Singletary Center announces upcoming season with focus on jazz, world and avant-garde music

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 28, 2024) — The Otis A. Singletary Center for the Arts presents its 2024-25 season of live performances, presenting a curated array of national and international performers for the Lexington and University of Kentucky communities. Tickets for all events go on sale today, Aug. 28.

The series begins Sept. 25 with surrealist blues poet aja monet. Grammy-nominated poet aja monet’s work captures the essence of the human experience with depth and complexity, fusing her message with live jazz accompaniment to create emotionally compelling narratives about personal exploration and social justice.

The series continues Oct. 10 with musicologist Scott Freiman and his 90-minute multimedia presentation, “Deconstructing Dark Side of the Moon,” which celebrates Pink Floyd’s masterpiece by taking audiences on an exploration of the album, discussing the inspiration for the songs and their evolution in the studio.

On Oct. 19, the center presents “Tuvergen Band: Otherworldly Voices from Asia,” featuring the Mongolian/American folk-fusion trio playing traditional Mongolian horsehead fiddle and performing throat singing techniques; the UK Gamelan Langen Kerti will begin the evening’s program.

In November, the Singletary Center partners with the Origins Jazz Series to present dynamic New York jazz pianist Emmet Cohen and his trio Nov. 3. Later that week, the Singletary Center presents the next installment of its Expansive Sounds Series, featuring the North Carolina experimental trio Setting, Nov. 7. The uncanny mix of banjo, percussion and electronics makes Setting’s music both grounded and ethereal, an intimate experience with the audience seated on the Concert Hall stage with the performers.

In 2025, the Singletary Center presents its inaugural Visual Music Festival Feb. 8. The Visual Music Festival will be an-all day screening of new submissions of non-narrative, abstract animation, solicited by SCFA for this unique program. In the evening there will be a screening of Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 non-narrative documentary film, “Koyaanisqatsi,” featuring score by Philip Glass.

On Feb.15, the Singletary Center presents French electronic musician Franck Vigroux and Belgian video artist Kurt d’Haeseleer for a performance of their new multisensory work, “Thirst,” a trailblazing live electronic performance that redefines the boundaries of audiovisual art.

In March, the Singletary Center and GreenRoom Exchange present KODO One Earth Tour 2025 Warabe as part of the LEX250 citywide celebration, March 4. The highly athletic drummers are bearers of a centuries-old Japanese musical tradition, creating a universe of sound and emotion through thunderous percussion and polished theatricality.

The Expansive Sounds Series continues in April with Canadian composer and synthesist, Flore Laurentienne, featuring intricate arrangements that blend a live string quartet with synthesizers and organic field recordings to evoke a deep sense of serenity and imagination. April’s programming continues with New York pianist Kelly Moran, April 12, performing a special recital on the Yamaha Disklavier. Alongside Moran’s real-time playing on each piece, listeners are treated to accompaniments made possible by the Disklavier’s unique technology that features inhumanly fast arpeggios, chords requiring more than ten fingers to play and other motifs surpassing the physical limits of a standard piano.

The Singletary Center season concludes April 15 with Louisville indie-folk singer Bonnie “Prince” Billy, in conjunction with the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music. With a deeply personal and unconventional approach to music, Bonnie “Prince” Billy creates a world where intimacy, community, mystery and spontaneity intertwine, helping the songwriter to establish himself as a world-famous cultural export from the bluegrass.

“This is going to be a season of exploration and discovery,” says Singletary Center Director Matthew Gibson. “We’re bringing in so many new ideas and new sounds to stimulate the minds and hearts of our audience. I can’t wait to share these exciting and intrepid artists as we expand on the Singletary Center’s longstanding reputation for enhancing Lexington’s cultural landscape.”

In addition to SCFA’s curated season, the center will continue to be the performance home of the UK School of Music, Lexington Philharmonic and Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras, as well as presenting events from campus, community and national-touring artists.

Through the Singletary Center and School of Music’s dedication to student engagement with the arts, UK students may use their student ID to receive one free ticket to dozens of performances each semester. More information is available at the Singletary Center ticket office or by calling 859-257-4929.

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A part of the UK College of Fine Arts, the Singletary Center for the Arts presents and hosts around 400 artistic, cultural and educational events annually for the university community, Lexington community and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Find a performance you’ll love at www.SingletaryCenter.com.