Performance Santa Fe announces its 2021-2022 season
Santa Fe, NM — Performance Santa Fe announced today its exciting 2021-2022 season. After a 15-month absence of live performances due to the pandemic, Performance Santa Fe delivers a robust lineup of world-class artists intended to take the organization’s strong decades-long legacy to the next level. “It’s been a challenging year for everyone, but we’re beyond thrilled to return to live performances and bring a little joy back to life,” Hilligus says. “Our 2021-2022 season reflects our continued commitment to build on PSF’s reputation as a cultural leader in Santa Fe’s thriving arts community and to expand the scope of our offerings.”
Contact Katie Rountree: katie@performancesantafe.org or 505 984 8759
The 2021-2022 Season
Performance Santa Fe’s 2021-2022 season runs from September 21, 2021 through May 27, 2022 and features 22 performances of music, dance, and theater at four venues across Santa Fe.
Highlights include some of the world’s most renowned performers resurrected from the canceled 2020-2021 season like Isabel Leonard, Martha Graham Dance Company,and Pinchas Zukerman, along with several new and sensational surprises like a duo recital with cellist Gautier Capuçon andpianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and a history-making collaborative project with Rhiannon Giddens and Nashville Ballet.
Performance Santa Fe’s offerings during its 2021-2022 season reflect Executive + Artistic Director Chad Hilligus’s commitment to canceled performances over the last fourteen months. “We felt it was important to bring as many artists back as possible,” says Hilligus.
With more offerings than ever before, Performance Santa Fe’s 2021-2022 season promises to be its best yet while setting a new standard for future programming.
PERFORMANCES
Chamber
Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Tuesday, September 21, 2021, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- Legendary Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin is celebrated worldwide for his unrivaled blend of consummate musicianship and brilliant technique. Hamelin is known for his renditions of the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his intrepid exploration of the rarities of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, earning him status as a true icon in the world of classical music. With 11 Grammy Award nominations, Hamelin makes his highly anticipated return to Santa Fe with a critically-acclaimed solo program that includes masterworks by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Ravel.
Chamber
Tessa Lark, violin
Tuesday, September 28, 2021, 8:00pm
Cathedral Basilica
Tickets: $35 – $95
- Violinist Tessa Lark is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time, consistently praised by critics and audiences for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, and musical elegance. In 2020 she was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category and received one of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Emerging Artist Awards. Other recent honors include a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Silver Medalist in the 9th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition. A budding superstar in the classical realm, she is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky. Don’t miss your chance to hear her “smoldering” (Washington Post), “high-energy” (The New York Times) playing in this intimate recital at the Cathedral Basilica!
Chamber
Yefim Bronfman, piano
Friday, October 22, 2021, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- Born in Tashkent, Israeli-American pianist Yefim Bronfman has performed in the world’s greatest halls and with its brightest musical luminaries. Recognized around the globe as one of the greatest pianists of our time, this “fabulous, fearsome” (Seattle Times) performer is admired by both audiences and critics alike for his “digital dexterity, warmly romantic sentiment, and jaw-dropping bravura” (Chicago Tribune). Over his decades-long career, Bronfman has earned an Avery Fisher Prize, seven Grammy nominations, and a Grammy Award. Especially known for his “sparkling” (The New York Times) performances of Beethoven, he presents a recital in Santa Fe entirely dedicated to the iconic composer.
Chamber
Jerusalem Quartet
with Pinchas Zukerman & Amanda Forsyth
Tuesday, November 2, 2021, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- One of the foremost ensembles in the world today, the acclaimed Jerusalem Quartet makes their Santa Fe debut with two very special guests — Pinchas Zukerman and Amanda Forsyth. With a celebrated international career encompassing five decades, Zukerman reigns as one of the world’s most sought-after and versatile musicians. He is renowned as a violin and viola virtuoso and admired for his expressive lyricism, singular tonal beauty, and impeccable musicianship. Rounding out this extremely rare sextet is Zukerman’s wife and Canadian Juno Award-winning cellist Amanda Forsyth, one of North America’s most dynamic cellists. With a powerful program of richly expressive works for string sextet by Bruckner, Dvorak, and Brahms, this will undoubtedly be an evening to remember.
