Music

There are plenty of top tier string quartets in the world. Even so, the Elias String Quartet stands out among its peers. As the Philadelphia Enquirer put it, “Few quartets at any stage of their evolution have this much personality.”

Motown The Musical is the true American dream story of Motown founder Berry Gordy’s journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, and many more.

A trumpeter, santur player, vocalist, and composer, ElSaffar is steeped in classical and jazz traditions while also bringing the microtones and ornaments idiomatic to Arabic music into play. His band, Rivers of Sound, features 17 musicians who blend eastern and western music.

Pianist and composer Billy Childs joined the Ying Quartet for a classical concert last season at Hancher. This season, the four-time Grammy winner returns for a run of Club Hancher performances with his jazz quartet.

It truly is a family affair when Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy bring their Celtic—by way of Cape Breton, Canada—music to the stage for a holiday party.

Ten guys. No instruments. One unmistakable sound. A cappella powerhouse Straight No Chaser is bringing the holiday cheer to Hancher Auditorium. Since a video of the group’s quirky take on “The 12 Days of Christmas” went viral in 2006, Straight No Chaser has been in the studio and on the road bringing a cappella music to its ever-growing fan base. The guys in the group know just where to find the groove to put your family in a holiday mood.

Season Sponsor: WEST MUSIC

Trumpeter Terence Blanchard is a musical force, equally respected as a jazzman and as a composer and performer of music for film. Blanchard will lead The E-Collective in a night of fusion and R&B flavored music drawn from their record Breathless, the title track of which is a call for social justice.

The Blue Hour is a new work created collaboratively by five female composers—Caroline Shaw, Shara Nova, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Angélica Negrón, and Rachel Grimes. Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Luciana Souza joins A Far Cry in performance of The Blue Hour.

Ethan Lipton is rumpled, self-deprecating, and brilliant. No Place to Go is a story of work, outsourcing, and identity—and a potential career move to Mars.

Ethan Lipton is rumpled, self-deprecating, and brilliant. The Outer Space is a bittersweet, off-kilter tale of a couple headed for space—but the interstellar sailing isn’t always smooth.