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Sponsored Listing
The Juilliard String Quartet with pianist Anna Petrova
With unparalleled artistry and enduring vigor, the Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) continues to inspire audiences around the world. Founded in 1946 and hailed by The Boston Globe as “the most important American quartet in history,” the ensemble draws on a deep and vital engagement to the classics, while embracing the mission of championing new works, a vibrant combination of the familiar and the daring.Sat. May 17, 7:30pmRiverbend Centre -
Sponsored Listing
Affordable Art Fair Austin
After a hugely successful first edition, Affordable Art Fair Austin returns May 15-18, 2025 at the Palmer Events Center, showcasing thousands of original contemporary artworks ranging between $100 to $10,000. Welcoming 55 local, national and international exhibitors, the second edition will be unmissable.May 15-18, 2025Palmer Events Center
Recommended
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Music
The Opera, FLAGS, Proun
The Opera’s thundering sound mingles heavy shoegaze feedback with hyperpop elements and punctuating lyricism. Lead singer Tyler Dozier, aka Lady Dan, made a name for herself with her genre-bending multi-instrumental solo project, drenched in sultry tones and mysterious harmonies. In the Opera, Dozier expands her cinematic universe. The group explores harsher punk guitars and a live performance driven by electronic experimentation, anthemic vocal expression, and vivid tonality. Feel-good punk rockers FLAGS and vocal-driven shoegaze act proun round out this Saturday set full of the best kinds of distortion. – Caroline DrewSat., May 17, 9pm -
Arts
Visual Arts
Affordable Art Fair
Couldn’t fuel your private jet for Art Basel this year? Can’t afford even a painting of a private jet? That’s where you may be wrong, as the Affordable Art Fair may be the way to get an original work on your walls. The traveling international celebration of visual media always highlights local artists at each stop, so you have your chance to purchase paintings, prints, and more curated by Austin galleries and institutions like Art From the Streets and Canopy Collective alongside London’s Quantum Contemporary Art, Lumas from Berlin, and Paris’ Galerie Duret. – Richard WhittakerMay 15-18 -
Film
Special Screenings
Cine Las Americas International Film Festival
Newly in the news as one of many Austin arts organizations impacted by the National Endowment for the Arts’ slash-and-burn of arts funding, Cine Las Americas deserves our support now more than ever. But hey – we’re getting plenty in return: namely, a top-flight film festival celebrating Latine/x, Indigenous, and Latin American voices. But wait, there’s more! This year, Cine is launching its first-ever concurrent conference, with fireside chats, workshops, and more taking place May 16-17. See some terrific movies, learn from industry vets like Elizabeth Avellán and David Blue Garcia, and feel good about supporting a community thrown under the bus by the Trump administration. Them’s wins all around. – Kimberley JonesMay 15 - 18 -
Music
A John Williams Celebration
I once burst into tears at the opening credits of 1978’s Superman when John Williams’ score kicked in, and I don’t even much like the movie. That is the power of our most celebrated film composer in history, whose iconic works – Star Wars, the Indiana Jones movies, Jurassic Park, E.T., Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Home Alone, the Harry Potter movies, the 1984 Summer Olympic Games theme, to name mere drops in the bucket – touch something elemental inside us. Austin Symphonic Band, Mansfield Wind Symphony, and Sugar Land Winds pay tribute to the maestro at this afternoon concert in Round Top. – Kimberley JonesSat., May 17Festival Concert Hall, Round Top -
Arts
Books
Adult Book Fair
No, not *that* kind of adult: The promo materials reassure this is a family-friendly event for all ages. But Austin Beerworks’ Adult Book Fair is definitely tugging at your kid-at-heart heartstrings by invoking Scholastic Book Fair, aka Christmas for book nerds. ABW’s version runs noon to 4pm at the Springdale Road location and features local bookstores and art vendors, including Alienated Majesty Books, Austin Creative Reuse, Austin Public Library, Birdhouse Books and Gifts, BookWoman, Emily Seidel, Flutter, Host Publications, Kody Karnei, Little Gay Shop Book Club, Paper Place Austin, Reverie Books, and the Book Burrow. – Kimberley JonesSat., May 17 -
