The Crowell Concert Series, now in its 35th season, brings a wide array of world-class musicians to the 411-seat Crowell Concert Hall.
Balfa Toujours
Friday, September 18, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Pre-concert talk at 7:15pm by by Tim Eriksen
Performance to be followed by a dance in Fayerweather Beckham Hall at 10:30pm
Tickets: $22 A, $18 B, $6 C
Balfa Toujours is a four-piece band that has been making a name for itself not only in the Cajun music scene of southwestern Louisiana, but also in the larger realm of all traditional music. The Balfa name conjures up memories of the famous Balfa Brothers, who took their soulful, impassioned music from the prairies of Mamou to the far corners of the earth. Now, Balfa Toujours plays it straight from the heart, as it has been played in their family for hundreds of years. Led by Christine Balfa, the daughter of fiddler Dewey Balfa, the group has taken the inspiration given them and made it their own, creating a sound that is distinctive yet filled with the essence of the tradition. The hot, syncopated melodies of the accordion intertwine with the passionate cries of the fiddle. The sweet sounds of the ancient Cajun language lets the listener drift away, while the driving beat of the triangle brings them back. A life-loving quality, emotional yet transcendent, is the essence of Cajun music and the pulse of the Balfa rhythm is at the heart of it.
Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quartet
Saturday, October 17, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Pre-concert talk at 7:15pm by Eric Galm
Tickets: $23 A, $18 B, $6 C
“Sosa is a versatile pianist with a big sound…his fast fingers dig into montunos and Herbie Hancock jazz chords.” --New York Times
Omar Sosa is one of the most versatile jazz artists on the scene today playing the roles of composer, arranger, producer, pianist, percussionist and bandleader. He fuses a wide range of world music and electronic elements with his native Afro-Cuban roots to create a fresh and original urban sound--all with a Latin jazz heart. On stage, Sosa is a charismatic figure, inspiring his fellow musicians with his dynamic playing and improvisational approach to the music--an approach full of raw emotional power and humor. His music is a unique style of Afro-Cuban jazz and, while Sosa roots it in the folkloric traditions of the African Diaspora, he always takes an exploratory approach. He is never one to let orthodoxy stand in the way of his pursuit of freedom. His tempos are fluid and his moods change freely. Sosa has released 15 recordings since 1997, including 2002's GRAMMY-nominated Sentir. Co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships.
"The whole performance was superb...providing glowing solos and the slow movement
rising to poetic heights." --New York Times
Formed at the Shanghai Conservatory in 1983, this versatile ensemble is known for their passionate musicality, virtuosic technique and multicultural innovations. They meld the delicacy of Eastern music with the power of Western repertoire, from traditional Chinese folk music to the most challenging classical works. The Quartet regularly tours the great music centers of North and South America, Asia and Europe. They have appeared frequently at New York's Carnegie Hall and their travels have taken them from London, Vienna and Prague, to Australia's Sydney Opera House. They have also appeared on PBS's Great Performances and can be heard regularly on NPR. The Quartet is the "Ensemble-in-Residence" at Montclair State University. They also serve as visiting professors at the Shanghai Conservatory and the Central Conservatory in China. For their Wesleyan engagement, they perform the Mozart Quartet in D minor, the Penderecki Quartet No. 3 and the Debussy Quartet. Co-sponsored by the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies.
Dünya's goal is to present a contemporary view of Turkish traditions, alone and in interaction with other world traditions, through performance, publication and other educational activities. Since 2004, Dünya has played a significant role in introducing Turkish music to the American public through a colorful and unique series of concerts, master classes and workshops. They have presented their various programs in such venues as Brooklyn's Borough Hall, MIT's Kresge Auditorium and many others. Dünya features Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, voice, ney (end-blown flute), ud & saz (middle eastern short and long necked lutes); Robert Labaree, ceng (middle eastern harp), voice; Cem Mutlu, percussion, voice; and Panayotis League, kemence (spike fiddle), voice. Subscribe now and see all concerts for as little as $76 (a 15% discount). Call the Box Office at 860-685-3355 for details.
PRICE KEY
A General
B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff/Non-Wesleyan Students
C Wesleyan Students Back to top | Box
Office
Balfa Toujours
Omar Sosa
BREAKING GROUND dance
series
Cutting-edge choreography. Virtuosic dancing. World-renowned companies. Presented in the heart of Connecticut. 10th Anniversary Season of the Breaking Ground Dance Series
Stephen Petronio Company
Friday & Saturday, September 25 & 26, 8pm
CFA Theater
Tickets: $23 A, $19 B, $8 C Online ticketing now available!
"...an instantly recognizable style...fresh and unpredictable...infused with emotional texture and wit..." --New York Times
Wesleyan opens its 10th Anniversary Season with the Stephen Petronio Company, which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary Season. I Drink the Air Before Me is a sweeping evening-length work inspired by storms, both atmospheric and internal, and the power of extreme weather in all its awesome transience. The production features costumes by Cindy Sherman and Adam Kimmel and a commissioned score by Nico Muhly with cameo appearances by the Middletown High School Chamber Choir. The dancers movements are signature Petronio: daring and virtuosic, inspired, in his words, by "the whirling, unpredictable, threatening, and thrilling forces of nature that overwhelm us." Funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project.
Friday & Saturday, January 29 & 30, 8pm
CFA Theater
Pre-performance talk by Debra Cash on Friday, January 29, at 7:15pm, CFA Hall (formerly CFA Cinema)
Tickets: $21 A, $18 B, $8 C Online ticketing now available!
"...formidable and fresh, intelligent and riveting...an explosive physicality tempered by sinuous lines and subtle drama..." --Minneapolis Star Tribune
Minneapolis-based Morgan Thorson makes her Connecticut debut with her newest work, Heaven. This sensory work explores the nature of ecstatic perfection by synthesizing vocal and physical rapture (body) with omnipresent lighting effects (spirit). Thorson's choreography is gleaned from research into religious forms and devotional practices. Light, movement and sound combine as equally expressive partners to create a vibrant onstage world of euphoria and paradise meant to rouse performers and audience into an ecstatic experience. Funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project.
