“HEARING MATH”: That’s the title of an event featuring tabla virtuoso Sandeep Das, who is among the artists taking part in the upcoming season of Princeton University Concerts. Faculty and students from the University’s math department are expected to join in Das’ performance on October 14. (Photo courtesy of Princeton University Concerts)

By Anne Levin

It has been 132 years since the “Ladies Musical Committee” organized the inaugural performance of the Princeton University Concerts (PUC) series at the Princeton Inn. That first event featured an ensemble known as the Kneisel Quartet, playing a piece of new music by composer Antonin Dvorak.

New music, and much more, continues to guide the programming. Most concerts on the 2026-27 roster take place in the acoustically renowned Richardson Auditorium, with additional events at the Princeton Garden Theatre, Princeton Public Library, and elsewhere on campus. This year’s lineup, for which single tickets are now available, takes the tradition of adventurous, multi-faceted programming a few steps further.

There is “Hearing Math,” a partnership with the University’s Department of Mathematics that features a lecture demonstration led by Grammy-winning tabla player Sandeep Das along with faculty and student math majors who also happen to be instrumentalists, on October 14, followed by a concert the next day. A Community Piano Jam on September 27 celebrates the new Pianists in Recital series, which will include Salman Rushdie’s niece Mishka Rushdie Momen, in conversation and performance, on November 1. Actor and classical music enthusiast Alec Baldwin takes part in a “Music & Healing” conversation on September 19, taking the series in a new direction.

“Last season, we expanded from musicians in ‘Music & Healing’ to people like director Peter Sellars and choreographer Mark Morris,” said Dasha Koltunyuk, PUC outreach manager. “We wanted to continue down the path of featuring a different perspective. We know Alec is an enormous classical music fan. We’ve heard him talk about how much it means to him, particularly as a refuge from a life lived in the public eye. People might not know that side of him.”

PUC Director Marna Seltzer is looking forward to the appearances by tabla player Das, who will focus on his theory about math and music. “We’re always looking for ways to partner with our academic colleagues on campus, especially in an unusual collaboration like this,” she said. “There has always been a relationship between math and music. In fact, the Math Department has so many students who are accomplished musicians that they host an entire evening of performances every year. The connection is clear. Sandeep was here two seasons ago for a ‘Music & Healing’ event, and we totally fell in love with him. Virtuoso does not even come close to covering what he does on the tabla.”

Additional performers on the series include the Brentano String Quartet; pianists Tony Siqi Yun, Mitsuko Uchida, Stephen Hough, and Brad Mehldau; and a trio made up of violinist Hilary Hahn, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, and pianist Benajmin Grosvenor — to name a few. The free Live Music Meditations, which are held over lunchtime on weekdays, continue. So do the popular Do-Re-Meet events, which include pre-concert speed dating, speed-friending, and an LGBTQIA+ Mingle and Halloween Party.

“We have one couple who met speed dating, and we hear they are still dating,” said Seltzer. “But we’re still waiting for a wedding.”

Seltzer doesn’t like to play favorites, but she admits to being excited about Lithuanian mezzo soprano Asmik Gregorian and pianist Lukas Geniusas on December 3, performing songs by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. “I heard her do this program, that audiences rarely hear, at Carnegie Hall a few years ago,” Seltzer said. “She not only has a gorgeous voice, but you can tell she understands those songs in her bones. I think she will sound incredible in our space.”

Programming “is almost like a birthing process, with grieving and celebration,” said Seltzer. “I’m at the point where I’m really excited about it all. One of the things I’ve always loved about the programming is that there is such a wide range. We have people we are introducing, and artists with whom we have long-term relationships that go deeper and deeper.”

For a full list of events and to buy tickets, visit puc.princeton.edu.