CES at Frostburg State University Announces 2023-24 Season

Aug 9, 2023 8:00 AM

The Cultural Events Series at Frostburg State University will present its 2023-24 season with professional performing artists from New Zealand, Ireland, Canada and the United States in genres of dance, theatre, circus arts, jazz, folk, Native American, country and classical music. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m.

The Martha Redbone Roots Project will be presented as the Appalachian Festival Capstone Concert on Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Frostburg Palace Theatre, 31 E. Main St. Redbone, a Native and African American vocalist and composer, is known for her unique musical gumbo of folk, blues, gospel and Southeastern Woodlands traditions. The New York Times declared that her voice holds “both the taut determination of mountain music and the bite of American Indian singing.”

Experience the heart-pounding energy of percussive dance when Step Afrika! returns on Saturday, Sept. 30, as part of FSU’s Family Weekend celebration. Dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities merge with traditional West and Southern African dances to create a compelling performance that integrates song, storytelling, humor and audience participation. The performance will take place in the Alice R. Manicur Assembly Hall in FSU’s Lane University Center.

Bill Miller, a three-time Grammy Award winner for Best Native American Music Album, will perform on Tuesday, Oct. 10, in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU’s Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center. Miller, who has shared the stage with Eddie Vedder, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens and Tori Amos, has moved audiences around the world with his signature sound: thunder (the voice), wind (the Native American flute), water (the guitar) and soul (the story).

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra returns to the Pealer Recital Hall on Friday, Nov. 10, for a concert of Romantic-era masterworks, including Felix Mendelssohn’s haunting “Melusine” Overture, Louise Farrenc’s captivating “Symphony No. 3” and Ludwig van Beethoven’s passionate “Symphony No. 7.”

After sold-out CES performances in 2008 and 2011, Tomáseen Foley’s “A Celtic Christmas” returns to the Pealer Recital Hall on Friday, Dec. 8. Led by acclaimed Irish storyteller Foley, the performance features Grammy Award-winning guitarist William Coulter, All-Ireland champion singer and fiddle player Eimear Arkins, champion Irish dancer Marcus Donnelly and uilleann piper Brian Bigley.

Celebrate the romance of Valentine’s Day and the revelry of Mardi Gras with a Saturday, Feb. 17, performance from the Hot Club of Baltimore, who showcase irresistible renditions of Django Reinhardt jazz, French musette and ’30s and ’40s swing. Led by acclaimed bandleader Michael Joseph Harris and featuring the soaring vocals of Amanda Jones, the quintet’s intimate performance at Loft 129, 129 Baltimore St., Cumberland, is the ultimate cure for the winter blues.

New Zealand’s Indian Ink Theatre Company presents “Mrs. Krishnan’s Party” on Saturday, March 2, in Lane Manicur Hall. Audience members will step into the back room of Mrs. Krishnan’s store, where garlands decorate the ceiling, food simmers on the stove, laughter abounds and strangers become friends.

Returning by popular demand after a sold-out performance in 2020, the awe-inspiring acrobats and musicians of Canada’s Cirque FLIP Fabrique will present an imaginative, family-friendly performance of “BLIZZARD” on Tuesday, April 9, in the Pealer Performing Arts Center Drama Theatre. The New York Times declared that “after watching them perform, you may suspect that they hail from a different planet.”

The season concludes in Pealer Recital Hall on Thursday, May 2, with “Trailblazing Women of Country – A Tribute to Patsy, Loretta and Dolly.” Miko Marks, Country Music Television’s Next Women of Country Class of 2022, and Nashville-based singer Kristina Train are joined by a five-member all-female band to celebrate how Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton harnessed country music’s rich storytelling tradition to offer a uniquely empowered perspective on themes faced by women of their day.

Martha Redbone tickets are currently available online. All other tickets will be available beginning Monday, Aug. 28. For more information, visit CES’ webpage at ces.frostburg.edu or contact the University box office at 1-866-849-9237 or 301-687-3137. The box office, located in the Lane University Center, is open Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

CES is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council (msac.org) and receives financial support from the Allegany Arts Council and the City of Frostburg. The engagement of Martha Redbone is made possible in part through the Mid Atlantic Tours program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and is supported in part by a grant from the Western Arts Alliance Advancing Indigenous Performance Touring Fund and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Maryland Symphony Orchestra performance is supported by the Community Trust Foundation’s Iris and Peter Halmos Community Fund and the FSU Foundation. Step Afrika! is presented in partnership with the Department of Student Engagement. Bill Miller is presented in partnership with FSU’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.