Things to Do, Sept. 11-18, 2015
By Daniel Aloi
Only ‘Humans’
The Cornell University Program Board presents Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. in Bailey Hall. Tickets are $8 and $10 for students, $13 and $15 for the general public, available at www.CornellConcerts.com.
Stanton began his online catalogue of New York City’s inhabitants in 2010, taking photographs and plotting their locations on a map. After several months, he began collecting quotes and short stories from the people he met, including those alongside the photographs.
The portraits and captions evolved into a vibrant blog, with daily glimpses into the lives of New Yorkers now seen by more than 8 million followers on social media. A selection of these stories and pictures became a New York Times No. 1 bestselling book in 2013; a follow-up, “Humans of New York: Stories,” will be published in mid-October.
100th bird-day
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology heralds the departure of migrating songbirds at its annual Migration Celebration, which this year includes an open house marking the centennial of the lab’s founding in 1915, Saturday, Sept. 12 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca. The event is free and open to the public.
Visitors can go behind the scenes for the first time in a dozen years and see where scientists work and talk with staff about the lab’s research, conservation and educational programs; view interactive games and exhibits; learn how wild birds are caught, banded and released; see live eagles, hawks and owls up close with the Cornell Raptor Program and take guided trail walks in Sapsucker Woods with Cayuga Bird Club members.
The celebration is part of International Migratory Bird Day. More information: 607-254-2473 or 800-843-BIRD (2473).
M.H. Abrams memorial
The Department of English hosts a memorial celebration of the life and work of M.H. “Mike” Abrams Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. in Statler Auditorium. A reception will follow in the Schoellkopf Memorial Hall Annex Tradition Room. Both are free and open to the public.
Abrams, the Class of 1916 Professor of English Emeritus, spent his entire academic career at Cornell. An influential teacher and acclaimed scholar in literary and cultural studies, he died at 102 on April 21.
Speakers at the memorial include President Elizabeth Garrett; Andy Noel, Cornell athletics director, on Abrams as a Big Red football fan; Julia Reidhead, editor at W.W. Norton (Abrams edited the Norton Anthology of English Literature); and Geoffrey Harpham, former director of the National Humanities Center.
The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, in collaboration with Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, is exhibiting art and literary works acquired by Cornell through Abrams’ generosity, through Sept. 20 in the museum’s Study Gallery. The display includes works by Honore Daumier, Gustav Klimt and Imogen Cunningham; an annotated copy of the dissertation that shaped his celebrated 1953 book “The Mirror and The Lamp”; and other items related to Abrams’s scholarship.
Artistic fiber design
The 10th annual Barbara L. Kuhlman Student Scholars’ Fiber Arts and Wearable Arts Exhibition opens with a reception Sept. 15 from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Jill Stuart Gallery, Human Ecology Building. The event is free and open to the public.
Student designers offer diverse and unique perspectives on the theme of “ART” in the exhibition, including Robin Reynolds ’16, who incorporates embedded electronics in her work; and Kennedy Rauh ’17, with a wood-and-fiber creation inspired by Native American totem pole symbols.
President Erika Kuryla and others from the Kuhlman Foundation will attend and meet with scholarship recipients to discuss their work.
Mold business
If you’ve ever opened your refrigerator and wondered about the life forms inside, Science Cabaret has a program for you. Mycologist Kathie Hodge presents“Moldy Oldies: Who’s Eating My Leftovers?”Sept. 15 from 7 to 8:15 p.m. at Coltivare, 235 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca.
Hodge, an associate professor of mycology, directs the Department of Plant Pathology’s herbarium (a world-class collection documenting Earth’s diversity of fungi and plant disease organisms), runs a research lab and edits the Cornell Mushroom Blog. She will introduce the fuzzy cast of characters occupying your fridge – each of these insidious, invidious fungi has a story to tell – and offer helpful advice about eating foods that should or shouldn’t be moldy.
Science Cabaret is free and open to all ages (no science background is required) and held one Tuesday a month, with scientists invited to talk about their work and engage audiences in discussion. Past topics have included climate science, evolution vs. religion, astrophysics and robotics.
Relaxed and classical
The Department of Music debuts Kettle Corn New Music, contemporary classical music in a relaxed setting with free kettle corn, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. at the Carriage House on Stewart Avenue. The event is free and open to the public.
The program features commissions from Ryan Harper and Loren Loiacono and other repertoire performed by New Morse Code, the duo of cellist Hannah Collins and percussionist Michael Compitello.
Jazz legend
Cornell Cinema presents a portrait of free jazz innovator Ornette Coleman, who died this summer, with “Ornette: Made in America,” Sept. 16 at 7:15 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre.
The 1985 documentary shows Coleman’s 1983 homecoming in Fort Worth, Texas, and depicts his evolution as a musician over three decades. Director Shirley Clarke weaves documentary footage, dramatic scenes, music video-styled segments and commentary from William S. Burroughs, Don Cherry, R. Buckminster Fuller, Charlie Haden, Yoko Ono, critic Robert Palmer and others.
Also screening this week: Orson Welles’s “The Magnificent Ambersons,”Sept. 12-13 at 7:15 p.m.; the Ithaca premiere of Bill Plympton’s adult animated feature “Cheatin’,” Sept. 17 and 20; and “The Wolfpack,” Sept. 17-18, the Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
Pedal pusher
Also, visiting lecturer, guitarist and singer-songwriter Anna Coogan performs a solo set of original songs from her recent record with JD Foster, “The Birth of the Stars,” and songs for an upcoming release with drummer Brian Wilson (aka Willie B.), in the Midday Music at Lincoln series, Sept. 17 at noon in B20 Lincoln Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Trained as an opera singer, Coogan moved to Ithaca and began to experiment with electric guitar and effects pedals under the tutelage of local musician Johnny Dowd. She teaches voice in the Department of Music.
“I was hired specifically to teach pop or non-classical music, because Judith [Kellock], my former mentor and teacher who tragically passed away last year, was intrigued by my combination of opera training and pop performance,” Coogan said. “I love helping people find their own voice, but also making sure they are doing it safely and not hurting their vocal chords in the process. There are healthy ways to scream, it turns out.”
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