Arts And Entertainment

Amy Goodman, host of Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now!, will be speaking about her new book Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times at 8 p.m., April 11, in HSU’s Kate Buchanan Room.

Fifty dancers performing ten dances, including one that just received top honors at a major regional dance conference, and another that features the 60-voice Arcata Interfaith Gospel Choir, will fill the Van Duzer Theatre stage for the perennially popular HSU spring dance concert, beginning Thursday, April 9.

What do the Aggrolites, Vetiver, Clem Snide, Fleet Foxes, Blitzen Trapper, and the Heligoats all have in common? Well, besides the fact that they’re all playing Humboldt at some point in the next 10 days, each of these bands sits deserves a spot in the Indie Rock hall of fame.

A program of new compositions by HSU Department of Music faculty and students, presents an “eclectic array of styles and compositional techniques for ambient synth music, dancers, piano, voice and various chamber groups,” according to Dr. Brian Post, HSU professor of Music Theory and Composition. It will be performed on Saturday, April 4 in Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU.

“Duo Fuoco” means “two fires,” and in its concert on Friday, April 3 at Fulkerson Recital Hall, Duo Fuoco plays some fiery music for guitar and flute.

Cheri Anchondo, who is a double major in Dance (Interdisciplinary Studies) and Geography, had her dance selected as one of the top 10 dances (out of 66 dances) in the Northwest Region. Anchondo’s dance was featured in a Gala concert that closed the conference activities.

Humboldt State University’s First Street Gallery presents The HSU Printmakers Show from April 4 through May 17. This exhibition consists of a wide variety of mediums such as woodcuts, etching, engravings, lithographs and serigraphy, all covering a broad array of subjects. The contributing artists are students and alumni of Professor Sarah Whorf’s Honors Printmaking classes at Humboldt State University. 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.

Humboldt State University’s First Street Gallery presents ??The Depravities of War: Monumental Woodcut Prints?? by Sandow Birk April 4 through May 17. Birk’s work focuses on social and political issues concerning contemporary society, often employing allegorical themes with art historical references. Through the use of the classical technique of woodcut prints, this series focuses on Birk’s perspective on the Iraq war, as filtered through the mass media.

The North Coast Wind Ensemble continues its inaugural season on Sunday, March 22 at Fulkerson Recital Hall with an ambitious and adventurous program that includes a tribute to Paris, ??Variations on America,?? some Gregorian chant and a little ragtime. And of course, a march.

After four previous successful concerts since 2007, the Community Chamber Music series continues with the Meadowood Quartet, Quartet Arioso and the Hidden Valley Chamber Players performing Mendelssohn, Beethoven and other composers on Saturday, March 14 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU.

Call it comic opera or “opera buffo,” the bottom line is that it’s fun. “Fainting, hiding behind chairs but still singing loud enough for the audience to hear, exaggerated dramatic situations and far-fetched resolutions,” is how HSU Opera Workshop director Elisabeth Harrington describes the comic opera to be performed by Workshop singers with the Humboldt Symphony on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7.

Humboldt State's Student Access Gallery has announced its second round of shows for the spring semester.

The HSU Natural History Museum offers the public an opportunity to get up close and personal with live reptiles and amphibians Saturday, March 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event features more than 50 different species from the local area and around the world.

Connecting Africa to America through ritual and language ??Jagun Fly?? by HSU graduate John Oluwole ADEkoje, opens in Gist Hall Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 26 for two weekends.

Salt Lines Tour brings four of the country’s most accomplished spoken word artists to the Kate Buchanan Room on Wednesday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m.

In their joint concert on Saturday, Feb. 21, the HSU Symphonic Band and HSU Jazz Orchestra pay tribute to history.

Eureka - Humboldt State University First Street Gallery presents _Animal of My Time: Photographs and Sculpture by Cecilia Paredes_, from Feb. 7 through March 9. Paredes’ work frequently combines overlooked, marginalized subjects and materials from nature, while employing traditional artistic techniques.

EUREKA, _Calif_.—Humboldt State’s First Street Gallery presents _Not What It Seems: Paintings and Mixed Media by Karen Sullivan_, from Feb. 7 through March 9. This exhibition features work created from Sullivan’s curious intermingling of the subconscious with the everyday world.

Arcata – Contemporary landscape photography, including works by two Humboldt State University alumni, will be featured Feb. 12 through March 12 at the University’s Reese Bullen Gallery opposite Van Duzer Theater.

“It’s something that wind players in Humboldt County have been talking about for ten years,” Kenneth Ayoob recalls. But a real wind ensemble demands thirty or more players. It just didn’t seem possible.

The end of the semester isn't the end of happenings at Humboldt State or the community at large. Humboldt State NOW is taking a look at the next few weeks and it turns out they're brimming with holiday activities sure to keep you warm before classes start back up on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

_A Slight Derangement_ by contemporary trombonist and composer Bret Zvacek highlights the AM Jazz Band performance on Thursday night, Dec. 11, kicking off the last jazz weekend of the calendar year at HSU.

The Madrigal Singers in Elizabethan costumes celebrate the holidays in traditional fashion, while the Mad River Singers swing and get funky in their annual autumn concert on Sunday, Dec. 7 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Three HSU percussion groups—the Percussion Ensemble, World Percussion Group and the Calypso Band—bring cross-currents of world rhythms to the Van Duzer Theatre on Saturday, Dec. 6.

“Visual storytelling just keeps blossoming,” says Professor Ann Alter, head of the film program at Humboldt State University. It is Alter’s dedication and hard work that have helped HSU’s film program grow and bloom.