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Tuesday Evening, November 4, 2014, at 7:30
One True Vine
Mavis Staples
Yvonne Staples, Vocals
Rick Holmstrom, Guitar
Stephen Hodges, Drums
Jeff Turmes, Bass Guitar
Vicki Randle, Vocals, Percussion
Donny Gerrard, Vocals
This program is approximately one hour and 15 minutes long and will be performed
without intermission.
Please join us in the Alice Tully Hall lobby for a White Light Lounge immediately
following the performance.
The White Light Festival is sponsored by Time Warner Inc.
This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center.
Alice Tully Hall, Starr Theater
Adrienne Arsht Stage
WhiteLightFestival.org
Please make certain all your electronic devices
are switched off.
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Additional support is provided by The Fan Fox and
Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.
Endowment support is provided by the American
Express Cultural Preservation Fund.
MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center.
Movado is an Official Sponsor of Lincoln Center.
United Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln
Center.
WABC-TV is the Official Broadcast Partner of
Lincoln Center.
William Hill Estate Winery is the Official Wine of
Lincoln Center.
Artist Catering is provided by Zabar’s and
Zabars.com.
Upcoming White Light Festival Events:
Sunday, November 9, at 5:00 in Avery Fisher Hall
Cathedrals of Sound
Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly, Conductor
BACH: Orchestral Suite No. 4
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 7
Pre-concert lecture by Scott Burnham at 3:45 in the
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse
Tuesday Evening, November 11, at 7:30
in Alice Tully Hall
Winterreise (New York premiere)
William Kentridge, Concept and Video
Matthias Goerne, Baritone
Markus Hinterhäuser, Piano
SCHUBERT: Winterreise
Pre-concert lecture by Christopher H. Gibbs at 6:15
in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse
For tickets, call (212) 721-6500 or visit
WhiteLightFestival.org. Call the Lincoln Center Info
Request Line at (212) 875-5766 to learn about program cancellations or to request a White Light
Festival brochure.
Visit WhiteLightFestival.org for more information
relating to the Festival’s programs.
Join the conversation: #LCWhiteLight
We would like to remind you that the sound of coughing and rustling paper might distract the
performers and your fellow audience members.
In consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who must leave
before the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces. The taking of photographs
and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building.
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Illumination
Mindful
by Mary Oliver
Every day
I see or I hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It is what I was born for—
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world—
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant—
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
WhiteLightFestival.org
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Illumination
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these—
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?
—“Mindful” from WHY I WAKE EARLY—New Poems by Mary Oliver.
Published by Beacon Press Boston, copyright © 2004 by Mary Oliver.
Reprinted by permission of The Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency Inc.
For poetry comments and suggestions, please write
to [email protected].
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Meet the Artists
a moving tribute to Levon Helm alongside
Elton John, Mumford & Sons, Brittany
Howard (The Alabama Shakes), T Bone
Burnett, and Zac Brown.
Please turn to page 64 for an article about
Mavis Staples.
Mavis Staples
Soul and gospel legend, Rock and Roll Hall
of Famer, and civil rights icon Mavis
Staples released her second collaboration
with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, One True Vine, in
2013 with ANTI-Records. The follow-up to
2010’s Grammy Award–winning You Are
Not Alone, One True Vine finds Ms. Staples
traversing darker terrain with stark,
acoustic arrangements and the most honest, unvarnished vocal performances of her
career. Featuring ten tracks—including
new compositions written specifically for
Ms. Staples by Tweedy and Nick Lowe—
the record is the most personal and emotional statement from Ms. Staples yet.
From album opener “Holy Ghost,” written
by Low’s Alan Sparhawk, to the new
Tweedy composition “Jesus Wept,” the
gravity in Ms. Staples’s voice is transfixing—heavy with burdens but blessed with
the promise of true redemption that shines
through on Nick Lowe’s deft and driving
“Far Celestial Shore,” Funkadelic’s “Can
You Get to That,” and Pops Staples’s uplifting “I Like the Things About Me.”
