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Weekender: Art Jam, Comedy, Book Reading, and More

Blogs
Portrait of 123 Andrés who will take the stage at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts this upcoming Sunday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m. to bring sensory-friendly bilingual music to Davis. (Photography/ Dario Trevino)
123 Andrés takes the stage at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts this Sunday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m. to bring sensory-friendly bilingual music to Davis. ( Dario Trevino/Photography)

Terrie Baune serenades with the violin, John Chernoff on the piano in noon concert

Terrie Baune, violin. (courtesy)
Terrie Baune, violin (Courtesy).

Thursday, Nov. 14, 12:05 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center, a Shinkoskey Noon Concert, free

Program to be announced.

Jazz Combos of ٺƵ have fall quarter recital

 

Thursday, Nov. 14, 5-7 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center, free

Otto Lee, director and ٺƵ lecturer in music.

Program to be announced.

Art Jam offers after-hours access to fall exhibits at the Manetti Shrem Museum

Friday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m., Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, free

Photograph of students participating in art (Photography/ Jose Luis Villegas)
Photograph of students participating in art (Photography/ Jose Luis Villegas)

Join us for a sweet combination of free food, music and after-hours access to this fall’s exhibitions. Settle in for an evening of cozy crafts with Davis Triceratops, a Guitar Club jam session and a set by the most popular band in Davis, Cowboys After Dark!

Art Jam is an experimental, semi-improvised gathering of people making things for fun. The flavor reflects the cast of collaborators: artists, performers and any student group with something to share.

ٺƵ historian-inspired film is part of Lunn lecture

Lecture with filmmakers is Thursday, Nov. 14, 4-6 p.m., at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, free. Film screening at 8:15 p.m. Cruess Hall

From Reality to Truth: (Re)Creating History in Film

Filmmakers Veronica Franz and Severin Fiala. (Courtesy)
Filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (Courtesy).

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s most recent film, The Devil’s Bath (2024), was based on ٺƵ Professor Kathy Stuart’s original research. It won a Silver Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival and is Austria’s official entrant for the 2025 Academy Awards. It is this year's Eugene Lunn Memorial Lecture. 

Franz and Fiala’s discussion, “From Reality to Truth: (Re)Creating History in Film” asks, “How do you (re)create history in a film? How do you depict a concrete place and time when only scarce sources convey a vague idea of how the past might have looked like and felt to its contemporaries…We’ll follow the path from fact to truth during the production of our film The Devil’s Bath," which tells a story about women's mental health, motherhood, and life in early Modern Europe.

The Devil's Bath (120 minutes) will have a separate showing on campus on Thursday, Nov. 14 in Cruess 1002 from 8:15-11 p.m. This includes a post- screening Q&A with the filmmakers and Professors Stuart and Kyu Kim. Like the Lunn Lecture, it is free and open to the public. The film will be screened in its original German with English subtitles.

Content warning: this film has some disturbing content and scenes.

and the book, event and film here. Read more about Stuart's research in this story

Read about Stuart's recent book award. 

Art Jam's after hours access to fall exhibits at the Manetti Shrem Museum

Friday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m., Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, free

Photograph of students participating in art (Photography/ Jose Luis Villegas)
Photograph of students participating in art (Photography/ Jose Luis Villegas)

Join us for a sweet combination of free food, music and after-hours access to this fall’s exhibitions. Settle in for an evening of cozy crafts with Davis Triceratops, a Guitar Club jam session and a set by the most popular band in Davis, Cowboys After Dark!

Art Jam is an experimental, semi-improvised gathering of people making things for fun. The flavor reflects the cast of collaborators: artists, performers and any student group with something to share.

Ongoing ٺƵ Art Exhibitions

Go to this story to find out more about ongoing exhibitions at ٺƵ

 

Music lecture

Hendel Almétus gives a Valente Lecture on finding his voice

Friday, Nov. 15, 4:10-5:30 p.m., Music Building, room 105

Hendel Almétus portrait (courtesy)
Hendel Almétus (Courtesy).

"A search for myself and my voice beyond traditions and cultural norms"

The music of composer Hendel Almétus (Ph.D. music composition ‘14) has been described as “vividly virtuosic and quietly meditative” (San Francisco Classical Voice). He has received commissions from distinguished artists, ensembles and institutions, including Earplay, Empyrean Ensemble, guitarist Dieter Hennings, Arizona State University, and the Kodachrome saxophone quartet. He has written for prominent artists including soprano Tony Arnold, guitarist Magnus Andersson, and ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound, Wet Ink Ensemble, Meridian Brass, and the One Art Ensemble.

Weekend recitals feature piano, vocals

Megan Gürer 

Saturday, Nov. 16, 2 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center, free

with Karen Rosenak, piano

Program

Vocal selections by Georges Bizet, George Frideric Handel, Gustav Mahler, Henry Purcell and Barbara Strozzi. 

Megan Gürer headshot (courtesy)
Megan Gürer (Courtesy).

Saura Pal 

Saturday, Nov. 16, 4 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center, free

with Britta Joseph, piano

Program 

Vocal selections by Alma Mahler, Benjamin Britten, Pauline Viardot, Antonín Dvořák, Isabella Colbran, Giulio Caccini and Francis Poulenc.

