Princeton University Concerts 23/24 Season Brochure

Of the thousands of concerts I have seen, this series is an experience unlike them all.”

—Seth Mellman, PUC patron

CONCERT CLASSICS SERIES

Hear the world’s most vibrant and celebrated classical musicians within the intimacy of Richardson Auditorium on our mainstage series.

Thursday, October 12, 2023 | 7:30PM

CHANTICLEER VOCAL ENSEMBLE*

Thursday, November 2, 2023 | 7:30PM

DANISH STRING QUARTET

Wednesday, January 24, 2024 | 7:30PM

HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD* Piano

Thursday, February 15, 2024 | 7:30PM

ISABELLE FAUST Violin

JEAN-GUIHEN QUEYRAS Cello ALEXANDER MELNIKOV Piano

Thursday, March 7, 2024 | 7:30PM

HAGEN STRING QUARTET

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 | 7:30PM

JONATHAN BISS Piano

MITSUKO UCHIDA Piano

Monday, April 8, 2024 | 7:30PM

GOLDA SCHULTZ* Soprano

JONATHAN WARE* Piano

Thursday, May 2, 2024 | 7:30PM

DORIC STRING QUARTET*

SPECIAL EVENTS

The best of classical and jazz piano legends bring unmissable programs.

Thursday, February 1, 2024 | 7:30PM

BRAD MEHLDAU Piano

Thursday, February 8, 2024 | 7:30PM

VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON Piano

PERFORMANCES UP CLOSE

Sit on stage! Enjoy these hour-long concerts in a format that is immersive, informal, and schedule-friendly

Sunday, October 8, 2023 | 3PM & 6PM

DREAMERS’ CIRCUS* Violin, Cittern, Accordion

Thursday, October 26, 2023 | 6PM & 9PM

THÉOTIME LANGLOIS DE SWARTE* Baroque Violin

JUSTIN TAYLOR* Harpsichord

Wednesday, November 8, 2023 | 6PM & 9PM

JEAN RONDEAU* Harpsichord

Thursday–Sunday, January 18–21, 2024

MAHLER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA in virtual reality

HEALING WITH MUSIC

Get to the heart of music’s life-affirming power in these events combining conversation with live performance.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 7:30PM

SULEIKA JAOUAD* Writer

JON BATISTE* Musician

The Beat Goes On: Healing from Cancer through Music

Sunday, March 3, 2024 | 3PM

DANCE FOR PD®

A Mark Morris Dance Group Program

Exploring the Intersection of Music, Dance, and Parkinson’s Disease.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | 7:30PM

JONATHAN BISS Piano

ADAM HASLETT* Writer

Anxiety, Depression, and Music

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Instill a lifelong love of music in your kids through these programs featuring musicians from The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, hosted by Rami Vamos.

Saturday, October 14, 2023 | 1PM & 3PM

CMS KIDS A sensory-friendly program curated for ages 3-6

Saturday, March 16, 2024 | 1PM

ADVENTURES IN CHAMBER MUSIC Curated for ages 6-12

RICHARDSON CHAMBER PLAYERS

Princeton University performance faculty and talented students offer Sunday afternoon mixed chamber music programs.

Sunday, November 19, 2023 | 3PM: Les Six Sunday, March 24, 2024 | 3PM: A French Afternoon

Free Events

LIVE MUSIC MEDITATION

Follow guided meditation instruction as you listen to live music more viscerally than ever before.

Matthew Weiner Meditation Instructor

Thursday, October 12, 2023 | 12:30PM

CHANTICLEER VOCAL ENSEMBLE*

Wednesday, November 8, 2023 | 12:30PM

JEAN RONDEAU Harpsichord

ANNUAL CHAMBER JAM

Amateur singers of all ages and levels are invited to sing alongside members of the Chanticleer Vocal Ensemble. Sign up at puc.princeton.edu/chamber-jam.

Wednesday, October 11, 2023 | 7:30PM

DO-RE-MEET

Get to know other music lovers through social events paired with concerts on the Performances Up Close series, co-hosted by TheSinglesGroup.com.

