Posted July 7, 2021
DAYTON OH (July 6, 2021) – The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) is thrilled to present the 2021-2022 Season of the Dayton Ballet, Dayton Opera and Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra.
The three DPAA Artistic Directors, Kathleen Clawson, Dayton Opera; Karen Russo Burke, Dayton Ballet; and Neal Gittleman, Dayton Philharmonic, as well as DPAA Interim President and CEO Pat McDonald , have worked together to prepare a season full of groundbreaking and engaging performances in all three art forms. The DPAA is thrilled to welcome audiences back for a brand new season of in-theater productions of ballet, opera, and orchestral music.
Subscriber Ticket Packages for all DPAA traditional series go on sale on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Subscribers as of the 2020–2021 season will receive their renewal packages and will get first claim to their current subscription seats, but only until August 31, 2021, when all unsold seats will be released for sale to the general public. Tickets to Special Holiday Events–Handel’s Messiah and New Year’s Eve: Return to Vienna– may be purchased only by series subscribers until the single-ticket on-sale date, currently scheduled for August 31, 2021.
Season Ticket Subscription Packages may be ordered by calling the box office at (937) 228-3630, by visiting the DPAA website at http://www.daytonperformingarts.org, or by visiting the box office at the Schuster Center at One West Second Street, Dayton, OH. More information can be found on the DPAA website.
THE 2021–2022 DAYTON OPERA SEASON:
For the 2021–2022 season, the DPAA welcomes Dayton Opera Artistic Director Kathleen Clawson, who takes the reins from previous Artistic Director Thomas Bankston, who retired at the end of the 2020–2021 Reimagined Season after 25 years with Dayton Opera. Kathleen has selected a thrilling combination of classic works, a brand-new world premiere, and a sensational Opera Star Recital to fill the season with the very best opera has to offer.
Dayton Opera launches its season In October with Gaetano Donizetti’s lighthearted romantic comedy The Elixir of Love. Then, in February, Dayton Opera proudly presents an exciting world-premiere created and presented by a team of four of the most talented individuals in today’s opera world, all of whom just happened to be women! Finding Wright is the story of human connection and emotion, centering on the life of Katharine Wright, sister to two of the most famous Wrights of Dayton and, in fact, the world: brothers of flight Orville and Wilbur Wright.
In April, fresh from his Metropolitan Opera debut, genre-defying countertenor John Holiday takes center stage for a sparkling Opera Star Recital. The season closes with all the glory and grandeur of opera filling the Meade Theatre for Epic Opera, a concert showcasing some of the most thrilling moments from the opera repertoire.
The season’s Dayton Opera subscription includes a Wildcard, where subscribers can choose any performance from the DPAA 2021-2022 Season for Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, or Dayton Philharmonic to complete the 5-pack subscription series.
THE 2021–2022 DAYTON BALLET SEASON:
Artistic Director Karen Russo Burke leads the talented company of Dayton Ballet as they tell some of the most classic stories of all time and explore the more modern nuances of dance in this 2021–2022 season.
Dayton Ballet opens its season in October with Light and Dark, a repertory program of demanding classical ballets and organic modern works that will fill the stage with a range of moods for the autumn season. Then, the December holidays are complete once again in the Gem City as Tchaikovsky’s beloved The Nutcracker returns after a year-long hiatus due to the pandemic for eight incredible in-theater performances.
In February, Dayton Ballet hails Karen Russo Burke’s 10th Anniversary as Artistic Director with a Sapphire Celebration, where the full company of dancers pushes the boundaries of technique and conversation of dance with stunning ballets, including Light Rain, an audience favorite by Gerald Arpino of the Joffrey Ballet, and Calling, a captivating work from internationally acclaimed choreographer Ma Cong.
The season closes in April with The Great Gatsby, the exquisitely crafted tale of 1920s America with the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Choreographed by Ron Cunningham, Artistic Director of Sacramento Ballet, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic is brought to life by the wonderful dancers of Dayton Ballet in the historic Victoria Theatre for a roaring good time!
