Peak Performances
Montclair State University
Falling & Loving
SITI Company & STREB Extreme Action
September 24th - September 29th
More Information | Buy TicketsTwo titans of avant-garde performance—director Anne Bogart and choreographer Elizabeth Streb—join forces for the first time to take on works by Obie Award–winning rebel playwright Charles Mee in an original production commissioned by Peak Performances. In FALLING & LOVING six actors from SITI Company and six dancers from STREB Extreme Action storm the stage and launch into the air with the aid of a Guck Machine, an enormous contraption conceived by Streb that features rings and buckets armed to continually release materials into the stratosphere. Artists, ideas, and objects collide in this radical new production.
Shanghai Quartet Featuring
Simone Dinnerstein
October 5
More Information | Buy TicketsRenowned for its passionate musicality, impressive technique, and distinctive blend of styles, the Shanghai Quartet has become one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles. The “utterly sublime” (The New York Times) ensemble returns for two enchanting engagements. The Shanghai Quartet is the quartet-in-residence at Montclair State University’s Cali School of Music.
For Justice and Peace - Peak Debut
Sphinx Virtuosi
October 6th
More Information | Buy TicketsOne of the nation’s most dynamic chamber orchestras, the Detroit-based Sphinx Virtuosi makes its Peak Performances debut with a program driven by issues of social justice. Comprising 18 prizewinning Black and Latinx soloists, the performance includes a new composition and inspiration for the title of the program by Xavier Foley, Philip Herbert‘s requiem for a life lost to violence, Jessie Montgomery‘s homage to African-American artists in the Civil Rights era, Michael Abels‘ ode to the well-being of earth, and more. With “immeasurable power, unwavering command, and soulful beauty” (The Washington Post), these talented young artists address our current moment with a sensitivity and clarity that points toward peace.
Lena Herzog - PEAK Debut
Last Whispers
October 16th - October 20th
More Information | Buy TicketsTrained in linguistics and philosophy, Lena Herzog is a multimedia artist whose work has been exhibited around the world. Last Whispers, an immersive cinematic experience dedicated to vanishing languages, is the result of Herzog’s ongoing interest in indigenous dialects, which are disappearing at an astonishing rate. By 2050, half of the roughly 7,000 languages spoken around the world will fall silent. In Herzog’s oratorio, the historical recordings of more than 40 endangered or lost languages come alive among the echoes of collapsing stars in a work The New Yorker critic Alex Ross calls “haunting and singular.” Multiple panels and open discussions are planned to provide deeper understanding of the languages and what is being done worldwide to protect indigenous voices from fading away.
Appalachian Spring & The Auditions
PEAK World Premiere
Martha Graham Dance Company
November 14th - November 17th
More Information | Buy TicketsComprising the “most skilled and powerful dancers you can ever hope to see” (The Washington Post), Martha Graham Dance Company performs the iconic dance maker’s most celebrated work, Appalachian Spring, in concert with a Peak Performances commission, The Auditions by choreographer Troy Schumacher and composer Augusta Read Thomas. This new work has been designed to resonate with Graham’s classic, which turns 75 this year. “America’s foremost new-music group” (Alex Ross), the International Contemporary Ensemble joins the Graham Company for these world-class renditions of new music by Thomas and the original Pulitzer Prize–winning score for Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland.