Sunday, October 8, 2023 | 1PM • SPEED DATING

Sunday, October 8, 2023 | 4PM • LGBTQ+ MINGLE

Wednesday, November 8, 2023 | 6PM • FIND YOUR FRIENDS

AT THE MOVIES

Head to the Princeton Garden Theatre for movies related to the programs and artists on our series.

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 7PM

PIANOMANIA Documentary Screening

Monday, March 4, 2024 | 7PM

CAPTURING GRACE Documentary Screening & Talk-back

INTERWOVEN STORIES

Local artist Diana Weymar hosts an embroidery circle to capture community stories of Healing with Music hosted by the Arts Council of Princeton. To sign up, call the Arts Council at 609.924.8777.

Friday, November 17, 2023 | 7PM

DANCE FOR PD® CLASSES

In partnership with our Healing with Music series, American Repertory Ballet offers Dance for PD® classes. Classes are available both in-person and online. Visit arballet.org/dance-parkinsons-program or call 732.249.1254, ext. 19 for more information.

DIGITAL OFFERINGS

From curated playlists to video conversations with artists, experience our evolving virtual concert hall wherever you are. Visit puc.princeton. edu/digital-initiatives for access.

AT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Dive into texts related to topics discussed on the Healing with Music series in these book clubs hosted by the Princeton Public Library. Visit puc.princeton.edu for more information or call Princeton Public Library at 609.924.9529.

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad

10:30AM | In person, Princeton Public Library

7PM | Online on Zoom

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks

10:30AM | In person, Princeton Public Library

7PM | Online on Zoom

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett and Unquiet: My Life with Beethoven by Jonathan Biss

10:30AM | In person, Princeton Public Library

7PM | Online on Zoom

PUC is grateful for its community partners: American Repertory Ballet; Arts Council of Princeton; Labyrinth Books; Princeton Public Library; Princeton Garden Theatre

Sunday, October 8, 2023 | 3PM & 6PM

Performances Up Close: SIT ON STAGE

DREAMERS’ CIRCUS Violin, Cittern, Accordion

Nordic Folk/Classical Band

With astounding acrobatics on violin (by the Danish String Quartet’s Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen), accordion, and cittern, this young trio performs original compositions blending Nordic folk traditions with jazz, classical, and pop music.

ADD DO-RE-MEET: Speed Dating I 1PM; LGBTQ+ Mingle I 4PM

Wednesday, October 11, 2023 | 7:30PM • FREE

ANNUAL CHAMBER JAM with CHANTICLEER

Calling singers of all levels and ages! Lend your voice to this community-wide musical celebration as you sing alongside members of Chanticleer in the glorious acoustic of the Princeton University Chapel. Visit puc.princeton.edu/chamber-jam to sign up.

Thursday, October 12, 2023 | 12:30PM • FREE

LIVE MUSIC MEDITATION: CHANTICLEER

Breathe in sound and silence through meditation, guided by Matthew Weiner of the Princeton University Office of Religious Life, as you listen to the voices of Chanticleer surround you in a focused and mindful setting.

Thursday, October 12, 2023 | 7:30PM

Concert Classics

CHANTICLEER VOCAL ENSEMBLE

In collaboration with the Princeton University Glee Club

The multiple Grammy Award-winning Chanticleer ensemble heralds the dawn of our 130th Concert Classics series with five centuries of vocal music, from classics to spirituals to jazz.

Saturday, October 14, 2023 | 1PM & 3PM

All in the Family

CMS KIDS Hosted by Rami Vamos

Overcoming Obstacles, Ages 3-6

Music can be fun, but sometimes it’s really hard to play or come up with a musical idea! This program will explore the music of Niccolò Paganini, who overcame obstacles to make some amazing music. This one-hour program is curated for neurodiverse children ages 3-6 and their families.

Thursday, October 26, 2023 | 6PM & 9PM

Performances Up Close: SIT ON STAGE

THÉOTIME LANGLOIS DE SWARTE

Baroque Violin

JUSTIN TAYLOR Harpsichord

Indulge in the glamor of the 18th century as you sit on stage with two young masters treating us to the forgotten gems they unearthed from old libraries, transcriptions of the most popular opera arias of the time, and masterpieces that continue to resonate.

