Cirque de la Symphonie returns to Lincoln

This Friday, Sept. 20, at 7:30pm, LSO and Cirque de la Symphonie reunite on stage for what's sure to be another stunning performance. It was in October, 2011, that Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra opened it's season with the spectacular performance of the Cirque de la Symphonie. The audience was awed by the production.

Shana Lord - who will
be performing in Lincoln
on Friday night.

The LCM News review described the audience's reaction:

"As the aerial artists spun and twisted with graceful, athletic skill, and spun or flipped almost to the ground, the audience would gasp... and then sigh with relief."

What is the Cirque de la Symphonie? Shana Lord, one of the aerialists on this Friday's performance, described what the Cirque does as "a marriage" of "physical artistry and musical artistry." In Lord's exclusive interview with LincolnCMN, she said that the audience should be prepared for: 

"A big surprise! Be along for the ride. 

We would love to inspire people to listen to Classical music and become a part of it in their community as people who play and listen to it--enjoy it!"

 Having started as a gymnast and a dancer, Lord describes herself as first an athlete who, with her experience in dance, learned to combine the two into an art form. Canadian based Cirque du Soleil was an important part in the development of her career in this style.

Photos courtesy of Cirque de la Symphonie

Besides performances with Cirque du Soleil, Lord has enjoyed performances with Gwen Stefani, Will Smith, and most recently, Anastacia. Lord shared with LincolnCMN a touching memory from her tour with Anastacia. Just as Lord had finished her act, Anastacia called her back on stage and completely surprised her by singing "Happy Birthday" to her in front of 10,000 people in a stadium. "Traveling together," Lord said, "you become a family."

Cirque de la Symphonie has three troupes of performers, and Lord was not among the troupe that came to perform in Lincoln in 2011. But she is looking forward to performing this Friday in Lincoln:

"Performing with the symphony is really a special treat—we don’t always get to work with live music. My favorite part is really just that--getting to work with the live music. With the different tempos and working as a team, it becomes a more organic, seamless performance."

Lord does all of her own choreography for the show. In Lincoln, she will be performing with Khachaturian's Valse from Masquerade in the first half and, in the second half, an aerial duo with Alexander Fedortchev to music by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Besides the aerial artists like Lord, the Lincoln audience will experience performances with juggling batons, contortion, spinning frame and cubes, hula hoops, acrobatic dance, juggling hats, and more.

If you haven't purchased tickets already, do so right now! All ticket information can be found at the LSO website. On Friday--be there and be amazed!

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Cirque de la Symphonie and the LSO: Breathtaking

First published over a year ago, this review is of the Cirque de la Symphonie and their performance with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra.

Cirque de la Symphonie will be performing with LSO again in the 2013-2014 season! Visit the Lincoln Symphony website today for more info and ticket purchases!
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To a near capacity crowd, conductor Edward Polochick warmly expressed his appreciation for what he considers “the best audience in the world.” Friday night, the Lincoln audience gasped, sighed, laughed, and cheered—responding as one to the thrilling performance on stage.

Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra (LSO) opened its season last night, Sept. 16th. Having just made the move from the smaller venue of Kimball Recital Hall, some may have wondered if LSO could fill the 2,210 capacity of the Lied Center. With the help of Cirque de la Symphonie, LSO played to a packed house.

Performing such favorites as Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Waltz and Swan Lake, John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever, Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Snow Maiden: Suite and Danse des bouffons, LSO could have brought down the house with the music alone, but paired with the artistry and acrobatics of Cirque de la Symphonie, the audience was blown away.
As the aerial artists spun and twisted with graceful, athletic skill, and spun or flipped almost to the ground, the audience would gasp... and then sigh with relief. Christine Van Loo and Elena Tsarkova were graceful artists with silk aerials, and Aloysia Gavre astounded everyone as she hung by one hand or just her feet while spinning with the rhythm of the music.

Vladimir Tsarkov was a favorite with the children in the audience, a bright glittery costume, and a face painted like a mime. Feats of juggling prowess and moments of clownish silliness kept the audience full of applause and laughter. The strength of Jarek and Darek’s “Duo Design” was yet another show stopping performance.
Alexander Streltsov first came on stage with his spinning cube act, but he stole the show completely during his aerial performance. Perhaps it was the masculine quality of his dance and performance, soaring out over the audience and back over the orchestra with the silks like a cloak, or the exceptional, exquisite, and perfect choreography. The music and acrobat were one in this performance—drawing in the audience and taking their breath away.

