MUSIC IS HIS MUSE: Choreographer Mark Morris, directing in foreground, discusses his work and its future with Ara Guzelimian as part of the Music and Healing series on Wednesday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Princeton University Concerts (PUC) launches its 2025-26 Music & Healing series on Wednesday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium with “The Dance Lives On: Contemplating Artistic Legacy,” a conversation with choreographer Mark Morris with dance and live music, moderated by Ara Guzelimian.
A frequent visitor to McCarter Theatre, Morris has begun creating new works designed for posthumous premieres as part of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dances for the Future legacy plan. In his Music & Healing event on October 8, he will reflect on how this process has shaped his understanding of artistic legacy and the vital role of art in confronting our mortality. Members of the Mark Morris Dance Group will perform selections of his choreography to live music.
Guzelimian, who will serve as moderator for all the 2025-26 season Music & Healing events, will join Morris in conversation. Guzelimian has been at forefront of the music, including throughout his careers as senior director and artistic advisor at Carnegie Hall, and provost and dean of the Juilliard School.
“Ara gets it,” said PUC Outreach Manager Dasha Koltunyuk, who conceived of the Music & Healing series. “We are thrilled to have his brilliant mind shepherd conversations with the artists coming to the series this year. We are also thrilled to begin the series with Mark Morris, a luminary in the fields of both dance and music. His Dances for the Future project speaks to the essence of our 2025-26 Season Music & Healing theme: processing endings and transitions. How can an artist’s creative voice live on after their death? What does this say about how culture persists and transforms over time?”
PUC’s Music & Healing series events are explorations at the intersection of music, healing, and the human experience. This season focuses on how music helps process endings and transitions. Subsequent Music & Healing events feature director Peter Sellars on music’s role in mourning (December 3) and violinist Lisa Batiashvili on music’s resilience in the face of attempted cultural erasure, with a focus on Ukraine and Georgia (April 29).
Tickets ($27 General, $11 Students) are available via puc.princeton.edu or by calling (609) 258.9220. PUC’s ticket access program Admit All affords qualified members subsidized tickets. Learn more about this program at puc.princeton.edu/admit-all.