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Schedule of Events

Contains updates and corrections to printed Festival Guidebook.

Wednesday, April 22

Festival Opening: Art Happening I
5:10 -5:30 p.m.
Shapiro Campus Center Atrium
An indescribable, outrageous, improvisational celebration-performance art-interactive event led by students from the Brandeis School of Creative Arts. You won’t believe what creativity can make happen. Rain location: Shapiro Atrium.

Opening Reception and Silent Auction
5:30 -7:00 p.m.
Slosberg Music Center
Bid on original artwork by students, staff, and faculty. Proceeds to benefit School of Creative Arts programs. Amanda Millet-Sorsa ’09, organizer.

Brandeis Early Music Ensemble and Brandeis University Chamber Choir
7:00 p.m.
Bethlehem Chapel
Revel in the Renaissance with music by Rossi, Lupo, Bassano, and other great Jewish composers of the 16th and 17th centuries. Sarah Mead, director.

A Cappella Fest
8:00 p.m.
Slosberg Music Center
Do you doo wop? Then bebop to pop, show tunes, and rock vocals by Brandeis’s student a cappella groups: Starving Artists, Rather Be Giraffes, Company B, Voices of Soul, Jewish Fella a Cappella, Too Cheep for Instruments, Voice Male, Mangina, and Proscenium. Hosted by Starving Artists and organized by Gavi Young ’09.  The $5 admission benefits the Shana Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports awareness, prevention, and treatment of bacterial meningitis.

Lysistrata
8:00 p.m.
Merrick Theater
Spingold Theater Center
Aristophanes’ pre-feminist, anti-war comedy is performed with post-modern minimalism by three actors. Amy Klesert ’09, producer; Lily Nagy-Deak ’11, director; Elana Friedland ’11, stage manager; Elizabeth Pascale ’09, set designer. Featuring Klesert, Geehae Moon ’12, and Eli Tukachinsky ’11. Co-sponsored by the Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies program with support from the Karpf-Hahn Peace Awards. (Also on Thursday at 8:00 p.m.)

Moon Zoo: The Trilogy
9:00 p.m.
Chum’s
No Wednesday performance; will be performed Sunday at 9 p.m.

Travel to an outrageous comic galaxy in three short satirical plays, launched from improvisations by Alex Fleming ’09 and the cast, including Samuel Zelitch ’09 and Sam Roos '09.  Enjoy the moon’s view of the lunacy of earthlings.

Thursday, April 23

Art Happening II
9:00 – 9:10 a.m.
Rabb Steps
Got a minute? Catch this live, participatory performance-happening that may change your perspective on the meaning of time and perception.

Women Artists and the Experience of Creation
12:15 p.m.
Kniznick Gallery at Women’s Studies Research Center
Explore the mystery, power, and complexity of the creative process in this symposium by interdisciplinary artist-scholars from Brandeis’s Women’s Studies Research Center. Panelists include Karen Frostig, Suzanne Hanser, Rachel Kadish, and Karin Rosenthal. Moderated by Rosie Rosenzweig.

Salon of the Arts Live
2:30 p.m.
Women’s Studies Research Center
Engage in a glorious afternoon of conversation, poetry readings, and live performances by WSRC artist-scholars. Men are welcome too. For a complete schedule, visit go.brandeis.edu/wsrc

Liquid Latex
8:00 p.m.
Levin Ballroom
The human body becomes a canvas in this provocative performance produced and choreographed by undergraduates. “The Brandeis fave with few clothes and a lotta paint”—The Justice.  Brandeis students only.

Friday, April 24

Chicken Run, the Musical!
12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
Slosberg Recital Hall
Come hear muscialized scenes adapted from the movie Chicken Run, performed and written by students in Neal Hampton's 7B: Broadway Bound: The Craft for Composing Musical Theater.

Art Happening III
1:00 -1:15 p.m.
Shapiro Campus Center Atrium
Transform an ordinary day into something rare. Brandeis faculty and staff from departments across campus lead a participatory- improvisational-performance event. Is this art? What is happening?

Little Hands, BIG Creations: Opening Celebration
4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m
New work by Brandeis’s youngest artists, age 2 through 5, from the Lemberg Children’s Center. Opening celebration includes a joyous singalong led by Scott Kepnes.

Go Modelmental!
6:00 -9:00 p.m.
Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation, 154 Moody St., Waltham; and the Lincoln Building, 289 Moody St., Waltham. Opening receptions for exhibition by faculty and grad students in fine arts and music.  Cosponsored by the Boston CyberArts Festival.

