Helen Edison Lecture Series Highlight Festival

Organized by UC San Diego Extension, two Helen Edison Lecture Series events are an official part of the festival, starting Jan. 20 with a hosted discussion on jazz great Charles Mingus’ historical “Tijuana Moods” album. Moderated by Grammy Award-winning jazz author Ashley Kahn, the panel includes Schick and Anthony Davis from the Department of Music, with saxophonist and longstanding Mingus band member Charles McPherson. The discussion precedes two performances of “Mingus Dynasty: Tijuana Moods,” Jan. 21 at CECUT in Tijuana and Jan. 22 at Athenaeum Jazz at The Scripps Research Institute.

On Feb. 1, the second Helen Edison lecture takes place, with Schick in conversation with UC San Diego Department of Literature alumnus Luis Alberto Urrea. Urrea, a prolific, critically acclaimed best-selling author, will discuss his work and its insights into the cross-border region. The pair will also talk in depth on a new version of Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat,” which features text by Urrea.

This new, centennial version of Stravinsky’s masterpiece will be presented as part of “It’s About Time” on Feb. 3 at the Department of Music’s Reed Family Concert. UC San Diego’s new flute professor Wilfrido Terrazas, a founding member of the Mexico City-based improvisation collective Generacion Espontanea, performs with the Tijuana dance collective Lux Boreal.