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Grammy Award Winner Howard Levy merges the harmonica with unexpected genres

Thursday, May 1, 12:05 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center

Program to be announced from the stage.

Howard Levy is a two-time Grammy Award Winner (Pop Music Performance and Instrumental Composition) and an acknowledged master of the diatonic harmonica, a superb pianist, innovative composer, educator and producer. At the age of 19, he discovered how to play the diatonic harmonica as a fully chromatic instrument by developing techniques on it that had never existed before. This enabled Howard to take the harmonica out of its usual role as a Folk and Blues instrument, and into the worlds of Jazz, Classical, Middle Eastern music, and more. His discovery unlocked infinite possibilities for the harmonica world.

At home in many musical styles, he is a favorite with audiences worldwide and a recording artist sought after by Kenny Loggins, Dolly Parton, Paquito D’Rivera, Styx, Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, and many others. Howard has appeared on hundreds of CD’s and several movie soundtracks, most prominently on A Family Thing with Robert Duval and James Earl Jones.

Marié Abe gives Valente Lecture: politics, poetics of mishearing

Thursday, May 1, 4-5:30 p.m., Room 266 Everson Hall

“How might we understand the potentialities of sound when it is misheard? What do we make of hearing when it generatively transcends the limits of aural intelligibility? This paper is a preliminary exploration of the phenomenon of aural apophenia — error of perception, a kind of mishearing to theorize the potentialities of sound to confuse, allure, and bring to life yet-to-exist, imagined affinities across difference.” – Abe

Marié Abe is associate professor of ethnomusicology in the Department of Music at UC Berkeley. She is a scholar of music and sound with ongoing ethnographic commitments in Japan, Okinawa, Ethiopia, and the U.S. Broadly speaking, her research explores the political and affective affordances of (musical) sounds in contexts ranging from everyday life to social movements, primarily in contemporary Japan. Her publications include the ethnographic monograph Resonances of Chindon-ya: Sounding Space and Sociality in Contemporary Japan (2018, Wesleyan University Press) as well as a number of articles and chapters in journals and edited volumes including Ethnomusicology, the Journal of Popular Music, and the Oxford Handbook of Protest Music.

Graduating senior Ben Saetern wins soloist competition

Graduating music major Benjamin Saetern, flute, is this year’s winner of the �����о��� Concert Band Soloist Competition. He performs Cecille Chaminade’s Concertino with the Concert Band, directed by Pete Nowlen, at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on May 21 at 7 p.m. He is also a proud Dean’s Honor List recipient in the College of Letters of Science at �����о��� and is passionate about ensemble performance, music education, and community engagement through the arts.

Rebecca Bollinger, visiting artist and creator of multiple media, gives lecture at Wright Hall

Thursday, May 1, 4:30-6 p.m.

New location: Wright Hall, Main Theatre

Rebeca Bollinger is an American artist known for her innovative work across various media, including sculpture, photography, video, drawing, installation, writing and sound. Born in Los Angeles, she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1993. Bollinger first gained recognition with her video piece “Alphabetically Sorted,” (1994) which utilized found text from an online forum, showcasing her early engagement with digital culture and the internet as a source material.

Experience extra-terrestrial night with E.T. in concert

Saturday, May 3, 7:30 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Relive the magic of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial on the big screen accompanied by a magnificent, live performance of the ������� Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Christian Baldini.

Director Steven Spielberg’s heartwarming masterpiece is one of the brightest stars in motion picture history.  Filled with unparalleled magic and imagination, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial follows the moving story of a lost little alien who befriends a 10-year-old boy named Elliott.  Experience all the mystery and fun of their unforgettable adventure in the beloved movie that captivated audiences around the world, complete with John Williams’ Academy Award®-winning score performed live by the �����о��� Symphony Orchestra in sync to the film projected on a huge HD screen!

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������� graduate students perform in Empyrean Ensemble

Sunday, May 4, 7-8 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center

Empyrean Ensemble
Sam Nichols, director • Matilda Hofman, resident conductor

Musicians Playing
Jennifer Ellis, harp
Michael Seth Orland, piano*
Chris Froh, percussion*
*core member

Program

Max Gibson: . . . shrouded deeply, tender darkness holds thy hand . . .

Peter Chatterjee: In Palaces of Dreams

Bryndan Moondy: field trio, three glimpses in anaglyph

Michelle Cann accompanies the Erinys Quartet

Sunday, May 4, 2 and 7:30 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the famed Curtis Institute of Music, is an experience not to be missed.

Embracing the school’s “learn by doing” philosophy, this year’s musicians include pianist Michelle Cann and the Erinys Quartet. Lauded as “exquisite” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Cann is one of the most sought-after pianists of her generation while the young ensemble, named for the Furies from Oresteia by Aeschylus has performed throughout Finland, Europe, and the United States and studies with the legendary Dover Quartet.

