Upcoming Events

Shakespeare’s rom-com on sun, sea, and mistaken identity takes place at the family-run Hotel Messina on the Italian Riviera, a legendary spot that has been visited by artists, celebrities, and royalty. But when the owner’s daughter weds a dashing young soldier, not all guests are in the mood for love. A string of scandalous deceptions soon surrounds not only the young couple but also the adamantly single Beatrice and Benedick.

Ann Arbor’s most beloved holiday tradition with the UMS Choral Union and the Ann Arbor Symphony in Hill Auditorium.

Classic West African and Caribbean tales come to life through the magic of digital storytelling!

For this special performance in Hill Auditorium, superstar violinist Itzhak Perlman brings together pianists Emanuel Ax and Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Juilliard String Quartet for a mixed chamber music program.

Program

Jean-Marie Leclair Sonata for Two Violins in e minor, Op. 3, No. 5
W.A. Mozart Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major, K. 493
Ernest Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21

Learn about the origins of American roots music known as bluegrass, and get to know some of the instruments and artists that make this uniquely American genre so soulful.

When Punch Brothers and Béla Fleck come together in this special double-bill evening, one thing is certain: audiences benefit from their lifelong devotion to bluegrass as much as the musicians.

The Plastic Bag Store is a public art installation and immersive film experience that questions our culture of consumption and convenience — specifically, the enduring effects of our single-use plastics.

In this digital presentation, performance artist Selina Thompson recreates her award-winning dramatic monologue about a journey she made by cargo ship to retrace the triangular route of the transatlantic slave trade.

The Takács Quartet and Jeremy Denk return to Rackham Auditorium with a program featuring Fanny Mendelssohn, Haydn, and Schumann.

Program

Franz Joseph Haydn String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77, No. 2
Fanny Mendelssohn Quartet in E-Flat Major
Robert Schumann Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major, Op. 44

Climate change — an issue that is frequently cited by youth as one of the most pressing issues of our time — takes center stage in this ingenious theatrical presentation.

Like its title, this performance is a palindrome that you will be able to see both forwards and backwards. A visual metaphor for this crucial moment in our future history, tracing the process of humans moving towards their downfall — or their salvation.

Lebanese artist Tania El Khoury presents an interactive live art project, in which you immerse yourself into one family’s secret boxes to explore sounds, images, and textures that trace more than a century of border crossings.

Diehl’s new project, Mirror, showcases his fluency in both classical repertoire and dynamic jazz improvisation, connecting Bach’s counterpoint with the vocabulary of bebop.

Celebrating its 25th Anniversary, the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra of top Black and Latinx professional musicians from around the country presents its first national tour.

Program

Carlos Simon Motherboxx Connection
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Ballade for Orchestra
Valerie Coleman Seven O’Clock Shout
Michael Abels Delights and Dances
Traditional, arr. Augustus Hill Fix Me, Jesus
Carlos Cordero Holding Our Breath
Joel Thompson Seven Last Words of the Unarmed
John Legend / Common, arr. Eugene Rogers “Glory” from Selma

Rachel Mars and four belting female singers come at you with a hilarious dark show about the hiding workings of one of our uglier emotions…envy.

Rachel Mars’s filthy, funny, and intimate show creates a love letter to the lost art of letter writing…which has degraded into X-rated anonymized sexts from platforms like Whatsapp and Grindr.

With a discography of more than 40 albums and a career spanning over 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, conductor, and music director, Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated violinists of his era.

Dennis Russell Davies and the Brno Philharmonic perform works from Leoš Janáček and William Bolcom alongside the UMS Choral Union, brass players from SMTD, and organist Christian Schmitt.

Program

Leoš Janáček Sinfonietta
William Bolcom Humoresk for Organ and Orchestra
Leoš Janáček Glagolitic Mass

Join host Doyle Armbrust for “The Society for Disobedient Listeners” — a special pre-performance talk.

Travel into a digital world of swirling skirts, sashaying socks, glitter ball jackets, and tumbling t-shirts.

Contemporary dance superstar Angelin Preljocaj tackles the Mount Everest of the ballet world with his new take on Swan Lake.

Immerse yourself in the world of stepping and learn some of the signature styles.

“Maria Schneider is a national treasure,” proclaims National Public Radio. The 2019 NEA Jazz Master, 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist (for her 2020 album Data Lords), and seven-time Grammy winner brings her 18-member collective to Hill Auditorium for their UMS debut.

Step Afrika! introduces audiences to the importance of stepping in cultural identity and the use of body percussion as a means of communication.

Step Afrika! integrates song, dance, storytelling, humor, and audience participation in highlighting the importance of stepping in cultural identity and the use of body percussion as a means of communication.

Violinist Daniel Hope returns with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in a new program that takes a deep dive into the rich repertoire of American music, exploring its roots and distinctive qualities.

Program

Aaron Copland “Hoe-Down” from Rodeo
Duke Ellington “Come Sunday” from Black, Brown and Beige
Florence Price Adoration
Kurt Weill American Song Suite
Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
Aaron Copland “At the River” from Old American Songs
Philip Glass Echorus
George Gershwin Song Suite

Due to health considerations, Farida has canceled her March 2023 concert with the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble. We are in the process of reaching out to ticketholders for this event.

UK-based Chineke! Orchestra makes its UMS debut, in a program featuring Florence Price’s first symphony and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto performed by Elena Urioste.

Program

Carlos Simon Fate Now Conquers
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Violin Concerto in g minor
Florence Price Symphony No. 1 in e minor

Join host Doyle Armbrust for “The Society for Disobedient Listeners” — a special pre-performance talk.

A UMS favorite since her 2017 debut, Cécile McLorin Salvant continues to defy expectations with her genre-obliterating virtuosity.

American composer, pianist, vocalist, and dancer Julius Eastman was young, gay, and Black when it was even more difficult to be young, gay, and Black in America. The Los Angeles music collective Wild Up is carrying the music of Julius Eastman forward, performing his chamber work Femenine.

Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald returns to the Hill Auditorium stage for one night only!