Michael Sand, on violin, is noon concert Thursday

March 31, 12:05–1 p.m., Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center, Free, a Shinkoskey Noon Concert

Michael Sand, violinist and UC Davis lecturer in music, will perform a transcription of J.S. Bach’s Third Cello Suite, originally for solo cello, and two Heinrich Ignaz Franz (H.I.F.) Biber violin sonatas accompanied by recently retired UC Davis lecturer in music Phebe Craig, harpsichord.

The program includes H. I. F. Biber: Sonata X (‘Crucifixion’ from the “Rosary Sonatas”), J. S. Bach: Cello Suite No. 3, BWV 1009, transcribed for violin, and H. I. F. Biber: Sonata XIV (‘Assumption’ from the “Rosary Sonatas”) 

Find a direct link to the livestream here.

UC Davis Arts Venue COVID-19 Protocols at a Glance

•  Manetti Shrem Museum: Timed tickets are no longer needed for entry. The museum remains free and welcomes drop-in visitors during its open hours of Thursday-Monday
• At the Mondavi, snacks and drinks are again available for purchase
• All venues: Masks no longer required, but strongly recommended. Completed daily symptom survey or proof of vaccination, (or proof of  negative test), are still required for entry
• Check each venue before attending for most up-to-date information and the UC Davis main site here.

 

Sinfonia Spirituosa: 'Ritournelle — The Return' Friday night at Pitzer

Friday, April 1, 7–8:30 p.m.

Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center, $12 Students and Children / $24 Adults

Founded in Sacramento, Sinfonia Spirituosa brings leading Baroque instrumentalists together to perform a program titled ”Ritournelle — The Return” composed mostly of works by renowned French Baroque composers known especially for their exquisite ornamentations.

The program includes Jean-Baptiste Lully: Concert donné au soupé du Roy (Music for the King’s Supper), G. P. Telemann: Overture-Suite in D Major, TWV 55:D6 with Eva Lymenstull, viola da gamba, François Couperin: La Sultane and Jean-Philippe Rameau: “Ritournelle vive” from Dardanus; “Ritournelle” from Hippolyte et Aricie; “Entrée de Polimnie” from Les Boréades; “Gavottes pour les heures et les zephirs” from Les Boréades; and “Orage“ from Platée

Find a direct link to the livestream here.

Purchase tickets here.

‘Sankofa,’ an MFA project, in Davis, this weekend and next

Veterans Memorial Theatre

April 1, 7–8:30 p.m.; April 2, 7–8:30 p.m.; April 3, 2–3:30 p.m.; April 9, 7–8:30 p.m.; and April 10,  2–3:30 p.m.

In conjunction with the Culture C.O-O.P. and Bike City Theater Company, UC Davis graduate students Joseph Fletcher and J.R. Yancher in the Department of Theatre and Dance present Sankofa as their MFA theses.  

Sankofa is a new play adapted from UC Davis alumna Sandy Lynne Holman’s award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Is Everything Black Bad? This collaboration is the culmination of a year and a half of interning and learning by Fletcher and Yancher at Culture C.O.-O.P. under director Sandy Lynne Holman (B.A., psychology). Its focus is the praxis of a new work creation process in co-design with non-arts community partners in order to help further their goals and aspirations. Holman and Yancher co-wrote Sankofa along with alumnus Jordan Brownlee (B.A., cinema and digital media ‘20).  

This workshop production will be performed April 1, 2 and 9 at 7 p.m. and April 3 and 10 at 2 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Theatre in Davis (203 E 14th St.). Admission is “Pay what you can” at the door. 

About the show: Montsho does not like his Black skin. Head hung low, he and his parents visit Grandpa for their first Kwanzaa celebration. Grandpa sizes up the situation and turns to the family Sankofa book, which expresses the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present to address universal questions of race and belonging. Black historical figures leap off the page as they tell stories of ancient Kemet, barnstormers, Black Wall Street, and more. The family brings the principles of Kwanzaa to life and strengthens their bonds and rediscovers the heritage that comes with being Black.

Directed by graduate student Edward Talton-Jackson with support from Fletcher who is producer and creative supervisor, the play features UC Davis students and alumni onstage and behind the scenes. The cast includes Jasmine Washington (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘18) and undergraduate student V’santi Tobey. Offstage alumna Melissa Cunha (B.A., theatre and dance and cinema and digital media) and undergraduate student Madeline Weissenberg are the stage managers.   

‘The Photographer’s Moment’ opens at Gallery 625; reception Friday

The photographer is both the subject and artist in the new exhibition The Photographer’s Moment opening at YoloArts Gallery 625 in Woodland on Friday, April 1. This solo show of photographs by Joseph Finkleman explores photographers – from the professional to the casual selfie taker.  

The exhibition is part of a larger regional celebration of April’s Photography Month coordinated by Viewpoint Photographic Art Center in Sacramento.  

