Exacting British choreographer Sarah Michelson, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Henry Threadgill and noise-rocker Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth — all are part of a 2018-19 Walker Art Center performing arts season studded with boundary-pushing veteran artists.
"The world is reflected through the eyes of these brilliant artists," said senior curator Philip Bither, who announced the schedule, which includes six Walker commissions and five world premieres. "The challenges we face are extensive, but there's great joy, discovery and creativity woven throughout this very large, global season."
Even though it bridges genres, the Walker lineup hews to some broad contours. On the music side, things kick off with Meredith Monk, the American composer, singer, choreographer and filmmaker who will focus on voice this time around, joined by her vocal ensemble in a concert of "Cellular Songs" presented with Minnesota Opera (Oct. 4-8).
Ethiopian composer Hailu Mergia, who fuses jazz with Eastern African influences, will perform Oct. 26 at Cedar Cultural Center with his trio, plus an opening set by Minnesota's own Ethio-jazz-funk purveyors, the Yohannes Tona Band.
The Walker celebrates the path-breaking career of Sonic Youth's co-founder with a two-night event called "Thurston Moore: Moore at 60" that will enlist a number of collaborators, including John Zorn, Anne Waldman, James Sedwards and Steve Shelley (Nov. 9-10).
Avant-garde jazz saxophonist and flutist Threadgill also gets a festival on the weekend he turns 75. On the first night of "Celebrating Henry," 20-plus Minnesota musicians led by cellist Michelle Kinney will improvise on Threadgill compositions. Then Threadgill will perform the following evening with his ensemble Zooid, whose recording "In for a Penny, In for a Pound" won the 2016 Pulitzer for music (Feb. 15-16, 2019).
Composer, writer and philosopher Hildegard of Bingen is front and center at "The Living Word," a concert by female vocal trio Modern Medieval that includes world premieres by composers Ben Frost and Angélica Negrón, and a new work by Julianna Barwick. All three composers will also perform with the trio at a soon-to-be refurbished church in St. Paul in this co-presentation with the Liquid Music series (March 22-23, 2019, at Summit Center for Arts and Innovation).
Celebrated avant-garde trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith and his Golden Quintet will present "America's National Parks," a politically charged tribute to the nation's sacred spaces as well as neglected cultural zones (March 30, 2019).
