"Tsujii kept the audience spellbound from start to completion. He received an instantaneous and sustained ovation, a tribute to his character and also to musicianship that is unpretentious and edifying," wrote Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Once every four years, a select few young pianists emerge victorious from the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: “the most prestigious classical piano contest in the world” (Chicago Tribune). On June 7, 2009, Nobuyuki Tsujii was named one of two Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medalists from the Thirteenth Cliburn Competition, and was awarded a significant cash prize, CD recording, and three years of international concert engagements.

Nobuyuki Tsujii’s performance credits include the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. At the age of twelve, he made noted recital debuts at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. An acclaimed debut album released by Avex classics in 2007 led to a fifteen-city tour of Japan and a second CD featuring Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, released in 2008. Blind since birth, Mr. Tsujii states his firm belief that “there are no barriers in the field of music.” He participates in the performer’s program at the Ueno Gakuen College of Music in Tokyo.

Experience the thrill of the Cliburn while celebrating the gifts of a young virtuoso when we present Mr. Tsujii in a special solo performance. If you are a piano enthusiast, you will not want to miss this concert!

For more than 70 years, the Ukraine’s professional dance company has won the hearts of audiences around the world with its passionate performances exhibiting the romance and exquisite charm of Ukrainian folk dancing. The color, beauty and folk tradition of the Ukraine are trademarks of this 85-member ensemble that celebrates the spirit of a culture through dance. By combining brilliant ballet techniques with traditional Ukrainian folk dance, founder Pavlo Virsky created a company that gained worldwide acclaim for its technically superb and innovative choreography. Now under the direction of Artistic Director Myroslav Vantukh, this dance troupe has charmed audiences all over the world with its diverse programs that embrace the charm and tradition of Ukrainian folk dance.

Each and every performance is a romantic, elevated, passionate and exciting show. The ensemble’s diverse concert programs presenting the exquisite charm of Ukranian folk dancing and the wealth of its traditions have been warmly received by audiences all over the world. The history of the ensemble goes back to 1937 when Pavlo Virsky and Mykola Bolotov, well-known Ukranian ballet-masters, brought together a group of folk dancers.

From 1955 to 1975, Pavlo Virsky headed the ensemble, and his outstanding talent was magnificently implemented in the performances of the company. It was under his guidance that the ensemble matured into a highly professional dance company whose art has won the hearts of countless reviewers and the general public around the world. Myroslav Vantukh, Pavlo Virsky’s disciple and great expert in folk traditions and ethnography, has been in charge of the ensemble since 1980. His main objective and continuing creative quest is the careful preservation and development of folk choreographic art.

The ensemble has toured Austria, Great Britain, Argentina, Bulgaria, Brazil. Belgium. Venezuela, Greece, Ecuador, Italy, India, Spain, Canada, Columbia, China, Cuba, Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, Germany, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, the United States of America, Hungary, France, France, Czech Republic, Chile and Switzerland. The foreign press has been unanimous about the high artistic and professional qualities of the company.

Called “the finest choreographer the British modern-dance scene has ever known” by The New York Times and “a choreographer for whom every dance is a love affair with his chosen music” by The Times of London, Richard Alston brings his phenomenal company to Houston for the first time. In a synthesis of extraordinary dancing, evocative lighting and lyrical music, Alston’s dances are unforgettable for their purity.

Launched in 1994 to great critical acclaim, Richard Alston Dance Company has grown into one of Britain’s most avidly followed contemporary companies and is Britain’s largest independent company. It offers a unique combination of the innovative and the entertaining in the work of its Artistic Director, Richard Alston, who in 2008 celebrated 40 years of award winning dance making.

In building its repertoire, Richard Alston Dance Company focuses on Alston’s new choreography, but combines this with the re-creation of seminal past works from Alston’s career. Music plays a vital part in the Company’s identity and since its inception Alston has used the work of a diverse range of composers including Brahms, Britten, Hoagy Carmichael, Monteverdi, Rameau, Shostakovich and Stravinsky. In 1997, in collaboration with London Sinfonietta, Alston presented a new program of choreography for Secret Theatres: The Harrison Birtwistle Retrospective at the South Bank.

The composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim is the most important artist to work in the American musical theater over the past half-century. He has not only collaborated on more than a dozen landmark shows and written countless standard songs but has also been the single most influential force in bringing the Broadway musical into the modern age. In 2008 Mr. Sondheim agreed to accept a limited number of “rare” appearances with New York Times columnist and former chief drama critic Frank Rich.

During the live, unscripted conversation, Mr. Sondheim and Mr. Rich will reminisce about Stephen Sondheim’s career including his collaborations with Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins and Tim Burton; predecessors, including his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II; the state of American musical theater; the differences between film and theater; and, in a very personal series of reflections, his own creative process, speaking specifically on works ranging from his early shows Gypsy and West Side Story to such later classics as Company, Follies and Sweeney Todd.

It is an evening conversation that offers a most personal and engaging view of Stephen Sondheim and his life in the theatre.

In a word, Mariza is sensational. Having risen to even greater heights on the international music scene since SPA presented her in 2007, she represents the new face of Fado, the traditional music of Portugal. Supported by her impressive acoustic trio, her voice is a gorgeous, evocative instrument, and she sings with bravura and power. “Mariza is the music's biggest star for a reason: She sings it not as musty nostalgia but as exuberant twenty-first-century pop,” says Rolling Stone.

Mariza began singing Fado as a child, before she could read. Her father sketched out little cartoon stories to help her remember the lyrics. At the age of five, she would join in the spontaneous singing at her parent's restaurant in Mouraria, one of Lisbon’s most traditional neighborhoods. Mariza was born in Mozambique, but her family moved to Portugal when she was a baby, giving her plenty of time to get immersed directly in the Fado Houses where singing is part of everyday life. “They all stand on emotions,” says Mariza, “Fado is an emotional kind of music full of passion, sorrow, jealousy, grief, and often satire.”

Mariza walks the fine line necessary to both genuinely carry the tradition of Fado and bring it freshness for today. Her performance style captures the raw emotion that characterizes the genre, but with her own personal twist. Mariza is a performer who has it all - charisma, stunning looks, a voice to die for and shows that deal in musical passion and drama. With her heart breaking voice, she performs with graceful, dramatic gestures, leaving slender wistful notes hanging in the air. If you cannot understand Portuguese, there is no problem. The way she sings Fado communicates directly to the soul and the emotions, tugging at the heart with a performance that speaks of longing, love and nostalgia.

Mariza’s latest album Terra is the first masterpiece of a new breathing cycle. Mariza sums it all up in one word: “truth.” And she adds: “During seven years of international tours, I had the chance of discovering other peoples and cultures. I watched and I listened. I learned. This is my moment. This is my truth. I’ve always been true to myself, and I’ve always been true to my fans. And I wanted this album to show them my progress as a singer and a human being. My two previous albums, Transparente and Concerto Em Lisboa were like the end of a cycle to me. This new album, I’ve decided to call it Terra. Why? Maybe because I always have my feet firmly planted on the ground, and also because recording it was like going on a musical journey. Inevitably...”

Led by Houston Ballet’s former choreographic associate, this ground-breaking contemporary ballet company makes its Houston debut. What makes Trey McIntyre’s choreography unique is “in the rhythm” says Los Angeles Times. He makes “brainy choices about a dance’s tempo, harmony and timbre.” Among other dances, the SPA program will include his latest work (serious), a trio set to the music of Henry Cowell. “McIntyre's approach to dance is ingrained in classical technique and movement, but (with (serious)) he is moving into new territory,” says Idaho Statesman.

“Our goal is to use the inherent beauty of ballet vocabulary to create dances that authentically and clearly convey the emotion and grace of life’s journey, while meaningfully engaging audiences in the experience of art,” says Trey McIntyre, Artistic Director. Three short years ago, Trey McIntyre Project (TMP) burst onto the national dance scene with its debut performances at The Vail International Dance Festival. TMP’s “fresh and forward-thinking choreography” (Washington Post) was an immediate sensation with both critics and audiences alike.

Led by celebrated choreographer Trey McIntyre, whose work has been commissioned by American Ballet Theatre, Stuttgart Ballet, and many other top ballet companies around the world, TMP also boasts an ensemble of top professional dancers, who have danced with companies such as The Washington Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Ballet Memphis and Oregon Ballet Theatre.

