On Dec. 5, the University of Iowa’s Hancher presented performance artist Taylor Mac, who performed the "1846–1856" portion of his forthcoming epic work, A 24-Hour History of Popular Music.

Hancher is a co-commissioner of Mac’s piece, and this support of an artist’s work is important in and of itself—but this particular commission is especially notable because it is the 100th work Hancher has commissioned.

Hancher’s first commission was James Kudelka’s The Heart of the Matter, for the Joffrey Ballet. The world premiere of Kudelka’s piece was presented on the Hancher stage on Feb. 25, 1986.

The next is perhaps still Hancher’s most famous: The world premiere of the Joffrey Ballet’s beloved version of The Nutcracker (which is being performed for the final time this month) took place at Hancher on Dec. 10, 1987.

Since then, Hancher has provided financial and physical support (such as space for artists to work on new performances) for a wide array of music, dance, and theater works. Among them:

• A sizeable number of commissions for the Kronos Quartet
• Additional commissions for the Joffrey Ballet, including Billboards, which features the music of Prince and had its world premiere at Hancher in 1993
• Theatre works by Iowa City native Rinde Eckert and by the members of Iowa City’s own Working Group Theatre
• Musical compositions focused on Iowa, including saxophonist Dave Pietro’s Iowa Memoirs and Stew & The Negro Problem’s collection of songs about Iowa City, both presented in 2012

Hancher’s commissioning program is in keeping with the University of Iowa’s focus on research because the organization helps artists push their creative work forward.

Works commissioned by Hancher

James Kudelka, for the Joffrey Ballet
The Heart of the Matter
Feb. 25, 1986 (World premiere)

Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, for the Joffrey Ballet
The Nutcracker
Dec. 10–12, 1987 (World premiere)

Laura Dean, for Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians
Equator
March 4, 1988 (American premiere)

David Gordon, for David Gordon/The Pick Up Company
United States
Feb. 11, 1989

Alessandro Moruzzi, for the Kronos Quartet
Concept and visual design for Assembly Required
April 2, 1989

Paul Dresher Ensemble
Power Failure
Oct. 27–28, 1989

David Parsons, for the Parsons Dance Company
Incandescence (a.k.a. Simply So)
Jan. 19–20, 1990 (World premiere)

Larry Neff, for the Kronos Quartet

• Visual design for Salome Dances for Peace
• Visual design for Black Angels

April 6–7, 1990 (World premiere)

Alexander Goehr, for the Arditti String Quartet
"Quartet No. 4"
Oct. 8, 1990 (World premiere)

Nina Wiener, for the Nina Wiener Dance Company
Harmonic Landscapes
Oct. 12–13, 1990

Meredith Monk
Atlas
1991

Dumi Maraire, for the Kronos Quartet
Mai Nozipo
Jan. 26, 1991 (World premiere)

Christian Marclay and Jay Cloidt, with the Kronos Quartet
New Work
Jan. 26, 1991 (World premiere)

Bill T. Jones, for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land
Feb. 2, 1991

Paul Dresher Ensemble
Pioneer
Feb. 8–9, 1991

Libby Larsen for the Cleveland Quartet
Quartet: Schoenberg, Schenker, Schillinger
May 1, 1991 (World premiere)

Wim Vandekeybus, for Ultima Vez
Always the Same Lies
Oct. 16, 1991

Rinde Eckert
The Gardening of Thomas D.
Jan. 22–25, 1992 (World premiere)

Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros, for Miami City Ballet
Danzalta
April 28, 1992

Scott Johnson, for the Kronos Quartet
How It Happens (Words of I. F. Stone)
Nov. 5, 1992 (World premiere)

Laura Dean, Charles Moulton, Margo Sappington, Peter Pucci, and Prince, for the Joffrey Ballet
Billboards
Jan. 27–31, 1993 (World premiere)

Pilobolus Dance Theatre
Rejoyce—A Pilobolus Finnegan's Wake
Feb. 27, 1993 (World premiere)

Trimpin
D.R.A.M.A. ohno
Sept. 14–15, 1993

David Parsons, for the Parsons Dance Company
Ring Around the Rosie
Oct. 1, 1993 (World premiere)

