MUSIC

Colm Wilkinson

Mainstage Theatre

Monday, September 27

7:30pm
$53.50, $47.50, $41.50

Broadway & Beyond

Tony, Drama Desk and Olivier nominee and Helen Hays and Theatre World Award winning performer Colm Wilkinson is one of theater's most beloved voices. Theater lovers around the world need no introduction to the man who originated such roles as Jean Valjean in
Les Miserables and the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera.

Broadway and Beyond gives fans old and new the opportunity to see and hear a more intimate and personal side of this phenomenal performer. The concert is a two-hour evening of music and stories. Theatre favorites such as “Music of the Night,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Somewhere,” and his signature song “Bring Him Home” anchor the experience. Colm includes a selection of Irish classics such as well as more contemporary favorites to add another dimension to a program rich in musical theater and showcasing the complete depth, range, and variety of Colm’s talents.

A consistent audience favorite, this will be Colm's fourth appearance at the Center for the Arts.

Sponsored in part by:

Serj Tankian Imperfect Harmonies World Tour

Mainstage Theatre

Tuesday, September 28

7:30pm
$46.50, $41.50, $33.50

With The F.C.C. and additional Ensemble

Serj Tankian,best known as the lead singer of the band System Of A Down, is a Grammy Award winner and one of rock's most unconventional frontmen.

He will perform with his band and a 24-piece orchestra.

Visit his website

Max Weinberg Big Band

Mainstage Theatre

Friday, October 8

8:00pm
$36.50, $31.50, Students $26.50

Entering the third act of an already celebrated career, Max Weinberg presents the Max Weinberg Big Band. Building upon his seventeen years as the leader of what the Washington Post called, "the best band in late night television," the Max Weinberg Big Band is a bold, swinging fifteen piece aggregation that continues the traditions established by Max’s musical heroes - among whom, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Doc Severinsen, and Maynard Ferguson lead the pack.

Judging by the crowd’s enthusiastic reaction to the Max Weinberg Big Band’s debut performance in Miami during Christmas Week of 2009, their approach to the hard-driving instrumental jazz that was a staple of television variety shows in the 1960’s and 1970’s has been sorely missed and fulfills a long held dream by Max to bring it back to the world’s stages.

Millions also know Max from his now 36 year career performing and recording with Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Though citing his work through the years with Bruce and The E Street Band as, “the attainment of everything a twelve year old drummer from the suburbs of Jersey ever dared to dream,” Max has kept himself busy for nearly four decades performing with the likes of Paul McCartney, Sting, Tom Jones, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bono of U2, Levon Helm and the Band, and countless more music icons.

Check out this video:

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Mainstage Theatre

Monday, October 11

7:30PM
$37.50, $32.50

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero have been playing guitar together for more than fifteen years. From their first steps as teenage thrash metal guitarists in their native Mexico City, through a stint as street musicians in Dublin, to the universally acclaimed globe straddling tour machine they are today; theirs is a musical union where mutual understanding goes beyond intuitive and into the realms of Zen.

In 2010, the duo reached new heights and audiences across the United States with performances on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, “Lopez Tonight”, “The Today Show”, and even within the White House when they shared the stage with Beyonce as the musical guests for The President’s State Dinner with The President of Mexico. In April, Rodrigo y Gabriela reached another milestone with a sold out performance at Radio City Music Hall.

To date, Rodrigo y Gabriela have sold over 1,000,000 albums worldwide and become a fixture on the world music circuit. They are particularly known for their incendiary live shows.

Visit their website

Sponsored in part by:

Check out this video

Pat Metheny

Mainstage Theatre

Saturday, October 16

8:00pm
$43.50, $33.50, Students $26.50

The Orchestrion Tour

Using a completely new kind of modern technology to expand his musical vision, 17-time Grammy-winning guitarist Pat Metheny will for the first time perform all original compositions in concert entirely alone - an ensemble presentation with no other musicians onstage. He has created a new Orchestrion, an ensemble of mechanical instruments controlled entirely from Metheny's guitar and pen performing a unique program of original music. This will be a performance unlike any other.