Dance
Rhythmic Circus
Holiday Shuffle
Tuesday, November 30, 2021, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- There’s tap dancing and then there’s Rhythmic Circus—an internationally-renowned, 12-member live music and tap dance ensemble. Experiencing one of their adrenaline-soaked performances feels like witnessing the rebirth of an art form. Winner of the Edinburgh Festival “Spirit of the Fringe” Award, this percussive dance phenomenon is electrifying audiences around the globe with its hard-hitting, rapid-fire tap and earth-shattering energy. After a successful off-Broadway run and multiple national tours, Rhythmic Circus brings its signature style to Santa Fe for the first time ever with their new show, Holiday Shuffle. This holiday season, don’t miss out on a wildly-imaginative “not-so-silent night” of upbeat holiday classics the whole family can celebrate together.
Jazz
Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Salsa Navidad
Tuesday, December 7, 2021, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- There’s no easing you in with Spanish Harlem Orchestra — they come at you full force from start to finish. Led by pianist Oscar Hernández, this three-time Grammy Award-winning Latin jazz band sets the gold standard for excellence in authentic, New York-style, hard-core salsa. Now celebrating their 15th year, SHO is dedicated to the sounds of the barrio and their holiday show Salsa Navidad is no exception. With an unwavering respect for tradition, this 13-piece ensemble of world-class musicians and vocalists comes together to create an unparalleled holiday spectacular with salsa-fied Christmas standards and patented rhythmic panache.
Classical
Eighth Blackbird
Mixtape
Saturday, January 15, 2022, 7:30pm
St. Francis Auditorium
Tickets: $45 – $95
Four-time Grammy Award-winning new music ensemble Eighth Blackbird makes its Santa Fe debut with an eclectic program of career highlights spanning twenty-five years. Regarded as “one of the smartest, most dynamic contemporary classical ensembles on the planet” (Chicago Tribune), Eighth Blackbird first gained international attention in 1998 as the winners of the Concert Artists Guild Competition. Over the last two decades, this Chicago-based sextet has earned its status as a brand name defined by adventure, vibrancy, and quality. They were named Musical America’s 2017 Ensemble of the Year and in 2016 were the inaugural recipients of Chamber Music America’s Visionary Award as well as the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
Theater
Piaf! The Show
Tuesday, January 25, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- With a million tickets sold in more than 50 countries, Piaf! The Show, a musical celebration of the life and music of the legendary chanteuse Edith Piaf, makes its way to Santa Fe as part of an extended world tour. Conceived and directed by the Nice-based theatrical maverick Gil Marsalla and starring Anne Carrere, a young French performer hailed as Edith Piaf’s unparalleled musical heiress, Piaf! The Show premiered in 2015 on the centennial of Piaf’s birth and was inspired by the award-winning movie “La Vie En Rose.” Performed entirely in French, the show narrates the rags-to-riches story of the Parisian singer’s career through her unforgettable songs, complemented by a visual tapestry of previously unreleased photographs and captivating projections of famous Parisian landmarks of the Piaf era.
Chamber
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
The Complete Bach Cello Suites
Thursday, January 27, 2022, 7:30pm
St. Francis Auditorium
Tickets: $45 – $95
- Perhaps the leading cellist of her generation and a commanding, nuanced interpreter of an impressive range of repertoire, Alisa Weilerstein performs a marathon three-hour concert of Bach’s six complete cello suites in her Santa Fe recital debut—36 movements, entirely from memory. In addition to her extensive discography and demanding international concert schedule, Weilerstein became a MacArthur Fellow before the age of 30, is a recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Prize, and has been honored with an Avery Fisher Career Grant from Lincoln Center. This program will have two intermissions.
Jazz
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Tuesday, February 8, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- She’s back! Today’s reigning jazz vocalist returns to Santa Fe after her smash debut in 2017. The irrefutable heiress of the “Big Three” — Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald — Cécile McLorin Salvant has been making waves in the jazz world since she won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2010. Over the last decade, Salvant has skyrocketed from a favorite of jazz critics and dedicated fans to a multi-Grammy Award winner and one of the most important and fearless voices in music today. As Wynton Marsalis aptly put it, “you get a singer like this once in a generation or two.”
Classical
VOCES8
Sunday, February 20, 2022, 8:00pm
Cathedral Basilica
Tickets: $35 – $95
- Touring internationally to many of the world’s greatest concert halls, British vocal ensemble VOCES8 performs an extensive repertoire through both a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading orchestras, conductors, and soloists. Versatility and the celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble’s performance and educational ethos. A Decca Classics exclusive artist, VOCES8 has released multiple acclaimed recordings that have all reached the top of the classical music charts. The ensemble demonstrates the sheer beauty of voices in harmony through a vast range of repertoire from churches, courts, and concert halls alongside folk, jazz, and pop arrangements. The result is a rare mix of the ethereal and pure, toe-tapping fun.
