My name is Vienna.  I really like going to music and dance concerts.  These shows how beautiful the world can really be.  My favorite show so far has been Rhythmic Circus. I liked how they did their own version of tap dancing along with catchy music and colorful costumes.  I am also looking forward to the Golden Dragon Acrobats who are coming this year to the Celebrity Concert Series.

The 2015/2016 Celebrity Concert Series is in the bag.  O Sole Trio was the final act of what was an incredibly successful season.  As I look back and reflect on the reasons for the season’s success, the word ‘balance’ comes to mind.

In the final concert of the season, O Sole Trio performed a show that was commissioned by the esteemed Lincoln Center in New York City.  The selections were perfectly balanced with a wide array of Italian inspired pieces interspersed with informative and entertaining tidbits about the music they were performing.  This was all coupled with a backdrop of sound, video, and lights that perfectly complimented the mood of the show.

It is this balance that was the hallmark of our season.  There was balance in the acts that were hired as we ranged from dance to orchestra, quartets to ballets, child prodigies to hip-hop, tap dancers to brass bands to…. well, you get the idea.  And then this balance in performers was perfectly coupled with...

With the tagline “Bringing the World to Our Stage”, the Celebrity Concert Series has created a challenge for itself to live up to such a noble and lofty goal.  Not only does this mantra expect bringing talent from far and wide, but it also couples that with  the expectation of quality and virtuosity.  January 26 at the Cox Center for the Performing Arts, the CCS once again looks to accomplishes its mission.  Come see for your self one as we host Presidio Brass, who is considered one of the worlds great brass bands.

Since forming in 2006, Presidio Brass has rocketed to success as the face of a bold new generation in brass entertainment. By combining a brass quintet, piano and percussion instruments with fresh, original arrangements, their unique sound has become a trademark for the ensemble from San Diego, CA, captivating audiences the world over.

Through their hit touring show of Hollywood’s greatest hits, Sounds of the Cinema, these five young men prese...

DSU and the CCS played host to one of the worlds great string quartets this week.  The Juilliard Quartet has been affectionately dubbed the quintessential American string quartet.  Having experienced their craft first hand, I can now heartily endorse this title and attest to its accurateness.  Their performance brought to mind words like sublime and near perfection.  It left some giddy from the experience.  One concert attendee described their performance of Debussy a “spiritual” experience.  Others were simply speechless.  At the end of it all, it left me, the director of the Celebrity Concert Series, utterly satisfied with the entire experience.  

The first event in our 2015/2016 Celebrity Concert Series happened a few days back.  It came and went before I really had time to know what hit me.  The feeling is a bit surreal if I am being honest.  Here's what I recollect happened.  Their tour bus pulled up.  Rack after rack of costumes came off the truck.  More blond haired, Russian speaking girls were milling about than I could count.  Nadia, the only English speaking one of the bunch, came in like a wind and made order out of the chaos.  Before I knew what was happening, fifty-six people were being fed, rehearsals and sound checks were being orchestrated, and a sense of, "I had better step back and get out of the way" prevailed.  This was my first show as the new Cultural Arts guy, but everyone around me marched into the fray like this was a dance they knew by heart.  The tech crew asked all the right questions.  It was more like a game of charades than words though, seeing that there was no common spoken langua...