February 17, 2016
Southern Illinois University Arts and Cultural Events
Feb. 22-March 12
This bi-weekly email brings together the highlights of arts and cultural events at SIU Carbondale. From music to art, film to dance, guest lectures to workshops and theater, you will find the information here. Event information is subject to change.
HIGHLIGHTS
FEB. 23 – Black History Month event: film screening. “778 Bullets,” a documentary directed by Angela Aguayo, associate professor of cinema and photography at SIU, explores events in Carbondale in November 1970, when university, state and local police engaged in a shootout with residents of an off-campus rental house with alleged ties to a local Black Panther Party. Aguayo will attend the screening, which begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Student Center, Illinois Room.
FEB. 23-28 – The six-day, 38th Annual Big Muddy Film Festival features more than 70 juried films from several countries, including Canada, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Taiwan, and the United States. The festival features films that are entered in the juried competition as well as films that are not. The competition categories include: animation, documentary, experimental and narrative. The festival selections are from a field of more than 300 submissions. The event is one of the oldest film festivals affiliated with a university in the nation, and is a much-anticipated part of the Carbondale cultural scene. Find a complete schedule here.
FEB. 26-28 – The Department of Theater and the School of Music present Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel,” an opera based on but differing in a few details from the famous Grimm fairytale of two children, a witch and a gingerbread house. The performance features Michelle Ford and Brynn Scozzari as Hansel and Gretel and Paul Hawkins as the Witch. The Southern Illinois Symphony Orchestra, along with a ballet ensemble of young dancers from Susan Barnes Dance Studio and 14 singers from the Southern Illinois Children’s Choir enhance the experience. Performances are at 7:30 p.m., in the McLeod Theater, tickets are $18, student tickets for $6. Tickets are available in person at the McLeod Theater, by phone at 618/453-6000, or online at theater.siu.edu. There is also a special event, a high school matinee performance, of this opera at 10 a.m. with tickets for $5. Reserve yours with Scott Elliott at selliott@siu.edu.
FEB. 27-28 – Touch of Nature Maple Syrup Festival, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. both days at Touch of Nature, located about eight miles south of Carbondale off Giant City Road. The Maple Syrup Festival features opportunities to view demonstrations and purchase items from area artisans and vendors. Maple tree tapping and syrup-making demonstrations are at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. with guided tree identification hikes at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. both days. The pancake breakfast, with maple syrup made on sit,e is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. both days. For those skipping breakfast, admission is $3 per vehicle. Buy tickets or learn more online at www.ton.siu.edu or by calling 618/453-1121.The deadline for purchasing tickets in advance is 2 p.m. Feb. 26.
Here are other select upcoming events in list form:
FEBRUARY
22 – Music recital. Guest musician Otis Murphy presents a master class and a recital with his wife, the pianist Haruko Murphy. The master class is 2-4 p.m. in Altgeld Hall, Room 117. The recital is 7:30-9 p.m. in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall. Otis Murphy is professor of saxophone at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. He’s also a musician raved about in Fanfare Magazine and the Chicago Tribune, a well-travelled soloist and clinician with appearances all over North America and Europe as well as Japan and Australia. He’s won an armful of prizes, and he is the founding member and soprano saxophone in the Solaire Saxophone Quartet.
22 – Guest artist. Art lecture by Tom Burtonwood, beginning at 6 p.m. in the John C. Guyon Auditorium, Morris Library. Burtonwood is an assistant professor at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. He’s also the producer of open source 3D art. He’ll talk about 3D printing and its place in art and design, including his own.
22 – Lecture. Virginia Tilley, chair of the Department of Political Science, will discuss “Is Israel an Apartheid State?” The talk begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Law School, room 102. Tilley will present findings from a recent, in-depth study of this question, and consider the implications for conflict resolution, international diplomacy and state responsibility. Cindy Galway Buys, professor of law and director of the international law programs, will comment. This lecture is at the invitation of the Southern Illinois Chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America, and the SIU School of Law.
26 – 64th Annual All Ag Banquet, a community celebration and awards ceremony for agricultural industry partners and students, alumni, faculty and staff. Expected attendance is more than 200. An opportunity for informal socializing is at 6 p.m. in the John Corker Lounge, with the banquet beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Center ballrooms. The program follows the dinner. The public and university community are welcome at the banquet. Tickets are $20 for non-students, $15 for students. For ticket information, call 618/453-2469.
27 – Music event. The Jazz Festival brings high school and junior high school students from the region and beyond for an opportunity to compete and learn together in the largest jazz event in the area. And it gives jazz lovers and would-be jazz lovers in the area the chance to hear a performance from a specially invited guest. This year’s guest is Charles McPherson, a saxophone virtuoso and jazz composer with nearly five decades in the jazz world. His performance is at 7 p.m. in Shryock Auditorium, tickets $5, free for SIU students with I.D. He’ll be playing with the New Arts Jazztet. But jazz performances happen all day long. If you can’t make the McPherson performance, come see the future of jazz as presented by young area musicians.
27 – Drag Show. The Saluki Rainbow Network and Student Center Special Programs bring the popular Drag Show to the Student Center, Ballrooms C and D. Doors open at 7 p.m., the show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7, $5 for students with student identification.
29 – Black History Month event. History of Herstory, with Joy Madison from the Women’s Resource Center, 5 p.m. in the Student Center, International Lounge.
29 – Black History Month event. Desmon Walker from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. hosts an oratorical contest. Check it out in the Student Center, Old Main Room, beginning at 6 p.m.
MARCH
2 – Concert. Southern Illinois Chamber Music Society: Friends Old and New, 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Fellowship Church, Carbondale.
3 – 20th Annual Celebrate Women Reception and Luncheon is a celebration, awards presentation and a scholarship fundraiser all at the same time. The event is 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Student Center, with a silent auction running from 10 a.m.-1:15 p.m., and the luncheon beginning at 11:15 a.m. in Ballroom D. More details pending.
3-5 – Performance. Double bill presentation of “The Wolf Inside” and “Slant.” The performances begin at 8 p.m. and there is no admittance once the performance begins. Tickets are $7, for students with I.D. tickets are $5. “The Wolf Inside,” written, directed and performed by Savannah Palmer, uses the legend of the werewolf, and the chronic illness known as lupus, to explore disabilities, especially the disabilities the eye cannot see. “Slant,” written and performed by A. B., co-directed by A.B. and Craig Gingrich-Philbrook, expands on a line from an Emily Dickenson poem to explore the risks of telling true stories and of falling in….
5-6 – Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon, Morris Library. Participants will assist in creating new Wikipedia pages to include women’s contributions. More details pending.
6 – Sustainability workshop. A beehive and compost workshop is set for noon-4 p.m. in the Student Center Big Muddy Room, hosted by SENSE, a Registered Student Organization for Students Embracing Nature, Sustainability and the Environment. For more information, contact Megan Brown, mb15myemail@siu.edu.
10 – Illinois Junior Academy of Science. This day-long event brings approximately 400 students from the Southern Illinois region to SIU to compete in categories from aerospace to zoology. SIU faculty and students assist in judging for prizes and awards. The science exhibits are open for public viewing 1-4 p.m. in the Student Center Ballrooms. The awards presentation is at 5:30 in the Student Center Auditorium.