Starts at $41.
Café 1930s: Jazz, Tango, and Cabaret
Featuring Chee-Yun, Brian McWhorter, and Mark Gould
A Strings Music Festival ensemble traces the vibrant, jazz-infused soundscape of interwar cafés and cabarets around the world. From American jazz clubs and vaudeville stages to the cabarets of Berlin, the tango cafés of Buenos Aires, and London’s avant-garde salons, the program captures a moment when classical, popular, and theatrical traditions collided.
Works by Paul Schoenfield and Zez Confrey evoke the wit and sparkle of American café culture, while Kurt Weill’s iconic “Mack the Knife” and Astor Piazzolla’s sultry Café 1930 reflect the era’s international spirit and artistic daring. The evening culminates in William Walton’s theatrical Façade, conducted by Mark Gould and featuring narration by Bryan McWhorter, bringing to life the humor, edge, and cosmopolitan flair of a world in motion.
Enhancing the café ambiance, ticket buyers may choose seating at café-style high-top tables, creating a relaxed, jazz-club–inspired setting that adds to the uniqueness of this performance.
Program Preview
Astor Piazzolla Café 1930 from Histoire du tango
(1921–1992)
Zez Confrey Kitten on the Keys
(1895–1971)
Kurt Weill “Mack the Knife” from The Threepenny Opera
(1900–1950)
Paul Schoenfield Café Music
(1947–2024)
INTERMISSION
William Walton Façade
(1902–1983)
Mark Gould, Conductor (Façade)
Bryan McWhorter, Narration (Façade)
*Donors of $500 or more to the 2026 Annual Fund receive presale access. Donor presales begin January 28 at 10:00AM MDT. On sale to the public February 11 at 10:00AM MDT.