Early highlights include Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues and a lecture on the physics of sports
Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues will perform on Sept. 10.
The Fermilab Arts and Lecture Series is proud to kick off its 2016-2017 season in the coming weeks.
We start the season in style on September 10 with Chicago blues icon Corky Siegel and Chamber Blues, his unique and highly acclaimed fusion of blues music with a classical string quartet. They will be joined by drummer Sam Lay, a recent inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sam has performed with the Butterfield Blues Band, and was part of Bob Dylan’s band at the very first Newport Folk Festival. Come early for a special panel discussion about a series of pivotal blues recordings that took place in Aurora, presented by the Fox Valley Music Foundation. The talk is tiled “The Birth of Post-War Chicago Blues: The 1937-1938 Leland Bluebird Recording Sessions.”
The Arts Series journeys around the world this season with Las Migas: Flamenco and More direct from Spain on October 29; Spherus (an engineering-inspired Cirque-style performance) on November 12; Danu celebrating Christmas Irish style on December 3; Aquila Theatre performing “Murder on the Nile” on February 25; Alan Doyle from Canadian supergroup Great Big Sea on March 11; DakhaBrakha from Kiev on April 1; and the stunning one-woman play about Nannerl Mozart titled “The Other Mozart” on May 13.
Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, will speak at Fermilab on Oct. 7.
The lecture series begins on September 23 with “What’s Physics Got To Do With Sports?” presented by Chang Kee Jung of Stony Brook University. In this talk Jung will explain the physics behind some astonishing effects created by the spinning (and also non-spinning) balls in popular sports using basic concepts of classical mechanics and fluid dynamics. If time allows, he will briefly comment on the “Deflategate” controversy involving the New England Patriots as well.
Upcoming lectures include our fifth annual Physics Slam (which is sold out); a talk by Harold McGee, author of “The Curious Cook”; a lecture on microbiomes by Jack Gilbert of the University of Chicago; and a season-ending look at the process of mapping dark matter with Priya Natarajan of Yale University.
Starting in January we will host two very special events to kick off Fermilab’s 50th Anniversary. Mucca Pazza, the colorful and original hip marching band from Chicago, will herald in the festivities on January 21. Come early as we’ll start partying with exhibits and birthday cake at 7 pm.
Then on January 27, Fermilab’s own Chris Quigg takes a look at “Fermilab’s Greatest Hits: The First Fifty Years.” Stay tuned for more 50th anniversary celebration news.
Chicago’s Mucca Pazza will kick off Fermilab’s 50th anniversary year with a party on Jan. 21.
You can get more information about all of our 2016-2017 event, and order tickets with no fees at the new arts and lecture series website, part of Fermilab’s new public events pages. You can also call our box office a 630-840-2787 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ramsey Auditorium is located in Wilson Hall, the central building of Fermilab. Wilson Hall, our 16-story high-rise, is visible from the lab entrance from the west on Kirk Road at Pine Street. Both the West (Pine St. at Kirk Rd.) and East (Batavia Rd. at Rte. 59) entrances are open for Arts and Lecture Series events.
Construction notice: The Farnsworth interchange on I-88, just south of Fermilab, will be under construction until 2017. Those traveling to Fermilab via I-88 may consider taking the Route 59 exit and using our Batavia Road entrance from Route 59. The Route 59 exit is east of the Farnsworth interchange.
Janet MacKay-Galbraith is the Fermilab performing arts program manager.