Entertainment blooms this spring at Sac State

This spring promises to be an entertaining time at California State University, Sacramento, with plenty of music, art and dance performances are on tap.

Cabaret, a Saturday Night Live band member and the second annual U-Nite soirée at the Crocker Art Museum are coming up during Sacramento State’s spring season of performances, exhibits and lectures. And that’s just a taste of what to expect to the end of May.

Tickets for all events are available through Sacramento State’s Ticket Office, csus.edu/sfsc/ticketoffice/ or call 916-278-4323.

Festival of the Arts

The main event of the spring is the annual Festival of the Arts, which again begins with U-Nite (short for “University Night Out”) at the Crocker Art Museum.

U-Nite will start Thursday, April 11 from 5 to 9 p.m. The event will feature artworks, dance, and music by Sacramento State faculty throughout the museum.

The crowd is free to wander about, enjoying the special exhibits and performances while taking in the Crocker’s collections.

This season’s Festival of the Arts begins immediately afterward, on April 12, and consists of six days of theater, dance, music, design and fine art.

Music

This year’s installment of the series will help the music world say good-bye to one of the great string ensembles, the Tokyo String Quartet and pay tribute to Professor Emeritus Deborah Pittman, the clarinetist who has been a shining light for the University’s Music Department and been a driving force in the city’s artistic scene.

The annual Faculty and Friends Gala is on Friday, April 12. The gala will pay tribute to Pittman, who holds degrees in music performance from Brooklyn College Conservatory and played with the Sacramento Symphony from 1981 to 1990.

The program includes works by Beethoven, Mahler and Steve Reich’s “New York Counterpoint,” a work for 11 clarinets. Sacramento’s Citywater ensemble will premiere a work written by Professor Stephen Blumberg.

The Tokyo String Quartet is making its last tour after 43 seasons. On Friday, April 19, it will perform Mozart, Schubert and “Farewell,” a new work written specifically for their final tour.

All performances are at 7:30 p.m. in the Music Recital Hall. Tickets are $20 general, $10 for seniors and $5 for students for the April 12 concerts; and $40, $20 and $10 for the April 19 concert.

World Music series

A concert will bring the music of India to Sacramento State as part of the World Music series.

Classical Indian vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan performs on Saturday, April 27 at 8 p.m. He has held concerts throughout the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and the Middle East, and is among the foremost young performing musicians of Carnatic music.

The concert is in the Music Recital Hall. Tickets are $15 general, $12 for seniors and $8 for students.

Guest artists

Talented guest artists, including a Sac State alumnus, continue to put the University on their lists of tour stops.

Saturday Night Live trombonist, conch shell player and Sac State alumnus Steve Turre joins the University’s Jazz Ensembles in concert on Wednesday, April 17 at 8 p.m.

Turre has toured with Ray Charles, Dizzie Gillespie, Herbie Hancock and many more artists. His performances on the conch shell have led to a musical following and the formation of the group Sanctified Shells.

Bassoonist Scott Pool takes the stage on Tuesday, April 2 for a 7:30 p.m. performance. A professor at the University of Texas, Arlington, Pool has performed concerts and recitals throughout North and South America and Europe and has been featured on National Public Radio. All concerts are in the Music Recital Hall. Tickets are $10 general, $7 seniors and $5 for students.

Faculty recital

Daniel Kennedy, professor of percussion, holds his recital Monday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m.. Kennedy has been a founding member of several contemporary music ensembles, including the California EAR Unit and the Talujon Percussion Quartet.

A virtuoso at a wide range of percussion instruments, Kennedy has an extensive list of recordings and has been featured as a soloist for the California Arts Council Touring Program.

The concert is in the Music Recital Hall. Tickets are $10 general, $7 seniors and $5 for students.

Student groups

Whether it’s classical or jazz, Sacramento State’s student groups have become regional favorites and received accolades from across the country.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble returns to the stage Wednesday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Sacramento State’s Opera Theatre presents three one-act comedies May 3 and 4 at 8 p.m. Offerings are Bucci’s “Sweet Betsy from Pike,” Barber’s “A Hand of Bridge,” and Barab’s “A Game of Chance.”

Enjoy more jazz with the University’s Vocal Jazz Ensembles and special guests, Vertical Voices. The University’s ensembles are multiple winners of Downbeat magazine’s best college group award. The concert is Sunday, May 5 at 7 p.m.

