March has arrived with the renewed energy that accompanies spring. As the weather warms and the trees begin to bloom, so do the opportunities to experience the arts here on campus. From concerts and artist talks to theater festivals and film screenings, there is something for everyone to enjoy across Emory this month.
Attend a concert or gain new skills with a masterclass
The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) kicks off the month by hosting pianist Bertrand Giraud at the Michael C. Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall on Friday, March 1, as part of their Cooke Noontime Series of concerts. The performance is free but registration is required. Giraud will also be leading a masterclass at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 2, at Tharp Rehearsal Hall in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. The class is free and open to the public.
Tuesday, March 5, brings the Apu Inka Musical Group to Williams Hall on the Oxford College campus. The group was born as an expression of respect and admiration for the ancestral art, music and dance of the Andes by a group of Peruvians who seek to make their culture known through the universal language of music. The performance is free and open to the public.
Later in March, the Atlanta Master Chorale presents two performances of “Same Light, Different Lanterns: Sacred Music from Around the World” in Emerson Concert Hall at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 15, and Saturday, March 16. Tickets, which can be purchased on the Schwartz Center website, are required and a livestream option is available.
On Friday, March 22, the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts hosts the Turtle Island Quartet performing “Island Prayers” as a part of the 2023-24 Candler Concert Series. Tickets are required. The event starts at 8 p.m. and will be held in Emerson Concert Hall.
ECMSA finishes the month with an Emerson Series performance from Emory’s own Vega Quartet at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, in Emerson Concert Hall. No tickets are required for this free event.
Enjoy the thrill of live theater
The Playwriting Center of Theater Emory closes out its biennial Brave New Works festival in early March. The festival, dedicated to celebrating new plays written in the theater world, featured two new works in February and concludes with a staged reading of “The Boy Who Rode the Clouds” at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, in the Schwartz Theater Lab. The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required.
On the Oxford campus, prepare to step into a story fusing classical mythology with the harsh realities of street kids when OxTheatre presents “Polaroid Stories” at the Tarbutton Performing Arts Center. Performances are Feb. 29-March 2 at 7:30 p.m., with an additional show at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 2. Tickets are $8 and can be reserved through the theater box office.
In a nod to the term “bespoke,” Emorja Roberson, an assistant professor of music and African American studies at Oxford College, presents “Be-Spoken.” The work uses sacred texts and music genres to address themes of Black empowerment; justice for police violence within Black and brown communities; and hope for a more prosperous future. Tickets are $10 and available through the OxTheatre box office. The program is Friday, March 8, at 7 p.m. in Porter Performing Arts Center.
See life through a new lens
The Emory Cinematheque continues its spring “AI and Film” series examining the provocative ways that artificial intelligence (AI) has been depicted in film.
Featured this month are films “They Cloned Tyrone” (Juel Taylor, 2023) on March 6; “Blade Runner” (Ridley Scott, 1982/2007 [The Final Cut]) on March 20; and ”After Yang” (Kogonada, 2021) on March 27. All screenings are at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall, Room 208. There will be no screening on Wednesday, March 13, due to Emory’s spring break. For more information, including a full list of films being screened this spring, visit the Emory Cinematheque website.
Watch “Welcome to the Enclave” and other short films with award-winning experimental filmmaker Sarah Lasley on Thursday, March 7, at 7 p.m. in Humanities Hall, Room 202, at Oxford College. Admission is free.
The Emory Film and Media Department continues Photography Speaks, a series of artists’ talks in and around contemporary photography, art and activism. This month’s installment features documentary photographer Katherine Taylor on Monday, March 18, at 7 p.m. in the Visual Arts Building. The event is free and no registration is required.
This semester, the Ethics and the Arts Program at Emory presents Ethics at the Movies, a series of film screenings bringing ethics-related cinema to the Emory community, co-sponsored by the Center for Ethics and the Film and Media Studies Department. On Tuesday, March 19, the series presents “At The Ready,” a documentary film following a group of high school students taking part in a law enforcement training program. The film will be shown at 7 p.m. in White Hall, Room 208.
Support student creativity at Emory
March also features a variety of student ensemble performances on campus. First, the Emory University Symphony Orchestra featuring Eighth Blackbird, a Grammy Award-winning sextet, will perform Mahler’s “Symphony No. 1” and Viet Cuong’s newly orchestrated “Vital Sines” on Thursday, March 7, at 8 p.m. in Emerson Concert Hall. This performance is part of the Schwartz-Artist-in-Residence Program. While the concert is free, attendees must claim a ticket either in person or online from the Schwartz Center box office.
The Emory Piano Studies program presents its annual spring Collaborative Piano Concert on Sunday, March 24, at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Studio. The event is free to attend.
Finally, on Tuesday, March 26, the Emory Jazz Ensembles perform their annual spring concert in Emerson Hall. The event starts at 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
March also brings student recitals in voice, piano, violin, clarinet and composition. There are 11 student recitals throughout the month that are free to attend. For a full list of these recitals, check out the Music Department calendar.
Step back in time at the Carlos Museum
On Thursday, March 21, the Michael C. Carlos Museum hosts the Laszlo-Excalibur Lecture: “The Tanagras, Greek Dress and Femininity” in Ackerman Hall at 7:30 p.m. The corresponding exhibit, “Recasting Antiquity: Whistler, Tanagra, and the Female Form,” will be open for viewing beforehand. The lecture is free, but registration is required.
Head back to the Carlos Museum on Friday, March 22, for a colloquium focused on “Classical Drapery and Dress Reform.” The discussion begins at 9:30 a.m. with coffee, tea and pastries in Ackerman Hall. The colloquium is free and open to the public.
At 1 p.m. on Friday, March 22, the Carlos Museum hosts its Student Studio: Drawing in the Museum. Students will move through the Recasting Antiquity exhibit and experiment with a variety of drawing activities, from traditional figure drawing to creating adaptive drawing tools. Student Studio and admission to the Carlos Museum are always free to Emory students. Attendees should meet in the Tate Room.
Finally, on Tuesday, March 26, the Carlos hosts CuriosiTEA at 4 p.m. in Ackerman Hall. Enjoy afternoon tea and pastries as ceramicist Ana Vizurraga shares her research and process for recreating a mold-making process from 3rd and 4th-century BCE Greece. This program is free and open to the public and no registration is required. For a full list of activities, visit the Carlos Museum calendar of events.