The Tower
See Saturday and Sunday, 8 p.m. (no Friday performance)

BEAMS in Concert
8:00 p.m.
Slosberg Music Center
Listen to the future: from electronics and video to live performance by grad students in the renowned Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio: James Borchers, Christian Gentry, Peter Lane, Travis Alford, Mu-Xuan Lin, and Yohanan Chendler. Special guest: Charles Dodge, Dartmouth University.

Boris’ Kitchen
8:00 p.m.
Carl J. Shapiro Theater
What’s cooking?  Brandeis’s irreverent sketch-comedy troupe will have your belly aching with laughter from its biting parodies of campus life, pop culture, and the news. (Also on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.)

Saturday, April 25

Guitarathon
12 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Shapiro Campus Center Atrium
Students and faculty guitar gods and goddesses come together for an afternoon of improvisation. Bring your axe and see what happens. For more information, contact Eric Chasalow.

Inventors of Music
2:00 p.m.
Slosberg Music Center
The Irving Fine Society Singers and Ensemble celebrate twentieth-century German and American Neoclassicism with choral music by Samuel Barber and Irving Fine, works for solo piano by Erwin Schulhoff performed by Alexander G. Lane (MFA '10), and works for voice and piano by the rediscovered Holocaust composer Edwin Geist (Aimée Birnbaum ’10, soprano). Nicholas Alexander Brown ’10, director. A reception follows the concert. Cosponsored by the Center for German and European Studies.

Journey for a Better Future/Un viaje hace un mejor futuro
3:00 p.m.
Women’s Studies Research Center
An original play based on the stories of Latino custodians working at Brandeis that dramatizes the complex realities of immigrants encountering a new country and culture. Written by Tim Pracher-Dix ’09 and the cast; directed by Tim Pracher-Dix. Featuring Ana V. Hernández, Ashley Cabrera, Domingo Cabrera, Jennifer Cabrera, Orlando Castellanos, Mayvorly Ramirez, and Paraska Tolan '11. Performed in Spanish with English supertitles. (Also on Sunday at 8:00 p.m.)

Boris’ Kitchen
6:00 p.m.
Carl J. Shapiro Theater
What’s cooking?  Brandeis’s irreverent sketch-comedy troupe will have your belly aching with laughter from its biting parodies of campus life, pop culture, and the news. (Also on Friday at 8:00 p.m.)

All Springs
6:30 p.m.
Rose Art Museum
Jump into an original dance-theater event inspired by Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” directed and choreographed by Catherine Wagner ’09 with Daniel Newman ’09, Molly Haas-Hooven ’09, and Allison Vanouse ’09. (Also Sunday at 6:30 p.m.)

The Tower
8 p.m.
Merrick Theater
Spingold Theater Center
Matthew Maguire’s contemporary retelling of the Tower of Babel, fusing theater, dance, and music into a meditation on language and global coexistence.  Produced by the Free Play Theater Cooperative: Katie Nadworny ’09, director; Stefan Isaac ’10, producer; Lily Nagy-Deak ’11 and Kate Reyes ’10, stage managers; Asa Bhuiyan ’11, choreographer; Rachael Katz ’09, sound designer.  Not recommended for children under 12. (Also on Sunday at 8 p.m.)

Carmina Burana
Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra and Brandeis University Chorus
8:30 p.m.
Levin Ballroom, Usdan Campus Center
Epic? Majestic?  Subversive? Carl Orff’s 1937 cantata continues to challenge and intrigue the world’s finest musicians. The BWO and a 100-voice chorus scale the musical heights of one of the most popular and powerful compositions of the 20th century.  Discover why classical conductors, hip-hop artists, heavy-metal musicians, and the New England Patriots can’t get enough of Carmina Burana. 

Neal Hampton, BWO conductor; Lisa Graham, director of the Wellesley College choral program; Sarah Mead, guest choral director. Soloists: David Ripley (baritone) has performed internationally with Boston Music Theater; Wellesley's Andrea Matthews (soprano) has been lauded for her "exquisite quicksilver voice...honest down to her bones"; and Mark Kagan (tenor), known to Brandeis for his solo performance in the annual community "Messiah" sing.

Sunday, April 26

PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL: ART IS HAPPENING

1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
All events are free and open to the public.

In celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s lifelong commitment to engaging young people in the arts, Brandeis sponsors an afternoon of free performances, family and children’s events, and art exhibitions and demonstrations. Family events are designated by *

Performances run continuously from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Rose Art Museum, Slosberg Music Center, Shapiro Campus Center Theater, and the Great Lawn.

Featured Artists

Big Nazo*
Shapiro Campus Center Great Lawn and lower campus, throughout the afternoon.

Brandeis is invaded by creatures from Big Nazo, the international group of visual artists and puppet performers. Their hilarious larger-than-life characters include renegade circus family contortionists, a giant three-eyed robot percussionist, break-dancing police officers, blob-like go-go dancers, and a charismatic lab rat and his giant man-eating chia pet.

Sidewalk Sam and Art Street*
There’s no experience as joyful as making art with Sidewalk Sam, aka Robert Guillemin, the beloved Boston artist dedicated to creating public art that promotes community spirit and children’s creativity. Join Sam and his crew on the sidewalk outside the Shapiro Campus Center. Rain location: Hassenfeld Conference Center.

Guy Mendilow Band*
Shapiro Campus Center Theater, 3 p.m.

Israeli composer/performer Guy Mendilow leads this spirited quintet in breaking down musical boundaries with an inventive blend of Israeli, Middle-Eastern, Sephardi  and Blues. “Mendilow is no dilettante,” writes the Boston Phoenix. “He learned the music of these countries by living and working there… he knows what he’s talking about.”

In Hebrew, Arabic, Ladino, Portuguese and English, the band skillfully fuses tradition with a contemporary sound. through instrumentation that features berimbau, jaw harp that would make beat-boxer's jaw drop, lush vocals, and award-winning overtone singing. Listen to a track from the new album, Skylark,  here.

Tanglewood Marionettes*
Shapiro Campus Center Theater, 1 pm.
Master puppeteers Anne Ware, Jennifer Tebo, and Peter Schaefer have enchanted audiences throughout New England with their international folk tales. This afternoon performance also includes a behind-the-scenes demonstration of how the marionettes are made and operated.

ARTiculation
Rose Art Museum, 2 p.m.
ARTiculation follows the journey of six young Boston poets as they weave their way through the vast jungles of their own imaginations. Armed with only words, this ensemble provides a mosaic of life, love, youth, religion, and art set to a thundering mix of urban poetics and dynamic live theatre. Written by the performers themselves. For ages 12 and up.

SpringFest Concert
12:00-6:00 p.m.
Mochila, Deer Hunter, Asher Roth, RJD2, and the Decemberists perform on Chapels Field in the annual concert produced by Student Events and WBRS. For more information, call Student Events at 781.736.4552.

Art Happenings*
Shapiro Great Lawn
Who put that song in your head? That tickle in your feet? Did you just blink and miss something? Encounter art and artists throughout the afternoon.

ART IS HAPPENING at Shapiro Campus Center Theater

An Arabian Adventure: Tanglewood Marionettes*
1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Featuring over a dozen hand-crafted marionettes and exquisite scenery, An Arabian Adventure tells the tale of a Persian prince who is thrown into a dungeon because of his love for a beautiful princess. Facing danger at every turn, the courageous prince must battle his way out of the underground prison to save his princess from a tragic fate. Featuring classical and traditional Middle Eastern music.

Guy Mendilow Band*
3:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m.
Through colorful songs, stories, and games, the Guy Mendilow Band transports families on an ear-opening interactive adventure. Meet such fascinating instruments as overtone singing, the munnharpa (jaw harp) and Peruvian cajon (box drum), along with languages and joyous songs from distant lands. “The glory of what Mendilow does is finding a common ground among different cultures.”— Jewish Advocate.

Philosophical Love
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
A fearful young man hides from love, leaving his beloved heartbroken. Justin Becker '09 created this stunning dance piece inspired by gay culture in China. Music by Tan Dun, Yo-Yo Ma, Whitney Houston, Chris Brown, Imogen Heap, and MIKA.  Justin Becker, Alysha Bedig '09, and Ariella Silverstein-Tapp '09, choreographers.

ART IS HAPPENING at Slosberg Music Center

Il Giuoco del Quadriglio
1:00 - 1:20 p.m.
An opera cantata depicting a 17th century card game filled with philosophy and jest. Antonio Caldara's witty work for sopranos features Katherine Schram ’09, Aimée Birnbaum ’10, Mariah Henderson ’12, and Koren Wake '06, with Erin Jerome PhD '10 (harpsichord).

