SPRING 2014 SPRING ROBERT W. CROSS DIRECTOR ORDER NOW FOR BEST SEATS! VAFEST.ORG Welcome WELCOME RICHARD ALSTON DANCE COMPANY raisin’ cane SPRING 2014 SPRING GUIDE TO VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL TATTOO PERFORMANCES & EVENTS Ben-Hur.......................................................3 Dance Series ........................................4-5 I am pleased to bring you this preview of the 2014 Virginia Arts Festival! This year we have some truly extraordinary Virginia International Tattoo .......... 6-7 firsts to share. We were thrilled to commission a new orchestral score for the epic silent film Ben-Hur, from percussionist Classical Music .................................... 8-9 and composer Stewart Copeland — familiar to millions as the drummer from The Police. We are excited to begin a Vocal Music .............................................10 three-year performance residency program with the legendary Dance Theatre of Harlem, whose triumphant return to Actéon & From the Top ....................... 11 the stage has made headlines. And we are honored to present the world premiere performance of composer Adolphus Theater ...................................................... 12 Hailstork’s moving musical setting of Walt Whitman’s When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy & Music of Led Zeppelin ....................13 Virginia International Tattoo, presented this year as a signature event of the United States Vietnam War Chamber Music Series .................. 14-15 Commemoration, will honor Vietnam veterans and their families with its patriotic and majestic display of music Virginia Brass & and might. We’ll hear jazz from the classic to the cutting edge with vocalist John Duffy ..............................................16 Nnenna Freelon and pianist Chick Corea, and experience the rock classics at Coffee Concerts .................................... 17 Music of Led Zeppelin with wonderful arrangements enhanced by the Virginia Calendar ............................................. 18-19 Symphony Orchestra. We will be swaying with the husband and wife musical Attucks Jazz Club ................................20 phenoms Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn as they strum away on their banjos Jazz Series ............................................... 21 then swinging to the tunes of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Outdoor & More.................................... 22 Folk & World Music .............................23 For music lovers, there’s a wealth of unforgettable experiences in store, including Organ Music ..........................................24 the fabled Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the brilliant violinist Joshua Bell, and Beyond the Concert Hall .................25 the vocal perfection of the Tallis Scholars. A jewel among these musical riches Festival Williamsburg .................. 26-27 will be a rare performance of the 17th-century chamber opera Actéon, conducted Community Events ....................... 28-29 by early music master William Christie. Restaurants & Hotels ....................30-31 We look forward to sharing this bounty of great performances with you! Sponsors .......................................... 32-33 Education ................................................34 Robert W. Cross Director VAF 2 SPRING 2014 W ORLD PREMIERE by V presents Co-commissioned irginia Arts F A TALE OF THE CHRIST estival MGM’s Epic Silent Classic Orchestral Score Composed & Performed By Drums & Percussion with Virginia Arts Festival Orchestra Richard Kaufman, conductor Starring Ramon Navarro and Directed by Fred Niblo Edited for concert stage by Stewart Copeland His innovative grooves have driven the music of seminal rock band The Police to the top of the charts for the better part of two decades — but percussionist Stewart Copeland is also an accomplished composer. He has written for films (including Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish and Oliver Stone’s Wall Street), operas (including The Tell Tale Heart for London’s Royal Opera House), concerts, and ballets. Now, in the Easter weekend World Premiere performance co-commissioned by Virginia Arts Festival, you can hear this groundbreaking American musician perform his new score to a 90 minute edited version of the 1925 MGM silent epic ‘Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ’ — performed live with Virginia Arts Festival Orchestra! SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 8 PM PRE-CONCERT CONVERSATION WITH STEWART COPELAND 7 PM CHRYSLER HALL, NORFOLK TICKETS $60 GOLD CIRCLE, NO DISCOUNTS; $45, $35, $20 Special Thanks to Warner Bros. VAF 3 Dance Series SERIES DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM with Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Virginia Chorale There was joyous news in The New York Times in April 2013: “After nearly 10 years on hiatus, Dance Theatre of Harlem is back… [with] reasons to celebrate.” The fabled company, created by Arthur Mitchell and beloved around the world, has risen like a phoenix after hard times and a decade of rebuilding. At the centerpiece of this jubilant return engagement is Robert Garland’s new work Gloria, a tribute to the spiritual history of Harlem, set to Poulenc’s stunning masterwork performed for the first time to live music with the full Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Virginia Chorale. SATURDAY, MAY 17, 8 PM PRE-CONCERT CONVERSATION 7 PM 5/17 Sponsored by SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2:30 PM 5/18 Sponsored by PRE-CONCERT CONVERSATION 1:30 PM Supported in part by the Helen G. Gifford Foundation ChrySLER HALL, NORFOLK TICKETS $60 GOLD CIRCLE, Supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, Virginia Commission for the Arts and Capezio/Ballet Makers Dance Foundation. $45, $35, $20 The presentation of Far But Close by Dance Theatre of Harlem was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. VAF 4 ORDER NOW FOR BEST SEATS! AT VAFEST.ORG OR CALL (757) 282-2822 SPRING 2014 SPRING RICHARD ALSTON DANCE COMPANY Richard Alston hears music and sees dance: in 45 years of dance making, this virtuosic and much-honored British choreographer has distilled the essence of music in movement. A recipient of France’s Chevalier dans’ l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Britain’s CBE (Commander of the British Empire), Alston creates dances of “amazing speed…explosive power… and linear grace [that] change your breathing while you watch. Exhilarating” (The New York Times). WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 7:30 PM TCC ROPER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, NORFOlk TICKETS $40, $25 Co-presented with TCC Roper Performing Arts Center. Sponsored by FRIDAY, MAY 23, 8 PM PHI BETA KAPPA HALL COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MAry, WILLIAMSBURG TICKETS $40, $25 A Festival Williamsburg event. Co-presented with the City of Williamsburg and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. This program supported in part by Virginia Festival Williamsburg is funded in part by the Williamsburg Area Arts Commission for the Arts and Capezio/Ballet Commission, the City of Williamsburg and James City County. Makers Dance Foundation. VAF 5 presents VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL TATTOO www.virginia.org VAF 6 A Grateful Nation Thanks and Honors Our Vietnam Veterans and Their Families SPRING 2014 SPRING A SCOTTISH TRADITION WITH AN AMERICAN SOUL VIRGINIA Featuring an All New International Cast Every Year INTERNATIONAL TATTOO J. Scott Jackson, Producer/Director The Virginia International Tattoo — long regarded as the most patriotic of the world’s great tattoos — thrills audiences year after year with an awe-inspiring spectacle of music and might. Designated a signature event of the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, the 2014 Tattoo will honor our Vietnam veterans and their families with an astounding display of patriotism, international cooperation and inspirational music. A brand new show every year, the Tattoo is more than a performance, it is an experience. Be sure to bring the Tattoo tradition into your life this year! Come out early and take part in the TATTOO HULLABALOO, a free festive celebration on Scope Plaza two hours prior to each performance. THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 7:30 PM FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 7:30 PM SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 7:30 PM SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2:30 PM SCOPE ARENA, NORFOLK TICKETS $100 GOLD CIRCLE, $55, $50, NO discounts; $45, $35, $20 STUDENTS UNDER 25, 50% OFF Presented in cooperation with North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Norfolk NATO Festival. Support provided in part by the Norfolk Consortium. 4/24 Sponsored by 4/25 Sponsored by 4/26 Sponsored by 4/27 Sponsored by Additional Support AutoTrader.com Defense Credit Union Council Check vafest.org/tattoo for cast information and updates! Regent University VAF 7 Charles Barker Automotive presents Co-presented with ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC PLATINUM SPONSORS: ORCHESTRA Gianandrea Noseda, conductor This legendary ensemble was founded in 1936 and composed at first of Jewish musicians fleeing Germany and other Nazi-occupied countries. In its proud “Passionate and assured.” history, some of its most famous and moving concerts have been performed — THE NEW YORK TIMES while its homeland was under attack. GOLD SPONSORS: Performing through war, praying for Ann & Bobby Copeland peace, the orchestra remains one The Leon Families of the world’s best, “passionate and assured” (The New York Times). Hear this world-famous orchestra in Berlioz’s SILVER SPONSORS: Symphonie fantastique, along with Patricia & Avraham Ashkenazi classics by Fauré and Ravel. Dalis Foundation FAURÉ Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Op.80 Fannie & Milton Friedman Fund Helen G. Gifford Foundation RAVEL Ma Mère l’Oye