Organist Cameron Carpenter performs at the Newman Center on Nov. 9.
Music, theater and art play a big part in the cultural life of the University of Denver. The fall quarter has no shortage of activities for lovers of the arts.
The Victoria H. Myhren Gallery in the Shwayder Art Building hosts a Juried Alumni Exhibit, featuring work by DU alumni, Oct. 3–Nov. 17. The gallery is open noon–5 p.m. daily, and admission is free.
At the Anderson Academic Commons, meanwhile, the traveling exhibit “Horizon,” showcasing the work of 53 book artists from the Guild of Book Workers, runs through Oct. 31. See how artists play with and transform the idea of what a book can or should be.
When it comes to music, DU’s Lamont School of Music offers a host of concerts in the venues of the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, many of them free. Highlights of the fall quarter include the Lamont Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 7 and Nov. 14; Jazz Night, featuring the Thin Air Band and Bobby Shew, on Oct. 9; the Lamont Wind Ensemble on Oct. 14 and Nov. 6; a Lamont alumni jazz jam on Oct. 27; and a Nov. 7 concert featuring the Lamont Chorale, Lamont Women’s Chorus and Lamont Men’s Choir.
Jazz fans will want to check out the weekly Flo’s Underground shows in the basement of the Newman Center, featuring jazz students playing a different style each week. The free shows are at 5 p.m. Fridays, Sept. 20–Nov. 15.
Newman Center Presents, which brings touring artists to the Newman Center, has a number of high-profile artists on tap for fall, including Mark Morris Dance on Sept. 21 and 22; mandolinist Chris Thile on Oct. 5; the Colorado Symphony with pianist Natasha Paremski on Oct. 16; young organist Cameron Carpenter on Nov. 9; and colorful dance troupe MOMIX on Nov. 22 and 23. There are a limited number of $15 student tickets for each show, and faculty and staff get a 20 percent discount.
The Lamont Opera added a fall production to its schedule two years ago; this year the company goes the musical-theater route with four performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma” Oct. 31–Nov. 3. The DU theater department, meanwhile, has two shows on tap for fall: the comedy “Circle Mirror Transformation,” about a group of strangers who sign up for a drama class, plays Oct. 16–20 in the Black Box Theatre in Johnson-McFarlane Hall; and “Arabian Nights,” based on Scheherazade’s classic stories of love and lust, runs Oct. 31–Nov. 10 in the Byron Theatre at the Newman Center.
Keep an eye on the DU calendar for other arts events throughout the quarter.