Friday & Saturday, April 23 & 24, 8pm
CFA Theater
Pre-performance talk on Friday, April 23 at 7:15pm, CFA Hall (formerly CFA Cinema)
Tickets: $23 A, $19 B, $8 C Online ticketing now available!
"Infectiously joyous...the sacred and the secular inform each other, and dance and music become a single art based on pulse and breath." --The Village Voice
Brooklyn-based Reggie Wilson / Fist & Heel Performance Group brings The Good Dance--dakar/brooklyn to Wesleyan following its engagement at BAM. The collaboration is the result of his multi-year exchange with choreographer Andreya Ouamba and his Company, 1er Temps, based in Dakar, Senegal. Accompanied by their own driving rhythms--body percussion, aspirated breath, singing and shouts, Fist & Heel blends deep ritual based in the spiritual traditions of the African diaspora into potent, beautiful and energizing contemporary dance. In The Good Dance, Wilson and Ouamba bring their dance forms together to explore the secular and religious traditions of Central Africa and their parallels with Mississippi Delta culture. Funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project.
The Breaking Ground Dance Series is presented by the Dance Department and the Center for the Arts and is made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional funding provided by The Ford Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, JP Morgan Chase Foundation and MetLife Foundation.
PRICE KEY
A General
B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff/Non-Wesleyan Students
C Wesleyan Students Back to top | Box
Office
Stephen Petronio Company
OUTSIDE THE BOX theater
series
A series of groundbreaking theater performances and discussions, presented by the Theater Department and the Center for the Arts.
Disfarmer
(Everyday Uses for Sight No. 6: Disfarmer)
Friday & Saturday,October 16 & 17, 8pm
CFA Theater
Tickets: $22 A, $18 B, $8 C
Conceived and directed by Dan Hurlin
Original music by Dan Moses Schreier
Text by Sally Oswald
Moving, poignant and occasionally hilarious, “Disfarmer” is a wonder. -Variety
Disfarmer, which premiered in January 2009 at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, is a puppet theater work inspired by the life of American portrait photographer Mike Disfarmer (1884-1959). Disfarmer operated a photography studio in Heber Springs, Arkansas, where for years locals and tourists lined up to have their pictures made. Using glass plate photography long after it was obsolete, Disfarmer left his subjects to decide for themselves how to act in front of his lens. When thousands of these glass plates were discovered in the 1970s, Disfarmer’s photographs were acknowledged as a stunning achievement for their exquisite artistry, their profound empathy for their subjects and their invaluable documentation of a way of life that has all but vanished from the United States. How could a man who openly disdained his fellow citizens portray them with such compassion?
Director and designer Dan Hurlin, working with playwright Sally Oswald and composer Dan Moses Schreier, has recreated a visceral sense of Mike Disfarmer’s interior and exterior worlds, illuminating the contradictions in the life of this American hermit and portrait artist. The production features the American style of “tabletop” puppetry; projections of Disfarmer’s photographs and images produced by old optical techniques; and a sound score with haunting music from antique recording technologies, re-contextualized and mixed with modern sampling techniques. Made possible by the Expeditions Program of the New England Foundation for the Arts.
Friday, October 9 through
Sunday, October 25
Closed Friday October 23 through Wednesday, October 28
Opening Recepton: Friday, October 9, 5-7pm; Talk at 5:30pm
Zilkha South Gallery
Hailing from the small mountain town of Heber Springs, Arkansas, the photographer known as Mike Disfarmer captured the lives and emotions of rural Arkansans in starkly intimate portraits. Biting and delicate, his portraits span the years 1939 to 1945 and reflect the mood at the height of the Great Depression, the dramatic shifts during the war years, as well as the transformations of postwar prosperity. The photographs in this exhibition were printed from the original glass plates, recovered in the 1970s from Disfarmer's studio. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with Dan Hurlin's Disfarmer (Everyday Uses for Sight No. 6: Disfarmer).
Disfarmer: Photo Booth
Friday, October 9, 5-7pm
Zilkha Gallery
At the opening reception for Mike Disfarmer: Photographs, there will be a Photo Booth where you can get your portrait taken for FREE! We'll email you the photo afterwards. Period-appropriate attire (30s and 40s) is encouraged; there will also be a selection of costumes available at the photo booth.
Puppetry Workshop with Dan Hurlin
Wednesday, October 14, 4:15-6pm
Usdan Fayerweather Theater Rehearsal Space
For Wesleyan students only. Priority given to Theater Department students. Advance registration in Theater Department required.
Film Showing DisFarmer: A Portrait of America (2009) Introduction by Dan Hurlin
Thursday, October 15, 8pm
CFA Hall (formerly CFA Cinema)
Free admission
Written and directed by Martin Lavut, this film reveals an American master in the enigmatic story of Mike Disfarmer. Featuring in-depth interviews with local residents of his home town, Heber Springs, Arkansas; gallery owners and photography experts who introduced his work to the art world; and Dan Hurlin, a puppet theater artist making work inspired by Disfarmer's legacy, the film explores the disparate worlds brought together by their shared interest in this misanthropic portrait photographer.
Performance/Talk by Rhodessa Jones:
Theater for the 21st Century
Thursday, November 12, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $17 A, $15 B, $6 C Online ticketing now available!
