Sac State presents an entertaining semester

Fall is almost here and things are falling into place for another season of entertaining and thought-provoking performances and exhibits at California State University, Sacramento, courtesy of the university’s arts programs.

At the heart of the lineup is Sac State’s acclaimed Festival of New American Music.

The November tradition is a 10-day series of free concerts featuring the best of new American music, an interpretation that presents contemporary classical or jazz components sharpened with a cutting edge.

From there, check out the other offerings in music, theater and dance, visual arts and design. There will be a special art exhibit focusing on water, a play that tells the story of a different kind of “Robin Hood,” modern dance concerts, lectures by prominent authors, and a display of rarely exhibited works from Sac State’s own art collection.

Theater and dance

Faculty and guest choreographers come together to guide students through their first performance of the year in “Dance Sites 2012: Faculty Dance Concert.”

This always-anticipated annual evening of dance on the University Theatre main stage presents a wide range of music and dance styles. Performances are Oct. 17 to 21.

At Playwrights’ Theatre, new department Chair Melinda Wilson Ramey will direct “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.” A choreopoem by Ntozake Shange, the play weaves dance and poetry to express the struggles of different women in their search for God, peace, love and happiness. It runs Nov. 1 to 4 and Nov. 7 to 11.

In Solano Hall’s Dancespace, Nov. 14 to 18, “Dance House,” directed by Lorelei Bayne and Philip Flickinger, showcases original works choreographed by students, alumni and community guests.

“Robin Hood,” written by Don Nigro and directed by Professor Michelle Felten runs Nov. 28 to Dec.2 and Dec. 5 to 9 in the University Theater.

In this version, the daring hero tries to keep wicked Prince John from building an arms manufactory, a slaughterhouse and a tennis court. Supported by a cast of vivid and wacky characters, this mixture of farce, physical comedy and bawdy humor is sure to tickle your funny bone.

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

For tickets call the University ticket office at 916-278-4323.

Music

Faculty recitals will be presented by saxophonist Keith Bohm with pianist John Cozza at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12; and by harpsichordist Lorna Peters with violinist Jubal Fulks at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21. Both recitals are in Capistrano Hall 151.

The Piano Series is back starting with Sacramento State’s own Professor Richard Cionco at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29.

Cionco performs frequently throughout the United States as well as Italy, Germany and China, and has performed in Denmark, Slovakia, Japan, Canada and many other countries. He celebrates 20 years on the Sac State faculty with a new CD of Beethoven’s later piano music.

The semester’s second recital features Ju Ying Song at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20.

Song earned her MM and DMA from Juilliard and is on the faculty of the New School for Music at Mannes College.

Her awards include Pro Piano Artist of the Year, the Sudler Prize for outstanding achievement from Stanford University and the Petschek Award, Juilliard’s highest honor for a pianist.

Visit csus.edu/music/bravo/pianoseries.html for information.

The Festival of New American Music (FeNAM) runs Nov. 1 to 10 and features a lineup of artists guaranteed to please all fans of new American music. It starts with a keynote address by composer Augusta Read Thomas and features musicians Geoffrey Burleson, the Calliope Duo, the JACK Quartet, Third Coast Percussion and Allen Vizzutti as well as the festival’s “house band” Citywater, the Sac State Faculty Jazz Trio and the University’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

Most of the concerts are in the Music Recital Hall and all of them are free.

Visit csus.edu/music/fenam/index.html for information.

South Indian vocalist S. Sowmya begins the World Music Series at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17.

She has received extensive training in Carnatic music and established Carnatica, an institution dedicated to music and dance instruction.

She will be followed by the Balinese gamelan group Gamelan Sekar Jaya at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2.

The 60-member company of musicians and dancers plays various types of bronze or bamboo percussion instruments. They have performed throughout the United States and Bali.

Visit csus.edu/music/bravo/worldmusic.html for information.

Sac State’s jazz groups have been recognized as some of the best in the nation. The Jazz Ensembles have been invited six times to the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival, and there will be two opportunities for people to find out just how good they are.

The band will play at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, and 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6.

The vocal jazz group, selected for several consecutive years as the best in the nation by Downbeat magazine, will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30.

Choral music at its best will be presented when the University Choirs perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3. They’ll gather again for the extremely popular Procession of Carols at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2.

All performances are at Sacred Heart Church, 39th and J streets.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble holds a concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26, and the Concert Band performs at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 15. The two groups combine forces for a concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28.

The Symphony Orchestra takes the stage at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16 and Dec. 4. Camerata Capistrano, Sacramento State’s baroque ensemble, performs at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9.

The season concludes at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10, with the always-charming free holiday concert by the String Project, local young violinists and cellists taught by Sac State music students.

Sac State music students contribute to the lineup throughout the year with free performances.

The Mu Phi Epsilon music fraternity presents a recital of chamber and classical music at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5; jazz combos perform in short sets at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, and Friday, Nov. 16; violin students of Professor Ian Swensen perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, in Capistrano 151; piano students of Professor Lorna Peters will present a recital at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26; the Clarinet Choir holds a concert at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27; saxophone ensembles perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5 in Capistrano Hall 151; and student composers present their work at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, in Capistrano Hall 151.

All concerts are in the music recital hall except where noted.

For more information and details on ticket prices visit csus.edu/music or call 916-278-5191.

For tickets call the University ticket office at 916-278-4323.

Fine Art and Design

The University Library Gallery hosts “Balancing Act” to begin the fall semester. The exhibit of David Middlebrook works runs Sept. 6 to Dec. 15 with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6.

Middlebrook’s work has its roots in ceramics and has evolved into site-specific sculptures of stone, marble and bronze. The Sac State show will feature a number of precariously balanced shapes.

Americana art will be on display in “Artistry of the Traditional Quilt,” which begins Sept. 7 next door in the library gallery annex and runs through Saturday, Oct. 20, with a reception 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7.

A companion exhibit, “Piecing the Past Together: Nineteenth Century Quilts” runs Sept. 6 to Dec. 20 in the library special collections and university archives. Pieces in both shows are from the collection of Carol Gebel, a former Sac State library services specialist and member of the American Quilt Study Group.

The library gallery is also the site of the Friends of the Library’s popular author lecture series, which begins this year with Sacramento State’s own professor of contemporary art history, Elaine O’Brien.

She will discuss her book “Modern Art in Africa, Asia and Latin America: An Introduction to Global Modernisms” at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3.

The book is an anthology of essays and documents about modern art beyond the West.

“Sacramento’s Chinatown,” by Brian and Larry Tom, is the topic at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1. Sacramento has one of the oldest Chinatowns in America. The author brothers are third-generation Chinese Americans.

For more information call Sally Hitchcock at 916-278-5954.

Works by students and guest artists will be featured in Kadema Hall’s Witt Gallery throughout the semester.

Else Gallery hours are noon to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Witt Gallery hours are noon to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Call 916-278-6166 or visit al.csus.edu/art/ for more information.