The Arts
Past Events
A case-side talk and reception with Andrea Burgay, editor, director, and founder of Cut Me Up Magazine. This exhibition represents the collaborative efforts of the guest curators and published artists, who have shaped every issue of the magazine. Open to the public.
In this lecture-performance, Alexander Bonus, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, will survey past expressions of sonic disorder in music by Haydn, Beethoven, and Mahler, among others.
MODfest 2025
This musical and spoken performance weaves together an array of creatively indeterminate works.
MODfest 2025
Certified Feldenkrais practitioners Carolyn Palmer and Drew Minter will lead two lessons and speak about the method.
MODfest 2025
Daniel J. Levitin, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, McGill University, will uncover the latest findings in the rapidly developing field of how music can be used to treat injury and disease and promote wellness.
MODfest 2025
A lecture by José Perillán, Associate Professor of Physics and Science, Technology, and Society Program (STS) Director.
MODfest 2025
A performance of Stimmung, a highly influential avant-garde work that provided inspiration for the spectral composition school that emerged in Paris during the 1970’s.
MODfest 2025
Prudence Fenton ’75 will be featured at a screening of a documentary she co-produced about her partner, the songwriter Allee Willis. Open to the public.
Jess T. Dugan is a renowned photographer whose captivating family portrait, Self-portrait with Vanessa and Elinor (2 days old), is a highlight of Reproductive: Health, Fertility, Agency. Their work is informed by their own life experiences, including their identity as a queer and nonbinary person, and reflects a deep belief in the importance of representation and the transformative power of storytelling.
William’s sculptures, works on paper, and prints draw inspiration from music, literature, nature, and the art of the African diaspora.
MODfest 2025
A showcase featuring highlights from the fall Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre (VRDT) dance concert, a performance by NYC’s Battery Dance Company, and works created through Dancing to Connect, a collaboration between Vassar College and Poughkeepsie High School students. Open to the public.
This annual Advent service at the Vassar College Chapel features readings, choral anthems, and congregational carols, culminating in a candle lighting ceremony. Vassar College Choir, Chamber Singers and Treble Chorus, and Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir will perform.
Music by Bernstein, Auerbach, Prokofiev, and Kovács.
Join us for our 20-30 minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. Eduardo Navega, director.
James Osborn, director
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
A student-organized exhibition of work by studio art majors and correlates. Free and open to the public.
Drew Minter, conductor
Eduardo Navega, conductor
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
The Ghost Sonata (1907) by seminal Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849–1912), translation by Evert Sprinchorn, follows a young man’s increasing realization of the world’s wickedness. Open to the public. Reservations are required.
Join us for our 20-30 minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. Eduardo Navega, director
These are the first performances by VRDT for the 2024/25 season. Each evening features jazz, ballet, modern and contemporary choreography by faculty and students. The world premiere of guest choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie will also be showcased during this performance. Reservations required.
Artist and MacArthur Fellow Nicole Eisenman will discuss her work.
The Film Department and Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies presents a screening of some of Peggy Ahwesh’s short films, followed by a Q&A session moderated by Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Carl Elsaesser.
Campus community only, please.
Mae M. Ngai, Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History at Columbia University, is a U.S. legal and political historian interested in the histories of immigration, citizenship, nationalism, and the Chinese diaspora. This event is open to the public.
Eduardo Navega, conductor
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
Join us for our 20-30 minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. Eduardo Navega, director
Whitehead has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Open to the public, no reservations required.
James Osborn, conductor
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
Susan Bialek, conductor
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live
Join us for our 20-30 minute lunchtime recital series by members of the Vassar College Chamber Music Program. Eduardo Navega, director.
Laments and farewells in Gaelic and Scots from the 16th–18th century Scottish Highland repertoire for voice and harp, composed, collected or inspired by women. James Ruff, Tenor & Early Gaelic Harp.
An Agnes Rindge Claflin Lecture by New Yorker magazine staff writer and critic Hilton Als.
A different take on the music for harpsichord, with guitar and violin. The program includes music by Bach, Martinû, Milhaud, Wilson, and others. Marija Ilić, harpsichord, Roberto Granados, guitar, Anna Elashvili, violin.
A harp, viola, and flute program of works by primarily modern and contemporary composers inspired by the natural world. The Walden Trio: Chelsea Lane, harp, Ginevra Petrucci, flute, Maren Rothfritz, viola.
A play and a senior Drama project.
Campus guests only, please.
Reservations required: please contact boxoffice@vassar.edu.
Palmer Gallery exhibit. Artist’s Reception: Nov. 1, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation) is an acclaimed multidisciplinary artist whose work has long advocated for recognition of historic and ongoing forms of oppression of Indigenous peoples in the US and globally.
Artist and publisher Drew Leventhal will present on his photographic work, including his publishing practice and research into emerging theories of visual ethnography. Q&A to follow.
Join alum Jonathan Silberberg, an acclaimed documentary filmmaker and producer, for an engaging discussion about the challenges and rewards of a career in documentary filmmaking and how the field is rapidly transforming today.
Matthew Hunter, Professor of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University, will give a lecture on his new study.
Novuyo Tshuma will give a lecture and read excerpts from her novel Digging Stars.
The eVoco Voice Collective is an award-winning collection of singers of the highest musical, technical, and expressive abilities whose shared mission is to invite listeners into the extraordinary experience of singing, together. They are passionate advocates for excellence in the choral & vocal art. David Fryling, conductor.
Explore technology’s impact on reproductive rights in this conversation with Kiana Tipton from Chat with Charley and Aisha Becker-Burrowes from FEMINIST. This event is organized in conjunction with the Loeb’s current exhibition, Reproductive: Health, Fertility, Agency.
An Agnes Rindge Claflin Lecture by Larry Silver, Farquhar Professor of Art History Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania and a specialist in painting and graphics of Northern Europe.
The Film Department will be hosting a screening of Yance Ford’s new film Power, which traces the accumulation of money, the consolidation of political power, and the nearly unrestricted bipartisan support that has created the institution of policing as we know it. Followed by a Q&A with the director moderated by Professor Mia Mask.
New York City-based artist Paul Pfeiffer has been working in video, photography, installation, and sculpture since the late 1990s. Known for his innovative and sculptural manipulation of digital media, Pfeiffer recasts the visual language of mass media spectacle to examine how images shape our awareness of ourselves and the world.
This film chronicles the arc of a family across history, geography and tragedy—from the racial segregation of the Jim Crow South to the promise of New York City.
A recital of music in, or in opposition to, the key of C. Thomas Sauer, piano.
Visual artist Mimi Czajka Graminski and poet Sarah Stern create a magnetic pull between their two art forms in this Palmer Gallery exhibit. Artists’ Reception: Oct. 10, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Eduardo Navega, conductor.
This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live