Song cycles: Japan, Classics

In connection with the exhibition “Japonisme: The First Wave and Beyond,” the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is hosting a musical recital Oct. 29 at 2 p.m., cosponsored by the Department of Music. “Is My Soul Asleep?” features songs of dreams and awakening, by guest composer James Matheson, DMA ’01, and by Japanese composers and Europeans influenced by Japan.

Strickling

Pianist Xak Bjerken and soprano Laura Strickling will perform Francis Poulenc’s song cycle, “Air chantes,” and songs by Joseph Marx, Kosaku Yamada, Yoshinao Nakada and Sadao Bekku. The recital closes with Matheson’s cycle “Times Alone,” set to poetry by Antonio Machado. Matheson presents a Composers’ Forum Oct. 28 at 1:25 p.m. in 316 Lincoln Hall.

Also, Annie Lewandowski and David Yearsley will perform “Bitter Banquet,” Lewandowski’s song cycle for voice, harpsichord, fortepiano and electronics, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. in Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, Klarman Hall.

The performance – a collection of 10 songs and projections, each based on a character from Euripides’ tragedies – is the closing event of the Department of Classics’ 21st-century Festival of Classics, “Sustaining the Antique,” Oct. 28-29. All events are free and open to the public.

Student farm celebration

A 20th anniversary celebration of the Dilmun Hill Student Farm, Saturday, Oct. 29, 1 to 4 p.m. at 705 Dryden Road (Route 366), Ithaca, features a farm tour and party and is free and open to the public.Visitors can learn more about the farm, student-run projects and agriculture in general, with exhibits and activities from several student organizations such as the Bee Club.

Founded on three acres in 1996, the now-12-acre farm provides opportunities for research, experimentation and experiential learning about environmental stewardship, farm management and sustainable farm practices while leading students toward agricultural careers.

Dilmun Hill produces organically grown vegetables and herbs, including heirloom varieties, for several campus dining locations and for its own community-supported agriculture program. Students determine which crops to grow and handle day-to-day management of the operation, with support from Cornell’s Agricultural Experiment Station. Student volunteers also pitch in at twice-weekly work parties during the growing season.

Bach to the Crypt

Spooky, silly and strange organ music will fill Sage Chapel, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. during the Halloween Organ Extravaganza, presented by the Department of Music. The event is free and open to the public, and coming in costume is encouraged.

Performed by University Organist Annette Richards, friends and students, the Halloween program will include the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by J. S. Bach, the Prelude and Fugue on Bach by Liszt, and Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor.

The extravaganza concludes with the husband-and-wife duo of Richards and David Yearsley playing their arrangement of Rossini’s Overture to “William Tell.”

Robotics gathering

Roboticists and enthusiasts from across the United States and Canada are coming to Cornell for the fifth annual Northeast Robotics Colloquium, Oct. 29-30 in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall. It is open to the public and registration is required.

The colloquium will start Saturday at noon and end Sunday at noon. The event is family-friendly, with opportunities for children to see and interact with robots; a discounted family registration is available.

As a research meeting, job fair, showcase for robotics companies and networking event for those engaged in robotics at Cornell and elsewhere, the colloquium aims to promote a “healthy and well-connected robotics community that will be essential in fueling the field’s rapid growth in the coming decade,” said Ross Knepper, assistant professor of computer science, who is on the colloquium organizing committee.

Kirstin Petersen, Cornell assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is among the keynote speakers. 

Punk celebration

Cornell holds a weeklong celebration of punk music and history Nov. 1-5 at “Punkfest Cornell: Anarchy in the Archives,” with an exhibit, panels and performances by four generations of punk luminaries.

Cornell University Library

Flyers and other memorabilia go on display Nov. 4 in "Anarchy in the Archives," an exhibition drawn from Cornell's punk collections in the library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. Punkfest, Nov. 1-5, also features panels and performances.

Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections opens its punk collections to the public with a reception Friday, Nov. 4, at 5:30 p.m. for the inaugural exhibition, “Anarchy in the Archives,” in Kroch Library’s Hirshland Gallery. The exhibition explores punk’s cultural and political impact from the mid-1970s to the present day, with an array of rare artifacts – photographs, artwork, posters and flyers, clothing, manuscripts and vinyl – representing work by Patti Smith, the Sex Pistols, Vivienne Westwood, Dead Kennedys, Green Day, Los Crudos and many others.

Featured events on campus also include a screening of “The Decline of Western Civilization” Nov. 1 at Cornell Cinema; a panel with Pussy Riot, Nov. 2; a conversation with Exene Cervenka and John Doe of X, Nov. 4; a Q&A with Ian MacKaye (of Fugazi, Minor Threat and Dischord Records), Nov. 5; and a panel Nov. 5 on punk communities and identities with “England’s Dreaming” author Jon Savage, musician/zine publisher Aaron Cometbus and Victoria Ruiz, lead singer of Downtown Boys.

John Doe, Henry Rollins (doing spoken word) and Shonen Knife also will perform in Ithaca during the celebration.

Reading by Chris Abani

The Department of English Program in Creative Writing presents Nigerian-born writer Chris Abani, Thursday, Nov. 3, at 4:30 p.m. in Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, G70 Klarman Hall (enter after 4:15 p.m., the reading follows a class held in the auditorium). Part of the Fall 2016 Barbara & David Zalaznick Reading Series, the event is free and open to the public.

Abani is an international voice on humanitarianism, art, ethics and our shared political responsibility. He teaches at Northwestern University and founded the Black Goat poetry series, an imprint of Akashic Books.

His books include “The Face,” a book of essays; novels including “The Secret History of Las Vegas,” “Becoming Abigail” and “Graceland;” and seven poetry collections, including “There Are No Names For Red,” “Dog Woman,” “Daphne’s Lot” and “Kalakuta Republic.” His work has been translated into 13 languages and his honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the PEN/Hemingway Award and a PEN Beyond the Margins Award.