Hooray for Bollywood*
1:30-1:50 p.m.
Chak de Deis is Brandeis’s newest dance group, performing dances made famous in Bollywood films. Hannah N. “Boots” Janoowalla ’10, coordinator.

New Music and Dance
2:00 -2:15 p.m.
“Three Drops on My Hand” is contemporary ballet with music by Florie Namir PhD ’12 and choreography by Mira Muraoka PhD ’12. Featuring Courtney E. Choate '11 and Elana Klinger-Rogers '09.

"A Room of French Windows and Limestone Sculptures" is
an experimental multimedia performance by grad composer Mu-Xuan Lin. Featuring Rachel Gillette ’10, with Ceceilia Allwein (soprano), Ching-Wei Lin (recorder), Ashleigh Gordon (viola), Kathryn Schulmeister (double bass), and David Robbins (piano).

Springtime in Song
2:30-2:50 p.m.
In Franz Schubert’s famous "Shepherd on the Rock" a shepherd welcomes spring and rebirth. Katharine Roller '09 (soprano), Leonard Bernstein Scholar Karen Lowe '10 (piano), and Jared Field '11 (clarinet) perform this timely piece as well as songs by the quintessential German Romantic composer Louis Spohr.

Coolsville*
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Bob Nieske and the Brandeis Jazz Ensemble take you on a ride to coolsville with beloved jazz standards and original compositions.

Mochila: Don't Be Afraid. Shout. Out. Loud.
7:00 p.m.
Campus favorites Mochila perform a fusion of Arabic, jazz, reggae, reggaeton, and Indian classical music. Mohammad Kundas ’10 founded this 12-member band to build bridges between cultures. Their mission: Create. Appreciate. Discover. Combine. No matter where you are from. Celebrate the official release of their CD, Green Bullets. For a short video about the band, click here (Quicktime required).

ART IS HAPPENING at The Rose Art Museum

Museum exhibitions and performances are free and open to the public.

Brandeis Dance Collective*
1:00 p.m. – 1:20 p.m.
Exquisitely original modern dance by alumni, faculty, and students from across the country. Susan Dibble, director; Katharine Braun-Levine, managing director.

Rose Tour
1:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Enjoy a tour of the current exhibitions, led by students.

ARTiculation: Theater for Our Generation
2:00 p.m.
Combining interactive theater and urban poetics, Company One’s ARTiculation is a poetry-slam turned performance using spoken-word, improvisation and a hard hitting hip-hop beat.  Follow six young Boston poets as they forge a new relationship between classical theater and underground performance, and join an artistic revolution.  Not recommended for children under 12.

Dispossessed
3:00 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.
A chance encounter between three strangers on a New York subway car becomes an interrogation of the world including its prejudice and absurdity. A staged reading of an original one-act play by William-Bernard Reid-Varley ’09, directed by Hannah Levinger ’12; Anushka Aqil ’12, stage manager. Not recommended for children under 12.

Rose Tour*
3:40 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Enjoy a tour of the current exhibitions, led by students.

Brandeis Playback Society
4.00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Theater doesn’t get more real than this: Audience or group members tell stories from their lives and watch them enacted on the spot using mime, music, and spoken scenes. Actors include Michael Shafir ’11, Sarah Palmer ’10, Renana Gal ’12, and Sasha Kopp ’10.

ART IS HAPPENING at the Women's Studies Research Center

Journey for a Better Future/Un viaje hace un mejor futuro
8:00 p.m.
An original play based on the stories of Latino custodians working at Brandeis that dramatizes the complex realities of immigrants encountering a new country and culture. Written by Tim Pracher-Dix ’09 and the cast; directed by Tim Pracher-Dix. Featuring Ana V. Hernández, Ashley Cabrera, Domingo Cabrera, Jennifer Cabrera, Orlando Castellanos, Mayvorly Ramirez, and Paraska Tolan '11. Performed in Spanish with English supertitles. (Also on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.)

ART IS HAPPENING at Chum's (Usen Castle)

Moon Zoo: The Trilogy
9:00 p.m.
Chum’s
(No Wednesday performance)

Travel to an outrageous comic galaxy in three short satirical plays, launched from improvisations by Alex Fleming ’09 and the cast, including Samuel Zelitch ’09 and Sam Roos '09.  Enjoy the moon’s view of the lunacy of earthlings.

