The arts at UC Davis are in full bloom this quarter with a special emphasis on work by students, many of whom are finishing final projects for graduation.

Music

The music department’s Shinkoskey Noon Concerts, free and open to the public, are held most Thursdays:

Carrie Hennessey, soprano, with John Cozza, piano, April 2; Trois Bois (“three woods in French), April 23; Golden West Winds, part of the Air Force Band of the Golden West from Travis Air Force Base, April 30; Trio 180, violin, cello and piano, May 7; Sarah Plum, violin; and the UC Davis Hindustani Vocal Ensemble, June 4.

There’s a Shinkoskey concert on May 14, too: Music department affiliate faculty member Susan Lamb Cook and Gayle Blankeburg wrap up a three-concert series of all of Beethoven’s cello and piano works, with Lamb Cook on cello and Blankeburg on piano.

The “Musics of the World” concert April 24 will feature the university Gamelan, Hindustani Vocal Ensemble, Korean Percussion Ensemble and Samba School.

The Empyrean Ensemble, UC Davis’ contemporary music group, will give two concerts of new works by graduate composition students, April 26 and June 1.

There are three chances to hear the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra:

• A free, one-hour noon performance on Picnic Day — Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor. (April 18)
• A concert titled “Ariadne’s Thread, Ecstasy and Classicism” — Le Poème de l’extase by Scriabin, Amériques by Varèse and Violin Concerto in D Major by Beethoven. (May 2)
• “Surprise and Drama” ­— Tragic Overture by Brahms, Symphony No. 94 (“Surprise”) by Haydn and the winner of the orchestra’s concerto competition for students. (May 31)

Other music department concerts include the University Chorus with the Auburn Symphony Orchestra, performing Gerswhin and Beethoven, May 17; Jazz Ensembles, May 27; Concert Band and Campus Band, June 3; and University Chorus, June 5.

The music events calendar

Theatre and dance

Master of Fine Arts candidates present new works in “Point of Departure,” examining war, sex, technology and more. The thesis performances have been divided into two programs:

Program 1 — April 7, 9, 11 and 12:

• Daniel Davis’ EchoTheaterSuitcase project, bringing together veterans from World War II, Vietnam and Iraq with nonveterans for site-specific, audience-interactive performance.
• Chris Wolfe’s iGeneration, a funny, physical and moving look at the impact of smartphones on young adults.

Program 2 — April 8, 10, 11 and 12:

• JanLee Marshall’s Indecency (& other bawdy bits), examining the life a thieving, cross-dressing, singing 17th-century London celebrity.
• Joyful Simpson’s Tales of a Sexual Tomboy (A One Woman Comedy), about what it means to be a tough cookie with a soft heart.
• Brandon Gonzalez’s Vibrant Matter, an interdisciplinary exploration into the relations between human bodies and objects.

The annual Main Stage Dance/Theatre Festival is scheduled May 7-17.

Granada Artist-in-Residence Aaron Gach directs The Light and Dark Arts: A Radical Magic Show, drawing parallels between magic acts and economic manipulation, political deception, vanishing resources and social transformation. May 28-June 7.

The theatre and dance calendar

Galleries and museums

This spring is your last opportunity to visit the Nelson Gallery, which is closing at the end of the quarter so the staff can concentrate on the new Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art opening in the 2016-17 academic year. Here are the last shows:

• “Fragmentary Evidence: Photographs from the Collection of Dr. Barry Ramer” (a Davis art collector) — Experimental exhibition that treats 20th-century analog photography as deep history lost to viewers in the age of tumblr and Instagram. Opening reception, 4-6 p.m. April 14; exhibition runs April 15-May 10.
• Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition — Featuring a wide range of works by seven studio art graduate students. May 30-June 21.

The Design Museum presents two student shows:

• Design-by-Design Juried Student Design Competition (undergraduates), April 9-May 1.
• Design Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition, May 22-June 11.

The C.N. Gorman Museum carries over its winter exhibition, “Listening to the Stone: Original Inuit Art,” from the collection of a UC Davis alumni couple, through June 11.

HellaCappella at the Mondavi Center

The 11th annual “Northern California A Cappella Extravaganza Concert” is scheduled for April 10 in Jackson Hall. Presents by The Spokes student group, which is hoping for another sellout for what has become “the most highly anticipated a cappella concert of the year.”

The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts’ own presenting season includes bluesman Buddy Guy, April 8; Arlo Guthrie on his “Alice’s Restaurant” 50th anniversary tour, April 16; Bill Frisell and Joshua Light Show, presenting Guitar in the Space Age, April 24; Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, May 8; Philippe Sly and John Charles Britton, performing Schubert for voice and guitar, May 16-17; and Ballet BC, June 19.

The Mondavi Center hosts the sound, fashion, movement and technology ensemble Quixotic, April 12; and indie pop band Belle and Sebastian, April 14.

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