Poetry summit and slam

Hundreds of middle and high school students from around the region are attending a UC Davis-sponsored poetry event today (May 7): the second annual Sacramento Area Youth Speak (SAYS) Summit. An accompanying competition, the SAYS Slam, is set to begin at 6 p.m. in Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

The School of Education is hosting today's program, which began at 9 a.m. with a town hall meeting and workshops on writing, social justice and youth empowerment. This year's contest is titled "Learning Literacy Leadership for 2010:
School Is My Hustle."

The SAYS Slam competition began a month ago with semifinal rounds, leading up to tonight's finals. The top six poets are due to represent Sacramento at Brave New Voices, an international youth poetry slam scheduled to take place in Los Angeles in July.

The SAYS Summit is the culmination of year-round programming in schools. Youth from different communities and economic and ethnic backgrounds come together to learn and celebrate their accomplishments. Students also develop plans for school improvement and community change.

"Our goal is to create a literary community where everyone's narrative matters and contributes, not only to the classroom, but also to the critical conversations of our world," said Jason Mateo, director of the youth literacy program.

Organizers said Rudy Corpuz, director of United Playaz, a violence prevention and youth leadership organization in San Francisco, will deliver the keynote address.

Slam finals tickets: $5 for ages 21 and under, $15 for others, available at the Mondavi Center box office, (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org.

More music in May-June

UC Davis music groups are giving us a spring to remember, with eight more concerts on the calendar through June 3.

Here are the next few events:

• Early Music Ensemble — Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, with the Whole Noyse and members of the UC Davis Baroque Ensemble. 8 p.m. May 15, Davis Community Church, 412 C St.

• Symphony Orchestra — Beethoven: Overture and incidental music to “Egmont,” with Susannah Biller, soprano, and Bella Merlin, narrator; and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 in E Minor. 8 p.m. May 16, Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

• Jazz Bands — Organ and Big Band. 7 p.m., Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center.

• Gospel Choir — 7 p.m. May 22, Freeborn Hall.

Tickets for all events except the Early Music Ensemble concert are available through the Mondavi Center box office: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org. (Purchases for the Gospel Choir concert can be made only in person or by phone, not online). The Early Music Ensemble suggests donations at the door.

Well-sculpted field trip

A half-dozen or so seats remained at midweek for a Nelson ARTfriends bus trip to see the sculpture park at Oliver Ranch in Geyserville, Sonoma County. The outing is scheduled for May 22.

The cost, including lunch, is $100 for members, $125 for nonmembers, and $75 for students (limit five students). Reservations are due by May 10 to Katrina Wong, (530) 752-8500 or kliwong@ucdavis.edu.