Segerstrom Center for the Arts Announces Iconic and Award Winning Cabaret, Jazz, and Chamber Musical Artists for the 2023 – 2024 Season
CABARET SERIES LINEUP
Matt Doyle | Forbidden Broadway | Megan Hilty | Salute to Olivia Newton-John | Jeremy Jordan | Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway Series with Lillias White
JAZZ SERIES LINEUP
Terence Blanchard and Turtle Island | Catherine Russell | Miho Hazama and M_Unit |
Cécile McLorin Salvant | Fred Hersch and ETHEL
CHAMBER SERIES LINEUP
Calder Quartet and Timo Andres | Théotime Langlois De Swarte and Le Consort | Takács Quartet and Marc-André Hamelin | Schumann Quartet | Sir Stephen Hough and Castalian Quartet | Bennewitz Quartet, Arsentiy Kharitonov | Ébène Quartet
New subscriptions on sale at scfta.org
Costa Mesa, CA – Segerstrom Center for the Arts brings a stunning, world-class lineup for Cabaret, Jazz, and Chamber music this 2023 -2024 season. Artists for each genre have been thoughtfully curated and hand selected by the Center’s programming team to bring a unique and unforgettable experience to patrons in Orange County. This year, the three series are returning with some Center favorites, as well as welcoming new artists for a year of exceptional and extraordinary music. The Samueli Theater, known for world-class artists debuting on stage in the warmest, most inviting, and most intimate atmospheres, is thrilled to welcome top bill artists on stage sure to sell out shows! Subscriptions for the Cabaret, Jazz, and Chamber Music series are on sale now at scfta.org.
The Cabaret Series will provide an intimate and authentic ambiance of a traditional cabaret club in the Samueli Theater. The series will begin with the cabaret debut of Broadway star Matt Doyle and the charming performance of Megan Hilty. Forbidden Broadway will re-enact iconic Broadway shows in a hilarious satire. Broadway stars will come together for a Salute to Olivia Newton-John. To round up the Cabaret Series, Jeremy Jordan will perform his new show of songs that led to his success followed by Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway Series with Lillias White.
Audiences will be thrilled by the Jazz Series, as it returns with Grammy- Award-winning jazz vocalist Catherine Russell, who will present her captivatingly unique talents recognized across the country. Grammy-nominated composer Miho Hazama will present her brilliant artistry with her jazz orchestra ensemble. Other jazz artists will include Cécile McLorin Salvant, Terence Blanchard and Turtle Island, and Fred Hersch and ETHEL.
The Chamber series will bring back Center favorites with Calder Quartet and Timo Andres, Takács Quartet and Marc-André Hamelin, and Ébène Quartet. Other ensembles of the classical music world making their series debut will include Théotime Langlois De Swarte and Le Consort, Schumann Quartet, Sir Stephen Hough and Castalian Quartet, and Bennewitz Quartet with Arsentiy Kharitonov.
Subscriptions for the Cabaret, Jazz, and Chamber Series are available now. Tickets for individual performances will go on sale at a later date. Visit the Center’s Website www.SCFTA.org for more information. For Group sales call (714) 755-0236.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds its corporate partner Kaiser Permanente, Official Health Care Partner. It also recognizes RAGE Monthly as a media partner for the Cabaret series, KJAZZ as a media partner for the Jazz series, and KMozart as a media partner for the Chamber series.
2023 – 2024 CABARET SERIES LINEUP
Matt Doyle | October 19 -21, 2023
Matt Doyle comes to our Cabaret Series directly from winning the Tony Award for his performance in Stephen Sondheim’s Company, a performance which also garnered him the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. With his powerhouse voice, laid-back charm and talent for storytelling, Center audiences are in for a real treat when Matt Doyle makes his Cabaret Series debut!
Doyle made his Broadway debut in Spring Awakening in 2007 and has received several additional Broadway credits including Bye Bye Birdie, War Horse, and The Book of Mormon (playing Elder Price). Off-Broadway, Doyle has performed in Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, A Clockwork Orange, Brooklynite, Giant, and Jasper in Deadland, and in Fall 2022, joined the cast of Westside Theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors as Seymour alongside Lena Hall. On screen, Doyle’s credits include Gossip Girl, Private Romeo, The Code, Once More with Feeling, For Real, and Truth Slash Fiction.