The season’s Dayton Ballet subscription includes a Wildcard, where subscribers can choose any performance from the DPAA 2021-2022 Season for Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, or Dayton Philharmonic to complete the 5-pack subscription series.
THE 2021–2022 DAYTON PHILHARMONIC MASTERWORKS SEASON:
The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra’s flagship series return with the full orchestra of 82 musicians on stage together in their normal orchestral configuration, with DPO Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman happily returning to his place in front on the podium to dazzle audiences with works both classical and new.
Maestro Gittleman and the DPO finalizes their celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of the true titans of classical music, Ludwig van Beethoven, which was only slightly interrupted due to COVID-19. This season, Maestro Gittleman and the DPO will finish their tour through the full Beethoven symphony cycle where, by season’s end, they will have played all nine symphonies, as well as works that connect to these symphonies and in addition to works by Romantic Era composers who were deeply influenced by Beethoven. This season brings Symphonies No. 3 (“Eroica”) and No. 7 to the stage, and concludes with the monumental and majestic Symphony No. 9, more affectionately known as “Ode to Joy.”
The DPO once again turns its attention to some of the leading woman composers of both the classical and modern eras, with works by Clara Schumann, Jennifer Jolley, Stella Sung, and Reena Esmail.
In addition, exceptional works for piano, cello, violin, and oboe will be performed by artists both long established and on the rise. Guest artists, including Phillippe Quint, Aleksandra Kasman, Mark Kosower, Sara Davis Buechner, and DPO’s own Prinicpal Oboe Eileen Whalen, grace the stage with their mastery of their instruments and their impeccable musicianship. Soprano Kasia Borowiec and Hindustani singer Saili Oak join the DPO in a captivating concert that brings together European composers looking eastward for inspiration and thrilling music by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail that draws on both Eastern and Western musical traditions.
The Masterworks season is available as either a six- or eight-concert subscription series. The eight-pack subscription includes a Wildcard, where subscribers can choose any performance from the DPAA 2021-2022 Season for Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, or Dayton Philharmonic.
THE 2021–2022 DAYTON PHILHARMONIC SUPERPOPS SEASON:
Leading vocalists, celebrated instrumentalists, splendid orchestral arrangements, and a Juneteenth celebration headline the 2021–2022 DPO SuperPops Series.
The season opens with the music of Sinatra, Martin, and Davis, and their inimitable brand of woozy, boozy pop with The Rat Pack, Symphonic! Then the DPO invites you to a joyful celebration of the holiday season with Holiday Pops, when professional singer and knockout performer Shayna Steele visits Dayton from the Big Apple to jazz up the holidays in the Gem City with favorite festive carols and holiday classics.
In February, the DPO takes a step back in time to honor the one and only First Lady of Song with Ella Fitzgerald Forever, featuring jazz royalty singer Carmen Bradford. The season closes with a celebration of the sesquicentennial anniversary (150 years) of the birth of Paul Laurence Dunbar, acclaimed African-American poet born in Dayton, OH, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky prior to the civil war. Classical meets gospel as the DPO performs a beautiful program of music honoring America’s long march towards a more perfect union
The season’s Dayton Philharmonic SuperPops subscription includes a Wildcard, where subscribers can choose any performance from the DPAA 2021-2022 Season for Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, or Dayton Philharmonic to complete the 5-pack subscription series.
THE 2021–2022 DAYTON PHILHARMONIC ROCKIN’ ORCHESTRA SEASON:
The Dayton Philharmonic Rockin’ Orchestra Series is THE musical crossroads where rock meets orchestra, a celebration of “music that shaped a generation” performed by guest bands together with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. The season begins right here in the Gem City, where the heart of the Funk movement beat loud and strong in the 70s and 80s…and today, too. Dayton was known as “The Land of Funk,” and Dayton Funk is a groovy nod to the music of the time that gave way to hip-hop, house music, and so many other musical styles that dominate the charts today.