The Jazz Ensembles perform again, this time Thursday, May 9 at 8 p.m.
The spring concert of the university’s three choirs will be held Saturday, May 11, at Sacred Heart Church, 39th and J streets starting at 8 p.m.

An evening of all concertos will be presented by the university’s baroque ensemble, Camerata Capistrano Sunday, May 12, in Capistrano Hall Room 151 at 4 p.m. The concert includes guest bassoonist Professor David Wells. The Symphony Orchestra will perform Tuesday, May 14 at 8 p.m.

The two groups combine their talents when the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Concert Band perform Wednesday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Some very young performers take the stage for the annual free String Project concert Monday, May 20 at 7 p.m. The young people, from the fourth grade on up, are taught the violin, viola, cello, or bass by Sacramento State music students.

All concerts, except where noted, are in the Music Recital Hall with tickets priced at $10 general admission, $7 for seniors and $5 for students.

For more information on the music department visit csus.edu/music or call 916-278-5191.

Theater and dance performances

Pay a visit to the Kit Kat Klub with Cabaret, playing in the University Theatre, April 10 to 14 and 17 to 21. The production is directed by Professor Ed Brazo, who is celebrating his 10th year at Sacramento State. Winner of eight Tony awards, the musical turns the spotlight on 1920s Berlin and the rise of Nazi Germany. It was Brazo’s first production at Sac State.

A smorgasbord of dance awaits in Solano Hall Dancespace on April 13 and 14 with performances at 1 and 7 p.m. each day of “Sacramento Dance Sampler.” Directed by Professor Lorelei Bayne, the concert serves up a variety of dance pieces and styles from the region’s professional dance troupes.

Sac State’s theater students take charge of the productions with the presentation of “One Acts,” a series of one-act plays directed by students. The plays run April 30 to May 11 in the Studio Theatre.

The season concludes with the “Senior Dance Concert.” Graduating dance students put their finals on stage, each of them creating, casting, choreographing and staging an individual number. Directed by Professor Philip Flickinger, the concert runs May 9 to 12 and 15 to 19 in Solano Hall Dancespace.

Tickets for cabaret range from $7 to $15. Sacramento Dance Sampler tickets are $10. All other performances range from $5 to $12.

Special events

The Theatre and Dance Department has submitted last semester’s plays “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf and Robin Hood” for consideration. Two students from each production also will compete for scholarships. Winners will go on to the national competition in April.

For more information on the theater and dance season visit csus.edu/dram or call 916-278-6368.

Art and Design Library Gallery

The Friends of the University Library’s Author Lecture Series continues in the Library Gallery with author Chuck McFadden. He will discuss his book “Trailblazer: A Biography of Jerry Brown” at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 17. The talk is free.

Art Department

Exhibitions, special events, lectures and group discussions will be presented throughout the semester.

“Bodies of Water,” an exhibit by Sylvia Sensiper, will run April 2-25 in the Else Gallery. A reception with music and dance performance will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 12. A UC Davis researcher and artist, Sensiper teaches courses on Buddhism and produced a video on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.

A dual presentation includes Cornell University Professor Ella Diaz lecturing about Sacramento’s well-known art group the Royal Chicano Air Force, immediately followed by an art history panel discussion on university art collection management. It runs from 1 to 5 p.m., including a reception, April 13, in the Library Gallery Annex. Diaz teaches Latina and Chicana literatures and visual cultures.

The panel discussion features Robin Bernhard and Rachel Teagle from UCD’s Nelson Gallery, Irene Lugo from Sacramento City College, and Catherine Sullivan from the Janet Turner Print Collection at Chico State.

Staci Gem Scheiwiller’s lecture “Reframing the Rise of Modernism in Iran” will look at 19th century Iranian photography at 7 p.m. Monday, April 29, in Kadema Hall Room 145. Scheiwiller is a professor of contemporary and modern art history at CSU, Stanislaus. She focuses on issues of modernity and modernism in Iran.

Student works will be presented throughout the semester in the Witt Gallery.

Art Ball

The season concludes with the annual Art Ball on May 17, featuring student works in a wide range of media exhibited at various locations throughout the campus.

Else and Witt gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from noon to 4:30 p.m.

For more information on the University Library Gallery call 916-278-4189. Information on the art department is available at al.csus.edu/art or by calling 916-278-6166.