Food and memories

The Matter of Taste, a production of the Department of Theatre and Dance, continues tonight (May 21) and this weekend at the Wyatt Pavilion Theatre.

Described as an exploration of food and memories, and the social redefining of what might be considered “good” and “bad” taste. Directed by spring quarter Granada Artist-in-Residence Anna Fenemore.

Show times: 8 p.m. May 21 and 22, and 2 p.m. May 23. The production includes food tastings for audience members, and post-performance sales of food connected to the show. Also, the show’s live music continues after the show, for outdoor dancing.

Tickets are available through the Mondavi Center box office: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org.

Earlier coverage: “The Matter of Taste, food and memories on stage and off” (May 14, 2010)

Production blog

Read a student's account of her participation in The Matter of Taste.

More music in May

The Department of Music calendar for next week includes several recitals and an Undergraduate Composers Concert.

The composers concert, free and open to the public, is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. May 26 in 115 Music Building. The composers: Mark Bjerke, Lisa Eleazarian and Paul Watkins.

The complete calendar, including all the recitals.

More of our music makers

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

• Concert Bands — Program includes Johan de Meij’s Symphony No. 1 (The Lord of the Rings); Pedro Iturralde’s Pequeña Czarda, with Keith Bohm, saxophone; Roger Nixon’s Mondavi Fanfare (2003); Gustav Holst’s First Suite in E-flat Major; and Steven Bryant’s Suite Dreams. 7 p.m. May 26, Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

• University Chorus — Brahms’ 4 Gesänge, op. 17; Duruflé’s Messe Cum Jubilo; and Rutter’s Requiem. 7 p.m. May 28, Jackson Hall.

Tickets 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.

Japanese concert at I-House

International House announced a concert of Japanese music, being presented in memory of I-House founder Shunta Yamamoto.

The concert is scheduled for 3 p.m. May 23; organizers said admission is free, with donations accepted. I-House is at 10 College Park, off Russell Boulevard and opposite Howard Way at the north edge of campus.

Elisabeth Sherwin, executive director of I-House, said Yamamoto and her husband, from Tokyo, came to Davis in the late 1970s with the idea of starting an international house dedicated to creating a global community.

“This was a popular idea, and members of the community worked with the Yamamotos to make it come true,” Sherwin said.

The organizers formally established a nonprofit corporation in 1981 and bought the house at 10 College Park two years later, through a generous gift from the Yamamotos. International House Davis opened in March 1984.

Davis resident Sumiyo Tamura Guerena (known as Naoko) is the concert organizer and one the musicians (playing the koto and shamisen). The other musicians: Kyokuto Kimura (biwa) and Philip Gelb (shakuhachi).

Two similar concerts took place at I-House in 2006 and ’07. The concert is free and donations will be accepted.

“This will be a beautiful, traditional Japanese music concert,” Sherwin said. “It is a rare event, and we are extremely lucky to have these world-class musicians sharing their talents with us.”

For more information about I-House or the concert, contact Sherwin at (530) 753-5007.

Author events

The UC Davis Bookstore is sponsoring two author events next week:

• John Smolenski, assistant professor, history — Friends and Strangers: The Making of a Creole Culture in Colonial Pennsylvania. Noon-1:30 p.m. May 25, bookstore lounge.

• Karma Waltonen, lecturer, University Writing Program — The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield. 7-8:30 p.m. May 26, Bistro 33, in Davis’ old City Hall, 226 F St. (near Third Street).

Earlier coverage: "Writers in the classroom, in the bookstore, in the arboretum" (May 14, 2010)