Mary Chapin Carpenter Opens Jorgensen Season

The Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts’ Fall 2012 calendar will kick things off this weekend in grand style with a concert Saturday night by five-time Grammy Award-winning country and folk music singer, Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Carpenter is touring behind her new album, “Ashes and Roses,” though there’s no doubt that she’ll play some of her 12 top-ten country hits, especially her four singles that reached #1 on the Billboard Country charts.

“Ashes and Roses” grew out of a difficult phase for Carpenter, a press release issued by Jorgensen said. It was a time that included divorce, the death of her father and serious illness, which affected her music.

“As we get older and we lose our father and we almost die and things go terribly wrong, we realize how much we need each other,” Carpenter said in the press release. “We are all so profoundly connected. It’s the only thing that matters. Without each other, what’s the point?”

Carpenter’s 1992 album “Come On, Come On” has sold more than four million albums, while 1994’s “Stones in the Road” sold more than two million, according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s statistics.

Carpenter will take the stage on Saturday night after an opening set by folk and bluegrass singer Aoife O’Donovan, a Boston-born musician who has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, the Boston Pops Orchestra and Lyle Lovett.

The doors open Saturday night at 7 p.m., and O’Donovan is scheduled to start an hour later. The show is part of the Jorgensen Cabaret Series, with a nightclub setting and food and beverages available to purchase.

Ticket prices range from $30 to $50, although students with a valid ID can buy up to two tickets for a discounted price of $20. Non-UConn students and those under 18 can purchase tickets for $25.