The Arts
Past Events
Music by Percy Grainger, Arturo Márquez, and Aaron Copland. James Osborn, conductor.
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
Do you know someone who has been meaning to visit the Loeb but hasn’t made it happen yet? Or someone who thinks art isn’t for them, and you’d like to convince them otherwise? Please join us for our second annual Bring a Friend Day, and enjoy a day full of activities—together. The day’s offerings include art-making, engaging mini-tours, and light refreshments.
Gathering historic and contemporary art in various media, the exhibition invites viewers to explore how the Hudson Valley has been pictured as a place both proximate to the city and its opposite—a “great green hope” as much fantasy as reality. Artists Tanya Marcuse, Qiana Mestrich, and Lisa Sanditz will discuss how their work responds to the Hudson Valley landscape in myth and reality.
Adrian Morjean, bassoon, Alex Davis, bassoon, Joshua Hodge, bassoon, Brad Balliett, bassoon & contrabassoon, Mark Risinger, bass, Richard Wilson, piano.
Jackson has worked experimentally across genres including drawing, painting, printmaking, bookmaking, poetry, dance, theater, and costume design.
Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the first researcher to explore the full depths of Audre Lorde’s manuscript archives, will give a talk on her new book, Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde. Open to the public.
Join Paul Bellino, tenor trombone and Tom Hutchinson, tenor trombone, Bill Whitaker, bass trombone, and Dan Peck, tuba, for music arranged for the low brass section of the orchestra.
The Drama Department is delighted to welcome Leigh Silverman, a two-time Tony nominated director, who will speak with Professor Amanda Culp about her varied and impressive career and reflect on the ever-evolving landscape of American theater. Open to the public, reservations required.
A dance workshop featuring Dance student participants. Open for observation, first come/first served. Refreshments will be available.
Campus community only, please.
A program of music by Unsuk Chin (in C, Grains), Richard Wilson (Diablerie) and Luciano Berio (Sequenza III per voce) will be capped by a large-ensemble performance of the aleatoric minimalist classic In C by Terry Riley. Performers include festival co-directors Drew Minter and Thomas Sauer, violinist Marka Young, and an ensemble drawn from the Vassar College Orchestra and Choirs.
MODfest 2025
Does music shape the instruments we choose, or does the instrument determine the music? When it comes to electronic music, the answer is: both. Join Drake Andersen on a historical exploration of how new technologies for making and enjoying music developed over the past one hundred years continue to both reflect and shape our musical experiences and expectations.
MODfest 2025
Metropolis Reimagined is a new scoring of the 1984 restoration of Fritz Lang’s classic film, performed live by acclaimed pianist Po-Wei Ger and electronic artist Drake Andersen.
MODfest 2025
Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre performs works created by faculty, students, and guest choreographers, selected from the current repertory. The program includes a special appearance by dancers from the Parul Shah Dance Company, whose work harnesses the expressive power of Indian classical dance to promote cultural understanding and explore questions around identity and humanity.
MODfest 2025
A case-side talk and reception with Andrea Burgay, editor, director, and founder of Cut Me Up Magazine. This exhibition represents the collaborative efforts of the guest curators and published artists, who have shaped every issue of the magazine. Open to the public.
In this lecture-performance, Alexander Bonus, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, will survey past expressions of sonic disorder in music by Haydn, Beethoven, and Mahler, among others.
MODfest 2025
This musical and spoken performance weaves together an array of creatively indeterminate works.
MODfest 2025
Certified Feldenkrais practitioners Carolyn Palmer and Drew Minter will lead two lessons and speak about the method.
MODfest 2025
Daniel J. Levitin, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, McGill University, will uncover the latest findings in the rapidly developing field of how music can be used to treat injury and disease and promote wellness.
MODfest 2025
A lecture by José Perillán, Associate Professor of Physics and Science, Technology, and Society Program (STS) Director.
MODfest 2025
A performance of Stimmung, a highly influential avant-garde work that provided inspiration for the spectral composition school that emerged in Paris during the 1970’s.
MODfest 2025
Prudence Fenton ’75 will be featured at a screening of a documentary she co-produced about her partner, the songwriter Allee Willis. Open to the public.
Jess T. Dugan is a renowned photographer whose captivating family portrait, Self-portrait with Vanessa and Elinor (2 days old), is a highlight of Reproductive: Health, Fertility, Agency. Their work is informed by their own life experiences, including their identity as a queer and nonbinary person, and reflects a deep belief in the importance of representation and the transformative power of storytelling.
William’s sculptures, works on paper, and prints draw inspiration from music, literature, nature, and the art of the African diaspora.
MODfest 2025
A showcase featuring highlights from the fall Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre (VRDT) dance concert, a performance by NYC’s Battery Dance Company, and works created through Dancing to Connect, a collaboration between Vassar College and Poughkeepsie High School students. Open to the public.
This annual Advent service at the Vassar College Chapel features readings, choral anthems, and congregational carols, culminating in a candle lighting ceremony. Vassar College Choir, Chamber Singers and Treble Chorus, and Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir will perform.
Music by Bernstein, Auerbach, Prokofiev, and Kovács.
Join us for our 20-30 minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. Eduardo Navega, director.
James Osborn, director
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
A student-organized exhibition of work by studio art majors and correlates. Free and open to the public.
Drew Minter, conductor
Eduardo Navega, conductor
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
The Ghost Sonata (1907) by seminal Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849–1912), translation by Evert Sprinchorn, follows a young man’s increasing realization of the world’s wickedness. Open to the public. Reservations are required.
Join us for our 20-30 minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. Eduardo Navega, director
These are the first performances by VRDT for the 2024/25 season. Each evening features jazz, ballet, modern and contemporary choreography by faculty and students. The world premiere of guest choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie will also be showcased during this performance. Reservations required.
Artist and MacArthur Fellow Nicole Eisenman will discuss her work.
The Film Department and Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies presents a screening of some of Peggy Ahwesh’s short films, followed by a Q&A session moderated by Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Carl Elsaesser.
Campus community only, please.
Mae M. Ngai, Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History at Columbia University, is a U.S. legal and political historian interested in the histories of immigration, citizenship, nationalism, and the Chinese diaspora. This event is open to the public.
Eduardo Navega, conductor
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
Join us for our 20-30 minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. Eduardo Navega, director
Whitehead has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Open to the public, no reservations required.
James Osborn, conductor
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
Susan Bialek, conductor
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
Join us for our 20-30 minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. Eduardo Navega, director.
Laments and farewells in Gaelic and Scots from the 16th–18th century Scottish Highland repertoire for voice and harp, composed, collected or inspired by women. James Ruff, Tenor & Early Gaelic Harp.
An Agnes Rindge Claflin Lecture by New Yorker magazine staff writer and critic Hilton Als.
A different take on the music for harpsichord, with guitar and violin. The program includes music by Bach, Martinû, Milhaud, Wilson, and others. Marija Ilić, harpsichord, Roberto Granados, guitar, Anna Elashvili, violin.
A harp, viola, and flute program of works by primarily modern and contemporary composers inspired by the natural world. The Walden Trio: Chelsea Lane, harp, Ginevra Petrucci, flute, Maren Rothfritz, viola.
A play and a senior Drama project.
Campus guests only, please.
Reservations required: please contact [email protected].
Palmer Gallery exhibit. Artist’s Reception: Nov. 1, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation) is an acclaimed multidisciplinary artist whose work has long advocated for recognition of historic and ongoing forms of oppression of Indigenous peoples in the US and globally.