May 1, Thursday
Captive Leisure: The Photography of Massimo Vitali
4:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Museum of Art
Gallery talk by Stuart Hurt ’07, Museum Graduate Intern. Hurt talks about the work of contemporary Italian photographer Massimo Vitali, illustrating his points with Vitali’s 1997 “Riccione” diptych from the Museum’s collection. Free
Please note: this event represents a change from the previously title "The Pragmatism of Prayer."
May 1, Thursday
Jazz Showcase
8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Lower Lobby
The Jazz Showcase features both singers and instrumentalists who have been exploring the world of jazz in private lessons and/or the Music Department’s Jazz Workshop. Previous showcases have presented exciting, creative work, and this one promises to offer yet another chance to see and hear students mining what has been called America’s National Treasure: the art of jazz. Sponsored by the Department of Music. Free
May 1–3, Thursday–Saturday
Jumpers
8:00 P.M. each evening and 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, Wright Memorial Theatre
In a comedy that includes the moon landings, a team of gymnastic philosophers, Zeno’s paradox, and a detective who might have stepped from the pages of Agatha Christie (not to mention a hare called Thumper and a tortoise called Pat), playwright Tom Stoppard combines effervescent burlesque with moral urgency. “I write plays because writing dialogue is the only respectable way of contradicting yourself. I’m the kind of person who embarks on an endless leapfrog down the great moral issues. I put a position, rebut it, refute it, refute the rebuttal, and rebut the refutation. Forever. Endlessly.”—Tom Stoppard, from a 1972 interview with Mel Gussow ’55 in The New York Times. Directed by Cheryl Faraone with Alexander Draper ’88 as George Moore; choreography by Vanessa Mildenberg; scenic design is by Hallie Zieselman; lighting design by Mark Evancho; costume design by Jule Emerson; and technical direction by Jim Dougherty. Sponsored by the Department of Theatre and Dance with support from Pathways to Flourishing: a Dialogue of Science, Religion and Politics at Middlebury College. Tickets: $5/4/3, on sale April 17.
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May 2, Friday
Paul Lewis, piano
8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
A favorite of Middlebury audiences, this season pianist Paul Lewis should begin to make his mark in concert halls around the country: playing at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival; with the London Symphony Orchestra in New York and Chicago; and at the Gilmore Festival in Michigan. In a review of his 2005 Washington recital, Tim Page wrote that “Lewis seems incapable of playing anything in a bland or nerveless fashion. His sense of meter is infinitely elastic and yet the pieces hold together organically.” His Middlebury program consists of works by Mozart, Ligeti, and Schubert. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $15/12/5
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May 2–3, Friday–Saturday
Spring Dance Concert: Shifting the Frame
8:00 P.M. each evening, Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
Students from DANC 461 delve into the environments of video and digital media, presenting choreographic works integrating new technology. Expect audacious innovation! Tickets: $5/4/3; on sale April 18.
May 3, Saturday
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
3:00 and 8:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
Veteran filmmaker Ken Loach (Ladybird Ladybird, Land and Freedom) weaves the story of Damien and Teddy, brothers in 1920s Ireland. Teddy belongs to a guerilla squad fighting for Ireland’s liberation from English control; Damien is fully immersed in his medical school studies—until he experiences the war’s violence himself. The conflict within Ireland tests both brothers’ loyalties to their homeland and to each other. Golden Palm award, Cannes Film Festival. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (UK/Ireland, 2006, 127 minutes) Free
May 3, Saturday
Sound Investment Jazz Ensemble
8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
The Sound Investment Jazz Ensemble (SIJE) celebrates the range of big band music from classic swing to contemporary jazz compositions. The band features some of the best of the College’s student musicians, who come from Maine to California. It is directed by Dick Forman, a Music Department affiliate artist and well-known Vermont jazz figure.
