Brooklyn Rider: Star-Crossed
You don’t have to recognize the titles to feel what is at stake in these stories: two young lovers forbidden to marry; two artists and life partners reunited for one final day beyond death; and a frightened young woman facing mortality and comforted by a caring Death. In Star-Crossed, Brooklyn Rider brings all three to life through music, drawing audiences deeper into each world.
Moving across cultures and centuries, Star-Crossed brings together the centuries-old epic love story of Layla and Majnun (in a work written by Brooklyn Rider’s own Colin Jacobsen), Gabriela Lena Frank’s Frida’s Dreams, and Schubert’s Death and the Maiden. What connects these stories is not tragedy alone, but persistence of love against the odds: devotion surviving separation, connection reaching beyond death, and tenderness meeting mortality. Hearing them in the company of others turns intensely private emotions into something shared.
In Frida’s Dreams, Frida Kahlo returns from the underworld for one final reunion with Diego Rivera. With CPA as co-commissioner of this score by recent Pulitzer Prize recipient Gabriela Lena Frank, this performance will include projections inspired by Khalo’s work and created by artist Camilla Tassi that draw audiences further into their imagined reunion.
Photo by Marco Giannavola
8th
Return performance at Carolina Performing Arts — Brooklyn Rider has played CPA seven times before this one.
Brooklyn Rider has spent two decades making the string quartet feel fresh, personal, and a little unexpected. They move easily between music written today and works composed centuries ago. In performance, you can hear a melody move from one musician to the next and watch the players listen and respond to one another in real time. That back-and-forth is what makes a string quartet exciting to experience live: four musicians building something none could create alone.
If you’ve never considered seeing a string quartet, start here, with stories you can feel and four musicians showing what listening closely to one another can make possible.
Friday or Saturday festival day pass required for the day of attendance. Seating is first-come, first-served and subject to venue capacity. A day pass does not guarantee entry; plan to arrive early.
Know Before You Go
Day Pass Required
A festival day pass gets you into every Pass Event happening that day, including this one. Day passes go on sale September 15 at noon.
Seating
First-come, first-served based on venue capacity. A day pass does not guarantee entry.
Venue
The Chapel of the Cross, in downtown Chapel Hill.
Day passes go on sale September 15 at noon.
Explore the Festival
About All. Together. Now.
Taking place February 19–21, 2027, All. Together. Now. is a new multi-day arts festival presented by Carolina Performing Arts and unfolding across Carolina’s campus and downtown Chapel Hill. Across three days of performances, conversations, and creative experiences, the festival brings artists, ideas, art forms, and people into conversation. Each year, a central idea will connect its wide-ranging experiences. The inaugural focus, Love & Hope, considers how we care for one another, build connection amid uncertainty, and imagine futures that do not yet exist.