Check out the dynamic arts performances and events that Holy Cross has lined up.
For directions to Holy Cross and arts venues on campus, please visit our Maps, Directions and Transporation site.
Spring 2018 Arts Events
All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
- View the spring 2018 arts brochure (PDF) » (Please note that this was created in January. For a complete and accurate listing of arts events, please see below.)
- See our Events Calendar for a complete listing of events taking place at Holy Cross »
Jan. 25 – March 28 | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. M-F; Noon–5 p.m. Sat.
Cantor Art Gallery, O’Kane Hall
“Robert Beauchamp: Four Decades of Works on Paper”
A gift from the collection of Nadine Valenti Beauchamp
Robert Beauchamp (1923–1995) created a vast number of works on paper as well as paintings from the 1950s to early 1990s. A student of Hans Hoffman in Provincetown, Massachusetts in the early 1950s, the artist moved to New York in the mid-1950s where he soon began to show his work in both one-person and group exhibitions. Beauchamp’s style, although rooted in abstraction under the influence of Hoffman, soon veered toward figurative expressionism, which sustained his art practice for the next four decades. Through the generosity of Beauchamp’s widow, Nadine Valenti Beauchamp, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery received a substantial gift of works on paper by Robert Beauchamp. The exhibition traces his long career from the early days in New York to his death in 1995, highlighting a vast array of inventive drawing techniques, a never ending deep engagement with the figure, along with imaginative combinations of personal symbols and narration. Curated by Maurice Geracht, Roger Hankins and Leslie Schomp.
Sponsored by the Cantor Art Gallery
Jan. 30 | 5 – 7 p.m.
Cantor Art Gallery
“Robert Beauchamp: Four Decades of Works on Paper”
Opening Reception
Sponsored by the Cantor Art Gallery
Feb. 1-3 at 7:30 p.m. | Feb. 3-4 at 2 p.m.
Fenwick Theatre, 2nd Floor of O’Kane Hall
“Legally Blonde”
This sparkling and hilarious musical comedy centers on Elle Woods, a wealthy sorority girl, who gains admission to Harvard Law School to win back her ex-boyfriend, who doesn't think she's serious enough for the life he has planned for himself. But instead of merely proving herself to him, she winds up defying everyone's expectations while staying true to herself. The musical is an adaptation of the 2001 movie, with music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. An Alternate College Theatre production, directed by Emma Callahan '18.
Ticket Box Office: 508-793-3536
Sponsored by the Department of Theatre
Feb. 6 | 12:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
First Tuesday Lunch Concert
The First Tuesday Lunch Concert Series presents a short 30-minute concert featuring the music department’s artists-in-residence each first Tuesday of the month.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
Feb. 8 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Silkroad Ensemble
Silkroad creates music that engages difference, sparking radical cultural collaboration to build a more hopeful world. The Silkroad Ensemble will present a rhythm-driven exploration of music from India, the Middle East, Spain and the Jewish diaspora.
Ticket Box Office: 508-793-3835 or visit holycross.edu/atb
Sponsored by Arts Transcending Borders
Feb. 8 | 7:30 p.m.
Rehm Library, Smith Hall
Talk by Eric Marcus
The Working Writers Series offers readings, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions with some of America's best authors. Help us kick off our spring series with a talk by Eric Marcus. Marcus is the creator and host of the award-winning Making Gay History podcast, which brings to life the voices of champions, heroes, and witnesses to LGBTQ history. He is the author of a dozen books, including “Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian & Gay Equal Rights,” “Why Suicide?,” and “Is It A Choice?” He is also co-author of “Breaking the Surface,” the No. 1 New York Times best-selling autobiography of Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis, and “Coming Out to Play,” the autobiography of professional soccer player Robbie Rogers. Eric is a former associate producer for ABC television’s “Good Morning America” and “CBS This Morning.” He also served as associate producer for “Stonewall Uprising,” a PBS “American Experience” documentary, and was supervising producer for two recent documentaries on the experience of suicide loss.
Sponsored by the Creative Writing Program
Feb. 13 | 7:30 p.m.
St. Joseph Memorial Chapel and Brooks Concert Hall
“A Moveable Feast”
A (literally) moving concert featuring new music by Matthew Pinder, Lorraine Mihaliak, Elena Wang, and Teresa Murphy. The concert begins at St. Joseph Memorial Chapel and moves to Brooks Concert Hall.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
Feb. 14 | 4:30 p.m.