Since its inaugural season, the Company has gone on to perform at some of the most prestigious venues in the country, including Jacob’s Pillow, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, and the Aspen Dance Festival, premiering works created during annual summer residencies at White Oak Plantation. Guided by the choreographer’s unparalleled ear for musical structures, TMP’s repertoire spans classical music (The Blue Boy to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1), rock (A Day in the Life, set to music by The Beatles and High Lonesome to music by Beck), jazz (Sacred Ellington, a collaboration with opera legend Jessye Norman and Blue Until June to music by Etta James), and historic bluegrass music selections (Go Out).

TMP was initially formed as a summer touring company. Because of the overwhelmingly positive critical reception of the Company’s work since its founding in 2004 and the success of its operational model, TMP incorporated as a non-profit entity in order to be able to support a full-time, international touring company. TMP will debut the Company in its new form in a 30-city tour across the United States and abroad during the 2008-09 season. McIntyre’s ambitious new multi-media ballet The Sun Road about the effects of global warming, commissioned jointly by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and Glacier National Park for its Face of America program, will premiere in the summer of 2009 as part of the Company’s tour across America.

“The most accomplished pianist of the new generation” (The New York Times), Norway’s international piano star Leif Ove Andsnes debuts with Pictures Reframed, a fascinating, multimedia collaboration that is centered around Mussorgsky’s epic piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition with video installation by South African artist Robin Rhode. The program also includes a new work composed by Thomas Larcher and selections from Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op. 15 and Mussorgsky’s From Memories of Childhood. An afternoon extraordinaire!

Andsnes has been referred to as “an eminently sensual musician, an artist capable of grace and introspection” by the Financial Times whilst the BBC Music Magazine commented on “how hard it is to over-praise the vitality and distinction of this princely pianist.” Andsnes has recorded over 30 discs spanning repertoire from Bach to the present day, been nominated for seven Grammies and awarded many international prizes. His latest disc released in Spring 2009, entitled “Shadows of Silence”, features works by the Danish composer Bent Sørensen and the French Marc-André Dalbavie both of which works Leif Ove Andsnes premiered at New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Proms respectively.

This year also sees the culmination of several years of planning for a project centered around Mussorgsky’s epic piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition which will be premiered in New York in November and toured throughout Europe. Pictures Reframed sees the collaboration of Andsnes and South African artist Robin Rhode who is creating a video installation for a transcendental program which will culminate in Mussorgsky's masterpiece. EMI Classics will release the program on both CD and DVD, and Norwegian TV is documenting the project on film.

Leif Ove Andsnes has received Norway’s most distinguished honor, Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. In 2007, he received the prestigious Peer Gynt Prize, awarded by members of parliament to honor prominent Norwegians for their achievements in politics, sports, and culture. Andsnes has also received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist Award, the Gilmore Artist Award, four Gramophone Awards and seven Grammy nominations – including a nomination for this year’s Awards for his latest recording of Mozart piano concertos with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Saluting his many achievements, Vanity Fair named Andsnes one of the “Best of the Best” in 2005.

Andsnes was born in Karmøy, Norway, in 1970 and studied at the Bergen Music Conservatory under the renowned Czech professor Jiri Hlinka. Andsnes currently lives in Copenhagen and Bergen, and also spends much time at his mountain home in Norway’s western Hardanger area. He is a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, a Visiting Professor at the Royal Music Conservatory of Copenhagen and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

StatoilHydro is the Commissioning Sponsor of Pictures Reframed.

Celebrate the holidays with the sensational violinists of BOWFIRE and their fiddle-frenzied tour-de-force program featuring a Celtic Christmas, multicultural music-making, step dancing by world-class, award-winning performers, and such favorites as “Sleigh Ride”, “Silent Night and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” New audiences and all who have enjoyed BOWFIRE performances in the past alike will take delight in this one-of-a-kind BOWFIRE performance.

BOWFIRE has enjoyed several highly-successful tours of North America as a unique show that weaves together all genres and styles of music – pop, rock, classical, jazz, Celtic, bluegrass, country and distinctive ethnic styles – into one eclectic, stellar show that features an amazing variety of virtuosos and appeals to all musical tastes. All of these genres will influence a set list of the most-loved holiday songs of all time.