Rhodessa Jones is Co-Artistic Director of the San Francisco acclaimed performance company Cultural Odyssey. She is an actress, teacher, singer and writer. Jones is also the Founder and Director of the award winning Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women, which is a performance workshop that is designed to achieve personal and social transformation with incarcerated women. She has lectured at the Getty Research Institute, Yale University, the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University and the San Francisco Academy of Art. For her Wesleyan appearance, Jones will talk about using art as a healing tool through her work with The Medea Project and perform some excerpts from her one-person shows around the theme of "art as social activism." Co-Sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships. Additional support provided by the CFA Performing Arts Innovations Fund supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
PRICE KEY
A General
B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff/Non-Wesleyan Students
C Wesleyan Students Back to top | Box
Office
Disfarmer
Rhodessa Jones
NAVARATRI FESTIVAL:
An annual festival of Indian music, dance and food
Wednesday-Sunday, September 30-October 4
Navaratri, one of India's major festival celebrations, is a time to see family and friends, enjoy music and dance and seek blessings for new endeavors. Wesleyan's 33rd annual festival celebrates traditional music and dance while at the same time giving audiences a glimpse at the contemporary arts scene. Exciting pre-festival activities extend the festival into nine (nava) nights (-ratri), featuring performances by some of India's leading artists, a film screening, Dandiya Raas dance parties and an honoring of Navaratri's religious traditions at a culminating worship service.
Colloquium: Matthew Allen
Wednesday, September 30, 4:15pm
CFA Hall (formerly CFA Cinema)
Free admission
A talk by Matthew Allen Phd '92, Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Asian Studies at Wheaton College. He is co-author, with T. Viswanathan, of Music in South India: The Karnatak Concert Tradition and Beyond and author of several articles on the music of South India.
B. Balasubrahmaniyan: Vocal Music of South India
Thursday, October 1, 8pm
World Music Hall
Tickets: $12 A, $10 B, $6 C
Wesleyan's South Indian music faculty showcases their talents. Adjunct Instructor B. Balasubrahmaniyan, vocalist, is joined by Artist in Residence David Nelson on mridangam and guest artist K.V.S. Vinay, violin. The concert opens with short performances by students.
Indian Dance Party
Friday, October 2, 6pm
World Music Hall
$7 Dance Party only
Ticket holders to Alam Khan: $4 general , $2 students
Snacks and drinks provided
Come and enjoy a sampler of group folk dances that are performed in festivals throughout various parts of India. You will be treated to a Bollywood style group dance by several youngsters, Kolattam (dance with sticks from South India), Dandiya (dance from the North Indian state of Gujarat using sticks performed during Navaratri) and Bhangra (Spring dance from the North Indian state of Punjab). You will also be invited to join the performers and enjoy the dance. Details regarding these dances will be posted on the CFA website in September. Sponsored by Tamil Sangam (http://www.cttamilsangam.org) and Milan of Connecticut (http://www.milanusa.org).
Alam Khan, Sarod and Samir Chatterjee, Tabla
North Indian Concert
Friday, October 2, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $15 $12 $8 Online ticketing now available!
Alam Khan, son of the late Swara Samrat Ali Akbar Khan, has been studying sarod since he was seven. Since 2004, Alam has played numerous solo concerts throughout the United States and has also established himself as a solo artist in India. He has performed alongside some of the great tabla maestros such as Swapan Chaudhuri, Zakir Hussain, and Anindo Chatterjee. Samir Chatterjee performs worldwide with musicians from both Indian and Western traditions.
Lecture/Demonstration with Ravi Balasubramaniam, Ghatam (clay pot) player
Saturday, October 3, 2pm
World Music Hall
Free admission
Advance registration for this interactive workshop is recommended; please call 860-685-3355.
Raga Unveiled, a film by Gita Desai
Saturday, October 3, 4pm
CFA Hall (former CFA Cinema)
Free admission
The new film Raga Unveiled is a fascinating and expansive look into the musical system of North Indian Hindustani classical music. Director Gita Desai, a resident of Connecticut, will introduce the film. For the first time on film, eloquent commentaries by musicians, Vedic scholars and musicologists join hands with spectacular cinematography, intoxicating spectrums of sound and rare archival footage resulting in a grand synthesis to honor this music in its entirety.
Kadri Gopalnath: South Indian Music
Saturday, October 3, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
$17 A, $15 B, $8 C Online ticketing now available!
Saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath is one of the pioneers of Karnatak music on this instrument. It took Kadri Gopalnath nearly twenty years to adapt the saxophone to the intricacies of Indian classical music. His acclaim has continued to grow attracting, international attention for his performances in concert halls and jazz festivals worldwide. Kadri Gopalnath is accompanied by A. Kanyakumari, violin; B. Harikumar, mridangam; and Ravi Balasubramaniam, ghatam.
Sunday, October 4, 11am
World Music Hall
Free admission
This religious service, led by A. V. Srinivasan, celebrates the victory of good over evil and marks the most auspicious day of the year for beginning new endeavors, especially in learning and the arts. The audience may participate and bring instruments, manuscripts and other items for blessing.
Sunday, October 4, 2pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $15 A, $12 B, $8 C Online ticketing now available!
Chicago-based Natya Dance Theatre (NDT) serves as an agent of cultural preservation, presentation and exchange. It was founded nearly 25 years ago as a school of classical Indian dance. Artistic director Hema Rajagopalan has received numerous dance choreography fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and has produced over 100 dance dramas. NDT has toured internationally, performing at such venues as the Kennedy Center, the Avignon Festival in Paris, the Madras Dance and Music Festival and the Smithsonian Institution.
Related Event: Saturday
Passport Series—South Indian Music & Dance at the Green Street Arts Center
Saturday, September, 26, 3pm
Green Street Arts Center, 51 Green Street, Middletown
Free Admission
Middletown's vibrant Carnatic music and Bharata Natyam dance performers join together for an afternoon of performance, demonstration and audience participation. Musicians will demonstrate their instruments and discuss basic South Indian musical principles. Dancer Anand Venkatachalam will demonstrate and explain hand gestures, footwork and talk about the differences between Abhinaya (storytelling) and Nritta (pure dance). Call 860-685-7871 or visit www.greenstreetartscenter.org for more information.
The Navaratri Festival is sponsored by the Center for the Arts and is made possible by support from the Jon B. Higgins Memorial Fund, John Spencer Camp Fund, Raga Club of Connecticut, Music Department, Southern Asia and Indian Ocean Cluster, Middlesex Community College, Haveli Indian Restaurant and individual patrons.