Rehm Library, Smith Hall
Dawn DeDeaux: "Ready for the Apocalypse"
In 2014 the Cantor Art Gallery featured the work of New Orleans artist Dawn DeDeaux with the installation of "Hurricane Suite in Nine Movements" as part of the "Katrina Then and Now: Artists as Witness" exhibition. DeDeaux will be in residence at Holy Cross from Feb. 12-20 and will give a talk about recent work focusing on environmental concerns, science/art interactions, social justice, and community activism. Works by DeDeaux have been exhibited nationwide including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Armand Hammer Museum, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Connecticut, The Contemporary of Baltimore, Maryland, the Canadian Film Society of Toronto, Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, Marfa, Texas. "Thumbs Up for the MotherShip" is currently on view at MASS MoCA through October 2018.
Sponsored by Arts Transcending Borders, Cantor Art Gallery, and the Department of Visual Arts
Feb. 15 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
“Late Sonatas”
Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola, Adam Golka, piano
Violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, of the internationally-acclaimed Dover String Quartet, joins artist-in-residence Adam Golka for an exploration of late masterpieces composed by Johannes Brahms, the Two Sonatas op. 120, as well as Shostakovich's very final work, his Sonata for Viola and Piano opus 147.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
Feb. 21 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Holy Cross Chamber Orchestra
Sponsored by the Department of Music
Feb. 22 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
“GLOBAL VOICES HEARD and REMEMBERED”
This concert will feature musical cross-currents within selected global concert music traditions including Argentinian composer Astor Piazzola's “The New Tango,” jazz improvisations inspired by jazz legends Miles Davis and Art Tatum, as well as music of György Ligeti, Iannis Xenakis, Claude Debussy and other composers inspired by music of African and Asian influences. This fast-paced concert will feature the music department's artists-in-residence Jan Müller-Szeraws, cello, Adam Golka, piano, and faculty members Matt Jaskot, piano, and Mike Monaghan, soprano saxophone. They will be joined by guest artists Rochelle Bard, soprano; Dominique Eade, jazz vocalist; Jonathan Hess, percussion; Amit Kavthekar, Indian table; and our own Brooks Scholar Teresa Murphy '19, mezzo soprano.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
Feb. 22 | 7:30 p.m.
Rehm Library, Smith Hall
Vocation of the Writer Talk by Gish Jen
The author of seven books, Gish Jen will reflect on the life of the writer. She has published short work in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and dozens of other periodicals and anthologies. Her work has appeared in “The Best American Short Stories” four times, including “The Best American Short Stories of the Century,” edited by John Updike. Nominated for a National Book Critics’ Circle Award, her work was featured in a PBS American Masters’ special on the American novel, and is widely taught. Her most recent book is “The Girl at the Baggage Claim: Explaining the East-West Culture Gap.” Jen is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has been awarded a Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, a Guggenheim fellowship, a Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study fellowship, and numerous other awards. An American Academy of Arts and Letters jury comprised of John Updike, Cynthia Ozick, Don DeLillo, and Joyce Carol Oates granted her a five-year Mildred and Harold Strauss Living award; Jen delivered the William E. Massey, Sr. Lectures in the History of American Civilization at Harvard University in 2012.
Co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program and the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture
Feb. 27 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Music of François Couperin, featuring Mark Kroll, harpsichord
The year 2018 is the 350th anniversary of the birth of François Couperin, the greatest of all French harpsichord composers, and who was called Le Grand in his own lifetime. Mark Kroll, the world's leading interpreter of Couperin's music, will present a harpsichord recital in celebration of that event.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
March 1 | 5 p.m.
Smith Labs
“The Inverted Landscape: A conversation about environmental devastation and its impact on home and place”
Two artists, an environmental activist, and a sociologist contemplate the story of loss and destruction through human-caused environmental degradation. Daina Harvey, assistant professor of sociology; Cristi Rinklin, artist and professor of visual arts; Daniela Rivera, artist and associate professor of art, Wellesley College; and Vivian Stockman, vice director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition will explore how environmental destruction of a place bears upon the psyche of its inhabitants, and how images and works of art that address these topics resonate with an audience.
