Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Swarthmore College’s third annual Arts Weekend starts today with a host of live music, visual art exhibitions, and theater performances. Students, faculty, staff and community members have all contributed to this celebration of the arts. We rounded up a list of what’s happening. Here’s what to see:
Musical and Dance events include:
Parampara: A Kathak Dance Performance, choreographed by Kumudini Lakhia, a world-renowned Indian dancer and choreographer. Members of Lakhia’s dance company, Courtyard Dancers, founded by associate Swarthmore professor Pallabi Chakravorty, will perform alongside Swarthmore students.
Saturday, April 13, 3-4 p.m., Lang Performing Arts Center’s Pearson-Hall Theatre
The Alumni Gospel Choir, dating back to the 1970’s, enjoys a rich history that includes the production of two CD’s and a range of performances across the United States, the Virgin Islands, and China. Directed by Vaneese Thomas ’74, the choir will perform alongside members of the Student Gospel Choir.
Saturday, April 13, 6-7:30 p.m., Friends Meeting House
A series of three Fetter Chamber Music Concerts will feature various student chamber groups. “These performances embrace a huge range of chamber music for student musicians,” said Andrew Hauze ’04, associate professor of music and coordinator for the musical offerings throughout Arts Weekend. Original student compositions will be featured in the Fetter Concerts, named after a fund dedicated to Elizabeth Pollard Fetter ’25. The fund supports lessons and coaching for Swarthmore student musicians.
Friday, April 12, 8-10 p.m.; Saturday, April 13, 3-5 p.m. and 8-10 p.m.; Lang Concert Hall
Swarthmore’s orchestra-in-residence, Orchestra 2001, will give a concert Sunday evening. The performance will feature luminary composer George Crumb’s “Night of the Four Moons” and Henryk Gorecki’s “Symphony No. 3 (Sorrowful Songs).” Crumb will give a short lecture on his work before the concert.
Sunday, April 14, 7:30-9:30 p.m.; preconcert lecture at 7 p.m.; Lang Concert Hall
The Philadelphia area’s only Indonesian percussion orchestra devoted to original Balinese composition, Gamelan Semara Santi, will perform in the amphitheater. They will also give a pre-performance hands-on demonstration for audience members of all ages from 2:30-3:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 14, 3-4:30; pre-performance demonstration at 2:30; Scott Amphitheater (rain location: Lang Concert Hall)
Visual art exhibitions include:
The Contemporary Architecture project has allowed students to envision and redesign a new Sharples Dining Hall. The Kitao Gallery will play host to a collection of these planned renovations. Each of the three student groups’ projects within the class are featured in this showcase, which encourages dialogue on the future of Sharples Dining Hall.
Friday, April 12, 1-3 p.m.; Saturday, April 13, 1-4 p.m.; Sunday, April 14, 1-3 p.m.; Kitao Gallery
The List Gallery will host the closing weekend of the Faculty and Staff Art Exhibition. There will be a faculty reception from 4 to 6 p.m during Saturday’s showcase to close out the exhibit’s time in the gallery. “Being able to show faculty work of that caliber is serendipitous,” Clarey said. She emphasized the unique opportunity for members of the Swarthmore community, including those visiting the campus for Arts Weekend, to see first-hand the talents of faculty, as opposed to the students they mentor.
Friday, April 12, 4-6 p.m.; Saturday, April 13, 12-6 p.m.; Sunday, April 14, 12-5 p.m.; List Gallery
Hosted within McCabe Library, the themed display Occuprint: Occupy Wall Street Artists’ Prints will continue to be featured throughout Arts Weekend. Various visual media exhibit the spirit and message of the Occupy movement. Many of the pieces make use of bold artistic strokes to convey their political message.
Featured literary events include:
Philip Weinstein, Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor of English, will give his lecture “Becoming Jonathan Franzen: A Writer’s Odyssey.” Weinstein, who also gave this lecture on January 22, will again discuss Franzen’s life, work, and the unique tone and perspective of this artist-alumnus. Franzen graduated from Swarthmore College in 1981 and has authored the critically acclaimed novels The Corrections and Freedom, among other works.
Saturday, April 13, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., Lang Performing Arts Center Cinema
Students of Professor Nathalie Anderson and Visiting Instructor Gregory Frost will share original compositions of poetry and fiction in Kohlberg Coffee Bar. These pieces will highlight creative student work from Anderson’s poetry courses and Frost’s Fiction Writers’ Workshop.
Saturday, April 13, 2-2:45 p.m., Kohlberg Coffee Bar