PRICE KEY
A General
B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff/Non-Wesleyan Students
C Wesleyan Students Back to top | Box
Office
Natya Dance Theatre
B. Harikumar
A. Kanyakumari
Ravi Balasubramanian
Saraswati
SPECIAL EVENTS
Ranky Tanky!: A Family Concert with Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem
Recommended for ages 3 to 103!
Saturday, October 24, 2pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $10 General Admission, $7 Children 12 & under
Middletown's own Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem releases their much-awaited family CD, Ranky Tanky! Hailed by the Boston Herald as "One of America's most inventive string bands," this fun-loving string band takes families on a rollicking ride through American musical history. Buckle up to visit the Georgia Sea Islands, the Bahamas, a Texas dance hall, a Mississippi blues joint, a New Orleans parade, and many more places! Armed with voices, hands, boxes and tin cans, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem prove that people have never needed fancy instruments to make music--and that when we do it all together, it's magic. With bass, fiddle, guitar, ukulele, banjo and the 100% recycled "Drumship Enterprise," they will have you and your kids dancing, shaking, clapping--and making more music than you knew was in your bones! Featuring Wesleyan alumni Scott Kessel '88 and Anand Nayak '97.
Yale Russian Chorus
Friday, October 30, 7pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Free Admission
The great Slavic tradition of Russian and Ukrainian unaccompanied choral music, secular and sacred, comes to Wesleyan University. This Yale chorus will present music from the 14th century through the present. Founded in 1953 by Yale student Denis Mickiewicz, the Yale Russian Chorus is recognized as one of the world's premier performance ensembles of Slavic music today. Sponsored by the Catholic Chaplain of the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life.
"Jewell's songs are achingly good, twanged-out elegies to a world of barbed wire, rusty trucks, and a frontier that no longer exists."
--The Boston Globe
Boise-born and Boston-based, Eilen Jewell has quickly distinguished herself as one of the rising stars of a new generation of roots musicians. She will be joined by her band, which includes Jason Beek (drums, harmony vocals), Jerry Miller (electric, acoustic and steel guitars) and Johnny Sciascia (upright bass). Jewell and her band form the heart of the American gospel supergroup The Sacred Shakers, which brings in Daniel Kellar (violin), Eric Royer (vocals and banjo), Greg Glassman (vocals and acoustic guitar) and Daniel Fram (vocals and acoustic guitar). The Sacred Shakers, who will open the concert, offer new life to the gospel genre by revisiting the stripped down country and bluesy gospel material that has inspired them.
A former classical pianist turned singer, Crawford always had a love of classic American song. After graduating from Wesleyan University in 2005 (she was the CFA's grant-writing intern), she sang singing and played piano in New York City clubs for a few years. Then, she decided to revisit the music of her childhood--classic bands and singer/songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s--and spent a summer writing madly in her unfurnished Brooklyn apartment. Recently, she placed third in the renowned Shure/Montreux international Jazz Vocal Competition. She also spent time opening for Ozomatli and Mike Gordon this fall while recording her debut EP. Her sound is undeniably catchy and upbeat and polished with a vintage sheen--with influences that include The Beatles, Dido, Janis Joplin, Elton John, Amy Winehouse, Stevie Wonder and Jon Brion-- that makes Crawford one of the freshest new songwriters on the scene.
Jazz pianist and composer Noah Baerman augments his longtime trio into a septet with four in-demand New York jazz artists, all with Connecticut roots. The focal point of the concert will be the world premiere of Baerman's "Know Thyself," an extended work made possible by Chamber Music America's New Works: Creation and Presentation Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Baerman has recorded five acclaimed albums as a leader, featuring such jazz luminaries as Ron Carter, Ben Riley, Robin Eubanks and Steve Wilson and he has been a guest on Marian McPartland's NPR program "Piano Jazz." He has also made a name as a jazz educator and author, with nine instructional books published to date. He directs the Wesleyan University Jazz Ensemble and since 2002 has been a Visiting Lecturer in Liberal Studies at Wesleyan. Baerman's ensemble includes Wayne Escoffery, saxophones; Erica von Kleist , saxophones; Amanda Monaco, guitar; Chris Dingman, vibraphone; Henry Lugo, bass; and Vinnie Sperrazza, drums.
Friday, December 4, 8pm
Bessie Schönberg Dance Studio
Free Admission
Threshold Sites: Bodies and Earth is a collection of dance works that explores the interrelationships between how we experience our bodies, our communities and our environment. This event is coordinated by Associate Professor of Dance Nicole Stanton with multi-disciplinary performers and collaborators from the Wesleyan faculty, the Middletown community and Wesleyan students. It includes a new work commissioned by Feet to the Fire and made possible by leadership support from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program, a program funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
DanceMasters Weekend
Saturday & Sunday, March 6 & 7, 2009
Showcase Performance Saturday, March 6, 8pm
CFA Theater
Tickets for Saturday's Showcase Performance: $24 A, $19 B, $8 C
DanceMasters Weekend celebrates its 11th year as one of the most anticipated dance events in the Northeast. The combination of dance master classes and performances by premier companies provides an essential retreat for students and professionals interested in the latest techniques, as well as a showcase for dance enthusiasts who want to sample the work of leading choreographers. Past DanceMasters Weekends have included master classes and performances by the companies of Urban Bush Women, Limon, Nederlands Dans Theater, Ailey and Pilobolus.
PRICE KEY
A General
B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff/Non-Wesleyan Students
C Wesleyan Students Back to top | Box
Office
Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem
Yale Russian Chorus Artistic Director Mark Bailey
Eilen Jewell and the Sacred Shakers
Amy Crawford
Noah Baerman
Threshold Sites
IN THE GALLERIES
Ezra and Cecile
Zilkha Gallery
Nina Felshin, curator
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, noon-4pm
Now open until 8pm on Fridays.