Sponsored by the Department of Visual Arts, Department of Environmental Studies and Arts Transcending Borders
March 13 | 12:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
First Tuesday Lunch Concert
Artist-in-Residence
Sponsored by the Department of Music
March 15 | 7:30 p.m.
Rehm Library, Smith Hall
Reading by Leslie Carol Roberts
Nonfiction writer Leslie Carol Roberts will read from her book, “The Entire Earth and Sky: Views on Antarctica.” The world's first Fulbright Fellow in Antarctic Studies, Roberts explores many years of Antarctic history, delving into the "little known" stories of simple seamen.
Sponsored by the Creative Writing Program and the Department of Environmental Studies
March 16 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
“Prokofiev Meets Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet”
Students studying piano under the direction of Adam Golka will perform with students from Edward Isser’s “Shakespeare Through Performance” class.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
March 18 | 3 p.m.
St. Joseph Memorial Chapel
Renée Anne Louprette, organist, professor of organ at Rutgers University
Sponsored by the Department of Music
March 20 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Xelana Duo
Xelana Duo balances the refinement of classical music while zigzagging through hip-hop, blues, flamenco, Bollywood, and rock ’n’ roll. Performers Ana García Caraballos, alto saxophone, and Alexander Davis, bassoon, present a dynamic program that features original music composed by Holy Cross faculty member Matthew Jaskot.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
March 21 | 7:30 p.m.
Fenwick Theatre
“An Evening with Bill T. Jones”
Recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, and two Tony Awards, the legendary choreographer and dancer Bill T. Jones offers a public lecture as part of a creative residency led by members of his Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at Holy Cross.
Ticket Box Office: 508-793-3835 or visit holycross.edu/atb
Sponsored by Arts Transcending Borders in collaboration with the Dance Program of the Department of Theatre
March 22 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
“In Search of a Voice: Early Works by Great Masters”
Artists-in-Residence Concert
This concert explores what great master composers were up to while they were still college-aged. It features early works by various composers including Dimitri Shostakovich, Claude Debussy, Johannes Brahms and Sergei Rachmaninov played by the music department’s Brooks Scholars in collaboration with the artists-in-residence.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
March 22 | 7:30 p.m.
Rehm Library, Smith Hall
Reading by Rodrigo Fuentes & Morris Collins
Join us for a faculty reading by Rodrigo Fuentes, a fiction writer in the Department of Spanish, and Morris Collins, a novelist in the Department of English.
Sponsored by the Creative Writing Program
March 23 | 7:30 p.m.
St. Joseph Memorial Chapel
Holy Cross College Choir
The Concert Choir and the Holy Cross Chamber Orchestra join together to perform sacred works for chorus and orchestra. This concert will feature some of the greatest works in the classical repertoire.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
April 3 | 12:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
First Tuesday Lunch Concert
Artist-in-Residence
Sponsored by the Department of Music
April 3 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Martha Redbone
Bone Hill: The Concert
Martha Redbone is one of the most vital voices in American Roots music. Inspired by her family lineage in the Appalachian Mountains, Redbone and a cast of actor-musicians present an epic journey of one woman’s return to her homeland. Spanning the lives and stories of four generations of women in a Cherokee family, it is a story about the family’s connection to the land — the simplicity and sacredness of that connection and the ruptures that threaten to extinguish it.
Written by Martha Redbone, Aaron Whitby and Roberto Uno, with original compositions by Redbone and Whitby
Ticket Box Office: 508-793-3835 or visit holycross.edu/atb
Sponsored by Arts Transcending Borders
April 8 | 3 p.m.
St. Joseph Memorial Chapel
Vincent Warnier, organist at Church of St. Etienne-du-Mont, Paris, France
Sponsored by the Department of Music
April 12–14 & 19–21 | 7:30 p.m.
Fenwick Theatre, 2nd Floor of O'Kane Hall
“The Skin of Our Teeth”
This Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a kaleidoscopic comedy about the survival of human civilization in the face of extinction. Meet the Antrobus family of Excelsior, New Jersey, hurling through time and space as they battle flood, famine, war and each other: Mr. Antrobus, inventor of the wheel and the alphabet; Mrs. Antrobus, who keeps the family together; their two perfect children; and their wisecracking maid, Sabrina. Thornton Wilder's comic masterpiece looks the apocalypse in the eye and proclaims, "The show must go on." Tyler Dobrowsky '03, now associate artistic director at Trinity Repertory Company, returns to Holy Cross to direct.
