A scientist’s struggle

“Maize,” a new play about Cornellian Nobel laureate Barbara McClintock ’23, M.A. ’25, Ph.D. ’27, will premiere Feb. 23 on campus at Risley Theatre.

The play by Judith Pratt is a drama about McClintock’s struggles to publish her discoveries, the challenges of being a woman in science and the joy of scientific discovery. McClintock received the Nobel Prize in 1983 for her pioneering genetic research in the 1940s.

Showtimes through March 4 are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $13 each; $8 for students and senior citizens, available from Brown Paper Tickets. Prices are $15 and $10 at the door.

Panel discussions led by Aoise Stratford, visiting assistant professor of performing and media arts, will follow two performances. On Sunday, Feb. 25, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty members Sarah Davidson Evanega, Shelby Dietz, Adrienne Roeder and Margaret Smith weigh in on what it’s really like to be a woman in science. On Saturday, March 3, literary managers and theater artistic directors including Michael Barakiva, Kyle Bass and Jenni Werner will talk about the process of developing new plays.

Tribute to Steven Stucky

Ensemble X continues its 20th anniversary season with a tribute to founder Steven Stucky, M.A. ’73, D.M.A. ’78, pairing his work with that of young composers he admired and championed. The concert, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. in Barnes Hall Auditorium, is free and open to the public.

Along with Stucky’s evocative “Whispers” for chamber choir, the program includes a rarely heard quartet by Webern and works by Bang on a Can founder David Lang (like Stucky, a Pulitzer-Prize winner), award-winning Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Chicago Symphony Orchestra composer-in-residence Elizabeth Ogonek, a special guest at the concert.

Featured performers include violinist Ellen Jewett, a founding member of Ensemble X; clarinetist Narek Arutyunian, winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions; the Cornell Percussion Ensemble; Cornell Chamber Singers; and faculty from Cornell and Ithaca College.

Stucky was Cornell’s Given Foundation Professor of Composition Emeritus. He taught at Cornell for 34 years and died in February 2016.

Switch~Ensemble residency

The Cornell Contemporary Chamber Players will host Switch~Ensemble for a five-day artistic residency, Feb. 26 to March 3, with workshops, a lecture recital, a recording session and three concerts that will feature new pieces composed by Cornell graduate students and faculty.

The concerts, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at Telluride House (a mini-concert with a reception at 6:30 p.m.) and March 1 and 2 at 8 p.m. in Barnes Hall Auditorium, are free and open to the public.

The performances over the three days will include premieres of six new student works and pieces by associate professor of music Kevin Ernste, assistant professor of music Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, and Roberto Sierra, the Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities.

Based at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, Switch~Ensemble collaborates with young composers and focuses on developing and performing new music, incorporating technology and multimedia. Work produced during the Cornell residency will become part of the ensemble’s concert repertoire.

Experimental and labor films

For its 50th anniversary in 2017, Canyon Cinema, a cooperative distribution network for experimental filmmakers, assembled a four-program touring retrospective of their best and most well-known films. Featuring several new prints and ranging from city portraits to animation and the avant-garde, the Canyon at 50 series comes to Cornell Cinema over four Wednesdays starting Feb. 28 with “Continuum.”

The series includes “Associations,” March 7; “Decodings,” March 14; and “Studies in Natural Magic,” March 28, with series curator David Dinnell on hand to discuss the selections, Canyon Cinema and its legacy. All programs are at 7:15 p.m. and projected on 16mm film. The series is cosponsored with the Department of Art.

Also showing: A Labor on Film series begins March 1 with “Dolores,” a profile of Chicana activist Dolores Huerta, co-founder with Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers.

Cosponsored with the ILR School and Cornell Graduate Students United, the seven films through April 17 also include Sergei Eisenstein’s “Strike” (March 9), “Salt of the Earth” (March 14) and “The Philosopher Kings” (March 15), a 2009 documentary about university custodians, much of it filmed at Cornell.

Freedom at work

With advances in technology, the way we manage work and life is changing rapidly. Work and life spheres are becoming fused, and with three generations making up the majority of the workforce, relationships with colleagues of different ages are often challenging.

Donna L. Haeger will discuss how co-workers can better understand each other, have successful interactions and improve job satisfaction in a Chats in the Stacks book talk, Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. in the Stern Seminar Room, 160 Mann Library. The event includes light refreshments and is free and open to the public.

Heager is professor of practice in Cornell’s Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Her 2017 book, “Work-Life Fusion: A Guide to Freedom and Autonomy at Work,” offers insightful advice on developing policies related to technology in the workplace.

Visit the Mann Library website for more information on public events and exhibits.

Sweet and empowering

Gospel ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock performs Saturday, March 3, in Bailey Hall as part of the Cornell Concert Series (CCS) and will present two workshops while in Ithaca.

The female a cappella group performs spirituals, blues, gospel and world music along with dance and sign language, with a mission of education, entertainment and empowerment. Using the power of song, the ensemble has advocated for justice, freedom and democracy since the 1970s, expressing their history as African-American women and inspiring audiences to address critical social issues.

The group joins the Cornell Chorale in Kennedy Hall’s Call Auditorium, March 2 at 5:45 p.m., offering a personal introduction to Sweet Honey In The Rock’s history, mission and unique vocal phrasing and style.

A workshop March 3 from 11 a.m. to noon at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, 301 W. Court St., Ithaca, invites the public to experience a range of musical ideas and social messages. Free childcare will be provided.

Single tickets for the 8 p.m. concert March 3 are $33 to $39 general, $19 students; all prices $2 off for Cornell community members ($31-$37, $17 Cornell students). Purchase tickets online.

The 2017-18 CCS season continues with concert pianist Jeremy Denk on Friday, March 16; and the Danish String Quartet on Wednesday, April 11.