Performing Arts

Two pioneering figures in Chicano cinema and literature will discuss their work and answer questions during the 38th annual Tomás Rivera Conference at the University of California, Riverside.

Ahead of Thursday's U.S.-China summit in Washington, D.C., a UC Riverside lecturer undertook Sino-American diplomacy on a more modest scale. Gary Barnett toured China as a kind of musical ambassador for UCR from June 20 to July 16. Barnett, who teaches music composition and musicianship, gave concerts and master classes across the country, fostering new relationships with Chinese conservatories and musicians.

An expansive multimedia exhibition showcasing five decades of East Los Angeles music history is still on view at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, in downtown Los Angeles, but closes after Aug. 23.

As the theater faculty at fictional Riverbottom College brainstorm ways to shore up their department’s faltering budget, some interesting proposals emerge. These include issuing a departmental meme coin, creating a faculty boudoir calendar, and selling blood plasma.

A multimedia concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding spotlights a famous poem by Allison Hedge Coke, distinguished professor of creative writing at UC Riverside. Hedge Coke’s “America, I Sing You Back,” published in 2011, is one of three related poems that inspired “I Hear America Singing,” a traveling stage production.