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Music and artistic discussions fill the month of February on campus
Raul Midón sits with a guitar

Schwartz artist in residence Raul Midón will lead music workshops and take the stage for two concerts during Emory Jazz Fest 2022 in February.

Emory Arts celebrates spring semester and the return to campus with a variety of musical performances, discussions and other programs sure to entertain arts enthusiasts — including Jazz Fest, an evening with Branford Marsalis and a new exhibit featuring comic books and graphic novels.

Get jazzy with Jazz Fest

Emory Jazz Fest 2022 kicks off February, with several events at the Schwartz Performing Arts Center (Emerson Concert Hall) during the first weekend of the month.

Schwartz artist-in-residence Raul Midón — dubbed an “eclectic adventurist” by People magazine — has released 10 studio albums as a solo artist and has collaborated with musical greats such as Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers. The Grammy Award-nominated artist hosts a free lecture and discussion on Thursday, Feb. 3, at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are not required.

On Friday, Feb. 4, Midón takes the stage with the Gary Motley Trio, featuring Edwin Livingston and Clarence Penn, at 8 p.m. Tickets for the performance are on sale ($30 general admission, $10 for Emory students).

Jazz Fest wraps up on Saturday, Feb. 5, when the Emory Big Band performs with the Gary Motley Trio — again with Edwin Livingston and Clarence Penn — at 8 p.m. this event is free, but tickets are required.

Enjoy student and guest performances

A collection of concerts by students, faculty and professional musicians continues through February.

Pianist Alec Chien returns to Emory for the Cooke Noontime Concert on Friday, Feb. 11, at 12 p.m. at the Carlos Museum (Ackerman Hall). Fans of his stunning performance last season of the Beethoven Piano Sonata Series won’t want to miss this opportunity to hear him again. The concert is free, but registration is required to avoid overcrowding.

Guitarist and composer Timuçin Şahin visits Emory as a Schwartz Artist-in-Residence during CompFest 2022. As part of this residency, he will work with Emory music students on improvisation, electronic music and composition, and he will present two free concerts at Emory’s Performing Arts Studio in the Burlington Road Building: Friday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m.

An Emory musical tradition continues on Sunday, Feb. 13, with the Bach Bowl at 4 p.m. at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts (Emerson Concert Hall). This annual one-hour concert prior to the Super Bowl will get audience members in the mood for the big game with two of Bach's most imaginative and engaging works. The concert is free, but general admission tickets are required.

Cellist Zuill Bailey performs three Bach suites for solo cello on Friday, Feb. 18, at 12 p.m. The free performance is part of the Bach’s Lunch Series presented by the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) and is held at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta.

The Candler Concert Series continues on Friday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m., featuring an evening with Branford Marsalis. The musician, composer and band leader returns to the Schwartz Center stage with the Branford Marsalis Quartet, long recognized as the standard for measuring jazz ensembles. Tickets are on sale now.

A second ECMSA concert on Saturday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m. features Zuill Bailey (cello), Linda Rosenthal (violin) and William Ransom (piano). The performance, held in Emerson Concert Hall of the Schwartz Performing Arts Center, is free.

Two student performances conclude the month’s concerts. The Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra performs Wednesday, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m. The Emory Wind Ensemble presents classic and emerging works for winds, brass and percussion on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 4 p.m. The symphony orchestra and wind ensemble performances are both in the Schwartz Center’s Emerson Concert Hall and are free.

Delve into artistic interpretations

The newest exhibition at the Carlos Museum, “And I Must Scream,” is designed to prompt conversations related to global crises. Employing monstrous, grotesque and humanoid figures and forms, the works in this thought-provoking exhibit engage five themes: corruption and human rights violations, displacement, environmental destruction, the pandemic,and renewal.

Special programs at the Carlos Museum during February include the 30th-annual Nix Mann Endowed Lecture. Held online Sunday, Feb. 6, at 2 p.m., the talk features French-Beninese author and photographer Laeïla Adjovi, who delves into her artistic and literary practice, discussing topics that permeate her work and research: multilayered identities, fragmented collective memory, the link between the African continent and its diasporas and the (mis)representation of the African cultural heritage. Adjovi's photographic series, “Malaïka Dotou Sankofa,” is featured in the exhibition “And I Must Scream.” The program is free but registration is required.

Discussions during Works on Paper Wednesdays center on pieces from “The Eye, the Mind and the Heart,” an exhibition open until March 5 honoring the legacy of Clark Poling, professor in Emory’s Department of Art History, former director of the Carlos Museum and faculty curator emeritus of Works on Paper. The free programs will be held at 4 p.m. in the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall and online on three Wednesdays: Feb. 9, Feb. 16 and Feb. 23.

A new exhibit opens at the Woodruff Library on Friday, Feb. 11: “Graphic Narratives and Comic Collections at Emory: Past, Present and Future.” Graphic narratives are a growing area of study and literary expression. This exhibit focuses on the expansion of Emory’s collections in this genre, including comics and long-form graphic novels. Pieces highlighted in this exhibit are drawn from the collections of the Woodruff Library, Rose Library, and the Oxford Library.


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