Hill Auditorium
Opera in Concert
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
UMS and the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) present the first-ever performance of the U-M Gershwin Initiative’s scholarly performing edition of this landmark score.
Porgy and Bess is without rival as the most famous 20th-century American opera. Since its 1935 debut, this story of a disabled beggar transformed by the unexpected love of Bess has been performed worldwide and features such well-known songs as “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’,” “My Man’s Gone Now,” “Summertime,” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So.”
In addition to the concert, UMS and SMTD will host related symposia and other educational activities as part of an ongoing scholarly examination of the art of George and Ira Gershwin.
Pre-Show Talk: Porgy and Bess. Saturday, February 17 at 6:30 pm, Hill Auditorium Mezzanine Lobby. An introduction to the opera by Naomi André, associate professor of Women’s Studies & Afroamerican and African Studies, and Jessica Getman, managing editor of the U-M George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition.