Updates and reflections from Wesleyan's Center for the Arts in Middletown, Connecticut
Students of Adjunct Assistant Professors of Music B. Balasubrahmaniyan and David Nelson performed a recital of music from the Karnatak tradition of South India on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 in the World Music Hall.
Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the entire album on Flickr.
The New England debut of Choreographer Darrell Jones‘ Hoo-Ha in a salon format merges voguing and postmodern dance to express the release of the oppressed feminine in the male body. The show was held on Saturday, November 19, 2016 in the World Music Hall.
Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography. Click here to view the full album on Flickr.
Renowned percussion ensemble Mantra Percussion premiered new works written for them by Wesleyan student composers on Sunday, December 6, 2015 in World Music Hall.
Click here to view the full album on Flickr. Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography.
The culture of Java was experienced with beginning students of the Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble on Saturday, December 5, 2015 in the World Music Hall. The concert included a prelude by the Wesleyan Youth Gamelan Ensemble.
Click here to view the full album on Flickr. Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography.
The Chinese Music Ensemble presented traditional and contemporary repertoire under the direction of graduate music student Joy Lu on Wednesday, December 2, 2015 in the World Music Hall.
Click here to view the full album on Flickr. Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography.
Student composers of the Wesleyan Music Department presented their original works, featuring compositions by Matthew Stein ’16, and graduate students Tomek Arnold, Hallie Blejewski, Warren Enström, Omar Fraire, Cecilia Lopez, Cleek Schrey, and Ron Shalom in the World Music Hall on Tuesday, October 13, 2015.
Click here to view the full album on Flickr. Photos by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography.
The Center for the Arts is one of the rare places in the state where you can consistently experience arts from around the world. This semester is no exception. In January and February, the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery hosts the work of ten contemporary Chinese artists born after the Cultural Revolution who are challenging traditional notions of Chinese identity and inventing new ways to shout out in the global arena. In February, Syrian singer Gaida brings her band to Crowell Concert Hall. At a time when her country is under siege, her soulful voice will remind us of the beauty and power of Syrian music and culture. And playwright Guillermo Calderón will discuss his award-winning works about Chile in the aftermath of the dictatorship.
The CFA is also the home of countless premieres. In April, you’ll be the first to hear Harlem Heiroglyphs, a new album by composer, vibraphonist, and Adjunct Professor of Music Jay Hoggard, both in concert and as the music for Storied Places, directed and choreographed by Dance Department Chair Nicole Stanton with text by Center for African American Studies Professor Lois Brown.
Finally, the Music Department will host a March symposium on the work of the legendary experimental music composer David Tudor and, in April, the Theater Department offers Wes Out-Loud, a site-specific work created by Assistant Professor Marcela Oteíza and her students.
The semester ends on May 7 with Feet to the Fire: Riverfront Encounter, the second annual eco-arts festival featuring world music bands, educational exhibits, and site-specific performance works by area organizations at Middletown’s Harbor Park, located on the bank of the Connecticut River.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Pamela Tatge
Director, Center for the Arts
This year, we are looking forward to introducing you to artists who are asking important questions about our world today, questioning why things are the way they are, and helping us to envision how they might be.
Michelle Dorrance, described by the Chicago Tribune as “edgy, seductive and smart,” brings Dorrance Dance to the CFA Theater September 25 and 26. You’ll have the chance to see tap dancers push the boundaries of what tap dance looks and feels like: her company will dazzle you as they transform the stage into one sonic instrument.
At a time when our country is struggling to find its way in terms of race relations, we’ve invited writer/performer Daniel Beaty to campus for a residency that includes the October 9 performance of Mr. Joy, his highly acclaimed tour de force solo show about a community’s efforts to heal in order to dream again.
Composer, visual artist, and new media innovator R. Luke DuBois takes over the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery from September 16 through December 13 with his exhibition In Real Time, creating maps, scores, and videos that use real-time data flows and media footage to raise questions of artistic agency, privacy, and fair use. In time for the election season, the CFA has commissioned him to create a new work using research generated by the Wesleyan Media Project.
Dancer/choreographer Eiko Otake returns with a series of intimate performances in unlikely places, including a commissioned work in honor of the 100th-anniversary of Wesleyan’s Van Vleck Observatory.
This year’s Navaratri Festival of Indian music and dance features one of the world’s greatest veena players, Sri Rajhesh Vaidya, on October 10, and Bharatanatyam dancer Alarmél Valli on October 11.
All this shares the fall schedule with performances by faculty and students, including the final class performance by students of Adjunct Professor of Music Abraham Adzenyah, who is retiring after teaching Ghanaian drumming at Wesleyan for the past 45 years. You won’t want to miss that concert on December 4.
As always, we hope you will look to the CFA as a place of enlightenment and enjoyment in the months ahead.
Sincerely,
Pamela Tatge
Director
Center for the Arts
University Professor of Music and dhalang (puppet master) Sumarsam and the Wesleyan Gamelan Ensemble, directed by Artist in Residence I.M. Harjito, presented a Javanese wayang kulit, the puppet play employing intricately carved leather puppets, accompanied by an ensemble of tuned-gongs, metallophones, two-stringed fiddle, xylophone, flute, and vocalists on April 24, 2015 in the World Music Hall. Click here to view the full album on flickr. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography.
Lebanese American writer, performer, and teaching artist Leila Buck ’99 presented a work-in-progress sharing of a collaborative theatrical work commissioned by the Center for the Arts as part of Muslim Women’s Voices at Wesleyan on April 18, 2015 in the World Music Hall.
Through theatrical scenes, storytelling, and playful improvisations with the audience, this performance-in-process invited the audience to participate in an interactive exploration of how we know what we think we know, see what we don’t, view ourselves and each other, and engage in the spaces in between. Click here to view the full album on flickr. Images by Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography.
