Walker Art Center's 2023-24 season boasts a 12-hour concert and seven dance shows

A marathon 12-hour concert with more than 20 musicians led by composer John Zorn and the premiere of a jazzy dance exploration of African American culture by Dianne McIntyre highlight Walker Art Center's fall programming in its 2023-24 season.

"This is a diverse mix of artists and disciplines from Minnesota and around the world who reflect the great upheaval, trauma and healing of our time," said Philip Bither, Walker's senior curator of performing arts.

The season kicks off with "Zorn @ 70," Zorn's birthday celebration, which takes place across a myriad of venues in and near the Walker and in collaboration with such artists as guitarists Bill Frisell and Julian Lage, keyboardist John Medeski, and percussionist Sae Hashimoto. The daylong event includes free acoustic concerts in Walker's galleries, evening concerts in the McGuire Theater and a free midnight "Hermetic Organ" recital at the Basilica of St. Mary on the church's giant 1949 Wicks Opus 3047 organ (Sept. 9).

The music roster also includes London jazzman Alabaster dePlume, who will be making his Minnesota debut with a mix of sax stylings, songs and poetry (Sept. 14).

Grammy–winning vocalist Arooj Aftab will be part of the Love in Exile Trio with pianist and polymath Vijay Iyer and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily (Oct. 10 at Cedar Cultural Center).

Walker also will present Sandbox Percussion's performance of Andy Akiho's Grammy-nominated piece "Seven Pillars" (Nov. 29); a concert by MacArthur Foundation "Genius" fellow Tomeka Reid, the jazz cellist and composer whose 17-member Stringet is conducted by Taylor Ho Bynum (March 2, 2024); and "Avant Joik," a concert by Nordic artists Katarina Barruk, Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje and Matti Aikio. The trio combine Sami vocal techniques with electronica (March 16, 2024).

The Walker caps its music season with the sample-laden Afrofuturist gospel of Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble (April 20, 2024).

McIntyre, whose "In the Same Tongue" leads off the dance shows, has choreographed for Broadway, TV and film and won a raft of honors over her five-decade career. She is known for the jazz-inflected lyricism of her dances, and will employ a live jazz quartet for this exploration of Black communication (Oct. 5-7).

Trajal Harrell, an American now living in Paris for his captivating mix of vogueing, Japanese butoh and postmodern dance, returns to the Walker with "The Köln Concert." It's Harrell's improvised response to Keith Jarrett's album of the same name, and he will be joined by seven dancers (Nov. 7-8).

McKnight Fellowship winner Darrius Strong curates "Choreographer's Evening," the Walker's annual showcase of Twin Cities dance scene (Nov. 25).

Choreographer Shamel Pitts teams up with the Brooklyn-based Tribe collective for "Black Hole — Trilogy and Triathlon." The show is described as an Afrofuturist-inspired mix of dance, sound, projection and lightning design (March 21–23, 2024).

The dance roster also includes a show by celebrated French-Algerian dancer and choreographer Nacera Belaza. "L'Onde," whose French meanings refer to both waves and breathing, explores darkness and light (Oct. 27–28); the Walker commissioned "Nail Biter," Beth Gill's exploration of myth, drama and horror (Dec. 8-9); and Big Dance Theater's "The Mood Room," Annie-B Parson's '70s set critique of class and privilege (Feb. 8-10, 2024).

That is followed by Suzanne Bocanegra's "Honor," a stage work that masquerades as an artist lecture and is a critique of women's oppression (Feb. 22-24, 2024).

Walker closes its season with "Radioactive Practice" by Abby Z and the New Utility. Choreographer Abby Zbikowski's show celebrates ecstatic movement (May 15–18, 2024).