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Fall arts: A roundup of arts events around Seattle

Lots to take in

Edward Liang’s “The Veil Between Worlds” premiered at Pacific Northwest Ballet during the 2020-21 digitl season and will return in June.
Edward Liang’s “The Veil Between Worlds” premiered at Pacific Northwest Ballet during the 2020-21 digitl season and will return in June.
Lindsay Thomas

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2022 issue of Seattle magazine.

Here’s a quick roundup of major arts events happening this fall.

The region’s oldest community orchestra is preparing for perhaps its “most adventurous season to date,” says Music Director Adam Stern. The Seattle Philharmonic is set to perform four widely varying programs comprising more than 20 works from four different centuries and nine countries. The season kicks off Oct. 29 with a Halloween program, “In the Startled Ear of Night,” and continues with the West Coast premiere of Sky Macklay’s “Dissolving Bands” in January; the U.S. premiere of “Gipps’ Fifth” in April and “Music of the Americas” in June join the lineup. All performances are downtown at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall. Seattlephil.org.

Pacific Northwest Ballet kicks off its 50th season with Founding Artistic Director Kent Stowell’s epic “Carmina Burana,” a longtime fan favorite, from Sept. 23-Oct. 2. Digital streaming dates are Oct. 6-10. The company’s “golden anniversary” features six world premieres as well as works by George Balanchine, Edwaard Liang and Penny Saunders. The company will continue offering its digital subscription to audiences across the world. Other fall highlights include “The Seasons’ Canon” from Nov. 14-22, and Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker,” from Nov. 25-Dec. 27. Box office: 206-441-2424, PNB.org.

Seattle Shakespeare Company presents “Othello” from Oct. 27 through Nov. 20. For tickets, visit Seattleshakespeare.org or call 206-733-8222. 

Seattle Repertory Theatre, the largest nonprofit resident theatre in the Pacific Northwest, kicks off its 2022-2023 season with “Where We Belong” from Sept. 9-Oct. 9, followed by “What The Constitution Means to Me,” “Mr. Dickens and His Carol” and “I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.” Seattlerep.org.

The 5th Avenue Theatre kicks off its season with the world premiere of “The Griswolds’ Broadway Vacation” from Sept. 10-Oct. 2. “Choir Boy,” a coproduction with A Contemporary Theatre, runs from Sept. 9-Oct. 23, followed by “The Wiz” in November and “Into the Woods” in February. 5thavenue.org.

A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) hosts “History of Theatre: About, By, For and Near” starting Jan. 28, and “Every Brilliant Thing” in March. Acttheatre.org.

The Seattle Opera features a range of programming in its 2022-2023 season, including “Tristan & Isolde” from Oct. 15-29 and “Samson and Delilah in Concert” in January. Seattleopera.org.

The Seattle Symphony’s Opening Night Concert & Party features Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot leading an evening of French favorites, exquisite Chopin selections and a world premiere by artist–in-residence Angelique Poteat. The Sept. 17 event, which costs $250, includes a cocktail party and dance with Seattle Symphony musicians. Other events in September feature Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony on Sept. 24 and Dvořák’s

“Symphony No. 7” on Sept. 29. Seattlesymphony.org

Cuarteto-Latinamericano will play at Meany Center this season.
Sergio-Yazbek

Meany Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Washington campus has a full fall schedule of dance and musical events. Meanycenter.org.

Seattle Art Museum continues to showcase a gift from Seattle collectors Jane Lang Davis and Richard E. Lang featuring one of the most significant collections of Abstract Expressionist paintings and culture. Through Nov. 27. “American Art: The Stories We Carry,” features work from the museum’s collection and new works and curation by contemporary artists. It opens in October. November features a special exhibition of works from longtime intellectual colleagues Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems, two of the most significant photo-based American artists working today. Seattleartmuseum.org. 

Seattle Asian Art Museum’s ongoing exhibit, “Beyond the Mountain: Contemporary Chinese Artists on the Classical Forms,” highlights the work of contemporary Chinese artists. Seattleartmuseum.org.

The “Nina Chanel Abney” exhibit at the Henry Art Gallery launched Oct. 1.
Nina Chanel Abney and Pace Prints

Henry Art Gallery has partnered with yəhaẃ, a Seattle-based Indigenous arts collective with a mission to help improve Indigenous mental and emotional health outcomes through art-making, community building, and equitable creative opportunities for personal and professional growth. That show begins Sept. 17. The “Nina Chanel Abney” exhibit and “PNW x PNW,” an exhibit focused on the scenery and geography of the Pacific Northwest, both launch Oct. 1. Henryart.org.

Seattle Art Museum features the works of Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems in November, including this photo taken in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park in 1990.
Dawoud Bey, courtesy of Stephen Daiter Gallery

The Frye Art Museum, where admission is always free, has several exhibitions running throughout the fall, including “Jeremy Shaw: Liminals,” which explores altered states; “Recent Acquisitions: Georgina Reskala,” and “Srijon Chowdhury: Same Old Song.” Fryemuseum.org.

Chihuly Garden & Glass, located next to the Space Needle at Seattle Center, holds daily events, gallery talks and live glass demonstrations. Chihulygardenandglass.com.

Chihuly Garden & Glass features the Glasshouse, a 40-foot tall glass and steel structure covering 4,500 square feet of space.
Chihuly Garden & Glass

The National Nordic Museum’s permanent exhibition, “Nordic Journeys,” explores Nordic life and culture as it evolved during the past 12,000 years. Other exhibitions include “Across the West and Toward the North, a raw examination of Norwegian and American landscape photography in the 19th and early-20th centuries, and “Mygration,” an exhibition of works by Tomas Colbengston and Stina Folkebrant, who explore issues of migration based on an episode of Sami and American history in the late 1890s. Nordicmuseum.org.

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

Dance, drag, and immersive art collide in an eight-week exploration of our phone-obsessed lives, with a few surprises along the way. 

What do drag queens, smartphone addiction, art installations, and an old luggage shop have in common?  According to longtime Seattle choreographer Alana O’Farrell Rogers, a lot.  “There’s no dead time anymore,” says Rogers, explaining how the proliferation of smartphones fills the empty spaces that once served as time for rest or connection. Where we snuggled…

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Ahead of their performance at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture gala, the hip-hop pioneers talk about creative ownership, connecting with new generations, and the songs that still resonate.

The Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP) will host its annual ICONS of Pop Culture Gala in Seattle on October 22, honoring five artists and institutions whose work has helped shape entertainment and culture.  This year’s honorees are martial arts and film legend Bruce Lee, fashion designer Jeremy Scott, the video game franchise Halo, hip-hop pioneers…

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Drawing on childhood memories, neighborhood history, and salvaged materials, Christopher Paul Jordan’s latest show at Cornish’s Behnke Family Gallery explores how the past stays with us.

Start in the middle. It’s good advice for telling a story, and a way into Christopher Paul Jordan’s paintings. By the time you encounter them, their materials have already been something else, and who knows what they might move on to become. The Tacoma interdisciplinary artist works with salvaged objects, including screens, picture frames, canvas,…

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

WEDDING BELLS I’ve been a bit absent from this column lately, but I think I have a pretty good excuse: I got married! It’s already been three weeks since my September 19 wedding, but I’m still reflecting on the magic of the day. My fiancé, well husband now (I can’t get used to saying it!),…