pianists belonging to the realms of jazz and popular music than with concert pianists, a substantial part of Gabriela Montero’s well-earned prestige comes from her great gift as an improviser. On that subject, she has stated:

I connect with my audience in a unique manner, and the audience connects with me. Since improvisation is a big part of who I am, it is the most natural and spontaneous way for me to express myself.

On the program with Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, she will perform her own Concierto Latino for piano and orchestra. Completed in 2016, the concerto is a tribute to the diverse and rich cultures of Latin America, as well as a reflection of the challenges and struggles that some of its nations face. The concerto has three movements: Mambo, Habanera, and Joropo, each inspired by a different musical genre and rhythm from the region. The concerto showcases Montero’s virtuosic, expressive, and individualized piano playing, as well as her ability to blend classical and popular elements in a coherent and captivating way.

Here is a video of her performing the work from 2019, with Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Orchestra of the Americas:

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Gabriela Ortiz Kauyumari

Latin Grammy nominated Gabriela Ortiz is one of the foremost composers in Mexico today, and one of the most vibrant musicians emerging in the international scene. Her musical language achieves an extraordinary and expressive synthesis of tradition and the avant-garde; combining high art, folk music and jazz in novel, frequently refined and always personal ways.

In Kauyumari, she explores aspects of aboriginal cultures and contrasting them with aspects of the modern world. She writes:

Among the Huichol people of Mexico, Kauyumari means “blue deer”. The blue deer represents a spiritual guide, one that is transformed through an extended pilgrimage into a hallucinogenic cactus called peyote. It allows the Huichol to communicate with their ancestors, do their bidding, and take on their role as guardians of the planet. Each year, these native Mexicans embark on a symbolic journey to “hunt” the blue deer, making offerings in gratitude for having been granted access to the invisible world, through which they also are able to heal the wounds of the soul. When I received the commission from the Los Angeles Philharmonic to compose a piece that would reflect on our return to the art stages following the pandemic, I immediately thought of the blue deer and its power to enter the world of the intangible as akin to a celebration of the reconvening of live music.

The world premiere of Kauyumari took place on October 9th, 2021, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. The following excerpt of the work is courtesy of the New York Philharmonic.

Carlos Chávez Symphony No. 2 (“Sinfonía India”)

It can be said without exaggeration that Carlos Chávez’s Sinfonía India is the best known and appreciated Mexican symphonic work in the United States. In the winter of 1935-1936, Chávez paid one of his many visits to the United States, and the Sinfonía India was born from an invitation to conduct a concert for the Columbia Broadcasting System. The work was written in New York between the end of 1935 and the beginning of 1936 and was first performed by Chávez himself conducting the CBS Orchestra on January 23rd, 1936. Among the first (of many) famous international conductors who soon took up Chávez’s Sinfonía India, special mention should be made of Leopold Stokowski, who wrote a letter to the composer asking for the score only five months after the work’s premiere.

Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería’s percussion section is known for its technical mastery, which will be on full display in this work! Sinfonía India’s orchestration includes a full suite of indigenous percussion instruments, in addition to familiar instruments such as tympani, tenor drum, cymbals, xylophone, and claves.

Silvestre Revueltas La noche de los mayas
La noche de los Mayas is a symphonic suite by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, based on his film score for the 1939 movie of the same name. The film explores Mexico’s pre-Columbian heritage and culture, and the suite consists of four movements, each depicting a different aspect of the Mayan civilization.

The first movement, “Noche de los Mayas” (Night of the Mayas), is a slow and mysterious introduction. The second movement, “Noche de Jaranas” (Night of the Revelry), is a lively dance with complex rhythms. The third movement, “Noche de Yucatán” (Yucatán Night), is a lyrical and expressive nocturne that features an authentic Mayan melody. The final movement, “Noche de encantamiento” (Night of Enchantment), is a theme and variations that showcases the rich and colorful percussion section, which includes instruments such as bongos, congas, rattles, güiro, caracol, and tumkul.

La noche de los Mayas is a brilliant example of Revueltas’s fusion of Mexican folk elements and modern orchestral techniques.

Hear the Performance

Join us for the UMS debut of these spectacular artists, Friday, October 27 at 7:30 pm in Hill Auditorium!

More Info & Tickets

Thank You to Our Supporters

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Following a successful 10-day pilot at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse in the spring, UMS just concluded a full four-week residency of programs for all ages. From showcasing local talent, to welcoming families for interactive workshops, to premiering an all-new work inspired by the city’s rich history, take a look back at some of our favorite moments from Fall 2023 at the Freighthouse:

Ypsilanti’s Got Talent

Singer, songwriter, and Ypsilanti native Shara Nova (My Brightest Diamond) hosted a free open mic night, inviting local musicians and artists to share their unique talents on our new stage.

