Highlights of Arts First events:

For more information, visit http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~arts to confirm event schedule and check rain dates. Celebrating its 11th year, Arts First, Harvard’s annual celebration of students and faculty in the arts, lights up Harvard Square with performances, exhibits, and arts activities. From May 1 through May 4, Harvard welcomes the public to more than 225 music, theater, dance, film, and visual arts events (most free of charge). The festival is sponsored by the University’s Board of Overseers.

Arts First 2003 highlights

Outdoor stage performances

Friday, May 2, 11:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Holyoke Center, 1350 Massachusetts Ave.
Arts First concert

Friday, May 2, 8 p.m.
Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St.
The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, Radcliffe Choral Society, Harvard Glee Club, and Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra perform Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “Dona nobis pacem,” a stirring musical narrative for our troubled times.

The films of Mira Nair

The Harvard Film Archive celebrates the work of this year’s Harvard Arts Medalist, Mira Nair ’79, with screenings of her films. Tickets: $7 general, $5 students; available 45 minutes before the start of the film at the Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Main Auditorium, 24 Quincy St.
Friday, May 2, 8 p.m.: “Monsoon Wedding” and “Jama Masjid Street Journal”
Sunday, May 4, 7 p.m.: “Salaam Bombay”
Sunday, May 4, 9 p.m.: “Mississippi Masala”

Arts First ’03 parade and welcoming event

Saturday, May 3, starts at 11 a.m.
Parade led by Harvard University Band to special welcoming event with John Lithgow and Harvard performers. Down Massachusetts Avenue into Harvard Yard.

Picnic

Saturday, May 3, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Picnic lunch with entertainment by the Harvard Sunday Jazz Band. Tickets: $7 general public. Arts First tent on the Science Center lawn.

Performance fair

Saturday, May 3, 1 – 5 p.m.
More than 100 free musical, theatrical, film, and dance performances at 13 indoor and outdoor sites. Harvard Yard.

Saturday, May 3, 7 p.m.
“Evening With Mira Nair,” a conversation with film director Mira Nair ’79, hosted and moderated by John Lithgow ’67
Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, 45 Quincy St. Sponsored by Office for the Arts at Harvard’s Learning from Performers program. Tickets are free, but must be reserved in advance through the Harvard Box Office, (617) 496-2222.

Bandfest

Sunday, May 4, noon – 6 p.m. Performances include high-energy rock, singer-songwriters, hip-hop, and traditional Korean folk drumming. Holyoke Center, 1350 Massachusetts Ave.

Shakespeare – indoors and out

“Richard III” in an Aztec context, presented by Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club. Main Stage, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St.
May 1 at 7:30 p.m., May 2 at 8 p.m., May 3 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets: $12 general, $8 students/seniors, $7 in groups of 10 or more, available at the Harvard or the Loeb Drama Center box offices.

“The Tempest,” presented by Winthrop House Drama Society. Performed outdoors, overlooking the Charles River in the Winthrop House Courtyard, 966 Mill St.
May 2 at 1 p.m., May 3 at 2 p.m., and May 4 at 3 p.m. Tickets: $3 general, $2 students.

“Much Ado About Nothing,” presented by Hyperion Shakespeare Company. Performed outdoors on the steps of the Memorial Church in Harvard Yard.
May 1, 2, and 4 at 2 p.m. Free.

Visual and Environmental Studies student thesis exhibition

All weekend. Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy St.