LISTEN CLOSER.

Sit on stage with the artists. Experience music more up close than ever before.

Thursday, November 2, 2023 | 7:30PM

Concert Classics

DANISH STRING QUARTET

Purcell, Haydn, Shostakovich, Scandinavian Folk Music

Describing themselves as “your friendly neighborhood string quartet with above average amounts of beard,” (and otherwise described as one of the world’s finest string quartets), the Grammy-nominated Danish String Quartet returns for their third appearance on our series with a program that blurs the line between classical repertoire and folk tunes.

Wednesday, November 8, 2023 | 12:30PM • FREE

LIVE MUSIC MEDITATION: JEAN RONDEAU

Breathe in sound and silence through meditation, guided by Matthew Weiner, Associate Dean in the Princeton University Office of Religious Life, as you listen to music performed by harpsichordist Jean Rondeau. This is a free and non-ticketed opportunity to indulge in attentive, focused, and mindful listening.

Wednesday, November 8, 2023 | 6PM & 9PM

Performances Up Close: SIT ON STAGE

JEAN RONDEAU Harpsichord

Gradus Ad Parnassum: Beethoven, Clementi, Haydn, Mozart

Whatever your preconceptions of the harpsichord may be, Jean Rondeau will undoubtedly shatter them all as he explores what piano repertoire might illuminate about the harpsichord, and what the harpsichord might reveal about music composed for the piano. Sit onstage with this trailblazing artist as you get to know this music and this instrument in a completely new way. ADD DO-RE-MEET: Find Your Friends I 6PM

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 7PM

At the Movies

PIANOMANIA Documentary Screening

Pianomania follows Stefan Knüpfer, a piano technician from Steinway, and his famous clients Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard as they search for the perfect pitch. It’s an unusual peek behind the curtain at the world’s great concert halls, shown at Princeton Garden Theatre.

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | 7:30PM

Healing with Music

SULEIKA JAOUAD Writer

JON BATISTE Musician

The Beat Goes On: Healing from Cancer through Music

The New York Times bestselling author and multiple Grammy Awardwinning musician together launch a new season of our Healing with Music series with a conversation about music’s role through illness and how they have managed to convert isolation into art as a married couple. The event will be permeated by live performances of works meaningful to Suleika’s recovery from leukemia.

Sunday, November 19, 2023 | 3PM

RICHARDSON CHAMBER PLAYERS

Les Six, France in the 20th Century

Our resident ensemble of Princeton University performance faculty presents a Sunday afternoon of mixed chamber works by “Les Six”—a group of six composers who lived and worked in Montparnasse in the 1920s.

Thursday–Sunday, January 18–21, 2024

Performances Up Close

MAHLER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Future Presence: An immersive installation in virtual reality | United States Premiere! With the aid of VR headsets, transport to a fully immersive musical concert space in which you can move around (or through/over/under!) the musicians as a multi-dimensional recording responds in real time, and feel what it is like to sit in the middle of an ensemble hearing the sound emanating from each distinct instrument, taking the music-withoutbounds concept at the core of our Performances Up Close series to a groundbreaking new level.

EXCITING DEBUTS & LONG-AWAITED RETURNS

HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD

Piano

January 24

2024

Wednesday, January 24, 2024 | 7:30PM

Concert Classics

HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD Piano

One of the most remarkable individuals of our time, Hélène Grimaud brings her heartfelt, poetic interpretations and dazzling technical prowess to three pillars of the piano repertory by Beethoven, Brahms, and Bach-Busoni as she makes her longawaited PUC debut.

8-concert subscriptions start at $150, or make your own series of 3+ concerts and save!

Thursday, February 1, 2024 | 7:30PM

Special Event

BRAD MEHLDAU Piano

14 Reveries for Piano (Premiere)

Considered to be “the most influential jazz pianist of the last 20 years” (The New York Times), Brad Mehldau is one of the greatest musical giants of our time. To hear this 2020 Grammy Awardwinner in solo recital is a rare opportunity to experience his legendary voice as both musician and composer uninterrupted.

