Events

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery presents “The Thirteen,” a visual art exhibition and live musical/spoken word performance paying homage to 13 black women and girls who were lynched or otherwise violently murdered in Kentucky. The exhibition opens Wednesday, Jan. 16, at noon, and runs through February 15. The performance takes place on Wednesday, Jan. 23, from 7:30-9 p.m., in the Carrick Theater, in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center. It is free and open to the public. “The Thirteen” exhibition seeks to enshrine the shared history of the 13 women and girls and will feature photographs and video by Angel Clark as well as pieces by Transylvania graduate Bianca Spriggs, including original poetry, pen and ink drawings and resin skulls. “The Thirteen” production, made possible in part by the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women, will feature performances by an ensemble of 12 Kentucky musicians and vocalists paired with spoken word poetry by Spriggs. Spriggs is an Affrilachian Poet and Cave Canem Fellow. A multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Lexington, Ky., Spriggs is currently a doctoral student at the University of Kentucky. She holds degrees from Transylvania University and the University of Wisconsin. Named one of the Top 30 Black Performance Poets in the U.S. by TheRoot.com, she is a 2013 recipient of an Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship in Poetry, a Pushcart Prize nominee and a recipient of three Artist Enrichment Grants from the Kentucky

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Which comes first, love or trust? The lives of six characters in Transylvania University Theater’s production of “Trust” intersect romantically and platonically as the play attempts to answer this question. The no-holds-barred look into the world of fame, love, betrayal, and ultimately, trust, is set against the backdrop of the pop music scene and runs Nov. 29-30 and Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. in Transylvania’s Lucille C. Little Theater. Senior Laura Campbell, of Georgetown, Ky., makes her directorial debut with this Steven Dietz contemporary dramatic comedy. “It’s been a lot of work,” said Campbell, a theater major and music minor. “I’ve been living with this play for eight months, and it’s been an amazing experience to work with these talented actors and to tell this story. I wouldn’t want to finish my time at Transy any other way.” This modern drama blends love, lust, and lying into a whirlwind tour. “Trust” sketches out the bumps and grinds of modern relationships as Becca, engaged to pop idol Cody Brown, learns exactly what it means to be a rockstar’s girlfriend. At the same time, Cody discovers the dangerous lures of fame, while has-been Leah Barnett struggles to make a comeback and teach him a few things along the way. Stories collide, betrayals occur, and life moves on, as the word trust is called into question. Tickets are $10 and may be reserved by calling the

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Jeff Freyman, professor of political science and director of The Center for Liberal Education at Transylvania University, will present “The American Empire” in the Cowgill Center, room 102, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 29. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, is the first of the “Left of Center” speaker series sponsored by the Transylvania College Democrats. Freyman will discuss how the United States formed a world order after the Second World War, how it was similar to and different from previous imperial orders, how finance has been instrumental in securing global dominance and the consequences of the order on the 2008 financial crisis. His areas of research include globalization, comparative democratization, comparative political economy and Marxism. The speaker series was created to inform Transylvania students and members of the Lexington community on left leaning political views. “Not all points of view are represented fairly in our political system and oftentimes little can be accomplished if we all ‘toe the party line’ analytically,” said junior Michael Case, president of Transylvania College Democrats. “The series is open to speakers from a variety of ideological viewpoints ranging from the reform liberalism of the current Democratic Party platform to the far-left.”

Soprano Christine Goerke LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University will host four concerts for the inaugural season of the Gail Robinson Series, beginning with a performance by Metropolitan Opera star Christine Goerke on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium. Tickets are available through the Singletary Center box office at (859) 257-2949, online or in person. Robinson, a soprano, sang with many of the world’s leading opera companies in the 1970s and 1980s. She spent 34 years at the Metropolitan Opera, including ten years as executive director of the Met’s Young Artists Program. She was also director of the Met’s National Council Auditions. In 1999, she became a voice professor at the University of Kentucky, where she taught until her death in 2008. Three of her mentees, Goerke, Gregory Turay and Michelle DeYoung, are featured in the inaugural season of the recital series. Soprano Goerke has appeared in the major opera houses of the world including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris Opera, La Scala, Teatro Municipal de Santiago and the Saito Kinen Festival. She has sung much of the great soprano repertoire, beginning with the Mozart and Handel heroines and now moving into the dramatic Strauss and Wagner roles. Goerke has also appeared with leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and the Orchestra of

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