February brings a variety of fun and immersive arts activities to Emory’s Atlanta and Oxford campuses. Check out the full list and make plans to attend the performances, discussions, showcases, lectures and more.
Fall in love with Emory music ensembles
The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) has a berth of events lined up throughout the month. Events begin with a performance by violinist Chee Yun on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 10 a.m. in the Tharp Rehearsal Hall at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. The Bach Bowl follows on Sunday, Feb. 9, at 4 p.m. in Emerson Concert Hall at the Schwartz Center. The whole family can enjoy a cozy performance of musical bedtime stories during a Pajama Concert on Friday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. in Ackerman Hall of the Michael C. Carlos Museum. These events are free, and no tickets are required.
If you are looking for a Valentine’s Day event to share with your special someone, ECMSA presents The High Museum Valentine’s Concert, featuring tenor Timothy Miller performing love songs by Schumann, Gershwin, Burleigh and Puccini on Friday, Feb. 14, at noon. The performance will be at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art and is free to attend with admission to the High Museum.
The Emory Music Department will showcase pianist Elena Cholakova and violinist Miroslav Hristov for a performance on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 4 p.m., in the Schwartz Center’s Emerson Concert Hall. Later in the month, the department hosts CompFest 2025 on Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday, Feb. 8, featuring Atlanta-based contemporary music ensemble Bent Frequency. Programming on both days begins at 8 p.m. at the Performing Arts Studio. These events are free, and no tickets are required.
Emory Jazz Fest, an annual series featuring master classes, artist demonstrations and concerts, begins Thursday, Feb. 13, at 2:30 p.m. and runs through Saturday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. Events include a lecture and demonstration with saxophonist David Sánchez, a performance by Sánchez and the Gary Motley Trio and a rhythm section workshop. All events will take place in Emerson Concert Hall at the Schwartz Center. The festival concludes with a performance by the Emory Big Band on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. Tickets for this performance are free, but registration is required.
Visitors to the Oxford College campus can catch a performance of Cuban music by CubanaSong, an Atlanta-based music group, at Oxford College’s Williams Hall on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. This event is free to attend.
View cutting-edge film, theater and dance performances
Spring semester brings the Emory Film Department’s Cinematheque film series. Following the theme “Film on Film,” this month’s screenings will include “Man with a Movie Camera” on Feb. 5, “Holy Motors” on Feb. 12, “The Fabelmans” on Feb. 19 and “Blow Out” on Feb. 26. The free screenings are held every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall, Room 208.
The Center for Ethics continues its Ethics at the Movies series with a screening of “Home is a Hotel” on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. The screening takes place in White Hall, Room 207, and is free and open to the public.
Theater Emory opens its 2025 season with Ryan Stevens’ sci-fi workshop presentation “Static Head,” directed by Ibi Owolabi. The show runs Thursday, Feb. 20, to Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Theater Lab in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Tickets must be purchased ahead of time. Emory students may reserve up to two free tickets for all Theater Emory shows.
At Oxford College, an improvisational dance performance “Humbladbad: The Sequel,” directed by Corian Ellisor, hits the stage Friday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Williams Hall. This event is free to attend. Later in the month, OxTheatre kicks off its run of “Tragedy: a Tragedy,” directed by Will Eno on Thursday, Feb. 27, and Friday, Feb. 28. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. in Tarbutton Theater.
Engage with poetry
Poetry fans have the opportunity to attend threes special events in February. Writer Nicholas Goodly will present “5 Gifts,” an interactive performance and poetry reading, on Friday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m., in Williams Hall at Oxford College. The event is free to attend and open to the public.
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m., in the Jones Room of the Robert W. Woodruff Library, the Creative Writing Program hosts poet Robyn Schiff for a reading from her latest collection, “Information Desk.” A signing will follow Schiff’s reading. Then, on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 1 p.m., Schiff will lead a colloquium on her work at the Kemp Malone Library. These events are free and open to the public.
Explore art and engage with historical conversations
The Michael C. Carlos Museum’s Relaxed Mornings open a month of programming Saturday, Feb. 1, at 10 a.m. Relaxed Mornings are designed for museum visitors who would like to take a quieter tour through the galleries. Sensory-friendly bags are provided and include fidget toys, emotion/needs cards and noise-canceling headphones.
Interdisciplinary artist Yehimi Cambrón Álvarez will be the featured speaker during the events of IDEAS week, Feb. 7-14. The week’s theme, “Art and Activism,” probes the capacity of creative expression to engage communities and galvanize social transformation.
The Rose Library will host the Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon, an annual program to honor the birthday of Fredrick Douglass, on Friday, Feb. 14, at noon on the tenth floor of the Robert W. Woodruff Library. The program invites the public to create new Black history resources by transcribing portions of the African American Perspectives collection at the Library of Congress, all while treating themselves to birthday cupcakes. Registration for this free event is requested. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop, if possible.
Also on Friday, Feb. 14, artist Timothy Hull will be in conversation about his work displayed in the Carlos Museum’s exhibition “Anonymous Fragments.” in Ackerman Hall. This free program will be at 6:30 p.m. in Ackerman Hall. It is open to the public, though registration is required. Attendees are invited to view the exhibition prior to the talk, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m., Rubina Raja, professor of classical archaeology and art at Aarhus University, will deliver a lecture about funerary limestone in Syria’s Palmyrene portraits and their cross-cultural meanings. This lecture takes place at the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall. The program is free and open to the public, and registration is required.