 In his artist statement for the show, Finkleman says:  

“For the last 10 years I have been pursuing my vision of what photography is to me while photographing other photographers while they pursued the image of the day. The photographs in this exhibit reflect that decisive moment when I see a story — a story about photographers creating their own personal decisive moment. I am using my ability to tell a story to you, visually with my photographs… I think that an image is figurative in itself, so instead of writing with words I want to show you in pictures why I love photographers figuratively.” 

The Photographer’s Moment is a creative collection of images of professional photographers at work and everyday people taking selfies with cell phones.  

The artist will attend the opening reception, 5:30–8 p.m. Friday,  April 1, coinciding with the downtown Woodland First Friday event. Music will be performed by The Jane Thompson Trio musicians: Jane Thompson, John Spivack, Mike Bender — and light refreshments will be available. From 6:30 to 7 p.m. artist Finkleman will talk about the power of photography and how it has become a part of our daily lives. He will discuss his work, his passion for photographers, and the enchantment of “the photographer’s moment.”

The exhibit runs through May 31.

Gallery 625, located at 625 Court Street in Woodland, in Yolo County's Erwin Meier Administration building. The gallery is open Monday– Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m.  Exhibition artwork is also available for online viewing, at https://yoloarts.org/online-galleries/#current.

Face coverings are recommended, but not required in the gallery. 

For more information contact YoloArts at ya@yoloarts.org.

Currently on view at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art

William T. Wiley and the Slant Step: All on the Line

Five years in the making, this exhibition features Wiley’s formative early works and is designed to evoke his Mill Valley studio. It also reunites various works inspired by the odd, iconic Slant Step art object, and will debut a brand-new digital Slant Step work by Wiley’s grad student, Bruce Nauman. Curator Dan Nadel worked closely with Wiley before his death in April 2021. Through May 8.

Mary Heilmann: Squaring Davis

California native, Heilmann did an independent study with Wiley and also became friendly with Bruce Nauman in the late 1960s. Although she moved to New York and went on to become a preeminent contemporary abstract painter, her time in California during the 1960s was an important influence on her work. This focus show reunites her rarely seen early sculpture and a series of “Davis Square” paintings she created in 1977. Curator: Dan Nadel. Through May 8.

From Moment to Movement: Picturing Protest in the Kramlich Collection

Drawn primarily from the renowned Bay Area-based Kramlich Collection, the exhibition brings together an international, intergenerational group of artists: UC Davis Professor Art Shiva Ahmadi, Dara Birnbaum, Kota Ezawa, Theaster Gates, Nalini Malani and Mikhael Subotzky. Each work examines a different event grounded in the real world, using specific moments from the United States, China, India and South Africa to explore protest from different angles: resistance; the role of media in our understanding of events; and the power and politics of viewing. Curator: Susie Kantor. Through June 19.

Visit manettishrem.org for more information.

‘Hunchback’ at the Historic Woodland Opera House

The Hunchback of Notre Dame runs through Sunday, April 3. Shows on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.

Currently onstage at the historic Woodland Opera House is the musical, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Based on the Victor Hugo novel, and with new songs by the Academy Award winning team of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, it tells the compelling story of Quasimodo and his tragic existence as the captive bell ringer of the famed Notre Dame Cathedral in 15th-century Paris. Appropriate for audiences aged 13+ (PG-13 rating: some material may not be suitable for children under age 13). 

Reserved Seating Tickets: $25 Adults, $23 Seniors (62+), and $12 Children under 17. Balcony Seating Tickets: $15 Adults and $7 Children 17 and under. Purchase tickets online at www.woodlandoperahouse.org or by phone at (530) 666-9617 or in person at the Woodland Opera House box office. Box office hours are Tuesday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In accordance with the updated indoor mask requirements from the State of California and Yolo County, masks are no longer required in the Woodland Opera House facilities.

The Woodland Opera House is located at 340 Second Street, Woodland.

Coming Up

Duo Axis: Works by Graduate Student Composers

April 7, 12:05–1 p.m.

Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center, Free, a Shinkoskey Noon Concert

The UC Davis program includes Emily Joy Sullivan: shedding blue sparks​, Joseph Donald Peterson: Bare Bones, Joseph Vasinda: Under Cover of Night, Bryndan Moondy: GlintF and Dean Kervin Boursiquot: Speak for yo’ self!

Duo Axis (Zach Sheets, flute, and Wei-Han Wu, piano) frequently collaborate with composers to create new works and foster a spirit of innovation and reciprocity. In this, their first of two programs while in residence at UC Davis they present a set of world premieres by graduate student composers at UC Davis. The second program takes place on Friday, April 8, at 7 p.m., called “Duo@50,” which is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of a particular Aaron Copland duet.

Find more information here.

Arts Social Media of the Week

This week, our social media of the week is also a story about the noon concert Thursday.