Bravo, LSO on your season opener! The spontaneous standing ovation at the end was absolutely deserved.

Anton Miller to communicate things 'only expressible through music'

On Saturday, March 16, at 7:30pm, Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra will perform a program entitled “Brahms Meets Beethoven” at the Lied Center. This concert is the first of two remaining concerts in the 2012-2013 season. Tickets are still available by visiting the LSO website.
Anton Miller, longtime concertmaster in the LSO, sat down with this Examiner to talk about Brahms and Beethoven. First off, Miller explained what the title “concertmaster” entails. The concertmaster is “basically the leader of the orchestra—in the history of orchestras, the concertmaster acted as the conductor or could step in to direct the orchestra for the conductor. In short, the concertmaster is a leader, certainly the leader of the strings, making sure all the bowing goes the same way for instance.” Other ways that the concertmaster leads the orchestra today include “translating” and “serving as a conduit” between orchestra and conductor; “in performance,” Miller shared, “my job is to do everything I can to help the conductor get everyone playing together.”
How does Miller accomplish all of this the LSO when he lives in New York and has a busy performing schedule?

“I’ve been doing this for about 25 years now. I come out for rehearsals the week before the performance, and I spend the entire week out in Lincoln. I travel to all kinds of different places, but I’m always there in Lincoln for a week of rehearsals. I always love coming out, and it’s a wonderful place.”

Miller is not only concertmaster but also soloist at this week’s performance. He will be performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major. He has played this concerto about three times before: “The first time was about 20 years ago with the Westfield Symphony in New Jersey, and I’ve played it again a couple times with various smaller orchestras in New York.”
When asked if he had a favorite between Brahms and Beethoven, Miller laughed, and then groaned. “If you held my feet to the fire and MADE me choose, my two favorite composers would be Brahms and Beethoven. If I had kids, it’d be like trying to make me say which of my two kids I liked better.” In the end, he admitted, he would choose Beethoven, who “came first and is probably the greatest composer... If I had to live without one of them (which I would hate to have to do!), it would be Brahms; I just couldn’t do without Beethoven.”
Miller also shared what his goal is when performing. He wants the audience to be “inspired, and that the concert communicates emotions and feelings to the audience. Music is it’s own language. Certain things are only expressible through music.” Miller admitted that he loves performances where he can talk to the audience and tell them what the music is about. In a way, of course, that opens up the doors for the audience to understand what the music is communicating.
To that end, Miller explained a little of what to listen for in the Beethoven work on Saturday:

“This concerto is incredibly beautiful. The first movement is incredibly lyrical and filled with an immense amount of emotion. What I want to do is show that...and get the audience to feel those different types of emotions. Many emotions, a lot of joy and sorrow, come to a head at the end of the first movement.
The slow movement is like a recitation, so soft, and it almost dies away—you feel like the music could last forever in a beautiful way. The last movement is like a dance that’s fun and joyous and a little tongue in cheek. This music lends itself to knowing the feelings.”

Miller has one experience of communicating with music that stands out especially. “I played a concert many years ago in Switzerland for an audience of mentally handicapped people. It was very noisy as I came out on stage, not applause, just chaos. I started playing—and I played for an hour and a half—and there was dead silence the entire time. I knew I was communicating at a high emotional level.”
That memory helped to inspire Miller to always “find something that touches people” as he performs.
“Something that’s beyond what would normally be talked about or communicated.”
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'The Four Seasons' was wild and stunning

The audience as it eagerly awaited the performance "The Four Seasons" at the Lied Center

Amy Flamminio

Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra wowed the audience again with their second concert of the season, The Four Seasons. As Conductor Edward Polochick explained to the audience, the idea for this evening’s performance came to him several years ago. At the time, Polochick conducted the premiere of César Olguin’s arrangement of Astor Piazzolla’s Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas. At last, for a Lincoln audience, Polochick’s inspiration came to life—a program featuring both Vivaldi’s and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons.

Piazzolla

“Remember,” the Maestro told the audience, “we really have eight different seasons here because Piazzolla is writing about seasons in the southern hemisphere, and Vivaldi is writing from sunny Italy in the northern hemisphere.”

The Chiara String Quartet took the stage with a string orchestra and piano, and the beginning of Piazzolla opened with what could have been Vivaldi, but suddenly broke into tango rhythms. The audience couldn’t contain itself and broke into spontaneous applause after hearing “Summer.”