The SIJE has long kept the community’s toes tapping. The upcoming program concludes the band’s inaugural season of performances in the Mahaney Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Be prepared for dancing in the aisles as the SIJE swings into action. Free
May 4, Sunday
Middlebury College Community Chorus
Songs for Spring: Music of Life, Remembrance, Reflection and Joy
Jeff Rehbach, conductor; George Matthew Jr., accompanist
3:00 P.M., Mead Memorial Chapel
A program sure to delight all with its mix of melodies and great choral music, from a large chorus whose members come from surrounding Champlain Valley and Green Mountain towns, as well as from the College community. The program features British composer-conductor John Rutter's Requiem, one of his most sensitive and lyrical works. Also included are spring and summer choruses from Franz Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Seasons; two newly published contemporary American works by Morten Lauridsen and Randall Stroope: Sure on this Shining Night and I Am Not Yours by American poets James Agee and Sara Teasdale; and a set of wonderful works by Vermont composer Gwyneth Walker, including White Horses and the rousing chorus Spring! on the poems of E. E. Cummings.Free
May 4, Sunday
Friends of the Art Museum Annual Supper and Awards for Distinction in the Visual Arts Presentation
5:30 P.M., Kirk Alumni Center
A members-only dinner and awards presentation for local artists, art students, and arts benefactors. For membership information, please call Andrea Solomon at 802-443-2034.
May 4, Sunday
The Shop on Main Street
8:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
The Film and Media Culture program sponsors a screening of the 1965 film The Shop on Main Street as this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Film. As part of a Nazi Aryanization regulation, the quiet Slovak carpenter Tono is urged to take over the sewing shop of Rozalia, an older, Jewish woman. The two grow fond of each other. When Nazi authorities come to round up the Jews, Tono must decide whether he will turn her in, or help her escape. The Shop on Main Street earned an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and a best actress nomination. Free
May 7, Wednesday
Taking Flight
4:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
A "lightly produced" showing of dance experiments by the new batch of choreographers emerging from the Advanced Beginning Dance course.
May 7, Wednesday
Senior Clarinet Recital by Kevin Ng ’08
8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
“Fräulein Klarinette” is an exploration of the German school of clarinet playing. Based on his experience and studies in Berlin, Ng performs works of contrasting styles with affiliate artist Cynthia Huard. Sponsored by the Department of Music. Free
May 8-10, Thursday-Saturday
Reckless
8:00 P.M. each evening, with an 11:00 P.M. late night show on Friday only; Hepburn Zoo Theatre
Play by Craig Lucas; senior work of Rachel Ann Cole (acting).
This outlandish and poignant dark comedy takes the lead character, Rachel, on an unpredictable journey, when one snowy Christmas Eve her husband takes out a contract on her life. The cast of seven actors portrays over twenty characters, all of whom have been a bit reckless with their lives. Tickets: $1; on sale April 24.
May 9, Friday
New Electronic Music by Middlebury Students
8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
This recital features works composed by students in the electronic music class this spring. These pieces are hot off the press -- some of them are less than a day old! Sponsored by the Department of Music. Free
May 10, Saturday
Opening Celebration: 41st Annual Student Exhibition
5:00 P.M., Johnson Memorial Building, Johnson Gallery, Pit Space, and Atrium
This year’s exhibition showcases the best thesis work by graduating studio art students during the 2007-08 year: paintings, prints, photographs, and sculptures. Free
May 10, Saturday
Music Department Student Vocal Recital
8:00 P.M., Mahaney CFA, Concert Hall
Sponsored by the Department of Music. Free
May 11, Sunday
Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra
3:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
The concert program includes works by Mussorgsky, Borodin, Ippolitov-Ivanov, and Copeland’s “Outdoor Overture”. Tickets available one hour prior to the concert in the Mahaney CFA lobby: $10 regular, $8 senior citizens and students.
For a full calendar of College events, please click here.
This week's events in the Arts at Middlebury College:
May 11–26, Sunday–Monday
41st Annual Student Exhibition
Johnson Memorial Building, Johnson Gallery, Pit Space, and Atrium
This year’s exhibition showcases the best thesis work by graduating studio art students during the 2007-08 year: paintings, prints, photographs, and sculptures. Opening celebration on May 10 from 5:00–7:00 p.m. Sponsored by the Program in Studio Art. Free
May 22, Thursday (through August 10)
Wafting on a Heavenly Breeze: Hand-Painted Kites from China
Mahaney Center for the Arts, Museum of Art, Christian A. Johnson Memorial Gallery
A plethora of dragons, phoenixes, snakes, bats, and mythical figures fill the sky in this exhibition of hand-crafted kites using traditional materials—bamboo, paper, and silk. The majority of these kites come from Weifang, the birthplace of kite making.
This exhibition was formerly scheduled to open in the Mahaney Center for the Arts lobbies on April 3. Now that the show has moved inside the Museum, one kite will hang in the lobby to welcome visitors as they arrive, and guide them toward the Museum of Art. Free
May 23, Friday
Middlebury College Choir: Senior Week Concert
8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall