Buffalo State Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall Announces Fall 2024 Series

The Buffalo State Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall is excited to highlight its fall 2024 series, opening with Victor Wooten and the Wooten Brothers on Saturday, October 5, at 8:00 p.m. 

Since they were young, the five brothers have been a musical tour de force, redefining the limits of jazz, funk, soul, R&B, rock, and bluegrass. Five-time Grammy Award–winning artist Victor Wooten is a founding member of the eclectic group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and was named one of the top 10 bassists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. An award-winning author and music educator, Victor Wooten will lead a master class at Buffalo State earlier in the day on October 5. Joseph Wooten has been the keyboardist for the Steve Miller Band since 1993 and has collaborated with Kenny G. and Whitney Houston. Roy “Futureman” Wooten, also a five-time Grammy Award winner, is best known for his masterly percussion skills and is also a founding member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. He is known for his frenzied on-stage performances with the trademark instruments he invented: the “Drumitar” and the “RoyEl” keyboard. Regi Wooten’s signature guitar style has earned him comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and Chuck Berry. Together, the Wooten brothers will bring a high-energy, super-funky, artistic blend of styles on stage including original songs and classics. 

Pop icon Debbie Gibson brings her Acoustic Youth: Songs and Stories from the Electric Youth Era Tour to the Buffalo State Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 12, at 8:00 p.m. Gibson burst onto the scene at age 16, etching her name in history with the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Foolish Beat” and establishing herself as the youngest artist ever to write, produce, and perform a No. 1 hit—a record she has held for over 30 years. Her talent has translated into over 16 million album sales and a theatrical career spanning 17 musicals, from Broadway’s Les Misérables to West End’s Grease. In 2019, Gibson graced the stage alongside New Kids on the Block on the Mixtape Arena Tour to sold-out shows across the nation. She has starred in many television movies for Hallmark and proudly adds executive producer to her résumé for one of the first LGBTQ+ inclusive movies on the network, titled Notes of Autumn. This year, she is celebrating the 35th anniversary of her No.1 hit “Lost in Your Eyes” and No. 1 album Electric Youth with concerts around the country, including this Acoustic Youth Tour. Gibson said, “I have always loved breaking songs down to their purest form, and Acoustic Youth will find me at the keys, super intimate, telling stories and playing the songs the way I first wrote them on the piano. My audience and I share a connection that allows me to be super ‘in the moment,’ and this show will find me truly taking in every moment and free flowing, so that no two shows are alike! There may be some unexpected surprises on my set list, and I can’t wait to experience this unique moment that marries the then and now with my community who has been with me on this journey for over three and a half decades.” 

The Buffalo State Performing Arts Center presents Mindi Abair’s “I Can’t Wait for Christmas” Tour, featuring Lindsey Webster and Marcus Anderson, on Friday, December 6, at 8:00 p.m. Grammy nominated No. 1 Billboard-charting saxophonist and singer-songwriter Abair has been a multi-genre powerhouse on the smooth jazz and blues charts for over 20 years. Her annual smooth jazz holiday tour tradition started in 2003 with Peter White and Rick Braun. In 2007, the three collaborated on the Top 20 album A Peter White Christmas, which included the perennially popular vocal song “I Can’t Wait for Christmas,” as Abair has named this tour. She is the featured saxophonist on American Idol, has sat in with Paul Shaffer on The Late Show with David Letterman and with the Roots on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and has garnered 12 No. 1 radio hits in the jazz and blues world. In 2019, she was nominated by the Blues Music Awards as the Best Instrumentalist: Horn and won the L.A. Critics Award for Best Holiday Album for All I Got for Christmas Is the Blues. She also wrote the book How to Play Madison Square Garden: A Guide to Stage Performance, and has served 10 years as an L.A. Chapter governor, president, and national trustee for the Recording Academy. She has toured or recorded with Aerosmith, Smokey Robinson, Trombone Shorty, Adam Sandler, Duran Duran, Mandy Moore, Dave Koz, the Backstreet Boys, and many others. Lindsey Webster is the only vocalist to score two No. 1 Billboard singles (“Fool Me Once,” and “Where Do You Want to Go”) plus numerous Top Five singles in a mainly instrumental format. Marcus Anderson has performed with Prince and the New Power Generation, Brian Culbertson, and many others. He has multiple No. 1 airplay hits and Grammy nominations. Abair, Webster, and Anderson join the stage together in Mindi Abair’s “I Can’t Wait for Christmas” Tour this December.