Nassau notes
Omar Sosa (photo: Tomas Presas)
Composer, pianist Omar Sosa brings Afro-Cuban jazz to Princeton
Grammy-nominated Cuban composer and pianist Omar Sosa will bring his unique style of Afro-Cuban jazz to Prince-ton for a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 29, in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall.
The performance will cap Sosa’s three-day visit to the University as part of the Council of the Humanities’ visiting fellows program. Anthony D.J. Branker, director of Princeton’s jazz program, nominated Sosa to come to campus to meet with students and offer master classes. His visit is hosted by the Department of Music and the Program in Latin American Studies.
Sosa is a major force in the world of fusion music who synthesizes different cultures, from African, Latin American and Afro-Cuban to American hip-hop and jazz. His latest release, “Afreecanos,” continues Sosa’s explorations of the roots of traditional music throughout the African Diaspora, using modern jazz harmonies and the latest audio technology. “Afreecanos” incorporates musical traditions from Cuba, Brazil, Morocco, Senegal, Guinea, Mali and Mozambique.
The March 29 concert, “From Cuba to Africa: An Evening of Black Atlantic Jazz,” will feature Sosa with his Afreecanos Ensemble, including Senegalese vocalist Mola Sylla. It is sponsored by the Program in Latin American Studies, the Department of Music, the Council of the Humanities, the Center for African American Studies and Princeton University Concerts.
Tickets are free for Tiger Ticket holders, $8 for students and $16 for others. They are available through the University Ticketing website at www.princeton.edu/utickets or by calling the Richardson box office at 258-5000.
International Festival set
The Princeton International Festival, one of the largest student-organized events on campus, will kick off with an opening ceremony at 8 p.m. Friday, March 28, in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall.
The monthlong festival will feature performances, conferences and other events under the theme of “A Tour Around the World.” A different region will be highlighted each week: the Middle East and Africa (week of March 31); the Americas (week of April 7); Asia-Pacific (week of April 14); and Europe (week of April 21).
The opening ceremony will highlight a variety of performance styles from around the globe, including dragon and lion dances, as well as a procession of students bearing the flags of their native countries.
Other events planned for the festival include art exhibitions in the Frist Campus Center and Firestone Library; a performance by the Ballet Folklorico student dance troupe; an Asian market; and a “Global Village” presentation and flag procession down Nassau Street at Communiversity on Saturday, April 26.
The International Festival is organized by the Consortium of International Student Organizations under the auspices of the Davis International Center. For more information, visit www.princeton.edu/~consortm/int_festival.html.
(photo: Brian Wilson)
Supreme Court Justice Scalia visited to deliver address
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia visited the University on March 7 to deliver a public address on the role of the courts in a democracy.
Following his lecture, Scalia received the 2008 James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service from sophomore Molly Alarcon, president of the American Whig-Cliosophic Society. For coverage of Scalia’s visit, go to www.princeton.edu/ main/ news/ archive/ S20/ 49/ 94K50/.
Neutrino expert to discuss insights
Arthur McDonald, director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Ontario, Canada, will deliver the 33rd Donald Ross Hamilton Lecture at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 27, in A02 McDonnell Hall.
The lecture by McDonald, who is also the Gordon and Patricia Gray Chair in Particle Astrophysics at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, is titled, “A Deeper Understanding of the Universe From 2 km Underground.” He is one of the world’s leaders in neutrino astrophysics.
McDonald will describe his research, conducted over many years two kilometers below ground at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, which is attached to a fully functioning nickel mine. There, in an ultra-clean environment that is mostly free of the cosmic rays and radiation that can interfere with sensitive equipment, McDonald and his team have discovered that these unimaginably small neutrinos produced by the sun actually do have mass and can change type or “flavor.”
“The electrons that make up the matter we know actually have two relatives, the muon and the tau meson, identical to the electron in all respects except that they are more massive (which is why we don’t see them under normal conditions),” said Curtis Callan, chair of the Department of Physics, which is sponsoring the lecture. “Each of these particles is associated with a different neutrino: the neutrino emitted when a muon decays can’t excite an electron and vice versa. We call this difference ‘flavor,’ just to give it a name.”
