Grammy

Grammy-nominated mandolin player Avi Avital opens the spring Cultural Programs series Thursday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the University of Wyoming Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts concert hall.

Tickets cost $10 for students, $23 for the public and $19 for seniors, faculty and staff. Tickets are available at the Performing Arts box office and the Wyoming Union information desk, by calling (307) 766-6666 or going online at www.uwyo.edu/finearts.

Avital’s concert, “Between Worlds,” will feature musicians Ksenija Sidorova on the accordion and Itamar Doari on percussion. They will perform various pieces from Romania, Georgia, Bulgaria and Avital’s home country of Israel.

Born in Be’er Sheva, Israel, in 1978, Avital began playing the mandolin at eight years of age. He later joined a mandolin youth orchestra and continued his education at the Jerusalem Music Academy. After graduating, he studied mandolin repertoire at the Conservatorio Cesare Pollini in Padova, Italy.

During his professional career, Avital has performed at prominent concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and London’s Globe Theatre.

Avital received a Grammy nomination for “Best Instrumental Soloist” in 2010 -- the first mandolin player ever nominated in the category. Among his awards is Germany’s ECHO Prize for his 2008 recording with the David Orlowsky Trio.

The New York Times calls him “one of the world’s most exciting and adventurous musicians.” According to Avital’s website, he is “deeply committed to building a fresh legacy for the mandolin through virtuosic performance in a range of genres and commissioning new works for mandolin.”

For more information about Avital, visit www.aviavital.com/, like him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @AVIAVITAL.

Each year, UW Cultural Programs brings a variety of internationally known performers to campus, often at ticket prices much less than at larger venues. This spring features five performances, with all programs scheduled at 7:30 p.m. in either the Performing Arts concert hall or the College of Arts and Sciences auditorium.

Shows ranging from ballet to a performance by an internationally recognized a cappella group, and music from a Grammy Award-winning family group are scheduled for this spring season’s Cultural Programs series.

For a complete list of spring programs, visit www.uwyo.edu/culturalprogram/.