Young Auditorium ushers in the official start of its 2015-2016 performance season with the 2015 World Music Festival public concert on Wednesday, Sept. 23. This year, three of the five performances will take place outdoors starting earlier in the afternoon. Evening performances will be held inside on stage at Young Auditorium. All shows are free, but tickets need to be reserved for most performances.
Tickets are reserved separately for each event, so attendance all day is not required.
La Chiva Gantiva
The festival begins with La Chiva Gantiva at 12:30 p.m., performing on an outdoor stage at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater North Mall (on campus – no ticket required.) La Chiva Gantiva plays an explosive blend of Afro-Colombian rhythms including rock, afro-beat, and funk. The New York Times describes their sound as “frenetic carnival punk racket that detonates like a Molotov cocktail of rock, rap, soul, and ferociously funky Latin rhythms.”
SU:M
At 4:30 p.m., the Young Auditorium outdoor courtyard will come to life with the sounds of SU:M. Their name translates as “a rhythmic space, a pause for breath.” Respiration is an essential part of music, especially in traditional Korean music. For this group, music is a way to express the essence of living, using traditional Korean instruments like the piri, saenghwang, yanggeum, and gayageum.
Aziz Sahmaoui and
The University of Gnawa
At 6 p.m., the outdoor concert at the Young Auditorium courtyard continues with Aziz Sahmaoui and The University of Gnawa. Aziz is a Moroccan poet-singer who has achieved a glorious harmony between Maghreb rock, jazz and Gnawa music. With his spellbinding voice, he confirms his reputation as one of the foremost singer-songwriters of contemporary world fusion music; a reputation that reaches across Europe and beyond to the Middle East and the United States.
Tickets are required for the limited seating available in the courtyard for the performances listed above, but concert-goers are also welcome to sit outside on the lawn and enjoy the food and music as well. At 4 p.m., guests will be able to purchase food from food truck vendors outside on the Young Auditorium circle driveway.
On the big stage
The World Music celebration does not end until much later in the evening. Inside on the Young Auditorium stage, two energetic artists will perform.
Ester Rada
Beginning at 7:30 p.m. First in the line-up is Ester Rada, whose cross-cultural sound is a deep reflection of her Israeli-born Ethiopian heritage. Critics hail her songwriting describing her genre-mixing sound as “Ethio-Jazz, Urban-funk, Neo-Soul, and R&B, with mixed undertones of black grooves.”
Sierra Maestra
The evening ends on a high note with the excitement created by Sierra Maestra, who have been stars of Cuban music ever since the late 1970s. They were the first group to play in the old-style “son” line-up: tres, guitar, trumpet, bongo; guiro and vocals. They have been the pioneers in reviving and now redefining this style for new generations and reintroducing it into the Cuban mainstream.
Previews and tickets
Videos of the artists and more information about the event, times, and locations can be previewed on Young Auditorium’s website: www.uww.edu/youngauditorium.
To reserve tickets, stop in or call the Greenhill Center of the Arts Box Office (located in the Greenhill Center of the Arts atrium on the UW-Whitewater campus) at (262) 472-2222, or reserve tickets online at www.uww.edu/youngauditorium. Tickets ordered online can also be printed at home (small fees apply for this service).