Ms. Staples’s last collaboration with
Tweedy, You Are Not Alone, earned her the
highest Billboard chart debut of her more
than 50-year career, her first Grammy
Award, and universal critical acclaim. Ms.
Staples performed at the Kennedy Center
Honors, took the stage at Jon Stewart and
Stephen Colbert’s massive televised Rally
to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, and performed at the NAACP Image Awards and
2011 VH1 Divas broadcast. She also provided one of the most indelible moments
of the 2013 Grammy Awards telecast with
WhiteLightFestival.org
Yvonne Staples
From 1969 until patriarch Roebuck “Pops”
Staples’s death in 2000, the Staple Singers
were configured as a quartet, with Pops
and Mavis joined by Cleotha and Yvonne
Staples (vocals). The clan’s musical signatures were Pops’s gospel-based songwriting, reedy tenor, and bluesy guitar; Mavis’s
rich, raspy vocals and precise phrasing; and
the supple, ringing harmonies of Cleotha
and Yvonne, who also acted as the band’s
manager. The Staple Singers cracked the
Top 40 eight times from 1971 to 1975, with
two singles reaching No. 1: the funky,
inspirational “I’ll Take You There,” which
was the highlight of their tenure on Stax
Records, and “Let’s Do It Again,” a filmsoundtrack song recorded for Curtis
Mayfield’s Curtom label. In 1976 the Staple
Singers collaborated with The Band on the
song “The Weight” for the rock group’s
film The Last Waltz, and the Staples had a
hit in 1984 with a cover of the Talking
Heads’ “Slippery People.” Along with her
father, sisters, and brother, Pervis, Ms.
Staples is a 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame inductee and the recipient of a 2005
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rick Holmstrom
Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, Rick Holmstrom
(guitar) has been on the road for 24 years
touring and/or recording with such artists
as Booker T., Billy Boy Arnold, R.L.
Burnside, Smokey Wilson, John Medeski,
and Chuck Prophet. He has released five
Rick Holmstrom Band albums to date. Mr.
Holmstrom’s current release, Cruel Sunrise
(M.C. Records), featuring Mavis Staples
on two songs, was the No. 1 album on
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B.B. King’s Bluesville program on SiriusXM
satellite radio. Since joining Ms. Staples
in 2007, Mr. Holmstrom has played on
Mavis Staples Live: Hope at the Hideout
and the Grammy Award–winning You Are
Not Alone.
Stephen Hodges
Stephen Hodges (drums) has recorded and
toured with Tom Waits, the Smashing
Pumpkins, and David Lynch, among others, and he composed the score for the
play Exit the King. He has been Mavis
Staples’s touring drummer since 2007, and
he played on Mavis Staples Live: Hope at
the Hideout and the Grammy Award–
winning You Are Not Alone.
Jeff Turmes
A multi-instrumentalist and award-winning
songwriter, Jeff Turmes (bass guitar) has
recorded with artists as significant and
diverse as Richard Thompson, R.L. Burnside,
Norah Jones, and Clarence “Gatemouth”
Brown. He has performed on bass, guitar,
saxophone, and other instruments with
artists including Tom Waits, Peter Case, Billy
Boy Arnold, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds,
and he has released four albums of his own
compositions, demonstrating his range as a
writer, producer, arranger, and singer. Since
2007 he has had the joy of touring with
Mavis Staples, and he played on Mavis
Staples Live: Hope at the Hideout and the
Grammy Award–winning You Are Not
Alone. Most recently, Mr. Turmes was
featured on Rick Holmstrom’s Cruel
Sunrise, and he produced and composed
the title track for singer-songwriter Julie
Christensen’s Weeds Like Us.
