Photo courtesy of the Butler Arts Center website.

CARL NELSON | STAFF REPORTER | canelso1@butler.edu

The 2017 Butler ArtsFest is a four-week event featuring speakers, presentations and performances by well-known artists, musicians and writers, as well as some talented Butler students. This wide range of performances and programs are all held here on campus and 7 out of the 20 events are free and open to the public. The other events have tickets available for purchase on the Butler Arts Center website. Check out some of these if they seem interesting to you.

Love and Information – A play written by Caryl Churchill — one of the most celebrated and experimental playwrights working today — and performed by Butler students, delves into our information-saturated society and its connection to our human interactions. There are showings in the Lilly Hall Studio Theatre starting April 5 at 7:00 p.m. as well as Thursday through Sunday, and April 13, 14 and 15.

Deborah Voigt — A Chicago native raised in southern California, soprano Deborah Voigt is increasingly recognized as one of the world’s most versatile singers.  A leading dramatic soprano and internationally revered for her performances in the operas of Wagner and Richard S. The performance is on April 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Schrott Center for the Arts.

Wayne C. Wentzel Lecture: Thomas Forrest Kelly — This free event is an illustrated talk, with music, about the most famous premiere of them all: the first riotous performance by Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet of the ballet “Le Sacre du printemps”, in Paris on May 29, 1913. Thomas Forrest Kelly is the Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music at Harvard University, where he served as chair of the music department from 1999 to 2004. Head down to the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall on Friday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m. to catch this presentation.

Family Concert: BCAS and Butler Percussion Ensemble — This is a free event, open to the public, and is perfect for families with little ones. This fun, interactive and lively concert is a great opportunity to introduce kids to live performance. Go to the Schrott Center for the Arts this Saturday, April 8 at 10:30 a.m. and watch this fun, free performance.

Evelyn Glennie with the Butler Wind Ensemble — Evelyn Glennie is the world’s premier solo percussionist. From her leading role in the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony to her more than 80 international awards, Glennie is the first person in history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist. In this special appearance for Butler ArtsFest, Glennie will perform Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon’s “Percussion Concerto.” Watch this memorable performance at the Schrott Center for the Arts on Saturday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. 

Works and Process: Student Collaborative Productions — This free production is put on by emerging student artists from the Jordan College of the Arts. They will produce and perform four new multi-disciplinary pieces exploring collaborative works and celebrating the creative process. More information on the specific performances will be out in the coming weeks. You can watch these productions at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, April 10 at the Schrott Center for the Arts.

Butler Opera Theatre: Too Many Sopranos — This student production of “Too Many Sopranos” is an opera by Indiana University Jacobs School of Music faculty member Edwin Penhorwood and performed by students from the Butler University school of music. You can catch one of the performances on either April 14 or 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Schrott Center for the Arts. Tickets are $15 for public, $10 for seniors, $7.50 for students or with Butler student ID.

Mr. G (A Dramatic Reading) — Mr. G is based off of the play by Wesley Savick, adapted from the novel by Alan Lightman “A Dramatic Reading” directed by Janet Allen. “In the beginning,” the book of Genesis tells us, “God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis describes the six-day process, but like humankind’s other creation stories, it overlooks crucial details. It’s a lighthearted but sobering romp. Come to the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall on April 17 at 7:00 p.m. to catch this free performance.

Four Centuries of Chamber Music — Join members of Butler school of music faculty as they perform an evening of four centuries of chamber music in the intimate Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall.  Watch this performance on April 18 at 7:00 p.m. for free.

Maria Schneider with the Butler Jazz Ensembles — Maria Schneider’s music has been hailed by critics as “evocative, majestic, magical, heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and beyond categorization.” Schneider will be joined by the Butler Jazz Ensemble for this special event at the Schrott Center for the Arts. Indianapolis jazz great Rob Dixon will kick off the evening with Butler Jazz Combos. Catch this musical performance on April 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the Schrott Center for the Arts. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $10 for students. Come an hour early to catch a pre-performance talk with Richard Dole at 6:30 p.m. which is free with a ticket to the performance.

INconversation with Alan Lightman — Come join as students, faculty members and community members talk with Lightman, author of many acclaimed books, plays and essays, about his work and inspirations and the links between the physical and metaphysical worlds. Discover how a physicist becomes a National Book Award finalist and humanities professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This event is free and open to the public. Get your tickets and go to the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall on April 20 at 6:30 p.m. to chat with this prolific author.

Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra: Double Talk — This performance is a bass duo conducted by Matthew Kraemer. Gary Karr and David Murray on bass continue the double talk with Bottesini’s “Passione Amorosa”, a rarely-performed piece for two basses. Tickets for this event are $35 for adults and $12 for students. This performance will be at the Schrott Center for the Arts on April 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Giselle — Join the Butler Ballet in their performance of “Giselle,” the story of a simple peasant girl who is betrayed by love, driven to madness, dies of a broken heart, becomes a ghostly spirit and eventually saves the life of the man that betrayed her. There will be three performances, all in Clowes Memorial Hall, on April 21 and 22 at 8:00 p.m. and April 23 at 2:00 p.m.

Butler Keyboard Jam with Sean Chen — For the first time on stage at Butler, hundreds of young pianists will join guest artist Sean Chen, American Pianists Awards winner in a lively concert. Go to the Schrott Center for the Arts on April 22 at 2:00 p.m. to see this interactive piano performance.

Across Time and Space: A Choral Concert — This annual performance features the ensembles of the Butler School of Music Choral Department — Chorale, Spectra, and University Choir — performing selected works from four centuries of choral repertoire spanning four continents. Get your tickets on the Butler ArtsFest website and go to the Schrott Center for the Arts on April 23 at 6:00 p.m. to hear this performance.
Spotlight 2017 — Presented by Deborah J. Simon, you can attend the performance gala of the season — and see 19 different performances, all in one night. From tango to burlesque, spoken word to jazz, drag queens to chamber music, Spotlight 2017 has something for everyone. Spotlight is the Indiana AIDS Fund’s primary fundraiser for HIV treatment as prevention and testing program grants in Indiana. Get tickets online and go to Clowes Memorial Hall on April 24, at 7:30 p.m. to catch all of these performances.