The Mondavi Center hit the fall season running with HomeStage, their impressive lineup of virtual performances and events, and they continue their run with a new round of exciting online events beginning on Jan. 25 and running through June 6.
Once again, all performances are accessible remotely through the Mondavi Center’s HomeStage program, which streams from the presenter’s website MondaviArts.org. Prices ranges from free to $15, with discounts for current UC Davis students. Check individual events for details. Please note that except for Heartbeat Opera, each performance is only available on the date and time listed.
The kick-off event Jan. 25 features renowned trumpeter Wynton Marsalis with a who’s who of jazz soloists in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Septet. The group will premiere Marsalis’s The Democracy! Suite, a composition written during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis as a response to the political, social, and economic struggles facing our nation.
A free, virtual open-mic night follows on Feb. 10, with performances in music, poetry, dance, spoken word, comedy, and storytelling hosted by MC Denisha “Coco Blossom” Bland. Submit your prerecorded performance and share your skills with the community.
Heartbeat Opera has a weeklong run starting Feb. 20. Their new show is a song cycle mingling excerpts from Beethoven’s Fidelio with songs by Black composers and lyricists that projects a dream of justice and equity. The vision is brought to life by brought to life by three singers, three dancers, eight instrumentalists and vivid music videos.
The Exploded View From My Time Machine on March 13 is Jeremy Rourke’s “performance of expanded cinema works rooted in original music and experimental animation.” In this free, live event, Rourke will take his audience on an experimental journey melding stories, field recordings, and real-time interactions with projections that incorporate paper ephemera, photo-puppets, clay, paint, pens, pencils, lights, shadows, and flora.
Dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernández founded Ballet Folklórico de México in 1952, and the renowned troupe comes to the screen on March 19 to celebrate the music, dance, and costume of Mexican folklore from pre-Colombian civilizations through the modern era. The performance features the great Mexican ballet dancer Elisa Carillo and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional.
The beloved Alexander String Quartet makes three appearances this spring — April 25, May 16, and June 6 — with Mozart the focus of all three performances. As we noted in an earlier article, this is a historic year for the Alexander, as founding violist Paul Yarbrough retires and David Samuel joins the ranks. To celebrate the transition, the group will focus on some of Mozart’s most beautiful and less-well-known music: The ensemble will play five of the six viola quintets, giving Yarbrough and Samuel an opportunity to play together. The three-concert series concludes with the Clarinet Quintet, one of Mozart’s very last compositions.
UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance and Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank (C3T) present musical-comedy makeover of Shakespeare’s Juliet and Romeo by Tony Award-nominee Paul Gordon. This contemporary take on the Bard’s classic follows the hapless adventures of a second-rate author who is bound and determined to figure out how to transform the ending of the Bard’s classic tragedy into something sunnier.
Here’s the roster of upcoming music-related events at the Mondavi Center:
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis: Monday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Virtual Open Mic Night: Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Heartbeat Opera: Saturday, Feb. 20 thru Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Jeremy Rourke: Saturday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández: Friday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Alexander String Quartet: Sunday, April 25 at 2:00 p.m.
Alexander String Quartet: Sunday, May 16 at 2:00 p.m.
Alexander String Quartet: Sunday, June 6 at 2:00 p.m.
Juliet and Romeo: A New Musical: Thursday, June 3 thru Saturday, June 5 at 6:00 p.m.