Forbidden Broadway | November 16-18, 2023
From FROZEN to PHANTOM to WICKED, this all-new fall-down funny, satirical roast of over 30 Broadway hits features outrageous costumes, silly spoofs of the songs you know by heart and madcap impressions by a stellar cast! Newer spoofs include HAMILTON, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, and MOULIN ROUGE. It’s never been more fun poking fun at your favorite musicals and stars! A New York sensation for 35 years, a talented quintet of comic chameleons throw out pointed parodies at a dizzying pace. Whether you are a seasoned theatergoer or new to it all, the Tony Award® winning Forbidden Broadway is your one-stop ticket to non-stop laughs: a hip and fresh view of theatre’s tried and true that will leave you begging for more! The New York Times has made Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation a “Critics Pick” calling it “The Best Edition of Forbidden Broadway in recent memory!”
Forbidden Broadway is the recipient of a Special Tony Award®, an Obie Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award for Best Off Broadway Musical, and a 2013 Drama Desk Award nomination for its edition, Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking!
Megan Hilty | December 14 -16, 2023
Megan Hilty’s sweetness, sincerity, humor, and magnificent singing charmed Center Cabaret audiences when she made her debut in 2019. While she might be best known for starring as triple-threat Ivy Lynn in NBC’s musical drama “Smash,” Megan Hilty has triumphed on Broadway, earning Tony® and Drama Desk® nominations for her performance in the hilarious comedy, Noises Off. She originated the role of Doralee in Broadway’s 9 to 5 and has been an acclaimed Glinda in WICKED, both in New York and on national tour. Expect to be dazzled, delighted, and thoroughly entertained at these performances in the Center’s Cabaret!
Salute to Olivia Newton–John | January 11-13, 2024
Broadway stars, Jessica Hendy and David Burnham, are coming together to celebrate the life and career of the beloved singer and actress Olivia Newton-John in Hopelessly Devoted: The Music of Olivia Newton-John.
With a 60-year career in music, film and television, Olivia Newton-John was a celebrated artist whose work impacted arts & entertainment around the globe. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner with fifteen of her singles ranking in the Top 10 charts (including five songs at #1), and she starred in the hit musical film Grease which took the world by storm upon its release in 1978. She was an inspiring, outspoken voice in environmental activism and animal rights advocacy, and she was bestowed Australia’s highest honor, the Companion of the Order of Australia, for her work as an entertainer and philanthropist before her passing. Olivia Newton-John’s legacy lives on through her incredible music and the iconic character she helped originate, and this tribute to her will be nothing short of exceptional.
Jessica Hendy is a vocal powerhouse who just closed the recent Broadway revival of CATS. She is the only person that has the distinction to have been in the original Broadway production of CATS, the National tour, and the Broadway revival. She recently made her Radio City Music Hall debut in The New York Spring Spectacular, alongside the world famous ROCKETTES.
David Burnham was last seen on Broadway in the mega-hit musical, “Wicked”, playing Fiyero, a role that he originated in the developmental workshops of the show. OC audiences might also fondly remember David’s starring turn in the Light in the Piazza at South Coast Repertory – a show he appeared in on Broadway, as well.
For this special engagement, Jessica and David will perform their favorite songs from Olivia’s incredible catalogue in an emotional celebration of her life and legacy.
Jeremy Jordan | February 22-24, 2024
For his Cabaret Series Debut, Jeremy will take an exhilarating, decade-spanning journey through Broadway’s greatest hits – performing songs from his signature Broadway roles in Newsies and Waitress, and showcases selections from favorite musicals like West Side Story, Carousel, Oklahoma!, Ro
Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan will offer a new cabaret show performing songs that defined his rise to the Broadway stage and the big screen, including turns in the film adaptation of Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, the CW series Supergirl, Disney’s Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, and NBC’s SMASH. Most recently seen Off-Broadway in the hit revival of Little Shop of Horrors, Jordan’s other Broadway and theater credits include Waitress, American Son, Rock of Ages, Newsies, Bonnie and Clyde, and West Side Story. Jeremy has been performing his solo cabarets to sold-out audiences around the US and London and made his solo Carnegie Hall Debut in October 2019.
Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway Series with Lillias White | May 16-18, 2024
An exciting new addition to the Cabaret Series this year, is Seth Rudetsky’s intimate concert and conversation with special guest Lillias White. The evening promises a seamless mix of intimate behind-the-scenes stories prompted by Rudetsky’s funny, insightful, and revealing questions, and the music from White’s stellar Broadway and television career.
