WARREN MILLER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Big Sky’s hub for arts and cultural offerings, the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, has organized its most impressive lineup yet for its 2019 winter season. Now in its sixth season, WMPAC has made a name for itself by bringing some of the most influential names in dance, theater and music to Big Sky.
In addition to the opportunity to see leading performers, WMPAC provides the opportunity for enriching experiences outside the standard sphere of ski town life.
“The reason we all live in Big Sky is we seek out and crave adventure,” said John Zirkle, WMPAC’s executive director. “WMPAC performances give us a chance to satisfy that spirit in intellectual and cultural realms as well.”
WMPAC is also dedicated to commemorating its namesake, the late Warren Miller, who passed away in January, with this season’s lineup. “He devoted his life to pushing limits, and we’re honored to continue his legacy on that front,” Zirkle said.
Shows such as Eighth Blackbird on Jan. 19 and James Sewell Ballet’s March 23 performance best embody that essence. Eighth Blackbird is a contemporary chamber ensemble dedicated to performing music by living composers, particularly those who have been traditionally marginalized from the classical music world—namely female composers and composers of color. The group epitomizes the notion of radical inclusion in what is often seen as a staid, stodgy artform, and are at the forefront of redefining it.
Continuing WMPAC’s theme of supporting pioneering art, James Sewell Ballet returns to Big Sky for its sixth season. They will debut an all-new dance program at their March performance, this time featuring a collaboration with musician Martin Dosh, who is composing new music for the event and will perform live onstage with the dancers.
“This will be a chance for Big Sky locals to see a brand-new work of art, designed exclusively for us,” Zirkle said. “It’s just a mind-blowing opportunity to be on the leading edge of where this artform is headed.”
Whether audiences come to the theater looking for family entertainment, a night out with friends, or to stretch their understanding of an artform, they will carry on the tradition of exploring the unknown, and pushing limits, that Warren Miller exemplified.
“Locals can access a huge range of moving, challenging, gratifying experiences that you can’t get anywhere else in Montana, and we’re so grateful to Warren for instilling us with our spirit of adventure,” Zirkle said.
Learn more about WMPAC’s full winter season lineup and ticket information at warrenmillerpac.org.
