Maya Sasaki-George ’28
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Art lovers at Trinity should keep an eye out for the exciting range of concerts, plays, exhibitions, screenings, performances and more heading our way for the fall 2025 semester. From classical music recitals to experimental theater to student showcases, there’s something for everyone on campus to enjoy.
On Sept. 24, the Yootay Singers will return to Trinity for a second year, offering a performance and panel discussion in the Washington Room of Mather Hall. The Yootay Singers are a community drum group from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of southeastern Connecticut. Their performances include drumming, dancing, traditional tribal anthems and discussions regarding Mashantucket culture and community. According to Visiting Lecturer in Music Dorothea Hast in the Tripod‘’s previous article on the Yootay Singers, “‘This [event] falls into Trinity’s ongoing attempt to both acknowledge where Trinity sits and who were the first nations here, but also how to partner with indigenous communities and support them and learn from them.’”
Trinity is also set to host the 28th Annual Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival in the Chapel, kicking off on Sept. 26 with a performance by Jacob Gruss, the 2024 Young Professional First-Prize and Audience-Prize winner. The Festival’s stated mission is to “support and encourage young organists in the earliest stages of their education and careers, and to increase appreciation of organ music to the general public.” Following this will be the Biennial High School Competition on Sept. 27, where students compete for $14,000 in prizes. And that evening, there will be a festival concert featuring organ, choir singing, harp, oboe, percussion and more. According to Professor Christopher Houlihan ’09, Director of Chapel Music, “This year’s Schweitzer Festival Concert features the Chapel Singers performing with several choirs from the area, forming a large choir of about 80 singers.” The concert will culminate in a performance of Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Chichester Psalms’ as well as feature the north American premiere of ‘A Psalm for Chichester,’ composed by Joanna Marsh.
On Oct. 2, the Trinity Organ Series will continue in the Chapel, featuring Ellen Dickinson, the College’s official carillonneur, and Nicholas Capozzoli, a highly-lauded organist.
In the Widener Gallery of the Austin Arts Center (AAC), Dennis Delgado’s exhibition “Are You Also Divergent, Friend?” will be showing from Oct. 6 to Dec. 5, with a reception on Nov. 6. Delgado’s exhibition “addresses the experience of being a person of color in a new age of automated and algorithmic surveillance,” according to the AAC’s website. The piece features video, tapestry, installation and collage, all said to portray “how the colonialist gaze was coded into the surveillance tools of today.”
On Oct. 8, the Chapel Singers will hold a choral evensong performance in the Chapel.
From Oct. 9-11 and 14-16, the theatrical long-form poem “Where We Stand” will be put on in Goodwin Theater, located inside the AAC. The piece is written by Donetta Lavinia Grays, directed by Vernice Miller and starring Laugh Sanchez. Described by the newsletter Finding Connecticut, “Where We Stand” is a “modern parable of community and compassion where the fate of the main character is decided by the audience.”
On Oct. 21, there will be a women composers lecture in Gruss Music Hall in the AAC, followed by “A Bouquet of Romances,” a recital performed in the Chapel. This recital features Marcia Lehninger on violin, Virginia Eskin on piano and Peter Guidi on French horn. To close out the month, Garmany Hall in the AAC will feature “The Wolves,” an ensemble play written by Sarah Delappe and directed by Visiting Lecturer in Theater and Dance Kristen Moriarty. The play follows the interpersonal relationships of a girls’ high school soccer team, as well as such issues as teen pregnancy, war, immigration and relationships with authority. It will run from Oct. 23-25. “Whether you ever were a teenage girl, or you’ve spent time around them, this play has something that I believe everyone in the audience can relate to,” Moriarty said. “To quote one of the actors in the play, ‘The Wolves’ is a ‘raw and unfiltered version of girlhood.’”
The Trinity Organ Series will return to the Chapel on Nov. 6, featuring performances from the organ students of Professor Houlihan.
On Nov. 12, mayfield brooks ’95 will hold a screening and artist talk for their experimental dance film “Whale Fall” in Cinestudio. The film was nominated for the 2021 Bessie/New York Dance and Performance Award. Also on Nov. 12 is another choral evensong performance by the Chapel Singers in the Chapel.
To mark the 60th anniversary of the Austin Arts Center, “The Mix: Meditations on Space” will be held throughout the AAC from Nov. 20-22, exploring different aspects of the building and its history. This event is directed by Professor Peter Kyle.
Finally, Dec. 2-4 will feature numerous music ensemble performances in the AAC. On Dec. 2, there will be a jazz concert in the Goodwin Theater. On Dec. 3, Goodwin Theater will hold a steel and hand drum concert. On Dec. 4, there will be a chamber ensemble concert in the Gruss Music Hall.
The theater and dance department’s “Last Night” showcase will be held in the Performance Lab of Trinity Commons on Dec. 8, described by Professor Rebecca Pappas as a “dynamic celebration of class work.”
The final arts event at Trinity for the semester will be the Trinity/La MaMa Showcase at the Performance Lab on Dec. 10. This will be a collection of theater and dance performances by the class of fall 2025 at La MaMa, the theater and dance department’s study away program in New York City.
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