Seth, currently is the host of Seth’s Big Fat Broadway and Seth Speaks on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio’s On Broadway and an entertaining radio star and music director with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Broadway.
Internationally acclaimed Tony, Obie, and Emmy Award-winner Lillias White (The Life, Fela!, Dreamgirls, Once On This Island, Chicago, Disney’s Hercules,) most recently starred as Hermes in Hadestown. Lillias has delighted the Cabaret Series previously and is back by popular demand!
2023 -2024 JAZZ SERIES LINEUP
Terence Blanchard and Turtle Island | September 23, 2023
Terence Blanchard and Turtle Island celebrate their new album Absence, which pays tribute to legendary composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Absence presents pieces written by Shorter as well as original compositions by Blanchard and members of his band.
As one of jazz’s most esteemed trumpeters, composers and orchestrators, Terence Blanchard has composed scores for over 20 Spike Lee projects over three decades. A five-time Grammy winner and twice Oscar-nominated film composer, Blanchard is only the second African-American composer to be nominated twice in the original score category at the 2022 Academy Awards. Blanchard is also heralded as a two-time opera composer whose Fire Shut Up in My Bones is the first opera composed by an African-American composer to premiere at the Met.
Winner of the 2006 and 2008 Grammy Awards for Best Classical Crossover Album, Turtle Island fuses the classical quartet aesthetic with contemporary American musical styles, and by devising a performance practice that honors both, the state of the art has inevitably been redefined. Cellist nonpareil Yo-Yo Ma has proclaimed Turtle Island to be “a unified voice that truly breaks new ground – authentic and passionate – a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today.”
Catherine Russell | September 30, 2023
Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Catherine Russell is one of the outstanding jazz singers of our time, known for her stunning vocal approach and interpretive works in blues and early jazz.
Her repertoire features a selection of gems from the 1920s through the present; vital interpretations, bursting with soul and humor. With an off-the-beaten-path song selection and sparkling acoustic swing, Catherine Russell has joined the ranks of the greatest interpreters and performers of American Popular Song.
She is the daughter of pioneering and legendary musicians—pianist/orchestra leader/composer/arranger Luis Russell, and bassist/guitarist/vocalist Carline Ray—and has toured the world performing and recording with David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Jackson Browne, Michael Feinstein, The Holmes Brothers, Wynton Marsalis, and Rosanne Cash, among others. Since the 2006 release of her debut album, Cat, on Harmonia Mundi’s World Village label, six acclaimed and chart topping albums have followed, including Strictly Romancin’, awarded Prix du Jazz Vocal 2012 (Vocal Album of The Year) by the Jazz Academy in France, and Bring It Back in 2014. Catherine Russell was a featured artist on a Grammy Award-winning soundtrack album for the HBO TV series, Boardwalk Empire.
Her 6th album, Harlem On My Mind, received a Grammy® nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, and her 7th album, Alone Together, held the #1 position on the JazzWeek 2019 Year End Chart for national radio play and earned her 2nd Grammy® Nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Miho Hazama and M_Unit | October 28, 2023
Grammy-nominated composer Miho Hazama is one of the most promising and talented composers/arrangers of her generation. Lauded in Downbeat as one of “25 for the Future,” Miho developed her signature jazz chamber orchestra “M_Unit”. Hazama is a classically trained, jazz-oriented pianist with a bold and unique compositional voice, and her 13-piece jazz chamber orchestra unit includes strings, horns, woodwinds, and a piano/bass/drums rhythm section. Her three albums have received overwhelming critical acclaim, with her debut album, Journey to Journey, receiving the Jazz JAPAN rising star award and her most recent album, Dancer In Nowhere, earning her a Grammy nomination.
Don’t miss this brilliant composer and her jazz orchestra as they make their Center debut with a distinct hybrid of big band jazz, contemporary classical music, and pop!
Cécile McLorin Salvant | January 20, 2024
Cécile McLorin Salvant is bringing her new music and elusively beautiful voice to the Center for a magnificent concert.
As a composer and singer, Salvant has been nominated for five Grammys and won in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category for three consecutive albums. After winning the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010, Salvant went on to receive the MacArthur Fellowship and the Doris Duke Artist Award in 2020, with The New Yorker saying, “You get a singer like this once in a generation or two.” Salvant’s passion for storytelling shines through in her music, as she ties vaudeville, blues, folk traditions from around the world, theater, jazz, and baroque music into her own distinctive sound.