“Autumn” could be described as wild. That is, wild and fast, wild and dissonant, and wild and lonely during Jonah Sirota’s achingly beautiful viola solo during this piece. “Winter” had a beautiful and peaceful ending that could have left you wondering what century it was written in because of it’s timeless harmonies. Closing with “Spring,” LSO and the Chiara String Quartet played with unabated energy, wild southern springtime rhythms.

Vivaldi

After Piazzolla, the audience was left wondering how Vivaldi’s Four Seasons could follow such a work. But as Rachel Barton Pine took the stage and described the story told by Vivaldi’s work, the audience were wrapped up in the music. Without ever mentioning a technical term, Pine described the motives, or musical ideas, that would be present in each movement. She described the trilling birds, flowing stream, and light thunderstorm in first movement of “Spring.” The second movement, she told the story of a napping shephered, “That’s me!” she grinned, and told how the violins are rustling leaves, the violas are a barking hound, what she declared was “Vivaldi’s version of an 18th century viola joke!” as the audience laughed.

Without throwing terms like “concerto grosso, ripieno, motives, or programmatic music,” Pine made Vivaldi’s music engaging for everyone, and her virtuosic performance was spectacular without drawing attention to itself. It may best be summed with her description of the first movement of “Autumn,” “I represent a particularly drunken guy, stumbling around, and basically making a fool of himself...” This comical account won the audience’s attention to the story told by the music, almost forgetting the brilliance and vivacity with which Pine’s violin played the virtuosic passages of the “drunken fool.”

Another wonderful part of the performance was Polochick at the harpsichord performing as harpsichordist and as conductor. Just to hear the harpsichord on stage gave a vital and delightful authenticity to the performance.

After a thoroughly engaging and flawless performance of the Four Seasons, Pine was called back on stage by a standing ovation and gave an encore from her latest CD. Fittingly, she chose to play Piazzolla’s Liberetude in closing, and give us a taste of the wild tango rhythms and an exciting finish to a stunning concert.

Bill Cosby and the Cornhuskers

photo by Amy Flamminio

On October 7, 2011, the TV legend, Bill Cosby, came to Lincoln and performed "Live at the Lied." As the opening performance of the Lied Center's 2011-2012 season, Mr. Cosby was certainly a success and tickets had sold out months in advance.

Despite the fact that it is homecoming weekend for Nebraska and many events and parties were taking place downtown at the same time as the Bill Cosby performance, there was a packed house and an air of excitement! As Cosby came on stage sporting a big, red Nebraska sweater, the crowd errupted with not only applause, but a standing ovation--this was before he'd even said a word.

For the next hour and a half, Cosby delighted the audience with his stories, jokes, and especially, his wonderful expressions. He talked about farming and football, proposals, childhood crushes, and marriage. Just as with his famous television show, "The Cosby Show," everything Cosby talked about spoke right to the audience. At age 15, he said "I had only two things going for me, hope and stupidity." For older members of the audience, they could relate to his jokes about growing old. "When I proposed to my wife, I said 'I want to grow old together'... I didn't know what that meant! No, I did not want to grow old!"

Stories about marriage, gleaned from his 47 years of marriage with his wife, rang true to all the married people, even a little girl appreciated the humor, "that's just what mom does to dad!"she exclaimed, as Cosby explained the way things disappear as his wife tidies and puts his things away even if he's right there.

From children to young adults to people of Cosby's own generation, everyone had a wonderful time. One young man was heard to remark, "I can't believe I got to see Bill Cosby live!"

When Cosby asked the audience what time it was so that he didn't get carried away, one person tried to tell him it was 7:30 (the time the show started) because they didn't want it to end!

Leaving the audience in stitches, Cosby left to the sound of wild applause as the audience leapt to their feet. Both the standing ovations, before and after the performance, were well-deserved by this lovable legend of laughter!

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Bill Cosby live in Lincoln

First published October 4, 2011
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Play

A clip of one episode of the Cosby Show where Theo learns a lesson. (in10se365 via youtube)

William H. Cosby, Jr., better known and loved as Bill Cosby, will be in Lincoln on Friday, October 7th to open the Lied Center for Performing Arts' 2011-2012 season. Lincoln audiences, like people from all over the country, fondly remember growing up and raising families with Bill Cosby's shows always brining a smile to the home. For years, he has brought the American Dream to television audiences everywhere.

