Jazz, Dance, Lectures and Seasonal Celebrations at Connecticut College

Connecticut College celebrates the season with art, music, and holiday events that are open to everyone. Here's what's happening on campus in December. 

•Through Dec. 6: Studio Art Exhibitions, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m., the galleries of Cummings Arts Center. The Connecticut College Department of Art presents two exhibitions by the College’s current Dayton Artists-in-Residence, Sophie Kahn’s “Shards” and Alex Rubio’s “Abstract Experiment.” For more information, contact the art department at 860-439-2740.

•Dec. 3: “Style, identity, and ceramics: The archaeology of early villages in Central Tlaxcala, Mexico,” an Archaeology Lecture Series talk by Jennifer Carballo, 2:45 p.m., Room 106 of Bill Hall. Carballo, a lecturer at Harvard University, will consider how material culture can be used to explore social identity in pre-colonial Mesoamerica. For more information, contact Assistant Professor of Anthropology Anthony Graesch at 860-439-2116.

•Dec. 3: "Undocumented Native Americans and Maroons in French Guiana? Border Control and the Making of Stateless People on the Maroni River," a lecture by Connecticut College Professor of Anthropology Catherine Benoit, 4:15 p.m., the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, 740 Williams Street. For more information, contact Associate Professor of History Leo Garofalo at lgar@conncoll.edu.

•Dec. 4: "Jazz from Both Sides of the Street," an exciting performance by the jazz bands from Connecticut College and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, directed by Connecticut College Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Gary Buttery, 7 p.m., Evans Hall in Cummings Arts Center. The two ensembles will perform classic jazz, Gypsy jazz, swing, bop and standards, including “Lulu Swing” by Lulu Reinhardt, “Blue Monk” by Thelonius Monk, “Just Friends” by John Klenner and the theme from the James Bond film “Skyfall.” For more information, contact Terry Wisniewski at terry.wisniewski@conncoll.edu.

•Dec. 6: Camel Holiday Bazaar, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the College Center at Crozier-Williams. An array of vendors will be on campus to offer jewelry, Fair Trade items, ornaments, gourmet treats and more, just in time for the holidays. For more information, contact Jeannette Williams at jeannette.williams@conncoll.edu.

•Dec. 6: Charles Shackford Memorial Student Composers Concert, 7 p.m., Evans Hall in Cummings Arts Center. Directed by Arthur Kreiger, the Sylvia Pasternack Marx Professor of Music, the concert will feature creative work completed by Connecticut College students enrolled in music composition and electroacoustic music courses. The program will include vocal and instrumental chamber music selections, and pieces fashioned from electronic sounds. For more information, contact Terry Wisniewski at terry.wisniewski@conncoll.edu.

•Dec. 6-7 “This Is Not a Movie,” a dance department concert, 7:30 p.m., Palmer Auditorium. The program includes choreography by Connecticut College dance faculty, including Susan Connelly, David Dorfman, Heidi Henderson, Shawn Hove and Lisa Race, as well as guest artists Faye Driscoll, a Bessie-award winning choreographer, and students. Tickets are $12 for general admission, $6 for students and seniors, and free to Connecticut College faculty, staff and students (limit 2). For tickets, call 860-439-ARTS.

•Dec. 7: New York Museum Bus Trip, 8 a.m., Cummings Arts Center loading dock. The Departments of Art History and Studio Art host a bus trip to New York City that stops at several museums and points of interest. Tickets are $45 for the general public ($35 for Connecticut College students). For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Debbie Radachy at darad@conncoll.edu.

•Dec. 7: Creating Holiday Wreaths, a workshop with Arboretum Curator Mary Villa and Arboretum Horticulturist Leigh Knuttel, 9 a.m.-noon, Olin Science Center Lounge. Materials will be provided and participants will take home their handmade wreaths. Registration is $29 for Arboretum members and $34 for the general public. Call860-439-5060 to register.

•Dec. 8: Make We Joy, a community celebration of the winter solstice with music, dance and drama, delighting generations from all over New England since 1981. Performances at 4 and 7 p.m. in Harkness Chapel. Seating is limited. For more information, contact Laurie McGrath at lamcg@conncoll.edu.

•Dec. 9: "Real Progress, Real Problems: A Critical Look at the LGBT Movement," a talk by renowned LGBT Activist Urvashi Vaid, 4:30 p.m., Ernst Common Room of Blaustein Humanities Center. This talk by Vaid, the director of the Engaging Tradition Project at Columbia Law School, is the keynote address of celebrations marking Connecticut College’s inclusion on a list of the top 25 LGBT-friendly colleges and universities in the country, compiled by Campus Pride and the Huffington Post. The event will also include the LGBTQ Center’s salute to departing president Leo I. Higdon Jr. and the debut of a video made in collaboration with the Department of Athletics for the "You Can Play Project," a movement dedicated to ridding sports locker rooms of homophobia and discrimination. For more information, contact the center’s director Jen Manion at jmanion@conncoll.edu.

•Dec. 9: "Celebrate!" with the Connecticut College Concert Band, 7 p.m., Evans Hall in Cummings Arts Center. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Gary Buttery directs such works as John Philip Sousa's "People Who Live in Glass Houses" from the operetta “The Bride-Elect,” Claude T. Smith’s "Fantasia for Alto Saxophone" and "Children's March" by Percy Aldridge Grainger. The concert includes students from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy as well as guest conductors Ian Frenkel of the U.S. Coast Guard Band and Matt Sbalcio ’04. For more information, contact Terry Wisniewski at terry.wisniewski@conncoll.edu.

•Dec. 10: New Music and Percussion Ensemble in Concert, 7 p.m., Evans Hall in Cummings Arts Center. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Peter Jarvis directs as he and students perform music by George Crumb, Frederic Rzewski and Wayne Peterson. Tickets are available at the door — $5 general admission, $3 seniors and students, free to Connecticut students, staff and faculty. For more information, contact Terry Wisniewski atterry.wisniewski@conncoll.edu.

•Dec. 11: Christmas Vespers: A Service of Lessons and Carols, a holiday tradition at Connecticut College since 1917, 5 p.m., Harkness Chapel. For more information, contact Laurie McGrath at lamcg@conncoll.edu.