Arts and Lectures

The Office of Public Events provides information regarding student, faculty, and guest artist performances in music, theater, and art, as well as lectures taking place on campus.

The School of Music presents an array of musical events. There are large group performances by the University Symphony Orchestra, University Band, Wind Ensemble, Adelphian Concert Choir, Voci d’Amici, and University Chorale.

Numerous small chamber groups of student strings, brass, percussion, and jazz ensembles perform throughout the year in addition to student recitals. The School of Music faculty members perform monthly with guest artists as part of the Jacobsen Concert Series.

The Department of Theatre Arts presents two faculty-directed main stage productions each year. In addition, students present one-act plays in the fall and full productions during the Senior Theatre Festival held in the spring.

Kittredge Gallery hosts a variety of exhibitions and programs during the academic year. The gallery features regional and nationally recognized artists, as well as university students and faculty art exhibitions.

Exploring all facets of a liberal arts education, the university presents a number of lectures each year. Nationally recognized speakers are brought to campus to involve students and the community in meaningful dialogue.

Each week we send an e-mail announcement of upcoming public events of the arts—theater, music, lectures, and gallery shows. If you would like to receive this regular communication, send us an e-mail message and specify the address that should be added to our list. You may have your e-mail address removed from our list at any time.

Lecture series include:

The Brown and Haley Lectures make significant contributions to the understanding of urgent problems confronting society and emphasize perspectives in the social sciences or humanities.

The Chism Lectures sponsor appearances by nationally recognized performers, artists, and scholars in the arts and humanities. Past guest artists include Bonnie Hampton, cellist, The Juilliard School; Qi Xiaochun, senior lecturer of calligraphy and seal engraving, Bukkyo University, Kyoto, Japan; Annabeth Headrick, Department of Art History and Anthropology, Vanderbilt University; and David Blight, professor of American history at Yale University and director of the Guilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The Norton Clapp Visiting Artist Lectures bring outstanding contemporary theater makers to campus for workshops and presentations. Past presentations have been made by Lue Morgan Duothit, Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Jane Jones and Myra Platt, Book-It Repertory Theatre; Leonid Anisimov, Honored Artist of Russia; and Gérard Thêorét, master teacher, choreographer, director, and performer.

The John D. Regester Faculty Lectureship provides an opportunity for faculty to develop and explore ideas with colleagues and the public. The 2006 lecture was presented by A. Susan Owen, professor of communication studies.

The Susan Resneck Pierce Lectures in Public Affairs and the Arts bring to campus public intellectuals, writers, and artists of high recognition. Classroom and cocurricular activities focus on the speaker’s works. Past lecturers have been professor and author, American composer Philip Glass, playwright Edward Albee, and NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg.

The Swope Endowed Lectureship on Ethics, Religion, Faith, and Values promotes broad discussion, critical thinking, and ethical inquiry about matters of religion, such as its role in public life, issues in contemporary spirituality, ethics, and world religions. The lecturer in 2006 was Harvard professor emeritus Edward O. Wilson.