Eddie Izzard brings comedy to the Mondavi Center

Saturday, Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Brilliant, hilarious and often bizarre, the one and only Eddie Izzard is back in the U.S.
Eddie Izzard flyer
(Courtesy, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts)

The Remix Tour Live promises to be an unforgettable night of thought provoking, intelligent and surreal stand-up comedy. 

Actor, comedian, multi-marathon runner and political activist Eddie Izzard’s boundary-pushing career spans 35 years of record-breaking comedy tours and critically acclaimed film, TV, and theatre performances. Run time is about three hours.

Get tickets here:  

The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts presents 123 Andrés

Sunday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

123 Andrés’ joy-filled bilingual performances are known for getting audiences out of their seats, dancing, singing and learning, and their Mondavi Center show is sure to charm guests of all ages.

With performances across the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Central America, a Latin Grammy — and most recently a Grammy for “Best Children’s Music Album” — under their belt, this brilliant husband and wife duo of teaching artists share a doctorate in music and a master’s in education. They bring this impressive pedigree and a hearty dose of infectious energy to their Spanish and English music, books and live shows designed to entertain both parents and children.

This is a Sensory-Friendly Performance

Sensory-friendly performances are designed to create a performing arts experience that is welcoming to families and people of all ages, including people with autism, sensory sensitivities, or other social learning or cognitive disabilities.

Get tickets here:  

Next week

Riding Like the Wind: reading and book signing with Iris Dunkle

Tuesday, Nov. 19, 4:30-6 p.m., the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art

Book cover for Riding Like the Wind by Iris Dunkle
Book cover for Riding Like the Wind by Iris Dunkle 

In Riding Like the Wind, renowned biographer Iris Jamahl Dunkle, a ٺƵ lecturer in the Department of English, revives the groundbreaking voice of Sanora Babb. This saga of a writer done dirty resurrects the silenced voice of Sanora Babb, peerless author of midcentury American literature. In 1939, when John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath was published, it became an instant bestseller and a prevailing narrative in the nation’s collective imagination of the era. But it also stopped the publication of another important novel, silencing a gifted writer who was more intimately connected to the true experiences of Dust Bowl migrants. 

Co-sponsored by the Department of English and the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art

ٺƵ Concert Band and the Roseville Community Band come together in performance 

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center

A trumpet player in the ٺƵ Concert Band. (Phil Daley/ٺƵ)
A trumpet player performs in the ٺƵ Concert Band. (Phil Daley/ٺƵ)

ٺƵ Concert Band
Pete Nowlen, director

Roseville Community Band
Stephanie Sugano, conductor (B.A. music and sociology, ‘98)

Holst’s Second Suite is among the most beloved of the classic wind band repertory and if it weren’t for the folk tunes they were based on, they may as well be music for a British royal. Other material presented on this program creates distinct moods, from the hustle and bustle of Lisa DeSpain’s Bicycle Shop to the calm playfulness of Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s Children’s Intermezzo.

Get tickets here: 

ٺƵ Department of Theatre and Dance presents original dramatic comedy She Kills Monsters

Running from Thursday, Nov. 21 through Saturday, Dec. 7, Main Theatre at Wright Hall, ٺƵ

Performances are Nov. 21, 22, 23 and Dec. 5 and 6 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 23 and Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. 

Faced with the profound loss of her sister, Agnes Evans (played by Lana Lindley) processes her grief through the realm of Dungeons and Dragons. 

"She Kills Monsters" assistant stage manager Mario Sandoval working with performers (Photography/ Austin Wang)
"She Kills Monsters" assistant stage manager Mario Sandoval working with performers (Austin Wang/photography)

In the play, Agnes leaves her family’s home following the death of her teenage sister, Tilly. After finding Tilly’s Dungeons and Dragons notebook, Agnes finds herself catapulted into a journey of discovery in the imaginary world that was her sister’s refuge. The lively performance features puppetry as well as fierce fairies, nasty ogres, and 90s pop culture.

The "deceptively breezy and rather ingenious comedy" (The New York Times) is about finding real and metaphorical families, as well as a sense of self, through Dungeons and Dragons and deals with themes that every high schooler and college student confronts. The play features complex characters who lead well-rounded lives outside of the Dungeons and Dragons arena ─ some who deal with their family’s reactions when revealing their sexuality.

Content Warning

Language, adult and LGBTQIA+ themes including violence, bullying and sexuality. 

Get tickets here: 

Sing along to Encanto

Friday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Treat the Encanto lovers in your family to a sing-along film unlike any other. Watch the full Oscar-winning film on the big screen while Banda de la Casita performs the Grammy-winning songs live.

For one night, fans are encouraged to dress up like Mirabel, Luisa, Isabela or any of their favorite characters from the film and sing along with the famous Grammy-winning songs penned by living legend Lin-Manuel Miranda —including the breakout hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”— and accompanied the live band Banda de la Casita. Don’t miss this opportunity to transform the Mondavi Center into one big celebration of the Madrigal family, right here in the Sacramento region. Run time is around 2 hours. 

Download the Encanto Activity packet  

Get tickets here:  

Media Resources

  • Arts Blog Editor: Karen Nikos-Rose, kmnikos@ucdavis.edu; subscribe to our newsletter.

The Arts Blog Weekender is published every Thursday, with additional blogs being published throughout the week as events and stories necessitate.

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