MARCH 2, THURSDAY
Lecture: Matt Mullican
7:30 P.M., Twilight Auditorium
Artist Matt Mullican, creator of L'Art D'Ecrire, the mural in the College's library, discusses his wide-ranging interests, commissions, and projects. A fascinating speaker whose work is known internationally, Mullican pays particular attention to Middlebury's library mural. Cosponsored by the Glenstone Foundation, Committee on Art in Public Places, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Department of History of Art and Architecture, and the Program in Studio Art. Free
MARCH 3, FRIDAY
Mihaela Ursuleasa, piano
8:00 P.M., Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Of the still-young Mihaela Ursuleasa's playing a few years ago, a Stuttgart critic wrote, "She has further refined her matchless touch, which already then ranged from the most delicate pianissimo to a powerful, dazzling fortissimo. Her tone nowadays is soft, brilliant, pithy, weighty, but as though measured on a gold balance." Her Middlebury program consists of selections from the 24 Preludes of Shostakovich's op. 34, Robert Schumann's Carnaval, Ginastera's Sonata No. 1, and Ravel's "Gaspard de la Nuit." Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $12/10/5 order tickets online
Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:30 P.M. Reservations required: 802-443-MIDD
MARCH 4, SATURDAY
Christian A. Johnson Symposium: Art, Memory, and the Past
9:30 A.M.–3:30 P.M., Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
A daylong public symposium, with papers presented by Middlebury College faculty and students. Cosponsored by the Middlebury College Museum of Art and the Department of History of Art and Architecture. To request further information, and to register and order lunch, please call 802–443–5234 by February 24.
MARCH 4, SATURDAY
P.S.
3:00 and 8:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
Louise Harrington (Laura Linney) is a divorced and thirty-something admissions officer at Columbia University's School of the Arts. She is intelligent, pretty, and successful, yet unfulfilled—until a graduate school application crosses her desk bearing a name from her past. When young painter Scott Feinstadt arrives for an interview, he not only carries the name but also bears an uncanny resemblance to Louise's high school boyfriend and one true love, an artist who died in a car accident 20 years earlier. Within hours of the interview, Louise and Scott have embarked on a passionately uninhibited older-woman, younger-man affair. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (USA, 2004, 97 minutes) Free
MARCH 4, SATURDAY
Encore: The Dick Forman Jazz Group
8:00 P.M.,Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
The Dick Forman Jazz Group (DFJG) has annually delighted CFA audiences with its sparkling, straight-ahead mainstream jazz in celebration of the music that's been called "America's National Treasure." Some of the region's top players offer a program of great jazz – from blues to ballads to bebop – sure to set fingers snapping and toes tapping. Long a favorite of Vermont audiences, DFJG features Don Stearns, sax; Dick Forman, piano; Jim Daggs, bass; and Bob Lemnah, drums. Once again, DFJG is joined by Paul Asbell on guitar for this concert. Both Asbell and Forman are members of the College's applied music faculty. The Department of Music presents this encore performance, free and open to the public.
