Fine & Performing Arts

What does Herbie Hancock have in common with Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder? They all performed at New York’s Beacon Theatre on Oct. 1 to help Sting celebrate his 60th birthday!

Hancock belongs among popular music’s short list of elite performers who have exerted tremendous influence—on culture as well as the work of other artists—during decades of recording, composing and performing. He’s enjoying a resurgence in popularity, buoyed by his 2009 Album of the Year Grammy for “River: The Joni Letters,” a tribute to Joni Mitchell that featured instrumental arrangements of Mitchell’s songs as well as tracks with vocal performances by Corrine Bailey Ray, Norah Jones, Tina Turner and Mitchell herself.

North Central College is honored and incredibly fortunate to host a stop on Hancock’s first-ever solo tour. His performance begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, in the College’s Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. Tickets are $95 and $85; call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.

Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma, who performs solo in North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall on Oct. 1, is among the artists being recognized at the 34th annual Kennedy Center Honors . The Dec. 4 ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. will be a celebration of the artistic careers of the cellist Ma, along with singer Barbara Cook, saxophonist/composer Sonny Rollins, singer/songwriter Neil Diamond and actress Meryl Streep.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sit with the honorees during the televised ceremony.

“This year, the Kennedy Center celebrates its 40th anniversary by selecting five extraordinary individuals whose collective artistry has contributed significantly to the cultural life of our nation and the world,” Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein said.

“Yo-Yo Ma’s sterling musicianship makes him one of the most versatile and popular classical music performers in the world and his Silk Road Project has inspired students across the world to love and honor music,” he added.

Ma’s performance begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, in the College’s Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. Tickets are $150 and $125; call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.

The acclaimed classical music envoy will perform selected works by Bach. Ma earned the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance in 1985 for “Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites.”

North Central College’s sensational 2010-2011 season is drawing to a close. Looking back at a season that featured the likes of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ramsey Lewis, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Blues Traveler, Aaron Neville and many others, you may ask: how can they top that?

Well, our answer is North Central College’s 2011-2012 Fine and Performing Arts Sesquicentennial Season, whose stellar lineup includes Yo-Yo Ma, The Beach Boys, Herbie Hancock, Bernadette Peters, The Manhattan Transfer, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Canadian Brass, the Charlie Daniels Band, Celtic Woman, the Chicago Sinfonietta, Air Supply and many others.

“We always try to get the best, but this time we’ve kicked it up a notch for our Sesquicentennial,” says Fine Arts Director Brian Lynch.

Current subscribers have the first opportunity to renew their seats. Beginning May 2 series subscription packages and selected individual event tickets went on sale to renewing subscribers. May 16 is the deadline to retain current series seats.

Also on May 16, seat upgrade requests and new subscription requests will be taken for 2011-2012 series packages. Subscribers save up to 15 percent on the entire season, among numerous other benefits.

“Subscribers save on the entire season and receive the best seats at the best prices before tickets go on sale to the public,” Lynch says.

Series offers for the new season include five-show packages for the Performing Arts Series, Classical Series, Jazz Series and Contemporary Series, a four-show Family Series and a new, four-show Cabaret Series. For the A la Carte Series, patrons can choose any five shows and receive a 10 percent total discount.

Beginning Wednesday, June 1, individual performance tickets go on sale to the general public. A complete list of performances, show dates and prices will be available May 2 at northcentralcollege.edu/show.

Patrons may purchase tickets by calling the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or by visiting the Box Office located in the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave. Regular business hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

North Central College’s 2011-2012 Fine and Performing Arts Sesquicentennial Season is supported by a generous grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Season and individual performance sponsors include USG Corporation, Navistar Inc., the National Endowment for the Arts, Harris Bank, Grant Thornton, Nicor, Turner Construction, the Hinsdale Center for the Arts, Ryan Hill Realty, Marquette Companies, Water Street Properties, Casa by Charleston and Hawthorne Credit Union.