One of UMS’s most surprising and enchanting shows last season shared the tale of an endearing robot, on the verge of obsolescence, who falls in love with a lonely office girl. Montreal-based scratch DJ and music producer Kid Koala brought a magical reimagination of his graphic novel and soundtrack to the UMS stage. The live adaptation unfolded via a real-time video of a cast of puppets, while Kid Koala and the Cecilia Quartet provided original live scoring on the piano, strings, and turntable.

Nufonia Must Fall was perfect for a School Day Performance and for UMS designed hands-on, in-class workshops that introduced K-12 students from area schools to Kid Koala’s work and the art of puppetry, as well as some relevant themes in the work. Jill Ross, an art teacher at a school in Southgate, MI that serves emotionally impaired students, described the powerful impact the experience had on her students: “My students had little experience with theater and puppetry, but they could relate to the title character because he no longer feels useful. My students have experienced that. But he persevered, showed grit, and had a very happy ending!”

Few UMS shows exemplified how the performing arts can build appreciation for and understanding of our world’s diverse cultures like last year’s Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán. Widely considered to be the finest mariachi in the world, who meld the old world style of mariachi music with new innovative pieces, it was not surprising that their sold-out concert in Hill elicited spontaneous sing-alongs and standing ovations. And that was just the beginning.

The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures held a community reception prior to the performance to help celebrate the opening of their new Detroit presence. UMS orchestrated performance exchange opportunities between youth mariachi singers from Mariachi Juvenil Detroit and the youth mariachis from Texas touring with Mariachi Vargas. To help prepare over 3,000 students who witnessed a colorful sold-out School Day Performance, UMS created a classroom learning guide and a Mexican Cultural Immersion for teachers — a day filled with traditional art, music, food, dancing, and more.

Youth mariachis also made special visits to two Ann Arbor elementary schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families and a large Latino population: Carpenter Elementary, and Mitchell Elementary, which works with U-M’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance’s Michigan Artist Citizen program

In 2015, UMS and U-M students lost a great friend in Bert Askwith (LSA ’31). A true Victor for the Arts, Bert made a meaningful gift each year to provide every first- and second-year U-M undergraduate with a free ticket to a UMS performance, complete with a second ticket for a friend at just $10. Bert passed away in the spring of 2015. To continue Bert’s generosity and legacy, his daughter, Patti Askwith Kenner, renewed her father’s pledge for two years. “Bert’s Ticket,” as we affectionately call the program, will continue to inspire U-M undergraduate students new to campus with thrilling performing arts experiences.

In addition to Bert’s Ticket, UMS also simplified its ticket pricing policy for all college students. The result? During the 2015-16 season, college students made up over 20% of our audience and saved more than $529,000 on 17,000 tickets. That means one in five audience members was a college student who had the opportunity to experience the power of live performance thanks to discounted, affordable tickets.

At UMS, we believe that all U-M students deserve to connect with world-class artists as part of their Michigan experience.

Beginning in 2013, UMS and the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) launched the 21st Century Artist Internship program, which received seed funding for its first three years from the Third Century Initiative at U-M. Through this program, students are placed with an artistic ensemble for a six-week summer internship and receive a stipend to defray costs. They then return to campus in the fall to serve as resident experts for the ensemble they visited.

Tsukumo Niwa ’17, an Oboe Performance and International Studies major, spent the summer of 2015 in New York City embedded with highly acclaimed performance artist, playwright, singer-songwriter, director, and producer Taylor Mac. Tsukumo was intrigued by Taylor Mac’s commitment to inclusivity and LGBTQ+ identities and was excited to see the arts and social justice meet. Among her duties: making a prototype project book for Taylor’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, with notes on costumes, stage directions, and song lists, and helping organize workshops of new performance material at NYC’s Park Avenue Armory.

“One of my biggest takeaways,” she says, “is that it takes courage to present something you know isn’t perfect. Now I feel compelled to show my imperfection, with the knowledge that I can get better with audience feedback.”

When Camille A. Brown brought her Black Girl – Linguistic Play to the Power Center last February, the event spread into nearly every part our community. Her work was the focus of one of our “Night School” sessions — a free, six-week series open to anyone interested in exploring UMS performances in greater depth. Members of Camille’s company also led one of our popular “You Can Dance” workshops, a series of free, no-experience-necessary events open to all ages and backgrounds, taught by dancers from visiting dance companies.

The depth of the educational experience for more than 400 students from schools in Ypsilanti, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Kalamazoo who attended a School Day Performance — including five under-resourced schools with no arts teachers and a large contingent of students from diverse backgrounds — was transformative. The dance performance brought a powerful message expressing a positive childhood narrative that was drawn from Camille’s own experience, one not often reflected in the media. Camille and the other dancers came out on stage after the performance to answer questions from the students. They also sought insights from a few audience members, asking what words come to mind when they hear the phrase “black girl.”

Longtime UMS friends Maury and Linda Binkow, whose love of opera dates back to their childhood in New York, have made a generous campaign gift to UMS to support a new biennial series called UMS Song Remix.

Who better to help curate this new series than University of Michigan (U-M) professor Martin Katz, whose 45-year career as the “gold standard of accompanists” (New York Times) has spanned five continents, and who has collaborated with the world’s most celebrated singers in recital and recording? For the inaugural performance in January 2016, Katz assembled singers, all U-M alums with successful careers, to explore “What’s in a Song?” The wildly successful concert focused on the special marriage of poetry and music, exquisitely interpreted by mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, tenor William Ferguson, countertenor David Daniels, soprano Janai Brugger, and baritone Jesse Blumberg, along with special guests William Bolcom and Joan Morris.

By supporting this new series through gifts during their lifetime, and establishing the Maurice and Linda Binkow Endowed Vocal and Chamber Arts Endowment Fund through their estate plan, the Binkows have ensured that music lovers will enjoy the art of the song for generations to come.

UMS and Michigan Opera Theatre launched the first in a three-year dance partnership together with one of the largest, most opulent productions on the ballet scene today.

More than 12,000 people — including nearly 900 youth from underserved neighborhoods — witnessed the spectacle of American Ballet Theatre’s new production of The Sleeping Beauty at the Detroit Opera House last spring, complete with three performances that included ABT superstar Misty Copeland.

By presenting such a large-scale work, UMS and MOT were also able to provide oncein-a-lifetime training and performance opportunities for local communities. Young people from across Southeast Michigan were cast as extras, and ballet students in Detroit and Chelsea participated in free masterclasses. High school students in Detroit were able to meet several of the company dancers. And anyone yearning to join the action could participate in two free “You Can Dance” workshops for the community at the Carr Center in Detroit and at the Ann Arbor YMCA.