TUCSON, Ariz. – August 11, 2022 – Arizona Arts Live announces its 2022-23 season with more opportunities to experience unexpected moments of delight in spaces across Southern Arizona. Audiences are invited to experience the extraordinary with local artists, interactive installations, immersive live cinema, and the world’s best performances.
GRAMMY-winning Los Angeles Master Chorale, Arizona Arts Live commissioned 32 Sounds, globally acclaimed Dance Theatre of Harlem, six-time GRAMMY-winner and two-time Oscar-nominated trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and author and social observer Fran Lebowitz take a trip to the Old Pueblo as part of the 2022-23 Arizona Arts Live season in a lineup that invites you to explore the healing and transformative power of the arts.
“As we enter a time when we are able to be together again, we are excited to bring performances that truly express what Arizona Arts Live is all about,” said Chad Herzog, executive director of Arizona Arts Live. “You’ll find household names in a lineup of world-class artists at times in unconventional spaces, to expand our horizons and make us feel. Because that’s what we know the arts are about.”
Tickets are now on sale for the 2022-23 season of Arizona Arts Live and more experiences will continue to be added throughout the year.
HOCO Festival
Sept. 1–4, 2022 | Hotel Congress
Presented together with Hotel Congress and Best Life Presents
Arizona Arts Live is honored to join the historic Hotel Congress and Best Life Presents with the return of HOCO Fest this Labor Day weekend in Downtown Tucson. This four-day international music festival features over 50 artists, the first-ever Sonoran Desert Sustainability Summit, daytime pool parties, art installations, and food and drink offerings celebrating the UNESCO City of Gastronomy.
“HOCO is the best fest you’ll ever go to” – CVLT Nation
Phil Vassar
Sept. 10, 2022 | University of Arizona Mall
Presented together with Arizona Athletics
Country music star Phil Vassar will perform on the University of Arizona Mall in a pre-game concert prior to the Arizona Football’s home opener against Mississippi State on Sept. 10. Vassar will be joined by a local opening act (artist TBD) and student performers from the College of Fine Arts.
Mariachi Herencia de Mexico with Special Guest Lupita Infante
Sept. 16, 2022 | Hotel Congress
See Grammy-nominated icon Lupita Infante joins Chicago-based, Latin Grammy-nominees Mariachi Herencia de Mexico for a colorful and unforgettable celebration of Mexican culture. Experience the revival of festive folk music with chart-topping mariachi in one of the most beautiful settings around—the Old Pueblo.
Learn more | Lupita Infante | Mariachi Herencia de Mexico
Cimafunk – El Alimento Tour
Sept. 28, 2022 | Hotel Congress
Presented together with Best Life Presents
Afro-Cuban Rockstar Cimafunk performs an electric live show with his 9-person band from Havana for an evening that will make you move! Named a “Top 10 Latin Artist to watch” by Billboard, Cimafunk stole the show at the 2019 South by Southwest Music Festival. His moving performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series was chosen as one of the overall best Tiny Desk Concerts of 2020.
“An electrifying combination of funk and soul…” – Rolling Stone
Impulse
Oct. 5-Nov. 5, 2022 | University of Arizona Student Mall
Using repetitive units of light and sound, campus is transformed into a space of urban play through a series of interactive, illuminated seesaws. When not in use, the seesaws stabilize and remain at a lower glowing level. When activated by users and inclined, the seesaws increase in light intensity and emit a randomized sound sequence.
“It produces a strong visual impact, and it invites to be active…” – Gabriel Poirier-Galarneau
Film Screening: The Thief Collector
Oct. 6, 2022 | Centennial Hall
In 1985, Willem de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre, one of the most valuable paintings of the 20th century, vanished after being cut from its frame at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. Witness how a mild-mannered couple pulled off one of the greatest art heists of a generation. Explore the complicated dynamics of family, the contours of criminality, and just how far people will go to weave their own grandiose narratives. Don’t miss this free, ticketed screening in Centennial Hall.
“An art documentary that builds to a supreme moment of ‘Oh. My. God.’” – Variety
Sugar Skull! A Dia de Los Muertos Musical Adventure
Oct. 9, 2022 | Centennial Hall
Join us for a joyous, heartfelt adventure as twelve-year-old Vita Flores doesn’t understand why her family is planning a celebration for deceased loved ones. Why throw a party for the dead? But when a spirited candy skeleton suddenly springs to life, Vita finds herself on a magical, musical journey to unravel the true meaning of Día de Muertos.