Arts
Visual Arts
Aisha Imdad: “The Allegorical Gardens”
Gardens loom large in legend. Think the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Shalimar Gardens, the Garden of Eden: each bursting with symbolic beauty, dripping with promises of life and growth. Artist Aisha Imdad explores the lush intricacies of this verdant imagery. Her watercolor works delve into literary and mythological gardens, inspired by Indian, Mughal, and Persian frescos. Each invites closer introspection, a desire to immerse in the vibrant world of her works. Each intricate blossom speck, or gilded turn of a bird wing, vibrates with idealized life. Imdad’s art portrays the possibilities of paradise. – Cat McCarreyThrough July 3 -
Arts
Theatre
Anklets in the Boardroom
Ever wished you could just redo that awkward situation? Take that snappy comeback you dreamed up in the shower hours later and test it out in real life? It’s possible with forum theatre. Forum theatre isn’t just a fancy term for non-bedroom role-playing. It’s more like applied academia, performances intentionally inviting the audience to participate in examining issues and testing out solutions. That’s exactly how Leela Theatre presents Anklets in the Boardroom, a series of scenarios based on real-life workplace bias experienced by Asian women. It’s an intensely individualized experience, expanding scope depending on you – yes you, the audience – to set the course of exploration. How could things be better? What should have happened? How can we fix the future? – Cat McCarreyMay 16-18 -
Qmmunity
Arts & Culture
Austin Gay Men’s Chorus Presents Shake the Rafters
An early choral congratulations for having the taste to pick the gayest tunesters in Austin for your hearing pleasure. Bringing what they’ve called “a full-spectrum extravaganza of emotion, community, and vocal cords working overtime in the best way possible” – emojis removed to protect our Chron designers’ font sensibilities – the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus features modern songs from the likes of Harry Styles, Sam Smith, and the Beatles. (Look, at least two of them are alive so that counts as modern.) Snag your tix for Saturday or Sunday and get ready to watch those rafters, you know. Shake. – James ScottMay 17-18 -
Film
Special Screenings
Austin International Film Festival
New name, same love of movies. Formerly Screen ATX, this fest is back and still has an emphasis on the kind of under-the-radar projects that find supporters in Austin’s ever-welcoming film community. It may only be one day, but with 14 hours of flicks leading to an award ceremony and late, late, late afterparty, it’s a long weekend’s worth of movies. And though international it may be, there’s a serious local flavor – including Bloody & Bruised: The Untold Story of the Back Room, recounting the history and mayhem of Austin’s legendary metal club. – Richard WhittakerSat., May 17 -
Arts
Books
Austin Used Book Collective Sale
Pick up a paperback or seven on this sunny (??? I haven’t checked Saturday’s weather forecast, so I’m soothsaying) secondhand lit shindig. Booths from all the AUBC usuals will exhibit, including Idle Hands Books, Josiah Simon, Sleeper Books, Rand Renfrow, and Time Being Books, with their curated coterie of vintage tomes available. Plus, venue choice Community Garden offers its trendy interior and exterior for sipping a coffee or wine and digging into your purchased paperback. – James ScottSat., May 17 -
Community
Events
Austin Youth River Watch 2025 Open House
Created in the early Nineties as an environmental stewardship program for high schoolers, the Austin Youth River Watch continues into our current year more determined than ever to protect our city’s waterways. Thus, the AYRW’s EcoHouse opens its doors this Saturday and invites community engagement with their mission. Attendees to this free-but-RSVP event will enjoy hands-on displays and demonstrations; guided hiking tours; alfresco yoga; and a raffle with prizes including outdoor gear and ’sclusie River Watch merch. – James ScottSat., May 1710611 Platt Ln. -
Community
Events
“Roots Unveiled: Exploring the Chinese Experience”
