Friends and sponsors of the Lied Center gathered Friday night to celebrate the announcement of the 2005-2006 performance season schedule.

Lied Center executive director Tim Van Leer told the crowd of more than 200 who had gathered on the second story of the building for cocktails that he was excited about the diverse lineup of performances, including a mini-Mozart series and a performance by sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar.

Lied Center associate director Karen Christilles said she was particularly excited about this season’s “World Series,” which will feature performances by world artists preceded by lectures discussing the social and artistic environments of the regions represented. Those lectures will be organized by the Hall Center.

“They’ll be talking about the geopolitical nature of the countries where these artists are coming from, as well as the cultural background — so how should I, from the West, watch contemporary Chinese dance, for example,” Christilles said.