Arts And Entertainment

She doesn’t fall down the rabbit hole or through the looking glass. Instead a young woman enters her self-made Wonderland by answering the cell phone of a strange man she soon realizes is dead. That’s the beginning of “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” the imaginative comedy and surprising love story by famed American playwright Sarah Ruhl, which opens at HSU on Friday April 22 for two weekends.

Humboldt State University’s Reese Bullen Gallery presents the “2016 Art Graduates Exhibition” from April 21-May 14. A reception and awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 21, from 5-6:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend this free event in celebration of HSU’s emerging artists.

Humboldt State University announced its Outstanding Students 2016-2017 at award ceremonies on April 14.

The Humboldt State Music Department—an integral part of the local arts community—recently received over $100,000 that will enable the next generation of gifted students to pursue their musical ambitions.

Three HSU percussion groups lead a rhythmic tour from Bali to West Africa and the Cuban Carnival in their shared concert on Sunday April 17 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Student choreographers and two faculty members present their latest work—including a recent regional prize-winner—in the HSU spring dance concert, “Soma Spiritu,” opening Thursday, April 7 for two weekends in the Van Duzer Theatre.

Four bands playing jazz classics, newer jazz and HSU originals perform in the HSU Jazz Combos concert on Friday, April 8 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

The Associated Students of HSU are set to host the 49th Humboldt International Film Festival at the reopening of Arcata’s historic Minor Theatre on April 20-23.

A queen’s romance, a gypsy’s passion, a show of force, and the legend of a cathedral emerging from the sea are all evoked in music performed by the Humboldt Symphony in an afternoon concert on Sunday April 3.

A piece for full orchestra evoking a lost Aztec city, and variations for symphonic band based on hip hop tunes highlight the spring HSU Composers Concert of new works on Friday April 1 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

HSU Guitar Ensemble proceeds from 20th century France to contemporary Arcata and five pieces by student composers, in its spring concert on Saturday April 2 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Cellist Elizabeth Grunin performs two works by 20th-century composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg in an intimate Guest Artist lecture and recital on Saturday March 26 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Steampunk Girl, Panic Attack, Lives at Home and Love Me, Love My Cats! are a few of the characters enacting a frantic contemporary mating ritual in the comic opera “Speed Dating Tonight!” performed by the HSU Opera Workshop for four performances beginning Thursday March 24 in Gist Hall Theatre.

Humboldt State University hosts a one-of-a-kind concert featuring music both historic and fun. Much of the concert will be played on historic instruments; the real deal—not reproduction, brass of the 19th century. Included is a tuba once owned by one of HSU’s “Founders.”

The gym teacher—a big bear of a man—surveys his fourth and fifth graders at recess, inert and buried in smart phones and laptops on their battered schoolyard. He challenges them to enter a jungle of imagination, to take on the roles of animals and the young human foundling raised by wolves who faces life and death decisions, and the future.

New work—including an overture by composer and North Coast resident Michael Kibbe—plus band classics and an anniversary tribute characterize the shared concert of the HSU Symphonic Band and the Jazz Orchestra on Saturday, February 27, in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Three HSU ensembles bring the sounds of drums and marimbas to Fulkerson Recital Hall—along with gongs, tin cans and random radio music—in a Percussion Showcase on Sunday, Feb. 21.

The First Street Gallery presents "Just Cause," a two-person exhibition of sculpture, paintings, drawings and mixed-media works by the artists Donovan Clark and Jeremy Hara, through March 6. Their art is a mélange of pop, conceptual, and graffiti approaches that showcase the artists' craft while gleefully playing with and subverting a variety of popular tropes within our culture.

HSU’s Reese Bullen Gallery presents African Masks from the James Gaasch Collection on exhibit Feb. 10 through March 10. An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m., with a brief welcome and presentation about the collection at 5 p.m. The public is invited to attend this free event.

Humboldt State University First Street Gallery presents, Chronic Fatigue, a two-person exhibition of sculpture and photographs by the artists Walter Early and Benjamin Funke, running February 2 through March 6.

With a seasonal flavor and a diverse menu of songs, the University Singers and Humboldt Chorale present their shared winter concert on Sunday, December 13 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

HSU Jazz Orchestra honors Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington Orchestra arranger and composer, celebrating the centennial of his birth with an all-Strayhorn program, including a never before-performed arrangement, on Saturday, December 12 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Humboldt State University's First Street Gallery presents "Ceramic - affordable art for the season," through Dec. 31. Featured in the show, will be artwork by twelve artists from California's North Coast who work in diverse styles and mediums. The show is a fundraiser for the gallery, with a broad selection of affordable, high-quality ceramic pieces suitable for gift giving during the Holiday Season.

It’s not the new movie, but it is the signature music: HSU Symphonic Band plays two movements of the Star Wars Suite on Friday, December 4 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

A youth group’s return, a marimba classic and some of the Calypso Band’s greatest hits are featured in an all-percussion concert on Saturday, December 5 at the Van Duzer Theatre.