The Arts

Past Events

Four musicians in formalwear stand in front of a stone building holding their string instruments on a lawn covered with fallen leaves.
Jun. 25, 2023, 3:00 p.m.

A performance of works by Mozart, Giddens, Darvishi, and Debussy that had a remarkable impact on their time. Free and open to the public.

A snake is coiled on a wooden chair in an otherwise empty room.

Photographer Judy Linn discusses her unique perspective on photography, reflected in the current Loeb exhibition The Hairy Leg Or What To Do Wrong, with Curator of Photography Jessica Brier. Free and open to all.

May 13, 2023, 1:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m.

Jason Albaum, saxophone, Zhixian Xu, piano

 

May 12, 2023, 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Cameron Long, soprano and Shai Wexler, violin

Image of a conductor and orchestra
Apr. 28, 2023, 8:00 p.m.

Eduardo Navega, conductor.

This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live

An overhead view of four dancers in a huddle.
Apr. 28, 2023, 7:00 p.m.

Choreographed by Vassar seniors Lily Gee, Danielle Lomi, Olivia Gotsch, and Zoe Muller.

Three figure dancing and the words "The Impossibly Microcinema...dreams and nightmares...jazz and animation"
Apr. 27 – Apr. 29, 2023

A free community film screening festival at the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory located at 8 North Cherry Street.

The silhouette of a figure wearing a fez and raising his arms.
Apr. 27, 2023, 7:00–9:00 p.m.

In this Concert entitled Wajd—the ecstatic, blissful state induced by poetry and music—the Tarab Ensemble will perform selections of the Arabic Sufi repertoire.

three musicians playing horns
Apr. 27, 2023, 12:00 p.m.

Lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program.

Image with text that reads: Experimental Theater of Vassar Collage, Mad Forest, A play from Romania, by Caryl Churchill, Directed by Christopher Grabowski. Presented through Concord Theatricals
Apr. 26 – Apr. 28, 2023

This timely drama resulted from a trip to Romania. Developed with students from London’s Central School of Drama, this is an incisive portrait of society in turmoil that focuses on two families to reveal what life is like under a totalitarian regime and what results when the regime collapses. Directed by Christopher Grabowski. Free and open to the public, reservations required.

seven dancers bend backwards on a dark stage
Apr. 21 – Apr. 22, 2023

Featuring choreography by Yoshito Sakuraba and Julian Llanos, Polka by acclaimed modern dance choreographer Mark Morris, excerpts from the classical ballet Don Quixote, student works, and more. Reserve free tickets. 

 

A collage-like artwork depicting a figure from the shoulders up who is wearing a headdress made of two large flowers.
Apr. 20, 2023, 10:30 a.m. plus evening reception

Chelle Barbour’s multidisciplinary art practice reimagines the body of the Black female through the lens of Afro-Surrealism. Barbour’s morning talk will be followed by an evening reception.

Three musicians playing piano, violin and a horn
Apr. 20, 2023, 12:00 p.m.

Lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program.

A seated performer wearing robes strums a stringed instrument.

Mr. Junya Koikawa, a performer of Taishu Engeki (a Japanese performing art with Kabuki origins), will play Tsugaru-shamisen, a traditional Japanese musical instrument.

Embroidered sampler with figures of Adam and Eve standing on either side of a tall tree with a snake wrapped around it; under the tree are the words, “Jane Pownall, Her Work, Aged 13, 1830.”
Apr. 20, 2023, 6:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m.

Learn about historic embroidery methods, techniques, and materials by making your own stitched embroidery pattern at a fun night of creation at the Loeb.

Campus community only, please.

side-by-side headshots of Monica Macer and Anthony Sparks
Apr. 20, 2023, 5:00–6:00 p.m.

Monica Macer ’93 and Anthony Sparks P’26 will discuss their paths as showrunners, screenwriters, and executive producers, insights into the TV writing process, and more!

Campus community only, please.

a woman singing onstage with her arms held up.
Apr. 18, 2023, 6:00 p.m.

A Holocaust Remembrance Day presentation featuring a short film clip, a musical performance, and a discussion with the subjects and makers of a documentary about local musicians and Holocaust survivors in the Hudson Valley.

Cover of a book designed to look like grid of spiral notebooks with the title “Letters to a Writer of Color,” Edited by Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro,” and a blurb from Laila Lalami that says, “Electric essays that speak to the experience of writing from the periphery…a guide, a comfort, and a call all at once.”
Apr. 18, 2023, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.

Deepa Anappara and Taymour Soomro, editors of the new essay collection Letters to a Writer of Color, will talk about race and craft with a multidisciplinary panel of Vassar faculty.

Apr. 15, 2023, 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m.

Eden Bartholomew, Raffaella Zanetti, Madeleine Donat

Wang Yi’an before cutting off his queue. Beijing, 1912
Apr. 14, 2023, 5:00–7:00 p.m.

Art historian Wu Hung, who has published widely on both traditional and contemporary Chinese art, will speak about Chinese portrait photography.

Headshot of Diane Robinson '91

Robinson’s film, The Young Vote, follows a diverse group of students and activists during the 2020 election to show young people’s perceptions of voting and civic engagement.

Three students playing tuba, trombone and trumpet
Apr. 13, 2023, 12:00 p.m.

Lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. 

Apr. 8, 2023, 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Emmet Chilton-Sugerman and Clara Ross

An evening of arias and art songs featuring Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, and more. Assisted by Susan Brown, piano; with Clarissa Longoria, soprano, and piano quintet.

Four musicians performing in a large space
Apr. 6, 2023, 12:00 p.m.

Join us for our 20-30 minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. Four Thursdays in April in a relaxed atmosphere outside the Bridge Cafe.

Headshot of Courtenay Budd
Apr. 2, 2023, 3:00 p.m.

Love songs and duets based on music and text from Iberian, Latin American, and Ladino traditions. Featuring Courtenay Budd, soprano, Mary Nessinger, mezzo-soprano, and Miriam Charney, piano

Picture of composer Shavon Lloyd; smiling wearing gray collared shirt with a black tie, hold his hand over his heart.
Apr. 1, 2023, 3:00 p.m.

Premiere of Shavon Lloyd’s Earth Songs, with light installation by Rick Jones. Cappella Festiva Ensembles, and the Boys and Girls Club Choir of Poughkeepsie. Christine Howlett, director

Photo of a chorus of women
Apr. 1, 2023, 8:00 p.m.

We present Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria RV 589 for treble voices with orchestra in Skinner Hall. After intermission, we move to the Chapel for contemporary choral works and a light installation by Rick Jones. Christine Howlett, conductor.

This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live

Nicholas Dames standing in front of a bookcase

What is a “chapter” and what work does it perform in prose narrative? In this lecture, Dames (Theodore Kahan Professor of Humanities at Columbia University) will present work from his book-in-progress, The Chapter: A History of Segmented Life.

 

Mar. 29 – Apr. 1, 2023

Two original plays presented by students from the playwriting course in Drama.

Campus community only, please.

Headshot of Sophie Fetthauer

A multimedia lecture by musicologist Sophie Fetthauer, PhD of the HfMT University of Hamburg, Germany on the little-known story of how over 400 Jewish refugee musicians were integrated into the cafés, nightclubs, and ballrooms of the “Paris of the East.”

Anna Elashvili playing the violin

Anna Elashvili, violin, along with faculty Yves Dharamraj, cello, and Thomas Sauer, piano. A composer not often chosen for such an exposé, Maurice Ravel often found himself going against the grain.