Calendar of Events

Celebrate spring at the Wadsworth during our 40th Annual Fine Art & Flowers. Stunning floral arrangements by florists, garden clubs, and interior designers are shown alongside the works of art that inspired them. A $5 surcharge is added to all admissions during this springtime fundraiser presented by the Friends of the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Celebrate spring at the Wadsworth during our 40th Annual Fine Art & Flowers. Stunning floral arrangements by florists, garden clubs, and interior designers are shown alongside the works of art that inspired them. A $5 surcharge is added to all admissions during this springtime fundraiser presented by the Friends of the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Celebrate spring at the Wadsworth during our 40th Annual Fine Art & Flowers. Stunning floral arrangements by florists, garden clubs, and interior designers are shown alongside the works of art that inspired them. A $5 surcharge is added to all admissions during this springtime fundraiser presented by the Friends of the Wadsworth Atheneum.

1pm gallery talk with Philippe Halbert
2pm concert

Members of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra present an afternoon of chamber music inspired by cities around the world. Kenji Bunch’s dynamic 26.2 is based on the first time the composer and his wife ran the New York City marathon. Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 2 is a rich and enchanting work that reflects on his time in Vienna. Prior to the concert, join Philippe Halbert, interim curator
of American decorative arts, for a gallery talk highlighting Hartford’s storied Charter Oak. $30; $25 for HSO subscribers and Wadsworth members; $10 for students with ID (limited availability). For tickets and information, visit hartfordsymphony.org or call (860) 987-5900. Click here to register for the gallery talk.

The Sunday Serenades Chamber Music Series is made possible in part by The Saunders Foundation Music Endowment at the Wadsworth Atheneum; Nancy D. Grover in honor of Leonid Sigal, concertmaster, Hartford Symphony Orchestra; and Suzanne Hopgood in memory of Frank Lord.

Image: Charles De Wolf Brownell, The Charter Oak (detail), 1857. Oil on canvas. Gift of Mrs. Josephine Marshall Dodge and Marshall Jewell Dodge, in memory of Marshall Jewell, 1898.10

Natural Information Society’s hypnotic sound celebrates rhythm and collective listening through its approach to structured improvisation. Hailed by The New York Times as “patient, layered music that’s always heading somewhere, sometimes spare and sometimes complex and shimmering,” Natural Information Society fuses elements of minimalism and jazz with sounds from across the globe. Led by Joshua Abrams—composer, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of The Roots—the ensemble incorporates free-hanging paintings by artist and band member Lisa Alvarado (MATRIX 192) into its performances, setting the stage for a multisensory journey through the ensemble’s colorful world. $15; $10 members, Wadsworth Welcome, and students with ID. Museum admission not included.

Joshua Abrams – guimbri, Lisa Alvarado – harmonium, Mikel Avery – drums & cymbals, Jason Stein – bass clarinet 

Presented in conjunction with the Lisa Alvarado / MATRIX 192 exhibition and generously supported by the Wadsworth’s Contemporary Coalition. Additional support for the performance is provided by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation Fund at the Wadsworth Atheneum.  

Image: Photo by Mikel Patrick Avery, Courtesy of Natural Information Society and Front Porch Productions 

1pm gallery talk, 2pm concert

Members of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra perform a concert of chamber music inspired by myths and legends featuring Karol Szymanowski’s Mythes, op. 30 (1915), for violin and piano and Franz Liszt’s tone poem Orpheus (1854). Before the performance, join Oliver Tostmann, Susan Morse Hilles Curator of European Art, to see how visual artists have interpreted myths and legends. $30; $25 for HSO subscribers and Wadsworth members; $10 for students with ID (limited availability). For tickets and information, visit hartfordsymphony.org or call (860) 987-5900. Separate reservations required for the gallery talk via thewadsworth.org.

The Sunday Serenades Chamber Music Series is made possible, in part, by The Saunders Foundation Music Endowment at the Wadsworth Atheneum; Nancy D. Grover in honor of Leonid Sigal, concertmaster, Hartford Symphony Orchestra; and Suzanne Hopgood in memory of Frank Lord.

Drop in as regional musicians create a sound map of our city throughout the galleries with a special recreation of the 1970 musical composition (Hartford) Memory Space by Alvin Lucier (1931–2021), one of the most influential American composers of the last hundred years, best known for his works that explore the properties of sound and how we perceive them. (Hartford) Memory Space premiered at Hartford Art School, inviting musicians to recreate the sounds they heard while out in the city. In conjunction with the exhibition Rules & Repetition. Free with admission.

Performances by Joan La Barbara, The Daxophone Consort (Daniel Fishkin, Cleek Schrey, and Ron Shalom), Tongue Depressor (Henry Birdsey and Zach Rowden), Trevor Saint, Ronald Kuivila, Emerson Jenisch, and Sam Boston.

Presented in partnership with Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts and Hartford Art School at University of Hartford with support from the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation Fund at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Image: Contact sheet from the Museum Archives Photograph Collection documenting Alvin Lucier’s performance of Music for Solo Performer (1965) at the Wadsworth Atheneum on April 23, 1996, part of an “Evening Lecture Series” on performance art.

Celebrate the season and support the Wadsworth during this major holiday fundraiser, our 49th annual Festival of Trees & Traditions. Each year, community members, artists, and volunteers from local organizations decorate holiday trees and wreaths, turning the galleries into a winter wonderland. All items are for sale and profits support the museum’s special exhibitions, programs, and operating expenses. Bring home the holiday cheer or donate your purchase to a local charity. A $5 fundraising surcharge is added to all museum admissions during Festival of Trees & Traditions.

Celebrate the season and support the Wadsworth during this major holiday fundraiser, our 49th annual Festival of Trees & Traditions. Each year, community members, artists, and volunteers from local organizations decorate holiday trees and wreaths, turning the galleries into a winter wonderland. All items are for sale and profits support the museum’s special exhibitions, programs, and operating expenses. Bring home the holiday cheer or donate your purchase to a local charity. A $5 fundraising surcharge is added to all museum admissions during Festival of Trees & Traditions.

Celebrate the season and support the Wadsworth during this major holiday fundraiser, our 49th annual Festival of Trees & Traditions. Each year, community members, artists, and volunteers from local organizations decorate holiday trees and wreaths, turning the galleries into a winter wonderland. All items are for sale and profits support the museum’s special exhibitions, programs, and operating expenses. Bring home the holiday cheer or donate your purchase to a local charity. A $5 fundraising surcharge is added to all museum admissions during Festival of Trees & Traditions.