Bill T. Jones, others to perform on campus

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center featuring the Orion String Quartet will perform at the Wisconsin Union Theater Saturday, Sept. 28, at 8 p.m.

Presenting three premieres, Bill T. Jones, longtime favorite of Wisconsin audiences, uses dancers and musicians alike to explore beauty and the limitations – or lack thereof – of the human body.

The 12-member company, together with the Orion Quartet and four additional string players from the Chamber Music Society, will present “Verbum,” set to Beethoven’s Quartet for Strings in F Major, Opus 135; “World II,” set to György Kurtág’s String Quartet, Op. 1; Hommage à Mihály András, Opus 13, Twelve Microludes for String Quartet; and “Black Suzanne,” set to the Prelude and Scherzo for String Octet, Opus 11 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

Jones has choreographed and performed internationally since 1982. In addition to creating more than 50 works for his own company, he has received many commissions to create dances for numerous modern and ballet companies. In 1995 he directed and performed in “Degga,” a collaborative work with Toni Morrison and Max Roach.

Currently in its 33rd season, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, considered the nation’s preeminent chamber music company, offers concerts of every instrumentation, style and historical period. The Orion String Quartet, made up of Daniel Phillips and Todd Phillips, violins, Steven Tenenbom, viola and Timothy Eddy, cello, is its quartet-in-residence. Also performing are the society’s violinists Ruggero Allifranchini and Timothy Fain, violist Hsin-Yun Huang and cellist Sophie Shao.

The public is invited to a post-performance reception with the artists in the theater’s Winkler Lounge. A free public lecture, “Bill T. Jones on Artists’ Collaboration,” is scheduled Friday, Sept. 27, at 4 p.m. at the Margaret H’Doubler auditorium, Lathrop Hall, 1050 University Ave.

The performance is sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee with additional support from the Evjue Foundation. Promotional support is provided by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Tickets: $32 ($30 for Union members and $15 for UW–Madison students) are available at the Union Theater Box Office, (608) 262-2201.