Namaste, Ypsi

UMS offered two yoga classes led by Ypsi resident Marly Spieser-Schneider, accompanied by the soothing sounds of harpists Beth Henson and Jordan Key.

A Slappin’ Good Time

Families experienced an absurdly fun musical performance and workshop with electric bassoon and percussion quartet slapslap! Kids got to make their own “slapsticks” and improvise alongside the musicians on stage.

Learn more about slapslap’s upcoming performances and sign up for their newsletter at slapslap.fun.

Sonic Contributions

Detroit-based saxophonist Marcus Elliot led a seven-piece band of musicians and artists in Sonic Contributions — a special collaboration with the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County that celebrates the history of Ypsilanti as a refuge for Black Americans dating back to the 1830s. Visual artist Curtis Wallace created two original pieces inspired by the sounds and stories shared live on stage.

In addition to two nights of full audiences attending the world premiere performances, the work was filmed and will be released for streaming in early 2024. Sign up for our digital presentations newsletter for a reminder when it becomes available.

Dancin’ the Night Away

The Detroit Square Dance Society brought Southern Square Dancing tradition to the Freighthouse, with live music, non-gender calling, and line dances for anyone and everyone to enjoy!

An Electrifying Show

The energy was absolutely electrifying at LIGHTNING: A One of a Kind Drag Show Extravaganza, featuring Heads Over Heels Productions and Chroma Productions. Two unique sets celebrated queer performance art at the historic Freighthouse.

Movement for All Ages

Teaching artist Heather Mitchell led workshops for adults and for families, exploring traditional West African Dance and contemporary AfroBeat dance moves.

Heather’s West African Dance teaching unit is also available for streaming on UMS Performance Playground:

A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster

Our Fall residency at the Freighthouse concluded with Manual Cinema’s Leonardo: A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster. Four performances for Ypsilanti schoolchildren, plus two public family performances of this magical production used hundreds of illustrated puppets, book pages, two-dimensional props, furry monster puppets, live music, and the wonder of real-time filming to bring Mo Willems’ books to life.

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Thank you to all who participated in our Fall 2023 residency at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse! UMS will be back in Ypsi for another four weeks in April 2024. Sign up for our Freighthouse interest list for a reminder when full details are announced in the new year.

Thank You to Our Residency Supporters

The Ypsilanti Freighthouse residency is made possible by Menakka and Essel Bailey and Matt and Nicole Lester.

Family programs are sponsored by Michigan Medicine.

Promotional Support Made Possible by Helga and Jerry Bilik.

Funded in Part by

Learn more about Druid Theatre’s October 2023 production of The Plough and the Stars, part of Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy.

Characters & Cast

Tenement Residents

Jack Clitheroe, a bricklayer and former member of the Irish Citizen Army // Liam Heslin
Nora Clitheroe, his wife // Sophie Lenglinger
Peter Flynn (a laborer), Nora’s uncle // Bosco Hogan
The Young Covey, a fitter, ardent socialist, and Jack’s cousin // Marty Rea
Bessie Burgess, a street fruit vendor // Hilda Fay
Mrs. Gogan, a charwoman (housecleaner) // Sarah Morris
Mollser, her consumptive child // Tara Cush
Fluther Good, a carpenter // Aaron Monaghan

Other Characters

Lieutenant Langon, of the Irish Volunteers // Gabriel Adewusi
Captain Brennan, of the Irish Citizen Army // Garrett Lombard
Corporal Stoddart, of the British Army’s Wiltshire division // Robbie O’Connor
Sergeant Tinley, of the British Army’s Wiltshire division // Sean Kearns
Rosie Redmond, a prostitute // Anna Healy
A Bartender // Sean Kearns
A Woman // Catherine Walsh
A Figure in the Window // Robbie O’Connor

Glossary

Easter Rising of 1916: The setting for The Plough and the Stars. For information, read A Crash Course in the Irish Revolutionary Period.

Irish Citizen Army (ICA): a well-organized paramilitary socialist organization made up of trained volunteers from the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union. Originally formed in 1913 to protect trade union workers during labor strikes, the ICA became a revolutionary army, participating in the Easter Rising of 1916 and in the War of Independence in 1921. Sean O’Casey was very involved in the ICA’s early years, but he withdrew in 1914, criticizing the group for wavering in its socialist mission under James Connolly’s leadership. In The Plough and the Stars, Jack Clitheroe is a Commandant in the ICA.

The Plough and the Stars (Flag): The title of this play references the flag of the Irish Citizen Army, sometimes called the “Starry Plough.” The flag depicts the constellation Ursa Major (the Big Dipper, called “The Plough” in Ireland) over a plough on a green flag. It symbolized a free Ireland that would control its own destiny by controlling its means of production… “from the plough to the stars.”