Among the many anti-civil rights bills creeping their way through the Texas Legislature is Senate Bill 17, which would bar Chinese and many other Asian citizens from buying land here. Denounced by detractors as racist and reminiscent of 19th-century laws targeting Asian immigrants, its 2023 origins, along with growing anti-Asian sentiment after the pandemic, inspired Houston artist Jane Xu to found the multi-city Asian American Art & Culture Initiative and initiate this multidisciplinary exhibit. Curated by renowned international independent curator Sylvia XuHua Zhan, it brings in-depth research and archives along with work from a wide range of artists to offer a look at the rich history of Chinese Americans in Texas. Opening reception is Sunday, May 18, noon. – Kat McNevinsThrough August 31; opening reception, May 18 -
Arts
Visual Arts
“The Everyman”
I’ve been having a lot of “girl who’s going to be okay” moments as I reconnect with my earnest, optimistic side, so I’m excited for “The Everyman,” a group show curated by visual artist and musician Lisa Alley that celebrates the beauty in the small things – from commonplace occurrences to the working-class heroes that give this exhibit its name. Alley – who plays in local acts the Well, Mugger, and TV’s Daniel – shows her paintings alongside a slew of familiar names, including Parquet Courts’ A. Savage, Never’s Emily No Good, and photographer Pooneh Ghana. Everyone has the ability to create something exceptional, this Bolm Arts project assures us. – Carys AndersonThrough June 7 -
Arts
Books
Black Pearl Books Presents Kennedy Ryan in Conversation
Black girls know the drill: Though books, film, and television are rife with romance stories, very few of the ladies who get swept off their feet ever look like us. The works of Kennedy Ryan present a breath of fresh air. The first Black winner of the RITA Award for romantic fiction, Ryan promotes sisters from sassy side chicks to main characters – ones worthy of the same all-encompassing love we’ve usually only seen experienced by others. The author talks and signs her latest offering, Can’t Get Enough, courtesy of Black Pearl Books, Austin’s only Black-owned bookstore. – Carys AndersonSat., May 17 -
Music
Carrie Rodriguez Laboratorio w/ Calexico
Fresh off her composition collab of multimedia stage doc Postcards From the Border, Austin’s Texican vocalist and violinist Carrie Rodriguez spotlights more Latine perspectives with her latest installment of Laboratorio. Founded in 2017, this quarterly cultural celebration peers into the American experiment through always-fresh curations of music, art, and storytelling. Stretching from the State Theatre to the historic Paramount next door for the first time, this round welcomes Latin rhythm-infused indie rock purveyors Calexico – whose 2022 album El Mirador reads like an ode to Southwest borderlands – alongside decorated penner and Latin American art historian Roberto Tejada. – Amber WilliamsSat., May 17, 8pm -
Arts
Books
Cats Are Sluts Goth Book Release Party
They really are, aren’t they? We once had a cat that nonchalantly came home with a collar on, making us realize she had another home and a whole other family who called her something only they knew. But that would be no excuse for the horrors Edgar Allan Poe visited on his tormented kitty Pluto in “The Black Cat,” which is retold in Nori Rose Hubert’s new book. Gothic attire is encouraged at this book release that will feature light snacks, bevvies, and hopefully a more feline-friendly end this time. – Kat McNevinsSat., May 17Birdhouse Books and Gifts, 5925 Burnet Rd. -
Film
Special Screenings
Cooley High (1975)
Selected in 2021 to be in the National Film Registry, this 1975 classic inspired the likes of Spike Lee and was a major box-office hit upon its release. Contrary to the ubiquitous Blaxploitation of its era, it’s a coming-of-age story following two ambitious best friends in 1964 Chicago: aspiring poet Preach Jackson and basketball star Cochise Morris, who run into trouble during a day of cutting class. What starts as a series of parties, joyrides, and flirting is sadly twisted by the dangers of being Black in America. A heart-wrenching drama through and through, it’s nonetheless joyous and funny, soundtracked by well-loved Motown hits. John Singleton’s 1991 classic Boyz n the Hood is a direct homage to Cooley High, as is Boyz II Men’s 1991 debut album Cooleyhighharmony. – Lina FisherMay 16 - 20 -
Film
Special Screenings
Dan Savage’s Hump!: Part 1