Paul Villinski: Emergency Response Studio
Saturday, September 12 through
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery and CFA green
Closed Friday October 23 through Wednesday, October 28
Opening Reception: Friday, September 11, 5-7pm
Artist Talk at 5:30
Emergency Response Studio was inspired by artist Paul Villinski's visit to post-Katrina New Orleans in August 2006. He wished he could transport his studio from New York to the Lower Ninth Ward to create work in response to the conditions he found. Instead he created Emergency Response Studio by playfully rethinking and transforming a 30-foot Gulfstream Cavalier trailer--virtually identical to the 50,000 trailers built by Gulfstream for FEMA--into a rolling, off-the-grid live/work space that can house displaced artists or allow visiting artists to "embed" in post-disaster settings. It will be installed on the Center for the Arts' courtyard and accompanied by an exhibition in Zilkha Gallery detailing Villinski's construction process and featuring additional information on movable housing as well as green technology and building materials. Born in York, Maine in 1960, Villinski received a BFA with honors from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York in 1984. The exhibition is curated by Nina Felshin.
RELATED EVENT:
WESeminar: Paul Villinski: Emergency Response Studio Saturday, November 7, 3pm
Zilkha Gallery
Free admission
A conversation in the gallery with artist Paul Villinski and curator Nina Felshin and a tour of the Emergency Response Studio by the artist.
Mike Disfarmer: Photographs
Friday, October 9 through
Sunday, October 25
Closed Friday October 23 through Wednesday, October 28
Opening Recepton: Friday, October 9, 5-7pm; Talk at 5:30pm
Zilkha South Gallery
Hailing from the small mountain town of Heber Springs, Arkansas, the photographer known as Mike Disfarmer captured the lives and emotions of rural Arkansans in starkly intimate portraits. Biting and delicate, his portraits span the years 1939 to 1945 and reflect the mood at the height of the Great Depression, the dramatic shifts during the war years, as well as the transformations of postwar prosperity. The photographs in this exhibition were printed from the original glass plates, recovered in the 1970s from Disfarmer's studio. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with Dan Hurlin's Disfarmer (Everyday Uses for Sight No. 6: Disfarmer).
DISFARMER: RELATED EVENTS
Exhibition
Mike Disfarmer: Photographs
Friday, October 9 through
Sunday, October 25
Closed Friday October 23 through Wednesday, October 28
Opening Recepton: Friday, October 9, 5-7pm; Talk at 5:30pm
Zilkha South Gallery
Hailing from the small mountain town of Heber Springs, Arkansas, the photographer known as Mike Disfarmer captured the lives and emotions of rural Arkansans in starkly intimate portraits. Biting and delicate, his portraits span the years 1939 to 1945 and reflect the mood at the height of the Great Depression, the dramatic shifts during the war years, as well as the transformations of postwar prosperity. The photographs in this exhibition were printed from the original glass plates, recovered in the 1970s from Disfarmer's studio. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with Dan Hurlin's Disfarmer (Everyday Uses for Sight No. 6: Disfarmer).
Disfarmer: Photo Booth
Friday, October 9, 5-7pm
Zilkha Gallery
At the opening reception for Mike Disfarmer: Photographs, there will be a Photo Booth where you can get your portrait taken for FREE! We'll email you the photo afterwards. Period-appropriate attire (30s and 40s) is encouraged; there will also be a selection of costumes available at the photo booth.
Puppetry Workshop with Dan Hurlin
Wednesday, October 14, 4:15-6pm
Usdan Fayerweather Theater Rehearsal Space
For Wesleyan students only. Priority given to Theater Department students. Advance registration in Theater Department required.
Film Showing DisFarmer: A Portrait of America (2009) Introduction by Dan Hurlin
Thursday, October 15, 8pm
CFA Hall (formerly CFA Cinema)
Free admission
Written and directed by Martin Lavut, this film reveals an American master in the enigmatic story of Mike Disfarmer. Featuring in-depth interviews with local residents of his home town, Heber Springs, Arkansas; gallery owners and photography experts who introduced his work to the art world; and Dan Hurlin, a puppet theater artist making work inspired by Disfarmer's legacy, the film explores the disparate worlds brought together by their shared interest in this misanthropic portrait photographer.
West Indian Student Association Art Exhibition
Pieces of Pieces: Rootz of Rootz
Friday, November 6 through
Sunday, November 22
Ezra and Cecile Zilkha South Gallery
Opening reception and performances:
Friday, November 6, 5-7pm, refreshments served
Featuring performances by Wesleyan Steel Band and Writer's Bloc
Pieces of Pieces: Rootz of Rootz, an exhibition of student art, is on view November 622, 2009. Organized by members of the West Indian Student Association (WISA), its goal is to represent, investigate and discuss the diverse realities of our experiences away from home. In short, it focuses on the experiences of members of the Caribbean Diasporathat vast network of our people and their offspring as well as any individuals of Caribbean heritage who believe their lives have been significantly shaped by Caribbean cultures. We anticipate making this an annual event in order to keep the Wesleyan community abreast of the varied issues that are pertinent to the Caribbean Diaspora. Art, in all its manifestations, including the visual arts, music, and poetry, is the springboard for this endeavor. Sponsored by Latin American Studies Program, Office of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships, Wesleyan World Wednesdays, and Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery.
Eiko & Koma: Time is not Even, Space is not Empty
The Retropective Project
Friday, November 20 through
Sunday, December 20
Closed Tuesday November 24 through Monday, November 30
Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery
Opening reception/performance:
Thursday, November 19, 5-7pm
Performance starts at 5:30pm
Award-winning, Japanese-born dancer/choreographers and artists Eiko & Koma are long familiar to the Wesleyan community as teachers and performers. This exhibition is one of the inaugural events of the multi-year, multi-faceted Retrospective Project, which examines Eiko & Koma's artistic legacy. Utilizing video, textiles, smells, and other objects from their old and new performance works, Eiko & Koma will create a textured landscape, illuminating how the intersection of space and time is dense with memories and possibilities. During the Zilkha show, Eiko & Koma will often be seen working in the space and will be available to converse with viewers. In the next three years, the Retrospective Project will travel to several contemporary art centers throughout the United States.
