Stanford Lively Arts: About Us

”It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards” —Lewis Carroll

Dear Friends,

What have I learned—and what do I now do with this knowledge and experience?

This might strike you as a pretty universal question—but I would imagine that the tumultuous events of recent years add a dimension of urgency and specificity to the inquiry for you…much as they have for many of the creative artists whose work we will bring to Lively Arts this season. I hope that it is also a question that emerges out of the events and performances you will attend this season, and that you will experience something that will inspire you in powerful ways.

Our season theme, “Memory Forward,” may seem like an oxymoron, but the meaning quickly emerges through our signature projects for the year, shaped by the tone and content of a wildly diverse range of events as well as an overarching campus-wide Arts Initiative theme of “Memory.” In our earliest discussions with many of this season’s artists, we noted an intriguing magnetic pull toward projects that would explore and contextualize important elements of their personal or cultural history, bringing past to present and background to foreground: memory, forward.

Among the key Memory Forward events and works—many of them reflecting our ongoing priority of commissioning and/or presenting new compositions—are Awakenings, our opening concert with the Kronos Quartet and Cantabile Youth Singers; The Gurs Zyklus, a new work by sound sculptor/inventor/musician Trimpin; by Louis Andriessen’s Life with Bang on a Can; Steve Mackey/Rinde Eckert’sSlide with eighth blackbird; Jonathan Berger’s Memory Slips with Trio Voce; Word for Word’s staging of stories from Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge; Red Lips by Berry Sakharof; and performances by Butoh dance company Sankai Juku, Rennie Harris Puremovement hip-hop company, and Gamelan Çudamani.

The Lively Arts program for 2010–11 also bristles with chamber music, including a bumper crop of string quartets from around the United States, the United Kingdom, and Norway. Our Sundays with the St. Lawrence series includes a Lively Arts–commissioned work by Osvaldo Golijov. Recitals take a decidedly varied spin including Midori and Robert McDonald, Emanuel Ax, and a vocal recital featuring the San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows.

Also this season, “Opening Acts” for a number of performances will once again be curated by stellar Stanford students; community outreach programs will expand throughout schools in the area; and we will continue numerous collaborations with the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts (SiCa) and CCRMA, as well as with the Stanford Jazz Workshop and National Jazz Museum in Harlem (think “Mingus”!).

So, in the spirit of Lewis Carroll’s quote at the top—join us for Memory Forward and for a season we hope you will find truly unforgettable.