Sing along at a concert, celebrate Pride and kick off a film festival with September’s coolest events
Compiled by Tajahn Wilson and Hannah Lee
‘TORN’
Sept. 1-Oct. 29
This two-venue exhibition at both Horse & Buggy Press and Friends and PS118 Gallery & Event Space features writer, curator and visual artist Margaret Sartor’s personal mixed media works – assembled from scavenged materials, photographs and altered book pages – from the past five years. The series addresses “the question of growth and survival, taking something from here and from there to make something else, something new to the eye and useful to the mind.”
‘My Name is Pauli Murray’
Sept. 10
Hayti Heritage Film Festival presents Hayti Film Next Level, a new monthly film series that runs through June 2022. The season opener kicks off with a drive-in screening of the documentary “My Name is Pauli Murray,” presented in partnership with the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice, Amazon Studios and Participant Media. A multidimensional portrait of the 20th-century human rights activist, the film recounts Pauli’s extraordinary journey from early years in Durham to a worldwide influence.
Imani Winds & Cory Smythe
Sept. 12
Duke Performances kicks off its fall season and the return of live performances with the Grammy-nominated quintet and classical pianist at the Baldwin Auditorium at Duke University. Imani Winds and Cory perform “Revolutionary aka Civil Rights Project,” which will showcase several commissions from the past dozen years that focus on the ongoing racial struggle in America, including Frederic Rzewski’s “Sometimes,” which was commissioned by and premiered at Duke Performances in 2015 to celebrate the legacy of historian John Hope Franklin.
Oktoberfest
Sept. 18
The Glass Jug Beer Lab hosts its seventh annual beer festival and anniversary party in the beer garden of its Research Triangle Park location. Dress in your lederhosen or dirndl and celebrate the occasion with live music, German eats, a bounce house, a stein hoisting competition and delicious beer (of course!).
Durham Night Market
Sept. 23
Shop from more than 50 local vendors during this monthly shopping experience featuring food trucks and live music at American Tobacco Campus.
‘What is Left for Us to Write?’
Sept. 24
The Verona Quartet opens The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle’s 2021/22 season alongside OM grown dancers during this performance – a part of COT’s UpClose Chamber Music Series – that features works by Beethoven, Schubert and Lena-Frank at The Fruit.
Pride: Durham, NC
Sept. 25
The LGBTQ Center of Durham hosts this annual parade and festival at Duke’s East Campus, followed by an evening concert at Durham Central Park and late-night party at Suite Four. Come celebrate 40 years of Pride in Durham with live music, drag performances, DJ sets, a live dating show, art displays and guest speakers.
PLAYlist Concert Series: Soul Understated ft. Mavis ‘Swan’ Poole
Oct. 1
The neo-soul/funk group led by vocalist Mavis “Swan” Poole and powerful-yet-melodic drummer Jeremy “Bean” Clemons performs at Durham Central Park as part of this free monthly music series.
Charlie Wilson
Oct. 3
The R&B legend and Grammy nominee stops at Durham Performing Arts Center on his tour across America to support his eighth and latest album, “In It to Win It,” which reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and includes guest appearances by Snoop Dogg, Pitbull, Robin Thicke, T.I. and Wiz Khalifa.