Delicious Movement Workshop Sunday, November 22, 2pm
CFA Dance Studio
Free admission
Warm up with Delicious Movement led by Eiko & Koma. All are welcome (no experience necessary).
Artist guided tour and video talk Tuesday, December 15, 7pm
Zilkha Gallery
Free admission
Come learn about Eiko & Koma's process, view media works, and talk with the artists.
ART LECTURES
Slow Art: A Talk by Arden Reed ('70) Professor of English, Pomona College
Thursday, November 5, 4:15pm
Zilkha Gallery 106
Free admission Arden Reed, who majored at Wesleyan in COL and French, and consequently wrote about 19th century English and French literature, has become a writer about art, historical and contemporary. About his new book SLOWART, he writes: "In our acutely visual environment, where images whiz past us faster all the time, how can we clear a space for meaningful looking? When the Internet provides instant gratification, why linger?" Among others his talk will range from Walter de Maria's Lightning Field, to Sam Taylor Wood's video work, to Richard Serra's massive work in steel. It may likely reach back to Manet.
Silipo Art History Lecture Series
Modern Synagogue Architecture: Between Memory and Innovation Monday, November 16, 4:30pm
Davison Art Center, Room 100
Free admission
A talk by Samuel D. Gruber of Syracuse Univeristy; President, International Survey of Jewish Monuments. Sponsored by the Samuel Silipo ’85 Distinguished Visitor’s Fund, The Department of Art and Art History, and Jewish Studies.
Creative Acts: Recent Acquisitions at the Davison Art Center
Thursday, September 10 through
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Closed Friday, October 23 through Wednesday, October 28 and Tuesday November 24 through Monday, November 30
Davison Art Center
Reception: Thursday, October 29, 5-7pm
Gallery Talk by Curator Clare Rogan at 5:30pm
Fresh from the printmaker's studio or treasured throughout the centuries,
new acquisitions to the Davison Art Center collection expand our understanding
of the art of today as well as the past. This exhibition features
more than 60 exciting prints, drawings and photographs selected from
the many acquisitions to the DAC Collection over the last five years.
Contemporary prints include works by Jim Dine, Ellen Gallagher, Nicola
Lopez and Daniel Heyman. Photographs by Harry Callahan, Henri Cartier-Bresson,
Barbara Morgan and Gordon Parks represent the art and turmoil of the
20th century. Works by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo and Jan Saenredam
add to the DAC collection's historic strengths in Old Master prints.
The vitality of the collection is ensured by these new acquisitions,
generously given by donors or purchased with endowed funds and funds
raised by the Friends of the Davison Art Center.
Friday, September 11 through
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Closed Saturday, October 24 through Tuesday, October 27 and Tuesday, November 24 through Monday, November 30
Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies Gallery
Opening gallery talk with Curator Patrick Dowdey, Wednesday, September 16, noon.
A luncheon buffet will be served.
Children's Event: Sunday, October 4, 2pm
Buddhism has been a rich inspiration for artists, and Buddhist art in turn has helped believers to understand and practice their religion better. This exhibition brings together a set of Japanese temple woodcuts, Tibetan prints and contemporary photographs, all of which explore the involving, ancient iconographic traditions of East Asian Buddhism.
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Paul Villinski, Emergency Response Studio, 2006/2008
Sakyamuni Buddha in a Lotus Mandala, Hasedera Temple, detail of woodblock printed in the 1970s from 19th-century blocks.
MUSIC
Music of Japan
Friday, October 9, 8pm
Lecture/Demonstration at 7pm
World Music Hall
Free admission
An evening concert of Japanese traditional and contemporary music with two outstanding musicians: Yoko Hiraoka (Shamisen, Koto, Voice) and Ralph Samuelson (Shakuhachi). The program features compositions for the shamisen (three-string lute), koto (13-string zither), and shakuhachi (vertical bamboo flute). These are the representative musical instruments of Edo Period Japan (1615–1867), a time of great and myriad accomplishments in music and other arts. While the classical music repertoire continues to flourish, today many new pieces are being created by composers in Japan and throughout the world. This concert includes the world premiere of a new work by American composer Ned Rothenberg. Co-sponsored by the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies and Music Department.
Twelve Fugues by Gerald Shapiro
Saturday, October 10, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $5 A, $4 B, $4 C
Pianist Neely Bruce will perform the world premiere of Twelve Fugues by Gerald Shapiro, with selected pieces by Stravinsky and Ravel.
To See a World: An evening of Swedish Choral Music
Wednesday, October 21, 7pm
Memorial Chapel
Free admission
The Wesleyan University Concert Choir proudly presents To See a World: An evening of Swedish Choral Music with internationally renowned guest conductor Erik Westberg of Sweden, also featuring guest performances by Professor of Music Neely Bruce. From the Romantic interpolations of Otto Olsson to the folk-like reiterations of Jan Sandström, the Concert Choir tackles a broad repertory of classical and contemporary Swedish music so instrumental in redefining the international choral landscape over the past decade. The Concert Choir will also present works by composer-giants such as Sven-David Sandström and Gunnar Eriksson, including lesser-known composers from around the region such as Ola Gjeilo (Norway) and Vaclovas Augustinas (Lithuania) in a scintillating program, not to mention a special tribute to John Cage and his work at Wesleyan in the early ‘60s.
Hearts Pounding and Skins Taut
Friday & Saturday, October 30 & 31, 8pm
Memorial Chapel
Tickets: $4 A, $4 B, $2 C
An exciting exploration of repertoire for percussion and keyboard instruments, featuring compositions by faculty and student composers and friends: William Albright’s Nocturne, Neely Bruce’s Vistas, Henry Brant’s Lombard Street, John Cage’s Souvenir, Xiaoyong Chen’s Diary IV, Gyorgy Ligeti’s Ricercare, Alvin Lucier’s Hands and Sizzles, Cindy McTee’s Fantasia, Olivier Messiaen’s Transports de joie, Giovanni Mikhailov's Tryptych, Christian Wolff’s Wesleyan Organ Song, as well as works by J.S. Bach, Ben Bernstein, Brian Parks and others.
