P erformative arts run wild this week, taking both a glitzy and a rustic pause for food and drink.
Monday, May 1
As Turkish president Recep Erdogan escalates his government’s crackdown on access to information, a peculiar vein of Turkey’s musical history is remembered tonight in Yale’s Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall (1 Prospect St, New Haven). From 7 to 10 p.m., a free concert featuring singer Sofia Papazoglou “[pays] homage to four female vocalists whose work was significant in the evolution of post-Ottoman music on both sides of the Aegean coast.” According to organizers, the remembered vocalists—Rosa Eskenazi, Stella Haskil, Marika Ninou and Marika Papangika—“represent the coming together of four vital cultures (Greek, Jewish, Turkish, and Armenian) that once invigorated the region, particularly in the cosmopolitan centers of Istanbul and Smyrna.”
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Tuesday, May 2
With streaks of Helmet, Nirvana, Weezer and other ’90s notables, the gritty rock duo Local H, which takes credit for “pioneering the two-man band setup,” has one song that’s pleased the masses (“Bound for the Floor”) and a lot of others that’ve simply pleased the fans. The group brings a bunch of them to The Ballroom at The Outer Space (295 Treadwell St, Hamden; 203-288-6400) tonight for an 8:30 bill opened by local alt-rock act Wayward City. $15, or $12 in advance.
Wednesday, May 3
Chef Prasad Chirnomula, proprietor of local restaurants Thali, Thali Too and Oaxaca Kitchen, presides at Gateway Community College’s latest Chefs Of Our Kitchen (C.O.O.K.) event tonight. Hosted by the school’s culinary program, the schedule includes a 6 p.m. “pre-event reception with wine, beer and soft drinks and hors d’oeuvres;” a 6:45 three-course meal, paired with wine or beer, prepared by Chirnomula and the program’s students; and interactive cooking demos along the way. 20 Church Street, New Haven. $65.
Thursday, May 4
The Conqueror Worm Suite—a “six-part multimedia suite of music, poetry and projected visuals based on Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Conqueror Worm,’ featuring music by the trumpet and accordion duo of Ben Holmes and Patrick Farrell and visuals by Natalie C. Sousa”—gets a performance at the Institute Library at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $20, or $15 for library members.
Accompanied by “fan favorite” guest violinist Chad Hoopes, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s 7:30 show at Woolsey Hall (500 College St, New Haven) offers the final result of a two-year endeavor: composer-in-residence Hannah Lash’s completed Voynich Symphony. Inspired by the mysterious Voynich Manuscript (pictured in detail above) held at Yale’s Beinecke Library, and totaling four parts (of which the first three have been previously and separately performed), Lash joins Sibelius and Dvorak on the program. $15-74, or $10 for college students, or free if you’re aged 7 to 17 and accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.
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Friday, May 5
Yesterday, today and tomorrow at 8 p.m., the New Haven Theater Company presents its second and final weekend of Will Eno’s Middletown, a play that dabbles in both the extraordinary and the pedestrian. As its producers explain, “In this small town with a heart as big as the universe, old friends and newcomers alike discover epic truths about life… and what to do when the kitchen sink won’t drain.” 839 Chapel Street, New Haven. $20.
The 12th annual Carlotta Festival of New Plays, organized by the Yale School of Drama and staging in Yale’s Iseman Theater (1156 Chapel St, New Haven), features three intriguing works getting four performances apiece. Today’s 8 p.m. opening show, Tori Sampson’s If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a MuhFucka, “weaves contemporary African and American cultures into a sweeping journey about what—and whom—we suppress in pursuit of an ideal always just beyond reach.” Tickets to each of the festival’s performances, which run through April 13, are $25, or $15 for students.
Saturday, May 6
The young but thunderous voices of Yale Opera students fill Morse Recital Hall (470 College St, New Haven; 203-432-4158) yesterday and today at 7:30 p.m. Their material, performed both nights, is William Walton’s The Bear—whose program teaser reads, “Some reunions can be murder”—and Darius Milhaud’s Le pauvre matelot (The Poor Sailor), whose tag reads, “A widow in mourning, loaded for love.” $10, or $5 for students.
Today at 8 p.m. and tomorrow at 4, the Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus presents a “tuneful salute to all the colors in the rainbow.” Staging at Co-Op High School (177 College St, New Haven), The Amazing Technicolor Songbook features a wide selection of songs, from the Nina Simone-popularized folk tune “Black Is the Color (of My True Love’s Hair)” to the James Bond theme “Goldfinger” to Prince’s quirky power ballad “Purple Rain.” Regular tickets cost $25, while “premium” seats go for $30.
Sunday, May 7
It’s opening day for CitySeed’s Edgewood Park Farmers’ Market. Located near Whalley and West Rock Avenues, organizers say it features “10+ vendors with a variety of locally grown products including fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, artisan breads, milk and cheese, native plants, herbs and specialty food items.” 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Nearby at Kehler Liddell Gallery (873 Whalley Ave, New Haven; 203-389-9555), sculptor Gar Waterman offers a family-friendly “sneak peak of his forthcoming exhibition: Beauty and the Beetle, opening May 25th at the Yale Peabody Museum.” Among other items of interest, “Waterman will share spectacular images of beetles,” after which “participants are invited to sculpt a scarab using clay and other materials.” 1 to 2 p.m. Free.
Written by Dan Mims. Image, courtesy of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, depicts detail of the Voynich Manuscript. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
