YSU's Pipino Performing Arts Series starts Aug. 31
A world-renown clarinetist, a marionettes concert, an audio drama and a string quartet from Harlem are among the headliners in the 2018-19 Donald P. Pipino Performing Arts Series from the Cliffe College of Creative Arts and Communication at Youngstown State University.
The series, which begins Aug. 31 and runs through April 2019, also includes a concert by the Baroque string band Acronym, two performances of the Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods” and Hollywood musical film, jazz singer and pianist Kate Reid performing songs from The Great American Songbook.
“The Pipino Performing Arts Series brings to Youngstown the types of cultural opportunities usually found only in large metropolitan areas and includes performances by nationally- and internationally-renowned artists as well as aspiring students from YSU’s Department of Theater & Dance and Dana School of Music,” said Phyllis M. Paul, CCCAC dean.
“The arts are vital to YSU and bring out the very best in a community by enriching the quality of life for all of its residents. The aura of an outstanding performing arts series impacts a region in multiple ways—from providing opportunities for children’s enrichment, to elevating the quality of life, to supporting and contributing to the business and economic climate of the community.”
The Donald P. Pipino Performing Arts Series is made possible by Christine and Edward Muransky, in honor of Christine’s father.
“YSU is very proud to bring this series to our community and region, and we invite you to join us for as many of our outstanding performances as possible,” Paul said.
Season and individual tickets are available online at deyorpac.org, in person at the DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown or by calling 330-744-0264.
The season:
The Huber Marionettes, Friday, Aug. 31, 7:30 p.m. in Ford Theater, Bliss Hall, on the YSU campus. Phillip Huber is like a classical concert violinist or pianist who works to master every note in the score and performs with perfection. He is there onstage with the marionettes – you are aware of him in the shadows, perhaps a dim colored light on his face – but below, his marionettes are alive all by themselves with feelings, passions, attitudes and personality. Suspended Animation is a series of vignettes selected from the Huber Marionettes Characters cast. The lighting is dramatic, the stage presence is elegant, and every movement is carefully timed and choreographed.
Acronym, Friday, Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m. at the Ford Family Recital Hall in the DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown. This Baroque string band presents a concert of music commemorating the Battle of Vienna of 1683, a turning point in the centuries-long conflict between the Ottoman and the Holy Roman Empires. The performance includes dueling choirs of strings and features H.I.F. Biber’s masterpiece Battalia.
Granny’s Cookies, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2 p.m. at the Ford Family Recital Hall in the DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown. The audio drama presented by VoiceScapes Audio Theater includes an award-winning cast of master voice artists, including audio actors, directors, sound engineers, writers and producers.
The Harlem Quartet, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019, 7:30 p.m. at the Ford Family Recital Hall in the DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown. Since its public debut at Carnegie Hall in 2006, the New York-based string quartet has appeared throughout the United States as well as in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Panama, South Africa, Venezuela and the U.K. The quartet has collaborated with such artists as violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Carter Brey, clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, saxophonist and composer Tim Garland, and jazz artists Chick Corea, Gary Burton and John Patitucci.
Kate Reid, Friday, April 5, 2019, 7:30 p.m. at the Ford Family Recital Hall in the DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown. A native of Northeast Ohio, vocalist Reid performs songs from The Great American Songbook, featuring some of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century. Reid appears at jazz venues in the Los Angeles and Miami areas.
David Krakauer and Ancestral Groove, Saturday, April 27, 2019, 8 p.m. at the Ford Family Recital Hall in the DeYor Performing Arts Center in downtown Youngstown. For more than two decades, the world-renowned clarinetist has been reinventing and remixing the Jewish music of his ancestry with the sensibility of a contemporary musician strongly informed by funk, jazz and hip-hop.
For events in Bliss Hall, parking is available in the M30 Wick Avenue deck for a nominal fee. Parking for events at the DeYor Performing Arts Center is available at adjacent lots.