Ticket Box Office: 508-793-2496
Sponsored by the Department of Theatre
April 17 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Holy Cross Jazz Ensemble Spring Concert
The spring concert will include a variety of music from the classic jazz repertoire, including the music of Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker. The concert will also include music from the Great American Songbook and will feature guest artists renowned in the jazz world.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
April 20 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Holy Cross Chamber Singers
The Holy Cross Chamber Singers will present musical gems from across the centuries. Come hear monuments of song from the Renaissance, as well as modern works inspired by Renaissance musical masters.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
April 25 – May 25 | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. M-F; Noon–5 p.m. Sat.
Cantor Art Gallery, O’Kane Hall
Senior Concentration Seminar Exhibition 2018
Graduating senior visual arts majors present works at the Cantor Art Gallery that they have developed during their participation in a yearlong senior concentration seminar course offered by the Department of Visual Arts. Alexandria Benoit, Matthew Brown, Erin Cunningham, Annalisa Dow, Ryan Hatfield, Joseph Metrano, Ann Mondi, Jake (John) Nolan, Meg Snee, Autumn Taylor-Kelley, Megan Viera, Katie-Li Walker, Demetrius Wilson, and Tavia (Mengqi) Wu.
Sponsored by the Cantor Art Gallery
April 25 | Noon
Cantor Art Gallery
Academic Conference Presentations by Artists
Senior Concentration Seminar Exhibition 2018
Presentations of the senior concentration seminar students as part of the Academic Conference. (see April 26 event)
Sponsored by the Cantor Art Gallery
April 25 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Holy Cross Chamber Orchestra
Presenting the opening concert for the Academic Conference, featuring the Holy Cross Chamber Orchestra and student soloists.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
April 26 | 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Cantor Art Gallery
Opening Reception
Senior Concentration Seminar Exhibition 2018
Graduating senior visual arts majors present works at the Cantor Art Gallery that they have developed during their participation in a yearlong senior concentration seminar course offered by the Department of Visual Arts.
Sponsored by the Cantor Art Gallery
April 27 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
H-CLEF: (silent) film/live laptop
The Holy Cross Laptop Ensemble Federation presents an evening of silent film classics accompanied by live music performed on DIY electronic instruments, smartphones and hacked game controllers.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
April 29 | 2 p.m.
Hogan Ballroom
Concert Band Concert
The Holy Cross Concert Band will perform a concert of original band music covering a variety of musical styles and genres. The concert will feature guest soloist Rebecca Beaulieu '18, alto saxophone, and a performance of David Maslanka's symphony “Give Us This Day.”
Sponsored by the Department of Music
MAY 1 | 4 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Student/Faculty Recital
The students of the music department will perform along with their faculty at our end of semester recital. Students will individually perform music by various composers as well as in chamber groups.
Sponsored by the Department of Music
May 2 | 7 & 9 p.m.
Fenwick Theatre, 2nd Floor O'Kane Hall
Dance Concert
Our annual spring dance concert showcases vibrant work by students in our modern, ballet and jazz classes, choreographed by our professional dance instructors, Jimena Bermejo, Kaela Lee, Audra Carabetta and Jen Polins. A highly entertaining evening that always brings the season to a spectacular close.
Sponsored by the Department of Theatre
May 2 | 7:30 p.m.
St. Joseph Memorial Chapel
Holy Cross College Choir Concert
The Concert Choir and Chamber Singers present their final concert of the year, featuring choral music from many places and times. Don’t miss the choirs of Holy Cross as they raise their voices in song!
Sponsored by the Department of Music
May 4 | 7:30 p.m.
Brooks Concert Hall
Gamelan Gita Sari Concert
One of Bali’s most renowned master artists of traditional dance/theatre, I Nyoman Catra specializes in the Kecak monkey dance and masked temple performances known as Topeng. A treat for all ages, the Balinese dance concert provides an opportunity for the community to experience the awe and wonder of the sacred art of Bali.
Sponsored by the Departments of Music and Department of Theatre