EXPLORE - EXPERIENCE - ENGAGE
THE TOUHILL'S SIXTH SEASON PREMIERES E3! PROGRAM
Season highlights include Brad Garrett, Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby, K.D. Lang, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Aida, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Arianna String Quartet, and more!
SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE JUNE 1 - INDIVIDUAL TICKETS AVAILABLE AUGUST 4
ST. LOUIS (June 1, 2008) - The Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis is proud to announce its sixth season with an exciting line-up of international and national performances and new series that will delight audiences in the 2008-09 season. New this season is E3!, a program designed to help patrons Explore - Experience - Engage, enhancing their Touhill experience. Subscriptions for the 2008-09 season go on sale Sunday, June 1 at 10 a.m. and individual tickets will be available beginning Monday, August 4 at 10 am. Call 314.516.4949, toll-free at 866.516.4949, or visit http://www.touhill.org/ for more information.
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra returns to the Touhill with a new series this season, Symphony Sundays. This subscription promises a variety of classical music experiences. Sunday, November 23 sees the return of Explosions Percussion Festival4, when David Robertson and the SLSO musicians explore the exciting possibilities of the most primal human music including Sonata For Two Pianos And Percussion by Bartok. Opera Passions takes place Sunday, January 11. Kelly Kaduce will sing Wagner, Verdi, and Puccini, including a reprise from Madama Butterfly, her summer '08 star turn at Opera Theatre-St Louis, while America's exciting young star conductor James Gaffigan, leads the SLSO in a program that also includes the full power of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. Sunday, March 15, patrons will Discover Beethoven, when guest conductor Nicholas McGegan reveals the wonders of one of the best-loved symphonies, Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, Pastoral. McGegan will share his unique understanding with a slide show, discussion, and musical excerpts. Subscriptions are $96, $69 and $42. Individual tickets are $35, $25 and $15. Symphony Sundays is sponsored by Centene.
The Touhill's popular Opera! Opera! series will delight with three impressive opera classics, as always, presented in their original languages. Teatro Lirico d'Europa returns to the Touhill for two shows this season. Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci will be presented Wednesday, October 15. Showcasing a ‘slice of life,' the story revolves around ordinary commoners dealing with dramatic situations of everyday life - adulterous affairs, honor defended, murder, mourning and scandal. Aida will be presented Sunday, February 1. Verdi combines the passion of Egypt with the dramatic music of Italy - weaving a tale of forbidden love and one of the most dramatic endings ever known. Completing the series, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players return to the Touhill with a production of the venerated Pirates of Penzance. With first-rate sets, costumes, soloists and orchestra, this performance is the very model of a modern major-production, presented Friday, March 13. Opera! Opera! subscriptions are $128, $101 and $74. Individual tickets for Opera! Opera! performances are $25 - $50. Opera! Opera! is presented with the support of the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.
The Touhill is proud to present a new series featuring UMSL's own quartet-in-residence, the Arianna String Quartet. Entitled, Arianna Expressions four performances will showcase the outstanding musicianship of one of America's finest chamber ensembles, in addition to world-class featured soloists. Composed of violinists John McGrosso and David Gillham, violist Joanna Mendoza and cellist Kurt Baldwin, the Chicago Tribune declared, "Quartet playing doesn´t get much better than this." Four shows will be presented: Folk Infusion on Friday, September 12, Epic Expression with soprano Stella Markou on Friday, November 21, Messages of Hope on Thursday and Friday, February 26 and 27, and Storytellers on Friday, May 1, a performance featuring cellist Marc Johnson of the renowned Vermeer Quartet. Subscriptions are $75. Individual tickets for each performance are $20. Arianna Expressions is welcomed by KFUO-FM Classic99.
