Arts & Sciences

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-99) was one of the great self-made men of 18th century Europe, a watchmaker who rose through the ranks of French nobility. Yet Beaumarchais is probably best remembered for his semi-autobiographical Figaro plays, two of which — The Marriage of Figaro (1778) and The Barber of Seville (1773) — would form the basis for celebrated operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) and Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868), respectively.

Washington University’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will present its annual sing-along of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, in Graham Chapel. John Stewart, director of vocal activities, directs the program.

A group at Washington University recently tackled a simple circuit in the visual processing area of a chicken’s brain that detects motion in its field of view — with surprising results.

Washington University’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will present its annual sing-along of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, in Graham Chapel. John Stewart, director of vocal activities, directs the program.

Richard M. Hazelton, Ph.D., professor emeritus of English in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died Friday, Nov. 13, 2009. He was 91.

Washington University Dance Theatre (WUDT), the annual showcase of professionally choreographed works performed by student dancers, will present Transmotion, its 2009 concert, Dec. 4 to 6 in Edison Theatre. Performances — sponsored by the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences — will feature more than three dozen student dancers, selected by audition, in seven original works by faculty and guest choreographers. Pieces range from ballet and contemporary dance to works drawing on Chinese and Native American traditions.

In a study published in the journal PLoS ONE, a team of researchers, including Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, has found strong evidence that many dinosaur species likely were warm-blooded.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, the Washington University Symphony Orchestra will highlight a series of rarely heard works originally composed for Sarah Bernhardt, who commissioned and revived dozens of musical scores to accompany her plays.

The Center for the Humanities and Program in Film & Media Studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will host the Sixth Annual Children’s Film Symposium Saturday, Nov. 21. Titled “An Exploration of Children’s Films and Their Audiences,” the symposium is presented in conjunction with Cinema St. Louis.  

The Trombones of the Saint Louis Symphony are one of the nation’s leading brass chamber ensembles, dedicated to elevating the status of the trombone quartet and to expanding the trombone quartet repertoire. At 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, the group will present a free concert of music spanning the 18th through 21st centuries in the Tisch Commons of the Danforth University Center.