Arts And Entertainment

Bay Area world music ensemble Gamelan X brings its high energy world music to Humboldt State University on Saturday, March 8.

Joanne Rand is well known as a singer-songwriter and recording artist, especially in California and the Pacific Northwest. What is less well known is that she is currently pursuing a degree in the Music Department at Humboldt State University.

Artist Mark Allen Soderstrom poses the question: How does one weigh a soul?

It’s just before dawn, and the fireflies are darting and glowing in the dark. Ominous sounds frighten them away, and as the sun rises, two armies of ants confront each other.

Associated Students Presents has a reputation for putting on great concerts at Humboldt State. Remember Lyrics Born at the ’06 Fall Harvest Fest? Or Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore thrilling live show in the Depot last October? That’s right, in the Depot. Any organization that can get the leader of one of alternative rock’s towering giants to play in a university food court is all right by us.

Eureka – An exhibit of “Hand Tools of Unknown Use and Other Works” by the Art Department chair at CSU-Stanislaus, Professor Gordon Senior, will be showcased at Humboldt State University’s First Street Gallery in Old Town, February 2 through March 9.

Arcata — After two runs in movie theaters and more than 2,000 performances on Broadway, Center Arts is bringing the hit musical Hairspray to HSU, affording north coast theater lovers the chance to see this unique comedy.

Arcata - Redwood Coast musicians comprising a trio of chamber groups will perform rare works by Mozart, Beethoven and Bach and classic ragtime numbers on Sunday, January 20, at 8:00 p.m. in Humboldt State University’s Fulkerson Recital Hall.

He’s won ten Grammys, an Oscar and scores of international awards; he was the first jazz musician to field a platinum jazz album and last Friday night, legendary keyboardist, Herbie Hancock, played to a packed crowd at Humboldt State’s Van Duzer theater.

Humboldt State University’s Reese Bullen Gallery presents works by San Francisco artist Kay Kang. A community reception is set for Thursday, Nov. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibit then runs from November 8 through December 8.

The Solmitz Archive Exhibit in the HSU Library Lobby, November 6-26, shows the effect of Nazi regime on one Jewish family from Hamburg, Germany, whose descendants are now dispersed all over the globe.

Humboldt State University First Street Gallery presents “4 in October: Works by Alumni Artists,” Oct. 6 through Nov. 4, continuing the gallery’s program of highlighting artists who have studied at HSU.

Humboldt State University’s First Street Gallery presents two new exhibitions by HSU alums, “The Vanishing Point: Paintings by Erin Whitman,” August 24 through November 4, and “Doorway to Darkness: Illustrations by Mariko Pratt,” August. 24 through September 23.

Humboldt State University First Street Gallery presents Young Alumni 2007: Works by Recent HSU Graduates, on exhibit July 5 through August 5. The Gallery bills the exhibition as clear evidence of the excellent career preparation HSU provides art majors.

The HSU Junior Social Work Methods Class invites the community to attend the free, culminating event of its spring semester when a variety of groups will have their voices heard, representing the community's older adults, youth from various backgrounds, young parents, veterans, and people with mental health issues, on Tues., May 8, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Kate Buchanan Room.

In their combined spring concert, the HSU Percussion Ensemble and the celebrated Calypso Band provide a new definition of “heavy metal” when they perform in the Van Duzer Theatre on Sat., April 28 at 8:00 p.m.

What goes on in a young woman's mind about the guy she’s been kissing? How can a couple of secret agents save the world? What prompts a boy to realize his mother doesn't love him? Is there really a reason to get off the couch and go to work? Can you ever be free, or is freedom just another box? These are some of the questions that eight HSU student playwrights address in the fast-paced form of the ten minute play.

Humboldt State University Library, in conjunction with KEET-TV, Morris Graves Museum of Art and Humboldt Arts Council (MGMA), Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), and North Coast Preparatory Academy (NPA), is offering outreach in the local community through screenings, discussions, workshops, and cultural events beginning this June.

With Sarah Benzinger, a Humboldt State junior from Eureka playing one of the title roles, 29 singers together with members of the Humboldt Symphony present the short opera Dido and Aeneas on Friday. and Saturday nights, Apr. 13 and 14, at 8:00 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Humboldt State University's Reese Bullen Gallery presents the 2007 Annual Juried Student Exhibition. This year's juror, Richard Peterson, a nationally renowned fine artist, is selecting the art for the exhibit. Peterson is department chair and teaches drawing and lithography at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California.

The perennially popular spring dance concert by HSU students and faculty opens this year on April 12 in the Van Duzer Theatre. Some 50 dancers will participate in a dozen original dance pieces collected under the title of “"Suffusion."

HOW THE INK FEELS, a collection of letterpress broadsides created by well known writers, artists and printers, will be on display at the HSU Library from Apr. 20 to June 4.

April is the last full month of the University school year and the HSU Music Department has a crowded concert calendar, which will conclude the first weekend of May. Performances are based on the class work and experience HSU students gained throughout the academic year.

Humboldt State University First Street Gallery presents The Oaxaca-Humboldt Print Exchange Apr. 7 through May 20. Featured artists include Shinzaburo Takeda and his students from la Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca (UABJO), in Mexico and Professor Sarah Whorf and her students from Humboldt State University (HSU). This cultural exchange between the two universities and their communities features a wide variety of printmaking processes. Humboldt State University and UABJO participate in a number of intercollegiate exchange programs.

British playwright Caryl Churchill’s acclaimed comedy of gender politics initially appeared in the late 1970s, with its first American performance in the early 1980s. Since then it has become a classic, performed in regional and university theatres across America and in other parts of the world.