Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts summer series to feature world premiere of jazz group, Connecticut premiere of dance work
Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts summer events include
world premiere of Joe Lovano Trio Fascination with special guest vocalist Judi Silvano;
Connecticut premiere of an excerpt of a dance work by Camille A. Brown & Dancers;
free concerts by Zili Misik, Neely Bruce;
free noontime talks by Banning Eyre, James Grashow, Aaron Jafferis.
Middletown, Conn.—Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts summer series includes the world premiere of the jazz group Joe Lovano Trio Fascination with special guest vocalist Judi Silvano (July 17); the Connecticut premiere of an excerpt of a dance work by Camille A. Brown & Dancers (July 11); free concerts by Zili Misik (July 2) and Neely Bruce (July 20); and free noontime talks by Banning Eyre (July 1), James Grashow (July 8), and Aaron Jafferis (July 15). Please see full event listings below.
Tickets for Joe Lovano Trio Fascination with special guest vocalist Judi Silvano, and Camille A. Brown & Dancers, are available online now at http://www.wesleyan.edu/boxoffice. Tickets will also be available starting on Monday, June 16, 2014 at Noon by phone at (860) 685-3355, or in person at the Wesleyan University Box Office, located in the Usdan University Center, 45 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. The box office will be open Monday to Friday from Noon to 4pm. Tickets may also be purchased at each event beginning one hour prior to the performance, subject to availability. The Center for the Arts accepts cash, checks written to “Wesleyan University,” and all major credit cards. Groups of ten or more may receive a discount on tickets–please call (860) 685-3355 starting on Monday, June 16, 2014 for details. No refunds, cancellations, or exchanges.
All programs, artists and dates are subject to change. All Center for the Arts facilities are air-conditioned. "Summer at the Center for the Arts" is co-sponsored by the Capital Regional Education Council's Center for Creative Youth.
Summer at the Center for the Arts (July 1-20, 2014)
Tuesday, July 1, 2014 at 12:10pm
Banning Eyre: Tales from the Afropop Road—Bringing the World to American Public Radio
CFA Hall, 287 Washington Terrace, Middletown, Connecticut
FREE!
Banning Eyre is an author, guitarist, journalist, and Senior Editor at Afropop.org. His work with the public radio series Afropop Worldwide has taken him to over a dozen African countries to research local music, especially guitar styles; he recently completed a five-part radio series on music and history in Egypt. Mr. Eyre comments on world music for NPR's All Things Considered, and will soon publish a book about Thomas Mapfumo and the history of Zimbabwe.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 at 7pm
Zili Misik
CFA Courtyard, 283 Washington Terrace, Middletown, Connecticut
Rain Location: Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown, Connecticut
FREE!
Dance to the powerful New World Soul rhythms of Zili Misik! Based in Boston, the all-female group was founded by Kera M. Washington '95, who was a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Hand Drumming Competition. The band traces their roots to five countries and three continents, and has been bridging cultures since 2005, opening for artists such as Boukman Eksperyans and Zap Mama. Reconnecting Haitian and Jamaican roots music with the West African influences in Brazilian samba, Cuban son, and American neo soul, Zili Misik's original creations and traditional folksongs feature five vocalists singing lyrics in English, Kreyol, Portuguese, and Spanish over trombone, sax, piano, bass, guitar, drums, and percussion.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014 at 12:10pm
James Grashow: Art and Cardboard
CFA Hall, 287 Washington Terrace, Middletown, Connecticut
FREE!
Connecticut sculptor, woodcutter and mixed-media artist James Grashow has been creating works that address themes of man, nature, and mortality since his first sculpture show at the Allan Stone Gallery in 1966. He returns to Wesleyan to discuss his recent work with corrugated cardboard.
Friday, July 11, 2014 at 8pm
Camille A. Brown & Dancers
CFA Theater, 271 Washington Terrace, Middletown, Connecticut
$22 general public; $19 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni; $10 students
"Brown's combination of dance styles, precision and fluidity, and remarkable musicality were enthralling."
—Pittsburgh Tribune
Camille A. Brown & Dancers return to Wesleyan following their sold-out appearance during the DanceMasters Weekend Showcase Performance in March 2012 with the Connecticut premiere of an excerpt from Mr. TOL E. RAncE (2012), as well as the work-in-progress Black Girl, which will premiere at The Joyce Theater in New York in 2015.
Drawing on Melissa Harris-Perry's Sister Citizen, the spellbinding photography of Carrie Mae Weems, and the fantastical imagery depicted in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, the multimedia work Black Girl depicts the complexities of carving out a positive identity as a black female in urban American culture.
Inspired by Spike Lee's controversial movie Bamboozled and the book On The Real Side by Mel Watkins, Mr. TOL E. RAncE celebrates the humor and perseverance of the black performer, and examines stereotypical roles dominating current popular black culture. Through comedy, original music, animation, theater, and poignantly retrospective dance vocabulary, the personal work speaks to the issue of tolerance.
Artistic Director Camille A. Brown was the winner of the 2012 Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award.
Made possible by a grant from the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Black Girl was commissioned by DANCECleveland through a 2014 Joyce Award from the Joyce Foundation.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at 12:10pm
Aaron Jafferis: How to Change the World with Hip-Hop Theater
World Music Hall, 40 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown, Connecticut
FREE!
Aaron Jafferis is a hip-hop poet and playwright whose musicals include Stuck Elevator, Kingdom, Shakespeare: The Remix, No Lie, Blood Magic, and How to Break, which have been produced at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, among many other venues. Mr. Jafferis has written poetry for Urban Bush Women and The Nation, and performed at the Kennedy Center and the National Poetry Slam Championships, where he is a former Open Rap Slam champion. He teaches poetry and hip-hop theater in schools, hospitals, and detention centers in his hometown of New Haven, Connecticut. At Wesleyan, Mr. Jafferis will discuss his work and demonstrate his approach to hip-hop theater.
Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 8pm
Joe Lovano Trio Fascination with special guest vocalist Judi Silvano
Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown, Connecticut
$25 general public; $22 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni; $10 students
"It's fair to say that [Lovano] is one of the greatest musicians in jazz history."
—Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Joe Lovano has searched for new modes of artistic expression within the jazz idiom for over three decades, performing with many artists including Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bill Frisell, Bobby Hutcherson, Ed Blackwell, Dave Liebman, and Eric Harland. Mr. Lovano's recent recordings on Blue Note have featured James Weidman and Lionel Loueke. This performance at Wesleyan will be the world premiere of Joe Lovano Trio Fascination with bassist Peter Slavov, drummer Lamy Istrefi, and special guest vocalist Judi Silvano.
Sunday, July 20, 2014 at 3pm
This Is It! The Complete Piano Works of Neely Bruce: Part III
Performed by the composer
Crowell Concert Hall, 50 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown, Connecticut
FREE!
John Spencer Camp Professor of Music Neely Bruce presents the third of twelve CD-length recitals of his piano music. This recital will feature Geographical Preludes, 36 short pieces composed from sketches made in 30 towns in the continental United States, including Alpharetta, Birmingham, Buena Vista, Cape Canaveral, Champaign, and Damariscotta.