The Arts
Past Events
This biographical play performed by portraittheater Vienna brings to life the extraordinary mathematician Emmy Noether (1882–1935).
In advance of Diving into Math with Emmy Noether, a theater performance by portraittheater Vienna at Vassar on September 20, please join Vassar’s Engaging Sciences Book Club for a conversation with author David Rose, director Sandra Schüddekopf, and actress Anita Zieher. Campus community only, please.
A celebration of the Palmer Gallery’s latest exhibition on its last day at the gallery. Evoking the mystery and power of nature through intensely materialist and tactile forms and imagery, Marieken Cochius’s work explores the porous boundary between what is seen and felt, where perception and experience merge.
Vassar faculty member Danielle Farina, viola, and guest Anthony Newman, harpsichord, present the music of J.S. Bach featuring Bach’s Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord, the Chromatic Fantasy in D minor, and Bach’s Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor.
George Balanchine was one of the most influential 20th century choreographers. Released in September 2021, this film includes newly discovered archival footage of Balanchine and his dancers. Director Connie Hochman will lead a Q&A following the film. Campus community only, please.
Trio 212, a New York City-based reed trio, pushes the boundaries of the reed trio repertoire. Vassar faculty member Ian Tyson, clarinet, and guests Mark Sophia, oboe, and Joshua Hodge, bassoon, will present a program by Huguenin, Françaix, Auric, Montano, and Mozart.
Enter your play! Accepting submissions from all Vassar juniors and seniors from any academic discipline from now until January 20, 2023.
A month-long online art auction and three-day, in-person sale to support the Vassar Haiti Project’s Education Initiative in Chermaitre, a rural village in northwest Haiti. Hundreds of original paintings and handcrafts made in Haiti will be offered.
Chacon, the first Native American awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music, will join Loeb curator John P. Murphy for a conversation about art, music, and Indigenous cultural expression. Their dialogue will be followed by a performance of the experimental composition Horse Notations. Registration required.
Video
Presented by members of the Music Department faculty: Gail Archer, organ, Danielle Farina, viola, Susan Rotholz, flute, and Thomas Sauer, piano. Free and open to all.
Joseph Genualdi, violin, and Richard Wilson, piano, return to Skinner Hall with a program to include Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata.
Works by Mahler, Wagner, Bruckner, Creston, and Tommy Peterson. Featuring Brad Ward, Tom Hutchinson, and Paul Bellino, tenor trombone, and Cameron Owen and Matt Wozniak, bass trombone.
A Palmer Gallery exhibition featuring work that evokes the mystery and power of nature through intensely materialist and tactile forms and imagery; closing reception September 16.
Gail Archer plays a program of contemporary Polish organ literature from her new CD, Cantius, including works by the influential woman composer Grazyna Bacewicz and scholar/composer Pawel Lukazewski.
Now in its 36th year, Powerhouse brings together some of today’s most influential theatrical voices and nurtures the next generation of theater artists. This year’s programming lineup includes musicals, plays, and readings—all of which are open to the public. Tickets required for some events.
The Hudson Valley’s Bachfest returns with works for chorus and orchestra featuring Christ lag in Todesbanden and Der Herr denket an uns. Christine Howlett, director.
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by James Lapine. In collaboration with the Departments of Drama and Music. A senior project production directed by Christopher Grabowski and Drew Minter. Reservations required.
Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8 at 4:30 p.m.
Celebrate the opening of Mastery and Merit: Selections from the Jack Shear Collection of Tibetan Art and Beyond the Threshold: Tibetan Contemporary Art with a reception followed by a panel of speakers.
Botti and Yoshioka of Duo della Luna celebrate their recently released recording Mangetsu. Their repertoire features contemporary works, exploring the natural world, myths, story-telling, and folk songs.
Known for her acclaimed Instagram account @subwayhands, La Follette Ryan will discuss her work and creative practice.
