Author: Liam Otten

The Washington University Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3, in Graham Chapel. Graham Chapel is located just north of the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call (314) 935-4841.

Amazones: The Woman Master Drummers of GuineaFor centuries, masters of the sacred West African djembe drum have been exclusively male. But in 2002, Mamoudou Conde, managing director of the world-renowned Les Percussions de Guinée, launched a revolutionary “sister” ensemble — Amazones: The Woman Master Drummers of Guinea. On Oct. 23, these musical siblings will share the stage for a special, one-night-only performance at Edison Theatre.

Poet and translator Heather McHugh, visiting Washington University as a Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, will speak on the craft of poetry oat 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28. In addition, McHugh will read from her poetry at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30.

The Sam Fox Arts Center at Washington University in St. Louis will present its first annual Festival of the Arts from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1. The event, which will feature a variety of student-led arts activities, is free and open to the public and takes place on the grounds of Bixby, Givens and Steinberg halls, located adjacent to one another near the intersection of Skinker and Forsyth boulevards. Food and beverages will be available. For more information, call (314) 935-9347.

Russ RosenerRuss Rosener, “Lost in Skool” The Washington University School of Art Faculty Show will open in the University’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30. The all-media exhibition will showcase close to 50 pieces — ranging from video and installation to prints, drawings, painting, sculpture, graphic design and fashion design — by 38 artists, including both current and emeriti faculty.

Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photo Services”The Awakening”The Awakening (1899) by St. Louis author Kate Chopin (1850-1904) was perhaps the most controversial novel of its day. In October, Washington University’s Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will mark the centennial of Chopin’s death with an original stage adaptation of The Awakening by Henry I. Schvey, Ph.D., chair and professor in the PAD. Performances begin Oct. 14-17 in Edison Theater, and continue Oct. 28 and 29 at the Missouri Historical Society.

Literary historian Harold Love, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in Washington University’s Department of English in Arts & Sciences for Fall 2004, will speak on Print and Voice at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23.

The institute’s goal will be to “offer teachers new and engaging ways to teach popular music as a humanities subject,” Gerald Early says.

Researchers will examine people who live exceptionally long and healthy lives to identify the factors that account for their longevity. More medical news…

EarlyGerald Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in the Department of English and director of the Center for the Humanities, both in Arts & Sciences, has received a $222,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Division of Education Programs. The grant will fund “Teaching Jazz as American Culture,” an NEH Summer Institute to be held at Washington University in 2005.