BOWFIRE is a fully-staged theatrical production. Some numbers incorporate step dancing and fiddling simultaneously, which rarely fails to garner standing ovations. The show’s range of musical styles takes the audience on a great journey.

The New York Times calls Mark Morris “the most successful and influential choreographer alive, and indisputably the most musical.”

From its early years as, essentially, Mark Morris and a group of friends, to its contemporary status as a burgeoning dance institution, the Mark Morris Dance Group has stayed true to its founder’s convictions, especially dancing with live music performed by some of the world’s best musicians. Mark Morris Dance Group performances are not just dance at the highest level, but simultaneously, concert-going at the highest level.

For its SPA performances, the Company will perform Excursions with music by Samuel Barber; the tour de force Going Away Party to the music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys; the powerful Italian Concerto, danced to the J.S. Bach score; and the astonishing Grand Duo, considered “one of the masterpieces of the late 20th century” (The Guardian) with music by Lou Harrison.

The Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) was formed in 1980 and gave its first concert that year in New York City. The company’s touring schedule steadily expanded to include cities both in the U.S. and in Europe, and in 1986 it made its first national television program for the PBS series Dance in America. In 1988, MMDG was invited to become the national dance company of Belgium, and spent three years in residence at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. The company returned to the United States in 1991 as one of the world’s leading dance companies, performing across the U.S. and at major international festivals.

Based in Brooklyn, NY, the company has maintained and strengthened its ties to several cities around the world, most notably its West Coast home, Cal Performances in Berkeley, CA, and its Midwest home, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, IL. MMDG also appears regularly in New York City, NY; Boston, MA; Fairfax, VA; Seattle, WA; and at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, MA. MMDG made its debut at the Mostly Mozart Festival in 2002 and at the Tanglewood Music Festival in 2003 and has since been invited to both festivals annually. The company’s London seasons have garnered two Laurence Olivier Awards.

STOMP, the international sensation, is making its triumphant return to Houston. The return of the percussive hit also brings some new surprises, with some sections of the show now updated and restructured and the addition of two new full-scale routines, utilizing props like tractor tire inner tubes and paint cans. “After creating new routines for STOMP OUT LOUD in Vegas, [co-creator] Luke Cresswell and I decided it was time to rework elements of our main production, STOMP,” said co-creator Steve McNicholas. “STOMP has evolved a great deal ever since its first incarnation at the Edinburgh Festival. Every reworking has involved losing some pieces and gaining new ones, but has always stayed true to the original premise of the show: to create rhythmic music with instantly recognizable objects, and do it with an eccentric sense of character and humor.”

The changes that can now be seen in the tour of STOMP are the biggest since the late 1990’s. A new piece “Paint Cans” evolved out of the “Boxes” routine in the Las Vegas show and “Donuts” is a piece that implements huge tractor tire inner tubes, worn around the waist on a bungee cord. For many years, the creators had looked for a STOMP equivalent of the Latin percussion instrument the guiro, a gourd-shaped open-ended instrument with ridges along the side that are rubbed by a wooden stick to create its sound. The climactic trashcan sequence “Bins” has been restructured to include a guiro-like new found instrument: strip-lighting recycling containers.

From its beginnings as a street performance in the UK, STOMP has grown into an international sensation over the past fourteen years, having performed in over 350 cities in 36 countries worldwide. STOMP continues its phenomenal run with the ongoing sell-out Off-Broadway production at New York's Orpheum Theatre, a North American tour, and two productions overseas - a London company and a European tour.

STOMP, an overwhelming success marked by rave reviews, numerous awards and sell-out engagements, is the winner of an Olivier Award for Best Choreography (London's Tony Award), a New York Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatre Experience, and a Special Citation from Best Plays. The young performers “make a rhythm out of anything we can get our hands on that makes a sound,” says co-creator/director Luke Cresswell. Stiff-bristle brooms become a sweeping orchestra; Zippo lighters flip open and closed to create a fiery fugue; wooden poles thump and clack in a rhythmic explosion. STOMP uses everything but conventional percussion instruments – trashcans, tea chests, plastic bags, plungers, boots, and hubcaps – to fill the stage with compelling and infectious rhythms.

