Le Jazz Hot Quartet plays in the style and spirit of Django Reinhardt for noon concert

Thursday, Feb. 27, 12:05 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center

The Shinkoskey Noon Concert series presents Le Jazz Hot Quartet which plays in the style and spirit of Django Reinhardt on Feb. 27. The quartet is comprised of members of the Hot Club of San Francisco, an American gypsy jazz band. Led by guitarist Paul “Pazzo” Mehling, the quartet includes Evan Price, violin, Jordan Samuels, guitar, and Dexter Williams, bass. The quartet performs arrangements of gypsy jazz standards, pop songs, and original compositions by Mehling.

The free performance is made possible with support from the Joy S. Shinkoskey Series of Noon Concert Endowment.

UC Davis Art Lecture Series features Torkwase Dyson whose work explores ecology, infrastructure, architecture  

Thursday, Feb. 27, 4:30-6 p.m.

Change of venue: Main Theatre in Wright Hall

Torkwase Dyson describes herself as a painter working across multiple mediums to explore the continuity between ecology, infrastructure and architecture. She works in painting, drawing and sculpture, and her abstract works examine human geography and the history of Black spatial liberation strategies, often grappling with the ways in which space is perceived, imagined and negotiated particularly by black and brown bodies. Throughout her work and research, Dyson confronts issues of environmental liberation and envisions a path toward a more equitable future. 

Her work was included in the Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better than the Real Thing, and was the focus of solo exhibitions at ‘T’ Space Rhinebeck, New York, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. 

This event is organized by The California Studio: Manetti Shrem Artist Residences in the Maria Manetti Shrem Art Studio Program. Co-sponsored by the Manetti Shrem Museum.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields Performance dazzles the Jackson Hall stage

Thursday, Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields continues to push the boundaries of player-directed performance to new heights with fresh, brilliant interpretations of the world’s greatest orchestral music.

Appearing without famed music director Joshua Bell (who appears elsewhere this season in recital), they’ll be joined by Music Director of La Jolla Music Society Summerfest Inon Barnatan, filling in for soloist Bruce Liu. 

Inon Barnatan has received universal acclaim for his “uncommon sensitivity” (The New Yorker) and his “impeccable musicality and phrasing” (Le Figaro). A multifaceted musician, Barnatan is equally celebrated as soloist, curator and collaborator. As a soloist, Barnatan is a regular performer with many of the world’s foremost orchestras and conductors. He was the inaugural Artist-in-Association of the New York Philharmonic from 2014-17 and has played with the BBC Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and London Philharmonic, amongst many others.

Digital PDF: Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Get tickets here: Academy of St Martin in the Fields at the Mondavi Center

The Human Rights Film Festival continues with a screening of Borderland: The Line Within

Thursday, Feb. 27, 7-9 p.m., Room 1002, Cruess Hall, free

The Human Rights Film Festival, a collaboration of Human Rights Studies, Cinema and Digital Media, Global Affairs, and the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis, will share a screening of Borderland: The Line Within on Feb. 27. The festival’s screenings are part of a larger academic series, The UC Confronts Hate, Violence and Mass Atrocity: Conversations about Human Rights, Humanity and PeaceMaking administered by Human Rights Studies at UC Davis with funding from the UC Office of the President to develop educational programs to “combat antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of bias, bigotry and discrimination.”

Percussion Ensemble of UC Davis features Mayumi Hama

Friday, Feb. 28, 6-7:15 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center

Mayumi Hama, marimba
Chris Froh, marimba and UC Davis lecturer in music
with students of the UC Davis Percussion Ensemble

Program

Keiko Abe: Variations on Japanese Children’s Songs

Emmanuel Sejourné: Khamsin

Eric Whitacre: Sleep

Keiko Abe: Conversation in the Forest I

— Intermission — 

Yoshio Hachimura: Movement I from Ahania 

Toshiya Sukegawa: “He Who Runs Swiftly” from 5 Pieces After Paul Klee 

Zoë A. Wallace: History Teaches PREMIERE

Joseph Donald Peterson: Dovetailing PREMIERE

Guang Yang: Wooden Skeleton’s Whimsicals PREMIERE

Conlon Nancarrow: Study No. 5 PREMIERE

Ongoing Exhibitions on Campus

Read about ongoing art and design exhibitions in this Arts Blog story. 

