From the World Music Festival in September to the Isthmus Jazz Festival in June, next year’s season at the Wisconsin Union Theater is guaranteed to get people out of their seats and bodies moving.
The 2009-2010 season, released Wednesday, is an eclectic, worldly lineup, heavy on dance and international acts. Performers include returning favorites like African performer Baaba Maal, an appearance by young jazz chanteuse Jane Monheit, and mandolin player Chris Thile (formerly of Nickel Creek) with the acoustic bluegrass group Punch Brothers.
Hip hop performer/poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph returns to campus to perform a piece he wrote while in residency at the university in 2007 called The Break/s. Bamuthi Joseph and acts like Tiempo Libre, a Cuban-inflected salsa band from Miami, exemplify what the Union Theater is known for: “the hottest new thing,” according to publicist Esty Dinur.