Janna Melkonian

Guest composer Kenneth Froelich joins the combined Cornell Orchestras at a concert Oct. 3 in Bailey Hall.

Page’s ‘Global Backyard’

Associate professor of art Greg Page is showing large-scale prints of plant life from around the world this month in “Motifs From the Global Backyard” at The Ink Shop Gallery, 330 E. State St., Ithaca. The display on the second floor of the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) building opens Oct. 2 during Gallery Night, 5-8 p.m., and continues through Oct. 31.

The exhibition features plants from geographic locations with varied climates: the Horticulture Department greenhouses at Illinois State University; the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland; Cornell Plantations and Page’s own backyard in Ithaca.

Page also had a role in “Poisonous Plants,” continuing through Oct. 30 on CSMA's first floor. The portfolio of work was inspired in part by Amy Stewart’s book “Wicked Plants” and created in 2014 by Page’s Introductory Print Media class in collaboration with Todd Bittner and Diane Miske of Cornell Plantations. The class visited Plantations’ Robison York State Herb Garden and learned about the poisonous plants there and others in the wild, their identification and protective measures. Student artists translated their investigations into a variety of print media including monoprint, stencil, lithography and screen and relief printing.

Joint orchestra concert

In their first performances of the semester, the Cornell Chamber Orchestra and Cornell Symphony Orchestra will play a joint concert Saturday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall. The concert will be streamed live on CornellCast.

The concert features guest composer Kenneth Froelich, who describes his Symphony No. 1: “Dream Dialogs” (2013) as “inspired by [the] innate property of music to speak on a completely abstract and non-literal level.” Also on the program: Edvard Grieg’s “Two Elegiac Melodies” for strings (1881); Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Chamber Symphony,” originally String Quartet No. 8 (1960), dedicated by the composer “to the victims of fascism and war;” and Ludwig von Beethoven’s “Leonore Overture” No. 3, written as a revision to his 1805 opera “Fidelio.”

Also this week: The Cornell University Wind Symphony collaborates with the Ithaca High School Band in a concert Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. at the IHS Kulp Auditorium, the first of two performances related to CU Winds’ “flipped classroom” experiment.

Both events are free and open to the public. Presented by the Department of Music.

Physics on film

The Department of Physics and Cornell Cinema will host a screening of “Particle Fever” Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. The screening is free and open to the public, and features a Q-and-A with theoretical particle physicist David Kaplan, who appears in the film. “Particle Fever” weaves science and stunning imagery with the human dimension of the discovery of the Higgs boson “God particle.”

Kaplan, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, will be on campus Oct. 5-7 as a University Lecturer. He gives a free public lecture, “Particles and the Nature of All Things,” Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall. Sponsored by the University Faculty.

Also at CornellCinema: A series marking the 25th anniversary of independent film distributor Milestone Films presents the local premiere Oct. 7 and 9 of director Kathleen Collins’ “Losing Ground,” one of the first features made by an African-American woman and rarely seen since its 1982 release. It will be introduced Oct. 7 by assistant professor of performing and media arts Samantha Sheppard.

Next in the series is a digital restoration of “In the Land of the Headhunters,” filmed by Edward S. Curtis (famous for his photography documenting more than 80 Native American tribes) with an indigenous cast in British Columbia, providing an authentic depiction of rituals and other aspects of life among the Kwakwaka’wakw people. The restoration includes a new recording of the original 1914 score.

Cider and cheese

Cornell flavor scientist Gavin Sacks joins cider experts Autumn Stoscheck of Eve’s Cidery and blogger Meredith Collins for a conversation followed by a tasting of ciders and cheeses at the next Science Cabaret, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. at The Space @Greenstar, 700 W. Buffalo St., Ithaca. Free and open to the public.

The program, “The Science Behind the Perfect Pairing: FLX Hard Cider and FLX Cheese,” also features music by Professor Tuesday's Jazz Quartet and ciders and cheeses available for purchase.

‘Shooting the Messenger’

Don Siegel of Syracuse University will present “‘Shooting the Messenger’ in the Debate on Fracking: Reflections on What Can Happen Doing Science in the Public Arena,” Oct. 7 at 3:30 p.m. in 2146 Snee Hall. Refreshments will be served at 3 p.m. in the Snee Hall atrium. Presented by the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Fall Seminar Series.

Siegel is a professor of earth sciences with research interests in contaminant transport in groundwater systems, peatland hydrogeology and geochemistry. Before joining Syracuse in 1982, he was a hydrologist and geochemist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Fall harvest dinner

The Marketplace Eatery in Robert Purcell Community Center hosts the 10th annual Fall Harvest Dinner, “Farm to You,” Oct. 8 from 5 to 8:30 p.m., featuring local and sustainable foods. Sponsored by Cornell Dining. Open to the Cornell community.

Dishes served will include Jail Island salmon, fire oven roasted chicken, vegan root vegetable cassoulet with Indian corn meal crust, cardamom roasted carrots, roasted leeks and seasonal vegetables; vegan vegetables and herbs pizza, hamburger sliders, and vegan chocolate and beet cake.

The cost at the door is $20.40 for adults, $10.20 for children (tax included); $18.52 if paying with Big Red Bucks; $18.35 (tax included) for faculty, staff and retirees using MealChoice; and one meal swipe for Meal Plan students.