Get tickets here for the 2 p.m. show:

Get tickets here for the 7:30 p.m. show:

Pence Gallery holds annual Garden Tour

Sunday, May 4, noon-5 p.m., 212 D Street, tickets from $25

Stroll through six gardens throughout Davis on the Pence Gallery Garden Tour, savoring the beauty of spring and learning about gardening from Yolo County Master Gardeners. View local artists Leslie Allen, Patrick Cosgrove, Raquel Cox, Karen Fess, Marlene Lee, and Barbara Smithson as they paint outdoors in the gardens. At the Pence, enjoy three stunning art exhibits by regional artists, a free snack bag (limited to first 150), and a quick tour at 2 p.m. by the director.

The Garden Tour is a fundraising event that supports the mission of the Pence Gallery, a nonprofit art organization that serves the community through exhibits and programs promoting the work of local and regional artists.

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Don’t miss last chance to visit student-designed, curated exhibit Light into Density...

Closing Monday, May 5

Not only does Light into Density: Abstract Encounters 1920s–1960s feature 15 pieces, most of which are now on public view for the first time in decades by notable 20th century artists, it seeks to expand how viewers see and interpret artwork. Each description label hanging alongside the works has a quote from the artist and interpretations or reactions from the student curators. Read a full article, by Maria Sestito of the College of Letters and Science, describing the exhibit and its curators The , generally, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Monday. 

The ������� Film Festival celebrates 25th year

Monday, May 5 is deadline for submissions

The Film Festival @ ������� has showcased hundreds of short films by student filmmakers for 24 years. The 2025 festival celebrates 25 years of student filmmaking at �������. The festival is seeking submissions for the annual event to be held in late spring quarter.

Open to all ������� students and recent alumni, the Film Festival committee is seeking works that are eight minutes or less in length and original screenplays ten pages or less in length. Submissions are open to all genres and styles, from narrative to documentary to experimental.

Submissions are now open through May 5 at 5 p.m.

For complete submission information and details, visit .

Students perform studio recital

Tuesday, May 6, 3 p.m., Recital Hall at Ann E. Pitzer Center

Cindy Behmer, coordinator

with Karen Rosenak, piano

Program:

Arthur Honegger: Concerto da camera

Francis Poulenc: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano
Curran Neely, oboe • Zoe Plateau, bassoon • Jason Chen, piano

Camille Saint-Saëns: Allegretto from Oboe Sonata

Kenichi Nishizawa: Aubade, op. 102

Michael Head: Elegiac Dance

Johann Christian Fischer: Allegro from Oboe Concerto

William Grant Still: Incantation and Dance

Fritz Flemming: Oboe Duet

See pop-up performance at Shields Library

On Wednesday, May 7 from 2-3 p.m. on the Grand Staircase Mezzanine, the Department of Theatre and Dance present excerpts from the Spring Dance.

Check out ‘Community in Bloom’ exhibit at Shields Library

Running until Aug. 29, in the lobby to the left of the main staircase

The ������� Arboretum serves as an outdoor museum and living laboratory for the university, a public resource for sustainable landscape practices and a treasured, contemplative space for all who visit. It occupies 100 acres along the banks of the north channel of Putah Creek and features demonstration gardens and a collection of 22,000 trees and plants. Education and outreach programs offer guided tours, classes, workshops, family nature programs, and talks by artists, scholars, and scientists.

The exhibit includes more than a dozen photos and documents from the University Archives Photographs Collection, Stumpf (Paul K.) Slides of the ������� and Davis, California, The California Aggie, and the �������, Arboretum Records.

Take a quiz, published recently in ������� Magazine, to see how much you know about the arboretum here: Shields Library Celebrates the Arboretum with Archival Exhibit

Julia Keefe sings in Indigenous Big Bands

Thursday, May 8, 7:30 p.m., Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Continuing a little-known but rich history of big bands that formed on reservations during the early 20th century, the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band brings charisma, passion, and purpose to every stage.

This ensemble features a “who’s who” of Native and Indigenous jazz musicians and bandleaders, including Mali Obomsawin (Odanak Abenaki), Delbert Anderson (Diné) and Chantil Dukart (Tsimshian), led by celebrated vocalist and luminary Julia Keefe (Nez Perce). Performing pieces from their under-appreciated predecessors in jazz like Mildred Bailey (Coeur d’Alene) and Jim Pepper (Kaw/Mvskoke), alongside works by contemporary Indigenous composers, the band spotlights a vibrant, long-standing tradition of Indigenous improvised music.

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