UCLA Live today unveils its 2010-11 season, which features a robust concert slate headlined by some of the biggest names in jazz, roots and world music, a captivating classical series, thrilling dance premieres from established and up-and-coming companies and the most diverse spoken-word lineup ever assembled in one UCLA Live season.

Discounted series subscriptions to UCLA Live's 2010-11 season — curated by David Sefton to include a wide range of music, dance and spoken word — are on sale now. Individually priced tickets for all events go on sale Aug. 9. All performances are in Royce Hall on the UCLA campus.

The 2010-11 concert slate boasts something for every music lover with appearances from jazz greats Ornette Coleman (Nov. 3) and John McLaughlin (Dec. 1), consciousness-raising singer-songwriters Mavis Staples and Billy Bragg (Nov. 5), leading electronic/world music fusion artist Karsh Kale (Jan. 29) and more.

This year marks the return of UCLA Live's classical series, anchored by beloved pianist Murray Perahia (Nov. 4) and highlighted by the Los Angeles debut of Japanese piano prodigy Nobuyuki Tsujii performing with the acclaimed Takács Quartet (April 3). Intimate concerts from pianist Menahem Pressler and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman (Nov. 20), violinist Daniel Hope accompanied by Jeffrey Kahane on piano (Feb. 11), and the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin (March 3) round out the year's classical events.

Collaborations abound in 2010-11 including Chick Corea and Gary Burton (March 5) appearing in a stirring revival of their classic 1972 album Crystal Silence. A very special UCLA Live-only event, the Alice Coltrane Tribute (Dec. 5) celebrates this extraordinary woman's music, life and profound influence on jazz. Co-curated by famed record producer Ian Brennan and led by TV on the Radio and Rain Machine front man Kyp Malone, the evening will feature inspirational improvisation from free jazz icon Pharoah Sanders, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, drummer Han Bennink and saxophonist Daniel Carter.

Richard Thompson returns to Royce Hall for the West Coast premiere of his eclectic Cabaret of Souls (Nov. 19), which mixes darkly comedic theatricality with a concerto composed in honor of legendary bassist Danny Thompson, who performs alongside Richard and a host of guests that include Harry Shearer, Judith Owen and Pete Zorn.

Also on the 2010-11 music lineup are co-bills and live collaborations that simultaneously celebrate custom and defy convention. Generations collide and two distinct flavors of the blues converge in the onstage pairing of Taj Mahal and Vieux Farka Touré (Oct. 22). Classic New Orleans Jazz meets influential bluegrass with Preservation Hall and Del McCoury (May 12).

Persian and Indian culture convene in Ghazal (April 21) with Kayhan Kalhor, master of the kamancheh joined by sitar virtuoso Shujaat Khan and tabla percussionist Sandeep Das. In the Acoustic Africa (March 26) world-music event, Malian guitarists Habib Koité and Afel Bocoum join Zimbabwe's top-selling artist Oliver Mtukudzi to pay homage to the African guitar tradition. In another Los Angeles premiere, Bamboo to Bronze (Nov. 11) brings Gamelan Cudamani back to UCLA Live in celebration of the beauty and complexity of Balinese culture, dance and music.

UCLA Live presents four stunning dance debuts beginning with the world premiere of Los Angeles-based Helios Dance Theater's Beautiful Monsters (Oct. 23). Dance icon Stephen Petronio returns to Royce Hall with the West Coast debut of his 25th anniversary celebratory work I Drink the Air Before Me (March 11-12).

The increasingly influential Barak Marshall and company bring the West Coast premiere of Monger (April 15-16), which explores themes of power, free will and survival instinct. More cutting-edge choreography from Crystal Pite hits the Royce Hall stage with the Los Angeles debut of Lost Action (Feb. 25-26), a stylistic piece that showcases Pite's new company, Kidd Pivot Frankfurt RM.

Celebrating the grand dame of the art form is Dance (May 6-7), in a striking revival of Lucinda Childs' 1979 acclaimed piece featuring music from composer Philip Glass and imagery from conceptual artist Sol LeWitt.

UCLA Live's always-engrossing spoken word lineup this year runs the gamut from revered to irreverent. American master Stephen Sondheim (Nov. 8), literary icon Maya Angelou (Feb. 19), Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney (April 14) and poignant author-actor Wallace Shawn (Jan. 22) appear for powerful speaking engagements.

Meanwhile, pop-culture provocateurs The Yes Men (Oct. 14) and The Onion Editors (Feb. 10) make their first UCLA Live appearances alongside returning favorites David Sedaris (April 27) and John Waters (Feb. 23), who presents a vaudeville-inspired send-up of Tinsletown with This Filthy World Goes Hollywood.

UCLA Live's 2010-11 season also features the first-ever Music & Film series, which puts film classics center stage in Royce Hall accompanied by live scores, including the Los Angeles premiere of Dengue Fever's psychedelic musical take on 1925 stop-motion classic The Lost World (Nov. 12). Guitar impresario Bill Frisell (April 2) and his bandmates provide eclectic live compositions to a variety of imagery from Buster Keaton films, selected work from Seattle animator Jim Woodring and Bill Morrison's stylized documentary Decasia.

The Bill Frisell Trio (April 2) also appears for a special family performance of music set to Buster Keaton classics Go West, The High Sign and One Week. UCLA Live favorite Dan Zanes (March 19) returns to wreak kid-friendly havoc on Royce Hall in two all-ages concerts.

UCLA Live's series subscriptions — which include Dance, Classical, Jazz, World Music A and B, Roots, Spoken Word A and B, Music & Film, Family and the cross-genre Royce Choice series — are on sale now at a 20% discount. Patrons also may pick any four events to create a "Choose-Your-Own" series to buy at a 15% discount. Series may be purchased at www.uclalive.org, by calling UCLA's Central Ticket Office at (310) 825-2101, or in person at the UCLA Central Ticket Office at the southwest corner of the James West Alumni Center on the UCLA campus. Individual tickets go on sale Aug. 2 for subscribers and donors, and Aug. 9 to the general public.

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