May 15, 2014

Lied Center announces 25th anniversary season


Wynton Marsalis will open the Lied Center's 25th anniversary season on Sept. 26, leading the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. (publicity photo)

The Lied Center for Performing Arts at UNL celebrates its 25th anniversary season in 2014-15 with marquee artists in every art form. Highlights include performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Joshua Bell, the Chieftains and Broadway’s “Anything Goes.”

Tickets to all performances will be available for reservation as part of a season ticket package. If the performances are not sold out through season ticket orders, any remaining tickets will be available for single ticket purchase starting Aug. 19. Call the Lied Center Ticket Office at 402-472-4747 or go to http://www.liedcenter.org for more information.

“The Lied Center’s 25th anniversary season will feature the most incredible, well-known and celebrated talent in the world performing on the Lied Center stage,” said Bill Stephan, executive director. “The silver season will be filled with some of our patrons’ favorite artists from the Lied’s past alongside legends in the making. We will also host some of the most esteemed artists in the world who will remember the Lied’s 25th anniversary as defining their premiere performance on a Nebraska stage.”

The Lied Center will celebrate opening night Sept. 26 with one of the most influential performers in jazz music, nine-time Grammy Award-winner Wynton Marsalis leading the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Following is a schedule of performances by genre.

Jazz:

  • Sept. 26 – Wynton Marsalis leading the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra;

  • Nov. 20 – Grammy winner Kurt Elling in his Lied Center debut; and

  • March 28 – Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Broadway musicals:

  • Oct. 28-29 – “Sister Act”;

  • Nov. 10-11 – “Elf the Musical”;

  • Jan. 23-24 – Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes”;

  • Feb. 18-19 – “Nice Work if You Can Get It”;

  • March 6-7 – “Stomp”; and

  • April 10 – “Million Dollar Quartet.”

Classical music:

  • Oct. 7 – Lied Center Piano Series with Marc-Andre Hamelin;

  • Nov. 8 – “2,4,6,8!” The Lied Center and Sheldon Friends of Chamber Music celebrate joint anniversaries as the Escher Quartet makes its Lied debut, joining the Chiara Quartet;

  • Dec. 4 – 15-time Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma;

  • Jan. 13 – Lied Center Piano Series with Jonathan Biss;

  • Feb. 6 – Chicago Symphony Orchestra;

  • March 13 – Violinist Joshua Bell; and

  • April 25 – Lied Center Piano Series with Jon Nakamatsu, plus Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra and choirs from across Nebraska.

Comedy:

  • Oct. 9 – The Capitol Steps;

  • Nov. 7 – Paula Poundstone; and

  • Feb. 26 – The Second City.

Popular music:

  • Oct. 11 – The Midtown Men; and

  • Nov. 14 – Foreigner.

Folk and world music:

  • Oct. 17 – 14-time Grammy winner Ricky Skaggs with Kentucky Thunder;

  • Jan. 15 – Latin-jazz drummer Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Jazz Band; and

  • March 14 – The Chieftains.

Dance:

  • Oct. 24 – Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble;

  • Feb. 3 – Diavolo;

  • Feb. 14 – Suzanne Farrell and her ballet company from the Kennedy Center; and

  • April 7 – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Family:

  • Nov. 6 – “Out of Bounds”:

  • Jan. 21 – Jim Henson’s “Dinosaur Train Live”;

  • March 18 – Mummenschanz; and

  • April 2 – Okee Dokee Brothers.

Holiday:

  • Nov. 25 – Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Chip Davis; and

  • Dec. 18 – The King’s Singers.

Theater:

  • Feb. 21 – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” performed by the Montana Repertory Theatre;

  • April 16 – Church Basement Ladies and “The Last (Potluck) Supper”; and

  • April 30 – “Peter and the Starcatcher.”

Special events:

  • Sept. 4-5 – “Celebrate Nebraska,” a free event celebrating the finest talent in the state;

  • Sept. 18 – Golden Dragon Acrobats; and

  • March 21 – “Nebraska Sings,” uniting choirs from across the state in song, including the world premiere of “Let There be Music,” a newly commissioned choral work by nationally recognized composer and Nebraskan Kurt Knecht.

A season ticket package is an order of four or more events. Members of the public will receive a 10 percent discount for season ticket orders including four to seven events. Orders of eight or more events will receive a 20 percent discount. UNL students can place season ticket orders for three to five events and receive a 10 percent discount or six or more events at a 20 percent discount (in addition to the 50 percent discount all current UNL students receive on Lied Center tickets).

Season ticket seating assignments are made on a first-come, first-served basis. Donations to the Friends of Lied organization can provide advanced processing of season ticket orders or preferred seating. A $250 donation earns advanced processing of season orders while gifts of more than $1,000 earn preferred seating. For more information visit the Friends of Lied website, http://www.liedcenter.org/friends-lied.