Critics and audiences have raved: “STOMP is as crisp and exuberant as if it had opened yesterday,” says The New York Times. The San Francisco Chronicle declares “STOMP has a beat that just won’t quit!” The Los Angeles Times exclaims: “Electrifying! Triumphs in the infinite variety of the human experience.” “A phenomenal show! Bashing, crashing, smashing, swishing, banging and kicking – a joyous invention!” says the Chicago Tribune.

The Irish Guards were formed on April 1, 1900 on the expressed wish of HM Queen Victoria to commemorate the bravery of the many Irish Regiments who had fought in the South African campaigns. The Regimental Band was formed at about the same time and consisted initially of 35 musicians and a Warrant Officer, Mr C H Hassell, who was the Bandmaster. The Band quickly gained a reputation for excellence and in 1905 was invited to make what turned out to be the first of many tours of Canada. The people of Toronto were so impressed with the band's performance that they presented the Band with a large and very ornate Silver Cup that remains a cherished possession of the Band today.

Over the years the Band has toured extensively visiting Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Germany, Hong Kong, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Japan. In 2010, The Band of the Irish Guards will make its debut tour of the United States of America. It was in Japan where the band was accorded the unique honor of being the first band ever to play in the Imperial Palace in the presence of the Empress and the 2 Crown Princesses. The Band has toured Australia twice, once in 1957 for 10 weeks as part of a world tour, and more recently in 2004 for a six-week concert tour of both Australia and New Zealand. The latter consisted of 27 performances, which took in all the major cities and included the Sydney Opera House.

With a current establishment of 49 musicians, the band has a variety of professional ensembles that include a Concert Band, Marching Band, Salon Orchestra, Dance Band, Fanfare Trumpeters and several other smaller ensembles. The band's main duty is to play, in turn with the other 4 Foot Guards Bands, for the Mounting of The Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace and for state ceremonial occasions and public duties such as Investitures, State Visits, Royal Weddings, Guards of Honour, Royal Garden Parties and, of course, The Queen's Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour).

The Band has made many broadcast and recordings over the years and in the 1950's was chosen to give the UK premier performance of Paul Hindemith's Symphony for Concert Band live on air. The Band has also appeared on television (most notably for the Queen's 80th Birthday Celebration in Windsor recently), and in films (The Ipcress File starring Michael Caine). Upon retirement from the Service a number of musicians have continued their careers with the National Orchestras, which included the Halle, the BBC Symphony and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

In addition to their musical activities, the Irish Guard musicians are trained to give support to the Army Medical Services in the event of mobilization. Three of our musicians served in the first Gulf War of 1990/1991 and in June 1999 the band was deployed to Kosovo as part of a NATO Peace-keeping force.

Brazil’s internationally acclaimed guitarist and vocalist and former Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil brings his unique sound, incorporating an eclectic range of influences—from reggae, samba and forró to rock and African music—to Houston for one night only.

Gilberto Gil has developed one of the most relevant and renowned careers as a singer, composer and guitar-player in both world and pop music. In a career that has spanned four decades with over 30 albums released, Gil has six gold records, four platinum singles and five million records sold. The Tropicalist genre he introduced, alongside Caetano Veloso, has secured his fame internationally as well as at home in Brazil. His extensive and prolific catalogue of work has been covered and recorded by João Gilberto, Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Sérgio Mendes, Ernie Watts, and Toots Thielmans.

Over the years, his political and environmental activism gained prominence alongside his musical career and reached a new height in 2002 when he was appointed minister of culture for Brazil. As a musician and as a diplomat, Gil possesses a key role in the constant modernization of Brazilian popular music and culture throughout the world. Gil has delved deeply into the vertiginous waters of the digital revolution and its accelerated information highway. He wants his music to use all of these means of communication including mobile phones, the internet, cable, digital TV, ringtones, truetones, downloads, etc.

