Classic art portraits transformed into 3D masks, the return of a renowned music concert series, a festival of all things arts, and the greatest scam ever to hit Broadway – all are part of Sacramento State’s Arts Experience for Spring 2016.
Festival of the Arts
Tickets, where required, are available at the University Ticket Office, www.csus.edu/hornettickets or (916) 278-4323.
The showpiece of Sac State’s spring is the annual Festival of the Arts, a celebration of all things arts, running April 13-17.
Last year’s popular U-Create! street faire in downtown Sacramento will return, filling selected art galleries and side streets with terrific artworks, interactive experiences, and plenty of music. The free soiree will run 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 14, in the area of Seventh and S streets.
Family Sunday Funday turns the Sacramento State campus into a family-friendly playground. This year’s event is April 17. (Sacramento State/Craig Koscho)The Sac State campus once again will become a giant playground for children and adults alike with Family Sunday Funday, a play day that offers attractions and events for the entire family from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 17.
Filmmaker, writer, and composer Trinh Minh-Ha will screen her new film, Forgetting Vietnam, exploring the issues of trauma in relation to war and homeland. It was made in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The movie will be shown from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 16, and will include a question-and-answer session.
Brian Crane, creator of the popular comic strip Pickles, will give a talk from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 15, in Mariposa 1000, followed by a reception in Mariposa 4000.
The 2016 Dance Sampler will offer dance works from professional dance companies throughout the region. This year’s concert will be an “unplugged” version at 2 and 7 p.m. April 16-17 in Solano Hall Dancespace.
All that is in addition to the many other arts and entertainment events such as The Producers, a Library Gallery lecture by exhibitor Bidou Yamaguchi, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, and great classical music by renowned pianist Misuzu Tannaka.
More information is available at www.csus.edu/al/festival.
Theatre and Dance
Tickets, where required, are available at the University Ticket Office, www.csus.edu/hornettickets or by calling (916) 278-4323.
Sacramento/Black Art of Dance (Sacramento State/Steve McKay)The University's Theatre and Dance season will begin with Sacramento/Black Art of Dance, the modern dance company that carries on the Black Concert dance tradition popularized by choreographers such as Katherine Dunham. Directed by professor and S/BAD founder Linda Goodrich, the concert is titled “Ancestral Voices,” and offers dance styles from modern to Afro to hip-hop to folkloric, presented by eight choreographers and 36 dancers. Performances will be at Solano Hall Dancespace at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18, 24 and 25; 8 p.m. Feb. 19, 20, 26 and 27; and 2 p.m. Feb. 21 and 28.
The music of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon propels Darkside by Tom Stoppard. Professor Roberto Pomo will direct this production that contains elements of dance, comedy, absurdism, realism, and fantasy at Playwrights’ Theatre. Performances will be at 8 p.m. March 2-5, 11, and 12; 6:30 p.m. March 9-10, and 2 p.m. March 6 and 13.
A pair of creative flimflam artists try to pull off the biggest con on Broadway in Mel Brooks’ The Producers, on the main stage of the University Theatre. Written by Brooks and Thomas Meehan, The Producers focuses on a producer and his accountant who figure the best way to get rich is to produce a flop. Professor Ed Brazo will direct this production with performances at 8 p.m. April 13-16, 22-23; 6:30 p.m. April 20-21; and 2 p.m. April 17 and 24. The Producers contains adult language and humor, so parental discretion is advised.
The spotlight will return to Solano Hall Dancespace for the concluding production, Senior Dance Concert 2016. Directed by Professors Lorelei Bayne and Philip Flickinger, the concert will feature original choreography by graduating dance majors responsible for every aspect of the concert and their individual pieces. Performances will be at 6:30 p.m. May 4, 5, 11 and 12; 2 p.m. May 8; and 8 p.m. May 6, 7, 13, and 14.
Tickets for The Producers’ 6:30 p.m. performances are $10 general, $8 for children. The other presentations are $15 general, $12 for seniors and students, and $10 for children.
All other productions’ 6:30 p.m. performances are $8 general, $5 for children, with the other times costing $12 general, $10 seniors and students, and $8 for children.
For more information on the events and programs of the Theatre and Dance Department, visit www.csus.edu/dram or call (916) 278-6368.
Music
Tickets, where required, are available at the University Ticket Office, www.csus.edu/hornettickets or by calling (916) 278-4323.
The New Millennium Concert series will return this spring with a superb lineup of great classical music.
It will start with The Telegraph Quartet on Wednesday, Feb. 17. They will perform Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden.”