MARCH 6, MONDAY
Vusi Mahlasela, South African singer
8:00 P.M., Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Mahlasela was active in the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s and entered the commercial market in the 1990s. His music fuses South African mbube, jazz and folk as he continues to use his songs for social commentary. Sponsored by the Department of Music. Tickets: $5/4/3; order tickets online
More info: http://www.middlebury.edu/arts/newspub/vusi.htm
MARCH 7, TUESDAY
Jupiter String Quartet
8:00 P.M., Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
The Quartet captured first prize in the eighth Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2004, as well as the Szekely Prize for the best performance of a Beethoven quartet. In August 2005, they made their Lincoln Center debut, performing Eine kleine Nachtmusik as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival. They hold the position of Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where they have worked with members of the original Cleveland Quartet. They visit Middlebury for a residency in the music department, in which members of the quartet will also play original student compositions. "One of the strongest young string quartets in the country"—New York Sun. Free
MARCH 8, WEDNESDAY
Screening of "Women in Love" and Q & A with Larry Kramer
7:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
This 1969 film, based on the D.H. Lawrence novel, explores the relationships, personalities and philosophies of two men and two women in the early 1900s. Following the screening, there will be a discussion and Q&A with screenwriter Larry Kramer, who received an Academy Award nomination for his work on the film. (See associated listing on March 9.) Free
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MARCH 9-10, THURSDAY-FRIDAY
Rainforest: McLean Mix
9:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M. and 7:00-9:00 P.M., Johnson Gallery, Johnson Building
The Department of Music welcomes the McLean Mix for a unique, multi-media residency. In Rainforest, Musicians Barton and Priscilla McLean incorporate the wondrous sights and sounds of the tropical rainforest with the latest experimental computer and electronic music techniques. Rainforest is a multimedia installation based on the nocturnal life of the tropical rainforest, inspired by their expeditions in the Amazon, Puerto Rico, the Everglades, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and the jungles of Borneo. Audience members wander through the installation and make music at different stations equipped with synthesizers, microphones, and amplified autoharps-- stop by anytime to try it yourself! This ever-changing kaleidoscope of sound is enhanced by slide presentations of the rainforest. See associated listing on March 11. Free
MARCH 9, THURSDAY
A New Acquisition in Attic Painted Pottery: The Black-Figure Kalpis by the Rycroft Painter
4:30 P.M., Center for the Arts, Room 221
Slide lecture by Pieter Broucke, associate professor of history of art and architecture. Cosponsored by the Department of History of Art and Architecture and the Museum of Art. Free
MARCH 9, THURSDAY
Lecture: Helen Schulman, P.S.
4:30 P.M., Chateau Grand Salon
New York-based fiction writer Helen Schulman reads passages from her novel and considers some of the problems and challenges of film adaptation. She is the author of novels, short stories, essays, and book reviews, and in recent years she has turned her hand to screenwriting—receiving a Sundance Fellowship and commissions to write several film scripts. When director Dylan Kidd set out to adapt Schulman's 2001 novel P.S. into a film—released in 2004, starring Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne—Schulman collaborated with Kidd on the screenplay. (P.S. is screened on March 4-- listing above.) Sponsored by the Program in Film and Media Culture, the Creative Writing Program, and Atwater Commons. "Schulman has the kind of voice that rises over the brassy contemporary din and makes you listen up."—The New Yorker. Free
MARCH 9, THURSDAY
Forum on Political Activism with Larry Kramer;
Scenes from The Normal Heart
7:30 to 9:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
Playwright and screenwriter Larry Kramer will discuss his creative and activism work with a small panel of Middlebury students, faculty, and staff. Middlebury College Theater students will also perform excerpts from "The Normal Heart," Kramer's play about the early years of AIDS. (See associated event on March 8.) For more information about these events, contact Jennifer Herrera in the Office of Institutional Diversity at 802-443-5743 or at jherrera@middlebury.edu. Free
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MARCH 10, FRIDAY
Laura Barrett '06, soprano
Adam Beard '06, tenor
8:00 P.M., Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Senior student vocalists from the Department of Music perform a variety of works. Free
MARCH 11, SATURDAY
Moolaadé
3:00 and 8:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
This utterly compelling drama, universally lauded at Cannes, establishes Ousmane Sembene as Africa's most important filmmaker. In confronting one of the continent's urgent controversies—female circumcision—Sembene does more than condemn outdated religious practices; he shows how traditional tribal values can be used for both humane and destructive purposes. In Bambara and French with English subtitles. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (Senegal, 2004, 120 minutes) Free
