Things to Do, Nov. 11-18, 2016

Eurydice cast
Andrew Gillis/Cascadilla Photography
Serena Lotreck ’19, Niara Hardister ’18, Priscilla Olympio ’18 (center, as Eurydice) and Elana Valastro ’17 rehearse a scene from “Eurydice” at the Schwartz Center.

Myth of Orpheus, retold

Over the next two weekends at the Schwartz Center, the Greek myth of Orpheus is retold from the female perspective in playwright Sarah Ruhl’s “Eurydice.”

Ruhl’s title character is trapped in the underworld, where she reunites with her deceased father and is torn between remaining with him or rejoining her husband, Orpheus, on Earth.

Presented by the Department of Performing and Media Arts and directed by professor David Feldshuh, the staging of “Eurydice” is the final project for students in the course Making Theatre: Rehearsal and Production Techniques. The production is cosponsored by the Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies program.

Performances are Nov. 11-12 and 18-19 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee Nov. 19 at 2 p.m., in the Schwartz Center’s Flex Theatre.

Tickets are $15 each, $8 for all students, senior citizens, staff and alumni. They are available at schwartztickets.com and the box office, open Tuesday to Saturday, 2:30-8 p.m. at the Schwartz Center, 430 College Ave.

Chamber concert

The Cornell Chamber Orchestra will feature works by Jeeyoung Kim, Mozart and Grieg in a concert Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. in Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, Klarman Hall. The concert is free and open to the public and will be streamed live on CornellCast.

Under the direction of Chris Younghoon Kim, the orchestra will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 14, with professor emeritus of music Malcolm Bilson on fortepiano; and Jeeyoung Kim’s “Lullaby of the Waves.” Andy Sheng ’20 will conduct the ensemble on “Two Nordic Melodies” for string orchestra by Edvard Grieg.

Born in Korea, Jeeyoung Kim harmonizes the unique cultural aspects of Eastern and Western traditions in her music. Her works include “Tryst” and “Ancient Bell,” commissioned and performed worldwide by The Silk Road Ensemble, led by Yo-Yo Ma.

International Education Week

The 17th annual International Education Week, Nov. 14-18, will feature free lectures, seminars, receptions, exhibits and social events across campus.

Designed to promote programs that prepare American students for a role in the world and attract future leaders from abroad to study and exchange experiences in the United States, the week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education, and is coordinated at Cornell by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Highlights include a lecture by former U.S. Ambassador Derek Mitchell on Myanmar’s political transition, Nov. 17 at 4:30 p.m. in Goldwin Smith Hall’s Lewis Auditorium; and a current events roundtable on Russia 25 years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Nov. 17 at 12:15 p.m. in G08 Uris Hall, with professor of comparative literature Gavriel Shapiro and Raissa Krivitsky, senior lecturer in the Russian language program.

Exhibits include “Viet Nam Remembered,” photography from 1965-67 by Vietnam veteran John Hudanish, presented by the Southeast Asia Program at the Einaudi Center, 170 Uris Hall; and images from the Einaudi Center’s annual photo competition, Nov. 10-22 in the Biotechnology Building atrium.

The Einaudi Center speaker series on cybersecurity, a talk by Vietnam’s ambassador to the United Nations and other events are scheduled; see the full event listing online.

‘Saving Our Cities’

Professor emeritus of city and regional planning William Goldsmith, Ph.D. ’68, discusses how urban centers can be places of opportunity rather than places with problems in a book talk in Cornell University Library’s Chats in the Stacks series, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. in 157 E. Sibley Hall. The talk is free and open to the public.

In his new book, “Saving Our Cities: A Progressive Plan to Transform Urban America,” Goldsmith, who retired in 2012, details new options for urban policy and offers a plan for improving American cities. He looks at how to revive cities and suburbs to make them places that serve all residents, as thriving metropolitan areas and humane communities.

Published by Cornell University Press in September, the book earned a second-place honorable mention in the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning’s 2016 ACSP Friedmann Book Award competition.

Chicken science

The next event in the free Science Cabaret series salutes chickens with “The Humble Chicken, Gallus gallus domesticus,” Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at Coltivare, 235 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca.

The event features Jarra Jagne, DVM ’90, a veterinarian and poultry medicine specialist in the College of Veterinary Medicine, along with agricultural science major and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tioga County 4-H Club member Marlie Lukach ’20. Their presentation will be followed by conversation with the audience.

Jagne is a senior extension associate in the Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory’s Veterinary Services Unit, with an appointment in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences. Her responsibilities include providing technical assistance for commercial poultry producers and backyard flock owners, and assisting Cornell Cooperative Extension county coordinators with poultry production and poultry processing activities.

Organized by local professors, graduate students and community members, Ithaca’s Science Cabaret has hosted informal talks in informal settings (such as bars and cafés) since 2005, giving people a chance to discuss current and sometimes controversial science topics. Science Cabaret meets once a month and is open to all ages. Sponsors include the Boyce Thompson Institute and the Downtown Ithaca Alliance.

Local food and fiber

Cornell’s annual Local Fair, Nov. 17 from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Mann Library Lobby, will feature a festive open market with local produce, prepared foods and handcrafted fiber items, activities and hands-on demonstrations including the use of a 3D printer to create everything from tools to jewelry.

Sponsored by Mann Library and the Farmers’ Market at Cornell, the fair is free and open to the Cornell and Ithaca area communities.

The event celebrates and fosters a thriving, resilient Finger Lakes region, with opportunities to learn more about the energy and skill that create some of the goods and services in the local economy, and to connect with community members who are involved in fulfilling Cornell’s land-grant mission.

Media Contact

Rebecca Valli