Dust from the May performances of "Stomp!" will probably just be settling when UApresents launches its 2009-10 season in June.
The University of Arizona arts presenter will host its first summer series — two concerts under the banner "Summer Fun." First up on June 24 is pop-new wave trendsetters the B-52s, followed Aug. 22 by country/gospel crooner Randy Travis. Tickets for those shows start at $25 and top out at $60.
The season officially kicks off with the Ultimate Doo-Wop Show on Oct. 3, about the time the UA community has settled in for the school year and winter residents begin trickling in for the season.
The lineup of dance and musical events, from jazz and blues to world and classical, shrinks from this season's 36 to 33, said UApresents spokesman Mario M. Di Vetta.
UApresents, with an operating budget this season of $4.1 million, is coming off one of its most successful seasons in recent years with sold-out performances by Pilobolus and Interpreti Veneziani in January, K.D. Lang last fall and Golden Dragon Acrobats' "Cirque D'Or" in December. The agency is poised to post its third consecutive season in the black, Di Vetta said. It ended last year $90,370 in the black and boasted a $98,878 surplus for 2006-07.
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The belt will be tighter next season — the budget is $2.3 million — after the University of Arizona in February slashed UApresents' funding from this year's $600,000 to $150,000. The reductions were part of broad budget cuts universitywide that included employee furloughs and closing Flandrau Science Center to the public.
To make up some of those losses, UApresents is raising its student discounted tickets to $15 from $10 and has slightly raised ticket prices across the board. Top-priced tickets for most events average $45; the most expensive ticket is $150 for Lily Tomlin's March 6 concert. The price includes a seat in the front section and a champagne and dessert reception with Tomlin after the concert.
Despite the cuts, Di Vetta said UApresents will bring in "the core genres, the big names and the names people recognize" in the upcoming season.
Some of the highlights:
• A holiday concert Dec. 6 with Mannheim Steamroller, which fuses classical music and rock in what can best be described as rock-opera.
• The return of Van Cliburn award-winning pianist Olga Kern Feb. 13, three years after she performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor in a sold-out concert with the National Philharmonic of Russia. The classical series also includes the return of Interpreti Veneziani.
• Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet mounts the jazzy-ballet fusion of "A Cinderella Story" Feb. 6 as part of the dance series, which also includes the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet April 16.
• Joan Osborne joins the Holmes Brothers and Paul Thorn for a concert Oct. 24 as part of the jazz and blues series, followed Nov. 20 by the estimable bluesman B.B. King in his first Centennial Hall concert in years.
• Ireland's folk giants The Chieftains, who have proved to be a consistent draw in past UApresents appearances, return Feb. 24 as part of the world music series.
• Among the most anticipated of UApresents' offerings next season comes in its Center Stage series. Performances include Michael Feinstein bringing his new "The Sinatra Project" on Jan. 30.
• The spotlight series' highlight could come Nov. 14 when Louis Van Amstel of "Dancing With the Stars" fame hosts "Ballroom With a Twist."
• Family fun includes a spring concert with the venerable Vienna Boys Choir March 20 and a performance of "A Year With Frog and Toad" on Jan. 24.
• Broadway veterans Barbara Cook and Christine Ebersole sing "The Music of Broadway" on Feb. 27.
• Local actors will take the stage Oct. 12 in UApresents' education and outreach presentation of "The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later . . . An Epilogue," which looks back at the murder of 19-year-old gay college student Matthew Shepard.
Single tickets for the summer concerts go on sale May 4. Current season-ticket holders can renew their tickets now; new season tickets go on sale May 18. Individual tickets go on sale June 15.
UApresents 2009-10 season
All performances are held at Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd., on the University of Arizona campus, unless noted. For ticket information, visit uapresents.com or call 621-3341.
• June 24: B-52s.
• Aug. 22: Randy Travis.
• Sept. 26: Tap Dogs.
• Oct. 3: The Ultimate Doo-Wop Show.
• Oct. 10: Tito Puente Jr. and his orchestra.
• Oct. 12: The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later . . . An Epilogue."
• Oct. 24: Joan Osborne, the Holmes Brothers and Paul Thorn.
• Oct. 25: Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg.
• Nov. 7: Kathy Mattea: "Moving Mountains."
• Nov. 14: Ballroom With a Twist.
• Nov. 20: B.B. King.
• Dec. 6: Mannheim Steamroller.
• Jan. 23: MOMIX: "ReMIX."
• Jan. 24: "A Year With Frog and Toad."
• Jan. 30: Michael Feinstein: "The Sinatra Project."
• Feb. 6: Royal Winnipeg Ballet: "A Cinderella Story."
• Feb. 12: "Universe of Dreams" with Neal Conan and Ensemble Galilei.
• Feb. 13: Pianist Olga Kern.
• Feb. 18-19 and 21, Feb. 25-28: UA Dance "Premium Blend" at Stevie Eller Dance Theatre.
• Feb. 20: TAO: Martial Art of Drumming.
• Feb. 24: The Chieftains.
• Feb. 27: "The Music of Broadway" with Barbara Cook and Christine Ebersole.
• Feb. 28: The Glenn Miller Orchestra.
• March 6: Lily Tomlin.
• March 8: The Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra.
• March 12: Mark Morris Dance Group.
• March 14: Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
• March 20: The Vienna Boys Choir.
• March 26: Dave Brubeck Quartet and Ramsey Lewis Trio.
• April 9: Guthrie Family Rides Again.
• April 15: Interpreti Veneziani.
• April 16: Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.