In addition to the fabulous series offerings in the 2008-09 season, the Touhill will showcase concerts by favorite contemporary artists - available for purchase through individual ticket sales starting August 4, as add-ons for series subscribers NOW or as part of the Choose Your Own series. This year's Contemporary Concerts welcomes The Second City back to its second home. On September 17-20, TSC brings DeFace The Nation, a jaunty comedy/musical event rife with political skewering just in time for the upcoming presidential elections. Also in the comedy lineup is Brad Garrett, who played brother Robert on the hit TV show Everybody Loves Raymond. Garret will perform for one show, Saturday, September 27. Country and bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder are joined by Bruce Hornsby, who recently collaborated on a critically acclaimed album, on Saturday, October 4. Before there were boy bands, there was Neil Sedaka. The Breaking Up is Hard to Do crooner is still going strong and will transport audiences to a simpler time on Saturday, October 11. K.D. Lang will bring her unique brand of edgy/campy/country/pop music to the Touhill on Saturday, October 18. Just in time for Halloween, BalletMet Columbus will perform its critically acclaimed Dracula Thursday, October 23-Sunday, October 26. Two holiday shows dash in to the Touhill to create a cool Yule mood: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy will jump and jive in a Wild And Swingin' Holiday Party on Saturday, December 6, while a celebrated Touhill tradition returns with The Manhattan Transfer's holiday-infused pop/jazz extravaganza on Friday, December 19. Closing out the Contemporary Concerts, it don't mean a thing if it ain't The Duke Ellington Orchestra performing a mix of blues and jazz on Sunday, March 22.
Subscriber Benefits
As a subscriber, you automatically save at least 10% over the cost of individual tickets. In addition, subscribers are allowed free ticket exchanges within the Touhill's 2008-09 season and the privilege to purchase single tickets now, ahead of the general public, as well as the addition of the Touhill's new E3! program included with each subscription performance.
The new E3! program is designed to help audiences actively engage themselves in the performing arts experience. E3! encourages patrons to Explore the content of a performance before the curtain goes up, actively Experience the performance while it's happening and Engage with fellow patrons and even performers after the show. E3! is available for all subscription performances during the 2008-09 season, or may be added on for just $5 per ticket for Choose Your Own or single ticket buyers.
Special Benefits for Renewing Subscribers
Subscribers who renew by June 27 will be guaranteed their same seats and receive priority seating over all new series subscribers.
Choose Your Own
Patrons can either purchase a prepackaged subscription to one of the designated series - Arianna Expressions, Symphony Sundays and Opera! Opera! - or they can create their own package with the Choose Your Own series, where they are able to personalize their own series by purchasing tickets to any FOUR or more performances. The Choose Your Own series gives $2 off each ticket, priority seating over general-public patrons (until August 4), and priority renewals next season, when purchasing pre-packed subscription series.
Subscription packages include all fees, taxes, and parking. Arianna Expressions subscriptions are $75. Symphony Sundays subscriptions are $96, $69 & $42. Opera! Opera! subscriptions are $128, $101, and $74. Subscriptions may be purchased by mail (an order form can be downloaded from the website at http://www.touhill.org/), by phone, or in person at the Ticket Office. The Touhill Performing Arts Center is located on the north campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and is just 10 minutes from Clayton. (Exit 240 from I-70 or Exit 6 from I-170). There is ample free parking and the UMSL North Campus MetroLink Station is just steps from the Touhill's Main Entrance. All tickets purchased over the phone must be charged to MasterCard, Visa or Discover, and tickets purchased in person may be paid via check, cash, or credit card. The Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 6pm. The Ticket Office will be open from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 1. Patrons are invited to come to the Touhill to be the first to put in their orders, get questions answered, and see views of the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall from their seats. Phone: 314.516.4949; Toll-Free: 866.516.4949.
Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center
Since its architectural inception by the world-renowned firm of I.M. Pei, the same architect who designed the Grand Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China tower in Hong Kong, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, the "Touhill" has been an architectural and acoustical landmark of St. Louis since its completion in 2003. To fully enjoy and comprehend the striking architecture of the I.M. Pei firm and to hear the impeccable, state-of-the-art acoustics by Kirkegaard Associates, the most selective and magnificent shows have been selected to be on stage. With the array of outstanding performances this sixth season, patrons can experience the beauty, splendor, and uniqueness of the Touhill more than ever before.
Contacts:
Rachel Queen, 314-516-4100, queenr@umsl.edu
Nichole Breihan, 314-516-4100, breihann@umsl.edu
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