Piano

February 8 2024

Forbes Magazine

Thursday, February 8, 2024 | 7:30PM

Special Event VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON

Piano

Hear J.S. Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations in the hands of this extraordinary Icelandic virtuoso, whose recordings of the composer’s music for the Deutsche Grammophon label won both Best Instrumental Album and Album of the Year at the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Awards and was streamed hundreds of millions of times.

BRAD MEHLDAU

Piano

February 1 2024

VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON

Brad Mehldau is our jazz generation’s Conjurer-InChief. His music is nothing short of magic —an impossible wonder of ecstatic and empathic creative communion.”

Try Live Music Meditation. Sit on stage. Experience virtual reality. The possibilities

are endless.

MAHLER CHAMBER ORCHESTRA in Virtual Reality

Thursday–Sunday, January 18–21, 2024

PERFORMANCES UP CLOSE Gallicantus Vocal Ensemble April 2014

Slip into timeless tradition

in our mainstage Concert Classics series.

Thursday, February 15, 2024 | 7:30PM

Concert Classics

ISABELLE FAUST Violin

JEAN-GUIHEN QUEYRAS Cello

ALEXANDER MELNIKOV Piano

After an unforgettable, sold-out performance in 2020, these three international stars once again combine their talents in a joint appearance that offers a fascinating chamber version of Beethoven’s joyous second symphony, Elliott Carter’s witty final composition, and Dvořák s popular trio inspired by the “dumka,” a Ukrainian folk genre.

Sunday, March 3, 2024 | 3PM

Healing with Music

DANCE FOR PD® (Parkinson’s Disease)

A Mark Morris Dance Group Program

Live music played by Joshua Roman, Cello

Exploring the Intersection of Music, Dance, and Parkinson’s “What happens to me when my feet feel like glue and they’re stuck on the floor—I sometimes cannot walk, but I can dance…the music leads me to a place where I am weightless” shared a participant of Dance for PD®. In an experiential panel, learn about this program that the Mark Morris Dance Group developed applying the techniques used by dancers to benefit people with Parkinson’s.

Monday, March 4, 2024 | 7PM

At the Movies

CAPTURING GRACE

Documentary Screening & Talk-back

Learn more about the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance for PD® program through this award-winning documentary that follows individuals with Parkinson’s as they prepare to stage a first-ever dance performance. Capturing Grace highlights the transformative power of art and the strength of the human spirit. A post-screening talk-back with film director and Dance for PD® participant Dave Iverson will conclude the event.

Thursday, March 7, 2024 | 7:30PM

Concert Classics

HAGEN STRING QUARTET

Having recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, the most senior and venerated of the European quartets makes a rare United States appearance with works by Haydn, Debussy, and Beethoven.

Saturday, March 16, 2024 | 1PM

All in the Family

ADVENTURES IN CHAMBER MUSIC

Hosted by Rami Vamos

Beethoven Meets Haydn, Ages 6-12

Take an exciting adventure through time to meet Franz Joseph Haydn and his equally famous student, Ludwig van Beethoven. Through music for piano trio (piano, violin, and cello), we learn about the connection between these great composers. This one-hour program is curated for children ages 6-12 and their families.

Sunday, March 24, 2024 | 3PM

RICHARDSON CHAMBER PLAYERS

A French Afternoon

Our resident ensemble of Princeton University performance faculty, distinguished guest artists, and supremely talented students takes us back to France on January 14, 1914 when Maurice Ravel’s Trois poèmes de Mallarmé, a sequence of three art songs based on poems by Stéphane Mallarmé, for soprano received its world premiere.

Experience the world’s most celebrated musicians among friends.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 | 7:30PM

Concert Classics

JONATHAN BISS Piano

MITSUKO UCHIDA Piano

Two legendary pianists come together to immerse in Schubert’s music for piano four-hands, much of it originally written for friends gathered at evening salons, as we enjoy our own “Schubertiade,” as these events came to be known.

