ArtPower kicks off this year with Sufi hip-hop Compagnie Hervé Koubi, one of Europe’s hottest dance companies. Recognized as one of Europe’s most distinctive choreographers, Hervé Koubi draws creative strength from his Algerian roots and Mediterranean culture. His company makes its San Diego debut with “What the Day Owes to the Night (Ce Que le Jour Doit à la Nuit),” a highly physical, stunningly fluid work for 12 French Algerian and African male dancers who were trained in urban street dance and hip-hop. The piece combines capoeira, martial arts, and urban contemporary dance, and is packed with backflips, head spins, and powerful imagery evocative of Eastern paintings and Islamic architecture. The performance takes place at Mandeville Auditorium on Jan. 17 at 8 p.m.
January continues with Aeolus Quartet, one of the finest young quartets touring today. Raved by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as the “string quartet to watch,” the Aeolus Quartet has been awarded prizes at nearly every major competition in the United States since its inception at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The evening program at ArtPower includes Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14; Haydn’s String Quartet in D Minor; and Philip Glass’s Quartet No. 3 “Mishima.”This evening performance takes place at Department of Music’s Conrad Prebys Concert Hall on Jan. 19 at 8 p.m.
Portland native Liz Vice takes the stage at The Loft on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. The gospel, soul, and R&B–inspired artist’s music features dynamic, beautiful vocals and classically influenced lyrics that reference her deep-rooted spirituality. Her debut album, “There’s a Light,” is a gospel-fueled nod to the R&B / soul records of the 60?s and 70?s, is modern enough not to be “throwback,” but classically influenced enough to feel timeless.
ArtPower concludes with a special event by French composer and percussionist Roland Auzet on Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mandeville Auditorium. Auzet premieres his new work A bare hands, a sound performance that will reveal the joys of rhythms and sounds. The new work starts with a car on an empty stage, but he quickly fills the room with so much more. Mixing percussion, choreography, and cirque, expect an evening like nothing you’ve ever experienced when Auzet begins to play the car as a percussion instrument!  This concert is part of San Diego Symphony’s It’s About Time festival and curated by percussionist Steven Schick.