Author: Liam Otten

A mysterious stranger arrives with a mysterious commission. The fevered composer fears the work may foreshadow his own demise. Mozart’s “Requiem” in D minor is perhaps the most mythologized work by the most mythologized composer in classical music. On April 13, the WUSTL Choirs and Symphony Orchestra will perform the “Requiem” as part of the 2014 Chancellor’s Concert.

Ms. Beatrice Hempel, teacher of seventh grade, is new—new to teaching, new to the school, newly engaged, and newly bereft of her idiosyncratic father. Grappling awkwardly with her newness, she struggles to figure out what is expected of her in life and at work. So begins Ms. Hempel Chronicles, the acclaimed second novel by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum. On April 8 and 10, Bynum will present a pair of events for The Writing Program in Arts & Sciences.

Heather Corcoran, chair of the design program in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, has been named director of the school’s College & Graduate School of Art.

​More than a dozen dancers will debut nine original works by WUSTL student choreographers April 4-6 as part of “Young Choreographers Showcase.” The biennial concert takes place in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio.

Cindy Kahn in the Performing Arts Department recommends the St. Louis Actors’ Studio presentation of Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening,” at the Missouri History Museum through March 23.

What’s a long-awaited threat, born of outer space and a danger to life as we know it? Why, it’s “The Intergalactic Nemesis,” of course. Part old-time radio play and part multimedia graphic novel, this unique science fiction serial returns to St. Louis with the first two parts of a planned “Nemesis” trilogy.

Albert wanders Europe in a fugue state, across the French countryside to Prague, Vienna and Moscow. In “The Man Who Walked Away,” acclaimed novelist Maud Casey explores both Albert’s journeys and his relationship with the doctor who sought to reassemble his life.

Emma sits at a corner table. Jerry arrives with wine and bitters. It’s the end of the affair and the start of the play. In “Betrayal,” Harold Pinter traces a years-long adulterous relationship in reverse chronological order — a clever structural device that begs a profound question. Knowing the height of the fall, would you still jump?

Acclaimed violinist Cecilia Belcher and pianist Patti Wolf will launch KWUR Week 2014 with a free performance of works by Mozart, Fauré and Ravel March 18. The four-concert series, which continues through March 23, will range from rock and funk to classical percussion.

Named for WUSTL founder William Greenleaf Eliot, the Eliot Trio consists of three prominent St. Louis musicians: pianist Seth Carlin, violinist David Halen and cellist Bjorn Ranheim. On March 26, the group will perform piano trios by Bohuslav Martinů, Ludwig van Beethoven and Antonín Dvořák in Holmes Lounge.