Tricolor Flag of Ireland: During the Easter Rising, the Irish tricolor flag was flown as well as the Starry Plough; it began to be seen as the national flag when it was raised above Dublin’s General Post Office by the revolutionaries, and has been the official flag of Ireland since it gained independence. Its three colors signify a lasting truce (white) between the Catholics (green) and Protestants (orange).

General James (Jim) Connolly: a co-founder of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) with James Larkin, Jim Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was a leader of the Easter Rising and organized the ICA to join the fight. In The Plough and the Stars, Jack Clitheroe is an ICA Commandant under Connolly. After the rising, Connelly was executed by firing squad, despite the fact that he was already dying from wounds sustained during the fight. He was carried out on a stretcher and tied to a chair for the execution, a cruel act that turned public opinion against the British.

Irish Volunteers: The bulk of the revolutionary fighters during the Easter Rising belonged to the military arm of the Irish Republican Brotherhood known as the Irish Volunteers. They fought alongside the much smaller but better-organized ICA.

Dublin Fusiliers: An Irish infantry Regiment of the British Army that began in 1881 and continued until the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. Irish soldiers who fought for the British in World War I were generally Dublin Fusiliers. In The Plough and the Stars, Bessie Burgess’s son is a member.
Tommies: a general term for British soldiers.

Orange: Mrs. Gogan refers to Bessie as “Orange,” meaning that she is a Protestant loyalist, a fact that would have been clear to Irish audiences at the time through contextual references to her hymn-singing, her support of the British in The Great War, and her mockery of her Catholic neighbors

Harp: The official emblem of Ireland; harps are a symbol of national pride and tradition.

Shinner: A pejorative term for a supporter of Sinn Féin, an Irish political party that supported the creation of an independent Irish Republic during the Easter Rising.

Production History

In 1926, The Abbey Theatre premiered The Plough and the Stars, the highly-anticipated third installment of what would become known as Sean O’Casey’s “Dublin Plays” or “Dublin Trilogy.” The first two plays, The Shadow of a Gunman (1923) and Juno and the Paycock (1924), had been unprecedented successes for both O’Casey and the Abbey. However, some people were becoming increasingly incensed by the themes in O’Casey’s works, particularly his skepticism towards Irish nationalism and his criticism of religion and its moral rigidity. With The Plough and the Stars, these objections reached a boiling point.

Unlike his earlier plays, which premiered either during or immediately after the conflicts in which they were set, The Plough and the Stars was set during The Easter Rising of 1916, ten years prior to its premiere. Over the course of those ten years, the revolutionaries who participated in the Rising had risen to hero and martyr status in Ireland. However, O’Casey chose to focus on the innocent victims of the conflict and to present Ireland as he saw it, refusing to shy away from criticism of nationalism, religion, or prudishness.

After a successful opening for The Plough and the Stars, controversy began to spread throughout Dublin and all subsequent performances were interrupted by demonstrators. Four days later, protests escalated to riots as the play was brought to a halt in the third act. A yelling, booing, and whistling crowd began to throw items at the stage, stink bombs were set off throughout the theater, and a group climbed on stage and began a fight with the actors. After police restored order, W.B. Yeats, then a Senator as well as Director of the Abbey, chastised the crowd from the stage.

Of course, there’s nothing like a riot to gain attention, and O’Casey’s fame began to spread far beyond Ireland. Simultaneously, O’Casey began to feel alienated from his homeland. O’Casey soon moved to England, where he remained in self-exile with his wife and family.

Learn more about Druid Theatre’s October 2023 production of The Shadow of a Gunman, part of Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy.

Characters & Cast

Tenement Residents

Donal Davoren, a poet // Marty Rea
Seumus Shields, a lazy peddler disillusioned by the Nationalist cause // Rory Nolan
Tommy Owens, a young man infatuated with the Nationalist cause // Robbie O’Connor
Adolphus Grigson, an alcoholic supporter of the Protestant cause // Sean Kearns
Mrs. Grigson, his wife // Catherine Walsh
Minnie Powell, a young woman // Caitríona Ennis

Other Characters

Mr. Mulligan, the landlord… // Lombard
Mr. Maguire, a soldier in the IRA // Liam Heslin
Mrs. Henderson, a resident in a neighboring tenement // Anna Healy
Mr. Gallogher, a resident in a neighboring tenement // Bosco Hogan
An Auxiliary (a soldier in the auxiliary division, which conducted counterinsurgency operations against the IRA) // Gabriel Adewusi

Glossary

The Irish War of Independence: (sometimes called the Anglo-Irish War or the Black and Tan War) was a deadly guerilla war fought throughout Ireland from January 21, 1919 – July 11, 1921. After years of political movements towards Irish independence, the Republican (separatist) party Sinn Feín won a landslide election and declared Irish independence from Great Britain. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) fought against British police and special forces known as the Black and Tans, who became infamous for cruel and brutal attacks against civilians. The war ended with the creation of the Irish Free State. The Shadow of a Gunman is set during this conflict.