ONGOING EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS

The Rose Art Museum
Hans Hofmann: Circa 1950
In 1950, at age 70, Hans Hofmann created several of his most significant abstract paintings, including nine works never seen before in a U.S. museum. Curated by Michael Rush and Catherine Morris.

Saints and Sinners
A light-hearted look at a fundamental division in modern and contemporary art between the spiritual and the material, the eternal and the everyday, and abstraction and the natural world. Curated by Laura Hoptman.

Women’s Studies Research Center
Salon of the Arts
Wednesday - Friday.
An eclectic selection of art and readings inspired by the historical and metaphorical idea of the cairn.  Participants include Marguerite Bouvard, Emily Corbató, Karen Craddock, Nurit-Eini Pindyck, Susan Eisenberg, Fran Forman, Karen Frostig, Mary Oestereicher Hamill, Suzanne Hanser, Karin Rosenthal, and Rosie Rosenzweig.

Spingold Theater Center
Prospect II
Dreitzer Gallery
Wednesday - Friday.
Accomplished postbaccalaureate studio artists exhibit painting, sculpture, drawing, and printmaking. Featuring John Tronsor, Margaux Ogden, Youngsheen Jhe, Shira Espo, J.J. du Plessis, Liz Davenport, Marta Kaemmer, Kim Clark, and Marc Schepens.

Campuswide

Festival Art Exhibitions
The innovative artwork created for the Festival of the Creative Arts reflects what is on students’ minds this year: history, memory, and illusion in everyday life; the shared experience of viewing art; and the intersection of art and science.

Goldman-Schwartz Fine Arts Studios
Party
Danielle Friedman ’09
Follow the cupcake signs that lead you to behind the studio building and enjoy the fantasy birthday party you never had in this celebratory art installation.

Slosberg Music Center 
Public Memory: November 4, 2008
Ariella Silverstein-Tapp ’09
Portraits of reactions to the election of President Barack Obama, and its place in our nation's history and memory.

Art and Science: One
Brandeis Physics Club
A motion mural created by light and powered by a theremin, the electronic instrument you can play without touching.

Shapiro Campus Center
 
Illusions of Painting and Mime: The Cage
Amanda Millet-Sorsa ’09
Large-scale oil painting addressing illusion in everyday life.

The “Green” Collection
Amy Tsao ’10
Original clothing designs using organic and sustainable materials.

Notice the Similarities
John Tronsor (PB) and Nikita Beniaminov ’09
It may look like an ordinary room, but watch what happens in this outdoor installation throughout the day.

Little Hands, BIG Creations
New work by Brandeis’s youngest artists, age 2 through 5, from the Lemberg Children’s Center. Opening reception on Friday, 4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m., includes a joyous singalong led by Scott Kepnes.

Goldfarb Library

Traditional Trademarks
Danielle Garfinkel ’09
Batik versions of food logos as commentary on global disparity in food and nutrition.

An Excellent View for a Study Break
Coretta Garlow ’10:
Step inside the circle for a meditative, peaceful experience.

Shapiro Campus Center Art Gallery

Activating Space, Commemorating Place
Students in Claudia Bucher’s Performative Prosthetics sculpture class explore the interactions of the body and technology, and discover wondrous new terrain. Laila Mazer, PB ’09, exhibition coordinator.

Who Will Ever Believe in Oaths Again?
Bekah Richards ’09
Digital collage that explores betrayal and transformation.

By Any Other Name: An Artistic and Social History of the Rose Art Museum
Students in the Museums and Public Memory anthropology class reflect on the history and future of the Rose Art Museum, as well as the relationship between the musuem community and the Brandeis community at large, through contemporary interviews and historical research.

Usdan Campus Center
Where Is This Taking Us?
Catherine McConnell ’10 and Hannah Richman ’10: Mixed media commentary on the Brandeis education.

Off Campus

Go Modelmental!
An exhibition of faculty and students work in sculpture, video, and digital media, plus animation from the computer science department. Featuring Christopher Abrams, Marcus Baenziger, Claudia Bucher, and Tory  Fair (faculty); and Shirly Behar, Christian Gentry, Kevin Kenific, and John Tronsor (graduate students). Cosponsored by the Boston CyberArts Festival and the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation and made possible by a grant from the Poses Foundation.  

Work is exhibited at two sites:

Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation (directions)
154 Moody St., Waltham
Thursday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Opening reception: Friday, April 24, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Through May 10

Lincoln Building
Tuesday – Sunday, 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m
289 Moody St., Waltham
Opening reception: Friday, April 24, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Through May 1