written by Avery Plessel | Lied Center for Performing Arts
This spring semester, the Lied Center will host nine Arts for All shows. This means they are completely FREE for UNL students.
Tickets are first-come, first-served, and are available to reserve now at: https://liedcenter.org/artsforall.
A quick rundown of the the upcoming Arts for All shows:
February 14 - Jazzmeia Horn
Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album and recently voted as No. 1 Jazz Vocal Album by NPR Music’s Jazz Critics Poll, Jazzmeia Horn makes her Lied Center debut in a Valentine’s Day concert you won’t want to miss. A three-time GRAMMY® Award nominee, Jazzmeia Horn performs songs of daring musicality and emotional power.
March 1 - Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with Pianist Alessio Bax
Celebrate Chopin’s birthday (March 1, 1810) with the GRAMMY® Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Italian pianist Alessio Bax collaborating to perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Orpheus is a radical experiment in musical democracy, proving for 50 years what happens when exceptional artists gather with total trust in each other and faith in the creative process. Making Carnegie Hall its home for over 35 years, Orpheus returns to the Lied Center after its 2017 performance “wowed” Lincoln audiences.
March 9 - Ajijaak on Turtle Island
Travel with the cranes as they migrate across Turtle Island. Nebraska’s favorite bird takes center stage in this larger-than-life production featuring live music, dance, and many of the finest puppets in the world. The story features Native American/Indigenous artists, music, language, and culture with puppets created by the Jim Henson Creature Shop (creator of the Muppets). This family-friendly show will inspire you with an incredibly beautiful production created in NYC with inspiration from Nebraska and the North American crane migration.
March 17 - Trinity Classically Irish
Straight from its brand-new hit PBS special, Trinity: Classically Irish is the next big thing in Irish music from the creator and producer of the Irish Tenors. Three accomplished young singers with performance experience, including Celtic Thunder, Riverdance, Celtic Woman, and stages around the world, perform fresh arrangements of beloved music. Songs include “Red Is the Rose,” “Danny Boy,” “The Parting Glass,” “The Rocky Road to Dublin,” and more.
March 21 - Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Electrifying. Joyful. Powerful. Gorgeous. Be inspired by Ailey’s incomparable dancers as they bring you the pulse-racing thrill of contemporary favorites and the spirit-lifting joy of such classics as Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece, Revelations. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues to confirm what dance lovers have long known—that in terms of unparalleled artistry, athletic strength, and boundless passion, nothing beats Ailey.
April 1 - Cirque Alfonse: Animal
One of the world’s top cirque troupes leads young and old on a journey to a reinvented land. The cattle-shed is crazy, and the barn is upside down! A gentleman-farmer surrounds himself with crazy creatures: the chickens have teeth, the ducks are very naughty, and the cows run amok!
April 13 - Huntertones
Huntertones brings people together with fun, imaginative, fearless music. The group’s high-energy, horn-driven sound fuses inspired improvisation and adventurous composition, melding jazz, funk, rock, and soul. Individually, members of Huntertones have compiled a diverse resume of collaborations with top artists, including Jon Batiste, Snarky Puppy, Stevie Wonder, Andy Grammer, Ed Sheeran, and more.
April 16 - Yunchan Lim: 2022 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist
In June 2022, Yunchan Lim became the youngest person ever to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; his performances throughout showcased a “magical ability” and a “natural, instinctive quality” (La Scena) that astounded listeners around the world. As Jury Chair Marin Alsop expressed: “Yunchan is that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together.” The depth of his artistry and connection to listeners also secured him the Audience Award and Best Performance of a New Work (for Sir Stephen Hough’s Fanfare Toccata).
Once every four years, a new gold medalist emerges from the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. As Nebraska’s official Van Cliburn presenter since 1994, the Lied Center presents the newly awarded Van Cliburn Gold Medalist for the first time. With previous winners including Olga Kern, Vadym Kholodenko, Jon Nakamatsu, and Behzod Abduraimov, the Cliburn is widely considered to be one of the world’s preeminent music contests.
MAY 2 & 3 - American Ballet Theatre: Giselle
Experience a phenomenal evening of stunning artistry when America’s National Ballet Company,® American Ballet Theatre (ABT), returns to the Lied Center to with the romantic masterwork Giselle. Accompanied by Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, Giselle is a perfect match for the virtuosity of ABT’s unrivaled roster of international ballet stars who bring the story of unrequited love, revenge, and forgiveness vividly to life. The New York Times proclaims “...this (Giselle) happens to be the best America has ever seen...”
This spectacular production is the latest in a series of historic moments with American Ballet Theatre at the Lied Center. In 2018, the Lied Center presented a landmark collaboration between ABT and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to perform Igor Stravinsky’s masterwork Firebird with ballet superstar Misty Copeland in the title role. In 2021, the Lied brought American Ballet Theater’s ABT ACROSS AMERICA to Lincoln’s Pioneers Park, drawing a crowd of more than 6,000 and earning national media attention.
More details at: https://liedcenter.org/artsforall