February Events
Saturday-Sunday, February 1 & 2
Department of Performing Arts presents “Paradise Lost”
by Erin Shields
Roberts Studio Theatre, Scott Studios at Arts West | Directed by Susanne Shawyer
Feb. 1 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.
A witty, modern, feminist retelling of John Milton’s epic poem about the cosmic battle between good and evil. Reservations are highly recommended and offered beginning January 10 at www.elonperformingarts.com.
Joseph Bologne International Piano Competition – Final Round recital, sponsored by Steinway and the Elon University Department of Music
Yeager Recital Hall, 7 p.m.
A performance by the finalists from the First Joseph Bologne International Piano Competition including top high school pianists from around the country. Each artist will present 10 to 20-minute programs of diverse classical repertoire. A reception and awards ceremony will follow the conclusion of the competition.
Sunday, February 2
Nathaniel Gumbs, organ recital
Whitley Auditorium, 2:30 p.m.
Organist Nathaniel Gumbs, of the Yale University music faculty, returns to Elon for a concert in celebration of Black History Month. His performance will include the music of Florence Price, Black composer of classical organ works. Sponsored by the Office of Cultural & Special Programs
Thursday, February 6
“A Conversation with Renee Fink, Survivor of the Holocaust”
Turner Theatre, Schar Hall, 5:30 p.m.
In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Renee Fink will share her story of surviving the Holocaust as a Hidden Child in the Netherlands. Sponsored by Jewish Life, the School of Communications, Jewish Studies and the Truitt Center
Friday, February 7
Lunar New Year
McBride Gathering Space and Sacred Space, Numen Lumen Pavilion, 6 p.m.
Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations of the year among East and Southeast Asian cultures. This celebration marks the beginning of a new year, according to the lunar calendar. Come join APSA for our biggest event of the year. Sponsored by APSA and The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life
Friday-Sunday, February 7-9
Department of Performing Arts presents “Natasha, Pierre &
The Great Comet of 1812”
McCrary Theatre, Center for the Arts | Feb 7-8 at 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 8-9 at 2 p.m.
Directed by Alexandra Joye Warren | Musical direction by Chris Rayis | Choreography by Jacob Brent
From the celebrated and award-winning composer Dave Malloy comes “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” an electropop opera based on a scandalous slice of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” Young and impulsive, Natasha Rostova arrives in Moscow to await the return of her fiancé from the front lines. When she falls under the spell of the roguish Anatole, it is up to Pierre, a family friend in the middle of an existential crisis, to pick up the pieces of her shattered reputation. Following a critically exalted premiere at Ars Nova in New York City, a subsequent off-Broadway transfer and an acclaimed run on Broadway, this award-winning musical expands the possibilities for the genre with its daring score and bold storytelling. Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets available beginning January 17 at ElonTickets.com.
Monday, February 10
Melissa Wilkinson, “A Light That Never Goes Out”
Artist talk and opening reception, 5 p.m. | Gallery 406, Arts West, 406 W. Haggard Avenue, Elon
Exhibition continues through March 13
In this exhibition, Melissa Wilkinson focuses on a new series of paintings entitled “Queens and Monsters,” which include appropriated images sourced from disco, private Tumblr accounts and late 70’s/early 80’s “tomboys” that have informed her identity and personal sense of self. Influenced heavily by glitch art and data moshing, Wilkinson creates meticulous watercolor and ink wash paintings to investigate the line that straddles abstraction and representation. Her work in water media on paper creates a vulnerable object and a tender presence through her touch. These paintings incorporate appropriated imagery from popular culture, subjects suggestive of consumption and gender expression and are deconstructed to re-contextualize and agitate.
Wilkinson received her BFA in Painting from Western Illinois University in 2002 then went on to receive her MFA in Painting from Southern Illinois University in 2006. Her work has been featured in wide reaching publications throughout the country including three editions of New American Paintings, The Curator’s Salon and the Manifest International Drawing Annual (four editions). She has shown in various galleries nationally and internationally including South Korea, Canada, India and Art Basel Miami. She has won several fellowships and grants including the Arkansas Arts Council Fellowship in Painting in 2012, a Middle East Studies Grant to create an image archive in Israel in 2016, and a National Women in the Arts Grant to do the same at the Smithsonian in 2019. She has conducted workshops at the Arkansas Art Center, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado. She is represented by One Center Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Her work is amongst private collections throughout the country and abroad. She serves as art faculty at The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She splits her time with studios in both Massachusetts and the Hudson Valley in New York.
Tuesday, February 11
Tectonic Plates: Alamance County’s Science Café: Who’s in charge: my device or me? with Elizabeth von Briesen, Elon University Assistant Professor in Computer Science
Burlington Beer Works, 103 E. Front Street, Burlington, 7 p.m.
Each month on 2nd Tuesdays, a different scientist will present engaging topic at Burlington Beer Works in downtown Burlington, North Carolina. Expect a lively event in a relaxed atmosphere without all the technical jargon. In February, Tectonic Plates welcomes Elizabeth von Briesen, Elon University Assistant Professor in Computer Science. The series runs from September through May, and the presentations are free and open to the public.
Thursday, February 13
Megan Squire, “Using Cybersecurity and Data Science to Understand Extremism”
LaRose Student Commons 200, 4:30 p.m. | Data Nexus Power of Women in Data Series Speaker
In this talk, Megan Squire, Deputy Director for Data Analytics and Open-Source Intelligence at the Southern Poverty Law Center, will explain how she uses techniques from data science and cybersecurity to build the SPLC’s first Data Lab, charged with tracking and exposing hate and extremism using digital methods. Squire’s award-winning research into complex socio-technical issues such as extremist group membership and financing has been featured in numerous media publications including Wired, NPR, The New York Times and CNN.