Violinist Sarah Chang's concert is sold out.Acclaimed baritone Randall Scarlata and legendary pianist Gilbert Kalish will perform Wednesday, April 13. They’ll play a set of songs by Charles Ives, plus Schubert’s final work, “Schwanengesang” ("Swan Song").
The series will conclude Thursday, April 28, with the popular Faculty, Alumni & Friends Gala. The program will include works by Brahms and Francis Poulenc, and will feature this year’s A.J. and Susana Watson Chamber Music Competition prize winners as the opening act.
The concert by violinist Sarah Chang and pianist Julio Elizalde is sold out.
All concerts will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Capistrano Concert Hall. Tickets for the Scarlata concert are $30 general, $25 for seniors and $10 for students. The remaining concerts are $20 general, $15 for seniors, and $5 for students. A subscription for all four concerts is available for $70, a savings of $30. A special senior subscription is $50.
The Piano Series will continues Saturday, March 5, with a performance by Richard Dowling. He will perform works by Beethoven, Debussy, Scott Joplin, Chopin, and more. Dowling has presented recitals in the Far East, Australia, Africa, and Europe, including a six-concert tour of France.
Misuzu Tanaka will conclude the series on Saturday, April 16. An avid performer of works by Bach and Leos Janacek, Tanaka has been described as performing “with both dizzying speed and sensitivity.” She has performed internationally, including a special recital for former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Both concerts will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Capistrano Concert Hall. Tickets are $20 general, and $15 for seniors and students.
World Music will also continue with South Indian vocalist Sikkil C. Gurucharan performing on Saturday, Feb. 27. Gurucharan is an All India Radio artist and has been designated one of “35 Game Changers Under 35 in India” by India Today.
Violinist M. Narmadha will perform Sunday, April 10. She is a career gold medalist and top-grade artiste of All India Radio, and is the most sought-after violin soloist in Carnatic and Hindustani music traditions.
Both concerts will be at 7 p.m. at the Capistrano Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 general, $12 for seniors, and $8 for students.
Tandem Duo will perform as a special guest at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in Capistrano 151. Comprising violinist Sarah Off and marimba/percussionist Marilyn Clark Silva, the duo performs original and commissioned music as well as established works. The two musicians strive to fit the repertoire to the specific audience while expanding the sonic experience for concertgoers. Tickets are $10 general, $7 for seniors, and $5 for students.
The School of Music’s talented faculty will be featured in two concerts.
Professor Lorna Peters will perform on harpsichord, joined by violinist Jubal Fulks as the duo Corde à Vide at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16. Their program includes works by Bach, Telemann, Couperin and Biber.
Piano instructor Kirsten Smith will perform with her brother, cellist Brinton Smith, at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 12. They will perform works by Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, de Falla, and Gershwin.
Both concerts are in Capistrano Hall 151. Tickets are $10 general, $7 for seniors, and $5 for students.
An array of musical offerings will be presented by the school’s students.
The Opera Theatre program will present Ill Matrimonio Segreto (The Secret Marriage) by Domenico Cimarosa. This popular comic opera tells the tale of the secretly married Carolina and Paolino, who must now contend with Count Robinson, who is infatuated with Carolina. It will be performed in Italian with English supertitles projected above the stage. Performances are at 8 p.m. May 5-6, and 2 p.m. May 8. All performances will be on the University Theatre main stage in Shasta Hall. Tickets are $15 general, $12 for seniors, and $8 for students.
Opera Theatre also will bring back the popular Opera For Lunch. Bring your own lunch to Capistrano Hall 143 at noon Friday, May 13, and enjoy the free operetta, Bastien and Bastienne.
The School of Music’s Men’s Chorus and Women’s Chorus will get together Saturday, March 12, for the popular Choralfest spring concert, with guest choirs from Antelope and Folsom high schools, and John Adams Academy. The Men’s, Women’s and University choruses will gather again Saturday, May 7. Both concerts are at 8 p.m. at Sacred Heart Church, 39th and J streets. Tickets are $10 general, $7 seniors, and $5 students.
Jazz will come to campus Saturday, Feb. 13, when the School of Music once again hosts the Traditional Jazz Youth Band Festival, a daylong event in which local young musicians can perform noncompetitively in small combos. There will be continual performances from 8 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. at Capistrano Hall, with a special 7 p.m. concert featuring jazz great Wycliffe Gordon. The cost is $12 at the door general, free for students with ID.
The school’s own Jazz Ensembles will perform Thursday, March 3, and will welcome the Pleasant Grove High School Jazz Ensemble as a special guest. The Ensembles will perform again Thursday, April 21, with guest performer the Rio Americano High School Jazz Ensemble. Both concerts will be at 8 p.m. at the Capistrano Concert Hall.