Saturday, November 7, 1pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Free admission
Angel Gil-Ordonez, music director of the Wesleyan University Orchestra, cordially invites the greater community of musicians, including parents and other family members, to join the orchestra in an open rehearsal. Orchestral musicians are invited to play and all are welcome to attend. Featuring works by Spanish composers de Falla, Turina and Guridi.
Musica Viva
Sunday, November 8, 11:30am
Memorial Chapel
Free admission
Join Wesleyan students and teachers from the Music Department in
a celebration of Western Art Music, featuring the Wesleyan Concert
Choir and the Wesleyan Ensemble of the Americas. Angel Gil-Ordonez
is the conductor and host.
Pechitos Ecuestres
Sunday, November 15 at 7pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Free admission
Vladimir, Juan and Marcelo are--together and separately--Pechitos Ecuestres, a Montevideo based instrumental-vocal trio. In this concert, we will have the chance to see and hear them in their famous "Velvety Jorge Porcel" and "Mugre" instrumentations, as well as to listen to some remarkable newer pieces for guitars, such as Vladimir Guicheff´s Icaro and Juan López' Sin Ojos.
Nicholas Luby, Piano Recital
Friday, November 20 at 7pm
Memorial Chapel
Free admission
Nicholas Luby, winner of last year's Elizabeth Verbeer Tischler Piano Competition and Wesleyan University Concerto Competition, will perform selected works of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Shostakovich. Featuring cellist and former Concerto Competition winner, Lucy Strother.
Wesleyan University Orchestra: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Featuring Pedro Carboné, piano
Saturday, November 21, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Free admission
The Wesleyan University Orchestra under music director Angel Gil-Ordonez presents a program devoted to 20th-Century Spanish composers. Works include de Falla'sNights in the Gardens of Spain, Turina's Fantastic Dances, and Guridi's Ten Basque Melodies.
Wesleyan Guitarists' Showcase
Sunday, November 22, 4pm
World Music Hall
Free admission
Classical Guitar Ensemble members and other Wesleyan guitarists present music from around the world.
Javanese Wayang Kulit (Puppet Play)
Saturday, December 5, 8pm
World Music Hall
Tickets: $5 A, $5 B, $4 C
The Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble directed by I.M. Harjito, with guest musicians and dhalang (puppet master) Sumarsam, will present a Javanese shadow puppet performance (wayang kulit).
Senior Performance by Asako Yamauchi
Sunday, December 6, 2pm
The Russell House
Free admission
The senior performance for Asako Yamauchi's music major.
Music from East Asia
Sunday, December 6, 7pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $3 A, $3 B, $2 C
This event features diverse styles of Chinese classical and contemporary music, the traditional drumming and dance of Korean Pungmul-Nori and Taiko drumming of Japan in a variety of traditional contexts. All of these music genres are presented by the Wesleyan East Asian music ensembles. The audience is welcome to look at the instruments and talk to musicians after the concert. Co-sponsored by the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies.
Christopher Grundy, baritone with Neely Bruce, pianist
Monday, December 7, 6pm
Memorial Chapel
Free admission
Christopher Grundy, baritone, and pianst Neely Bruce, will present a recital of art songs by Busoni, Schubert, Bruce and Brahms. With special guest Katherine Polit, soprano.
Ebony Singers
Monday, December 7, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $7 A, $7 B, $5 C
Come and enjoy an evening of great gospel music with Wesleyan's Ebony Singers under the direction of Pastor Marichal Monts. This event will cause you to clap, sing, cry and be lifted and inspired.
WesWinds Wanders the World
Tuesday, December 8, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Free admission
The Wesleyan Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Peter Hadley, presents music for winds and percussion from around the globe, including works by Alfred Reed, Robert W. Smith, John Philip Sousa and Jaime Texidor.
The Wesleyan Concert Choir and The Pitea Chamber Choir (Pitea, Sweden): Jul, Jul! A Winter Concert of Choral Music
Wednesday, December 9, 7pm
Memorial Chapel
Free admission
The Wesleyan Concert Choir and the Pitea Chamber Choir of Sweden invite you to share the yuletide joys of Christmas in our first joint concert, conducted by acclaimed director Erik Westberg (Sweden). Come join us for an evening of good cheer and great music in holiday spirit as we present songs and carols from different cultures, including a special enactment of the Swedish "festival of lights" in honor of Saint Lucia. Journey through the snow-peaked landscapes of Sandstroem's Det aer en ros utsprungen, the warm harmonies of Norman's Jordens oro Viker, the ecstatic counterpoint of Rheinberger's Gloria for Double Chorus, and even sing along to some familiar festive favourites with our guest organist. This is Wesleyan's first artistic collaboration with the Pitea School of Music--a thrilling event not to be missed! Erik Westberg's visit at Wesleyan University during fall 2009 is sponsored by the STINT Foundation.
Javanese and Balinese Gamelan and Dance
Thursday, December 10, 7pm
World Music Hall
Free admission
An evening of Javanese and Balinese music and dance by the beginning
and advanced classes under the direction of I.M. Harjito, Sumarsam,
Urip Sri Maeny, and Peter Steele, preceded by Youth Gamelan Ensemble
under the direction of Joseph Getter and Satrio Wicaksono.
Sylvia Ryerson's Senior Project
Saturday, December 12, 8pm
CFA Hall
Free admission
A multi-media musical inquiry on the narrative of the U.S. prison expansion, specifically in central Appalachia. This performance, which uses film, digital audio and live solo and small ensemble pieces, will be the final project for Sylvia Ryerson's music major.
West African Drumming and Dance Concert
Friday, December 18, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $8 A, $8 B, $6 C
Featuring choreographer and Artist-in-Residence Iddi Saaka and Master Drummer Abraham Adzenyah, joined by students and guest artists. This invigorating performance showcases the vibrancy of West African cultures through their music and dance forms.