Eduardo Navega, conductor
This event will be live streamed
This virtual event will raise funds for the staffing, supplies, and operation of a medical clinic in Haiti for a full year. This year’s honorees include Grammy Award-winning music producer Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis and the Rotarians of the Hudson Valley. Please register to receive event link.
Kam’s documentary Shadow Flowers will be screened. A Q&A with the producer will follow. Campus community only, please.
James Osborn, conductor
This event will be live streamed
Featuring three new works created by Hannah Littman ’22, Nerissa Tunnessen ’22, and Lily Gee ’23. Reservations required.
Drew Minter, conductor
This event will be live streamed
Featuring three new works created by Hannah Littman ’22, Nerissa Tunnessen ’22, and Lily Gee ’23. Reservations required.
Christine Howlett, conductor
This event will be live streamed
James Osborn, director
This event will be live streamed
Brintle, a self-taught artist born and raised in Haiti, will highlight often the untold stories of the brave women who stood for Haiti’s freedom. Attend in person or via Zoom.
VRDT performs new works by Guest Choreographers Desmond Richardson and Kirven Douthit-Boyd, classical ballet by Marius Petipa, Untitled by Guest Choreographer Jennifer Archibald, new student works, and faculty works selected from the current repertoire. This is a free but ticketed event.
As part of the Agnes Rindge Claflin Lecture series, the Brooklyn-based artist will discuss her work.
Drawing on new archival research, this exhibition presents the contributions by three generations of the Olmsted firm to the Vassar campus. It is also the inaugural exhibition in a series about the history, preservation, and planning of the campus, organized by the Art Department.
Beijing opera is a colorful, spectacular performance art that dazzles and fascinates. Reservations required.
A 20- to 30-minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program every Thursday in April.
Christina Seely’s multidisciplinary photographic practice stretches into the fields of science, design, installation, and sound. This talk includes a screening of her short film Dissonance, filmed in summer 2019 on a rapidly melting Greenland ice sheet while traveling with the Institute of Arctic Studies.
Brian Mann and Friends: An afternoon of jazz featuring Brian Mann, piano, Pat O'Leary, double bass, Craig Wuepper, drums, with special guests appearances by faculty and friends.
This event will be live streamed
A solo piano recital featuring music by Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, Wang, and Gershwin.
Assisted by Susan Brown, piano.
Very limited seating—campus guests only.
A staged reading followed by a reception.
Congratulations to the 2022 award recipients: Gabriella Kimbrough ’22, for her play True Crime, and Louis Blachman ’23, for his play Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
Two weeks of productions of new plays written by Drama Department students. Campus community only, please.
Lichtman, a figurative painter of domestic spaces, will discuss her work. She is the Charles Bloom Professor of the Arts of Design at Brandeis University.
A rotating exhibit at the Palmer Gallery featuring student work from classes in Drawing Iⅈ Painting Iⅈ Photography; Printmaking; Sculpture Iⅈ and Video.
Shivaike Shah, Visiting Artist and Producer/Founder of Khameleon Productions (UK), will discuss the making of Khameleon’s upcoming short film on the figure of Medea, based on Khameleon’s stage production of Euripides’s Medea at Oxford in 2018, which reimagined the ancient Greek tragedy with an all-global majority cast and crew. Campus community only, please.
Mastery and Merit presents more than thirty works that demonstrate the multivalent and critical roles of Buddhist masters, as well as the rich diversity of merit-generating practices available to devotees.
Beyond the Threshold highlights the diversity of contemporary Tibetan creative expression, presenting works from ten artists based around the world.
Poet Jacqueline Osherow, Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Utah, will present this year’s annual Dr. Maurice Sitomer Lecture.
Works by Mahler, Wagner, Bruckner, Creston, and Tommy Peterson. Featuring Brad Ward, Tom Hutchinson, and Paul Bellino, tenor trombone, and Nick Schwartz and Jack Schatz, bass trombone.
This event will be live streamed
Eduardo Navega, conductor.
This event will be live streamed
This multidisciplinary artist will discuss his current project, which involves altering 19th century landscape engravings to include contemporaneous images borrowed from Anti-Slavery publications.