MUSIC FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY: Maura Shawn Scanlin, left, and Conor Hearn, take a concert approach to performing Irish music. (Photo by L. Bichan)

The Princeton Folk Music Society celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with a March 17, 8 p.m. concert by Rakish, a duo comprising violinist Maura Shawn Scanlin and guitarist Conor Hearn, at Christ Congregation Church, 50 Walnut Lane.

In a performance that is something more akin to concert music, Rakish explores tunes and songs from Irish and American folk traditions. The duo stretches boundaries, going beyond basic session playing. more

The exhibition and sale of paintings by artist Cliff Tisdell honoring the late Southern writer Carson McCullers has been extended through the end of March at Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau Street. Labyrinth owner Dorothea von Moltke and Tisdell hope to stir interest in McCullers’ work for those who might not be familiar with her.

The Delaware Valley Bead Society (DVBS) will sponsor a niobium workshop, “Resist Me If You Can,” with Marti Brown, founding member and president of the DVBS on Saturday, March 11, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (allows time for lunch – BYO or order out) at the Raritan Township Police Station, Municipal Courtroom, at One Municipal Drive, Building #2, Flemington. Pre-registration is required; the registration deadline is Saturday, March 4. more

The Princeton University Art Museum has announced the appointment of Jun Nakamura as assistant curator of prints and drawings. Nakamura joins the museum from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where he was the Suzanne Andrée Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. He began his appointment at Princeton on February 20.

At Princeton, Nakamura will work with the museum’s extensive collections of more than 15,000 prints and drawings, comprising European, British, Latin American, and North American works from the 15th century to the present. In addition to organizing exhibitions and gallery installations, Nakamura will initiate scholarly and public programs, grow the collections, and cultivate new supporters. more

“WOMAN AND BUTTERFLY”: This painting by Angela Arrey-Wastavino is featured in “The Women’s Caucus for Art,” on view March 14 through April 15 in the Main Gallery at Artworks Trenton. An opening reception is on Saturday, March 18 from 6 to 8 p.m.

With its upcoming exhibitions, Artworks Trenton celebrates Women’s History Month and amplifies the voices of creatives Amy Louise Lee and the members of the Women’s Caucus for Art. These two exhibitions represent the mission of the organization, which is to promote artistic diversity by fostering creativity, learning, and appreciation of the arts. From March 14 through April 15, “The Women’s Caucus for Art” will be presented in the Main Gallery alongside Amy Louise Lee’s show, “Metal Lucidity,” in the Community Gallery. An opening reception is on March 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. more

“ADELE OF THE PRESCHOOL CROWD”: That’s what Princeton native Laurie Berkner, who will perform at the annual New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning, has been called. Opening day is July 28.

Best-selling children’s recording artist Laurie Berkner , a native of Princeton, will headline this year’s children’s concert at the 40th annual New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning. The three-day festival at Solberg Airport in Readington begins July 28. Berkner will perform that day at 1:30 p.m.

Berkner delivered the Festival’s first-ever kids’ concert in 2017 and has become a Festival staple. With an average of more than 22 million monthly streams and millions of CDs and DVDs sold, her songs have become classics for children worldwide. Her debut DVD, which went quadruple platinum, was the first-ever indie children’s music DVD to enter Billboard’s Top Music Video chart at number one. She has released 15 best-selling albums including the recently released Another Laurie Berkner Christmas, was the first recording artist ever to perform in music videos on Nick Jr., and has authored a number of picture books based on her songs.  more

RETURNING ROCKERS: America, the classic rock band best known for “A Horse With No Name,” comes to the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick on March 3.

State Theatre New Jersey presents classic rock band America on Friday, March 3 at 8 p.m.

Celebrating their 53rd anniversary, America was founded by Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, who quickly rose to the top of the charts with their signature song “A Horse with No Name.” America’s current members are the original leads Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, alongside touring musicians Richard Campbell, Ryland Steen, and Steve Fekete.

Signed by Warner Bros in 1971, the British American rock band released their first self-titled debut album the following year, including “A Horse With No Name” and “I Need You.” Over the next several years the band would continue to release hit songs “Muskrat Love,” “Tin Man,” “Lonely People,” and more.  more

CELEBRATING BLACK COMPOSERS: Tenor Lawrence Brownlee, left, and pianist Kevin J. Miller perform at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium on March 8.

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee returns to Princeton University Concerts (PUC) to premiere a new program, “Rising,” on Wednesday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium.

Alongside pianist Kevin J. Miller, Brownlee will perform newly commissioned songs by Black composers, including Jasmine Barnes, Margaret Bonds, Shawn Okpebholo, and Damien Sneed, which utilize texts drawn from Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Georgia Douglas Johnson, James Weldon Johnson, and other great Black writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

“These past years have been a trial, both for humanity as a whole, and the African American population here in the United States,” said Brownlee, “but, through all these many challenges we have faced, I have also seen moments of strength, inspiration, hope, and great beauty. It is those themes of uplift, elevation, and rebirth that we have tried to focus on with this new project ‘Rising,’ taking poems from the giants of the Harlem Renaissance, and working with some of today’s most talented African American composers, to create something that speaks not just to our struggles, but to our triumphs.” more

SOLOIST IN A WORLD PREMIERE: Violinist William Harvey performs with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in his “Seven Decisions of Gandhi,” at Richardson Auditorium March 11 and 12. (Photo by Isai Pacheco)

On Saturday, March 11 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 12 at 4 p.m., the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) presents the world premiere of composer William Harvey’s Seven Decisions of Gandhi. Written for violin and orchestra, the work was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter Ela on the occasion of her 80th birthday.

The composer is soloist, accompanied by Dibyarka Chatterjee on tabla. The program also includes Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 “Pathétique.” Guest conductor Sameer Patel is on the podium for both concerts at Richardson Auditorium, on the campus of Princeton University.

An admirer of Gandhi, Harvey was intrigued by the fact that Gandhi was once a violinist like himself, and this sparked an idea for composing a piece about the peaceful revolutionary. “Had Gandhi decided to stick with the violin, world history might be very different. This gave me the idea that a violin concerto about his life could be based on decisions that made him the international nonviolence icon he is today,” he said. “When I met his granddaughter in Durban, South Africa, in 2017, I ran this idea by her, and she gave the project her blessing. During the pandemic, I finished the concerto just in time to dedicate it to her for her 80th birthday on July 1, 2020. The concerto will hopefully inspire us all to make decisions as well as Gandhi did, and to choose nonviolence and principled thought in all aspects of our lives.” more