The just-announced Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts 2015-16 season puts female singers in the spotlight, revamps the film and speaker series, and brings in a batch of world-class violinists.

Subscription sales have begun, and single-ticket sales will begin Aug. 7. See below for information on discounts for faculty, staff and students. See the season brochure.

Singers range from soprano Renée Fleming in a rare solo recital and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, to rising jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant and Brazilian singer Luciana Souza, to Rolling Stones backup singer Lisa Fisher, on to the soulful sounds of Mavis Staples and Joan Osborne, and the folk-oriented Patty Griffin and Sarah Watkins.

Violin vibe

While this season has been rich with pianists, the next season will see violinists getting the attention. Joshua Bell leads and solos with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and Pinchas Zukerman does the same with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Leonidas Kavakos solos with the San Francisco Symphony, and Augustin Hadelich solos with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestras.

Other instruments haven’t been forgotten, with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Yuja Wang and guitarist Sharon Isbin taking the stage.

In jazz, Wynton Marsalis leads a concert by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Ryan Truesdell and a big band will perform recently-discovered Gil Evans compositions.

Films are back

After a season off, films are back with live music. The flamboyant organist Cameron Carpenter will perform to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the Orlando Consort will sing 15th-century songs to The Passion of Joan of Arc, the San Francisco Symphony will play John Williams’ score to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Benoit Charest will conduct a jazz orchestra on his score for The Triplets of Belleville.

The lecture series gets a fresh feel emphasizing the cultural side. It will include writer Zadie Smith, whose books include NW, On Beauty, The Autograph Man and White Teeth; Vince Gilligan, writer, producer and director, X-Files and Breaking Bad; and the surprising pairing of singer-songwriter Aimee Mann and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins.

The Children’s Stage series comprises Spot (Theater Terra brings Eric Hill’s first book character to life), the Okee Dokee Brothers (folk musicians whose Can You Canoe? won the Grammy for best children’s album in 2013) and Story Pirates (sketch comedians and educators).

Dance, dance, dance

The coming year also has more dance. Choreographer Twyla Tharp has reconstituted her company to celebrate her 50 years in dance. The Akram Khan Company, which gave its only U.S. performance of iTMOi at the center last season, will be back. The Japanese Butoh company Sankai Juku explores life, death and creation, while Company Wayne McGregor blends art and technology.

Among the more offbeat offerings are Cirque Mechanics with a steampunk acrobatic show; Mnozil Brass, a Monty Python-meets-brass band musical comedy ensemble; the Reduced Shakespeare Company with the holiday story of Christmahanukwanzakah; and Tina Packer, founding director of Shakespeare and Company, taking a playful turn with Shakespeare’s women.

One Mondavi Center event won’t even take place at the Mondavi Center. The string quartet Ethel will present Documerica, newly-commissioned music with the visual accompaniment of vintage photographs of the United States projected on an exterior wall of the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art (which won’t even have opened yet). And it’s free.

Ticket information

Subscriptions are now available for series (most comprise three to four events) and choose-your-own packages (minimum of five events). Series discounts: 20 percent off regular ticket prices and 15 percent off add-on ticket purchases throughout the season. Choose-your-own subscriptions:  15 percent off regular ticket prices and 10 percent off add-on ticket purchases. Faculty and staff receive an additional discount of 10 percent. Students receive a 50 percent discount.

Ticket sales:

• Online — tickets.mondaviarts.org
• Box office — Phone, (866) 754-2787; in person (hours noon-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday)

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