December

BFA Senior Project Shows
Monday-Friday, 9am-9pm, Free

BFA Senior Project Shows and Opening Receptions are held throughout the month of December. Shows vary from week to week. Artwork on display includes photography, painting, and drawing, sculpture/3D media, printmaking, graphic design, video art, and sound installation. Please call 914-251-6753 or e-mail artdesign.events@purchase.edu for details.

December 2

Concert: Student Composers
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. For more information, call 914-251-6951

December 3

Camerata Concert
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. Conducted by Music Director Bradley Brookshire. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

December 4

Noon Concert: Spotlight on Percussion and Contemporary Music
12 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. For more information call, 914-251-6700.

Purchase Jazz Orchestra: “The Thundering Herds of Woody Herman”
7:30 PM, The Performing Arts Center, $20
The Purchase Jazz Orchestra, directed by Todd Coolman, explores the varied repertoire of the legendary Woody Herman Orchestra with three alumni of the famed orchestra in a concert entitled “The Thundering Herds of Woody Herman.”

Joining the Purchase Jazz Orchestra on stage will be trombonist John Fedchock, drummer John Riley and tenor saxophonist Ralph Lalama, all alumni of the Woody Herman Orchestra. For over 40 years, Herman’s big band spawned many of the major soloists and arrangers of the modern era. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 914-251-6200 or online at www.artscenter.org.

December 4-6

Drama Studies Production: Cut/Uncut: A Play Against Circumcision
8 PM, Humanities Theatre, Durst Family Humanities Bldg., $5
Drama Studies senior James Dier directs his senior project, his original play entitled Cut/Uncut: A Play Against Circumcision. In Cut/Uncut, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, creator of Corn Flakes brand cereal, gives a speech about sexuality from his 19th century ideals as a story unfolds behind him of a young couple about to have their first child, a boy. Tickets are $5. For more information, call 914-251-7854.

December 5-7

Purchase Dance Corps presents Nutcracker ‘08
Dec. 5 at 7:15 PM, Dec. 6 at 2 & 7 PM, and Dec. 7 at 1 & 5 PM.
The Performing Arts Center, $50, $40, $25
Nutcracker ’08 features choreography by the Purchase College Conservatory of Dance faculty, with artistic direction by former New York City Ballet dancer and Conservatory ballet faculty member Bettijane Sills. The Nutcracker ballet is based on the classic tale by E.T.A. Hoffman and is set to music by Peter Tchaikovsky.

Guest artists from the New York City Ballet and over 100 local children join the Purchase Dance Corps in bringing Nutcracker ’08 to life on the Concert Hall stage of the Purchase College Performing Arts Center, December 5 at 7:15 PM, December 6 at 2 PM and 7 PM, and December 7 at 1 PM and 5 PM. Tickets are $50, $40 and $25 and can be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914-251-6200 or online by visiting www.artscenter.org.

December 5

Gospel Music Concert: Soul Voices Gospel Ensemble - “A Joyful Noise”
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg, Free
The Soul Voices Gospel Ensemble, under the direction of pianist/composer and Jazz Studies Professor Pete Malinverni, presents an evening of music combining Soul, Funk, Gospel, and Jazz. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

December 8-19

MFA Graduate Group Exhibition
Mon.-Fri. 9AM-5 PM, Richard & Dolly Maass Gallery, School of Art+Design Bldg., Free
Reception: Thursday, December 11, 5-7PM.
Group exhibition featuring the cutting-edge work of current second year graduate Master of Fine Arts degree candidates in a variety of media. The last exhibition before the thesis shows affords a preview of the student’s culminating work before graduating and entering the professional art world.

December 8

Brass Concert
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

December 9

Woodwinds in Concert
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

December 9-14

The Purchase Repertory Theatre New Plays Repertory:
Marisol by Jose Rivera
Book of Days by Lanford Wilson
The Performing Arts Center $20, $15 seniors and students
The School of the Arts, Purchase Repertory Theatre presents “New Plays Repertory” featuring Jose Rivera’s Marisol, December 9, 11, 13 at 8 PM and December 14 at 2 PM, and Lanford Wilson’s Book of Days, December 10 & 12 at 8 PM and December 13 & 14 at 2 PM, in the Purchase College Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $20, $15 for seniors and non-Purchase students and can be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914-251-6200 or online by visiting www.artscenter.org.

In Marisol, a war among angels in Heaven turns New York City into an apocalyptic nightmare in this Obie award-winning drama. By turns darkly comic and truly shocking, Rivera’s poetic fantasy is considered the best American play in the style of magic realism.

When the owner of a Missouri cheese factory dies, the plant’s bookkeeper (and star of the local community theater) suspects foul play in Book of Days. But the investigation tears the town apart and exposes truths no one wants to face. More than a murder mystery, this 1999 play explores religion, politics, business and theatre in America.