From his first appearance on network television with his role in "I SPY" in 1965 to the "Cosby Show" in the 1980s and "Cosby" in the 1990s, Bill Cosby was a familiar face in everyone's home. Nearly three generations of children have or are growing up laughing at his funny faces. Parents can relate to the parenting joys and woes of Cliff and Claire Huxtable.

Bill Cosby has won numerous television and comedy awards from Emmy's, Grammy's, Kennedy Center Honor's, and People's Choice Awards. He has written several wonderful books filled with humorous insights. His new book,I Didn't Choose to be Born (But I'm Glad I Was), is set for release on November 1, 2011.

The Lied Center made a good call when they invited Cosby to perform in Lincoln. Tickets were sold out almost before they became available. Bill Cosby is sure to be a hit with the Lincoln audience who will give him a warm welcome.

Cirque de la Symphonie: Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra opens the 2011-2012 season

Cirque de la Symphonie comes to Lincoln on Friday, September 16th to perform with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra (Arkansas Symphony via youtube) 

Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra is opening it's new season at a new venue with new prices on Friday, September 16th. This opening performance will feature not only the symphony orchestra itself but the "acrobats, aerial flyers, dancers and jugglers" of Cirque de la Symphonie. Cirque de la Symphonie, "Circus of the Symphony," is another example of a group making Classical music relevant in today's world. The Cirque has performed with symphony orchestras throughout the country including those in Houston, Baltimore, Boston, Seattle, and many more--in working with the symphony, the Cirque choreographs everything specifically to the music on each concert. They believe that "The combination of these two art forms provides an energized performance that is greater than the sum of its parts."

This performance will put to use the larger stage of the Lied Center, LSO's new home, a great place to show the acrobatic prowess of the members of Cirque de la Symphonie. Don't miss this wonderful event. For tickets go to LSO's website or call the ticket office 402.476.2211.

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Upcoming events at Lincoln's own Lied Center for Performing Arts

Cover for the booklet containing the upcoming shows of the Lied Center's 2011-2012 season.

Credits: Amy Flamminio

The Lied Center's Artistic Director, Ann Chang, makes sure that each season "represents all the genres, Classical, family, dance, Jazz, Broadway, theater, and popular, as well as making sure that they are all programmed well with quality and class.” As the Lied Center opens its 22nd season in Lincoln, all the genres are present and there is surely something to please everyone.

The first show is the fast-selling, and already sold-out, "Bill Cosby - Live at the Lied," wherein famed comedian Bill Cosby comes to Lincoln. Lincolnites are planning to turn out in huge numbers to greet this legend whose life lessons and laughs entertained families for years through "The Cosby Show." Bill Cosby is set to come to the Lied Center on October 7th, at 7:30pm.

In the dance category, Lincoln can see Pilobolus Dance Theatre on October 12th, Moulin Rouge - The Ballet will come on April 1st, and Ragamala will bring their dance to Lincoln on April 11th.

Family and theater shows include Local Wonders from Nebraska's own U.S. Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser, Tomas Kubinek, The Shape of a Girl, The Ugly Duckling, and more. While Broadway shows include Beauty and the Beast, Young Frankenstein, and MAMMA MIA!

Jazz musicians and groups include the Turtle Island Quartet, Tiempo Libre, and the SFJAZZ COLLECTIVE - The Music of Stevie Wonder featuring some of the greatest Jazz musicians of today... and tomorrow.
Classical musicians coming to the Lied Center inlude the Munich Symphony Orchestra, Kathryn Stott, and the legendary, Itzhak Perlman.

Want to know what's coming up at the Lied Center this season? Subscribe to the Lincoln Lied Center Examiner to get advance, exclusive reports on who and what to look forward to as well, and check back often for reviews on some of the great shows coming to Lincoln this season!

Great shows and performers come to the Lied Center

Ann Chang is by now well known to Lincoln Examiner readers after her engaging and informative interviews on Entrepreneurship and her job as Lied Center Artistic Director. Now, Lincoln readers can enjoy a personal look at what Chang has enjoyed at the Lied Center in the past and what she is looking forward to in the coming season.

What are some of your favorite musicians or groups that have come to the Lied Center?
Obviously, I am biased towards my field, Classical music. My first impulse is to rattle off those names like: Yo-Yo Ma, Vladimir Feltsman, Wynton Marsalis, and this years’, Itzhak Perlman.

