Weis Center’s 2016-17 Season Features 35 Performances

The 2016-17 season at the Weis Center for the Performing Arts at Bucknell University will feature 35 events from across the United States and around the world. It includes Americana/folk, classical, jazz and world music, dance, a Family Discovery Series and much more. Six performances are free.

The season will kick off on Friday, Aug. 26, at 6 p.m. with a free outdoor concert on the Weis Center Plaza by Washington, D.C.-based Americana group the Bumper Jacksons. A world music ensemble from Zanzibar will offer a second free outdoor concert on Friday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m. on the Weis Center Plaza.

"We wholeheartedly embrace the essential experience of sharing with people from different backgrounds, with different life experiences and alternative points of view," said Kathryn Maguet, executive director of the Weis Center. "Underlying our commitment to diversity is mutual trust, respect and openness to many perspectives."

Highlights from the new season include:

• Americana/folk music from the Bumper Jacksons, the Coal Town Rounders and Van Wagner, Judy Collins with Ari Hest, Birds of Chicago and the HillBenders.
• Seven classical performances: Aritmia and Proserpina: Two One-Act Operas; Warsaw Philharmonic; vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth; Dover Quartet with Colleen Hartung on clarinet; Beijing Guitar Duo with Marina Piccinini on flute; brass ensemble tenThing; and Julia Wolfe's oratorio Anthracite Fields.
• A Family Discovery Series that includes seven events: B - The Underwater Bubble Show; Mermaid Theatre: Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Other Treasured Stories; Momix Opus Cactus; Tony-nominated musical A Year with Frog and Toad; Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat; Golden Dragon Acrobats; and Shaolin Warriors.
• World music from Zanzibar ensemble Rajab Suleiman and Kithara; Bickram Ghosh's Drums of India; Edmar Castaneda Trio; Bulgarian Women's Choir; and Mariachi Los Camperos, as well as world dance from Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba.
• Jazz by Maria Schneider Orchestra, Cyrille Aimee, the Bad Plus and Dr. Lonnie Smith.
• Hawaiian masters George Kahumoki Jr., Nathan Aweau and Kawika Kahiapo performing Hawaiian/slack key guitar.
• Two Celtic performances: Windham Hill's Winter Solstice and Caladh Nua.
• Comedian Paula Poundstone.

The Weis Center's season will feature a special series of events related to the anthracite coal region. "Coal Collections: Local, National and International Stories" will include several professional performances: the Coal Town Rounders and Van Wagner; Hard Coal: The Concert with music by Guy Klucevsek; a Chilean theatre/puppetry company called Silencio Blanco that will present the piece Chiflon, El Silencio del Carbon; and Julia Wolfe's 2015 Pulitzer-prize winning oratorio Anthracite Fields; as well as a free monthly lunchtime lecture series, films, special speakers and special projects throughout the 2016-17 season.

For more information about the 2016-17 series, visit the Weis Center website or Facebook page.

Brochure available
The Weis Center's expanded 32-page season brochure and ticket order form can be downloaded directly.

Print copies of the brochure are also available at the Weis Center and later this summer will be placed throughout Bucknell's campus and Susquehanna River Valley region.

To request a free brochure by mail beginning Aug. 1, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by email.

Sponsors
The Weis Center's 2016-17 season is supported by the following season-level sponsors: Backyard Broadcasting, Bucknell Sports Properties, Daily Item, Foss Jewelers, iHeartRadio Williamsport, PPL Electric Utilities, Press Enterprise, Seven Mountains Media, Sunbury Broadcasting Corp., Susquehanna Life, ViaMedia and Service Electric, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, WITF, WNEP-TV, WPSU and WVIA Public Media.

Event sponsors include the Bucknell Innovation Group, Coldwell Banker Penn One Real Estate, Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau, Nancy and Sam Craig, First Community Foundation Partnership, Bob and Dede Gronlund, Jazz at Bucknell, Clayton and David Lightman, James and Rebecca Mauch, RiverWoods, Standard Journal, Gary and Sandy Sojka, Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau and Susquehanna Valley Mall.

Tickets
The majority of Weis Center tickets range in price from $15 to $35 for adults, with discounts available for subscribers (five or more events), senior citizens, college students, groups and youth.

Beginning Friday, Aug. 12, at 10 a.m., tickets for Weis Center events can be charged online or by calling 570-577-1000.

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