In conjunction with the UMMA exhibition African Art and the Shape of Time, which explores notions of time and timelessness in the study of African art, director Christopher Lees leads the Contemporary Directions Ensemble in the performance of musical experiments in recurrence and linear time, featuring composers Chen Yi, Nico Muhly and UM Composition Professors Paul Schoenfield and Bright Sheng.

The SMTD@UMMA performance series is made possible in part by the Katherine Tuck Enrichment Fund.

Lead support for the exhibition African Art and the Shape of Time is provided by the University of Michigan Health System and the James L. and Vivian A. Curtis Endowment Fund. Additional generous support is provided by the CEW Frances and Sydney Lewis Visiting Leaders Fund.