Vicki Randle
Vicki Randle (vocals, percussion) was born
into a musical legacy passed down from
her grandfather, a blues guitar player, and
her father, a jazz pianist. Her mother’s baby
shower took place at the club where her
father was accompanying Billie Holiday, in
Oakland in the 1950s. When she was nine,
Ms. Randle found a discarded Silvertone
guitar and taught herself to play Beatles
songs. Becoming a multifaceted, multitalented, multi-genre singer/guitarist/bass
player/drummer followed, and the result is
a four-decade career playing with the
biggest names in music.
As lead singer and percussionist with the
Tonight Show Band for 18 years, Ms.
Randle performed with Elton John, Al
Green, Garth Brooks, and Paul McCartney.
She has toured with Kenny Loggins, Lionel
Richie, George Benson, Wayne Shorter, Dr.
John, and Laura Nyro; performed with
Mickey Hart, Joan Baez, and Bonnie Raitt;
recorded lead vocals and/or duets with
Benson, Herbie Hancock, and the Turtle
Island String Quartet; and provided background vocals, guitar, and percussion for
Aretha Franklin, Pete Escovedo, Pharoah
Sanders, Taj Mahal, Todd Rundgren, and
Stephen Bruton.
Ms. Randle has recorded countless ads
and dozens of film soundtracks, and she
has performed on almost every continent.
She has maintained her passion as a
singer-songwriter, continuing to perform
solo with guitar and with her band. Her
albums include Sleep City.
Donny Gerrard
Along with David Foster, Donny Gerrard
(vocals) was an original member and lead
singer of the band Skylark, which had an
international hit in 1973 with the song
“Wildflower” from its Capitol Records
debut. He has released two solo albums
and sung with artists including Ray Charles
and Dolly Parton, and has toured with
Mavis Staples since 2007. Mr. Gerrard is
featured on Ms. Staples’s albums Mavis
Staples Live: Hope at the Hideout (2008)
and You Are Not Alone (2010).
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White Light Festival
I could compare my music to white light,
which contains all colors. Only a prism can
divide the colors and make them appear;
this prism could be the spirit of the listener.
—Arvo Pärt. Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the White Light Festival is Lincoln
Center’s annual exploration of music
and art’s power to reveal the many dimensions of our interior lives. International in
scope, the multidisciplinary festival offers
a broad spectrum of the world’s leading
instrumentalists, vocalists, ensembles,
choreographers, dance companies, and
directors complemented by conversations
with artists and scholars and postperformance White Light Lounges.
Lincoln Center for the Performing
Arts, Inc.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
(LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader
in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center
campus. A presenter of more than 3,000
free and ticketed events, performances,
tours, and educational activities annually,
LCPA offers 15 programs, series, and festivals, including American Songbook, Great
Performers, Lincoln Center Festival,
Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer
Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival,
and the White Light Festival, as well as the
Emmy Award–winning Live From Lincoln
Center, which airs nationally on PBS. As
manager of the Lincoln Center campus,
LCPA provides support and services for
the Lincoln Center complex and the 11 resident organizations. In addition, LCPA led a
$1.2 billion campus renovation, completed
in October 2012.
Lincoln Center Programming Department
Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director
Hanako Yamaguchi, Director, Music Programming
Jon Nakagawa, Director, Contemporary Programming
Jill Sternheimer, Acting Director, Public Programming
Lisa Takemoto, Production Manager
Charles Cermele, Producer, Contemporary Programming
Kate Monaghan, Associate Director, Programming
Claudia Norman, Producer, Public Programming
Mauricio Lomelin, Associate Producer, Contemporary Programming
Julia Lin, Associate Producer
Nicole Cotton, Production Coordinator
Regina Grande, Assistant to the Artistic Director
Luna Shyr, Programming Publications Editor
Nasrene Haj, House Seat Coordinator
Utsuki Otsuka, Production Assistant
Reshena Liao, House Program Intern
For the White Light Festival
Scott Stauffer, Sound Design
Matt Berman, Lighting Design
WhiteLightFestival.org