The Wesleyan campus has summer sessions, sports camps, and many researchers from mid-June through mid-August, but it does become a quiet place for a few months. Not so the arts on campus, which continue to provide enlivening, beautiful and thought-provoking programs. The College of Film and the Moving Image has its annual free July film series, this year featuring Gary Cooper. All screenings take place at C-Film on Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m., beginning on July 11. The movies will be introduced by Marc Longenecker.
- Tuesday, July 11: BALL OF FIRE
- Tuesday, July 18: MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN
- Tuesday, July 25: HIGH NOON
On Tuesday, August 1 C-Film will sponsor Spotlight on the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival: WALK WITH ME, THE TRIALS OF DAMON J. KEITH. Marc will also introduce this film.
Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts is sponsoring a series of events:
- The series opens on Thursday, June 29 with a free outdoor concert by singer-songwriter, acoustic guitarist, and conga player Aurelio and his band in the CFA Courtyard (rain location: Crowell Concert Hall). He performs traditional Garifuna music from Honduras, which has its roots in West Africa, and has shared the stage with Youssou N’Dour and recorded with Orchestra Baobab, among other artists.
- Jazz vocalist Alicia Olatuja brings her quintet to Crowell Concert Hall on Thursday July 6. She has worked with Christian McBride, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Chaka Khan, and others. She was also the featured soloist with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. Following Wesleyan, she will perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
- The New England premiere of “Beyond Sacred,” an interview-based theater production by Ping Chong + Company, takes place in the CFA Theater on Thursday, July 13. The work explores the real-life stories of five young Muslim Americans, from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, coming of age in New York City at a time of increasing hostility towards, and violence against, Muslims in the United States. This is a continuation of the “Muslim Women’s Voices at Wesleyan” programming that began during the 2014-2015 season at the Center for the Arts, which expanded awareness, knowledge, and understanding of Muslim cultures through the lens of performance.
- Wesleyan’s John Spencer Camp Professor of Music Neely Bruce presents the twelfth in a series of CD-length recitals of his piano music on Sunday, July 16 in Crowell Concert Hall. The free concert will feature three world premieres of his compositions, plus guest artists Professor of Music Jay Hoggard on vibraphone, and Wesleyan Jazz Ensemble Director Noah Baerman on piano.
Summertime and the arts at Wesleyan!