Green Music Center unveils 10th anniversary season

The Green Music Center at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park has announced a wide-ranging lineup of 30 performances for its 10th anniversary season, 2022-’23, showcasing international stars and emerging artists presenting music, dance, film, theater and even circus acts.

“Our 10th anniversary season is a celebration that will last all year,” said Green Music Center Executive Director Jacob Yarrow. “You’ll see some of our most popular artists from past seasons and exciting new performers making their Green Music Center debuts.”

Big names returning to the center’s Weill Hall include Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis, who will kick off the season at the annual Party for the Green benefit on Sept. 16. Other highlights are the Vienna Boys Choir on Nov. 27 and cellist Yo-Yo Ma in recital with pianist Kathryn Stott on April 2, 2023.

“Yo-Yo Ma is one of the great humans, period, and a remarkable cellist,” Yarrow said at a press conference Monday. Yarrow predicted that getting tickets to that concert will be challenging due to high demand.

There also will be plenty of rising young artists from the world stage, including DakhaBrakha, a quartet of folk musicians from Ukraine performing on Sept. 25; jazz keyboardist Matthew Whitaker, who often leads his band from a Hammond B3 organ, performing on Oct. 29; the female a cappella quintet Nobuntu from Zimbabwe on Nov. 18; and Mexican-born vocalist Magos Herrera collaborating with the Brooklyn Rider string quartet in a Latin American program on May 11, 2023.

“We’re very excited about the variety presented,” Yarrow said. A case in point: The contemporary Australian circus troupe Circa will perform on Oct. 9.

“It’s both inhuman, with the impossible feats, but also superhuman,” he said of their artistry. “It’s closer to Cirque du Soleil and also contemporary dance.”

Local artists such as Bay Area bluegrass icon Laurie Lewis and the Men of Note will perform on Nov. 12, and a jazz band made up of SSU faculty and students will perform with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis during the Party for the Green benefit on Sept. 16.

The next day, as part of the 10th anniversary celebration weekend, Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will give a Jazz for Young People concert at 1 p.m., then perform a concert that evening in Weill Hall with the rear wall open for lawn seating.

Most of the performances will be held in Weill Hall. Two will take place in the smaller configuration known as the Weill Hall Loft, and two concerts will be held in Schroeder Hall.

Here is the schedule for the complete 2022-’23 season.

Sept. 16 — Party for the Green with Wynton Marsalis. Concert at 6 p.m., followed by dinner, live music, party and dancing. $500.

Sept. 17 — Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Jazz for Young People concert at 1 p.m.; tickets $12.50-$25. Second concert at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $30-$115.

Sept. 24 — DDAT; hip-hop, jazz, funk and soul. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Sept. 25 — DakhaBrakha, Ukrainian folk music and world rhythms. 7 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Oct. 9 — Circa, Australian circus troupe, will present “Sacre.” 7 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Oct. 13 — Aida Cuevas, singer and the “Queen of Mariachi.” 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Oct. 14 — Cantus, men’s vocal ensemble. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Oct. 20 — Pachuquísmo, tap dance, Mexican zapateado and jazz. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Oct. 29 — Matthew Whitaker Quintet, blues and jazz. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Oct. 30 — Simone Porter, violin. 3 p.m. Tickets $30-$40.

Nov. 10 — Las Cafeteras; Afro-Mexican, hip-hop and folk. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Nov. 12 — Bluegrass fiddler Laurie Lewis and Men of Note. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$45.

Nov. 18 — Nobuntu, all-women a cappella quintet from Zimbabwe. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Nov. 20 — Juilliard String Quartet presents “Beethoven Extravaganza.” 3 p.m. Tickets $35-$95.

Nov. 27 — Vienna Boys Choir performs “Christmas in Vienna.” 3 p.m. Tickets $45-$105.

Dec. 9 — “All Is Calm,” stories and songs about the Christmas truce of 1914. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Dec. 10 — Boston Brass and the Brass All-Stars Big Band, “Christmas Bells are Swingin.’” 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Dec. 17 — San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, “Home for the Holidays.” 5 p.m. Tickets $25-$85.

Dec. 18 — American Bach Soloists perform “A Baroque Christmas.” 3 p.m. Tickets $35-$95.

Jan. 29, 2023 — Bang on a Can All-Stars; classical, jazz and rock. 7 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

Feb. 9, 2023 — Gretchen Parlato, jazz vocalist. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$45.

Feb. 11, 2023 — New Century Chamber Orchestra. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $35-$95.

Feb. 25, 2023 — Yamato, on Japan’s traditional Wadaiko drums. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$85.

Feb. 26, 2023 — Balourdet Quartet. 3 p.m. Tickets $30-$40.

March 2, 2023 — Treelogy, with violinist Etienne Gara and chamber group Delirium Music. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

March 12, 2023 — Israeli Chamber Project. 3 p.m. Tickets $35-$95.

March 16, 2023 — Branford Marsalis Quartet, with jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$85.

March 18, 2023 — “Somos Amigos: Songs on Common Ground,” with Mexican singer Sonia De Los Santos and The Okee Dokee Brothers. 2 p.m. Tickets $12.50-$25.

April 2, 2023 — Yo-Yo Ma, cellist, and Kathryn Stott, pianist. 3 p.m. Tickets $65-$175.

April 4, 2023 — Ijeoma Oluo, author of “So You Want to Talk About Race.” 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25.

April 7, 2023 — “32 Sounds” film, with live music and live narration. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$75.

April 20, 2023 — George Hinchliffe’s The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$85.

Tickets for donors of $1,000 or more will go on sale Tuesday, May 24. Tickets for 2021-’22 season subscribers will go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 26.

The general public can subscribe at 10 a.m. May 31. Single tickets will go on sale in August.

For more information or to reserve, go to gmc.sonoma.edu or call 707-664-4246.

Staff Writer Diane Peterson can be reached at 707-521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @dianepete56.