Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts has announced a virtual spring schedule featuring more than 60 livestreamed events for diverse audiences, many free of charge.
The Quick Center’s history-making 30th anniversary year continues with the launch of the spring season’s robust virtual calendar of groundbreaking performances, classic audience favorites, and thought-provoking lectures.
Thanks to Quick Center partners including the Fairfield University Art Museum, the Fredrickson Family Innovation Lab, the College of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Institute: Hindsight 20/20 Lecture Series, and others, Executive Director Peter Van Heerden promises “a robust and engaging spring season of more than 60 programs featuring acclaimed speakers, faculty members, leading voices in social causes, and an array of artists.”
Many of these programs will be free of charge, including all Open VISIONS Forum Espresso lectures, six new Open MINDS Institute seminars, and a four-part #UNLOAD Foundation series about women and firearms, titled "Guns — the Ultimate in Feminine Protection?"
“Though we can’t wait until the day when we can welcome you back through the doors of the Quick,” Van Heerden said, “we invite you to tune in, make dinner or enjoy a learning lunch, listen while you work, and make the Quick’s online programming part of your day-to-day way of staying connected, inspired, and part of our community of like-minded arts lovers.”
Highlights of the upcoming season include a new concert series, spanning eight Friday afternoons in February and March, featuring acclaimed pianist — and Quick Center fan favorite — Fairfield University Professor Emeritus Orin Grossman, PhD*.
The Open VISIONS Forum (OVF) will launch its spring lecture lineup with the Annual Student Forum on Feb. 11, featuring 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad*, author of the memoir The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and my Fight Against the Islamic State.
Another memoirist, Tara Westover*, author of the #1 New York Times best-seller Educated, will speak on March 16 as part of OVF's Bank of America Women and Leadership series. Raised in rural Idaho with no formal schooling, Westover overcame her upbringing with a decade-long pursuit of learning that began at age 17 and culminated in a PhD from Cambridge University.
The new season’s musical highlights include a March 14 performance by the dynamic chamber orchestra Sphinx Virtuosi*, comprised of 18 top Black and Latinx classical soloists. The New York Times described the ensemble as “propulsive, richly hued” and New York Concert Review raved of “electrically charged performances… with the vital energy of a life-and-death mission.”
The Global Theatre performance series, curated by Broadway producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld, will present the new play Six Feet* on March 25. Written and directed by Melanie Hoopes (Netflix’s Bloodline; Here’s the Thing, hosted by Alec Baldwin), Six Feet tells the coronavirus-era story of a group of people connected by a tragic event and confronting emotions made more raw, volatile, and intense the more they are confined.
This small sampling of the Quick’s spring season is representative of the multidisciplinary programming upon which Fairfield University prides itself, and there are dozens more virtual performances and lectures to look forward to. For complete information about Quick Center events, please visit quickcenter.com.
*Also of note, as 30th anniversary celebrations continue, the Quick is pleased to announce that Quick Members enjoy free access to all spring 2021 virtual events, including the Premier Events asterisked above. To become a Quick Member, visit quickcenter.com/support. Free full-season access is also extended to Fairfield University students, employees, President’s Circle and Bellarmine Society members.
