KU Opera presents ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’

The KU Opera will present “Cosi Fan Tutte,” a modern story about love and fidelity and what can happen when a joke goes too far.

“Cosi Fan Tutte” is the third in the trilogy of operas composed by Mozart with Da Ponte as his librettist. The action has been updated to take place in the present day at an exclusive hotel in Naples, Fla. The KU Opera also has updated the sounds of the orchestra to reflect the modern setting.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2, 5 and 8 and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 10, all in the Robert Baustian Theatre in Murphy Hall. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Call 864-3436 for more information.

‘These Moved Me’ extended at Spencer

The Spencer Museum of Art has extended the run of a special exhibition honoring the life and legacy of Dalton Howard (1943-2010), a longtime member of the Spencer family and a beloved local artist, musician, raconteur and thinker. Now on view through Oct. 3 in the Museum’s South Balcony, “These Moved Me” was assembled by Steve Goddard, Kate Meyer and Sue Ashline.

The exhibit features a few of Howard’s own paintings, borrowed from area collections, plus a selection of several pairs of works from the Spencer’s collection by artists that Howard himself had written down a few years ago when Goddard, the Spencer’s senior curator of Prints & Drawings, asked him about his favorites. Howard responded with a list that included the comment “these for the 20th century moved me” — words that inspired the title of the exhibition. Artists on his list included Philip Guston, David Hockney, Hans Hofmann, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Motherwell, Emil Nolde, Fairfield Porter, Richard Smith, Frank Stella and Wayne Thiebaud, among others.

KU music student performing internationally

Javier Valerio, a KU DMA student studying saxophone performance with Professor Vince Gnojek, was invited to perform as a soloist and lecturer at three international events:

• IV International Saxophone Encounter of the Conservatory of Tatuí, Sao Paolo, Brazil.
• Valerio will be featured as the new International Artist of the prestigious saxophone brand P. Mauriat Paris Saxophones, with a concert Oct. 15 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
• XI International University Saxophone Meeting in Mexico, Dec. 1-4.
• Valerio is widely recognized as one of the pioneers and leading classical saxophonists in Latin America.

Shakespeare authorship subject of lecture

Renowned Shakespeare scholar and author James Shapiro will present “Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?” this week at Kansas University.

Shapiro will speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Kansas Union Alderson Auditorium. He is presenting the KU Department of English annual Richard W. Gunn Memorial Lecture. The talk is free and open to the public.

The lecture title is drawn from Shapiro’s 2010 book of the same title, which has received rave reviews in both the British and American press.

Ward Elliott in the Los Angeles Times observed, “‘Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?’ serves as the first full-length discussion of the big authorship question by a Shakespeare pro in 100 years, maybe the first ever. It’s worth the wait. Shapiro is a powerful, engaging writer with a gift for connecting great generalities and illustrating them with telling examples. ‘Contested Will’ explores the origin and development of the authorship question with unexpected openness.”

Writers Place plans open house

The Writers Place has announced Get Connected with Literary Magazines, featuring a panel discussion with editors of three Kansas City-area literary magazines: Wayne Miller with Pleiades, Speer Morgan with The Missouri Review and Robert Stewart with New Letters. John Mark Eberhart of the Johnson County Public Library will moderate.

Come get an inside look at literary journals, the magazines that publish poetry, fiction and nonfiction, where many poets and writers first break into print. Learn about the process of publishing — how do things look from an editor’s perspective? How should writers approach them? What are some of the best strategies for new writers hoping to place unsolicited work? In addition, representatives of several Kansas City-area publications will also be on-hand to display issues and distribute guidelines and advice.

The free event takes place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at The Writers Place, 3607 Pennsylvania, in Kansas City. A reception and open house follows the discussion.