History of the Lied Center

Reflecting on last season, I thought the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre was amazing, and I was encouraged by a similar reaction by the audience who recognized supreme quality of this dance troupe. I felt that the saying “you don’t have to describe great art work, you just know it when you see it” was clearly represented by this dance troupe last year.

What show or piece are you most excited about this coming season?
Hard question, I’m excited about everything. We have many coming this season in all those genres I spoke about.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is coming to present “Moulin Rouge.” Also, Itzhak Perlman’s performance will be a great opportunity to hear this legend if you haven’t already.

San Francisco Jazz Collective brings to Lincoln the names of great performers who are becoming or soon–to-be legendary names in the world of Jazz.

“This is Tango Now: Identidad” is a very new organization gathering attention nationally. It is wonderful that we are able to partner with the Hixon-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and Interdisciplinary Art Symposium to bring them here. This is an exciting partnership with great results.

The Munich Symphony is coming to perform Mozart’s Requiem, and our closing will be another requiem as the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra—partnering with everyone in the community—will present Britten’s War Requiem.
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Want to enjoy some of these great performances? Call the Lied Center box office, 402-472-4747, or visit the Lied Center website today!

The Lied Center and scheduling: The work of Artistic Director

Ann Chang, Artistic Director at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
Credit: Associate Media files

The Lied Center, here in Lincoln, is gearing up for the upcoming great season planned, and Ann Chang, Artistic Director at the Lied Center, shared some thoughts about the work that goes into programming what Lincoln audiences have been and will be privileged to see and hear. She has already shared a lot of the details of what led to her job at the Lied Center in the article “Entrepreneurship and Music according to Ann Chang,” and now shares more about being Artistic Director at the Lied Center.

When asked what her job as Artistic Director entails, she answered that she is “primarily responsible for programming the season and making sure that it represents all the genres, Classical, family, dance, Jazz, Broadway, theater, and popular, as well as making sure that they are all programmed well with quality and class.”

In deciding whom to book for a season, Chang looks for someone who is already known to her, someone that she “wants to put on the stage.” Of course, important factors become “availability of the artist, their financial requirements, and whether they fit within the scope of what we present and the schedule for the season.” On average, 80% of the season will be well known shows, groups, or musicians; however, some of the season will feature lesser known artists that are new to Chang and to the community. In this way, the Lied Center promotes up-and-coming acts, groups, and musicians and is also able to bring in the already big names and shows.

Entrepreneurship and music according to Ann Chang

Nebraska's state bird, the Meadowlark, gave its name to the Meadowlark Music Festival which Ann Chang founded.

Credits: Phil Johnson via flickr

Ann Chang has a successful career as a piano performer and instructor and resides in Lincoln, Nebraska. She has performed recitals in locations around the world as a soloist and with chamber ensembles like the Rastrelli Cello Quartet. With her special interests in forte-piano and chamber ensembles, she is often to be found coaching small ensembles of students at the School of Music where she is Artist in Residence.

But, Ann Chang is an entrepreneur and always thinking of creative ways to bring music to new people. Her first entrepreneurial venture was the founding of Meadowlark Music Festival in 2001. “I was the founder and director of Lincoln's own Meadowlark Music Festival for seven years,” Chang said, “and it still continues as a festival in the summer.” In 2008, she added to her list of jobs that of Artistic Director at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Entrepreneurship paid off because, “a major reason I was given the position at the Lied Center was because of the success they saw in the Meadowlark Music Festival.”

A peek at the 2010 Meadowlark Music Festival

Chang says that she successfully tries to “divide my time between the Lied Center and School of Music.” Going a step further, she developed the Arts Entrepreneurship Program at the School of Music and has been instructor in that program since last year. The Arts Entrepreneurship Program provides students exposure to and knowledge of “a variety of opportunities in this new millennium, through internet, for example, and encourages them to think of non-traditional roles to sustain themselves while staying in the music field.”

This program has been really well received so far, Chang said. Because of the “dissemination of music and work available,” music students need to look beyond their traditional ideas of music jobs. For example, “a string player does not just have the potential to join an orchestra, but should be creative and consider how to make money in music without touching those traditional roles.”

