Grammy award-winning singer-songwriters Willie Nelson and K.D. Lang have recently been added to the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts‘ 2008-2009 season and are scheduled to perform early next year.
General admission tickets to the public go on sale today at the Mondavi Center box office and at mondaviarts.org. Tickets for each performance are $50 and $25 with a student ID.
Nelson is currently on tour and will perform in various venues throughout California in January. He is scheduled to play at the Mondavi Center on Jan. 11.
Lang will perform on March 27. Her most recent album, Watershed, was released in February.
The dates will mark the first time Nelson and Lang will visit the Mondavi Center.
“It’s an opportunity to see somebody who really is an icon, politically and musically,” said Jessica Kelly, senior writer for the Mondavi Center.
“I think young people can relate to Willie Nelson because of the fact that as he’s grown older he still has an open mind,” said Fera Dayani, a junior political science major. “You’d think that people would grow more conservative and out of touch with young people, [but] I would say that he’s really in touch with [them].“
Both artists are known for their work in the country and folk genres. Kelly sees the two concerts as an addition to the already-diverse mix of Mondavi Center performances.
“I think that one of the best things about the Mondavi Center is the fact that if you look at the schedule of the year, you’ll see many different genres represented,” Kelly said. “This pretty much just continues the tradition.“
“It’ll bring some new people across the threshold so people can discover the Mondavi Center,” said Camille Spaccavento, the center’s director of marketing. “We are trying to build an audience, and programming folks like Willie Nelson and KD Lang [can hopefully] bring new people in so they can discover what [we have] to offer year round.“
Spaccavento also said that advertising for the event has been kept to a relative minimum, despite each performer’s large fan base. Even so, tickets are expected to sell out relatively quickly.
For ticket pricing and more information, visit mondaviarts.org.
JUSTIN T. HO can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.
