The insight of former vice-presidential candidate John Edwards, soothing music by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and modern dancing that commemorates the life of Billie Holiday contribute to the diverse fare taking center stage during the next year at Mondavi Center. The center's 2005-06 presenting program season of performing arts and lectures was announced Wednesday — a season offering various new components as well as 122 performances by 71 different artists and speakers.

"Now, in our fourth year, I feel we're really hitting our stride," said Brian McCurdy, director of the presenting program for Mondavi Center. "The 2005-06 season, with its potent mix of established artists, provocative speakers, and exciting new works may be our strongest yet."

The season includes prominent names from the world of opera and classical music, including Itzhak Perlman, the London Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, top dance companies like Grupo Corpo and Ballet Hispanico, world music performers including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, accomplished jazz artists like McCoy Turner and Sonny Rollins, and speakers including Edwards and Paul Rusesabagina — the Rwandan hotel manager whose story was told in the film Hotel Rwanda.

In addition, the 2005-06 season will add new features to the Mondavi Center programming including:

• a Gala Opening Concert, which will feature renowned mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli and the Orchestra la Scintilla of Zürich Opera;
• an increased emphasis on new, commissioned works from contemporary artists such as Rinde Eckert, Ronald K. Brown, and Mikel Rouse;
• a new Sundays with Mozart chamber music series; and
• big-screen technology to augment the Distinguished Speakers series.

Also, almost coincidentally, McCurdy said, the season happens to feature a surprising wealth of great violinists. Performances by Perlman, Gil Shaham, Renaud Capucon, and Sergei Khachatrian are slated, and Mozart violin sonatas will be featured as part of the Sundays with Mozart series. Also, high-energy fiddling performances by virtuosos Natalie MacMaster and Sharon Shannon are planned.

More intimiate speaker events

The Western Health Advantage Distin-guished Speakers series also features National Public Radio's award-winning legal correspondent Nina Totenberg; and influential authors Richard Florida, who wrote The Rise of the Creative Class; and Steven Pinker, who wrote The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature.

Also set to speak this fall is Afghani refugee author Khaled Hosseini with The Story Behind The Kite Runner, which is the 2005 Campus Community Book Project selection.

The newly added feature of including big-screen projections behind the speakers during events will allow patrons a more intimate experience, McCurdy said.

Commissioned works

Also new at Mondavi Center this season, said McCurdy, is an increased emphasis on avant-garde works from top-rated contemporary artists, including works commissioned by the center. The expanded New Stages series features six productions.

Among those are Mikel Rouse's The End of Cinematics is a multi-media, high-technology presentation co-commissioned by Mondavi Center.

Eckert, who has previously performed Ravenshead, And God Created Great Whales, and Slow Fire at Mondavi Center, worked to develop Horizon during a UC Davis residency last summer. Horizon — a piece of music-theater based on the life and teachings of American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr — has received funding, marketing, and production support from Mondavi Center to aid in its creation.

Nnenna Freelon wrote, rehearsed, and performed music from Blueprint of a Lady: The Once and Future Life of Billie Holiday — which examines the life of jazz great Billie Holiday — last fall during her run of performances in Mondavi Center. The center has provided funding and production support for her, choreographer Ronald Brown, and filmographer Robert Penn as they have worked on the project.

Edgy music

New music also will be presented as part of the Edgewise series, including: contemporary composer Osvaldo Golijov's Ayre, a new song cycle based on 15th-century Spanish folk music that will be performed by Grammy Award-winning vocalist Dawn Upshaw and others; and two new symphonies by Philip Glass performed by the Austrian Bruckner Orchestra Linz.

Absolute Ensemble wowed Mondavi Center audience members in 2004 with its performance of the music of rock icon Frank Zappa, McCurdy said. So the group has been invited back. This time they will offer a program of traditional Arabian music mixed with jazz, funk, world music, and klezmer.

Contemporary dance

Highlights of this year's modern dance also include Ballet Hispanico's sizzling trilogy NightClub; the energetic Doug Varone and Dancers; the magical Brazilian company Grupo Corpo; and Israeli choreographer Inbal Pinto's darkly playful dance-theater piece Oyster.

Memorializing Mozart

In addition, Mondavi Center will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with a new series — Sundays with Mozart. The events will include afternoon matinees as well as evening concerts and lectures in Mondavi Center's 250-person Studio Theatre.

Subscription information

For 2005-06, Mondavi Center offers 13 subscription series. Series subscribers have access to best-available seating, seat retention for future seasons, and savings over the cost of single-event tickets. Mondavi Center also offers the Choose-Your-Own subscription option, which allows patrons to combine five or more events for a 10 percent discount and priority processing over single-ticket buyers.

Subscriptions became available starting Wednesday. The deadline for current subscribers to submit renewals is June 11. After that, seating arrangements from previous seasons are not guaranteed. Tickets for individual events will go on sale beginning Aug. 28.

For more information, visit the Mondavi Center Web site at http://www.MondaviArts.org or call the ticket office at (530) 754-2787.