UMS’s 2023 Holiday Gift Guide

By UMS

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.