Legendary Performance Artist Laurie Anderson to Perform the Minnesota Debut of "Language of the Future" at The Fitzgerald Theater in March

Feb 9, 2016

Performance art icon Laurie Anderson returns to Minnesota on March 19 for a performance of "The Language of the Future," a trans-disciplinary work that delicately explores the inextricable link between the past, present, and future through custom-curated songs and stories. Lacing together a sonic landscape of electronics, voice, and violin along with her signature surrealism, Anderson captures an irreverent snapshot of the American Now and "continues to imbue her work with a singular perspective that is both haunting and timeless" (The New York Times).

This performance marks the pioneering artist's debut performance at the historic Fitzgerald Theater. Anderson has a longstanding relationship with Walker Art Center and kicked off the inaugural season of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music series in 2012.

Event Details: Laurie Anderson: The Language of the Future Presented by the Walker Art Center, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music Series and Minnesota Public Radio.
Saturday, March 19, 8 p.m., Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange Street, St. Paul
Tickets: $39 ($36 for Walker and MPR members; Liquid Music subscribers). Limited tickets available.
Tickets may be purchased by calling the Fitzgerald Theater box office at 651.290.1200 or at etix.com.

About Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson is one of America's most renowned -- and daring -- creative pioneers. She is best known for her multimedia presentations and innovative use of technology. As a writer, director, visual artist and vocalist she has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater and experimental music..

Her recording career, launched by "O Superman" in 1981, includes the soundtrack to her feature film "Home of the Brave" and "Life on a String" (2001). Anderson's live shows range from simple spoken word to elaborate multi-media stage performances such as "Songs and Stories for Moby Dick" (1999). Anderson has published seven books and her visual work has been presented in major museums around the world.

In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA which culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance "The End of the Moon." Recent projects include a series of audio-visual installations and a high-definition film, "Hidden Inside Mountains," created for World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. In 2007 she received the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for her outstanding contribution to the arts. In 2008 she completed a two-year worldwide tour of her performance piece, "Homeland," which was released as an album on Nonesuch Records in June 2010. Anderson's solo performance "Delusion" debuted at the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad in February 2010. In October 2010 a retrospective of her visual and installation work opened in Sao Paulo, Brazil and later traveled to Rio de Janiero. In 2011 her exhibition of new visual work titled "Forty-Nine Days In the Bardo" opened in Philadelphia, and "Boat," her first exhibition of paintings, premiered at the Vito Schnabel Gallery in New York. She has recently been appointed as a three-year fellow at both EMPAC, the multi media center at RPI in Troy, NY, and the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA. Anderson lives in New York City.

The Walker Art Center is one of the top-five most visited contemporary art centers in the U.S. expressly dedicated to be a catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences that examines the questions that shape and inspire us as individuals, cultures, and communities. Focusing on the visual, performing, and media arts of our time, the Walker takes a global, multidisciplinary, and diverse approach to the creation, presentation, interpretation, collection, and preservation of art. Its 16-acre campus includes the intimate 385-seat McGuire Theater - home to one of the largest museum-based performing arts programs in the U.S. annually presenting 40 to 50 performances of innovative work from emerging, mid-career, and internationally-renowned artists. A multi-disciplinary center with a long-held international reputation, the Walker is called "one of America's foremost experimental art spaces" (UK's The Guardian).

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music Series creates a space for innovative new projects and iconoclastic artists in unique presentation formats. Liquid Music performances invite adventurous audiences to discover the new and the fascinating within the flourishing landscape of contemporary chamber music. The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, now in its 57th season, is widely regarded as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. In collaboration with its group of artistic partners - Jeremy Denk, Martin Fröst, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Christian Zacharias and Thomas Zehetmair - the virtuoso musicians present more than 130 concerts and educational programs each year, and are regularly heard on public radio's Performance Today which reaches 1.2 million listeners each week on 289 stations, and SymphonyCast reaching 240,000 listeners each week on 143 stations nationwide. The SPCO has released 67 recordings, commissioned 142 new works, and performed the world premiere of 49 additional compositions. The SPCO has earned the distinction of 17 ASCAP awards for adventurous programming.

Minnesota Public Radio® (MPR) operates a 45-station radio network serving nearly all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states. Reaching 900,000 listeners each week, MPR and its three regional services--MPR News, Classical MPR and The Current--produce programming for radio, online and live audiences. Programs produced by MPR's parent company, American Public Media™, reach nearly 19 million listeners on nearly 1,000 radio stations nationwide each week. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be found at minnesotapublicradio.org. MPR meets all 27 of the Charities Review Council (CRC) Accountability Standards. Source: Data are copyright Nielsen Audio. Data are estimates only.

The Fitzgerald® Theater is committed to programming that reflects the audience and mission of Minnesota Public Radio®. This 1,000-seat theater acts as MPR's largest broadcast studio, with airwaves reaching millions of people tuned in to A Prairie Home Companion®. The theater's staged productions commission authors, artists and radio hosts to create intellectually stimulating programs that delight and enlighten the community. The Fitzgerald Theater is St. Paul's oldest theater and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010.