Music at The Russell House
Presented in the parlor of the historic
Russell House, the series is free to the public.
Charlie Suriyakham: Clarinet Pointillism
Sunday, September 20, 3pm
In this recital, Suriyakham will play a wide variety of pieces with expressive nuances from South American Jazz to German Romanticism to Klezmer to French Impressionism. Joining Suriyakham will be pianist John Metz, harpist Megan Sesma and soprano Lisa Williamson.
Jeremiah McLane and David Surette:
Traditional dance music from France, the British Isles and Quebec
Sunday, November 1, 3pm
Jeremiah McLane (accordion and piano) and David Surette (mandolin, bouzouki and guitar) are two of New England's finest traditional players. They bring a fresh, inventive and playful approach to their repertoire of music from France, the British Isles and Quebec. Both McLane and Surette have spent extensive time performing and studying music in these areas and have assimilated these musical traditions into a new brand of New England music, one that combines the old world and the new--a contemporary take on centuries-old melodies.
Giacomo Gates: Stories, Notes, Harmonies and Rhythm
Sunday, February 7, 3pm
Giacomo Gates, jazz vocalist, is joined by guitarist Tony Lombardozzi and bassist Jeff Fuller. The trio will play repertoire from the Great American Songbook, along with music from Monk, Miles, Ellington, Gillespie, Morgan and other greats. The concert includes stories, anecdotes and historical references about the music.
PRICE KEY
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B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff/Non-Wesleyan Students
C Wesleyan Students Back to top | Box
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Detail from a Javanese shadow puppet performance (wayang kulit)
Taiko Drumming
Javanese Gamelan
Charlie Suriyakham
DANCE
Fall Faculty Dance Concert
Friday & Saturday, October 30 & 31, 8pm
Patricelli '92 Theater
Tickets: $8 A, $8 B, $6 C
Two Dance faculty members, Rachel Boggia and Iddi Saaka, will share an evening of solo and duet performance/collaborations with guest artists.
Fall Senior Thesis Dance Concert
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, November 5, 6, & 7, 8pm
Patricelli '92 Theater
Tickets: $5 A, $5 B, $4 C
A collection of new works will be presented by senior choreographers as part of their culminating project for the dance major.
Nicole Stanton: Threshold Sites: Bodies and Earth
Friday, December 4, 8pm
Bessie Schönberg Dance Studio
Free Admission
Threshold Sites: Bodies and Earth is a collection of dance works that explores the interrelationships between how we experience our bodies, our communities and our environment. This event is coordinated by Associate Professor of Dance Nicole Stanton with multi-disciplinary performers and collaborators from the Wesleyan faculty, the Middletown community and Wesleyan students. It includes a new work commissioned by Feet to the Fire and made possible by leadership support from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program, a program funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Winter Dance Concert
Friday & Saturday, December 11 & 12, 8pm
CFA Theater
Tickets: $5 A; $5 B; $4 C
Sunday, December 13, 2pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $3 A, $3 B, $2 C
Beginning dance students perform works of various styles including hip hop, and Bharata Natyam (South Indian Classical).
West African Drumming
and Dance
Friday, December 18, 8pm
Crowell Concert Hall
Tickets: $8 A, $8 B, $6 C
Featuring choreographer and Artist-in-Residence Iddi Saaka and Master Drummer Abraham Adzenyah, joined by students and guest artists. This invigorating performance showcases the vibrancy of West Africa cultures through their music and dance forms.
PRICE KEY
A General
B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff/Non-Wesleyan Students
C Wesleyan Students Back to top | Box
Office
Image from the 2008
Senior Thesis Dance Concert poster
THEATER
The Skriker
By Caryl Churchill
Directed by Robert Bresnick
Thursday-Saturday, November 19-21, 8pm; Sunday, November 22, 7pm
Preview Performance: Wednesday, November 18, 8pm
CFA Theater
Tickets: $5 A, $5 B, $4 C; Preview Performance: $3 A & B, $2 C
The Skriker by Caryl Churchill, who Tony Kushner calls the greatest living playwright in the English language, is a spectacular play. Churchill describes the title character as a "polluted, not-believed-in nature spirit who comes up to the world to get love, attention and revenge." The Skriker tries to enlist the help of two friends: one pregnant and one who has killed her child. With tragic poetry and stunning linguistic pyrotechnics, the play examines the disturbing forces that have led us to the brink of ecological destruction. Contains material that may not be considered suitable for children. Discretion is advised.
Our Day Will Come
From Seamus Heaney's The Burial at Thebes, a version of Sophocles' Antigone
A Senior Thesis Project by Ariela Rotenberg '10
Directed by David B. Jaffe, Visiting Professor of Theater
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, December 3, 4 & 5, 8pm
Patricelli '92 Theater
Free Admission (tickets required)*
Our Day Will Come is based on Seamus Heaney's The Burial at Thebes, the Irish playwright's retelling of Sophocles' Antigone. This project is the culmination of three months of field research exploring music and other genres in the construction of narrative oral tradition in the Irish neighborhoods of Chicago. Heaney's play exemplifies the intersection of Greek drama and Irish oral tradition. In the afterward to the play Heaney writes that "Greek tragedy is as much musical score as it is dramatic script." This premise has guided the exploration of The Burial at Thebes.
* Free tickets will be made available on the day of each performance (tickets for Sunday events will be available on Saturday) at the University Box Office. Off-campus guests only may call the Box Office after 10am to reserve tickets that will be held in their name until fifteen minutes prior to curtain. On-campus guests must pick up their tickets at the Box Office. There is a two-ticket limit per person.
PRICE KEY
A General
B Seniors/Wesleyan Faculty & Staff/Non-Wesleyan Students
C Wesleyan Students Back to top | Box
Office
The Skriker
Wesleyan University is committed to making its educational programs and facilities accessible to people with disabilities. If you plan to attend an event and will require reasonable accommodations, please call (860) 685-3324. It is recommended that arrangements be made ten business days in advance of the event. For more information, please see www.wesleyan.edu/disabilities/visitors.
