Arts Engage
March 26, 9am-5pm | Katzen Arts Center

American University's Emerging Arts Leaders (EALS) presents their 16th annual Symposium: Arts Engage. After so many disruptions, it is time to reconnect. As arts leaders, we must now decide how we will engage with and through the arts, and how our work needs to change. On March 26, 2023, rising and established leaders in the arts will gather at AU to explore how we reignite and reimagine engagement.

The Symposium will include an inspiring keynote speaker, actionable panel conversations, networking opportunities, and more. Also, you can’t turn 16 without celebrating it. Join us after the conclusion of the Symposium to connect with arts professionals over refreshments, snacks, and a silent auction.

Tickets: $15 for American University students, $25 for general admission. Add on to your ticket for only $10 to join our Sweet Sixteen Celebration and Fundraiser after the symposium! Visit EALS at AU for event updates and panelist announcements.
Learn More: Arts Engage

See all upcoming AU Museum events.

Gallery Talk: The Draw (& Drawbacks) of Family Connections for Women Artists & Their Art
March 25, 2-3 pm | Exhibit: Gail Rebhan: About Time

Take part in this lively discussion of the photography exhibition Gail Rebhan: About Time. This Gallery Talk features a panel discussion titled “The Draw (and Drawbacks) of Family Connections for Women Artists and Their Art.” Rebhan came of age when women faced discrimination in many fields including the arts. Children and family were often seen as encumbrance to a full-fledged commitment to the pursuit of art, yet many feminist artists began to foreground in their art their multi-dimensional lives & attachments. How do we see this in Rebhan’s work and how might it align with feminist art by other women artists of the period?

Learn more: 3/25 Gallery Talk
 

James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Artist Series Lecture: Featuring Artist Jack Mauch and Sculptor/Jewelry designer Morgan Hill
March 26, 2-3:30 pm

The James Renwick Alliance brings notable American craft artists from around the country to Washington DC for the Distinguished Artist Series, weekend events which include a Saturday workshop and Sunday lecture. The AU Museum is proud to host these visiting artists for the lecture portion of their event as they discuss their unique techniques, influences, and careers.

Learn more: 3/26 Lecture

Flipping the Narrative: Historical Collections as Sites of Cultural Diplomacy
March 31, 1-3 pm | Exhibit: Madayin

This lecture seeks to explore museums from a different perspective: it considers collections as containing forms of historic cultural diplomacy enacted by Indigenous people themselves – as expressive of their desire to extend and deepen knowledges of culture and experience across cultural worlds. If we are prepared to recognize this as a legitimate form of agency, we can re-frame the world’s museums, from sites of ongoing colonization and dispossession to sites of cultural strength with the potential to shape and inform stronger, intercultural futures.

Hear from Dr. Jilda Andrews, a Yuwaalaraay cultural practitioner and museum ethnographer based in Australia, as she draws from her heritage to recognize the cultural ecologies surrounding objects in museum collections. 

Note: While the exhibition associated with this lecture, Madayin, is at the AU Museum, the lecture itself will be held at the Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street NW, Washington DC. Registration required.

Register: 3/31 Lecture 

Yolnu Ceremonial Performance
March 31, 6 pm | Exhibit: Madayin

Watch a live Yolnu performance featuring a ceremonial procession, yidaki (didjeridu) and bilma (clapping sticks) that will culturally and spiritually celebrate the exhibition.

A reception with light refreshments will follow.

Register: Yolnu Performance

Matha Nupanmi: A Summit of Yolnu Art and Ideas
April 1, 9 am-4 pm | Exhibit: Madayin

Explore the depths of Yolnu art and culture in this day of conversations and short films featuring Yolnu artists and leaders, curators, art historians and more. Talks are centered around four topics:

• Stewarding the Land
• Harvesting the Land
• First Nations Voices in Museums
• Yolnu Art Tomorrow

Note: The summit will take place directly across from the museum (and within the Katzen Arts Center) at the Abramson Family Recital Hall. Registration required.

Register: 4/1 Summit

Opening Reception: Student-led Exhibitions
April 8, 6-9 pm | Exhibit: Still, Moving and end quote

Come celebrate the work of our talented students from two AU master’s programs! Still, Moving is a Master in Curatorial Practice exercise showcasing the collaborative efforts of students in their design of an exhibition using pieces from the Corcoran Legacy Collection. End Quote is the master’s in fine arts thesis exhibition which punctuates the end – and signals the beginning – of eight artists’ time together here in DC.

