Arts & Culture

Internationally renowned soprano Christine Goerke, known for her “blazing tone” (New York Times) and “voice of molten gold” (Toronto Star), will present “A Celebration of the American Diva” April 28 as part of the Great Artists Series, sponsored by WashU’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences.

The Mississippi River defines St. Louis, shaping its life and culture. But today, for many St. Louisans, that connection has been broken, says Derek Hoeferlin, chair of landscape architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Washington University Dance Collective, the resident dance company of the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences, will present “Glimmers,” an evening of new and original choreography, April 5 and 6 in Edison Theatre.

New works by choreographers Carol Bertho, Emily Ehling and the late Amarnath Ghosh, who died Feb. 27, will debut in Edison Theatre March 22 and 23 as part of this year’s MFA Student Dance Concert, presented by the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences.

Aggie Toppins, an associate professor and chair of undergraduate design in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, has won the 2023 Communication Design Educator Award in teaching from Design Incubation.

The 18th annual African Film Festival returns to Washington University in St. Louis March 22-24. Highlights include screenings of “Omen,” an award-winning drama from the Democratic Republic of Congo; “Banel and Adama,” a love story from Senegal; and the youth matinee featuring five short films including the Annie Award-winning animated short “Enkai.”

Joyce Yang plays with “agility, balance and velocity” (Washington Post), combining “exuberant flights” with a sly “improvisatory bounce” (Chicago Tribune). On March 24, the Grammy-nominated pianist will perform the music of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Bach, Kernis and Stravinsky as part of WashU’s Great Artists Series.

This month marks the culmination of the college basketball season, when 68 teams vie to become national champion in the annual March Madness tournament. It must take a lot of luck to come out on top, right? Not as much as you might think, says a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.

John Klein, a professor of art history and archaeology in Arts & Sciences, contributed one of three principal essays to “Matisse and the Sea.”