Events Around The Bay

Starting on January 27 through March 17, 2023

The world famous Stanford University in Palo Alto offers more than just great education and an envied and desirable all over the world graduating diploma. Plan ahead your cultural life in the heart of Silicon Valley as the Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Samara Joy, the return of Brandon James Guinn’s piano bar, comedy performances from Emily Wilson and Suli McCullough, fashion icon and cabaret artist Isaac Mizrahi, and more will wow us with their artistic talents orchestrated by Stanford Live’s lineup of performances in the intimate and versatile Studio space to feature an eclectic mix of genres, from folk-pop and acoustic guitar to jazz, cabaret, and stand-up comedy. Jazz musician Zach Moses and electronic artist Arswain (Jan 27) showcase their collaborative project Diving Dame of stripped-down acoustic songs next to electronic permutating grooves, serene ambient pieces, and tectonic beats. Syrian rapper and poet Omar Offendum performs with Palestinian American multi-instrumentalist maestro Ronnie Malley (Jan 28) in a concert that traces the influence of Al-Andalus and Arabic-speaking peoples on music and culture, from New York City’s Little Syria to the birth of California Surf Rock. Comedy at the Bing continues with two shows this winter. New York-based comedian, actress, and writer Emily Wilson performs FIXED (Feb 10), for which she was nominated for Best Newcomer after performing a full run of the show at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Then in March, stand-up comedian, comic-actor, and writer-producer Suli McCullough (Mar 9) performs a new stand-up set in the Studio. Hailed by The Wall Street Journal as “one of the most promising jazz singers of her generation” and called a “rising star in the galaxy of jazz singers” by the New York Times, jazz vocalist Cyrille Aimée (Feb 12) brings her improvisational style of performing to the Studio. Following the successful show in early 2020, A Night in the Piano Bar with Brandon James Gwinn (Feb 18) returns for an evening of free-flowing piano debauchery, guest singers, and show tunes. Curated by former Stegner Fellow and current Stanford lecturer in creative writing Hieu Minh Nguyen, Stanford Live’s first poetry night brings together award-winning poets and spoken word artists Danez Smith and Fatimah Asghar for Poetry Live! (Feb 23), which will also feature performances by members of Stanford’s Spoken Word Collective.

Multi-hyphenate music powerhouse and visionary producer Steve Hackman brings his production concept Beethoven X Coldplay and Tchaikovsky X Drake (Feb 24), in which he explores and synthesizes masterworks by classical and popular musicians. Known for her “radiant sound” and as “a key figure in a diverse dawn for the solo guitar” (The New York Times), acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Yasmin Williams (Feb 25) brings her unorthodox, modern style of playing to the Studio. Ronnie Burkett and his Daisy Theatre Players return with Burkett’s latest production Little Willy (Mar 1–4), a wild interpretation of Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet. With talent that extends beyond the fashion world, Isaac Mizrahi (Mar 10 & 11) performs alongside his band of jazz musicians in a cabaret evening that includes tunes by Madonna, Barbra Streisand, Billie Eilish, Cole Porter, and more. Samara Joy (Mar 15), a 2022 Grammy-nominee for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album and a rising star poised to be the next jazz singing sensation, will make her debut performance in the Studio with a pair of shows. With a style ranging from poetic musings to an anthemic fervor, folk-pop trio Luci (Mar 16) returns to Stanford Live after their summer 2022 Frost appearance during the Stanford Live Arts Festival. Grammy-nominated maestra Kala Ramnath (Mar 23) performs with her “Singing Violin” in a duo performance alongside tabla musician Abhijit Banerjee.

The duo of mandolinist Danilo Brito and guitarist Joao Luiz (Mar 24) round out the month with a showcase of their first album Esquina de São Paulo (Street Corner of São Paulo), which draws on the vibrant instrumental music of Brazil. Known for his heady mix of Afro-Cuban jazz, funk, and pop, Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter Alex Cuba (Apr 7) will perform two shows, followed the next evening by multicultural group D’DAT (Apr 8) in a concert fusing Indigenous musical traditions with the native southwest, jazz, funk, and hip-hop.

ABOUT STANFORD LIVE

Stanford Live presents a wide range of performances from around the world, fostering a vibrant learning community and providing distinctive experiences through the performing arts. From its home at Bing Concert Hall and Frost Amphitheater, Stanford Live functions simultaneously as a public square, a sanctuary and a lab, drawing from all Stanford University has to offer to connect performance to the most significant issues, ideas and discoveries of our time.

Information:

Tickets are on sale now at live.stanford.edu.

Photos courtesy of Stanford Live.

By Lina Broydo