The University has a wide variety of dance shows, visual art exhibitions, and musical performances lined up for this semester.
On Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 4:30 p.m. in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, there will be a reception for the opening of Gary Red Oak O’Neil’s exhibition “Excavations,” ceramic artwork inspired by new information on the interactions of Indigenous people of Central Connecticut with early 17th-century British settlers.
Also on Sept. 24, in the Zilkha Gallery at 4:30 p.m., a group of artists will present “DFT 2025,” an exhibition inspired by Black critical theory and science fiction that suggests that extraterrestrial life hides in order to preserve themselves.
On Thursday, Sept. 25 at 7:00 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, Adjunct Professor of Music B. Balasubrahmaniyan will be joined by Adjunct Associate Professor of Music David Nelson for their 21st Navaratri Festival concert together. They will be joined by violinist V.V. Ravi and drummer Siva Ponnudurai.
On Friday, Sept. 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, dance stars Srikanth Natarajan and Aswathy Srikanth, who are married, will present their own gender-bending interpretation of the Indian epic the Mahābhārata. In honor of Natarajan and Srikanth’s dance performance, The Argus’ own Akhil Joondeph ’26 will host a Bollywood dance party with an introductory dance lesson, music curated by students, and a Samavesha mocktail at 4:30 p.m. in the World Music Hall.
On Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, Shashank Subramanyam returns to the University for the first time in a dozen years to perform with violinist Sruti Sarathy and drummer Patri Satish Kumar.
On Saturday, Oct. 4 at 2:00 p.m., the Fries Arts Building will open and feature an exhibition of work by arts faculty and students, along with an afternoon of arts activities, concerts, and community gathering.
Also on Oct. 4 at 5:00 p.m., Associate Professor of Dance Iddrisu Saaka will host a West African dance lesson followed by a dance party featuring the University’s African Pop Music Band in the newly opened Fries building.
On Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 12:00 p.m., the opening reception for “Forgotten but Once Known” will occur in the College of East Asian Studies Gallery. This exhibition will bring to the forefront the invaluable labor of Japanese women throughout history.
On Friday, Oct. 10 at 5:00 p.m. in Crowell, Professor of Music Neely Bruce will perform “The Bill of Rights: Ten Amendments in Eight Motets,” accompanied by Festival Harmony and members of Alchemy.
On Friday, Oct. 17 at 7:00 p.m., the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus will tell the story of the Ukrainian people through musical performance in Crowell Concert Hall.
Also in Crowell, on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 3:00 p.m., the West End String Quartet will perform a program of two works, one by Beethoven and one by Eduardo Alonso-Crespo.
On Friday, Oct. 24 at 4:30 p.m. in the Ring Family Performing Arts Hall, Gary Red Oak O’Neil will explicate his exhibition “Excavations” with curator J. Kehaulani Kauanui. This event will include a screening of the senior thesis short film “Piece by Piece” by Eiley Doyle ’25, followed by a gathering in the Zilkha Gallery’s South Gallery Reading Room.
Also on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, the New Haven Chinese Cultural Cooperative will present a concert of traditional Chinese and Taiwanese music.
Also in Crowell Concert Hall, on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 8:00 p.m., Assistant Professor of Music Darius Jones will present the New England premiere of his composition “Samesoul Maker.”
On Saturday, Nov. 1 at 7:00 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, Harp Instructor Megan Sesma and soprano Janinah Burnett will perform a variety of music under the title “She Walks in Beauty: Passion for Mother Earth.”
On Sunday, Nov. 2 in the Memorial Chapel at 3:00 p.m., Cello Instructor Julie Ribchinsky, violinist Artemis Simerson, and pianist Bill Braun will perform works by Beethoven and Rebecca Clarke, along with the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Darian Simerson.
On Nov. 9 in Crowell Concert Hall at 3:00 p.m., Piano Instructor Carolyn Halsted, soprano Sarah Armstrong, and baritone Dylan Armstrong will perform a concert of pieces drawing from the natural world, including works written by Halsted, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Robert Schumann, and Franz Schubert.
In the Ring Family Performing Arts Hall at 8:00 p.m. on Nov. 12, composer and instrumentalist Elliot Sharp will present the North American premiere of “Entanglement Suite.” Earlier in the afternoon, at 4:30 p.m., Sharp will read from his book “Feedback: Translations from the IrRational,” also in the Ring Family Performing Arts Hall.
On both Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 in the Center for the Arts (CFA) Theater at 7:00 p.m., the Fall Faculty Dance Concert will occur, featuring an appearance from Joya Powell’s Movement of the People Dance Company.