This winter, Salvant appears on the Samueli Theater stage with Ghost Song, her debut album for Nonesuch Records, which received critical acclaim upon its release in March 2022. Ghost Song features a diverse mix of seven originals and five interpretations on the themes of ghosts, nostalgia, and yearning, with The New York Times calling it, “her most revealing and rewarding record yet.”
Fred Hersch and ETHEL | March 9, 2024
Fred Hersch is a pianist, improviser, composer, educator, bandleader, collaborator and recording artist whose work over the past three decades has made him a celebrated member of jazz’s piano pantheon. This 15-time Grammy nominee has more than 3 dozen albums to his credit and is a pervasively influential creative force who has been proclaimed “the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz over the past decade” by Vanity Fair. Hersch is known for his inventive creativity in a stunning variety of performances and his exquisite compositions that consistently receive lavish critical praise. In addition to music, he also wrote the acclaimed memoir Good Things Happen Slowly, which reveals the story of his struggles and triumphs as the first openly gay, HIV-positive jazz musician.
Established in NYC in 1998, ETHEL Quartet consists of four composer-performers—Ralph Farris (viola), Kip Jones (violin), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Corin Lee (violin)—and fuses uptown panache with downtown genre mashup. ETHEL has released 9 feature albums, guested on 40+ recordings, won a GRAMMY® with jazz legend Kurt Elling, and toured internationally with Todd Rundgren & Joe Jackson.
2023 -2024 CHAMBER SERIES LINEUP
Calder Quartet and Timo Andres | October 6, 2023
Hailed as “superb” and “imaginative, skillful creators” by The New York Times, the Calder Quartet captivates audiences and explores a broad spectrum of repertoire. The group’s distinctive artistry is exemplified by a musical curiosity brought to everything they perform and has led them to be called “one of America’s most satisfying—and most enterprising—quartets.” (Los Angeles Times)
Winners of the prestigious 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant, they are widely known for the discovery, commissioning, recording, and mentoring of some of today’s best emerging composers. In addition to performances of the complete Beethoven and Bartok quartets, the Calder Quartet’s dedication to commissioning new works has given rise to premieres of dozens of string quartets by established and up-and-coming composers. Inspired by innovative American artist Alexander Calder, the Calder Quartet’s desire to bring immediacy and context to the works they perform creates an artfully crafted musical experience.
The Calder Quartet will be joined by composer and pianist Timo Andres, who has been hailed by The Guardian for the “playful intelligence and individuality” of his album, Home Stretch. This evening will feature a new piano quintet by Andres, and you simply won’t want to miss this performance filled with incredible music.
Théotime Langlois De Swarte and Le Consort | November 9, 2023
Le Consort is a leading baroque chamber ensemble and this fall, these four young musicians are making their Chamber Series debut! Co-directed by harpsichordist Justin Taylor and violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte, this celebrated group is known for bringing together compelling musical personalities to interpret the trio sonata repertoire with enthusiasm, sincerity, and modernity.
The group’s mission is to bring together compelling musical personalities in the service of chamber music from the repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries. From Corelli to Vivaldi, from Purcell to Couperin, the dialogue between the two violins, a cello, and a harpsichord displays a wealth of contrasts between vocality, sensuality and virtuosity. Le Consort takes this genre, the quintessence of Baroque chamber music, and interprets it with a personal, dynamic, and colorful language.
In 2017 they claimed First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Loire Valley International Early Music Competition and have been featured on numerous broadcasts on France 3, France Musique, France Inter and Radio Classique. Le Consort makes its North American debut this year after having toured extensively throughout Europe and will bring the quintessence of baroque chamber music with them across the U.S.
Takacs Quartet and Marc-André Hamelin | January 27, 2024
Takács Quartet is returning to Samueli Theater for a performance “powered by shimmering detail” (The Guardian) with award-winning pianist Marc-André Hamelin.
The quartet—Edward Dusinberre, violin; Harumi Rhodes, violin; Richard O’Neill, viola; and Andras Fejer, cello—is renowned for the vitality of its interpretations. This premier chamber music ensemble won their 4th Gramophone Classical Music Award for Chamber Music in 2021 and is the first string quartet to be inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame.
