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Arts@Brandeis Calendar

December 2008

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, December 4

Spoken-Heard: "The Illest Collegiate Poet"
Levin Ballroom, Usdan Student Center
7 p.m

The finest collegiate poets in Massachusetts perform in a competition to be crowned "the Illest Collegiate Poet." Hosted by Dean Adams and featuring Laura Murphy and Paul Graham. Contact Shaina Gilbert (gilbert@brandeis.edu) or Taisha Sturdivant (taisha@brandeis.edu) for more information.

December 5 - 6

Sketch Comedy Festival: Boris’ Kitchen
Shapiro Campus Center Theater
8 p.m

Brandeis student comedy troupe Boris' Kitchen hosts (and performs in) the ninth annual festival of sketch comedy, featuring UMass's Sketch 22 and New York City's Pangea 3000 (Friday) and Cornell University's Skits-o-phrenics, Tufts's Major Undeclared, and Yale's 5th Humor (Saturday).
 

December 5 - 14

Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre of Boston's Nutcracker
Spingold Theater Center

Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre of Boston presents the holiday classic, choreographed by Jose Mateo. JMBT is a nonprofit professional performance company and school founded in 1986, with a reputation for innovative programming, artistic excellence, and extensive community outreach. Tickets: $15 - $50. Brandeis discount: $5 off $35 and $29 tickets. Available online or by calling 781-736-3400.
 

Saturday, December 6

“From Then to Now”: Jazz from the 1920s to the present. Bob Nieske, director. Tickets $5-$10, available online or by calling 781-736-3400.

Sunday, December 7

Brandeis Early Music Ensemble: From Page to Stage
Slosberg Music Center
3:00 p.m.

The Early Music Ensemble explores the music Western Europe in the Renaissance and early Baroque eras using historical instruments such as recorders, krumhorns, sackbuts, and harpsichords. Music from the Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints in the Brandeis Special Collections. This concert features music from the Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints in the University's Special Collections. Sarah Mead, director. Tickets $5-$10, available online or by calling 781-736-3400.

Following its successful European concert tour, the Brandeis University Chorus performs Bach's glorious, meditative work "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis."  Featuring professional guest singers Jayne West, Pamela Dellal, Jason McStoots, and Sumner Thompson, and the Leonard Bernstein Scholars. A panel discussion featuring music professor Eric Chafe's recent research on Cantata 21 begins at 7 pm, and the concert begins at 8:15 p.m. James Olesen, director. Tickets $5-$10, available online or by calling 781-736-3400.

Monday, December 8

Improv Ensemble
Slosberg Music Center
7 p.m.

The Improv Ensemble's motto:  “The essentials of jazz are melodic improvisation, melodic invention, swing, and instrumental personality” (Mose Allison). Tom Hall, director.

Wednesday, December 10

Messiah Sing
Shapiro Campus Center Atrium
4 p.m.

Hallelujah! Join the Brandeis music ensembles and other music lovers for our annual celebratory performance of Handel's Messiah. No experience necessary. Sing along, or just share a seasonal treat with the campus community.

December 13 - 14

New Music Brandeis: NotaRiotous
Slosberg Music Center

NotaRiotous, a Boston-based chamber ensemble devoted exclusively to microtonal music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, performs work by Brandeis graduate students on December 13 at 8 p.m. and by undergraduates on Decembe r14 at 7:00 p.m. James Bergin, director.

Sunday, December 14

Jazz at the Rose
Rose Art Museum
2:00 p.m

Boston’s finest jazz groups perform at the Rose every second Sunday of the month. Today, enjoy an afternoon of avant-garde jazz with saxophonist Tom Hall, director of the Brandeis Improv Ensemble. Free with museum admission.

Ongoing

Through December 14

Invisible Rays: The Surrealism Effect
Project for a New American Century
Drawing on Film
Rose Art Museum

The surrealist preoccupation with dream states, the unconscious, and the blending of objects and ideas from different disciplines and cultures has had a profound influence on artistic practices. Drawing from the Rose’s extraordinary collection of modern and contemporary art, Invisible Rays includes work by Surrealists Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, and Jean Cocteau, and artists influenced by Surrealists such as Jackson Pollock, Elizabeth Murray, and Fred Tomaselli. 

Project for a New American Century showcases new acquisitions, including work by Matthew Antezzo, Roy Arden, Joanne Greenbaum, David Reed, Beat Streuli, Jim Hyde, and Jessica Stockholder.

Drawing on Film surveys the practice of “direct film” -- the process of drawing, scratching, or otherwise manipulating film stock to create images without a camera. The series presents works from the late 1930s to the present, along with special screenings.

Through January 9

The WSRC recognizes the 30th anniversary of the historic legislation that opened the construction industry to women with a mixed-media installation by Susan Eisenberg (an artist, poet, activist, WSRC scholar, and master electrician), that combines realistic and fanciful works of art with personal testimonies. For a preview video of the exhibition, click here. Visit the Brandeis news page for a schedule of related events, including a tradeswomen conference and a poetry reading.

The Art Behind the Portrait
Goldfarb Library

Inspired by the library's collection of photographer Carl Van Vechten's African American portraits, this display highlights African American luminaries such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Harry Belafonte, and Billie Holiday. Display created by Gail Goldspiel ’09 and produced by Lisa Zeidenberg, arts and culture librarian. Creative Arts, Farber Library, Level 2.