Month: November 2014

“Creative Stages” to Premiere on CPTV on Fri. Nov. 28 at 8pm

by

creativestages_eventConnecticut Public Television (CPTV) premieres the original documentary Creative Stages, hosted by Ed Wierzbicki, on Friday, November 28, 2014 at 8pm. This half-hour special is devoted to the arts, as Mr. Wierzbicki takes viewers “inside the creative process” while interviewing Connecticut artists and exploring local arts organizations, including Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts.

Hear from Pamela Tatge, Director of the Center for the Arts, as well as from visiting artists including Margaret Jenkins (Artistic Director of San Francisco’s Margaret Jenkins Dance Company), Anna Snow, Kerry Andrew, and Sarah Dacey of London’s Juice Vocal Ensemble, and Juliana Romano ’04 (featured in the exhibition The Alumni Show II in the Ezra and Cecila Zilkha Gallery), about the importance of this creative space to Wesleyan University and its students, as well as to the art world at large. The segment also includes footage of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange’s Ferocious Beauty: Genome, the Wesleyan Theater Department production of The Seagull, and a co-taught course by Professor of History and East Asian Studies William Johnston and Visiting Artist in Dance and the College of East Asian Studies Eiko Otake.

The program will also feature Javier Colon, the Yale University Art Gallery and artist Red Grooms, Waterbury’s Palace Theater and the Waterbury Arts Magnet School, and the Haven String Quartet at New Haven’s Lyric Hall.

‘Tis the Season! Wesleyan University Orchestra Spreads Holiday Cheer (Nov. 22)

by

CFA Arts Administration Intern Chloe Jones ’15 talks to Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Nadya Potemkina, Isabel Csete ’18, David Lopez-Wade ’18, and Rachel Rosenman ’17 about the free Wesleyan University Orchestra concert taking place on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 8pm in Crowell Concert Hall. 

orchestra_eventWinter is in the air, and the Wesleyan University Orchestra is here to usher in the holiday season. This Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 8pm in Crowell Concert Hall the Orchestra will perform an evening of popular holiday classics.

Free and family friendly, the concert will feature music from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Leroy Anderson’s A Christmas Festival, Mykola Leontovych’s Carol of the Bells, and an orchestral suite from Disney’s Frozen.

Directed by Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Nadya Potemkina, the Wesleyan University Orchestra is comprised of students, faculty, and members of the Middletown community. Together they are a group of roughly 50 musicians.

“It’s a really friendly atmosphere,” said violinist Isabel Csete ’18. “Everyone is here to have fun and to do what they love.”

This is the Orchestra’s second concert of the semester, and markedly different from their first, which featured a selection of movements from several large-scale symphonic works of a more serious tone than the holiday tunes of this Saturday’s concert.

“I want my students to be able to learn all styles and genres of music,” said Professor Potemkina. “You have to play The Christmas Festival at least once in your life as a performer in a symphony orchestra. It’s a staple of the popular repertoire.”

“It’s songs we know,” said clarinetist Rachel Rosenman ’17. “And it’s fun to sing along.”

Ms. Potemkina will invite the audience to sing along during The Christmas Festival, a collection of famous carols.

Alongside these holiday oldies is a suit from Disney’s recent film Frozen, released in 2013.

“There are a lot of different characters in Frozen, and you hear them in the different songs we play,” said Ms. Rosenman. “All of their voices come out in the music.”

“Frozen is really fun because it’s so new,” said clarinetist David Lopez-Wade ’18. “Everyone knows it.”

“It’s a cheerful concert,” said Professor Potemkina.

What better way to kick off the holiday season?

Fall Photos: Hkeelee (Talk to Me)

by

Hkeelee (Talk to Me), a solo performance by Lebanese American writer, actress, and teaching artist Leila Buck ’99, exploring family, memory, and politics, took place on Wednesday, October 29, 2014, at CFA Hall. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on flickr.

 

Fall Photos: Fall Faculty Dance Concert: To Not Forget Crimea – Uncertain Quiet of Indigenous Crimean Tatars

by

The premiere of To Not Forget Crimea: Uncertain Quiet of Indigenous Crimean Tatars, by Associate Professor of Dance Katja Kolcio in response to recent political changes in Crimea, was performed on Friday, October 24, 2014, at Memorial Chapel. Images from the warmup by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on flickr.

Fall Photos: Panel Discussion – To Not Forget Crimea: Uncertain Quiet of Indigenous Crimean Tatars

by

A panel discussion exploring indigenous Ukrainian perspectives of Crimea post Russian-invasion took place on Friday, October 24, 2014, at Fayerweather Beckham Hall. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography.  Click here to view the full album on flickr.

Fall Photos: This Is It! The Complete Piano Works of Neely Bruce – Part IV

by

John Spencer Camp Professor of Music Neely Bruce presented the fourth of twelve CD-length recitals of his piano music on Sunday, October 12, 2014, at Crowell Concert Hall. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on flickr.

 

Fall Photos: Closing Reception – Animal Dignity and an Ethics of Sight: Photography by Isa Leshko and Frank Noelker

by

Isha Leshko and Frank Noelker’s evocative “Animal Dignity and an Ethics of Sight” exhibition ran from September 23 through October 10, 2014, in the South Gallery of the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery. The exhibition was curated by Lori Gruen, Professor of Philosophy, Environmental Studies, and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Photos from the October 9, 2014, closing reception. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on flickr.

 

Fall Photos: The West End String Quartet: Works by Shostakovich and Mozart

by

The West End String Quartet–featuring Wesleyan Private Lessons Teacher Jessica Meyer on violin, and fellow Wesleyan chamber music instructors Sarah Washburn on violin, Anne Berry on cello, and John Biatowas on viola–performed works by Shostakovich and Mozart on Sunday, October 5, 2014, at The Russell House. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on flickr.

Fall Photos: The Builders Association – Sontag: Reborn

by

“A spellbinding x-ray of a writer’s psyche” (The New York Times), Sontag: Reborn explores the private life, loves, and idiosyncrasies of Susan Sontag. The Connecticut premiere of the solo show, directed by Marianne Weems and adapted by solo performer Moe Angelos based on Ms. Sontag’s early journals, was performed at the CFA Theater on Thursday, October 2 and Friday, October 3, 2014, at the CFA Theater. Photos from the October 2, 2014, dress rehearsal at the CFA Theater. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on flickr.

 

Fall Photos: Big Data Investigative Journalism – How Public Documents and the Internet Helped Map the Islamophobia Industry

by

Eli Clifton, co-author of the Center for American Progress’ groundbreaking report Fear, Inc., described the investigative tools he used to help reveal the nexus of politicians, professional Islamophobes, and big money special interests who have fueled the spike in Islamophobia in the United States in “Big Data Investigative Journalism: How Public Documents and the Internet Helped Map the Islamophobia Industry.” The discussion was held on Thursday, October 2, 2014, at the Public Affairs Center. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on flickr.