The Vocal Jazz Ensembles will then take the Concert Hall stage at 7 p.m. Friday, May 13.
Music with a seasoning of Afro-Cuban influences will be heard when the Latin Jazz Ensemble performs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, in the Capistrano Concert Hall.
Tickets for all Ensembles’ concerts are $10 general, $7 seniors, and $5 students.
Retiring Professor Robert Halseth will begins his final semester at Sacramento State by leading the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in concert on Monday, Feb. 29. The Ensemble also will perform Saturday, April 9, and in a combined concert with the Concert Band on Wednesday, May 11.
The Concert Band will take the stage on its own Wednesday, March 2. All three concerts will be at 7:30 p.m. at Capistrano Concert Hall. Tickets are $10 general, $7 seniors, and $5 students.
Experience great classical music when the Symphony Orchestra performs March 15 and May 10. Both concerts will be at 8 p.m. at the Capistrano Concert Hall. Tickets are $10 general, $7 seniors, and $5 students.
The classical ensemble Camerata Capistrano will present terrific baroque music in concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at the Capistrano Concert Hall. Tickets are $10 general, $7 seniors, and $5 students.
The season will conclude with the University’s most charming concert. Young people from the fourth grade up in Sac State’s String Project receive affordable music instruction in the violin and cello by School of Music students. Their annual spring concert will be presented for free at 7 p.m. Monday, May 16, in the Capistrano Concert Hall.
For more information about the School of Music’s events or programs, visit www.csus.edu/music or call (916) 278-5191.
Art
The Art Department will host the University’s first art exhibit of the spring beginning Wednesday, Jan. 27, with a look at the history and global scope of hip-hop as interpreted by artists Jane Dickson and Joe Lewis. Running through Feb. 26 at Kadema Hall’s Robert Else Gallery, “Pump Up the Volume!” features paintings, photographs and more that explore this music form from its beginnings in the Bronx to its spread around the world.
Dickson’s work has been exhibited for 20 years around the world, including at The Whitney Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, and The Art Institute of Chicago. Lewis has done public commissions for Baltimore and Riverside; and has presented photographic installations in solo shows in Los Angeles, Newark, N.J., and Atlanta.
Bidou Yamaguchi reinterprets classics such as Mona Lisa as masks in the tradition of the Japanese Noh Theater in the exhibit “Traditions Transfigured: The Noh Masks of Bidou Yamaguchi.”“Pump up the Volume!” includes a special reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the gallery, followed by an artists’ dialogue from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Kadema Hall 145. Regular gallery hours are noon to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Other shows coming up at the Robert Else Gallery include the Student Awards Show, March 7-April 15, with a reception Wednesday, March 16; and the Senior Art Show, April 25-May 16, with a reception Friday, May 13.
As part of the Festival of the Arts, the department will present its annual Art History Symposium from 1 to 5 p.m. in Mariposa Hall 1001. This year’s topic is Hers & Hers: Women as Artists, Clients, and Consumers, focusing on art and artists of the 16th through 18th centuries. Keynote speaker will be Italian Art Society President Sheryl E. Reiss, who will speak on “Noble Exemplars of Their Sex: Tomb Monuments Commissioned for and by Women During the Italian Renaissance.”
Sac State and Sacramento City College once again will trade artworks for The Exchange Show. City College students will display their work at Kadema Hall’s Witt Gallery from March 7-18 with a reception Wednesday, March 16. The Witt also will continue to host student works throughout the semester.
Three-dimensional representations of famous classical portraits will be on display at the University Library Gallery in “Traditions Transfigured: The Noh Masks of Bidou Yamaguchi.” Yamaguchi takes the images of paintings such as the Mona Lisa and creates masks of them in the tradition of the Japanese Noh Theater.
The exhibit will open with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, and run through Saturday, May 21. A lecture by CSU Long Beach Art Professor Kendall H. Brown will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 13. A presentation by Yamaguchi with Brown will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 14, followed by a workshop April 15-17. Collector Steve McLeod will present a lecture at 2 p.m. Friday, April 15.
Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Art students, faculty, patrons and the general public are invited to celebrate the end of the semester with the annual Art Ball on May 13, beginning at 5 p.m., in the Kadema Hall breezeway.
For more information on Art Department exhibits and programs, visit www.al.csus.edu/art or call (916) 278-6166.
Information about the University Library Gallery is available at www.al.csus.edu/sota/ulg or by calling (916) 278-4189.
The stage plays, dance performances, music concerts, art exhibits, and festivals are part of Sacramento State’s College of Arts and Letters. For more information about the college, visit www.csus.edu/al or call (916) 278-6502. – Craig Koscho