ArtPower to offer eclectic, globe-trotting 2019-20 season at UCSD

ArtPower has no intention of coasting after concluding its 15th season in May with one of the most successful seasons in the history of UC San Diego’s proudly eclectic performing arts series.

No fewer than 21 of the 29 featured artists in the upcoming 2019-20 ArtPower season will be making their area debuts, including the Rosie Kay Dance Company, 18-year-old blind jazz keyboard prodigy Matthew Whitaker and Canada’s Choir! Choir! Choir!, which will perform a free Oct. 13 sing-along concert for attendees on both the San Diego and Tijuana sides of Border Field State Park.

Moreover, four of the five artists in the series’ upcoming Global Music concert lineup will be appearing here for the first time. They include Japanese koto innovator Umi Kurosawa, the borders-leaping Korean band Black String and Filipino-American DJ/vocalist/percussionist Gingee. (The full season lineup appears below.)

“With our World Music concerts, we like to take a look at a different area every year to present a cultural exploration of music from different regions,” said ArtPower executive director Jordan Peimer.

“In previous years, we’ve featured performers from Africa, Latin America and the so-called ‘banned countries,’ including Sudan, Iran and Yemen. This time, we’re looking at how contemporary artists are updating and re-imagining Asian traditions in a contemporary fashion.”

The new season, which has a budget of about $1.3 million, will open with an Oct. 8 performance by saxophone dynamo Rudresh Mahanthappa and his Indo-Pak Coalition. The trio, featuring guitarist Rez Abbasi and drummer Dan Weiss, kicks off ArtPower’s six-concert jazz series, its largest ever.

“Our jazz series was completely sold out last year, which is a testament to the curatorial vision of Molly Clark, who booked all the artists,” Peimer said.

Those sell-outs are doubly notable given that none of last season’s jazz acts — which included Somi, Keyon Harrold and Alfredo Rodríguez — are major names yet, at least not in San Diego.

“This is the second or third year we’ve sold out the jazz series,” said Clark, ArtPower’s associate director of artistic planning and education. “I think part of it is that San Diego audiences are hungrier for jazz than they have been. There’s a really thriving scene here and it’s a case of a high tide raises all the boats in the jazz sea.”

‘Create an experience’

ArtPower’s goal is to present diversified programming that will concurrently appeal to and expand the horizons of UC San Diego students and the greater community as well.

“We really want to be able to create an experience for the students to see themselves reflected on stage,” Peimer said.

“There are so many parts of the world with really vibrant cultures and we feel it’s our responsibility at the university to represent that. So, while our 2019/2020 Global Music series may be focused on the music of contemporary Asia, we are also bringing in a lot of other very interesting voices reflecting other parts of the world.”

Attendance for the 2018-19 ArtPower season was 9,100 — a 13 percent increase from the previous season — and 23 percent of the attendees were students at the La Jolla campus. That, too, marks an increase.

“We’ve doubled our student staffing and we’ve noticed that a lot of students are coming out for music and dance performances — by artists they haven’t heard before — because of the variety of students that work for us,” said Joanna Szu, ArtPower’s associate director of marketing and communications.

“During the summer, Molly and I go and visit all the student resident advisers on campus and show them a trailer of our upcoming season and artists we think students would be interested in. They, in turn, talk to incoming students about what we have coming up. ArtPower gives students a more well-rounded experience of the arts as part of their education.”

2019-2020 ArtPower season

When: Oct. 8 to May 12

Where: Unless otherwise indicated, all events take place at venues on the UC San Diego campus, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, with a start time of 8 p.m.

Tickets: Season subscription packages go on sale Monday. Single tickets go on sale July 29 at the UC San Diego Box Office in Price Center Plaza, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday and online and by phone. Discounted early bird tickets are usually available until one month prior to performances.

Phone: (858) 534-8497

Online: artpower.ucsd.edu

Tuesday Oct. 8: Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition with Rez Abbasi and Dan Weiss. The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $23-$35; regular: $28-$40

Friday, Oct. 11: Samin Nosrat. Balboa Theatre, downtown. Regular: $25-$45

Sunday, Oct. 13 at 3 p.m.: Choir! Choir! Choir! Border Field State Park, on both the San Diego and Tijuana sides. Free and open to the public.

Friday, Oct. 18: Escher Quartet with Jason Vieaux. Conrad Prebys Concert Hall at UC San Diego. Early bird: $40-$54; regular: $45-$59

Wednesday, Oct. 23: Matthew Whitaker. The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $23-$35; regular: $28-$40

Friday, Nov. 1: Theo Croker. The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $23-$35; regular: $28-$40.

Tuesday, Nov. 5: Dengue Fever. Price Center East Ballroom at UC San Diego. Early bird: $20; regular: $25

Friday, Nov. 15: Penderecki Piano Trio. Conrad Prebys Concert Hall @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $40-$54; regular: $45-$59

Thursday, Nov. 21: Gingee. The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $15; regular: $20

Tuesday, Dec. 3: Aakash Odedra Company “Rising.” David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, La Jolla. Regular: $40-$50

Wednesday, Jan. 8: Cedric Burnside. The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $18-30; regular: $23-$35

Friday, Jan. 17: Ariel Quartet performs Beethoven Cycle, Part 2. Conrad Prebys Concert Hall at UC San Diego. Early bird: $40-$54; regular: $45-$59

Thursday, Jan. 23: The Haden Triplets. Price Center East Ballroom at UC San Diego. Early bird: $30; regular: $35

Thursday, Jan. 30: A.I.M. performs “Show Pony,” “Dearest Home,” “Drive,” “The Quiet Dance” and “Meditation.” Balboa Theatre. Regular: $30-$50

Wednesday, Feb. 5: Cha Wa. Price Center East Ballroom at UC San Diego. Early bird: $30; regular: $35

Friday, Feb. 7: Alicia Olatuja. The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $23-$35; regular: $28-$40

Wednesday, Feb. 12: Msaki and the Golden Circle. The Loft @ UC San Diego. $20-$30

Friday, Feb. 14: Doric String Quartet. The Auditorium at The Scripps Research Institute. Early bird: $54; regular: $59

Thursday, Feb. 20: Deidre Bair. The Loft @ UC San Diego. $10.

Wednesday, Feb. 26: Black String. Price Center East Ballroom at UC San Diego. Early bird: $20; regular: $25

Thursday, Feb. 27: Jamison Ross. The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $23-$35; regular: $28-$40

Wednesday, March 4 to Saturday, March 7: Rosie Kay Dance Company “5 SOLDIERS: The Body is the Front Line.” White Box at Liberty Station; regular: $40

Thursday, March 12: Red Baraat “Festival of Colors.” Price Center East Ballroom at UC San Diego. Early bird: $20; regular: $25

Friday, April 3: Spektral Quartet. Conrad Prebys Concert Hall at UC San Diego. Early bird: $40-54; regular: $45-$59

Tuesday, April 21: Sierra Hull. The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $18-$30; regular: $23-$35

Wednesday, April 22: Harold López-Hussa. The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $23-$35; regular: $28-$40

Wednesday, April 29: Yumi Kurosawa with Anubrata Chatterjee.The Loft @ UC San Diego. Early bird: $15-$25; regular: $20-$30

Saturday, May 2: “An Evening with J.S. Bach,” featuring Takae Ohnishi and Friends. Conrad Prebys Concert Hall at UC San Diego. $25-$35

Tuesday, May 12: David Sedaris. Balboa Theatre. $40-$55