An Evening with Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boublil

with Musical Performances by the University Singers and guest artists **An Affiliated Event
February 23, 2017 - 6:30pm
Old Cabell Hall
Sold Out - Unclaimed tickets will be released at 6:20pm to patrons in the standby line at the door of Old Cabell Hall.

This February, UVA will once again welcome in residence world-renowned composer and lyricist Claude-Michael Schönberg and Alain Boublil, best known for their musicals Les Misérables and Miss Saigon.  On Thursday, Feb. 23rd the public is invited to An Evening with Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boublil – which will feature the UVA University Singers and guest artists (led by faculty conductor Michael Slon) performing selections from several of their shows.  The brief performance will be followed by a conversation with the two artists moderated by Professor Emeritus Marva Barnett (at whose invitation they come), and will include reflections on their careers, the state of musical theatre today, and their current and upcoming projects.  The event takes place at 6:30 pm in Old Cabell Hall, and free tickets are available at the Arts Box Office (limit 2 per patron.)

The residency will also include screenings and other events with music and drama students, and the Rotunda is hosting an exhibit on Les Misérables in caricature, brought to UVA by Hugo scholar and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur Gérard Pouchain.   The residency is funded by the Arts Endowment, a permanent endowment established in 2014 dedicated to expanding, improving and promoting excellence in the arts at the University through investments in new and signature arts programs that enhance the University and the student experience. The  visit is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Vice Provost for the Arts, the Department of Drama, and the Department of Music.

Schönberg—a record producer, actor, singer, songwriter and musical theater and ballet composer—is best known for his collaborations with Boublil, a musical theater lyricist and librettist, author and producer. Their other major works together include the rock opera La Révolution Française (1973), Martin Guerre (1996), The Pirate Queen (2006) and Marguerite (2008). Schonberg’s shows have won many awards over the years, most recently the WhatsonStage audience awards for Best West End Show and Best Musical Revival for the new London production of Miss Saigon which opened in 2014.  A Golden Globe winner, Oscar nominee and Grammy award winner, Schönberg has been appointed Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University – a position funded by the Mackintosh Foundation.

Boubil’s many awards include two Tonys, two Grammys, two Victoire de la Musique and a Molière Award for Les Misérables as well as an Evening Standard Drama Award for Miss Saigon, a Laurence Olivier Award for Martin Guerre and a New York Chapter Honors Grammy for his outstanding contribution to the creative community. He co-wrote the screenplay of the Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated film, Les Misérables.  Currently he is working with Schönberg on a revised version of Martin Guerre.  He is also working on a symphonic concert and an animated project of their first rock opera, The French Revolution.

The University Singers, the University of Virginia’s flagship choral ensemble, have previously performed for Boublil and Schönberg in 2014, and taken their music on tour as part of a concert program given in England, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria in 2015.  The group also recently gave acclaimed performances of Handel’s Messiah, Poulenc’s Gloria, Beethoven’s Symphony #9, and Bach’s St. John Passion in Charlottesville.  Founded in 1957, the group performs a cappella and accompanied choral literature ranging from chant to major choral-orchestral works, and the works of contemporary composers – including premieres of works by Stephen Paulus, Forrest Pierce, Judith Shatin, and Eric Whitacre.  Recent United States tours have take the group to Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Charleston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Providence, and the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.  In past years, highlights have also included concerts and workshops with Bobby McFerrin and Meredith Monk, a performance for Hillary Clinton, frequent collaborations with the Charlottesville Symphony, including the popular Family Holiday Concerts, and a performance for the 2010 VMEA (Virginia Music Educators Association) Conference.

UVA Today article about the residency.

For more information visit:
www.music.virginia.edu/usingers
www.music.virginia.edu

 

Address

UVA Department of Music
112 Old Cabell Hall
P.O. Box 400176 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4176

Email: music@virginia.edu