The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Fine Arts Center, a premier destination for exceptional musical and theater experiences, unveiled its highly anticipated UTC LIVE! 2023-2024 Performing Arts Series.
With a distinct and captivating lineup, UTC LIVE! at the newly renovated Fine Arts Center promises to deliver a rich array of performances that will enchant music and theater enthusiasts of all tastes and genres. The robust schedule includes ticketed and professional events and student productions.
For ticket information, visit utc.edu/fine-arts-center.
Highlights of the UTC LIVE! 2023-2024 season include:
Carrie Newcomer
- Saturday, Oct. 28, Roland Hayes Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m.
- Carrie Newcomer is a songwriter, recording artist, performer and educator. She has been described as a “prairie mystic” by the Boston Globe and one who “asks all the right questions” by Rolling Stone magazine. She has 19 nationally released albums on Available Light & Concord/Rounder Records and earned an Emmy Award for her PBS special, “An Evening with Carrie Newcomer.”
The Core Ensemble: “Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance”
- Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, Roland Hayes Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m.
- A chamber music theater work celebrating the lives of the great African-American poets Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay—as seen through the eyes of muralist and painter Aaron Douglas—is written for actor and trio (cello, piano and percussion). In an effort to promote intercultural understanding, the Core Ensemble has created and presented new music theater works based on multicultural, feminist and humanistic themes since 1993.
the american vicarious: “Baldwin v. Buckley”
- Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, Guerry Center Reading Room, 7:30 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, UTC Library Roth Reading Room, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, Roland Hayes Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m.
- Following critically acclaimed runs in New York City and London, the american vicarious production of the historic 1965 debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr. is reenacted over three nights. The debate explores the topic, “Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?”
The Kruger Brothers and Kontras Quartet
- Friday, March 22, 2024, Roland Hayes Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m.
- Brothers Jens and Uwe Kruger, born and raised in Europe, have teamed with New York City-born bassist Joel Landsberg to perform bluegrass and new American folk music of their own composition with the Kontras Quartet. The Afrikaans word “kontras” (which translates to “contrasts”) is fitting for a string ensemble whose colorful repertoire crosses decades, genres and continents.
The UTC Theatre Co. returns to the Fine Arts Center’s Dorothy Hackett Ward Theatre with four shows during the 2023-2024 season.
Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward
- Oct. 3-7: This timeless comedy features wit, drama and plenty of laughs as a fussy, cantankerous novelist discovers that his late first wife is haunting him.
Alabaster by Audrey Cefaly
- Nov. 14-18: A Southern drama with a dark sense of humor about love, art and the power of women.
9 to 5: Music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, book by Patricia Resnick
- Feb. 27-March 2, 2024: Based on the 1980 hit movie, this hilarious story of friendship and revenge in the Rolodex era is outrageous, thought-provoking and even a little romantic.
Out at Sea by Slawomir Mrozek
- April 9-13, 2024: An absurdist tale of survival and democratic decision-making.
The UTC Music Department will present at least 17 performances throughout the school year, including a free concert by the U.S. Marine Corps Band at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15, in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall.
Fine Arts Center UTC LIVE! 2023-2024 Events Calendar
2023 Dates
- Sept. 15—Music: U.S. Marine Corps Band
- Sept. 19—Public performance at Cadek Recital Hall: Jeremy Huw Williams
- Oct. 3-7—UTC Theatre Co.: Blithe Spirit
- Oct. 3—Music: UTC Wind Ensemble
- Oct. 28: Carrie Newcomer
- Nov. 12—Music: UTC Symphony Orchestra: Brahms and Bizet
- Nov. 14-18—UTC Theatre Co.: Alabaster
- Nov. 14—Music: UTC Wind Ensemble
- Nov. 27—Music: UTC Clarion Chorale
- Nov. 28—Music: UTC Men’s Chorus with Guthrie Quartet and the Center for Creative Arts Men’s Chorus
- Nov. 30—Music: UTC Chattanooga Singers
- Dec. 1—Music: UTC Chamber Singers
2024 Dates
- Jan. 18-20—Music: Honor Band
- Jan. 19—Music: Boston Brass and UTC Wind Ensemble
- Feb. 4—Music: UTC Symphony Orchestra Concerto Concert
- Feb. 16: The Core Ensemble: “Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance”
- Feb. 22-24: the american vicarious: “Baldwin v. Buckley”
- Feb. 27-March 2—UTC Theatre Co.: 9 to 5
- Feb. 27—Music: UTC Wind Ensemble
- March 22: The Kruger Brothers and Kontras Quartet
- April 9-13—UTC Theatre Co.: Out at Sea
- April 9—Music: UTC Wind Ensemble
- April 16—Music: UTC Men’s Chorus and Guthrie Quartet
- April 18—Music: UTC Clarion Chorale
- April 19—Music: UTC Chattanooga Singers and Chamber Singers
- April 21—Music: UTC Symphony Orchestra Spring Concert
Location: The UTC Fine Arts Center is at the intersection of Dr. Roland Carter Street (formerly known as Vine Street) and Palmetto Street on the UTC campus.
Ticket information: utc.edu/fine-arts-center.