Art is nothing without eroticism, despite what our conservative Lege members argue. Such is the basis of long-running film fest Hump!, which hits 20 years of platforming sexy short film this very spring. Part one of the dual-season screening series touches down on Chicon this Friday and Saturday promising a brand-new 23-film lineup. Subjects explored in these adult features include dirty Dungeons & Dragons; erotic eco-paradises; sultry summer camps; and much more – all limited to a five-minutes-or-less runtime. Two screenings per day means you’ve got double the chances to catch this year’s spring selections – and prepare yourself for further hot films come fall. – James ScottMay 16-17 -
Arts
Dance
DiverseSpace Youth Dance and Violet Crown Players Present Confluence
With Confluence, Violet Crown Players and DSYDT have crafted a piece exploring “human connection.” Led by local choreographer Toni Bravo, with guest choreography by Berlin’s Ortrun Stanzel and Amsterdam’s Michael Jahoda, Confluence shows the power of dance throughout every experience. DiverseSpace Dance seeks to provide dance opportunities for all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Their multigenerational cast will show the power of that access, set to live music by Victoria Schwarz. Watch the threads of connection, woven through physical and social movements. – Cat McCarreyMay 15-18 -
Film
Special Screenings
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
In 1973, director Sidney Lumet tapped Al Pacino to play an NYPD detective in Serpico. Two years later he cast Pacino on the other end of the law in Dog Day Afternoon. Groundbreaking in its time – how many Hollywood stars were playing a real-life guy who knocked over a bank in order to pay for his lover’s gender-affirming surgery? – Dog Day is a quintessential zeitgeist movie, expertly capturing the working-class agitation and angst of the 1970s. It’s also funny, thrilling, so very sweaty, and totally tragic. It paired Pacino with John Cazale again – Michael and Fredo reunited, a year after The Godfather Part II forcibly separated them – in Cazale’s next to last film role. They’re both dynamite in one of Lumet’s best. – Kimberley JonesMay 16 - 21 -
Arts
Visual Arts
Friends Fair
Gallery supergroup FOG started in 2023 with Jill Schroeder from grayDUCK Gallery, Phillip Niemeyer of Northern-Southern, Kevin Ivester of Ivester Contemporary, Jill McLennon of McLennon Pen Co. Gallery, and the team of Ricky Morales and Meredith Williams at Martha’s Contemporary. Their shows, many highlighting local artists, open up a world of contemporary art to Austin. Enter: the Friends Fair, which runs from this Thursday, May 15, through Saturday, May 17. The fair covers two floors of the Loren Hotel by Lady Bird Lake, with 12 rooms dedicated to displays. FOG’s fair isn’t just about collecting. It’s about Austin coming together to spotlight how revolutionary this grassroots art scene is. - Cat McCarreyMay 15-17 -
Music
Ivan Cornejo
At just 20 years old, Ivan Cornejo has taken the regional Mexican music world by storm. His heartbroken lyrics and mournful tone have earned him the title “Música Mexicana’s Heartbreak Kid” from Rolling Stone, but that doesn’t mean that his universe is all doom and gloom. He boasts three Billboard Latin Music awards, track collaborations with Peso Pluma and Eslabon Armado, and a recent Coachella performance, among other accolades. As the California native embarks on his North American Mirada tour, he’ll be making a few Texas stops including Austin’s own Moody Center. Latest release “Me Prometí” spills poetic reflections through a hauntingly disheartened parcel. – Catalina PerezSat., May 17, 8pm -
Community
Events
Make & Take: Marker Monoprints
To make or take: That is the question. The answer? Do both! Artist and teacher CJ – of CJ Sketches – delivers a lesson on monoprinting where participants utilize recycled materials to make unique prints and take them home to display or gift to a friend. According to ACR’s class description, monoprinting helps mental health by its celebration of “happy accidents” and its mindful meditative process. “This workshop is about process over perfection,” they write, “nurturing self-expression and curiosity.” Costing zero dollars and zero cents with all supplies provided, can you afford to skip this creative cohort? – James ScottSat., May 17 -
Arts
Visual Arts
Margie Criner: “Sound & Vision”
