Style, grace and athleticism take center stage during the annual Brigham Young University DanceSport Championships Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15-16, in the Wilkinson Student Center Ballroom.

Concert will feature two Fazioli 308 pianos, tribute to founder Paul Pollei The Brigham Young University School of Music will present the American Piano Quartet in concert Saturday, Nov. 23, in the Madsen Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 422-2981 or byuarts.com/tickets. Tickets are $6. The American Piano Quartet is comprised of faculty artists from the School of Music, including Robin Hancock, Scott Holden and Jeffrey Shumway. They will be joined by Del Parkinson, a professor of piano at Boise State University. 'During this performance, we will be performing on two Fazioli 308 pianos, a very exclusive piano with only 100 in existence,” said Scott Holden. “With two of these pianos on stage, each 10 feet long, it will literally be the only place on earth that there are two of these models are side by side – outside of the factory in Italy.” The concert will open with “Grand Galop Chromatic” by Franz Liszt, followed by the “Die Moldau” by Friedrich Smetana and the Waltz Suite, Op. 8 by Mortiz Moszkowski. The first half will end with Aram Khatchaturian’s fiery “Sabre Dance,” which will be dedicated to the memory of APQ founding member Paul Pollei, who passed away last summer. After a brief intermission, the American Piano Quartet will present “Espana” by Emmanuel Chabrier, “Pavanne,” Op. 50 by Gabriel Faure and a transcription of the Symphony No. 3 by Johannes Brahms. They will conclude the performance with “Fantasy on Themes of Offenbach” by Mack Wilberg and “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2” by Franz Liszt. The American Piano Quartet was formed in 1984 after former BYU piano faculty member Paul Pollei received a piece of music for a piano quartet. The resulting concert was so well-received that they decided to continue as a group and have since performed around the world. For more information, contact Robin Hancock at robin_hancock@byu.edu. Source: BYU News

The Brigham Young University School of Music will present the Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Kory Katseanes, in a performance of “The Orchestra Dances” Thursday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall.

Brigham Young University’s Department of Theatre and Media Arts will present the Tony Award-winning “The Light in the Piazza” Friday, Nov. 15, through Saturday, Dec. 7, in the Pardoe Theatre at 7:30 p.m. with 2 p.m. Saturday matinees.

This month, the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing will host BYU’s Contemporary Dance Theatre (CDT) in a performance of their latest show, “Encounters.” The performance is part of the larger “Chun Hua Oiu Shi” festival, a week of selected performances from arts universities in China. Stephen Jones, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications, expressed his appreciation for the opportunity of BYU students and faculty to take part in the event November 13. “Our Department of Dance is honored to be invited to participate with you in this prestigious festival, honoring the growth, the strength, and the superb skills of our students,” Jones said. The invitation to perform at this festival emerges from the relationships that BYU has been building with the Chinese audiences and arts administrators for more than thirty years. “Despite our differences in language and the differences that separate us in geography, the value of the arts, including those human expressions of love, goodness, truth, beauty and excellence that unite us,” Jones said. For Jones, the invitation is a natural outgrowth of not just of the mutual admiration between BYU and its Chinese counterparts but also from the hard work and creativity espoused by BYU’s dance program. “These students and their faculty strive for excellence and regularly receive national and international recognition for the quality of their performance,” Jones said. The NCPA has been host to hundreds of outstanding dancers, musicians and actors since its inaugural concert in 2007. BYU’s contemporary dance team joins this long list of world-class talent with their performance. “The meaning of the title of our concert, Encounters, include the ideas, images and possibilities of all the ways that we might connect, and the notion that every encounter might change us,” said Marylin Berrett, chair of the Department of Dance. The CDT will dance to the music of composers George Gershwin, Ishan Rustem, and others as they portray captivating encounters with people, places and ideas. After exploring all of these encounters, the show will reach its fitting culmination in a collaboration between BYU and the Beijing Dance Academy. “We are so thrilled that the students from the Beijing Dance Academy are joining with the students from Brigham Young University in an East meets West encounter. This is a most remarkable opportunity for us,” Berrett said. Visit dance.byu.edu for more information on BYU’s dance programs.

Brigham Young University’s Department of Dance will present the dancEnsemble fall concert, “You,” conceived and directed by Graham Brown, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15-16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Richard’s Building Auditorium. There will also be a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday, Nov. 16.

The Brigham Young University School of Music presents a Saxophone Chamber Night featuring eight student musicians Friday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in room 313 of the University Parkway Center.

Baritone Darrell Babidge of Brigham Young University’s School of Music will be performing a faculty artist recital on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall. Admission is free and the public is welcome to attend. The first half of the program will feature the song cycle “An die ferne Geliebte” by Ludvig van Beethoven and 'Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen' by Gustav Mahler. The second half of the program is comprised of pieces by Jean-Baptiste Lully, George Frederick Handel and Claudio Monteverdi. To see the recital program (PDF) in its entirety, click here. Babidge will be assisted by Monte Belknap, viola; Alex Wood, violin; Michelle Kesler, cello; Barbara Allen, piano and harpsichord; and Jennifer Welch-Babidge, soprano. Darrell Babidge has appeared as featured soloist at Carnegie Hall in performances of Faure’s “Requiem” and Mozart’s “Coronation Mass.” He also performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall in London. For more information, contact Darrell Babidge at (801) 422-4599 or babidge@aol.com. Source: BYU News

The Brigham Young University Singers and Concert Choir will take the stage Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15 and 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center.

Brigham Young University’s School of Music will present “Jazz for Kids,” the second concert in the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Family Concert Series, Saturday, Nov. 16, at 11 a.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall.

Vocal Point, Brigham Young University’s celebrated male a cappella group, will perform in concert at the Covey Center for the Arts on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2, at 7:30 p.m.

Fifteen students collaborate to build one-of-a-kind campus tour