Above art, Coyote dancer with flute #III, 1983, Acrylic wash/paper. (Courtesy/Gorman Museum of Native American Art).

The Department of Theatre and Dance presents ‘Small Mouth Sounds’ 

Various dates and times, Wyatt Pavilion Theatre

The Department of Theatre and Dance presents Beth Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds this winter. Directed by Granada Artist-in-Residence Peter J. Kuo, the minimalist work of experimental theater casts the audience as voyeurs in an entertaining adventure that gradually turns more serious. 

In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect.

Filled with awkward and insightful humor, Small Mouth Sounds is the unique and compassionate new play that asks how we address life’s biggest questions when words fail us. The New York Times called the play “as funny as it is, uh, quietly moving.”

Get tickets here: Small Mouth Sounds Tickets

Feb. 27, 28: 7-9 p.m.

March 1, 8:  2-4 p.m.

March 1, 6, 7: 7-9 p.m.

Content Warning: Adult language, themes and situations

UC Davis Concert Bands performance features Latinx composition 

Wednesday, March 5, 7 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Acclaimed soprano saxophonist Michael Hernandez appears with the UC Davis Concert Band to perform a concerto commissioned by the musician’s “Latinx Storytellers” Project. 

“Eyes to Look Otherwise,” the commissioned work composed by Juan Sebastián Cardona Ospin, drew its inspiration from three paintings by Mexican American artist Tino Rodriguez. The concerto is dedicated to Hernandez who performs with the Concert Band, directed by Pete Nowlen. The Concert Band’s program also includes performances of Kevin Charoensri’s Rising Light, Jennifer Jolley’s Lightway and Dennis Llinás: Un Cafecito.

The “Latinx Storytellers” Project was created by Hernandez to curate a truly unique multi-sensory experience full of new music for soprano saxophone, film, electronics and spoken word. “Latinx Storytellers” feature the voices of Latinx artists, their art and the stories of the artists who inspire them. 

Get tickets here: Concert Bands of UC Davis

Linda Sormin speaks about on site-responsive installations

Thursday, March 6, 4:30-6 p.m., at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art

Linda Sormin is a visual artist who creates sculptures and site-responsive installations using raw clay, fired ceramics, found objects and interactive methods. Her work explores themes of fragility, upheaval and transformation that reflect her diasporic experiences.

Sormin is an associate professor of Studio Art and Head of Ceramics at New York University. Her work is included in the permanent collections of institutions including the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Musics of the World, a perfect performance for the end of your Thursday

Thursday, March 6, 5-7 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center

Program

Hindustani Vocal Ensemble • Rita Sahai, director

Capoeira • Juan Diego Díaz, director

Bluegrass and Old Time String Band • Scott Linford, director

Mariachi • Oscar Garibay, director

Heni Savitri and Brian Rice bring culturally significant music to Davis

Thursday, March 6, 12:05 p.m., Ann E. Pitzer Center

Gamelan Ensemble • Heni Savitri, director

Afro-Cuban Ensemble • Brian Rice, director

Program

To be announced from the stage.

Heni Savitri began to study sindhènan (Javanese singing with gamelan) in 2002. In 2003 she won the competition for best singer in her native district of Wonogiri, Central Java. Upon enrolling in the Indonesian Arts Academy in Surakarta she was selected as the singer for many recordings of new faculty compositions and traditional works, representing the academy in the 2008 international vocal competition in Jakarta. She has recently been performing with gamelan groups in the United States, like Tufts University, Cornell University, the Indonesian Embassy, and more.

Brian Rice is a highly acclaimed performer, educator, and recording artist and one of the most versatile percussionists in the Bay Area. Though best known as a specialist in Brazilian and Cuban music, he can be heard playing a multitude of styles, and his percussion playing graces over sixty recordings.

‘The Book of Will’ comes to the Woodland Opera House next week

Various times and dates listed below, Woodland Opera House, 340 Second Street, Woodland

The Book of Will, written by Lauren Gunderson and directed by Cheryl Watson, explores the story behind the first publication of William Shakespeare's complete works, known as the First Folio. The play is set in 1619, a few years after Shakespeare's death. It centers around a group of his close friends and former acting company members, including Henry Condell and John Heminges, who are determined to preserve Shakespeare's legacy by compiling and publishing his plays.

March 7-9 – Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.

March 13-16 – Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

March 20-22 – Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Get tickets here: The Book of Will - Woodland Opera House