Los Angeles Master Chorale’s Lagrime di San Pietro (Tears of St. Peter)
Oct. 18, 2022 | Centennial Hall
From the creative mind of acclaimed director Peter Sellars comes his first a cappella staging and most personal work to date. Set to the work of Italian poet Luigi Tansillo, watch as twenty-one singers depict the grief experienced by Saint Peter after disavowing Jesus and show us that by facing our past head-on, we can forge a more fulfilling future.
“A major accomplishment for music history.” — Los Angeles Times
32 Sounds directed by Sam Green, live music by JD Samson
Oct. 21-22, 2022 | Marroney Theatre
This live cinema piece invites you to meditate on what it really means to hear and listen. The performance begins with each audience member receiving a set of headphones. Film is then projected on a screen as the soundtrack is performed live by JD Samson and narrated by Oscar-nominated director Sam Green.
“A unique and ephemeral experience…heady and spine-tingling…” – The New York Times
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Nov. 10, 2022 | Centennial Hall
Watch as eighteen dancers grace the stage with poise, precision, and power in a message of empowerment through the arts for all. Led by resident choreographer Robert Garland, this world-renowned ballet company performs a forward-thinking repertoire that includes treasured classics and neoclassical works by legendary choreographer George Balanchine.
“One of ballet’s most exciting undertakings” – The New York Times
Absence: Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective & Turtle Island Quartet
Jan. 20, 2023 | The Rialto Theatre
Presented together with the Tucson Jazz Festival
USA Fellow, two-time Oscar nominee, and six-time Grammy-winner Terence Blanchard returns to Tucson for a powerful performance. Don’t miss your chance to experience the artistic force of one of the world’s greatest trumpeters, film composers, and bandleaders.
“a brass-wielding force of nature” – The Los Angeles Times
Bush/Marshall/Meyer/Meyer
Jan. 26, 2023 | The Rialto Theatre
American newgrass icon Sam Bush (mandolin/violin) joins music masters Mike Marshall (mandolin) and Edgar Meyer (bass) together with George Meyer (violin) for a special collaboration usually only heard on the bluegrass festival circuit. Bluegrass, newgrass, and classical all meet in a stunning show of Americana that will leave you wishing for more.
“influencing the next generation of bluegrass/newgrass/jamgrass/jam band music” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Learn more | Sam Bush | Mike Marshall | Edgar Meyer | George Meyer
Dreamers: Magos Herrera and Brooklyn Rider
Feb. 3, 2023 | Centennial Hall
Joined by bold and expressive Mexican singer Magos Herrera, Brooklyn Rider celebrates the power of beauty as a political act. Experience a gripping performance from Grammy-nominated artists who have transcended brutality through their work, work which represents love for humanity, democracy, and the inspiration to dream.
“It’s drop-dead gorgeous, the whole album. It’s playful. It’s serious. It’s jazzy. Some tracks defy description.” – Alt. Latino, NPR
Learn more | Magos Herrera | Brooklyn Rider
Fran Lebowitz
Apr. 6, 2023 | The Rialto Theatre
Presented together with The Rialto Theatre
In a cultural landscape filled with endless pundits and talking heads, Fran Lebowitz stands out as one of our most insightful social commentators. Her essays and interviews offer her sharp views on current events and the media – as well as pet peeves. Don’t miss an evening of humor and unapologetic cultural satire by this style icon.
“[An] important humorist in the classic tradition.” — New York Times
Air Play
Apr. 12-16, 2023 | Centennial Hall
Umbrellas fly, fabrics soar over the audience, and snow swirls across Centennial Hall this spring in a visual poem great for all ages. Witness the circus-style adventure of two siblings as they journey through a surreal land of air. With stunning images and gales of laughter, Air Play bounces on the edge of definition: part comedy, part sculpture, part circus, part theater.
“Making magic out of thin air.” — New York Times
Dimanche
Apr. 25-29, 2023 | Tornabene Theatre
Between dreamlike fiction and factual reality, Dimanche paints a tender portrait of humanity. Using lo-fi FX, miniature vehicles, puppetry, video, and mime, Dimanche observes the ingenuity and stubbornness of humans as they try to preserve their day-to-day habits, going to extremes to keep up a sense of normalcy despite the chaos of an ecological collapse.
“[They] make us laugh with their ingenuity and then break our hearts in two with their profound message.” – The Scotsman
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Media Contact
Andrew Escoto | aescoto@arizona.edu
About Arizona Arts Live
Nestled in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, Arizona Arts Live curates extraordinary live events and arts experiences. We work under the Arizona Arts division at the University of Arizona to present our community on a global stage and make Tucson an arts destination. Our programming invites you to think. To feel. To discover the best artists from around the world and explore the unexpected.