Bebe Miller, for Bebe Miller Company
Nothing Can Happen Only Once
Feb. 26, 1994

Joan Tower, for the Muir String Quartet
Night Fields
March 1, 1994 (World premiere)

Michelle DiBucci, for the Kronos Quartet
Arrangement of Raymond Scott's Powerhouse
March 14, 1994

Randall Woolf, for the Kronos Quartet
Arrangement of Raymond Scott's Twilight in Turkey
March 14, 1994

John Oswald, for the Kronos Quartet
Mach
March 14, 1994

Bright Sheng, for the Takács Quartet
"String Quartet No. 3"
April 4, 1994

Bill T. Jones, for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Still/Here
Sept. 30–Oct. 1, 1994 (American premiere)

David Parsons, for the Parsons Dance Company
Touched by Time
1994

Minoru Miki, for Pro Musica Nipponia
Lotus Poem
Oct. 17, 1994 (World premiere)

Rinde Eckert
The Idiot Variations
Jan. 19–20, 1995 (World premiere)

Susan Marshall, for Susan Marshall & Company
Fields of View
Feb. 10, 1995

Brent Michael Davids, for the Kronos Quartet
Tunpao Nenangpe
April 8, 1995

Ben Johnston, for the Kronos Quartet
Arrangement of Harry Partch's Barstow, Eight Hitchhikers' Inscriptions from a Highway Railing at Barstow, California
April 8, 1995

Meredith Monk
Volcano Songs
May 2–3, 1995

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, for Urban Bush Women
Bones and Ash: A Gilda Story
Sept. 15, 1995 (World premiere)

Marc Neikrug, for the Tokyo String Quartet and Pinchas Zukerman
String Quintet
Oct. 13, 1995 (World premiere)

John Corigliano, for the Cleveland Quartet
String Quartet
Oct. 30, 1995

Tan Dun, for the Kronos Quartet
Ghost Opera
Feb. 10, 1996

P.Q. Phan, for the Kronos Quartet
Hoi uc cua ke lac loi (Memoirs of A Lost Soul)
Feb. 10, 1996 (World premiere)

Diamanda Galás
Schrei X
March 27–28, 1996

Mark Morris, for the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Handel and Haydn Society, conducted by Christopher Hogwood
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice
April 8–9, 1996 (World premiere)

Ben Johnston, for the Kronos Quartet
Arrangement of Harry Partch's Two Studies on Ancient Greek Scales
Jan. 24, 1998

Robert Lepage and Ex Machina
Geometry of Miracles
Sept. 9–11, 1999 (American premiere)

Traveling Music, for the Kronos Quartet

• Osvaldo Golijov, arrangement of Anibal Troilo’s "Responso"
• Aleksandra Vrebalov, "Panonia Boundless"
• Alicia Svigals, "Kale Baveynen II"
• Hyo-Shin Na, "Kahk-seo-ree-ta-ryeung" (Song of the Beggars)
• Kayhan Kalhor, "Gallop of a Thousand Horses"

Sept. 15, 1999 (World premiere)

Twyla Tharp for Twyla Tharp Dance
Diabelli
Sept. 17–18, 1999 (American premiere)

Ushio Amagatsu, for Sankai Juku
Hibiki (Resonance from Far Away)
Oct. 1–2, 1999 (American premiere)

Susan Marshall, for Susan Marshall & Company
The Descent Beckons
Oct. 8, 1999 (World premiere)

Paul Taylor, for the Paul Taylor Dance Company
Arabesque
Oct. 15–16, 1999 (World premiere)

Bill T. Jones (solo)
The Breathing Show
Oct. 23, 1999 (World premiere)

Lar Lubovitch, for American Ballet Theatre
Meadow
Nov. 2–3, 1999

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
C-sharp Street – B-flat Avenue
Nov. 19–20, 1999 (World premiere)

Paul Schoenfield, for the Ahn Trio
Four Music Videos
Jan. 27, 2000 (World premiere)

Bill T. Jones, for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
You Walk?
March 24–25, 2000 (World premiere)