Dance
Performance Santa Fe and The Santa Fe Symphony proudly present
Martha Graham Dance Company
The 75th Anniversary of Appalachian Spring
Friday, March 4, 2022, 7:30pm
Saturday, March 5, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- The Martha Graham Dance Company has been recognized as a primal artistic force since 1926. Thirty years after Graham’s ashes were ceremoniously scattered at El Santuario de Chimayó, the company she built into the world’s finest example of modern dance makes its long-awaited return to Santa Fe. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Aaron Copland’s most famous ballet, the dancers will be accompanied live by members of the Santa Fe Symphony playing the original 13-piece chamber orchestration. The program also includes The Auditions by choreographer Troy Schumacher and composer Augusta Read Thomas. This new work has been carefully designed to complement Graham’s classic and offer ways to consider the themes of Appalachian Spring in the modern world.
Chamber
Beatrice Rana, piano
Friday, March 11, 2022, 7:30pm
St. Francis Auditorium
Tickets: $45 – $95
- Italian pianist Beatrice Rana took the classical music world by storm when she won the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Since then, Rana has skyrocketed to international fame, arousing admiration from conductors, concert goers, and critics alike. Already having performed in most of the world’s major concert halls and festivals, Rana has garnered a slew of international awards, including the BBC 2015 New Generation Artist Award, Gramophone’s 2017 Young Artist of the Year, and a coveted spot on The New York Times’ Best Classical Music of 2019 list. Rana makes what is sure to be her unforgettable Santa Fe recital debut at the intimate St. Francis Auditorium with a program featuring works by Ravel, Scriabin, and Chopin.
Chamber
Ray Chen, violin
with Julio Elizalde, piano
Tuesday, March 15, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- World-renowned violinist Ray Chen redefines what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st century. Chen’s remarkable musicianship reaches a global audience that is reflected in his engagements with the foremost orchestras and concert halls around the world. Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Chen was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15 and was recently featured in Forbes’ List of the 30 most influential Asians under 30. With an online presence that reaches millions through his unprecedented social media following, Chen’s regularly sold-out appearances continue to draw an entirely new demographic to the concert hall. Chen plays the 1715 “Joachim” Stradivarius violin, once owned by famed Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.
Theater
Meow Meow
Pandemonium
Thursday, March 24, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- At last, an evening of pure CHAOS! Internationally acclaimed siren and comedienne extraordinaire Meow Meow brings her glorious brand of subversive and sublime cabaret performance to Santa Fe audiences for the very first time. The spectacular crowd-surfing queen of song creates an unforgettable evening of exquisite music and much mayhem. Prepare for Piazzolla tangos, Weill, Brecht, Brel, and even Radiohead alongside original chansons. Meow Meow is a worldwide phenomenon, from Shanghai to the dives of Berlin, from London’s glittering West End to Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House and was last seen with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall. You’ll laugh so hard it hurts.
Dance
Lucy Negro Redux
with Nashville Ballet & Rhiannon Giddens
Sunday, April 3, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- A 2019 world premiere by Nashville Ballet Artistic Director Paul Vasterling, Lucy Negro Redux explores the mysterious love life of literary great William Shakespeare through the perspective of the illustrious “Dark Lady” for whom many of his famed sonnets were written. Based on the book by Nashville poet Caroline Randall Williams, this history-making contemporary ballet explores themes of love, otherness, equality, and beauty as the narrator embarks on a journey to discover her own power and worth. Featuring an original score and live music by Grammy Award-winning artist and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Rhiannon Giddens and spoken word performed by Williams herself, Lucy Negro Redux is an imaginative drama brimming with wit and relevancy.
Classical
Los Romeros featuring Isabel Leonard
Tuesday, April 12, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- Known to millions as “The Royal Family of the Guitar,” Los Romeros celebrate sixty years as a veritable institution in the world of classical guitar music, dazzling audiences and winning rave reviews worldwide. Joining the quartet in celebrating their anniversary is multiple Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, who continues to thrill audiences in the world’s most prominent opera houses and concert halls. Together, Leonard and Los Romeros present a breathtaking Latin-inspired program including works by Federico García Lorca, Lorenzo Palomo, Manuel de Falla, and the world-premiere of “La Cita” by Douglas Cuomo.
