November 2017 – Events Calendar
Thursday, November 2
John Hodgman reads from Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches
Author, actor, and humorist John Hodgman will be reading from and speaking about his new book, Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches (Viking), in which he wanders through the wildernesses of Western Massachusetts where he spent much of his youth, the beaches of Maine that want to kill him, and the haunted forest of middle age that connects them.
+ Kagin Commons, Alexander Hill Ballroom, 21 Snelling Ave., St. Paul, Minn., 7 p.m., Advance tickets are $30 each, and each comes with a copy of Vacationland; $40 for two tickets and one copy of the book. For more information, email [email protected]
Thursday, November 2
The Macalester College Theatre and Dance Department presents The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short story writer. The Cherry Orchard, one of his classics, is a tragicomedy set in Russia at the turn of the 20th century. The story follows the Ranevsky family as they grapple with debts that might force them to sell their beloved Orchard. The play is a stunning representation of the tension between reminiscing and looking toward the future. Its narrative situates the characters as part of the broader change happening in their country at that time, while intimately exploring their personal struggle. Directed by Beth Cleary.
+ Mainstage, Theatre Building, 130 Macalester Street, St. Paul, Minn., 7:30 pm. For ticket information call 651-696-6359 or go online at Macalester.edu/boxoffice.
Additional performances:
Fri., and Sat., Nov. 3 and 4, at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 5
Oneness and Otherness: Frontiers of Musical Empathy
Join performer-scholars Marié Abe (Boston University), Mark Mazullo (Macalester College), and Matthew Rahaim (University of Minnesota) for a lively discussion about, and musical demonstration of, three case studies in musical empathy. Subjects will range from the piano sonatas of Beethoven, to the master teacher-student relationship in Hindustani vocal music, to the contemporary phenomenon of chindon-ya, a live musical advertisement practice in Japan. What lies behind our claims to connect with others through music? Is there value in the preservation, through musical encounters, of difference?
+ Mairs Concert Hall, Music Building, Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, 130 Macalester Street, St. Paul, Minn., 3 p.m., FREE, 651-696-6808 or [email protected]
Thursday, November 9
Annual Lowe Lecture with Duke Professor Kate Bowler: “The (Prosperity) Gospel According to Donald Trump”
Kate Bowler, who graduated from Macalester in 2002, is an assistant professor of the History of Christianity in North America at Duke Divinity School. Her talk is titled, “The (Prosperity) Gospel According to Donald Trump.” In 2015, she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer at age 35. In her viral New York Times op-ed, she wrote about the irony of being an expert in health, wealth and happiness while being ill. Her subsequent memoir coming out in February, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved, (Random House, 2018), tells the story of her struggle to understand the personal and intellectual dimensions of the American belief that all tragedies are tests of character. Bowler’s book, book, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, (Oxford University Press, 2013), received widespread media attention and academic praise as the first history of the movement based on divine promises of health, wealth, and happiness. She continues to write, teach, and travel while undergoing cancer treatment.
+ Weyerhaeuser Memorial Chapel, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, Minn., 4:45 p.m., FREE, 651-696-6141.
Thursday, November 9
Amy Thielen reads from her book Give a Girl a Knife
Amy Thielen, Macalester class of 1997 and author of The New Midwestern Table will read from her new book, Give a Girl a Knife.
+ Weyerhaeuser Hall Board Room, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, Minn., 7 p.m., FREE, 651-696-6387.
Sunday, November 12
Chopin Society presents Pianist Peter Serkin
Born into a legendary musical family (his father was pianist Rudolf Serkin and grandfather violinist Adolf Busch), Peter Serkin has earned a reputation in his own right as an artist of great passion, insight, and curiosity. He is in the forefront of the international music world, performing with a long list of foremost soloists, conductors, orchestras and collaborators such as Yo-Yo Ma, Pamela Frank, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Andras Schiff, Richard Stoltzman, and the Budapest String Quartet. Over his long career, he has delved deeply into five centuries of repertoire and become a well-known advocate of new works of the 20th and 21st Centuries, many of which he commissioned and premiered. A committed teacher as well as performer, Serkin has taught at Juilliard and Curtis, and is currently on the faculty of Bard College Conservatory. Featuring music of Mozart and Bach.
+ Mairs Concert Hall, Music Building, Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center,
130 Macalester Street, St. Paul, Minn., 3 p.m., tickets call
612-822-0123 or chopinsocietymn.org
Friday, November 17
Fall Dance Concert
The Macalester Theatre and Dance Department presents its 2017 Fall Dance Concert. The concert will feature original choreography by students and faculty.
+ Mainstage, Theater Building, 130 Macalester Street, St. Paul, Minn., 7:30 p.m., For ticket information, go to macalester.edu/boxoffice or call
Additional performances:
Sat., Nov. 18 at 2 and 6 p.m.
Friday, November 17
Chorale and Concert Choir Concert
The Chorale will sing pieces by Stephen Paulus and Heinrich Schutz, as well as some Argentinian, Brazilian, and west African work by Macalester’s African Music Ensemble Director, Sowah Mensah. The Concert Choir will give two world premieres from Los Angeles composers Dale Trumbore and Saunder Choi. The Concert Choir will also sing a virtuosic motet from the early Renaissance (by Guillaume Dufay) and some modern arrangements of old Shaker hymns.
+ Mairs Concert Hall, Music Building, Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, 130 Macalester Street, St. Paul, Minn., 8 p.m., FREE, 651-696-6808 or [email protected]