Sponsored in part by:

Check out this video on the Orchestrion project

Classic Albums Live: Sticky Fingers

Mainstage Theatre

Friday, November 12

8:00pm
$27.50, Students (any school) $17.50

Tickets on sale August 25 at 10am

Classic Albums Live presents:
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

Classic Albums Live (CAL) will take one of rock’s greatest albums – The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers and recreate it live on stage using some of the world's greatest musicians, note for note, cut for cut. Sticky Fingers was originally released in 1971 and went to #1 on the Billboard charts propelled by such hits as “Brown Sugar,” “Wild Horses,” and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.”

After performing the album the album in its entirety, CAL will play another set of Stones favorites.

Toronto based CAL is a concert series in which top musicians perform classic rock albums in their entirety. A different lineup of musicians performs each album; however, there is a core group that frequently takes part in the performances.

“What separates CAL from the flock of tribute bands currently making the rounds is the group’s singular emphasis on the music, rather than stage show, lighting effects, costumes, impersonations and the like. Most of these classic recordings were ambitious studio projects, often employing considerable overdubbing, orchestral scoring, layering of vocal harmonies and so forth. This means that even the artists responsible for creating them in the first place never really re-created the studio recordings note for note, harmony for harmony.”
- Jeff Miers, The Buffalo News

Straight No Chaser

Mainstage Theatre

Tuesday, November 16

7:30pm
$41.50, $31.50, $26.50

Returning by popular demand!

If the phrase “male a cappella group” conjures up an image of students in blue blazers, ties, and khakis singing traditional college songs on ivied campuses… think again. Straight No Chaser (SNC) are neither strait-laced nor straight-faced, but neither are they vaudeville-style kitsch. As original member Randy Stine comments, “We take the music very seriously; we just don’t take ourselves too seriously.” In the process, they are reinventing the idea of a cappella on the modern pop landscape.

Originally formed over a dozen years ago while students together at Indiana University, the group has reassembled and reemerged as a phenomenon – with a massive fanbase, over 20 million views on YouTube (check out their take on “12 Days of Christmas”), numerous national TV appearances, and success with two holiday releases, 2008’s Holiday Spirits and 2009’s Christmas Cheers. In an era when so much pop music is the product of digital processing and vocal pro-tooling, Straight No Chaser is the real deal – the captivating sound of ten unadulterated human voices coming together to make extraordinary music that is moving people in a fundamental sense…and with a sense of humor.

Brian McKnight

Mainstage Theatre

Sunday, November 21

8:00pm
$75, $65

Tickets on sale June 7 at 10AM

Proceeds to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo

Brian McKnight has earned himself a spot in contemporary music history with the release of 13 albums (to date), several of which have gone platinum to triple platinum, and has sold over 20 million albums worldwide. For his outstanding work in music, Brian has received numerous awards and nominations including Grammys, Soul Train Awards, NAACP Image Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, BET Awards and American Music Awards. With seemingly endless talent and a worldwide fan base in the tens of millions.

Brian has also hosted "Soul Session Countdown with Brian McKnight" on BETJ and co-hosted "The Brian McKnight Morning Show" on KTWV the Wave Smooth Jazz radio station in LA for 2 years. A second radio show titled “The Brian McKnight Show” took the air in 2008 and is syndicated on ABC radio coast to coast. On top of his many multi-media endeavors, Brian continues a very busy touring schedule throughout the duration of 2010 and 2011.

Bruce in the USA

Mainstage Theatre

Friday, February 25

8:00pm
$29.50, Students $21.50

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's show at HSBC Arena last year may have been their last show (or for at least awhile). Here's your chance to experience the next best thing!

Bruce In The USA is a note-perfect and visually accurate recreation of a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concert.

Matt Ryan, from the World Famous “Legends In Concert” cast, played the Springsteen character for eight years in their full scale Las Vegas show. The great success with “Legends” evolved his character into the Bruce In The USA show. His amazing portrayal of “The Boss” (not to mention his jaw-dropping resemblance) is as close as you can get to see the real thing in concert. Backed by a strong, powerful Clarence “The Big Man” Clemons, and a smokin’ handed “Little Stevie”, Bruce In The USA takes this genre of performance art to a whole new level. Making it the World’s #1 Tribute to the E. St. Band’s legacy.

They’ve been met with critical acclaim by even the toughest skeptics, from the Stone Pony, Asbury Park to large theatres across the country, where sell out crowds are on their feet from the first song to the last.

E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons joined the band on stage in New York, claiming after the show that it was the greatest Tribute he’s ever seen!