This month, the Arts at Emory calendar is packed with exciting events across mediums, including a world premiere by Atlanta-based company staibdance, a lecture by celebrated singer-songwriter and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, and the first concert of the Atlanta Master Chorale Season. The Arts at Emory online calendar has the full schedule of events for the month.
Provost Lecture Series
The Provost Lecture Series opens this month with Meshell Ndegeocello, a celebrated bassist and singer-songwriter who eschews genre for originality, celebrity for longevity and musical trends for musical truths. Her investigation of sound and her reimagining of others' music afford not just a new musical experience but remind us to defy the narrow expectations of sounds and structures for black artists overall. The event takes place in the at the Emerson Concert Hall in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 4 p.m. The event is already filled to capacity, but can be watched live online here.
Film
Emory Cinematheque continues in October with the Billy Wilder film screening series every Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall 208. This month, films include Wilder’s hits “Sunset Boulevard” (Oct. 2), “Ace in the Hole” (Oct. 9), “Stalag 17” (Oct. 16), “Sabrina” (Oct. 23) and “Some Like It Hot” (1959). The screenings are free and open to the public.
Dance
The Emory Dance Program presents the world premiere of “fence,” choreographed by faculty member George Staib and performed by his Atlanta-based dance company staibdance. Founded upon dramatic, life-changing events that Staib encountered as a child in Iran, “fence” is a journey into a messy world of power struggles and dismissed histories. Staib’s intensely physical movement vocabulary will bond with traditional Iranian dance, exploring unrest felt personally and globally. “fence” takes place Oct. 3-6 in the dance studio at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are available now through the Schwartz Center box office.
Music
The October music calendar begins with Atlanta Master Chorale’s “All Creatures Great and Small” at the Emerson Concert Hall in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Their first concert of the season, with music inspired by birds, animals and other assorted fauna, runs Oct. 4-5 at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now through the Schwartz Center box office.
Next up is a concert by pianist Brad Mehldau and tenor Ian Bostridge. They perform Friday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. in Emerson Concert Hall. Mehldau first met Bostridge in 2015 when they discovered that even beyond their mutual admiration, they had numerous similar musical affinities. Since that time, Mehldau has written an entire song cycle especially for the English tenor. Working closely together, these iconic artists will take the stage to traverse the borders separating musical genres. Purchase tickets through the Schwartz Center box office.
Hear music from Emory’s supremely talented student ensembles this month with concerts from the Emory Wind Ensemble (Oct. 19, 8 p.m.), Emory University Symphony Orchestra (Oct. 24, 8 p.m.) and Emory Choirs (Oct. 26, 8 p.m.), all in Emerson Concert Hall. You can also enjoy an outdoor performance Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. when Jazz on the Green returns to Patterson Green outside of Schwartz Center. All events are free and open to the public.
Michael C. Carlos Museum
“Minor White, Unburdened: Photographs from the Collection of Lindsay W. Marshall” opens at the Michael C. Carlos Museum on Saturday, Oct. 12, and runs through Sunday, Dec. 15. This exhibition features works by White alongside a selection of photographs by contemporaries and friends such as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Harry Callahan. The Michael C. Carlos Museum is free to Emory faculty, staff and students with Emory ID.
Creative Writing
The Phyllis Wheatley Reading Series continues this month with award-winning writer Tiphanie Yanique, who has joined the Emory faculty as associate professor of English and creative writing. Her reading takes place Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m. Yanique is the author of the award-winning novel “Land of Love and Drowning,” the story collection “How to Escape from a Leper Colony” and a poetry collection, “Wife.” Her book “Monster in the Middle: Fictions” is forthcoming from Riverhead. The reading will take place in the Jones Room in the Woodruff Library and is free and open to the public.