The annual Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts is fast approaching, running from “Super Sunday” April 7 to Sunday, April 14. The festival features both student and faculty-run groups around campus as well as outside performances throughout the week-long festival. According to a press release given to The Brandeis Hoot by the sponsor of the event, the Office of the Arts, “The Festival of the Arts honors its founder, the great American composer, conductor and Brandeis faculty member, Leonard Bernstein, and his incredible legacy as an artist, educator, activist and humanitarian.”
Bernstein was a prominent composer during the 20th century, composing works for Broadway to film and international concert halls. According to the official Festival of the Arts Guidebook, social justice was an important issue to Berstein. “Through his commitment and connections, he helped bring public attention to the historic march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 and to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989, where he conducted concerts on both sides of the wall.”
He was also a faculty member in the Brandeis music department from 1951-1956. Bernstein directed the Festival of the Arts during Brandeis’ first commencement in 1952.
“Art can be a full-body experience,” says festival producer Ingrid Schorr, director of the Office of the Arts. “At the Festival of the Arts, art will surround you. You’ll experience the flavor of music or the sound of a painting.”
Featured Artists
Len Cabral, Storyteller: Sunday, April 7, 1 p.m., SCC Multipurpose Room
Cabral is an internationally recognized storyteller who has been storytelling since the late 1970’s, according to his website. As a great grandson of a Cape Verdean whaler, his ancestry shines through in their retelling of African, Cape Verdean and Caribbean folktales. He is the recipient of the National Storytelling Network Circle of Excellence Oracle Award.
Leslie Salmon Jones and Jeff W. Jones: Afro Flow Yoga, Wednesday, April 10, 7 p.m., Shapiro Gym in Gosman Athletic Center
L. Jones and J. Jones are the founders of Afro Flow Yoga, a place that “promotes healing, balance, peace and the elevation of all humanity through the practices of yoga, dance, rhythms, spirituality and cultural values of the African Diaspora, in a compassionate, non-judgmental and safe environment. Must hold a Brandeis ID to enter.
Lydian String Quartet: Saturday, May 11, 8 p.m. (7 p.m. preconcert talk), Slosberg Music Center
The world-renowned Lydian String Quartet, comprised of violinists Andrea Segar and Judith Eissenberg, violist Mark Berger and cellist Joshua Gordon will perform part III of their ongoing series “Love and Death.” Since its beginning in 1980, the quartet “explores the ever-expanding world of music through the intimate voice of the string quartet,” according to their website. “We believe that the immediacy of chamber music expresses the full range of human experience, and we are thrilled to share this with you, our audience.” During this performance, they will be performing Puccini’s “Crisantemi,” SC 65; Britten’s String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94; and Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden.”
Howardena Pindell: “What Remains to Be Seen,” through May 19, Rose Art Museum
“What Remains to Be Seen” is a career retrospective of Howardena Pindell’s work. A trailblazing African American artist who rose to prominence in a time when people of color were excluded from the art world, Pindell’s paintings, collages, sculptures and other pieces interrogate identity, politics, social activism and more through an often abstract lens. From her earlier grids and numbers to her later large-scale circular canvases, it’s a comprehensive tribute to an artist who deserves the spotlight.
The Rose is open Wednesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Friday, April 12 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Free and open to the public.
Dmitry Troyanovsky: “The Bacchae,” April 11-14, varying times, Spingold Theater
“How does a society, that appears so ordered and secure behind its walls, plunge into collective madness and carnage?” said associate professor of theater arts, Dmitry Troyanovsky, speaking on the relevant themes in his new play, “The Bacchae.” The work is based on a new translation of the classic text by Euripides, a tragedy about Dionysus’ revenge on the city of Thebes.
“What the audience will hopefully experience will be timeless and totally modern.” Troyanovsky said. “It’s a music theater spectacle, which distills themes of desire, political authority, ambition, family, madness, violence, and grief into images and sounds that can unsettle and mesmerize.”
“The Bacchae” premieres Thursday, April 11 at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the SCC Ticketbooth now.
Exhibitions
Goldfarb Library
Boston Hidden Sacred Spaces – Goldfarb 1
Organized by Prof Wendy Cadge (SOC/WGS) and photographer Randall Armor, this project looks at lesser known sacred spaces all around Boston that are often unseen by the public eye.
Beginnings of Music at Brandeis – Archives & Special Collections, Goldfarb 2
Delve into the history of the music department at Brandeis by looking into five famous composers that helped shape the department: Erwin Bodky, Irving Fine, Harold Shapero, Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Berger. Materials on display include correspondences, concert programs, music scores and more.
Post-Baccalaureate and Senior Honors Exhibition – Dreitzer Gallery (Spingold Theater Center)
Post-baccalaureate and Seniors with Honors show their work in this annual exhibition in the Dreitzer Gallery. Paintings, sculptures and drawings vary from abstract explorations to social critique.
The gallery is only accessible by a flight of stairs. Open during business hours, Monday through Friday.
One Foot Planted – Kniznick Gallery, Epstein Building
A caravan of people travel through the desert on different devices—wheels, stilts, a three-dimensional star—bearing banners. The procession traveling down the Israel National Trail is one of several video pieces on display at the Kniznick Gallery in the Women’s Studies Research Center, created by Israeli video and performance artists Ayelet Carmi and Meirav Heiman.
Carmi will be present on Sunday, April 7 for “Women Gathering and the Kibbutz,” to discuss experiences and ideas relating to growing up on a collective farm in Northern Israel. “One Foot Planted” will be on view during special weekend hours Sunday, April 7 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
