Jazz by Parlato, commentator Hill, novelist Barton kick off culture-rich weekend at Bates

Over the short span of just a few days this week and next, Bates College is the place to be for a cornucopia of can’t-miss events in the humanities and the arts. It will be tough to choose among them — but try you must.

The madness starts Thursday, Feb. 10, with three 7:30 p.m. events:

• a concert by esteemed jazz singer Gretchen Parlato;
• a reading by novelist Emily Barton;
• and a review of the state of the hip hop nation by commentator Marc Lamont Hill.

The following day, the action is unrelenting:

• the Auryn Quartet returns to complete, in concerts Friday, Saturday and Sunday, its review of the complete Beethoven string quartets;
• Native American artisans and scholars visit Bates for a seminar exploring Wabanaki material culture;
• the Robinson Players begin a three-night run of Eve Ensler’s popular play The Vagina Monologues;
• and the Freewill Folk Society offers its first community folk festival, featuring performances by Celtic fusion band the Bridgebuilders and Lewiston fiddle star Erica Brown and the Bluegrass Connection. The usual second-Friday contradance follows.

On Saturday, in addition to the Auryn and Rob Players events, Bates dancers join a program of dance performances from across the region in the sixth annual FAB concert in partnership with the Franco-American Heritage Center.

This cultural extravaganza winds up Monday evening with the second lecture in the Race in a Post-human World series, as Northwestern University professor Alexander Weheliye offers the talk Ring Ring Ring: Popular Music and Mobile Technologies.

And don’t forget the three exhibits now under way at the Bates College Museum of Art.