Community Calendar

Michigan Radio’s new book club, Michigan Radio Reads, has announced its first featured book: Uphill: A Memoir by Detroit native and MSU alum Jemele Hill. The memoir will be the focus of discussion at the book club’s first event on March 30 (7PM) at UM Detroit Center*. People can also participate online (via Zoom) for those unable to attend in person.

Join April Baer, host of Michigan Radio’s Stateside program, and other Michigan Radio staff members for a conversation about the book. This event is open to the public. Those who are interested are encouraged to register now for the free event, as space at UM Detroit Center is limited.

Michigan Radio and GLC Live at 20 Monroe will present a live performance of The MOTH Mainstage in Grand Rapids on Thursday, June 15 at 7:30 p.m. The MOTH Mainstage features a line-up of writers, performers, and other unique national and Michigan storytellers, each with a ten-minute story to tell live without notes.

The Ann Arbor Film Festival is the oldest avant-garde and experimental film festival in North America, founded in 1963. Internationally recognized as a premiere forum for independent filmmakers and artists, each year's festival engages audiences with remarkable cinematic experiences. The six-day festival presents 40 programs with more than 180 films from over 20 countries of all lengths and genres, including experimental, animation, documentary, fiction, and performance-based works. See a list of past AAFF directors here.

The 27th Annual Exhibition of Artists in Michigan Prisons showcases the hard work and talents of artists incarcerated in Michigan prisons.

The work is by men and women from all 25 state prisons in both the upper and the lower peninsulas: 24 men’s prisons and 1 women’s prison.

This year there are 645 works in two and three dimensions, including portraits, tattoo imagery, landscapes, fantasy, and wildlife as well as images about incarceration and visions that are entirely new.

We invite you to enjoy the work and, if you like, make a purchase. All proceeds, minus necessary taxes and fees, go directly to the artists.

After March 21st, gallery hours for the exhibit are:
Sunday–Monday: 12:00 PM–6:00 PM
Tuesday–Saturday: 10:00 AM–7:00 PM

Presented with support from U-M Residential College and the Michigan Arts and Culture Council

The landmark Emmy Award®-winning Netflix series that took the world by storm is now a live concert event! OUR PLANET LIVE IN CONCERT combines breathtaking HD cinematography with all-new orchestrations by Oscar®-winning composer Steven Price performed by a live onstage orchestra. A journey of discovery across our planet featuring narration by legendary broadcaster David Attenborough, this mesmerizing concert is a spectacular celebration of the planet we call home – welcoming audiences to be fully immersed into the wonders of earth’s wildlife and their habitats. A donation will be made to the World Wildlife Fund for each concert.

Academy Award®-winning composer Steven Price states, “I can’t wait for the audience to experience the music of Our Planet live. Using a combination of the most memorable sequences from the Netflix series exclusively designed for this show, the incredible musicians plan to take you on a journey that celebrates the wonders of our planet - the one home we all share - whilst showing the urgent need to treasure and protect it.”

A UMS favorite since her 2017 debut, Cécile McLorin Salvant continues to defy expectations with her genre-obliterating virtuosity. Singer, composer, and visual artist Cécile McLorin Salvant has a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between blues, folk traditions from around the world, theater, jazz, and Baroque music.
$12-$66
More info at https://ums.org/performance/cecile-mclorin-salvant-2023/

Audra McDonald has secured her place atop Broadway’s pantheon with a record-breaking six Tony Awards, the only actor ever to achieve the Tony Grand Slam. Blessed with a luminous soprano and an incomparable gift for storytelling, she is equally at home on Broadway and opera stages and in roles on film and television (Private Practice, The Good Fight). A 2015 National Medal of Arts recipient, she was a founder of Black Theatre United in 2020 and is also a committed advocate for at-risk youth and LGBTQ equality, among other causes.

Audiences across North America are toasting a new production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF!

Rich with musical hits you know and love, including “Tradition,” “Sunrise, Sunset;’ “If I Were A Rich Man;’ “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “To Life (L’Chaim!),” FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is the heartwarming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and life, love and laughter.

Tony®-winning director Bartlett Sher and the team behind South Pacific and The King and I bring a fresh and authentic vision to this beloved theatrical masterpiece from Tony winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. Featuring a talented cast, lavish orchestra and stunning movement and dance from Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter, based on the original staging by Jerome Robbins, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will introduce a new generation to the uplifting celebration that raises its cup to joy! To love! To life!

This performance is an ASL interpreted performance and is supported by Theatre Kalamazoo and The Irving S. Gilmore Foundation.