UW has the whole world in its performance series

Dances will be danced, ivories will be tinkled and assorted instruments — both familiar and exotic — will be played.

Yes, it's that time of year when we get a glimpse of the acts the UW World Series will bring to town in the coming year. Here's what's in store between September 2008 and May 2009:

World Dance Series

MOMIX (USA): A "best of" program from the gymnastic "dancer-illusionists" (Oct. 16-18).

Alonzo King's LINES Ballet (USA): An American choreographer known for his eclectic musical collaborations. (Nov. 20-22).

Lar Lubovitch Dance Company (USA): The dance troupe, for its 40th anniversary season, revives a signature work, "Concerto 622" (Feb. 5-7, 2009).

Compagnie La Calebasse (Cameroon/France): A mix of African and Afro-contemporary styles (March 5-7, 2009).

Grupo Corpo (Brazil): Witty, sensual, extravagant work combining a variety of dance styles with Latin American flair (April 2-4, 2009).

Ballet Preljocaj (France): The troupe performs "Les 4 Saisons," set to the Vivaldi score (April 23-24, 2009).

World Music and Theatre Series

"Di Madre in Figlia (From Mother to Daughter)" (Italy): A collaborative piece by a female chorus and an Italian/Celtic folk band (Sept. 28).

Peking Acrobats (China): Wire-walking, tumbling, somersaulting, juggling and more. (Jan. 10, 2009).

Kodo (Japan): The popular taiko players deliver a wall of percussive sound. A Meany favorite (Jan. 30-31, 2009).

Maskanda (South Africa): A small ensemble led by guitarist Shiyani Ngcobo (March 14, 2009).

Sing Sing (New Guinea/Australia/West Papua): Ten dancer-musicians using song, movement and video to tell traditional and contemporary tales of Oceania (May 2, 2009).

President's Piano Series

Jade Simmons (USA): A pianist whose repertoire includes contemporary composers John Corigliano and Tania León (Sept. 25).

Gabriela Montero (Venezuela): A performer known as much for her improvisations as for her classical repertoire (Oct. 29).

Yuja Wang (China): The UW World Series debut of a Beijing-born pianist in her early 20s (Jan. 7, 2009).

Angela Hewitt (Canada): Return of a pianist celebrated for her mastery of Bach's keyboard works (Feb. 17, 2009).

Dmitri Alexeev (Russia): Moscow-born pianist whose recordings include the complete Rachmaninoff Preludes (March 17, 2009).

Krystian Zimerman (Poland): A pianist who rarely tours, whose career highlights include a 13-year-long collaboration with Leonard Bernstein and more recent work with Sir Simon Rattle. Note: This is a special event and not included in President's Piano subscriptions (April 21, 2009).

International

Chamber Music

Emerson String Quartet (USA): Longtime Meany favorites who have won prizes for their work, including a Grammy for their recording of Bartók's string quartets (Oct. 21).

The Harlem Quartet (USA): A string quartet drawing on both the European canon and contemporary composers (including Wynton Marsalis) (Dec. 9).

Takács String Quartet (Hungary): This ensemble won a Chamber Music Performance Grammy for its recording of works by Beethoven (Jan. 14, 2009).

Jupiter String Quartet (USA): A young Boston-based ensemble that recently won the Cleveland Quartet Award (Feb. 25, 2009).

Claremont Trio (USA): A violin-cello-piano trio whose recordings of Mendelssohn have sparkle and verve (April 14, 2009).

Marian Anderson String Quartet (USA): An African-American ensemble that makes it its business to play everywhere from Lincoln Center to libraries and soup kitchens (May 19, 2009).

All performances are at Meany Hall, on the University of Washington campus, Seattle. Series subscriptions go on sale March 15; single tickets go on sale June 23. To purchase, call 206-543-4880 or order online at www.uwworldseries.org. Tickets also may be purchased in person at the UW Arts Ticket Office, located at 4001 University Way N.E.

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com