The 2018-19 season at the Weis Center for the Performing Arts at Bucknell University will include nearly 40 professional performances – including world music from Egypt, Spain, Africa, China, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Denmark and Sweden, plus classical music, modern dance from two acclaimed companies, world dance from India and Spain, Americana and folk, jazz, and family-friendly performances. Ten performances are free.

Performances begin in late August 2018 and continue through May 2019; all performances are at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

The season will kick-off with a free outdoor concert on the Weis Center Plaza by Banda Magda on Thursday, August 23 at 6 p.m. The ensemble seamlessly moves from South American rhythms with jazz improvisation, to mid-century classics and even tunes sung in six languages.

Highlights of the season include:

• For the first time, the Weis Center will offer a series of two National Geographic Live multimedia experiences: Egyptologist Kara Cooney on August 30 and ocean photographer Brian Skerry on February 19.
• Expanding on the Egypt theme, the Weis Center will offer two artists who are on tour through Center Stage, a State Department initiative. First, an oud master from Egypt, Mohamed Abozekry with his ensemble Karkade on September 14 and then Egyptian vocalist Dina Elwedidi on September 27.
• David Power and Willie Kelly’s Irish music comes to the Weis Center Atrium in a free performance on September 6 followed up by Galician bagpiper Cristina Pato and her quartet on October 11, then Nordic folk ensemble Dreamers’ Circus will round out the season on April 13.
• Other offerings from around the world: Sounds of China will blend the ancient with the modern by combining time-honored Chinese music with modern arrangements on February 7 and Anda Union will bring Mongolian throat singing to the stage on April 5. Koto visionary Yumi Kurosawa teams up with world-renowned tabla player Anubrata Chatterjee on February 10 at 2 p.m.
• World dance from India takes the stage when Nrityagram Dance Ensemble visits Central PA with their new performance Samhara on October 18.
• On February 28, world dance from Spain takes the stage. Farruquito, heir to the most renowned Gypsy flamenco dynasty, is the greatest flamenco dancer of this new century, according to The New York Times.
• Jazz lovers will enjoy stunning vocalists Charenee Wade on January 23 and Rene Marie on February 21, who borrows various elements of folk, R&B and even classical and country to create a captivating hybrid style. Finally, audiences will move along to the infectious grooves of Michael Mwenso and the Shakes on April 9 in a free performance in the Atrium.
• Theatre Re will present a poignant and moving performance called “The Nature of Forgetting” on October 25 about Tom, a middle-aged father struggling in the early stages of dementia. The Weis Center will offer community resources about Alzheimer’s and dementia in the days leading up to this performance.
• Americana offerings will include Red Molly on September 19, Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives on November 1 and Kaia Kater on November 14.
• Family discovery offerings include the return of Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia as they present The Rainbow Fish on November 3 at 11 a.m., plus Imago Theatre’s production of Frogz on February 5 at 7 p.m. with a schools matinee the following day at 10 a.m., Mexican folk music by Sonia De Los Santos on President’s Day/February 18 at 2 p.m., Underneath a Magical Moon on April 13 with performances at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., and finally a series of interactive performances called Panda’s Home will end the season on May 11 with performances at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. For the first time ever, the Weis Center will offer a sensory-friendly performance of Panda’s Home on May 10 at 6 p.m.
• Classical aficionados will enjoy Jasper String Quartet on March 3, St. Olaf Orchestra with violinist Sarah Chang on January 31, Les Violons du Roy featuring acclaimed countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo on October 14 at 2 p.m., Orpheus Chamber Orchestra featuring a mandolin and accordion duo on November 3, Aizuri Quartet with a new project called “Intricate Machines” on March 31 at 2 p.m. and Lorelei Ensemble returns on April 11 to join forces with members of the Bucknell University Choirs to present James Kallembach’s new oratorio about Antigone.
• The spectacular and colorful two-time Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir returns to North America with Songs of the Free on November 30, a very special program celebrating Nelson Mandela.
• The Weis Center will also present four performances downtown at the Campus Theatre, including East African retro pop artists Alsarah and the Nubatones on November 7 and a multimedia performance with folk musician Jenny Scheinman called “Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait” on March 6.
• Two cutting-edge modern dance ensembles will also be featured Parsons Dance on January 18 and Ririe-Woodbury Dance on March 23.

Brochure Available

The Weis Center’s 32-page season brochure and ticket order form can be downloaded from the Weis Center’s website, Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter.

Hardcopies are also available at the Weis Center and throughout the Susquehanna River Valley region, including Visitors Bureaus and public libraries.

To request a hardcopy brochure, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or e-mail Lisa.Leighton@bucknell.edu and one will be mailed at no cost.

Sponsors

The Weis Center’s 2018-19 season is supported by the following season-level sponsors: Bucknell Sports Properties, The Daily Item, Press Enterprise, Seven Mountains Media, Sunbury Broadcasting Corporation, Standard Journal, Susquehanna Life, ViaMedia and Service Electric, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, WITF, WNEP-TV, WPSU, and WVIA. Geisinger and the Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau are the lead sponsors of the Weis Center’s five family discovery performances.

Event sponsors include Backyard Broadcasting, Centre Daily Times, Children’s Museum of Bloomsburg, Coldwell Banker Penn One Real Estate, Doug and Mary Candland, Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau, Julianna and John Cooper, Nancy and Sam Craig, Evangelical Community Hospital, the Exchange/Art Cart, Geisinger/SPARK, Bob and Dede Gronlund, iHeartRadio Williamsport, Lewisburg Children’s Museum, Clayton and David Lightman, National Geographic Live, News Item, PPL, Public Library for Union County, Priestley-Forsyth Memorial Library, Riverwoods, Gary and Sandy Sojka, Susquehanna Life, Karl Voss and Chanin Wendling family, and the Family of Janet Weis.

Grant funding for the season includes Arts Midwest, Center Stage a State Department initiative, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Tickets

The majority of Weis Center tickets range in price from $20 to $35 for adults, with discounts available for subscribers (5 or more events), senior citizens, college students, groups and youth.

Subscribers have priority seating until Monday, August 13 at noon.

Beginning on Friday, Aug. 17, at 10 a.m., non-subscribers may order single tickets for any Weis Center season performance at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice or by calling 570-577-1000.

Tickets will also be available in-person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center, weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.