“A performer of near-superhuman technical prowess” (The New York Times), pianist Marc-André Hamelin is known worldwide for his unrivaled blend of consummate musicianship and brilliant technique in the great works of the established repertoire. Together, Takács and Hamelin are set to deliver an unforgettable concert.
Schumann Quartet | February 16, 2024
This German ensemble considered to be one of the best quartets in the world, consists of three brothers—Erik, Ken, and Mark Schumann—and violist Veit Hertenstein. Having been playing together since their earliest childhood, the musicians enjoy the way they communicate without words. Although the individual personalities clearly manifest themselves, a common space arises in every musical work, creating one cohesive sound for the group. The ensemble’s openness and curiosity makes for a thrilling and unforgettable experience for the audience.
“A work really develops only in a live performance,” the quartet says. “That is ‘the real thing’, because we ourselves never know what will happen. On the stage, all imitation disappears, and you automatically become honest with yourself. Then you can create a bond with the audience – communicate with it in music.”
Sir Stephen Hough and Castalian Quartet | March 2, 2024
Since its formation in 2011, the London-based Castalian Quartet has distinguished itself as one of the most dynamic, sophisticated young string quartets performing today. Appointed the inaugural Hans Keller String Quartet in Residence at the Oxford University Faculty of Music in 2021, they are also the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2019 Young Artists Award. The quartet collaborates with many living composers, including recent premieres of works by Mark-Anthony Turnage, Charlotte Bray, and Edmund Finnis. This season, they will perform with pianist Sir Stephen Hough, one of the most distinctive artists of his generation who has won numerous international prizes with his catalogue of over 60 albums.
In Spring 2022, the Castalian Quartet released its first recording, Between Two Worlds (Delphian), featuring works by Thomas Adès, Beethoven, and first violinist Sini Simonen’s own arrangements of early works by Orlando de Lassus and John Dowland. Gramophone praised the album as “consistently sensitive; bright, focused, [and] agile…. this excellent presentation facilitates a highly creative brand of time travel…. a most fascinating release.”
Bennewitz Quartet, Arsentiy Kharitonov | April 5, 2024
Founded in 1998 in Prague, The Bennewitz Quartet established its reputation by winning the Osaka (2005) and the Premio Paolo Borciani (2008). Since then, the group has brought its richly differentiated sound culture and interesting programming to numerous festivals and major venues across the globe. The Bennewitz Quartet has become known for their “drama, expression, and utmost sensitivity” (The Strad), and broad repertoire that spans from Bach fugues to the classical canon and the contemporary—including many lesser-known works. The ensemble has been championing Czech music, including works by neglected composers such as Reicha, Haas, Ullmann, Schulhoff.
The quartet was awarded the 2019 Classic Prague Awards for the Best Chamber Music Recording of their concerts of Schumann, Martinu and Schubert at the Rudolfinum. The recording of the music of Ullmann, Schulhoff, Krasa and Haas was named Editor’s Choice by Presto Classical and was selected as Record of the Week by Europadisc. As of the fall of 2017, the quartet has been the ensemble-in residence for the Czech Philharmonic, performing in Prague’s Dvorak Hall.
Joining them for this performance is Russian pianist and composer Arsentiy Kharitonov, a Franz Liszt International Piano Competition winner whose technical mastery and broad dramatic range make him one of today’s top ranking pianists.
Ébène Quartet | April 22, 2024
After their unprecedented and outstanding success at the 2004 ARD Music Competition, Quatuor Ébène quickly began their rise to fame. In 2005, the quartet was awarded the Belmont Prize of the Forberg-Schneider Foundation, in 2007 it was prizewinner of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, and in 2019—as first ensemble ever—it was honored with the Frankfurt Music Prize. Quatuor Ébène’s albums, with recordings of Bartók, Beethoven, Debussy, Haydn, Fauré and the Mendelssohn siblings, have received several accolades, including Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and the Midem Classic Award. In addition to the traditional repertoire, the quartet also dives into other styles, and their free approach to various styles creates a tension that is beneficial to every aspect of their artistic work. The complexity of their repertoire has been greeted enthusiastically by audiences and critics.
With their charismatic playing, their fresh approach to tradition and their open engagement with new forms, Quatuor Ébène’s performances appeal to a wide audience and continue to captivate listeners across the globe.
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