December 10

Concert: Classical and Jazz Music
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
Faculty member Stuart Isacoff, pianist, offers a program of classical and jazz music, exploring the impulses that bring these worlds together musically, while still retaining their formal and stylistic differences., exploring what binds the music of Wayne Shorter and Olivier Messiaen, or Harold Arlen and Alexandre Scriabin. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Kirsten Hassenfeld, sculptor
6:30 PM, Room 1016, Art+Design Bldg., Free
Kirsten Hassenfeld was trained in printmaking, papermaking and bookmaking. She uses the translucency of paper to create sculptures that evoke the quality of gemstones, stained glass and ice, yet remain fragile and ephemeral. The works, inspired by pawnshops, casinos and Faberge eggs do not represent riches but rather the memory or fantasy of plenty. For more information, call 914-251-6750.

December 10-12

Purchase Opera: Amahl and the Night Visitors
Dec. 10, 11 & 12 at 10:30 AM and Dec. 12 at 7 PM, The Performing Arts Center
$15, $5 children
For the first time, the Purchase Opera brings its holiday season classic Giancarlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors to the Purchase College Performing Arts Center December 10, 11 & 12 at 10:30 AM and December 12 at 7 PM. Tickets are $15, $5 children, and can be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914-251-6200 or online by visiting www.artscenter.org.

Directed by Jacque Trussel, this classic opera is the story of a young boy and his mother who search for a spiritual identity through sacrifice, love, healing and the rites of passage. This simple story serves to remind us to be thankful for the grace that is possible at the turning of every corner.

December 11

Symphony Space Concert: iO String Quartet
“Envisioning Orpheus: iO String Quartet and Guitarist-Composer David Leisner”
7:30 PM, Symphony Space, 95th Street and Broadway, NYC
Recent Purchase College Billy Joel String Quartet-in-Residence, the dynamic young iO Quartet, makes its Symphony Space debut with internationally renowned guitarist David Leisner. Program includes Villa-Lobos, Ades and Leisner. For tickets and information, call 212-864-1414 or visit www.symphonyspace.org.

Purchase Latin Jazz Orchestra: “The Legacy Continues—the Music of Chico and Arturo O’Farrill”
7:30 PM, The Performing Arts Center, $20
The Purchase Latin Jazz Orchestra, under newly-appointed director Arturo O’Farrill, presents “The Legacy Continues—the Music of Chico and Arturo O’Farrill,” an amazing survey of the history and evolution of Afro-Cuban Jazz, December 11 at 7:30 PM at the Purchase College Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $20 and can be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914-251-6200 or online by visiting www.artscenter.org. Arturo O’Farrill, director of Symphony Space’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and formerly with Jazz at Lincoln Center, presents the music of his past and present.

Concert: Contemporary Ensemble with a Centenary Salute of Composer Elliott Carter
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

December 11-13

Drama Studies Production: Sill Puddle
8 PM, Humanities Theatre, Durst Family Humanities Bldg., $5
Drama Studies senior Allison M. Malinowski directs her senior project, her original play Sill Puddle, December 11-13 at 8 PM in the Humanities Theatre of the Durst Family Humanities Building. Tickets are $5, available at the door. For more information, call 914-251-7854.

The play tells the story of Raine, who, at one of the most important times of her life, has been thrown into a whirlwind of sexuality and self-discovery. She finds herself at odds with her own feelings, torn between her conventional boyfriend and secretive best friend. In the midst of an already complicated string of relationships is Raine’s brother, whose disturbing obsession only complicates matters. As a college senior working hard to be recognized for her art, Raine searches for a way to express herself, and find love in the process.

December 12-13

MFA Dance Concert
8 PM, Dance Theatre Lab, Dance Bldg., $5
The Conservatory of Dance presents a concert of repertory and original choreography in both ballet and modern dance produced by second-year MFA candidates Roderick Murray, Mercedes Pablos, Kara Tatelbaum, Jill Vasbinder and graduating MFA candidate Huiying Wills, December 12 & 13 at 8 PM in the Dance Theatre Lab in the Dance Building. Tickets are $5, cash or check only, available at the door. For more information, call 914-251-6800.

December 13

Brandenburg All-Stars Concert
8 PM, Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, $50 and $40; Seniors $45 and $36

Brandenburg All-Stars featuring members of the Conservatory of Music faculty under the direction of flutist Helen O’Connor and harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire with renowned guest artists performing the six Brandenburg Concerti of J.S. Bach. For tickets and information, call 914-251-6200.

December 15

Noon Concert : Woodwinds Repertoire Hour
12 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

Concert: Pianists in Recital
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. For more information call, 914-251-6700.

December 17

Chamber Music Concert
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

December 18

Piano and Strings Concert I
3 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music students perform. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

Piano and Strings Concert II
8 PM, Recital Hall, Music Bldg., Free
School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music Students perform. For more information, call 914-251-6700.

December 19

Basically Brandenburg with the Symphony Space All-Stars
8 PM, Symphony Space, 95th Street & Broadway, NYC
The New York holiday tradition of Brandenburg Concerti takes an unprecedented and joyous twist when Symphony Space invites the city’s leading musicians to make their own pick-up bank to offer these magnificent works. Led by flutists Tara Helen O’Connor and Eugenia Zukerman, in collaboration with harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire, these musical friends bring you the most personal performance you will hear this holiday season. Bring the whole family for an informal, heartwarming, exuberant evening. For tickets and information, call 212-864-5400 or visit www.symphonyspace.org.