UMS Announces 143rd Season Beginning In November!
With more than a year since its last live, in-person concert, the University Musical Society (UMS) announces its 143rd season, which will run from November 2021 through April 2022. Due to the pandemic, the season will be somewhat smaller than usual, with the programming concentrated in a five-month period.
UMS will also continue its commitment to digital programming — including concerts and educational events — throughout the year, all of which will again be offered at no charge (due to a shorter planning horizon, digital events will be announced throughout the season).
The season will be presented with health and safety for audiences and artists as the top priority, with audiences asked to be active participants in the measures that will help make live performance a reality once again. Additionally, UMS will continue to offer flexible ticket refund and exchange policies.
In addition to presenting world-class performances, UMS will offer unique and engaging ways for audiences to connect with the artists on stage through a robust offering of education and community engagement activities, which will be announced in the fall.
"Of the many things we’ve learned and come to understand in this past year, one is that in times of crisis, the arts remain vital to our existence as human beings, "says UMS president Matthew VanBesien."They are a constant in our lives and create joy and hope, even in times of despair, injustice, and loss. And while none of us ever imagined that we’d be looking forward to our 143rd season in the same way that we might celebrate a milestone anniversary, we are all looking forward to returning, to restarting, to reconnecting, and to rejoicing with our audiences and artists once again."
The 2021-22 season includes a suite of programs featuring Artists from the Arab World and Its Diaspora, five programs featuring New Commissions, a new Creative Partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, the return of many performances that were canceled over the past 15 months due to the pandemic, and ongoing commitment to digital programming, which reached over 75,000 people in 65 countries across six continents during the past year.
