Arts & Events

(PHOTO COURTESY/KRIS ORLOWSKI) Kris Orlowski (Above) recently released a stripped down EP entitled Columbia City Theater Sessiosn. It returns to his more intimate acoustic style and captures the magic of his solo performances.   Fall means rain for the Northwest. Lots of rain. But despite the gloomy Tacoma winter outside, it all seemed to lift, if only for a moment, one night in November. Pacific Northwest musician Kris Orlowski graced Puget Sound this November with a moving performance in Oppenheimer Café. He left the crowd smiling with his knockout set and...

The 90s are alive and well . . . on our heads. In the past year, we’ve seen a revival of velvet, chokers and fresh sneakers. So it only makes sense that hairstyles are following suit. The fabled man bun has become a recent sex symbol as the movement of “lumbersexuals” gains notoriety. Celebrities such as Colin Farrell, Orlando Bloom and Ezra Miller have turned long, unruly hair into sultry and luscious locks. The topknot, a refreshed take on the half-up/half-down hairstyle is simultaneously coming into vogue.  Actresses Kate Mara...

On Feb. 3, Schneebeck Concert Hall opened its doors to welcome Grammy Award-winning violinist Mads Tolling to the stage. Along with Puget Sound’s Jazz Orchestra, Tolling treated a lucky audience to a night of jazz and rhythm. Anybody passing by the hall that night is sure to have heard the blare of trumpets, the low crooning of saxophones and the undeniably bittersweet tones of the expertly played violin. Both students and community members alike were bobbing their heads and tapping their toes to keep in time with the steady rhythms...

Now that the craze over Katy Perry’s “dancing left shark” during her halftime show has started to calm down, and we are slowly starting to recover from the Super Bowl (We’ll get ‘em next year Seahawks!), we can turn to the long-awaited award season. This too is proving to be anyones game. Best Motion Picture nominees are American Sniper,Bird man (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash.  Many suggest that it will be a toss up between...

Not every performance can boast being a part of a series that has existed for 30 years. This past Friday’s event, An Evening of Baroque Music, however, is one of those performances. An Evening of Baroque Music, which was performed on Feb. 6, continued the long-standing Jacobsen Series. First established in 1984, the series is named for Professor Leonard Jacobsen, Professor of piano and Chair of the Piano Department at the University of Puget Sound from 1935 to 1965. The Jacobsen series consists of concerts on a theme throughout the...

    The Tenth Annual Dickens Festival, that's what! 'Twas a weekend filled with unique activities in the guise of Victorian England to establish an overwhelming sense of community. The festival occurred in Stadium District in Tacoma, Dec. 6-7. It is difficult to find the words to describe what a truly lovely experience the festival gave its participants. The world of Charles Dickens was brought to life in a way you wouldn’t expect. This was not completely centered around the man and his works, but rather around the ideals he...

Even if you don’t know much about him, you’ve heard of him. This theoretical physicist and cosmologist is arguably the most important figure in natural science since Albert Einstein. I’m talking, of course, about Stephen Hawking. Hawking is largely known for setting forth complex theories regarding the origins of the universe and the radiation emitted by black holes. He was the first to suggest a cosmology that can be explained by a union of quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age...

If you’re not happy, you should go. That’s how an album that I only barely own a copy of (more on this later), called Grackle by band Ruby Fray, begins. All at once it is a friendly suggestion, a confirmation of permission, life advice and a very specific warning. Its particular meaning is ambiguous yet its function here is anything but, and as darkness—facilitated by indefinable bassy sounds and a gently warbling, tinkly music box-like melody—slowly creeps from the edges to the center of the frame, the importance of heeding...

Yes, Jeff Bridges is a musician. And a fantastic one at that. Most people know him for his iconic role as Kevin Flynn in the Tron movie franchise, or as “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski. But Bridges’s biggest achievement in Hollywood was an academy award for his role as “Bad Blake” in the 2009 film Crazy Heart. After the success of the film and the accompanying soundtrack, Bridges released another country album, a self-titled work that Bridges says “is a natural extension of the love of music I’ve had...

  Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited and shamelessly promoted Interstellar does not disappoint. Interstellar revitalizes the tired concept of space exploration and provides audiences with an unforgettable viewing experience. Sometime in the future, a ways out (it’s unspecified) planet Earth becomes uninhabitable for humans because, apparently, corn won’t grow anymore. The planet is overrun with dust; winds and dust storms as a result of said dust and wind. The story’s protagonist, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), previously an engineer, is now a corn farmer as a result of the government shutting down NASA, whom...

    Those who have heard A Cappella performances before know the magic and uniqueness such performances can hold. There are few things cooler than a group of people harmonizing perfectly, and grooving to nothing but their own voices. “I think A Cappella has an appeal because it is very accessible... e sing songs like radio hits that almost everyone knows and present it in a way that hasn’t been heard before,” Co-Director of Underground Sound Lisa Hawkins said, “hearing music that showcases real voices is refreshing.” Sophomore Michael Stahl,...