Registration link: https://forms.office.com/r/2aqiX27nkp
Tuesday, February 18
Elon Distinguished Scholar Lecture with Srikant Vallabhajosula
Gerald L. Francis Center | Reception, 4:30 p.m. in Student Commons | Lecture, 5 p.m. in Room 178
In his Distinguished Scholar Lecture, Dr. Vallabhajosula will share his research journey and scholarship experiences and the lessons he learned from them that helped his academic growth at Elon. From his broad range of research experiences, he will share main themes from his research findings and the vital role of collaboration with both colleagues and students that have helped shape his research career.
Srikant Vallabhajosula, PhD, FACSM is a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy Education. He is also the Research Coordinator in the Department. Dr. Vallabhajosula’s scholarship is primarily in the area of biomechanics of human postural control and movement using instrumented techniques to analyze human movement. He teaches research-based and Biomechanics courses in the curriculum. He has worked with a broad range of populations such as individuals with Parkinson’s disease, Elon athletes, older adults who are at high fall risk, children who walk on their toes, performing artists and so on. He is also actively involved in celebrating National Biomechanics Day – an outreach program aimed at introducing the science of Biomechanics to K-12 students – nationally and internationally. He is currently the Co-Chair of the American College of Sports Medicine Biomechanics Interest Group and has served as the Communications Chair for the American Society of Biomechanics.
Friday-Sunday, February 21-23
2025 Ripple Interfaith Conference: The Art of interfaith
Numen Lumen Pavilion, various other locations
At the conference, we will ask: how can different forms of artistic expression inspire interfaith collaboration and creativity? How do various forms of art – music, poetry, dance, crafts, film, photography and more – from different religious and spiritual traditions foster interfaith dialogue and understanding? What unique creative perspectives exist within each religious tradition that contribute to a richer interfaith experience? Sponsored by The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life
Reach out to Hillary Zaken (hzaken@elon.edu) with questions or to register. More information at rippleconference.org.
Saturday, February 22
Elon University Jazz Festival with guest artists Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf
McCrary Theatre, Center for the Arts, 7:30 p.m. | Directed by Alex Heitlinger
The Elon Jazz Festival culminates in a special performance by the Elon Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combos featuring guest artists Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf. Described by critics as a Modern Jazz icon in the making, Allison Miller won DownBeat’s 67th Annual Critics Poll for “Rising Star Drummer” and JazzTimes’ 2019 Critics Poll for “Best Jazz Drummer.” In addition to leading her own groups, Miller has worked with Ani DeFranco, Natalie Merchant, Brandy Carlile and Dr. Lonnie Smith. She is also a member of the all-female jazz supergroup ARTEMIS. Pianist/composer Carmen Staaf is a rising force in the NYC and global music scenes. She has performed and recorded with some of the most influential and important musicians of our era. Currently, she is the pianist and Musical Director for NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater. Her past major performances have included the Playboy Jazz Festival in a two-piano setting with the legendary Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and the Kennedy Center alongside Kenny Barron and Fred Hersch. She has been heard at the Village Vanguard, Blue Note, SFJAZZ, and major jazz festivals around the world including the Newport, Monterey, Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals, among many others. Please visit the Jazz Festival website for updated information. Sponsored by the Department of Music
Monday, February 24
Active Citizen Series: Deliberative Dialogues – Moving Forward as a Nation After the Election
Lakeside 212, 4:30 – 5:45 p.m. | Advance Registration Required Here
A Deliberative Dialogue is an opportunity for students to gather and exchange diverse views and experiences to seek a shared understanding of a challenge facing our society and to search for common ground for action. This spring, we will be hosting two different dialogues in the same afternoon. The American Creed conversation will explore what core values Americans fundamentally agree on. American political leaders of all kinds throughout history have pointed out that American identity revolves around a set of ideals – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described America’s creed as an unfulfilled “promissory note” based on the idea that everyone deserves freedom, fairness and equal opportunity to pursue happiness and advancement. People of good will often fundamentally agree, yet we struggle to find ways to effectively work together. The Money and Values conversation will explore the choices in how we earn, spend and invest our money impact individuals, communities, the environment and the world. Some people say that how we use our money shows what we truly value. This conversation seeks to reflect on our financial choices so we may find ways to act in greater harmony with our values. Sponsored by the Kernodle Center for Civic Life
Tuesday, February 25
Mike Wiley Productions, “Blood Done Sign My Name”
Special guest gospel vocalist Jennifer Evans
McCrary Theatre, Center for the Arts, 7:30 p.m. | Elon University Lyceum Series
Mike Wiley brings to life the recollections of author Timothy B. Tyson surrounding the 1970 murder of Henry “Dickie” Marrow in Oxford, North Carolina. Tyson, who was 10 at the time and living in Oxford, recounted how the conflagration of events shaped his life, offering audience members an opportunity to examine their roles in the complex and often confusing racial fabric of America. Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets available beginning February 4 at ElonTickets.com.
Thursday, February 27
Mac Stone, “The Wonder of Wetlands – Stories from the Field”
Whitley Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. | Liberal Arts Forum Lecture
The interface between the human and natural world globally and locally (in the Southeast and particularly North Carolina), will be the focus of this talk. Mac Stone will share exciting stories on the trials and tribulations in bringing awareness of these areas to a broader public. Mac grew up exploring the springs, swamps and hammocks of North Central Florida. At a young age, he developed a passion for photography and conservation. Today, Mac is a contributing photographer for National Geographic Magazine, a NatGeo Society Explorer, and Senior Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers.