Theme Guides to selected programs from the Spring 2011 Visions & Voices program were created in partnership with USC Libraries faculty and staff. Look for recommended books and readings on the people, performances and topics covered by these events. Visit the current season of: USC Visions and Voices; view the 2010-2011 season's brochure. Photo: Holly Burt from Los Angeles, CA, "Sunny California Roses", University of Southern California, CC BY 2.0 L.A. Philharmonic: Dudamel Conducts Mahler’s Ninth Symphony (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) January, 15, 2011 The dynamic Gustavo Dudamel of the L.A. Philharmonic tackles Gustav Mahler’s sprawling Ninth Symphony.Additional topics in guide: Disney Hall, Lorin Maazel; Guide creator: Stephanie Bonjack. The DNA Trail: A Genealogy of Short Plays about Ancestry, Identity and Utter Confusion (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) January 12, 2011 Theater meets science in this production composed of seven unique short plays by Jamil Khoury, Philip Kan Gotanda, Velina Hasu Houston, David Henry Hwang, Shishir Kurup, Lina Patel and Elizabeth Wong. The playwrights were commissioned to take DNA tests, share their results with each other, listen to DNA experts and write short plays in response.Additional topics in guide: Silk Road Theatre Project, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Genographic Project; Guide creator: Ken Klein. Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels: Art Tour with John Nava (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) January 28, 2011 The docent for this tour is John Nava, the artist who designed the Communion of Saints, a cycle of 25 tapestries depicting 136 saints from all parts of the world for the cathedral.Additional topics in guide: José Rafael Moneo, Ezra Kysor, Amiel Cavalier, Robert Graham, Trojan Family tapistry; Guide creator: Ruth Wallach. Food, Inc.: Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser in Conversation (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) February 9, 2011 Join us for the documentary, Food, Inc., and a discussion by Pollan and Schlosser, moderated by Barry Glassner, on the industrialization of food and its impact on personal health and the environment.Additional topics in guide: Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Omnivore’s Dilemma, Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Fast Food Nation; Guide creators: John E. Juricek, Felicia Palsson. L.A. Opera: Il Turco in Italia (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) February 27, 2011 L.A. Opera music director James Conlon conducta Rossini’s comedy, starring Nino Machaidze as Fiorilla and Thomas Allen as the poet Prosdocimo.Additional topics in guide: Bryce Westervelt; USC Libraries contributor: Ross Scimeca. Avenue Q (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) March 2, 2011 The Tony Award–winning Avenue Q features a cast of people and puppets who tell their stories in a smart, risqué and hilarious way.Additional topics in guide: Sesame Street, Musical; Guide creators: Kim Esser, Felicia Palsson. Ballet for the 21st Century: Wendy Whelan and the Choreography of Christopher Wheeldon (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) March 28, 2011 An evening of dance and discussion as Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall of the New York City Ballet perform two masterworks of the 21st century, Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain and Liturgy.Additional topics in guide: Classical ballet; Guide creator: Melinda Hayes. Lucia di Lammermoor (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) March 26, 2011 Patrick Summers conducts Donizetti’s opera with Natalie Dessay as Lucia di Lammermoor, Joseph Calleja as her lover, Edgardo, Ludovic Tézier sings Enrico, and Kwangchul Youn is Raimondo. A discussion hosted by the USC Thornton School of Music proceeds the event presented by the USC School of Cinematic Arts in conjunction with the Metropolitan Opera.Additional topics in guide: Gaetano Donizetti; USC Libraries contributor: Ross Scimeca. Privacy and Identity in the Age of Facebook (Online Theme Guide: Research Guide) / (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) March 28, 2011 Have we given up our privacy to maintain a public identity with the rise of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social-networking sites? A panel discussion moderated by Johanna Blakley, will feature Danah Boyd, Henry Jenkins, and Nathan Ruyle and is organized by the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities.Additional topics in guide: Electronic Privacy Information Center, Christopher Poole, David Kirkpatrick, Mark Zuckerberg; Guide creator: John Jackson. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) April 15, 2011 The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey, promotes the African American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of American modern dance.Additional topics in guide: Judith Jamison, Lester Horton, Memoria, Three Black Kings, Cry, Revelations, Bella Lewitzky, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn; Guide creator: Melinda Hayes. Theatre for a New Audience: The Merchant of Venice (Theme Guide: Research Guide - PDF) / (Theme Guide: Resource Guide - PDF) April 12, 2011 This update of the Shakespeare’s tragicomedy features F. Murray Abraham as Shylock in Venice where religion, race and sexuality collide with love, family and justice.Additional topics in guide: Satire, Oxford Companion, Royal Shakespeare Company; Guide creator: John Jackson.