Classical music, Indigenous learning and more on tap this year

Accomplished women will be front and center during this year’s Pitt-Bradford Arts Season at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, featuring a 90th birthday celebration for Marilyn Horne and a visit from MacArthur Foundation Fellow Robin Wall Kimmerer.

All events are open to the public and free unless otherwise noted. For more information, or to purchase tickets to events, contact the Bromeley Family Theater Box Office at 814-362-5113 or visit www.upb.pitt.edu/TheArts.

The year’s first event builds on the interest in street dancing following the debut of breaking at the Paris Olympics this summer. The Missing Element is a piece commissioned by Lincoln Center and designed to marry elements of rap, beatbox and break dance with the circular architecture of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Live music created without instruments will be performed by The Beatbox House. The performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 in Bromeley Family Theater in Blaisdell Hall on campus. The cost for the public is $20. Students are $5. Pitt-Bradford students are free.

October begins with an electroacoustic performance by saxophonist Jacob Swanson from his album wired. at noon Oct. 1 in the Studio Theater of Blaisdell Hall.

From Oct. 8 through Nov. 14, an exhibition by Debra Eck will explore what it means to be an artist in the age of climate change. Eck created work for her exhibition, “Terra Forms: An Exploration of Local Materiality,” using locally sourced materials, both natural and recycled. The exhibition opens at noon Oct. 8 in the KOA Art Gallery in Blaisdell Hall.

On Oct. 12, the Marilyn Horne Museum will celebrate the 90th birthday of the Bradford native who is one of the greatest mezzo sopranos to have ever sung. See separate story for more information.

The first family show of the year is “The Pout Pout Fish,” a musical based on the New York Times bestseller featuring puppets and live performers. The show takes place at 7 p.m. Oct. 18 in Bromeley Family Theater. This performance is a pajama party with pre-show family activities. All tickets are $10.

“National Geographic Live: From Roots to Canopy with Nalini Nadkarni” at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Bromeley Family Theater will appeal to nature lovers of all ages. Climb into the clouds with tree canopy ecologist and National Wildlife Explorer Nadkarni to explore magnificent wildlife and incredible science happening in the vast, hidden world suspended above our heads. Cost for the public is $10. Students are free.

In mid-November, Pitt-Bradford students will perform one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays, “Timon of Athens,” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14, 15 and 16, and 2 p.m. Nov. 17 in the Studio Theater.

Shakespeare’s prickliest play gets a contemporary rethink and an atmospheric staging throughout Blaisdell Hall’s theater spaces. Tickets are $6 for the public and $2 for students and include hors d’oeuvres.

A celebration of the holiday season will begin with the student Vocal Arts Ensemble performance at noon Dec. 4 in the Harriett B. Wick Chapel, where an Advent and Christmas recital will be held at noon Dec. 6 by Alden Wright, a distinguished organist and director of music at Christ Episcopal Church in Pittsford, N.Y.

The spring semester begins with the annual Baily’s Beads Literary Magazine Celebration at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22, 2025, in the Mukaiyama Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons. The latest issue will be unveiled along with readings by those featured in the award-winning student-produced magazine.

Starting in January 2025, Pitt-Bradford Arts will sponsor monthly smART workshops to promote arts for students in grades preK-4 and their families in the areas of music, movement, literature and visual art. Workshops will each be held from 10 to 11 a.m. in Blaisdell Hall on Jan. 18, Feb. 8, March 8 and April 12. Reservations will be needed. More information will be released later.

On Jan. 30, Faculty, staff and students will perform in a noon recital in the Bromeley Family Theater in what has become a favorite Pitt-Bradford event.

Weaver and artisan Penelope Minner will show intricate black ash baskets and cornhusk dolls that blend traditional craftsmanship with modern styles in her show, “Weaving the Past Together for the Future” from Feb. 6 through March 20. Join Minner, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, Turtle Clan, to learn more about these ancient arts at the opening reception at noon, Feb. 6, 2025.

The Beo String Quartet will perform on campus at 7 p.m. Feb. 11, 2025, in the Bromeley Family Theater. Founded in 2015, the quartet has created a niche for itself as a daring, genre-defying ensemble. The quartet’s performances of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich have been compared to those of the best among 21st century international string quartets. Tickets are $20 for the public and $5 for students.

Classical music will continue with a performance March 11, 2025, by Cyril Bodnar, principal trumpet for the Southern Tier Symphony, and pianist Laura Peterson, who will play at noon in the Studio Theater.

MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, scientist, author, mother and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Robin Wall Kimmerer will share her insights on the intersection of Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge at 7:30 p.m. March 18, 2025, in the Bromeley Family Theater. Kimmerer is the author of the New York Times best-selling book “Braiding Sweetgrass,” which this summer was named by Times readers as one of their 100 best books of the 21st Century. The university will hold three nature walks and other events in advance of Kimmerer’s visit for students and members of the community to explore the landscapes Kimmerer talks about in her writing.

The Vocal Arts Ensemble will perform its second concert of the academic year at 2 p.m. March 30, 2025, in Harriett B. Wick Chapel.

On April 3-6, 2025, theater students will perform a piece of their own creation. Students will decide the subject, story, character, performance and location, so keep an eye out for future announcements.

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