Arts And Entertainment

Humboldt State University has received a $40,000 gift from the estate of artist Brian Sproul, along with a significant collection of Sproul’s artwork.

If you like favorites of the violin sonata repertoire, you couldn’t do better than two selections played by violinist Cindy Moyer and pianist Daniela Mineva, in concert at HSU on Saturday, Feb. 13.

It’s a concert in two parts. The HSU Jazz Orchestra begins with a suite of compositions by jazz bassist, pianist, band leader and composer, the legendary Charles Mingus. His long career stretched from the 1940s into the 1970s. “These are social-political pieces from the 1950s,” said Jazz Orchestra director Shao Way Wu. “They showcase his unique approach and his highly personalized sound.”

In what’s becoming a holiday tradition, the Humboldt Symphony, Humboldt Chorale and University Singers perform a work for voice and orchestra that celebrates the season.

Beginning with the _Fanfare For Christmas Day_ by English composer Martin Shaw, the HSU Madrigal Singers and Mad River Transit celebrate the season with their patented mixture of 16th century tradition and 20th century jazz in their annual holiday concert on Sunday, Dec. 6.

A cult classic by HSU alumnus Trey Spruance brings star power to the HSU Percussion Ensemble portion of the annual percussion concert in the Van Duzer Theatre on Saturday Dec. 5.

The HSU Symphonic Band’s bright and bracing winter concert includes a Sousa march, Armenian Dances and a tribute to classic Warner Brothers cartoon chases, but the most novel work may involve 16 different percussion instruments played by one musician.

As a dark comedy about an extreme yet all-too-familiar family, it may be an early-December antidote to sentimental holiday overkill: _The Marriage of Bette and Boo_ by Christopher Durang takes the Gist Hall stage beginning Dec. 3.

The North Coast Wind Ensemble begins its second year with a concert of festive orchestral music and wind band classics at Fulkerson Hall on Saturday, Nov. 21.

What do you get when eleven pianists play selections from eight composers in a single concert? A Piano Extravaganza, of course— on Sunday afternoon, November 15 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall, to benefit the HSU Guest Pianist Series.

“The program is diverse and true to the mercurial nature of jazz,” said Shao Way Wu, director of this year’s Jazz Combos. Five small ensembles will perform tunes in a range of styles, including swing, Latin, hard bop, funk and both early and modern jazz, as well as original compositions.

Composing music alone in a room is only part of the process that HSU composition students experience—they also hear their compositions performed in public. That public in turn gets to hear something completely new.

Arcata – Humboldt State University will host a special music performance celebrating Latin American heritage on Monday, Nov. 9, from 6-9 p.m. in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Native Forum, Room 162. It is free and open to the public.

It’s a movie about a man with a secret in his past, which a young female journalist urges him to reveal. The secret involves a woman who became the love of his life, now lost to him forever. It is a story of fear and intolerance, and ultimately of hope and redemption. And it all begins on a sun-burnished beach at Trinidad.

From a contemporary Veterans Day tribute and works by classical composers Handel, Holst and Rossini, to a show-piece for tubas and an interactive premiere, the Humboldt Bay Brass Band performs its only HSU concert of the year on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Renowned concert pianist and new HSU Music faculty member Daniela Mineva makes her Humboldt County debut, hosting a rising star of international standing, violinist Bin Huang.

Humboldt State University’s Reese Bullen Gallery hosts the Art Department Faculty and Staff Exhibition from Oct. 8 to Nov. 7.

The Humboldt State University Student Access Galleries presents three new exhibitions. All shows will be exhibiting through October 23rd, 2009.

Works by California North Coast artists in diverse contexts and styles will be featured at Humboldt State's First Street Gallery in an exhibition titled _Six Unruly Artists Paint the Town_, Saturday, Oct. 3, through Saturday, Nov. 7.

Arcata – Humboldt State University has established the Jean Wellington Endowment through a nearly $185,000 bequest from the late Jean Wellington, one of the Redwood Coast’s foremost proponents of classical music and an on-air mainstay of Humboldt State’s KHSU/KHSR for nearly two decades.

Humboldt State University First Street Gallery is pleased to present, ANIMALIA ALUMNA ARTISFABRICUS, featuring nine alumni artists who studied in the Art Department at Humboldt State University. The exhibit runs from July 3 through September 12, 2009. The exhibition is billed by First Street Gallery as a clear demonstration of the excellent career preparation that Humboldt State University offers its Art Majors. The exhibition will feature a special memorial section dedicated to the work of the late Nancy Finch-Halliday.

The more than 30 players of the North Coast Wind Ensemble usher in summer with an eclectic concert on Saturday, June 13 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Eureka Books in Old Town will exhibit documentary Humboldt photographs and photo-books on Saturday, June 6, that were created by the 20 members of Lorraine Miller-Wolf's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) class at Humboldt State University.

Veteran North Coast jazz pianist Darius Brotman teams up with Berkeley bassist Richard Saunders for an intimate evening of jazz standards and originals, to benefit the HSU Music Department scholarship program.

Arcata - ??Midnight Hour at the Lenox Lounge?? is the culminating performance of a two-semester course, The Black Artist in America (EDUC 680), piloted this year by HSU Professor Patty Yancey for the School of Education Master of Arts Program.