JOIN
DONATE

Jennifer's Top 5 - Sept. 27

Jennifer Gelband | September 27th, 2017

Jennifer's Top 5 - Sept. 27

Downtown  |  New Haven  |  New Haven Symphony Orchestra  |  Yale

Is it too soon to think of the weekend? Arts Council Marketing Director Jennifer Gelband offers her top five arts picks for this week, going into next. These come from our member organizations and are also featured in The Arts Council's weekly newsletter. To subscribe to that, click here.  

Mike Gordon | Sept. 27 | Doors at 6:30 p.m. | College Street Music Hall

Phish bassist Mike Gordon released his new album OGOGO earlier this month. Gordon is celebrating the release with a North American headline tour that kicked off in Athens, Georgia this week and makes its way back to New Haven tonight. 

Nature’s Narrators: The 2017-2018 John H. Ostrom Program Series Presents the Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh, A Walk Through the Forest That Inspired the Hundred Acre Wood with Kathryn Aalto | Sept. 28 | 5:30 p.m. | Yale Peabody Museum

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.” – A.A. Milne. 

Take an illustrated journey into one of the most iconic settings in children’s literature. Learn about Milne’s childhood in the natural world and how he and illustrator E.H. Shepard became the “Lennon and McCartney of children’s literature.”

New York Times best-selling author Kathryn Aalto presents her story as part travelogue, part biography, and part natural history to discover the places that inspired Winnie-the-Pooh stories, along with the flora and fauna of the real Hundred Acre Wood. The event is free and open to the public. More info here

The New Haven Symphony Orchestra 2017-18 Concert Season Kickoff | Sept. 28 | 7:30 p.m. | Yale's Woolsey Hall

This season-opening concert, led by NHSO music director William Boughton, will feature Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano with the Symphony’s Artists-in-Residence this season, the Brown-Urioste-Canellakis Trio.

The concert includes a full “surround sound” experience: Brass musicians will surround the audience in the balcony of Woolsey Hall for Gabrieli’s Sonata Pian e forte, then the NHSO string section on stage for George Walker’s Lyric for Strings.

Tickets are $15-$74; college students for $10; under 18 free with purchase of adult ticket. Blue Star tickets for active military personnel and immediate family are free. More info at 203.865.0831 or on the NHSO's website.

Scenes and Songs from Fannie Lou: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of a Voting Rights Heroine | Oct. 1  3-5 p.m. | Yale’s Woolsey Hall

One hundred years ago, in a rural Southern town where black lives mattered not nearly enough, Fannie Lou Hamer was the last of 20 children born to husband-and-wife sharecroppers. Like her parents, and brothers and sisters before her, Fannie Lou was conscripted to constant field work so the family could survive economically. 

Years later she would reject the ingrained cultural patterns that severely restricted the lives of African Americans and boldly dare to unearth a different destiny for herself as a grassroots spokesperson, civil rights activist, and voting rights advocate.

The centennial of Hamer’s birth will be celebrated with a special presentation of excerpts from the acclaimed musical Fannie Lou, discussions about Hamer’s work and legacy, and a post-performance Q&A. Cast members and musicians join event participants including New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, Greater New Haven NAACP President Doris Dumas, and Stamford NAACP President Jack Bryant.

Presented in partnership with the Greater New Haven NAACP, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary as well. Tickets are $10-35.  More information here

Light of the Blind | Oct 4-6 | Wesleyan University and Yale University

Wesleyan University’s Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life and Yale University present a series of workshops, colloquia, and concert performances that aim to create a deeper awareness of music’s healing possibilities for those struggling in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and to offer a forum for conversations between American and Vietnamese-American communities.

Organized by the Wesleyan University Music Department and Yale University’s Council on Southeast Asia Studies, the events include an open rehearsal at Wesleyan’s World Music Hall (Oct. 4, 1:20 p.m.), Film Screening (Oct. 5, 3:30 p.m.) at Wesleyan’s Ring Family Performing Arts Hall, Music Department Colloquium at the Ring Family Performing Arts Hall (Oct. 5, 4:30 p.m.) and concerts at both Wesleyan's Crowell Concert Hall (Oct. 5, 7 p.m.) and Yale's Luce Hall Auditorium (Oct. 6, 7 p.m.) More info here and here