Theater
Selected Shorts
Saturday, April 23, 2022, 7:30pm
Scottish Rite Temple
Tickets: $45 – $105
- It’s story time…for adults! Spellbinding short stories by both established and emerging writers take on new life when they are performed by stars of stage and screen. Experience the hit public radio series and podcast live for an evening of funny, moving, and unforgettable performances. Selected Shorts was conceived at Symphony Space in New York City in 1985 with one simple premise — great short stories performed by great actors. Flash-forward more than 30 years, and Selected Shorts is broadcast on over 150 radio stations around the country, with more than 100,000 downloads every week. The live performances at Symphony Space and on the road enjoy sold-out performances to this day. Each Selected Shorts is a completely original and unique evening of literature brought to life. Actors will be announced closer to the performance date.
Chamber
Gautier Capuçon, cello & Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Tuesday, May 3, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- With his “exceptional technical command” and “luminous style” (Le Monde de la Musique), formidable and acclaimed cellist Gautier Capuçon joins forces with the masterful Jean-Yves Thibaudet, “unquestionably, one of the best pianists in the world” (OpusColorado). This exhilarating showcase of the French duo’s combined prowess includes Schumann, Brahms, and breathtaking cello sonatas by Debussy and Shostakovich.
Classical
Chanticleer
featuring The Santa Fe Symphony Chorus
with Maxine Thévenot, organ
Thursday, May 5, 2022, 8:00pm
Cathedral Basilica
Tickets: $35 – $95
- Applauded as “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker, San Francisco-based Grammy Award-winning ensemble Chanticleer presents a newly-commissioned masterpiece from composer Nico Muhly, one of the most highly-regarded young American composers of our time. Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for its “tonal luxuriance and crisply etched clarity,” Chanticleer is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its seamless blend of twelve male voices ranging from soprano to bass and its original interpretations of vocal literature from Renaissance to jazz, pop, and contemporary compositions. This powerful collaborative project, written especially for Chanticleer, church pipe organ, and a large SATB chorus, will feature the Santa Fe Symphony Chorus and internationally-renowned organist Maxine Thévenot.
Jazz
Vijay Iyer Sextet
Friday, May 20, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- Jazz pianist and composer Vijay Iyer (pronounced VID-jay EYE-yer) has carved out a unique path as an influential, prolific, and shape-shifting presence in modern music. Iyer has been voted DownBeat Magazine’s Jazz Artist of the Year four times—2018, 2016, 2015, and 2012—and Jazz Times’ 2017 Artist of the Year. Additionally, Iyer was named a United States Artists Fellow in 2017, a MacArthur Fellow in 2013, and a Doris Duke Performing Artist in 2012. He also holds a lifetime appointment at Harvard University. Iyer’s sextet of virtuoso improvisers (DownBeat Magazine’s 2018 Jazz Group of the Year) leverage a wealth of jazz history with music ranging from the thrillingly explosive to the cathartically elegiac, with entrancing hooks, rhythmic muscle, and an elemental spirit all part of the allure.
Dance
Counterpoint
with Caleb Teicher & Conrad Tao, piano
Friday, May 27, 2022, 7:30pm
Lensic Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $35 – $115
- Caleb Teicher, one of the brightest lights in the dance world, joins forces with innovative pianist and composer Conrad Tao in Counterpoint, a new electrifying program of music and tap dance both composed and improvised. A recipient of New York City Center’s Choreographic Fellowship and named Dance Magazine’s “Best Emerging Choreographer,” Caleb Teicher is known for his unique style of theatricality, humor, emotional expression, and aesthetic exploration. Performing live on stage alongside Teicher, Conrad Tao is an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and is hailed as “shaping the future of classical music” (New York Magazine). This highly-anticipated collaborative work that includes everything from Bach’s Goldberg Variations to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue will leave you spellbound.
2021-2022 Tickets
Due to evolving limited capacity restrictions, we are not able to offer annual subscription sales this season. All performances will go on sale to non-members starting July 26, 2021.
Member Appreciation Week is July 12-16, 2021. People who donate a minimum of $100 to Performance Santa Fe’s Annual Fund are considered “Members” and are invited to purchase tickets ahead of the general public during this time. For more information or to become a member today, visit PerformanceSantaFe.org.
- July 12 – ticket orders by phone for Annual Fund Members at the $5000 Bravo Level and above
- July 13 – ticket orders by phone for Annual Fund Members at the $1000 Patron Level and above
- July 14 – ticket orders by phone for Annual Fund Members at the $500 Supporter Level and above
- July 15 and 16 – ticket orders by phone for Annual Fund Members at the $100 Donor Level and above
All remaining single tickets will go on sale to non-members starting July 26, 2021 and are available through the Performance Santa Fe box office: PerformanceSantaFe.org | 505 984 8759.