Hailing from Chicago, artist Margie Criner works in sculpture and miniatures. How so? Her unique sculptural works – themselves impressive patchworks of materials from wool to actual hornets’ nests – feature peepholes through which viewers may glance tiny tableaux. These miniature worlds all center music, such as her pinky-finger-sized record store, Needle on the Records, with vintage posters plastered across its small interior walls. “The music theme isn’t always literal,” explains Criner, “but background sounds within the space, specific to what I’m processing. Kind of like how there’s music playing at the grocery store, that music is everywhere.” – James ScottThrough June 14 -
Community
Events
PowerPints
Barring the odd late-night whiskey-soaked college essay-writing binge, learning and drinking have rarely been so near and dear as they are in this comedy show that’s got the same exam-cram energy. Eight presenters enter the stage, each with a presentation on a subject of their choice. The time limit? Five minutes. The consequences for going over said time limit? A spicy pickle shot. The price for becoming more informed about hypnotism, Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Boston Molasses Flood while also slurping suds? Only $5, with all proceeds profiting your presenters. – James ScottSat., May 17 -
Arts
Comedy
Ricky Sim: Coming Out to Dead People
After performing his autobio comedy show to sold-out crowds in NYC, London, and “a secretive queer-safe space” in Kuala Lumpur, Ricky Sim swans down south to ATX. The show, written by Sim, digs into his experiences as an immigrant alongside his Chinese-Malaysian mother and what it meant to be gay, closeted, and Asian American in the Aughts. Hilarious and heartfelt, recipient of the PIT/Saturday Night Live Scholarship Sim performs his tale of grief, intersectional identity, and Sean Paul for two nights at ColdTowne, with direction by the Emmy-award winning Ryan Cunningham. – James ScottMay 16-17 -
Community
Events
Slipper Summit
Ahead of their big film fest – which you can read more about in our sinfully stuffed Summer Events Calendar – Austin Asian American Film Festival invites one and all to engage with storytelling at their free creative confluence. Open to the public, offerings include literary readings, panels on “Art as Resistance” and “playfulness for your creative process,” a community zine-making workshop, and to-be-announced film screenings. – James ScottSat., May 17 -
Qmmunity
Nightlife & Parties
Strut! Austin: Sasha Colby Live
If you haven’t heard tell about this show by now, we’ve got drastically different Instagram algorithms. But since I’m nice – and you’re a faithful Chronicle print-edition reader – I’ll fill ya in on this NYC-born but touring party, self-described as “a queer rodeo of maximalist joy, high-femme chaos, and drag that kicks harder than a mule in July.” That mule-kicking drag comes courtesy of local stars like Alexander the Great, Brigitte Bandit, Diamond Dior Davenport, and Jenna Talia, among many others, led by heart-stopping headliner Sasha Colby (Drag Race season 15). There’ll also be queer-owned pop-up shops, local legends behind the DJ booth, and a silent auction benefiting LGBTQ+ advocacy org Equality Texas. – James ScottSat., May 17 -
Music
The Damned, T.V. Smith's the Adverts
The first UK punk single, first UK punk LP, first UK punk tour of the U.S. – arguably no Brits can lay claim to the OG title as much as the Damned. “New Rose,” that barreling first official release, has all the fixings: Brian James scratches razor-sharp guitars, Rat Scabies pummels primitive beats, and Dave Vanian fronts it all with an everyman howl. Damned Damned Damned, the 1977 album “New Rose” lives on, went on to inspire the thrashing hardcore of the Eighties, while over time Vanian’s deepening baritone influenced the goths. Eleven albums and decades of lineup changes later, salute these innovators for all things speedy, spooky, and, well, damned. – Carys AndersonSat., May 17, 8pm -
Community
Events
Trash Free Gulf Cleanup
On my last trip to Padre Island, it was disappointing to walk along the shore and see construction debris littering the sand. The culprit? A new development a couple miles upshore. Everything that lands in the water travels somewhere. So H-E-B’s Our Texas, Our Future presents the Trash Free Gulf Campaign to bring together cleanup partners across the state to raise awareness and clean up watersheds. Join in for the Clean Up the Colorado day with All Water Guides, which will launch from the Texas River School. Bring a canoe, boat, stand-up paddleboard, or raft if you have one, but no boat is no problem; they can be borrowed, and all are welcome, even if you want to stay on land. – Kat McNevinsSat., May 176213 Levander Loop