2016 Fall Arts Preview
As classes begin again, so do a host of concerts, plays and art exhibits at venues around the University of Denver campus. Here’s a look at what’s happening in the DU arts scene this fall.
MUSIC
On the south side of campus, the Newman Center for the Performing Arts hosts performances from touring artists around the globe, as well as showcasing the talent of faculty and students from DU’s own Lamont School of Music.
The Newman Center Presents concert series brings a number of dancers and musicians to the venue this fall, including modern dance phenomenon MOMIX (Sept. 29–30); political satirists Capitol Steps. (Oct. 6); the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (Oct. 20); jazz vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant (Nov. 30); and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (Dec. 12).
The highlight of the Lamont School’s schedule is “Ode to Nature” (Oct. 10–11), a world-premiere dance oratorio composed by Beijing’s Zhou Jiaojiao and performed by the Lamont Symphony Orchestra along with a number of Chinese and American instrumental soloists, opera singers and dance artists.
Other fall concerts at Lamont include the Lamont Wind Ensemble (Oct. 17); a performance by student jazz groups (Nov. 2); “A Night at the Opera,” a collaboration between the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and Lamont Opera Theatre (Nov. 3); the annual Lamont Composers Series Concert (Nov. 13), featuring works composed by Lamont students; and a jazz faculty recital featuring pianist Eric Gunnison and guitarist Mike Abbott (Nov. 15).
A quarter-ending series of free concerts showcases student musicians in the Lamont World Music and Dance Ensemble (Nov. 4); the Lamont Jazz Orchestra (Nov. 7); Lamont String Chamber Ensembles (Nov. 7); the Lamont Percussion Ensemble (Nov. 8); the student new music ensemble Modern Hue (Nov. 12); the Lamont Steel Drum Ensemble(Nov. 14); the Lamont Chorale, Lamont Women’s Chorus and Lamont Men’s Choir (Nov. 15); the Lamont Wind Ensemble (Nov. 16); Lamont Guitar Ensembles (Nov. 16); and Lamont Wind Chamber Ensembles (Nov. 18).
VISUAL ART AND EXHIBITS
The primary venue for visual art at the University of Denver is the Vicki Myhren Gallery in the Shwayder Art Building, which hosts a major exhibit this fall on Latino mural art.
Created in collaboration with Denver’s Museo de las Americas, “The Wall: Latino Muralists, Immigration and Identity” features work by contemporary Latino artists working in the muralist tradition. The exhibition, which runs Sept. 29‑Nov. 13, will showcases the work of several local and regional muralists, along with works by international artists. The exhibition explores how mural art is created and placed, as well the ways in which mural art can express either sociopolitical viewpoints or advertising and commercial messages.
DU’s Museum of Anthropology, housed in Sturm Hall, presents “Tsitsistas: Our Cheyenne Family,” featuring work by Southern Cheyenne artist George Curtis Levi, Oct. 3–Nov. 23. Levi’s ledger drawing, beadwork and parfleche (rawhide art) tell stories of where the Cheyenne come from, where they are today and where they are going in the future.
Educational and history-focused exhibits are on display this fall at the Anderson Academic Commons (AAC), including “Circle of Sisters/Circle of Friends,” featuring stories and mementos from the coalition of civilian women who served with various organizations in Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War; “Rising Stars: Denver Civic Ballet and Ballet Guild,” which explores the history and impact of the Denver Civic Ballet, Denver’s first semiprofessional ballet company; “Playful & Inviting: Publicity Posters of Theatre Productions at DU in the 1950s”; and “Blazing the Trail: Colorado Jewish History,” which traces the central role of Denver’s early Jews in the city’s growth and prosperity.
THEATER
Offerings from DU's Department of Theatre this fall include a staged reading of Theresa Rebeck’s “Sunday on the Rocks” (Sept. 23), a play about four female roommates each dealing with her own crisis or confusion; “Exiled” (Oct. 13–23), a “devised exploration set in the deep life-consuming waters of global displacement”; and Yasmina Reza’s Tony-winning “Art” (Nov. 13–13), a comedy about three friends who are thrown into unexpected chaos when one of them spends a small fortune on a modern painting.