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HUGH MASEKELA & LARRY WILLIS

Pollak Theatre

Hugh Masekela, a world-renowned flugelhornist, trumpeter, bandleader, composer, singer, and defiant political voice, combines his talents with powerhouse pianist Larry Willis for a show of epic proportions. These two giants of the jazz world put on a one-of-a-kind show together, after decades of cultivating careers apart. Willis and Masekela met while they were both students at the Manhattan School of Music some 50 years ago. After coming under the tutelage of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong, Masekela went on to carve out a five-decade-long (and counting) career, releasing over 40 solo albums. His 1986 anti-apartheid anthem “Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)” became a rallying call around the world for Mandela’s release from prison. At the same time, Willis has performed or recorded with almost every great jazz musician of the modern era, including Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw, Cannonball and Nat Adderley, and Stan Getz. Don’t miss this rare chance to watch these two jazz legends (and dear friends) perform together.

$35; $45; $60 (Gold circle)

MET OPERA: Tannhäuser (Encore)

Pollak Theatre

James Levine conducts Wagner’s early masterpiece in its first return to the Met stage in more than a decade. Today’s leading Wagnerian tenor Johan Botha takes on the daunting title role, opposite soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Elisabeth, adding another Wagner heroine to her Met repertoire after her acclaimed Sieglinde in the Ring a few seasons ago. On the heels of his recent triumph in Parsifal, baritone Peter Mattei sings Wolfram, and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung is the love goddess, Venus.

Tickets on sale Friday, July 24

$23

Visiting Writer: Ed Hirsch

The Great Hall Auditorium

Edward Hirsch, a MacArthur Fellow, has published nine books of poems, including The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems (2010), which brings together thirty-five years of work, and Gabriel: A Poem (2014), a book-length elegy that The New Yorker called “a masterpiece of sorrow.” He has also written five prose books, among them A Poet’s Glossary (2014), a complete compendium of poetic terms, and How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry (1999), a national bestseller. He has received numerous awards and fellowships, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature. He taught in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston for seventeen years. He now serves as president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Festival of World Languages and Cultures

The Great Hall Auditorium

The Festival of World Languages and Cultures showcases the talents of students and faculty from the Department of World Languages and Cultures. Performances include poetry readings, singing, dancing, instrumental and acting productions all in the target language the students are studying. In addition, students create posters and cook authentic dishes from the target language country […]

ART NOW: Coco Fusco- Observations of Predation in Humans, A Lecture by Dr. Zira, Animal Psychologist

Pollak Theatre

The Chimp psychologist from Plant of the Apes is back! Zira travelled back in time to visit us 20 years ago and narrowly escaped death at the hands of the paranoid humans who could not tolerate the idea of other primates as equals. After living in seclusion for 20 years and conducting ethological studies of our species from her hideout, she has emerged in order to share her findings relating to aggressive behavior in members of the home genus. Her lecture is introduced by esteemed posthuman cultural theorist Donna Haraway and is followed by a question and answer session with human audience members. Dr. Zira draws on the cutting edge research in the fields of neuroscience, primatology and evolutionary biology to interpret the predatory activities of human beings in postindustrial societies around the world.

One Last Waltz: A Celebration of the music and legacy of The Band.

Pollak Theatre

Glen Burtnik, Salvatore Boyd, Bob Burger & Arne Wendt, performing as The Band, will be joined by local and national talent to recreate not only the music but the celebration, camaraderie and talent that took over the stage November 25 back in 1976.

MET OPERA: Lulu (Broadcast in HD)

Pollak Theatre

Tickets on sale Friday, July 24. Acclaimed artist and director William Kentridge (The Nose) applies his unique theatrical vision to Berg’s notorious femme fatale who shatters lives, including her own. Musically, the masterful score is in the sure hands of Met Music Director James Levine. Soprano Marlis Petersen has excited audiences around the world with her portrayal of the tour-de-force title role, a wild journey of love, obsession, and death. Susan Graham joins a winning cast, including Daniel Brenna and Johan Reuter.

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