Irish Republican Army (IRA): The IRA has existed in many forms throughout Irish history. The IRA referenced in The Shadow of a Gunman is often referred to as the “Old IRA” and is different from the anti-treaty IRA referenced in Juno and the Paycock or the Provisional IRA active during The Troubles from 1969-1998. During the Irish War of Independence, the IRA was recognized as the legitimate army of the Irish Republic. It was formed by volunteer Irish forces that supported the creation of an independent Irish nation. In The Shadow of a Gunman, Donal Davoren is suspected of being a high ranking member of the Old IRA.

Black and Tans: a special temporary police force made up primarily of unemployed World War I veterans who were sent to Ireland from May 1920 to early 1921 to support British police during the Irish War of Independence. With little training and minimal oversight by the British government, these forces became infamous for brutal attacks on Irish civilians, including the burning and sacking of many small Irish towns and villages. Their name comes from the mismatched uniforms worn by the first wave of recruits, a moniker that persisted even after they were issued the dark green uniforms.

Many of the terrible events attributed to “Black and Tans” have now been traced to other police units, but “black and tans” remains a catch-all term for violent British police during that time.

Curfew: During the Irish War of Independence, British police enforced a nightly curfew that ultimately ran from 8 pm to 5 am nightly in Dublin. Tenement residents would have been subjected to this curfew (and the accompanying cabin fever) in The Shadow of a Gunman.

Kathleen Ní Houlihan: a mythical symbol of Irish nationalism generally depicted as a poor old woman who enlists the help of young Irish men to fight and die to free Ireland from colonial rule. She is invoked often by Seumas Shields in The Shadow of a Gunman.

Dublin Tenements: a collection of buildings, typically mid-18th century aristocratic townhouses, that were adapted from the 1870s-1890s to house Dublin’s working poor. These opulent mid-city mansions were divided into up to 20 apartments, housing as many as 100 people per building. A single family usually shared a one-room flat, and bathrooms and water were shared by everyone in the building. Cramped conditions resulted in rampant disease and a high mortality rate; O’Casey himself lost eight siblings in infancy to croup. In the early 1910s, Dublin was notorious for some of the worst urban poverty in Europe, with approximately 20,000 families living in tenements. Tenement occupancy peaked in the 1910s, but it continued through the late 1970s. All three O’Casey Cycle plays are set in tenements with the exception of one act in The Plough and the Stars.

Orangemen: members of the Loyal Orange Institution — or Orange Order — a Protestant fraternal order with lodges throughout Ireland, but primarily in Northern Ireland. It is named in honor of the Protestant King William of Orange (William III), who defeated the army of Catholic King James II in 1691. During the Irish War of Independence, most members of the Orange Order were loyal to the crown and opposed to the creation of Ireland as an independent Catholic nation. In Act 2 of The Shadow of a Gunman, Mr. Grigson is a proud “Orange Man.”

Production History

After years of writing plays and submitting them to the Abbey Theater, Sean O’Casey’s fifth manuscript, The Shadow of a Gunman, was finally accepted in 1922. It premiered at The Abbey Theatre in 1923 to immediate success, selling out tickets for the first time in Abbey history, and establishing Sean O’Casey’s career as a playwright at age 43. O’Casey was working as a laborer during the play’s three-day run, which earned him just four pounds in royalties (approximately $300 today). He would continue to work as a cement mixer on a road repair job until the next year, when his second play, Juno and the Paycock, proved to be another resounding success. Together, The Shadow of a Gunman and Juno and the Paycock provided a financial boon for both the playwright and for The Abbey Theatre, which was at risk of bankruptcy before O’Casey’s arrival.

Set in 1920 during the Irish War for Independence, The Shadow of a Gunman premiered less than two years from the end of the war, when its effects and aftershocks were still being felt strongly throughout Ireland. O’Casey quickly followed this play with 1924’s Juno and the Paycock, set during the Irish Civil War in 1922, and 1926’s The Plough and the Stars, which was set during the Easter Rebellion of 1916, a major turning point of the Irish Revolutionary Period. These three works, often called The Dublin Trilogy, chronicle the birth of the Irish nation through the eyes of Dublin’s impoverished tenement residents.

Filled with “some of the most memorable characters of the Irish theater,” (The New York Times), this two-act work introduced O’Casey’s characteristic tragicomic style. Although it is widely considered a masterpiece, it is lesser-known and less frequently performed than the other two plays in the Dublin Trilogy.