MARCH 11, SATURDAY
McLean Mix:
MILLing in the ENNIUM
8:00 P.M., Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Hear a concert by this international experimental media duo, Barton and Priscilla McLean, who have performances logged in 42 states. Sponsored by the Department of Music. (See associated listing, March 9-10.) Free
MARCH 12, SUNDAY
Belcea Quartet
Corina Belcea, violin
Laura Samuel, violin
Krzysztof Chorzelski, viola
Antoine Lederlin, cello
7:00 P.M., Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
The Belcea Quartet returns to Middlebury, playing a program of Mozart's quartets, K. 421 and K. 428, and Shostakovich's third quartet. "Their sound is mellow and warm, there is no sense of the leader over-dominating (the downfall of many quartets), and their unanimity is astounding."—Stephen Pettitt, Evening Standard. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $12/10/5 order tickets online
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MARCH 13, MONDAY
"Meet the Artist" with Anita Ratnam
12:15 P.M., Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
Guest artist Anita Ratnam holds a lecture/demonstration in advance of her performance later that evening (see event listing below). Bring your lunch or pick one up from Rehearsals Cafe for this informal event. Free
MARCH 13, MONDAY
Seven Graces
7:00 P.M., Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
A 60-minute solo operatic creation by Anita Ratnam in collaboration with choreographer Hari Krishnan (inDANCE, Canada). As a dancer and choreographer, Ratnam has performed in over fifteen countries in a career that now spans four decades. Since the 1990s, Ratnam has adapted her classical training to express contemporary concerns, especially urgent social issues that have emerged in postcolonial India. Ratnam's Middlebury visit is part of a tour of North America where she will be showcasing her new solo show, Seven Graces. Building on Ratnam's signature perspectives on Goddess worship and Indian feminism, the minimalistic work draws inspiration from a rich kinetic landscape of movement including Bharatanatyam, Chinese Wu-Shu martial arts, Modern Dance, Tibetan Buddhist liturgical dance, and Zen Buddhism. Seven Graces explores manifestations of the Tibetan Buddhist Goddess Tara in a modern context, offering a journey to aesthetic eternities, tracing the aura and grace of the feminine transcendental. Sponsored by the Department of Women's and Gender Studies/Chellis House, the Office for Institutional Diversity, the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs, the Department of Religion, and the Dance Program. Free
MARCH 15, WEDNESDAY
François Clemmons, tenor
8:00 P.M.,Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Alexander Twilight Artist in Residence François Clemmons gives his annual St. Patrick's Day concert. Sing along with a mix of traditional Irish ballads such as "O Danny Boy" and "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"! Free
MARCH 16, THURSDAY
Paul Lewis, piano
7:30 P.M., Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
British virtuoso Paul Lewis continues his cycle of Beethoven works here at Middlebury with this concert program of Sonatas no. 8 in C Minor (Pathetique), no. 12 in A-flat Major, no. 27 in E Minor, and no. 28 in A Major. (See associated events on October 28 and May 12.) Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $12/10/5 order tickets online
Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:00 P.M. Reservations required: 802-443-MIDD
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MARCH 26, SUNDAY
Organ Recital: Emory Fanning
NOW CANCELLED-- to be rescheduled for a later date
MARCH 27, MONDAY
Tengir-Too Music Ensemble
7:00 P.M., Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
Hailing from Central Asia, this musical ensemble introduces music of the nomadic peoples of Kyrgyzstan using voice and traditional instruments, including the komuz (a three stringed lute), the qyl qiyak (a two stringed fiddle), wooden and metal jew's harps, and globe flutes. Sponsored by the Department of Music. Free
MARCH 29, WEDNESDAY
Faculty Lecture Series: Jennifer Post (Music Department)
4:30 P.M., Robert A. Jones House
"I will take my dombra and sing to remember my homeland": Identity, landscape and music in Kazakh communities of Western Mongolia. Refreshments will be available before each lecture. Free
MARCH 31, FRIDAY
Hail, Heavenly Queen: a Concert of Sacred Music
7:30 P.M., Mead Chapel
A special performance by the Celestial Sirens, a Vermont-based early music trio, featuring music dedicated to Mary. The program includes medieval music from England and Spain, with selections from several early manuscripts dating from the 8th to the 14th centuries, including such historic collections as the Huelgas Codex, St. Martial Codex, and Llibre Vermel. An Ave Maria by Jean Mouton, selections by Roland di Lassus, and excerpts from a mass by Scottish Renaissance composer Robert Carver round out the presentation. An earlier performance of this program was acclaimed as invoking the sound of "heavenly angels." Sponsored by the Chaplain's Office and Music Department. Free