Brett Dean, for Bang on a Can All-Stars, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra
Game Over
April 8, 2000 (World premiere)

Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, for Bang on a Can All-Stars, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra
Haircut
April 8, 2000 (World premiere)

Steve Martland and Bang on a Can All-Stars, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra
Hard Times
April 8, 2000 (World premiere)

Richard Danielpour, for the Kalichstein–Laredo–Robinson Trio
A Child’s Reliquary
April 13, 2000 (World premiere)

Michael Daugherty, for Ethos Percussion Group
Used Car Salesman
April 18, 2000 (World premiere)

Gabriela Ortiz, for Dawn Upshaw and the Kronos Quartet
Baalkah
May 3, 2000 (World premiere)

Pilobolus Dance Theatre, with Leonard Eto
Tsu-Ku-Tsu
Sept. 29–Oct. 1, 2000

Bill T. Jones, for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Evenings of dances and chamber music
Jan. 25–26, 2002 (World premiere)

Kronos Quartet
Nuevo
March 2, 2002 (World premiere)

Terry Riley, for the Kronos Quartet
Sun Rings
Oct. 26, 2002 (World premiere)

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, for Urban Bush Women
Shadow’s Child
Jan. 24, 2003

Lera Auerbach, for David Finckel and Wu Han
"Sonata No. 1"
Feb. 19, 2003 (World premiere)

Bill T. Jones, for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
Reading, Mercy and the Artificial Nigger
Oct. 11, 2003 (World premiere)

Lin Hwai-min, for the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
Cursive
Nov. 12, 2003

Paul Taylor, for the Paul Taylor Dance Company
Dante Variations
April 16–17, 2004

Lucas Crandall, for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Gimme
Oct. 9, 2004

Augusta Read Thomas, for Chanticleer
Purple Syllables
Sept. 28, 2006

Lukas Foss, for the Guarneri Quartet
"String Quartet No. 5"
April 10, 2007

David del Tredici, for the Orion String Quartet and David Krakauer
Magyar Madness
Oct. 9, 2007

Brian Enos, for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
B-Sides (12” Mix)
Oct. 12, 2007

Stefon Harris, for Imani Winds
The Anatomy of a Box: a sonic painting in wood, metal and wind
Sept. 25, 2009

Rinde Eckert
Eye Piece
Feb. 5–14, 2010 (World premiere)

Tomás Kubínek
Professor Kubínek Meets the Symphony
Nov. 5–20, 2010 (World premiere)

Clébio Oliveira, for Hubbard Street 2
The Fantastic Escape of the Little Buffalo
Sept. 22–23, 2011 (World premiere)

Dave Pietro
Iowa Memoirs
April 5, 2012 (World premiere)

Sean Christopher Lewis, for Working Group Theatre
Mayberry
April 26–29, 2012 (World premiere)

Stew & The Negro Problem
A collection of songs about Iowa City
Sept. 27, 2012 (World premiere)

David Lang, for Anonymous 4
love fail
Oct. 11, 2012

Mervyn Warren and Jeff Marx, for it gets better, presented by the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles
“You Have More Friends Than You Know”
Oct. 19, 2012

Aaron Jay Kernis, for eighth blackbird
Pieces of Winter Sky
Feb. 6, 2013

Jennifer Fawcett, for Working Group Theatre
The Broken Chord
April 12–14, 2013 (World premiere)

Rinde Eckert and San Jose Taiko
Hancher Site Ceremony
June 29, 2013

Jennifer Fawcett, for Working Group Theatre

• Out of Bounds  |  children’s theatre

Nov. 18–20, 2013 (World premiere)

• Out of Bounds  |  general audiences

May 1–4, 2014 (World premiere)

Mary Kouyoumdjian, for the Kronos Quartet
Bombs of Beirut
Feb. 7, 2015

Shulamit Ran, for the Pacifica Quartet
Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory
March 6, 2015

Sean Christopher Lewis, for Working Group Theatre
All Recipes Are Home
April 17–18, 2015 (World premiere)

Taylor Mac
"1846–1856, Whitman vs. Foster: Songs Popular Near the Breaking Point" from A 24-Decade History of Popular Music
Dec. 5, 2015