On Nov. 23 at 3:00 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, there will be a concert of songs by the late Professor Emeritus Richard K. Winslow, along with a series of poetry recitations. The songs will be performed by Professor of Music Neely Bruce on the piano.
On Dec. 1 at 7:00 in Crowell Concert Hall, the students of Piano Instructor Yvonne Troxler will perform.
Also in Crowell Concert Hall, on Dec. 3 at 7:00 p.m., the University’s Chinese Music Ensemble will present a fall concert.
On Dec. 5 in the CFA Theater at 6:30 p.m., Assistant Professor of Music John Dankwa and Associate Professor of Dance Iddrisu Saaka will perform alongside students in West African music and dance classes.
Also on Dec. 5, in Crowell Concert Hall at 8:00 p.m., the Wesleyan University Orchestra will perform their fall concert.
On Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the World Music Hall, the Javanese Gamelan Ensemble will perform.
On Dec. 7 at 2:00 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, the University will have its World of Dance fall showcase. In this showcase, University students will perform a large variety of dance styles including Javanese Dance, Bharatanatyam, Hip-Hop, and material from “Introduction to Dance” classes.
Also on Dec. 7 at 4:00 p.m. in the World Music Hall, there will be a concert by the University’s Korean Drumming and Creative Music Ensemble, followed by a performance from the Taiko Japanese Drumming Ensemble.
On Dec. 8 at 8:00 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, the Ebony Singers will perform their winter concert which will include traditional and contemporary gospel music.
On Dec. 9 at 6:00 p.m. in the World Music Hall, Adjunct Professor of Music B. Balasubrahmaniyan and Adjunct Associate Professor of Music David Nelson will perform their Fall Semester recital, consisting of voice and drums.
On Dec. 9 at 8:00 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, the Wesleyan University Wind Ensemble (WesWinds) will perform their fall concert.
Also in Crowell Concert Hall, on Dec. 10 at 8:30 p.m., the University’s Methods of Improvisation Ensemble will perform their fall concert.
In Crowell Concert Hall on Dec. 11 at 1:30 p.m., students from “Introduction to Experimental Music” will present a series of interconnected, student-devised performances in the tradition of John Cage’s “Musicircus,” a marquee event and a spirited celebration of Cage’s legacy.
On Dec. 11 at 6:00 p.m. in the World Music Hall, beginning students from the University’s Javanese Gamelan Ensemble will perform their fall concert.
Also on Dec. 11 at 8:00 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall, the Wesleyan Concert Choir will present their fall concert.
On Dec. 11 at 9:30 p.m. in the Memorial Chapel, organ students from the “Piping Performance” class will perform their fall concert.
In the Memorial Chapel on Dec. 12 at 12:00 p.m., the Chamber Music Fall Ensemble concert will take place.
The Winter Dance Concert will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the CFA Theater on both Dec. 12 and Dec. 13.
The Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble will perform their fall concert on Dec. 12 in Crowell Concert Hall.
Additionally, there will be eight different student-led exhibition tours at 2:00 p.m. in the Zilkha Gallery held throughout the semester. They will be held on Oct. 4, Oct. 11, Oct. 25, Nov. 1, Nov. 8, Nov. 15, Nov. 22, and Dec. 6.
There will be four events in the “AFTERWORDS: entanglement” series throughout the semester, in which artists will reflect on their process and think aloud about their relationship to the modern world. The first “AFTERWORDS” event was held on Sept. 16. The second will be held on Oct. 14 at 4:30 p.m. in the Zilkha Gallery Reading Room. The third event will be held in the Zilkha Gallery Reading Room on Nov. 14 at 12:00 p.m, and the final event will be held on Dec. 1 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ring Family Performing Arts Hall.
In the Highwaymen Common Room in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, there will be three “Bach at Noon” performances with Neely Bruce on piano and input by Dean of Arts and Humanities and Professor of Music Roger Mathew Grant. All three performances will (unsurprisingly) start at noon. These performances will take place on Sept. 25, Nov. 13, and Dec. 4.
Finally, the Wesleyan Film Series has already begun with a collection of strong offerings covering a wide variety of genres. For a full list of films showing, check out @wesfilmseries on Instagram. All screenings begin at 8:00 p.m. in the Goldsmith Family Cinema.
Louis Chiasson can be reached at lchiasson@wesleyan.edu.
Henry Kaplan can be reached at hrkaplan@wesleyan.edu.
Leave a Reply