After a year of shuttered venues followed by socially-distanced concerts with limited audiences, the DPO Rockin’ Orchestra season gives Dayton the joy to “Remember When Rock Was Young” as the orchestra takes a creative tour in January through the incredible songbook of one of the most prolific artists of the last five decades with a Tribute to Elton John.
In March, the DPO rocks the The Rolling Stones’ with their definitive albums Beggar’s Banquet and Let it Bleed. No matter your age, you’ll feel the rush of a generation in rebellion and history in the making. Then, because there is simply no end to the mark they have left on the world of music, the Fab Four is honored once again by the Dayton Philharmonic in April 2022 with Revolution: The Music of The Beatles, a multi-media show that combines John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s music with historic images and video.
The season’s Dayton Philharmonic Rockin’ Orchestra subscription includes a Wildcard, where subscribers can choose any performance from the DPAA 2021-2022 Season for Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, or Dayton Philharmonic to complete the 5-pack subscription series.
THE 2021–2022 DAYTON PHILHARMONIC FAMILY SEASON:
The DPAA understands that an appreciation for the arts starts at an early age and lasts a lifetime and remains committed to offering programs to allow parents, grandparents, and caretakers to share the performing arts with their children through programs that encourage and deepen that appreciation.
The DPAA Family Series is thrilled to welcome families back into the Schuster Center to introduce the mystery and majesty of classical music, dance and song to the youthful mind. Halloween is BACK with the DPO when Maestro Neal Gittleman has once again combed through his music archives for the spookiest-sounding tunes and wackiest-looking costumes sure to get everyone in the spirit of the season with PhilharMonster ‒ It’s Alive!
In December, the DPO invites families back for Dayton’s beloved holiday tradition with a journey to the Land of Sweets in Dayton Ballet’s The Nutcracker.
Then, in March, the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (DPYO), under the baton of DPYO Conductor Patrick Reynolds, and Dayton Ballet II join forces to present Bugs!! Featuring music and dance for creeping, crawling and adorable insects of all sorts, this family concert will showcase the student musicians and dancers of the DPAA. (Note: No cicadas will be released in the theater during this performance!)
The season’s Dayton Philharmonic Family subscription includes a Wildcard, where subscribers can choose any performance from the DPAA 2021-2022 Season for Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, or Dayton Philharmonic to complete the 4-pack subscription series.
.THE 2021–2022 DPAA SPECIAL EVENTS:
As a leader in performing arts in southwest Ohio and the nation’s only combined Ballet, Opera and Philharmonic, the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) strives continually to bring wholly new experiences to the stage.
Special Events of the DPAA are performances that either combine the power of all three art forms or those that are often purchased apart from packaged series.
This season, the DPAA will also present two Special Events during the holiday season: Handel’s Messiah on December 15, 2021 and the annual New Year’s Eve celebration on December 31, 2021 a performance that continues to be the toast of the town.
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Subscribing to a series offers a sizable savings over single-ticket prices. Subscribers to DPAA series get the best seats and save up to 25 percent off base ticket prices. Discounts are available for Seniors, Students, Educators and Military. For more information, or to subscribe to any one of the DPAA 2021–2022 Season series, call the box office at (937) 228-3630 or visit online at www.daytonperformingarts.org.
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About the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) was formed in July 2012 as the result of a groundbreaking and innovative merger between the Dayton Ballet, the Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Together, they are the largest performing arts organization in the greater Dayton community, with a mission to be the community’s indispensable source for traditional, diverse and innovative experiences in ballet, opera, and orchestral music. The vision of the DPAA is to transform lives through the power of music and dance. The DPAA offers a wide variety of performance and education programs, setting a new standard for artistic excellence. DPAA performances reach an audience of more than 90,000 people annually, and their rich arts education programming serves over 60,000 schoolchildren in 150 schools in the Miami Valley. These performances and education initiatives are made possible in part through major support provided by the Ohio Arts Council, Culture Works, the City of Dayton, Montgomery County and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
Dayton Ballet | Dayton Opera | Dayton Philharmonic
126 North Main Street
Suite 210
Dayton, Ohio 45402
1-937-224-3521