Upcoming Events
Limited Availability!
Robin Frohardt
The Plastic Bag Store
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.
salt:dispersed
Selina Thompson
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 Plastic Bag Store
Family Art Making Activity
Families are invited to visit The Plastic Bag Store and participate in a guided hands-on workshop.
Cultural Exchange Rate
Tania El Khoury
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.
Penny Stamps Speaker Series
Tania El Khoury:
Cultural Exchange Rate – A Case Study
Hear from the creator of Cultural Exchange Rate, part of UMS’s No Safety Net 3.0 Festival.
Aaron Diehl Trio: Mirrors
Friday, January 27, 2023Diehl’s new project, Mirrors, showcases his fluency in both classical repertoire and dynamic jazz improvisation, connecting Bach’s counterpoint with the vocabulary of bebop.
25th Anniversary Tour
Sphinx Symphony Orchestra
EXIGENCE Vocal Ensemble
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
Talking Trash
An Interactive Discussion Inspired by The Plastic Bag Store
Turn inspiration into impact with insights from researchers, scientists, artists, and activists tackling the question: What can we do about single-use plastics?
Our Carnal Hearts
Rachel Mars
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.
No Safety Net 3.0 Student Closing Party
featuring Cece June and the Calista Quartet
Join the University Musical Society Student Committee for a night of performances to celebrate UMS’s No Safety Net Festival, featuring music from Cece June and the Calista Quartet.
Your Sexts Are Shit: Older Better Letters
Rachel Mars
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.
Prelude Dinner:
Joshua Bell
Join us at the Michigan League for an opportunity to park early, gather with friends, enjoy a meal, and learn more about the evening’s performance.
Joshua Bell, violin
Peter Dugan, piano
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.
Brno Philharmonic
Friday, February 10, 2023Dennis 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.
You Can Dance!
Detroit Jit with Haleem “Stringz” Rasul
Calling All Curious Movers…You Can Dance! returns for another season of movement and community at Riverside Arts Center.
Getting Dressed
for Pre-K – 2nd Grade Students and Families
Travel into a digital world of swirling skirts, sashaying socks, glitter ball jackets, and tumbling t-shirts.
Ballet Preljocaj
Swan Lake
Contemporary dance superstar Angelin Preljocaj tackles the Mount Everest of the ballet world with his new take on Swan Lake.
National Theatre Live in HD
The Seagull
Following his critically acclaimed production of Cyrano de Bergerac, Jamie Lloyd brings Anya Reiss’s adaptation of Chekhov’s classic play to the stage. Starring Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones). “A maverick show that proves how dangerous and daring a revival can be.” (The Guardian)
UMS 101: Stepping
Step Afrika!
Immerse yourself in the world of stepping and learn some of the signature styles.
Maria Schneider Orchestra
Saturday, March 11, 2023“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.
You Can Dance!
Ballroom with Mr. Smooth
Calling All Curious Movers…You Can Dance! returns for another season of movement and community at Riverside Arts Center.
Step Afrika!
Sunday, March 12, 2023Step Afrika! introduces audiences to the importance of stepping in cultural identity and the use of body percussion as a means of communication.
School Day Performance for Grades K-12:
Stepping with Step Afrika!
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.
Prelude Dinner:
Daniel Hope with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra
Daniel Hope, violin
with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra
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
Canceled: Farida and the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble
Sunday, March 19, 2023Due 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.
Chineke! Orchestra
Saturday, March 25, 2023UK-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, Op. 20
Florence Price Symphony No. 1 in e minor
Join host Doyle Armbrust for “The Society for Disobedient Listeners” — a special pre-performance talk.
You Can Dance!
Tap with Bruce Bradley
Calling All Curious Movers…You Can Dance! returns for another season of movement and community at Riverside Arts Center.
National Theatre Live in HD
The Crucible
Lyndsey Turner directs this contemporary new staging, designed by Tony Award-winner Es Devlin (The Lehman Trilogy). Starring Erin Doherty (The Crown) and Brendan Cowell. “A gripping revival of Arthur Miller’s masterpiece.” (The Telegraph)
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Friday, April 14, 2023A UMS favorite since her 2017 debut, Cécile McLorin Salvant continues to defy expectations with her genre-obliterating virtuosity.
Julius Eastman’s Femenine
Wild Up
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.
Audra McDonald
Sunday, April 23, 2023Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald returns to the Hill Auditorium stage for one night only!
National Theatre Live in HD
Othello
Shakespeare’s compelling tragedy of boundary-defying love is brought startlingly up-to-date by a stellar cast, including Giles Terera (Hamilton) as Othello, Rosy McEwen as Desdemona, and Pal Hilton as Iago.