UB’s Center for the Arts (CFA) just broke the news that Multi-Grammy® and Oscar® winner Jon Batiste will perform an evening of genius music composition and instrumental virtuosity on Friday, May 10, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets for “STREAMS: Jon Batiste At The Piano” go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 29, 2024 at ubcfa.org, Ticketmaster or in person at the Center for the Arts Ticket Office.
The CFA’s Executive Director, Jamie Enser, says it’s the ideal performance to end the spring season.
It is thrilling to be able to bring a musical genius like Jon Batiste to Western New York. This concert is one that our audience will be talking about long after the show. With just a handful of dates on this tour, we’re honored to be the presenter,” she added.
Of the forthcoming shows, Batiste shared: “I am at home on the piano. “STREAMS” is stream of consciousness music that comes to me in the moment without rehearsal or preparation. Playing piano for me is like breathing. It’s prayer, it’s dreaming, it’s conversation. I want to be in conversation with the audience and share this intimate creative space. It’s a one of a kind experience each time, a spontaneous flow state, completely improvised.”
Today’s announcement follows Batiste’s breathtaking performance at the 2024 Oscars, where he sang “It Never Went Away,” from the critically acclaimed Netflix documentary “American Symphony”, which was nominated for Best Original Song. The film follows Batiste beginning in early 2022, when he finds himself celebrated with 11 Grammy® nominations, including album of the year. Amid that triumph, he is immersed in his most ambitious challenge yet: composing an original symphony for a performance at the storied Carnegie Hall. However, this extraordinary trajectory is upended when his life partner, NYT bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning journalist Suleika Jaouad, learns that her long-dormant cancer has returned.
In February, Batiste delivered another emotional performance at the 2024 Grammy® Awards’ In Memoriam tribute where he honored music executive Clarence Avant by performing a medley of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me” and “Optimistic,” featuring Ann Nesby. Batiste’s critically acclaimed album “World Music Radio” was nominated for five Grammy® Awards that evening including the highly coveted “Album of the Year,” “Record of the Year,” and “Song of the Year.”
In 2020, Batiste was honored with an Academy Award® for Best Original Score for his work on the Disney/Pixar film “SOUL,” which he shared with fellow composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The score won him a Grammy® award and also garnered him a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a NAACP Image Award and a Critic’s Choice Award. Notably, Batiste became the second black composer in history, following the legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock, to win an Academy Award for composition.
Tickets are $54, $79, $99, $134. For more ticket information call 716-645-2787 or ubcfatickets@buffalo.edu. The ticket office will open at 10 a.m. this Friday, and will resume normal hours Tuesday-Friday from 12 – 6 p.m.
For additional information on upcoming shows, to buy tickets, or view the full schedule of programs and activities in the UB Center for the Arts, visit the events and exhibitions webpage.
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