A variety of events are marking the start of the upcoming performing arts season.
The Williamsburg Artists Group is offering an exhibition of works by its members in the Stryker Center gallery, across from the Williamsburg Regional Library. A variety of styles and textures will be on display and for sale by about 50 WAG members.
The exhibit runs Sept. 2 to Oct. 11, with a reception from 3-5 p.m. on Sept. 5 in the gallery.
Williamsburg Players
The Williamsburg Players opens its season with one of the most popular Broadway musicals of all times, “Cabaret,” set to run in the Hubbard Street Playhouse from Sept. 5 to 21.
“Cabaret,” based on the book by Joe Masteroff and with lyrics by Fred Ebb and music by John Kander, won eight Tony Awards when it opened on Broadway in 1966. To this day, it continues to have substantial traction and packs powerful messages.
Set in Berlin of the late 1920s and the Jazz Age, “Caberet” is bawdy, suggestive and uncomfortably political with the rise of Nazi power, complicated romances between an American and a saucy Brit and a German and Jew. Behind it all is the lure of the Kit Kat Club where anything goes, literally.
In carrying out the show’s plot lines, there’s profanity, mention of drug use, violence and very apparent references to the tumultuous times.
Dana Margulies Cauthen directs and choreographs, with music direction by Owen Rollins and vocal coaching by Mike and Kristin Mazzocca.
For tickets and times, visit williamsburgplayers.org/wp.
Open Door series
The Williamsburg Presbyterian Open Door series presents the four-piece vocal group Kings Return at 4 p.m. on Sept. 7. The Kings is an a cappella group that embraces a variety of styles, from R&B to jazz, gospel soul and pop. Reviews describe the group’s music as “a balm to the soul, laced with expansive harmonies that flex the agility and effortless range of their vocal talent.” It’s free and open to the public.
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Following its outdoor concerts, the VSO kicks off its new season with exciting fare on Sept. 12 in the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News at 7:30 p.m. Under Eric Jacobsen’s baton, the orchestra will offer Samuel Barber’s Overture to “The School for Scandal;” Anna Clyne’s “Dance,” a cello concerto; and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.
Clyne’s “Dance” premiered in 2019 and is considered a significant high point in contemporary works for cello and orchestra. It’s named for a five-line poem by the 13th-century poet Rumi, with each movement named for a line of the poem, such as “when you’re broken open,” “in the middle of the fighting” and “if you’ve torn the bandage off.” The piece is compelling with extraordinary lushness.
German cellist Jan Vogler is among the hot soloists on today’s stages. He’s performed with major orchestras around the globe, bringing intensity, exquisite sound, virtuoso dazzle and thoughtful interpretation to his playing. Although he started out as the principal cellist with the Staatskapelle Dresden, at the time the youngest player in the orchestra’s history to gain that seating, he came to the United States in 1997 to give solo performances a chance.
He’s a sensation at his art that goes well beyond standard classical repertoire, seeking out opportunities to merge music and art as a wide genre. In doing so, he has partnered with the likes of Amanda Gorman (the first National Youth Poet Laureate) and her contemporary poems and Bach’s cello suites; actor Bill Murray (yes that one), combining works by Mark Twain, Hemingway, Whitman, Bernstein, Piazzolla, Mancini and Gershwin; and a stint on Colbert’s “Late Night Show.”
The program closes with Tchaikovsky’s stirring Fifth. Somber and reflective for its two opening movements, it progresses to a lilting waltz and one of those grand Tchaikovsky wind-’em-up finales. This is the symphony with that incredibly haunting and longing horn solo is the second movement.
There’s a coffee concert version of the program the morning of Sept. 12. It’s a one-hour concert, starting at 11 a.m., with excerpts of the main stage event that evening. Complimentary coffee and muffins will be in the lobby starting at 10 a.m.
The VSO has also just announced a new series, “VSO Up Close,” which debuts in the Ferguson Center on Sept. 13 at 3 p.m. This series will spotlight VSO players in an intimate concert experience. For this program, showcasing Schubert’s Cello Quintet, Vogler returns to the Peeble Theatre at Ferguson, where he teams up with the VSO’s concertmaster and principal second violinist Grace Park, principal violist Celia Daggy and conductor Eric Jacobsen on cello.
For information and tickets, visit virginiasymphony.org.
Opera in Williamsburg
An evening of art song is being offered by Opera in Williamsburg at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17 in the Williamsburg Regional Library. The fare will feature Kinneret Ely and bass baritone Eliam Ramos. Both singers have performed in previous Opera in Williamsburg productions.
Ely is based in New York City and Tel Aviv. She began making her mark in the world of opera as a soprano but has recently moved into the mezzo range, allowing her to showcase her notable lower ranger and impressive coloratura. Ramos is acclaimed for his lyrical, rich quality that has found him singing on international stages.
The program will consist of songs by Faure, Hahn, Canteloube, De Falla and Ortiz, with the possibility of a few Schubert lieder. Stanislav Serebriannikov will provide piano support
Tickets are available at operainwilliamsburg.org.
Have information about the arts in the Historic Triangle? Contact John Shulson at johnshulson@gmail.com.

