Arts & Culture

Renowned art critic George Baker, an editor of the journal October, will discuss the work of contemporary photographer and filmmaker Sharon Lockhart for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ Public Lecture Series Monday, March 15. Lockhart’s most recent project, Sharon Lockhart: Lunch Break, currently is on view at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.

Johann Sebastian Bach never wrote a conga, a bolero or a cha-cha-cha. Fortunately this oversight has been rectified by Tiempo Libre, which has earned national attention for its high-voltage interpretations of many of the composer’s best-loved works. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 26, Tiempo Libre will bring its infectious mash-up of Cuban rhythms and classical melodies to the Edison Theatre OVATIONS Series. 

Over the past two decades Jolly Stewart has been a force in St. Louis opera. Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20, the Washington University Opera will celebrate Stewart’s upcoming retirement with an “all-star” performance of Die Fledermaus, the beloved operetta by Johann Strauss II. The production will feature nine returning alumni — all of whom sing professionally — as well as celebrated baritone Ian Greenlaw, teacher of applied music in Arts & Sciences.

Over the past 30 years, books in all their permutations have served as both subject and medium for Franklin “Buzz” Spector, dean of the College and Graduate School of Art. Spector rips, stacks, tears, sews, bends and otherwise alters both found and custom-made volumes. The process can result in an installation, a photograph, an individual object, an editioned artists’ book or even a collage of the torn-away pieces.  

Baritone Ian Greenlaw, teacher of applied music in Arts & Sciences, will join members of The Kingsbury Ensemble, St. Louis’ leading early-music group, for a concert titled “Music of Classical Vienna” at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28. 

Citing the William T. Kemper Foundation and the Kemper family as among Washington University’s strongest supporters, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced the foundation’s gift of $3 million.

A new book, “The Missouri Botanical Garden Climatron: A Celebration of 50 Years,” by Eric Mumford, Ph.D., professor of architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, chronicles the history and significance of the St. Louis landmark. In 1976, the Climatron was named one of the most important buildings in American architectural history by the American Institute of Architects.

Four architecture professors from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts are part of two teams that have reached the second round of an international competition to reshape the grounds surrounding St. Louis’ iconic Gateway Arch.

In Ireland, the toe-tapping collegiality of an impromptu living room concert can be summed up in single word: craic. And perhaps no band better exemplifies the essence of craic than Danú. Hailed as a “spirit-raising concoction” by The Irish Times, this five-member ensemble is among the most charismatic and sophisticated traditional Irish groups working today, known for mixing ancient Irish songs with new additions to the repertoire in concerts that are at once authentic, clever and fun. 

Chariots, a folk-indie-pop trio that delivers stripped-down vocals and diverse instrumentation over infectious beats, will launch the annual Kemper Presents Concert Series Feb. 26. In all, the series will showcase eight St. Louisl acts working in a variety of styles and genres most Friday evenings throughout the spring.