Spring has arrived in Atlanta, and the trees across Emory’s campus have started to bloom. As the weather heats up, so does the variety of exciting arts events that Emory has to offer! See what’s happening on campus during March so you won’t miss a thing.
Enjoy concerts across multiple musical genres
The month starts off strong with an Arabic hip-hop performance and workshop from Omar Offendum and Thanks Joey at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, in Harland Cinema. Offendum gave more than a dozen high-profile performances at FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar and brings his love for hip-hop and Arabic poetry together in a very special performance-lecture event. Joined by L.A.-based beatmaker Thanks Joey, these multi-talented musicians offer a unique perspective on Arab-American artistry.
The Schwartz Center for Performing Arts continues its 20th Anniversary celebration this month with two virtuosic Candler Concert Series performances. On Thursday, March 2, at 8 p.m., the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble with Michael Barenboim presents an evening of music from outstanding young Palestinian and Israeli musicians in a collaboration that supersedes national and cultural boundaries. Tickets for this event are $50 ($10 for Emory students).
Earlier that afternoon, Barenboim will conduct a master class with three Emory student violinists in the Schwartz Center’s Tharp Rehearsal Hall. The community is invited to observe this free event at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 2.
On Saturday, March 4, Schwartz Artist-in-Residence Anyango Yarbo Davenport and Emory’s director of piano studies Elena Cholakova present a recital concert featuring works by Florence Price and John Corigliano, among others. The recital takes place at 8 p.m. in the Schwartz Center’s Emerson Concert Hall and is free and open to the public.
At 8 p.m. on Friday, March 10, and Saturday, March 11, Atlanta Master Chorale presents Magnificat, an ancient liturgical text that is both a hymn of praise and a prayer for justice. Other works by Bach, Byrd, Rachmaninoff, Stanford, Howells and Pärt also will be included in the program. Performances will be in Emerson Concert Hall of the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are available now for $38 ($10 for all students).
On Friday, March 17, at 8 p.m., renowned tenor Lawrence Brownlee premieres a new song cycle, Rising, at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. The program features texts by Black authors and poets of the Harlem Renaissance that are set to music by leading composers including Shawn Okpebholo, Damien Sneed and Emory alumnus Joel Thompson. Tickets are $50; $10 for Emory students.
During his time on campus, Brownlee also will give a master class at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 16, and will join composer Joel Thompson in conversation that evening at 5 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public. An RSVP is required for the master class.
For fans of chamber music, the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) hosts three concerts in March. The Atlanta’s Young Artists Concert is part of the ECMSA’s Family Series and features performances by some of the area’s finest pre-college musicians. The showcase is Sunday, March 19, at 4 p.m. in the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall. On Tuesday, March 21, the Vega String Quartet travels to Oxford College for an evening of Beethoven and Ravel at 7:30 p.m. To round out ECMSA programs, the group hosts pianist Jasmin Arakawa on Friday, March 24, as a part of the Cooke Noontime Series at Ackerman Hall. This event is free, but registration required.
Emory Arts Fellow in Music Davor Vincze performs Freedom Collective on Thursday, March 23, at 9 p.m. in the Performing Arts Studio. In this concert, Vincze presents pieces for voice, percussion, violin, cello and electronics, displaying a wide range of compositional interests. On Friday, March 24, violinist Sruti Sarathy and vocalist Shiv Subramaniam perform An Evening of Carnatic Music from the South Indian tradition at 6 p.m. in Cannon Chapel.
Saturday, March 25, brings the Schwartz Center debut of pianist and composer Chad Lawson, who will be joined by acclaimed violinist Judy Kang and cellist Seth Parker Woods. Known for creating “Classical music for the Spotify generation” (Culture Trip), Lawson is a modern-day master of reinventions; his bold interpretations of the classics, atmospherics and electronic loops resonate with both EDM fans and neo-classical traditionalists. The evening’s concert program features variations on compositions ranging from Chopin to Billie Eilish. Tickets are $40 ($10 for Emory students).
The musically-inspired month wraps up with two concerts by Emory student ensembles. Emory Collaborative Piano presents some of the best-known pieces in four-hand piano repertoire on Sunday, March 26, at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Studio. On Tuesday, March 28, the Emory Jazz Combos explore many facets of improvisation at 8 p.m. in Emerson Concert Hall.
Watch a film from Emory Cinematheque
Regular film screenings continue during March with Emory Cinematheque’s “Camp Vibes, Queer Feelings” series.
The screenings occur Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall, Room 208 (except March 8, which is Emory University’s spring break). The films screened this month include “Sleepaway Camp” and “Murder, She Wrote: Birds of a Feather” on March 1; “Funeral Parade of Roses” on March 15; “Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-a-Rama” and “Xena Warrior Princess: Sins of the Past” on March 22; and “Paris is Burning” along with “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Ru Ha Ha” on March 29. More information and a schedule of the films being screened can be found on the Emory Cinematheque website.
Learn something new during lectures
Learners of all ages are invited to a pair of lectures that are free and open to the public. sponsored by the Art History Department and the Emory Friends of Dance respectively.
The Art History Department welcomes Claudia Swan, the inaugural Mark Steinberg Weil Professor of Art History at Washington University, to campus on Thursday, March 16. She will present “A Material History of the Dutch Colonial Imaginary” at 6 p.m. in the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall.
On Tuesday, March 21, Emory Friends of Dance welcomes Sarah Wilbur of Duke University. She will speak on “Should I Dance for Free?”, an interactive presentation connecting artists’ current struggles to sustain working lives and livelihoods to past patterns of federal, state and private dance support. The program will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Dance Studio.
Explore student creativity
The Carlos Museum’s popular Student Studio series returns on Friday, March 24, at 1 p.m. for an afternoon of making Egyptian-inspired beaded jewelry. The program, and admission to the Carlos Museum, is always free to Emory students. The program is first come, first served, while supplies last.
Also on March 24 at 6 p.m., the Emory Creative Writing Program presents Open-Mic Night in White Hall, Room 206. All writers are invited to help welcome spring by sharing poems and excerpts of fiction (maximum 3 minutes).
Learn more about these events and others on the Emory Arts Calendar.