May 31, 2017
Arts Roundup: Harry Partch Ensemble, Defiant Requiem, Trans History in 99 Objects, Sueño, and School of Art graduation exhibitions
This week in the arts, hear the Harry Partch Ensemble perform with students and faculty; experience a concert-drama combining the music of Verdi with video testimony from survivors of the Terezí concentration camp; get a final look at the Henry’s exhibit from the Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art; see an Obie Award-winning adaptation of Calderon de la Barca’s classic Life Is a Dream; and catch the next installments of the School of Art + Art History + Design’s Graduation Exhibitions.
HARRY PARTCH ENSEMBLE: MUSIC OF HARRY PARTCH, LOU HARRISON, AND JAMES TENNEY
June 1 & 2; 7:30PM| Meany Theater
The UW’s Harry Partch Ensemble joins with students and faculty from the strings and percussion studios to present a concert of music by 20th and 21st century composers Harry Partch, Lou Donaldson, and James Tenney. More info.
DEFIANT REQUIEM: VERDI AT TEREZÍN
Friday, June 2; 7:30PM | Meany Theater
Jewish prisoners in the Terezín Concentration Camp experienced the worst of human degradation yet performed Verdi’s Requiem 16 times with only a single smuggled score, including one performance before senior SS officers from Berlin and an international Red Cross delegation. Imprisoned conductor Rafael Schächter told the choir, “We will sing to the Nazis what we cannot say to them.” In this concert-drama, guest conductor Murry Sidlin leads the University Symphony and combined UW Chamber Singers and University Chorale in performing Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín. Sidlin, founder and director of the Defiant Requiem Foundation, conceived and created this concert-drama combining the music of Verdi with video testimony from survivors of the original Terezín chorus as well as footage from the 1944 Nazi propaganda film about Theresienstadt. The performance includes actors who speak the words of conductor Rafael Schächter. More info.
MOTHA AND CHRIS E. VARGAS PRESENT: TRANS HIRSTORY IN 99 OBJECTS
Through June 3 | Henry Art Gallery
Opening this summer at the Henry is the second iteration of Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects, an ongoing series of exhibitions organized by Chris E. Vargas, Executive Director of the Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art. 99 Objects gathers archival materials and works by contemporary artists that narrate the history of transgender communities. The presentation at the Henry focuses on lives and experiences specific to Seattle and the greater Pacific Northwest: individuals including Nell Pickerell (also known as Harry Allen and Harry Livingston [1882-1922]), and Marsha Botzer, transgender activist and founder of Ingersoll Gender Center (1977); and places such as The Garden of Allah, a social gathering space popular in the years after World War II known for its female impersonator cabaret acts. More info.
SUEÑO
Through June 4| Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse
Sueño is Obie Award-winning playwright José Rivera’s translation and adaptation of Calderon de la Barca’s classic Life Is a Dream. Set in 1635, this metaphysical drama—renowned as one of the jewels of the Spanish Golden Age—follows the life of Segismundo, heir to the Spanish throne, imprisoned at birth after astrologers predict his kingship would ruin the country. Raised in isolation, his only companions are the nobleman Clotaldo—and God, though Calderon isn’t sure if God himself isn’t “the greatest dream of all.” More info.
INTERDISCIPLINARY VISUAL ARTS HONORS + JURIED SHOW
Through May 27 | Jacob Lawrence Gallery
The graduation show for students receiving bachelor’s degrees with Honors from Interdisciplinary Visual Arts. There will also be a juried selection of work by additional graduating students from IVA. More info.
MFA + MDES THESIS EXHIBITION
June 2 through 25 | Henry Art Gallery
The graduation show for students receiving master’s degrees from the Division of Art and Division of Design. More info.
DIVISION OF DESIGN GRADUATION EXHIBITION
June 7 through 17 | Jacob Lawrence Gallery
The graduation show for students receiving Bachelor of Design degrees from the Division of Design. More info.
