Music Department, CPCC collaborating to present Stravinsky ballet

The UNC Charlotte Percussion Ensemble, joined by the CPCC Dance Theatre and special guests, will present Stravinsky’s ballet, “Les Noces” (“The Wedding”), Monday, April 8. The work is scored for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass soloists, mixed chorus and two groups of percussion instruments, plus four pianos.

Leonard Bernstein once called “Les Noces” Stravinsky’s greatest work, and Stravinsky himself had a special fondness for the ballet, which is among his most innovative music. Stravinsky dedicated “Les Noces” to the dance impresario Sergei Diaghilev, and the Ballet Russe premiered it in 1923. Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) dance professor Clay Daniel has choreographed a new version for this performance.

In addition to the music students of the Percussion Ensemble, three UNC Charlotte voice students will be part of the eight-voice chorus, which includes professional singers and students and faculty from area schools. UNC Charlotte Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Price will be the tenor soloist.

Also on the program are works by David Mancini, Blake Tyson and Percussion Ensemble Director Rick Dior, including a contemporary ballet piece choreographed by Tracie Foster Chan and danced by CPCC dancers.

The performance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Anne R. Belk Theatre in Robinson Hall. Tickets are $8. The program will be repeated at CPCC’s Halton Theater on Wednesday, April 10, as part of the Sensoria Festival of Literature and the Arts.