Weekender: Music, Dia De Muertos

Blogs
Musician playing instrument
Artist-in-residence Nicholas Tolle is featured in two concerts Thursday and Sunday at UC Davis. (Courtesy photo)

Cimbalom artist performs noon concert of graduate student works Thursday

Artist-in-residence

Thursday, Oct. 12, 12:05 p.m. to 1 p.m. UC Davis Music Department Recital Hall, Ann E. Pitzer Center

Free, a Shinkoskey Noon Concert

Nicholas Tolle, a UC Davis artist-in-residence, is one of America’s premiere cimbalom (a Hungarian instrument) artists. In 2019 he won third prize in the Budapest Music Center International Cimbalom Competition where he was the only finalist from North America. In November 2022 he made his 12th visit to the Lucerne Festival to perform the works of Unsuk Chin and György Ligeti. He has performed as soloist in Pierre Boulez’s Repons with the composer conducting at the Lucerne Festival in 2009, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Péter Eötvös in 2012, and with Steven Schick at UC San Diego in 2017.

Well-being deal: Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023, 7:30 p.m. Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center 

Widely regarded as a leading ensemble and musical institution in Mexico, the Minería Symphony Orchestra of Mexico remains at the musical forefront through eclectic programming, collaborations with renowned soloists and composers and staunch advocacy of community and educational development.

Music director Carlos Miguel Prieto (Musical America’s Conductor of the Year in 2019) leads a thrilling program. Learn more about the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería

If you are staff or student, there is a well-being ticket sale available for purchase Oct. 2 through 16. You can purchase these online, with Promo Code BEWELL, or by phone. Call 530-754-2787 from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. You can purchase tickets at Mondaviarts.org.

He has appeared as a soloist with Collage New Music and Orchestra 2001 performing Steve Mackey’s 5 Animated Shorts, and with numerous orchestras performing Kodály’s Háry János Suite. Based in Boston, MA, he plays regularly with such groups as the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Emmanuel Music, and Sound Icon, and with his own group, the Ludovico Ensemble. He has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and the New York Philharmonic. A leading interpreter of new cimbalom music, he frequently performs with the International Contemporary Ensemble and Ensemble Signal, and has also performed with the Talea Ensemble. Read more about the artist.

Empyrean Ensemble and Tolle Sunday night

7-8:30 p.m., Pitzer Center, free

Sam Nichols, director • Matilda Hofman, resident conductor
featuring Nicholas Tolle, cimbalom (artist-in-residence)

More information on that concert here.

Artist holdiing painting while standing over table
Katya Grokhovsky, Point A: Chapter One, 2022. (Walter Wlodarczyk)

Katya Grokhovsky, visual artist, speaks at Manetti Shrem

Thursday, Oct. 12, 4:30–6 p.m.

Katya Grokhovsky is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose work explores cultural identity, labor, body, history and the self. She is a founding director of the Immigrant Artist Biennial. She has received numerous awards and fellowships, including the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts and the New American Fellowship: American Immigration Council. Grokhovsky is the fall quarter teaching artist in residence in The Manetti Shrem California Studio. Read more about the artist here.

TANA hosts Día de Muertos Workshops

Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. through October, TANA, 1224 Lemen Ave., Woodland

Throughout the month of October, TANA will offer family workshops facilitated by regional artists including Elyse Doyle-Martinez, whose work is included in Malaquias Montoya and the Legacies of a Printed Resistance. Day of the Dead-themed activities include calaca printing, papel picadocempazuchil stringing and more. These sessions, open and free for all, take place throughout October at TANA. Read more about the whole TANA month, and a special event Oct. 28. [https://tana.ucdavis.edu/dia-de-muertos]

Book Launch for American Purgatory — Benjamin Weber in Conversation

Weber will be in conversation with Ayo Y. Scott and Jalil A. Muntaqim Sunday, Oct. 15, 2-3:30 p.m., Manetti Shrem Museum, UC Davis

Join author Benjamin Weber, assistant professor of African American and African Studies, in a conversation with activist Jalil A. Muntaqim and visual artist Ayo Y. Scott moderated by activist Pam Fadem, as he launches his first book. American Purgatory: Prison Imperialism and the Rise of Mass Incarceration is a history of incarceration and empire, and of protest movements seeking to broaden the meaning and experience of freedom. Books will be available for purchase at the event. More information and registration here.

Mondavi Center presents Cirque Mechanics

Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, 2 p.m. Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center

Humans have been harnessing the power of the wind for thousands of years. The beautiful efficiency of that timeless and ingenious process inspired the creative team at Cirque Mechanics to create Zephyr, an emotional, exhilarating tale about the choices humans have made regarding our planet and its resources. Marvelous storytelling, high-level acrobatics and original contraptions are hallmarks of Cirque Mechanics’ work, with Zephyr featuring an awe-inspiring windmill as the mechanical centerpiece to its story. This show is family friendly, and suitable for all ages. Purchase tickets for the show.

 

Basement Gallery and KDVS hosts first arts and music crawl

Basement of the UC Davis Arts Department, Friday Oct. 14 from 6-9 p.m.; open gallery hours Monday, Oct. 17 through Oct. 18 from noon to 5 p.m. 

Rebel in the underground: Join the basement gallery for an evening of visual art and music celebrating goth and punk empowerment and expression. They will be taking visual art and music applications from UC Davis students starting Friday, Sept. 16. The art call will be open until midnight on Friday, Sept. 30. Students can submit artwork here.

​Coming up

Deborah Butterfield speaks at Manetti Shrem

Sun., Oct. 22, 1:30-3 p.m. Manetti Shrem Museum, UC Davis

Light-complected, blond woman in black clothing stands in front of sculpture
Deborah Butterfield works in her studio in Bozeman, Montana. (Hector Valdivia/courtesy)

Internationally acclaimed sculptor Deborah Butterfield (’71, M.F.A. ’73) discusses her formative years at UC Davis, her inspirations and mentors, and how her experience in Northern California resonates in her work today. 

P. S. These are not horses is Butterfield’s first solo museum exhibition in California since 1996. Born in 1949 in San Diego, California, she is known for her remarkable equine sculptures crafted from detritus and found materials such as mud, scrap metal, driftwood and fallen branches. Collected by nearly 90 major public and private institutions throughout the United States, Butterfield's distinctive work is instantly recognizable to art lovers and travelers alike.

Read more about it .

Media Resources

Arts Blog Editor: Karen Nikos-Rose, kmnikos@ucdavis.edu, 530-219-5472

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