Since the days of Tropicália, Gil has long demonstrated his interest and fascination with this subject. The most obvious example is the Grammy Award-winning double album Quanta (1997) in which he assembled a large part of his reflections on art/science and new technologies. The album was previewed by the pioneering launch of Gil’s website in April of 1996, and through the on-line broadcast, that same year of “Pela Internet,” the first Brazilian song to be officially released through the internet in real time. “BANDA LARGA” (Broad Band), the album and the tour, reaffirm Gil’s irreversible engagement with the new rules and compasses of the universe of bits and bytes, embracing all of the risks and challenges. This theme that has fascinated him for more than 30 years characterized a previous tour outside of North America, also called Banda Larga, in which Gil made available as much of his work as possible for webcasts, podcasts, cellcasts, etc.

Legendary Broadway and film artists and former child performers—composer Marvin Hamlisch (The Way We Were and A Chorus Line) and actor Joel Grey (Cabaret)—team up for this one-of-a-kind concert experience.

The composer of the musicals A Chorus Line, They’re Playing Our Song, The Goodbye Girl, and Sweet Smell of Success and films including The Way We Were, The Sting, Sophie’s Choice, Ice Castles, and Bananas, Marvin Hamlisch has become the preeminent pops artist of our time. He has won virtually every major award that exists: three Oscars, four Grammies, three Emmys, a Tony, three Golden Globe awards and the Pulitzer Prize.

Academy and Tony Award-winner Joel Grey takes the audience on a virtual tour of his career – singing, dancing and story-telling – about shows like Cabaret, George M!, and Chicago, tells autobiographical tales regarding his father, the legendary Yiddish comedian Mickey Katz, and sings songs by Kander & Ebb, Rodgers and Hart, Billy Joel, and more. He considers the audience his co-star – in other words, you won’t see a line of dancing girls behind him.

It’s a natural for Joel Grey and Marvin Hamlisch to share the same stage, as their friendship goes back many years to when they worked together on the very first tour Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey tour in 1973. Here is your exclusive chance to join them for one special evening!

Direct from South Africa, the 26-member Soweto Gospel Choir is an awe-inspiring vocal ensemble, performing in six different languages, in a stunning program of tribal, traditional and popular African gospel music as well as other inspiring songs. Earthy rhythms, rich harmonies, a cappella and charismatic performances combine to uplift the soul and express South Africa's great hopes for the future.

Under the direction of notable choirmaster David Mulovhedzi and South African Director and Executive Producer Beverly Bryer, the Soweto Gospel Choir, draws on the best talent from the many churches and communities in and around Soweto. Since the Choir began touring internationally in early 2003, they have performed to nightly standing ovations, sold-out houses and rave reviews.

The choir is particularly concerned for families/establishments caring for orphans in the townships who receive no government or outside sponsorship and in most cases, feed and clothe these orphans from their meager earnings or old age pensions. As a result, the choir has opened its own Aids Orphans foundation called Vukani (Zulu for Get Up, Do Something!). Administered as a joint association by Nkosi's Haven and the Soweto Gospel Choir, the charity supports these families by purchasing food, clothes or products that are needed. The choir takes an active part in meeting the orphans and families as their way of giving back to society.

South African gospel music is indeed unique. It has strong roots in traditional music and conveys a powerful spiritual message. The Soweto Gospel Choir carries forward this rich heritage, celebrating the spirit of South Africa.

Sitting in a semicircle and playing music in a lively conversation, this nine-member string ensemble performs more than 350 concerts a year in Venice at the San Vidal Church, where Vivaldi used to play. Now the group sprinkles Venetian magic wherever they tour. From the Bayreuth Festival to the Tokyo Suntory Hall, audiences and critics alike have applauded the Interpreti Veneziani for the high level of their playing and their expertise as soloists and ensemble musicians. Their Houston debut program features Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Paganini’s La Campanella, Handel’s Concerto Grosso, and Preludio e Allegro by Pugnani/Kreisler.

The Interpreti Veneziani made their debut in 1987, immediately gaining a reputation for the youthful exuberance and all-Italian brio characterizing their performances. Their important achievements include appearances in the Bayruth Festival, concerts at Stockholm’s Royal Palace, participation in the World Vision telemarathon at the Kirov Theatre to mark the reinstatement of the name St. Petersburg, a concert at the Osaka Symphony Hall in live broadcast for Japanese radio, concerts at the Tokyo Suntory Hall and Kjoi Hall and appearances in glamorous concert seasons such as those of Sapporo and Yokohama during four tours of Japan.