The fact that there are three different neutrinos, he added, is important for cosmology: There is three times as much “neutrino pressure” contributing to the Big Bang expansion as there would be if there were only one neutrino “flavor.” This effect recently was confirmed by the five-year data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe satellite experiment (see story in this issue).
McDonald began paying attention to the elusive, mysterious particles in the 1980s. He was a Princeton faculty member from 1982 to 1989, when he became a professor at Queen’s. While at Princeton, he helped found the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, where under his leadership scientists would eventually solve the 30-year-old problem on neutrinos from the sun.
During the talk, McDonald will explain that there may be more discoveries to come. The observatory has been expanded to create a long-term, international facility for underground science — called SNOLAB — where measurements of dark matter, solar neutrinos and other mysterious physical entities are progressing.
Danticat to present Morrison Lecture
Haitian-born author Edwidge Danticat will deliver the annual Toni Morrison Lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall. The event is free, but tickets are required.
The lecture, titled “Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work,” was inspired by author Albert Camus’ landmark essay “Create Dangerously” and his definition of art as “a revolt against everything fleeting and unfinished in the world.” Danticat, who was born in Haiti during the Duvalier dictatorship and moved to the United States when she was 12, will talk about her experiences and those of other immigrant artists living and working between sometimes violent and unfriendly worlds.
Danticat’s most recent book, the memoir “Brother, I’m Dying,” was a 2007 finalist for the National Book Award and a 2008 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. Her other books include “Breath, Eyes, Memory”; “Krik? Krak!,” a National Book Award finalist; and “The Farming of Bones,” an American Book Award winner.
Sponsored by the Center for African American Studies and Princeton University Press, the Toni Morrison Lectures spotlight the work of prominent scholars and writers. The lectures will be published in book form by Princeton University Press. The series, which was inaugurated in 2007, honors Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, Princeton’s Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Humanities Emeritus.
Tickets for the Danticat lecture are available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the Center for African American Studies in Stanhope Hall or at the Frist Campus Center Ticket Office, or by calling University Ticketing at 258-9220.
Israel’s U.S. ambassador to speak on Middle East peace process
Sallai Meridor, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, will present a lecture on “U.S.-Israeli Relations and the Middle East Peace Process” at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.
Meridor was appointed as ambassador to the United States in 2006 by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Prior to that appointment, he served as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization from 1999 to 2005.
Meridor previously served as an adviser to Israel’s ministries of defense and foreign affairs. He played a role in the process that led to the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference, which brought together Israeli, Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Palestinian delegations.
The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Talk focuses on U.S.-Chinese relations
Managing Sino-U.S. Relations: The Chinese Way” is the title of a talk by Chinese scholar Qin Yaqing, set for 4:30 p.m. Monday, March 24, in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall.
Qin is executive vice president and a professor of international studies at China Foreign Affairs University and a member of the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party. His books include the forthcoming “Twenty Years’ Crisis” as well as “Perception and Misperception in International Politics.”
The event is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program.
(photo: Kevin Berne)
McCarter stages Greek mythological tale
“Argonautika,” a new interpretation of the Greek mythological tale “Jason and the Argonauts” written and directed by Mary Zimmerman, runs through April 6 at the McCarter Theatre Center.
With dazzling theatrics and fantastical storytelling, “Argonautika” recounts Jason’s perilous quest to capture the Golden Fleece. From left, Jason (Jake Suffian) encounters the blind prophet Phineas (Allen Gilmore) during his journey.
For ticket information, call the McCarter box office at 258-2787 or visit www.mccarter.org. The performance is intended for ages 10 and up.
‘Aladdin’ is theme of ‘Princyclopedia’
Visitors of all ages are invited to explore the world of “Aladdin” and the mysteries of Arabia at “Princyclopedia 2008,” sponsored by the Cotsen Children’s Library. The interactive book convention is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 29, in Dillon Gymnasium.
Inspired by the venerable folk tale, the event will allow “Aladdin” fans to immerse themselves in the art, architecture, food and culture of the Middle East through a variety of hands-on projects and demonstrations. It will feature a real flying carpet, genie magic demonstrations, and visits from desert snakes, bugs, falcons and even a live camel.
Activities will be led by various University organizations, community groups and local businesses. For more information and to view a full list of participants, visit www.princeton.edu/princyclopedia.