Monday, April 8, 2024 | 7:30PM

Concert Classics

GOLDA SCHULTZ Soprano

JONATHAN WARE Piano

“This Be Her Verse:” Exploring the Female Perspective

The South African soprano, who has quickly become a new generation’s leading voice on the world’s greatest opera stages, brings her extraordinary warmth to a program hailed as “a love-letter to women in music,” exploring themes of love, nature, folklore, and belief from a distinctly female perspective.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | 7:30PM

Healing with Music

JONATHAN BISS Piano

ADAM HASLETT Writer

Anxiety, Depression, and Music

The PUC-fan-favorite pianist joins Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Adam Haslett for an intimate concertconversation centered on anxiety, depression, and music. In addition to conversation and Q&A, the event will include live performance of Schubert and Schumann as well as excerpts from the author’s latest novel, Imagine Me Gone.

Thursday, May 2, 2024 | 7:30PM

Concert Classics

DORIC STRING QUARTET

Our 130th Concert Classics series ends on a most uplifting note in the hands of this U.K.-based ensemble at the helm of a new generation of string quartets. Winning countless accolades for their riveting interpretations, they bring a new work specifically written for them by Australian composer Brett Dean, complemented by familiar masterpieces by Beethoven and Schubert.

Sumptuous sweetness and laser-like clarity.”

—BBC Music Magazine (on the Doric Quartet)

Our variety of ticketing options—including single tickets, student discounts, full subscriptions, and make-your-own packages—is designed for maximum accessibility, convenience, and flexibility.

HOW TO BUY SINGLE TICKETS

Online at puc.princeton.edu

By phone at 609.258.2800, Mon-Fri, 11AM-3PM

In person at the Princeton University Box Office

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

TICKETING

Frist Campus Center Box Office Mon–Fri, 12-5PM (beginning 9/11) 609.258.9220

RICHARDSON AUDITORIUM

Richardson Auditorium opens 30 minutes before Performances Up Close events and 45 minutes before all other concerts.

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Currently enrolled Princeton University undergraduate and graduate students can attend up to four PUC events at no charge by using the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students Passport to the Arts Program. Learn more at puc.princeton.edu/student-ticketing.

CURATED SUBSCRIPTIONS

$15-$60 General $5-$15 Students

SAVE MORE THAN 30%!

Concert Classics Subscription

(8 Concert Classics Events)

A Price: $310 | B Price: $150

Concert Classics

Plus Subscription

(13 Events: Concert Classics, Special Events, Healing with Music)

A Price: $450 | B Price: $270

SAVE 10%!

A limited quantity of $10 tickets for select concerts are reserved for eligible low-income patrons. Visit puc.princeton.edu/admit-all or call 609.258.2800.

Make-Your-Own Package Choose 3+ concerts from all of our offerings (except Performances Up Close and Family concerts) at a discount.

VENUES

That Princeton University Concerts offers $10 student tickets is why my daughter and I have seen legends on viola, clarinet, vocalists, string quartets, and more over her years growing up as a music lover. Instead of a ‘Maybe we can’t fit it into the budget this month’ event, it’s a ‘How can we not go to this once-ina-lifetime opportunity?!’ event.”

—Doug, PUC patron

Most events take place in our historic Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall renowned for its excellent acoustics, singularly intimate atmosphere, and great sight lines from almost every seat. For more information, visit puc.princeton.edu.

Woolworth Center

Princeton, NJ 08544

IMAGE CREDITS: Golda Schultz (cover): Dario

Acosta | Joyce DiDonato: Andrew Wilkinson

|

Dreamers’ Circus: Kristoffer Juel Poulsen |

Hélène Grimaud: Mat Hennek | Brad Mehldau:

David Bazemore | Víkingur Ólafsson: Ari

Magg | Live Music Meditation/Performances

Up Close: Andrew Wilkinson | Hagen String

Quartet: Harald Hoffmann | Dance for PD:

Amber Star Merkens | Jonathan Biss/Mitsuko

Uchida: Pete Checchia | Doric Quartet: George

Garnier | Danish String Quartet: Caroline

Bittencourt

Experience the world’s most celebrated musicians among friends.