Tickets: Free for AU students with ID, $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children, and senior citizens (55 and older), $15 general admission. 

DANCEWORKS 2023

Artistic Direction by Ama Law
April 21-22, 7:30 p.m.
Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre, 4200 Wisconsin Ave. NW

DANCEWORKS 2023 features the stunning American University Dance Company performing choreographed works by guest artists, faculty, and students. The company has worked tirelessly to bring you a production that is not only captivating and compelling but filled with compassion. On stage expect to see themes of legacy, liberation and a bit of vocalization. Join us for a night that will showcase how we are continuing our mission to develop forward thinkers and creative doers in a moving world.

AU Design Club Exhibition

March 25–April 9
Opening Reception: Friday, March 31, 6 p.m.

The AU Design Club presents its annual juried design show featuring outstanding student work inspired by our home in Washington, DC. 

Tickets are free for AU students with ID, $10 for alumni, staff, faculty, children, and senior citizens (55 and older), $15 general admission.

Yuliya Gorenman's March 25 Piano Concert has been cancelled. Ticket holders have been emailed. Contact us with questions.

American University Symphonic Band
Notes on Hope

April 15, 3 p.m.
Matthew Brown, conductor
Abramson Family Recital Hall, Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW

AU Symphonic Band presents a variety of works ranging from the quirky to the profound, and from classical band canon to a work barely finished in time (by Matthew Brown, conductor). The program begins with "Early Light" by Carolyn Bremer, which incorporates thematic motives from the US National Anthem, and ends with "In Memoriam: Maidan" by Matthew Brown, which commemorates the 2014 Maidan Revolution in Ukraine and incorporates thematic motives from Ukraine's National Anthem. The program is rounded out by profoundly hopeful works by Edward Elgar and Morten Lauridsen, and lighter offerings by Frank Erickson and John Mackey.

American University Chamber Singers
Bach & Handel – Early Music Brilliance

April 15, 7:30 p.m., April 16, 3 p.m.
Daniel Abraham, director
Abramson Family Recital Hall, Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW

Join the AU Chamber Singers for a memorable program of an exulted Bach Mass to Handel’s brilliant and descriptive account of the biblical plagues set upon ancient Egypt. The 30-member Chamber Singers and student soloists are joined by period-instrument performers for what will be both exciting music making and an inspirational educational listening experience. Presenting Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in G Minor and George Frederic Handel: “Exodus” from Israel in Egypt.

American University Jazz Ensemble
Some Spring Swing

Joshua Bayer, director
Katzen Arts Center, Sculpture Garden, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW
April 21, 7 p.m.

Swing into the season with the AU Jazz Ensemble playing Big Band swing, funk, and straight-ahead Jazz from a variety of composers. 

This event will be held outdoors in the Katzen Arts Center Sculpture Garden. In case of inclement weather, the event will be held indoors in the Katzen Arts Center Recital Hall.

American University Chorus
On a Canvas of Silence

April 22, 7:30 p.m., April 23, 3 p.m.
Casey Cook, director
Barbara Wilkinson, pianist
Abramson Family Recital Hall, Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW

Conductor Leopold Stokowski once said, "A painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence." Join the American University Chorus as they explore the nature of sound and silence, including a powerful performance of Jake Runestad's “A Silence Haunts Me.”

American University Symphony Orchestra
Annexing Tchaikovsky

April 29, 7:30 p.m., April 30, 2 p.m.
Matthew Brown, conductor
Bailey Hobbs, soloist
Abramson Family Recital Hall, Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW

The AU Symphony Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 2 ("Ukrainian"), Verdi's La Forza del Destino Overture, "Melody for Orchestra" by Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk, Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no. 3 (1st movement), and other works. The student winner of the 2023 Concerto and Aria Competition, Bailey Hobbs, will appear as soloist.

Studio Art Senior Seminar ExhibitionApril 17–May 3
Opening Reception: April 21, 5-7 p.m.

Once

Book by Edna Walsh

Music & Lyrics by Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová

Based on the Motion Picture Written and Directed by John Carney

March 30-31, 8 p.m. April 1, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. April 2, 2 p.m.

Directed by Colleen Sullivan

Music Direction by Marci Shegogue

Movement Direction by Thadd McQuade

Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre, 4200 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Dublin, mid 2000s. An Irish busker meets a young Czech woman and in five days they discover the healing power of music together. In this soft-spoken story of romance, cultural and musical chemistry, the cast sing and play their own instruments for all the songs, including the Oscar-winning Falling Slowly from the indie film Once.

Once is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.