After a year off due to the pandemic, Festival of the Arts Boca returns to live speakers and performances on March 4 with a lineup that seems particularly relevant and eclectic — from expertise on provocative moves by Vladimir Putin to moves like Jagger.
Running through March 13 at Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton, the festival has been one of South Florida’s most important cultural incubators since 2007, with thoughtfully curated entertainment its signature.
Perhaps no performance better exemplifies this attitude than the serendipitous arrival of jazz icon Terence Blanchard, who was a late addition to this year’s slate when original festival opener Bobby McFerrin bowed out in December due to health reasons.
It’s hard to imagine a better fallback than Blanchard, who made history in October as the first Black composer presented by the Metropolitan Opera and is up for two awards at Grammys ceremonies in April for his work on the acclaimed album “Absence.”
The other pillar of the 10-day event is topical and captivating conversation with some of the country’s leading authorities in their fields, including author and climate-change evangelist Bill McKibben and Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of “A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order.”
If you walk away from Festival of the Arts Boca 2022 feeling smarter about things that both the world and your next-door neighbors are talking about, that is by design, says Joanna Marie Kaye, executive director of the festival.
“How do you know if you are interested in something unless you are exposed to it first?” says Kaye, who credits Cynthia Brown, director of the Authors & Ideas series, for the festival’s reputation as “inclusive and interesting.”
Big ideas can be global or local, and sometimes overlap, Kaye says.
“We made a definitive effort to have somebody who would speak on the topic of global warming. Bill McKibben literally wrote the first book on global warming,” Kaye says. “That’s why Baptist Health is sponsoring it, because they feel it’s a health crisis, as well as an environmental one.”
Here is a look at some highlights of Festival of the Arts Boca 2022, both compelling conversations and entertainment, plus a dash of rock ‘n’ roll that will be of keen personal interest to the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger. No one is saying he’ll attend — but it can’t be ruled out.
Terence Blanchard
7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4
The celebrated trumpet player and composer will be accompanied by his band, E-Collective, and the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet, as he is on the album “Absence,” a tribute to jazz great Wayne Shorter. Blanchard is nominated for two Grammys: Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo for his solo on the title track.
Most widely known for his Oscar-nominated work on Spike Lee films (he’s also created some recent buzz for the moody soundtrack on HBO’s “Perry Mason”), Blanchard made history with the Metropolitan Opera debut of his composition “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” Based on New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow’s profound coming-of-age memoir, OperaWire called it a “masterpiece.”
“Oh my god, when Bobby McFerrin had to pull out and someone suggested Terence Blanchard, I went, ‘Yeah, right, like we’d be able to get him,'” Kaye says, calling the booking “absolute luck.”
“Our artistic administrator [Charles Letourneau] just happened to know his agent, made a call and … yeah, we’re thrilled,” Kaye says. She acknowledges that the festival has earned extra consideration from artists: “We do have a reputation now for doing fine things.”
The performance is a collaboration with Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, where Blanchard will take part in three master-class sessions with students.
Richard Haass / James Stavrides: A Conversation
7 p.m. Monday, March 7
Haass and Admiral James Stavridis are friends who frequently speak together, a relationship that helps them share complex opinions in a relatable style for a mainstream audience.
Haass is an author and veteran diplomat approaching his 20th year as president of Council on Foreign Relations, the 100-year-old nonprofit think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs. His most recent book is “The World: An Introduction.”
A West Palm Beach native, Stavridis is a retired four-star U.S. naval officer who served four years as the Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and currently is an executive with the global private equity firm the Carlyle Group. Stavridis also is an author of novels and books on leadership, including the just-published “To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision,” drawn from Navy history.
The pairing has only become more interesting in recent days of global disarray.
“Yes, there were no troops getting ready to invade Ukraine when we were first thinking about this,” Kaye says.
Bill McKibben: Our Changing Climate
7 p.m. Tuesday, March 8
It’s been more than 30 years since McKibben provoked readers with “The End of Nature,” a disturbing catalog of climate change written for everyday humans to use as a template for more thoughtful living — or not.
McKibben continues to supply oxygen to grassroots climate campaigns around the globe in books, magazine stories and speaking engagements, warmed by his innate despite-everything optimism.
His most recent book, “Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?,” revisits issues raised in “The End of Nature” and where new technology may offer help and harm.
Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Sixth Extinction,” wrote of the book: “No one has done more than Bill McKibben to raise awareness about the great issues of our time. ‘Falter’ is an essential book — honest, far-reaching and, against the odds, hopeful.”
McKibben will be making his first appearance at Festival of the Arts Boca. Like the rest of the Authors & Ideas sessions, he will offer a 45-minute presentation followed by a 15-minute Q&A.
“We’re very excited to have him here,” Kaye says.
Astronaut Donald R. Pettit: The View From Above
7 p.m. Wednesday, March 9
Pettit, 66, is NASA’s oldest active astronaut, but also a photographer who created some fascinating art photography during his 370 days on the International Space Station, collected in the book “Spaceborne.”
“To travel in space is to be awestruck, over and over and over,” Pettit says in the book.
Festival of the Arts Boca artistic director Charles Letourneau is also involved in Festival Napa Valley, where Pettit has appeared.
“[Letourneau] said he’s just the most dynamic and exciting speaker on science that he’s ever heard. He loves what he does and brings it to life,” Kaye says.
Along with his appearance, more than a dozen of Pettit’s large-scale pictures will be on display at the festival’s temporary box office a few blocks south of the amphitheater at 316 Plaza Real, beginning on Feb.28.
Luis Alberto Urrea: From Tijuana to the World
7 p.m. Thursday, March 10
The prolific Mexican-American writer has spun captivating stories of love, loss, culture and border issues for more than 20 years, including his memoir “Nobody’s Son: Notes from an American Life,” a 1999 American Book Award winner.
His list of critically acclaimed titles includes “The Water Museum,” “Into the Beautiful North,” “The Hummingbird’s Daughter” and “The Devil’s Highway,” a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
“It’s difficult to find comparisons to an author as original as Urrea, a kind of literary badass who still believes in love,” said NPR’s Alana Cheuse, calling Urrea “a master storyteller.”
Immigration and border politics are hot topics that Urrea can muse on with some authority, and Kaye acknowledges the festival is interested in reaching diverse audiences. But it’s also an opportunity to hear an acclaimed writer speak about his craft.
“Even if you have no idea about what the Mexican-America experience is, his writing is fabulous. He’s a wonderful writer and an amazing speaker,” Kaye says.
‘A Night at the Ballet’
7 p.m. Sunday, March 6
Not everything about Festival of the Arts Boca has to be about topical issues and deep thoughts.
Featuring dancers of American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and others, “A Night at the Ballet” includes excerpts from the classics (“Don Quixote,” “Swan Lake” and “Romeo & Juliet”), as well as contemporary works such as “She’s a Rainbow” by the Rolling Stones.
“A Night at the Ballet” was conceived in 2020 as a free, streaming arts fundraiser for theaters, performers and workers idled by the pandemic. It was produced by Live Arts Global, founded by recently retired ABT dancer Melanie Hamrick and her partners, Christine Shevchenko (a principal dancer at ABT) and dancer-choreographer Joanna DeFelice.
The presentation at Festival of the Arts Boca, originally scheduled for 2021, will be the first live performance of “A Night at the Ballet.”
Hamrick made her debut as a choreographer in 2019 with “Porte Rouge,” a ballet set to a Rolling Stones soundtrack, and in 2020 collaborated with DeFelice on another arts benefit, a short film called “Ghost Light,” with Royal Ballet dancers moving to the recent Stones single “Living In A Ghost Town.”
A Florida native, Hamrick is Jagger’s longtime girlfriend and they share a 5-year-old son, Devereaux, as well as a home near Bradenton. Hamrick will attend the performance in Boca Raton, with her son also making the trip.
“I don’t know if Mick will be here, to answer your next question. We’re not ruling it out,” Kaye says, with a laugh. “I’m keeping all my fingers and toes crossed.”
Other performances during Festival of the Arts Boca include internationally renowned Puerto Rican soprano Larisa Martínez making her festival debut at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5; charismatic Americana-pop trio Time For Three at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 12; and South Florida favorite Nestor Torres closing the festival with his band 7 p.m. Sunday, March 13.
Festival of the Arts Boca takes place March 4-13 at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real. Tickets start at $25 for arts performances, $35 for Authors & Ideas events. Seating will be distanced and masks will be required, along with proof of vaccination or documentation showing a negative result for a COVID-19 PCR test or COVID-19 Antigen test. Call 561-757-4762 or visit FestivalBoca.org.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com.
