music

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, which culminates on campus with the 20th annual Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra Weekend, featuring two nights of concerts in Crowell Concert Hall. Cellist, composer, and educator Akua Dixon makes her Connecticut debut with her string quartet, Quartette Indigo, on Saturday, April 29 at 8pm. The group includes violinists Meg Okura and Frederika Krier, Judith Insell on viola, and bassist Jennifer Vincent. The Wesleyan Jazz Ensemble, directed by Noah Baerman, presents a concert with a variety of modern small-group jazz traditions and techniques on Friday, April 28 at 8pm. Assistant Professor of the Practice in Music Jin…

Through a series of intimate and informal salons, Wesleyan’s Embodying Antiracism Initiative Fellows shared some of the work they have created this year during the program’s Think Tank. The salons are mini-festivals of arts, ideas, and activation, looking at works-in-progress and building community, said Stephanie McKee-Anderson, Executive Artistic Director of partnering organization Junebug Productions and Special Advisor to Provost Nicole Stanton. A Fellow might have the seed of a creation, so a salon could be a helpful place to dialogue about that idea, while the others might act as thought provocateurs. “What questions make a creator more excited about their…

One spring day in 2011, 15,000 people gathered in the streets of Tokyo, all of them singing a song that had been released online just three days prior. It was a self-cover of a love song, but re-configured and lyricized to protest the use of nuclear power in Japan following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. A tale of a teenage crush reignited at a high school reunion was turned into accusations of governmental lies about nuclear safety. Flickering love to unwavering anger. A sentiment that carried thousands to the streets. The song “Zutto Suki Datta” (“I Always Loved You”) by Kazuyoshi…

Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts has announced the highlights of its 2023 spring season, including world premiere dance and Connecticut premiere theater and music performances, as well as solo exhibitions by both alumni and current faculty. “The Center for the Arts is thrilled to be hosting several projects that consider, with such care, different scales of human existence, memory, and sense of belonging,” said Joshua Lubin-Levy '06, Director of the Center for the Arts. “From the urgency of ‘Ocean Filibuster,’ which takes up humanity’s relationship to the vastness of the ocean, to the intimacy of Carrie Yamaoka’s ’79 in…

Are you already able to sing Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, Hon. ‘15’s Hamilton word for word? Have you already binged Bradley Whitford ’81, Hon. ’20 in “The West Wing” and “A Handmaid’s Tale"? Have you read all of Amy Bloom’s books? So now where do you go next to get your Wesleyan creative fix? As winter curls around us, Wes grads and faculty have conjured a new batch of books, music, performances, and television shows to delight and challenge us as we get cozy over the chilly months. Here’s just a small sampling: “From Scratch” Tembe Locke ’92’s powerful memoir From…

The Mattabesset String Collective, a five-piece Wesleyan-affiliated acoustic ensemble, performed at a venue in Higganum, Conn., on July 29. The group plays an eclectic mix of bluegrass, blues, folk, mountain, country, and rock, all in a string band style. (Photos by Olivia Drake and Bill Burkhart) (more…)

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Wesleyan in the News The Washington Post: "How the NRA Highjacked History" In this op-ed, Associate Professor of History Jennifer Tucker writes about the history of the legal debate over the Second Amendment, and explains how the court's understanding of that history may shape the nation's response to the current gun violence epidemic. Her op-ed was reported on in The Trace. 2. The Hill: "A Tragic Misperception About Climate Change" Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental…

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Wesleyan in the News The Hill: "Advice on Climate Policy for the 2020 Presidential Candidates" In this op-ed, Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, Emeritus Gary Yohe and his coauthors write that they are encouraged by the "unprecedented attention being given to climate change among those vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination" and offer words of advice for creating an ambitious but credible climate policy. 2. AINT — BAD: "Isabella Convertino" The photography of Isabella Convertino '20…

When Opium Moon won the Grammy Award for the Best New Age Album this year, “Thank you, Julie Yannatta…” were the first words from singer/violinist Lili Haydn's lips once she reached the stage. Yannatta ’91 is founder and owner of Be Why Music, the label that released the self-titled debut album by the eclectic band—Lili Haydn on violin/voice, Hamid Saeidi on santoor (Persian hammered dulcimer) and voice, M.B. Gordy on ancient percussion, and Itai Disraeli on fretless bass. Their haunting music draws from each member's cultural traditions: Iran, Israel, Canada, and the United States. Yannatta, with a career path as eclectic as…

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Recent Wesleyan News 1. Inside Higher Ed: "Voting Is Good, but Higher Ed Must Do More" In this op-ed, President Michael S. Roth writes: "In a year when inducements to political violence have become normalized at the highest level, colleges and universities must do more than just encourage our students to vote." It is crucial that colleges actively work to protect free expression, free inquiry, and fact-based discussion, Roth argues. (more…)

Kitchen Ceilí and Friends performed at Russell House on Sunday afternoon of Family Weekend. Formed in 1993, Kitchen Ceilí features private lessons teacher Stan Scott PhD '97 on vocals, guitar, mandolin, and banjo; Dora Hast PhD ’94 on vocals, tin whistle, and recorders; and George Wilson on vocals, fiddle, banjo, and guitar. A ceilí (English pronunciation: kā'lē) is a traditional Gaelic social dance or gathering with music. On Sunday, the trio was joined by "Friends"—the Hindustani vocalists of the Rangila Chorus and vocalist/guitarist Sam Scheer—and the group widened their geographic focus, performing not only original and traditional music from Ireland, America,…

Already an actor and blogger, Lynn Chen ’98 is now also a director, with her first feature film, I Will Make You Mine. She wrote about the experience for Filmmaker magazine: “I Just Finished Directing My First Feature Film, Why Do I Feel Like I Have Post-Partum Depression?” The editors note that these low feelings are common for first-time directors but not frequently discussed. Chen, however, is an activist—the ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association since 2012—and not afraid to tackle emotional content and bring taboo topics to the forefront. “When I was a women's studies/music double major at Wesleyan in 1998, I found…

Jazz Appreciation Month Features Cellist Akua Dixon

Arts, Ideas, and Activation: Embodying Antiracism Fellows Share Creations

Visiting Professor Talks Protest Music in Japan Following the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

“Sharing the World With Each Other:” Spring Performances at CFA

Wesleyan Creates: Recommendations

Wesleyan String Ensemble Performs Eclectic Mix

Wesleyan in the News

Wesleyan in the News

Yannatta ’91: Opium Moon Wins Grammy on Her Be Why Music Label

Wesleyan in the News

Alumni-Led Kitchen Ceilí and Friends Performs Traditional Music Spanning Cultures

Chen ’98 Explores Emotions of Directorial Debut for Filmmaker Magazine