Author: Liam Otten

As a young saxophonist in the early 1970s, Marc Copeland experimented with modern and electric harmonies but grew dissatisfied with his instrument. He quit the sax and, a decade later, re-emerged as a jazz pianist, renowned for his dexterous lyricism. On Friday, Dec. 6, Copland will join acclaimed bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Joey Baron for a performance in WUSTL’s 560 Music Center.

Gerald Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences, has been appointed to the National Council on the Humanities, the 26-member advisory board to the National Endowment for the Humanities. Early is one of five new members nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

“John-John,” a new aria by playwright Carter W. Lewis and composer Kamala Sankaram, debuted recently as part of “November 21, 1963: The Day Before,” a multidisciplinary event marking the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

The U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America and the Washington University in St. Louis Wind Ensemble will mark the anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination with a free concert Nov. 22 in the 560 Music Center.

The air chills, the leaves fall, the crops are collected and stored for winter. From India to Estonia, from Holi to Thanksgiving, virtually every culture celebrates the harvest. On Nov. 24, the WUSTL Concert Choir and Chamber Choir will honor fall’s bounty with Thanksgiving, featuring music that stretches from Renaissance Italy to contemporary Senegal.

In 1974, Walt Reed opened the Illustration House. For decades, the New York gallery was the nation’s premier advocate for illustration art. Now, Washington University Special Collections has worked with Reed and his son, Roger, to acquire the Illustration House archives, along with a substantial number of original artworks.

Like a duel set to music, the malambo is hard and fast, explosive and competitive, as forceful and graceful as the Argentine cowboys — the legendary gauchos — who have been performing it since the 1600s. On Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22 and 23, Edison will welcome Che Malambo to St. Louis as part of the group’s first North American tour.

In the age of e-readers, is the printed book obsolete? On Thursday, Nov. 7, cultural historian Robert Darnton—author of The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future—will present the keynote address for “Celebrating Our Books, Recognizing Our Authors,” Washington University in St. Louis’ 12th annual faculty book colloquium.

“Over the last decade, J. Robert Lennon’s literary imagination has grown increasingly morbid, convoluted and peculiar,” writes The New York Times Book Review, “just as his books have grown commensurately more surprising, rigorous and fun.” Lennon, the Visiting Hurst Professor of Creative Writing at Washington University in St. Louis, will host a pair of events Nov. 5 and 7.

With its blunt depictions of adolescent sexuality and startling mixture of contemporary expression and fin de siècle restraint, Spring Awakening—by WUSTL alumnus Steven Sater—is among the most influential, unexpected and beloved Broadway shows of recent years. On Oct. 25, the Performing Arts Department will debut a new production in Edison Theatre.