The Interpreti Veneziani have toured Australia twice and have been invited many times to Mexico and Central and South America. They toured the U.S. for the first time in 2007, followed by tours in 2008 and 2009. For the last 20 years, the Interpreti Veneziani have performed their own season consisting of more than 200 concerts at Venice’s San Vidal Church.

Brilliant Canadian choreographer Aszure Barton has burst on the scene with “works that are quirky, deep, cheeky, and poignant,” says The Globe and Mail. Mikhail Baryshnikov calls her dances “extraordinary” and “uncompromising.” She has choreographed for Sydney Dance Company, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, The Juilliard School, films, and the Broadway stage. Now she brings her own company of consummate, dazzling dancers to Houston in her latest work Busk, set to Russian composer Ljova’s gypsy-inspired score, and Blue Soup, a collage of highlights from recent works, including A Travelling Show, Mais Oui, and Come In.

Aszure Barton and Artists is an organization dedicated to the growth of artists and production of contemporary dance performance. Since its founding in 2002, the company has developed its activities as an international contemporary dance project based in New York City. With her intimate ensemble, Aszure Barton continues to develop critically acclaimed productions around the globe. These works have toured to Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Asia, Africa, Canada, and the United States.

Her creative process is rooted in a celebration of music and movement, and a love for collaboration with dancers, filmmakers, designers, photographers and musicians. Her work explores the tragic and comic drives within the human body and psyche, often dramatizing inner thoughts and impulses, using idiosyncratic movements to paint a psychological portrait. Like a danced form of Commedia Dell’arte, the work looks at how our natural peculiarity, gestures and ways of moving can conjure up humor, cacophony, suspense and pathos – revealing a rich, dynamic landscape.

Born and raised in Alberta, Canada, where she studied with Cathy Hauptman, Sandra Gray, and Deborah Morgan, Barton has been dancing and making dances since early childhood. She received her formal training at the National Ballet School in Toronto, where, as a student, she helped originate the ongoing Stephen Godfrey Choreographic Showcase. She also studied at The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Alberta Ballet School, and the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart, Germany. She has performed internationally with many celebrated dance companies including The National Ballet of Canada, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal [bjm_danse], Mikhail Baryshnikov's Hell's Kitchen Dance, Wendy Osserman Dance Company, and her own, Aszure Barton & Artists. She is the Resident Choreographer for Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal [bjm_danse], and has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center/BAC for 2005, 2006, and 2008.

Ms. Barton has been commissioned to choreograph new works for Mikhail Baryshnikov, Fang-Yi Sheu, Sydney Dance Company, The National Ballet of Canada, The Juilliard School, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal [bjm_danse], The Martha Graham Dance Company, American Ballet Theatre II, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and the UK Laban Institute, among others. Barton choreographed the Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera starring Alan Cumming, Jim Dale, Nellie Mackay, and Cyndi Lauper (in a new translation by Wallace Shawn, directed by Scott Elliott). She also choreographed an excerpt for the production of Salome starring Al Pacino, Kevin Anderson, and Jessica Chastain, directed by Estelle Parsons.

With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers. The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves that Sedaris is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today.

David Sedaris is the author of the bestsellers Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice, as well as collections of personal essays, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, each of which became immediate bestsellers. There are a total of seven million copies of his books in print and they have been translated into 25 languages. He is the editor of an anthology of stories, Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules: An Anthology of Outstanding Stories. His essays appear regularly in Esquire and The New Yorker. Sedaris and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name “The Talent Family” and have written several plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center, and The Drama Department in New York City. These plays include Stump the Host, Stitches, One Woman Shoe, which received an Obie Award, Incident at Cobbler’s Knob, and The Book of Liz, which was published in book form by Dramatist’s Play Service. His recent collection of essays, titled When You Are Engulfed in Flames, was published in June 2008.

David Sedaris’s original radio pieces can often be heard on This American Life, distributed nationally by Public Radio International and produced by WBEZ. In 2001, David Sedaris became the third recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He was named by Time magazine as “Humorist of the Year” in 2001. David Sedaris was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album (Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim) and Best Comedy Album (David Sedaris: Live at Carnegie Hall). Adult content.