“Music schools are for training musicians,” Chang said, “and forward thinking schools, I’m proud to say that we are one, provide tools for students who graduate to be well equipped musicians, but understanding the vast world of employment, entrepreneurship, and how to look for what they will find to most fulfilling. To create a job for themselves in music.”

Students have also already expressed their gratitude that their teacher, Chang, is someone with varied entrepreneurial experience and that she can introduce them to her many colleagues and acquaintances in order to facilitate networking for them. In the short time of this program, it has encouraged students to keep “the mindset of thinking outside the box. Knowing they have more options motivates them.”

Lincoln Symphony Orchestra: Cheaper tickets and bigger venue

Kimball Recital Hall seating a capacity of 850 will no longer be the home of the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra starting next season, they are moving to the Lied Center, capacity 2,200.

Credits: Amy Flamminio

Breaking news this past Friday was the announcement by the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra of a number of changes for the upcoming season. While many orchestras are struggling financially, and are tempted to raise their prices, the LSO is making tickets more affordable. In the symphony’s official press release, it is stated that “more than half of the seats will be available for the same price as a movie” and Executive Director Barbara Zach stated that “The lower ticket prices are the final piece of the puzzle in terms of truly becoming Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra by making live classical music financially accessible to everyone in our community.”

Concerts this year cost $24.99, $34.99, or $44.99 based on seating, and the costs during the next year are as follows:

• Premium seats (approximately half of the venue) will cost $25, and remaining seats will cost $10
• 20|30 Club members (anyone ages 18-39 who joins the club by calling the LSO office and providing their email address and date of birth) will receive premium seats for only $10
• Tickets for children ages 5-17 will cost $5
• Ticketing fees will be added to every ticket

The lower ticket prices will attract a larger audience, and by moving the principal venue from Kimball Recital Hall to the Lied Center for Performing Arts, the capacity goes from 850 to 2,200, the LSO will be able to accommodate their growing attendees. The move to the Lied Center is helped by donations from John and Rhonda Seacrest and the Lienemann foundation as well as by many smaller donations and season ticket holders.

Clark Potter, principal viola for LSO, told this examiner that he looks forward to playing more at the Lied Center, although he also loves playing in Kimball and stated that “the sound in there is excellent. I love the feeling that the audience is right there close and, like any musician, I love playing for a packed house. No one in the orchestra was disappointed with Kimball.” At the same time, however, Potter states that “the sound in the Lied is terrific” and that having played there a lot in his 15 years in Lincoln, it won’t feel strange to be there.

In regards to the ticket prices, Potter said he thought it sounded like a good experiment. “I really like that the orchestra is trying to make something happen,” Potter said, “it would be easy in ‘these economic times’ to sit back and just try to weather the storm. The fact that the orchestra is being proactive is a terrific sign of forward motion.”

The LSO is certainly doing its part to keep Classical music alive in Lincoln—now anyone can attend for a reasonable price and experience great, live music. However you’re dressed, whatever your tastes in music, and even on a low budget, you can enjoy an evening with the orchestra!

Lied Center for Performing Arts: Your venue in Lincoln to hear great music

An outside view of Lincoln's own Lied Center for Performing Arts, a place where you can go to hear the best of local, national, and international performances of Classical music, ballet, and opera.

Credits: from www.city-data.com

The Lied Center for Performing Arts opened in Lincoln 21 years ago due to the gift of the Lied Foundation. Since it’s beginning, the Lied Center has provided Lincolnites with a venue for local and national entertainment.

The main hall seats 2210 people, so there’s usually a seat available for the last minute concert goers. You may see it fill up when the UNL Marching Band, “The Pride of All Nebraska,” performs there, or when the community puts on their annual showing of Tchaikovsky’s, “Nutcracker Ballet.”

During the Lied Center’s season, you can hear local artists like the Chiara String Quartet and the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra. However, visiting artists are not to be missed. In the past, artists such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Joshua Bell, famous pianists, orchestras, and ballets from around the world.

The directors of the Lied Center work hard each year to plan and provide a stimulating, well-rounded, and rewarding season. Anyone in Lincoln who is looking for an evening of culture, should look no further than the Lied Center. Keeping an eye on the upcoming events, or even purchasing season tickets to the events of the Lied Center is well worth the time and investment.

Whether you visit the Lied Center to hear and see a performance by a local artist or group, or if you are interested in the professional ballet from Moscow, or the orchestra from Prague, you know you’re in for a treat when you visit Lincoln’s Lied Center for Performing Arts.