Five Draws of Duke Performances’ New Season

Duke Performances’ 2015-16 season will bring an Ethiopian jazz singer, classical Indian violinist, the Vienna Boys’ Choir and more to Duke and Durham concert halls. The new season of music, theater and dance performances was announced by Duke this week and will run mid-September through April of 2016.  “This season is a little bolder,” said Aaron Greenwald, executive director of Duke Performances. “It’s a little more gutsy. We’re excited about that, while still being absolutely world-class.” Here are five reasons to pick up Duke Performances tickets this season: Ticket discounts for Duke faculty, staff and studentsThere are four different opportunities to save on Duke Performances tickets. Duke employees receive 15 percent off nearly every show in the season; Duke student tickets are $10. Tickets for patrons 30 years old and younger are $15. Or, anyone can pick four or more tickets in the season, to include shows at Carolina Theatre and the Durham Performing Arts Center, and receive a 25-percent discount.

Single tickets for all 2015-16 season performances go on sale July 14. The pick four or more discount is available starting June 23 at 11 a.m. The $10 Duke student tickets and $15 tickets for ages 30 and under go on sale August 25. A tribute to North Carolina Though Duke Performances brings in artists from all over the world, artists on the 2015-16 lineup have North Carolina ties.Rhiannon Giddens, from the Grammy-winning string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, will perform Sept. 25 in Page Auditorium, one of the first concerts to be held in the newly renovated campus auditorium, which has been under construction since July of 2014. Hiss Golden Messenger, performing on Nov. 13 and 14 in Reynolds Industries Theater on Duke campus, is an indie-folk project of Durham-based M.C. Taylor that will pair American vernacular music with mining photographs from Duke’s David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library.“We reflect our community, and our community is very diverse, both at Duke and in Durham and the Triangle,” said Ariel Fielding, marketing director for Duke Performances. “If you don’t see yourself reflected in cultural programming, then it’s not going to speak to you, so we present a wide range of the best artists from North Carolina and around the world.”A focus on hip-hop music This season provides a unique opportunity to learn more about hip-hop music and dance, said Greenwald, Duke Performances’ executive director. Performances include French-Chilean MC Ana Tijoux on Oct. 8 at Motorco Music Hall; Ghanaian-American rapper Blitz the Ambassador on Feb. 11 at Motorco; and hip-hop dance company Rennie Harris Puremovement on Oct. 23 and 24 in Reynolds Industries Theater. A piano recital series For audience members who love piano music, Duke Performances presents six piano concerts this season, to include Murray Perahia, a three-time Grammy-winning concert pianist who has recorded renditions of works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and others. A concert pays homage to Duke’s John Hope FranklinDuke University is commemorating the 100th birthday of the late renowned historian John Hope Franklin with a year of events honoring his legacy. Franklin was a James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History and helped shape the field of African-American history. He died in 2009 at 94 years old. As part of this commemoration, Duke Performances has arranged a special concert that will feature Imani Winds, an African-American wind ensemble, and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a sixteen-voice a cappella ensemble that began in 1871 at Franklin’s alma mater, Fisk University. The show will be Oct. 29 in Baldwin Auditorium. “Dr. Franklin was a man of incredible elegance, so we had to figure out just the right thing that would have been exciting to him,” Greenwald said.