University Calendar

The acclaimed musician Rhiannon Giddens uses her art to excavate the past and reveal bold truths about our present. A MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, Giddens co-founded the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, and she has been nominated for six additional Grammys for her work as a soloist and collaborator. Giddens’s lifelong mission is to lift up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been erased, and to work toward a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins. Giddens is featured in Ken Burns’s Country Music series, where she speaks about the African American origins of country music. She is also a member of the band Our Native Daughters with three other Black female banjo players, and co-produced their debut album Songs of Our Native Daughters (2019), which tells stories of historic Black womanhood and survival. 

Named Artistic Director of Silkroad in 2020, Giddens is developing a number of new programs for the organization, including one inspired by the history of the American transcontinental railroad and the cultures and music of its builders. She recently wrote the music for an original ballet, Lucy Negro Redux, for Nashville Ballet (premiered in 2019), and the libretto and music for an original opera, Omar, based on the autobiography of the enslaved man Omar Ibn Said for the Spoleto USA Festival (premieres in 2022). 
Please join us!Reservations not required unless indicated.
NOV 8
11am-12noon| Leshowitz Recital Hall, Chapin Hall, PUBLIC EVENTComposition Practicum 
6:30pm | Leshowitz Recital Hall, Chapin Hall, PUBLIC EVENT
Cali Conversations with Rhiannon Giddens and Director Tony Mazzocchi
Free Event Reservations Required

NOV 9
10-11am | Leshowitz Recital Hall, Chapin Hall, PUBLIC EVENTAt the Purchaser’s Option with the Rose Quartet
1:30pm | Leshowitz Recital Hall, Chapin Hall, PUBLIC EVENT
Cali Midweek Concert with Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi
Original compositions featuring collaboration with students: vocal and strings.
Free Event Reservations Required
3.30-5pm | Leshowitz Recital Hall, Chapin Hall, PUBLIC EVENTVocal Masterclass with Musical Theater Singers

NOV 10
11.15-12.45pm | Leshowitz Recital Hall, Chapin Hall, PUBLIC EVENTLullaby and Factory Girl Coachings