People Are Talking: UMS presents Ryoji Ikeda’s...
Posted: 10/31/14
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PERFORMANCES & EVENTS
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All comments by Linda Spector
People Are Talking: UMS presents National Theatre of Scotland: Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol:
Bravo Bravo Bravo. What an extraordinary evening of theatre. Thank you so much for bringing this to us. The performances and production values are all stellar. This is a fabulous evening of theatre and I hope every house is sold out, as it should be. Thanks again to UMS for bringing this kind of performance and so many others, to us here in Ann Arbor. Makes having left my home in NYC a bit easier! (a bit!)
People Are Talking: UMS presents Accordion Festival at Hill Auditorium:
Outstanding concert! Remarkable and varied performances. A thoroughly enjoyable evening. We left smiling and talking about what we’d just experienced. Thank you once again UMS, a Touchdown, home run presentation.
People Are Talking: UMS presents St. Petersburg Philharmonic at Hill Auditorium:
Thank you Mark, do you know what the piano encore was?
People Are Talking: UMS presents The Suit by Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord at Power Center:
Not to be missed, a stellar evening of theatre. If you don’t have tickets to see this production, get them.
People Are Talking: UMS presents Alison Balsom & The Scottish Ensemble at Hill Auditorium:
Bring back the Scottish Ensemble, they and Alison Balsom were absolutely magnificent. The playing was soaring; I felt like I was in drawing room concert during the period of the music rather than an enormous hall. Spectacular, thank you UMS for once again bringing extraordinary music to us in Ann Arbor.
People Are Talking: UMS presents Angélique Kidjo at Hill Auditorium:
Brilliant performance! Bring Ms. Kidjo back, please! Dynamic, exciting, exhilarating evening, UMS continues to bring us stunning artists that stretch and enrich us. Thank you!
People Are Talking: UMS presents Max Raabe and Palast Orchester at Hill Auditorium:
Phenomenal musicianship and wonderful fun. A great great evening of music and song. I wanted to dance, wish there had been a dance floor. Bring them back and have the concert in the Michigan Union Ballroom….please!!!
People Are Talking: UMS presents Denis Matsuev at Hill Auditorium:
Please list what the encores were, one was Chopin, one was Duke Ellington, what were others!? Please!
People Are Talking [and Video Booth]: Einstein on the Beach at Power Center:
Yes! I think, on reflecting over night, that the work is to be approached as one would a ballet. There isn’t necessarily a clear point to point story in ballet, you must just ‘follow’ the dancers. To go on that trip with them leads you to the whole. And as I indicated earlier in my own comments, this seems very much like the happenings of the 60’s, it is also still ‘happening’ now. If you give yourself over to the slow mindful motions and music, as well as the faster portions, you will eventually experience it rather than literally understanding it.
Some scenes were like watching and listening to multiple alternate universes, each with their own sense of time. The dances and much of the choral music was ecstatically beautiful. The stamina and precision and mindful slow motion movement (and fast motion music) of the performers was mind boggling.
"by Gregg P
People Are Talking [and Video Booth]: Einstein on the Beach at Power Center:
I just got home from the performance and was struck particularly by how modern and au courant it was. I somehow expected it to be as incredible an experience as it was, but also for it to be somehow somewhat dated. It was not, not at all. It was an extraordinary experience, the young actors “owned” it and were fabulous. I feel fortunate to be a member of this community (Ann Arbor and UMS communities) and to have shared in this first of what promises to be a riveting and stimulating winter series. All I can say is “good show to all of you at University Musical Society” you hit it out of the park this year; the bar is very high going into our anniversary year but I know you are up to the task, it just excites me to think about it!! Thank you so much.
People are Talking: UMS Night School – Session 1:
I couldn’t agree more Anne. I am totally absorbed in the myriad opportunities UMS and the Institute for Humanities and UMMA and all the other partners are offering our community. I am gorging myself with every session I see offered!
UMS Night School’s first class was a smash hit! Both Mark Clague and Michael Kondziolka shared a lot of insights from their deep understanding of contemporary music; plus, their excitement about the remounting of Einstein on the Beach was infectious and made the 90 min. session fly by. In fact, it was so interesting and stimulating that I came home, dug out my 1971 copy of the biography of Albert Einstein by R. Clark and read till the wee hours! The class also inspired me to attend Peter Galison’s lecture at Rackham about the “Materiality of Time” – a superb presentation and well worth the special effort to get there.
UMS is renowned for creating excellent educational materials for K-12 students and teacher-preparation packets. It’s wonderful to see an equally outstanding series for adult audiences. Kudos to all for producing such enriching, engaging programs – and keep them coming!
"by Anne Glendon
People are Talking: UMS Presents Yuja Wang at Hill Auditorium [plus AUDIO]:
What a gift, thank you to UMS for bringing this stunning talent to Ann Arbor. This was an illuminating performance, I expect and hope to see Yuja Wang in Ann Arbor many times in the coming years!
People are Talking: UMS Presents Yuja Wang at Hill Auditorium [plus AUDIO]:
I couldn’t have said it better Cynthia!
That was the most amazing piano playing I have ever heard. Juja Wang sang out the melody no matter where it was: imbedded in exceptionally difficult passages, in the inner fingers, bringing it forth with gorgeous tone from the first note she sounded. I felt she must be imagining either visual images or dance-like movement—-in any case it made me see splashes of images and movement. I know nothing about Juja except that I went to her concert and I’m so glad I did. Never have I heard the tones, the lyricism and the technical brilliance that she played with. Brava! I’m glad we all had a chance to hear her. Thanks, UMS and Juja, and thanks for the great program, including the encores!
"by Cynthia Page-Bogen
People Are Talking: The Importance of Being Earnest:
Phenomenal! The performances were pitch perfect, the play also perfect. What an opportunity. Thank you for making it possible for us to participate and enjoy this remarkable broadcast. Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell, an evening of sheer perfection!
Question of the Month: What are Your Summer Arts Plans?:
We have been living in Hermance, Switzerland since the end of February. So we have been to many of the great art museums in Europe. This includes, but isn't limited to, the Louvre, the D'Orsay, museums and churches in Florence, Rome, Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Paris, Basel, Krakow, Madrid, and many many others! We attended an amazing concert to dedicate a huge new arts complex in Lugano, Switzerland. It was a night of opera, orchestral music (mainly opera overtures), dance (a la Cirque de Soleil style), fireworks, food and fun. We just happened to arrive in Lugano, eat dinner, take a walk and wander into this amazing evening. This weekend is a weekend of street music in Geneva, near the village we are living in. And then when we return to A2 we'll be gearing up for all the Art Fair and Summer Festival events awaiting us! A summer of art and music!