Cornell SCE presents free outdoor concerts and special lectures this summer

SCE News, June 4, 2024

From music on the Arts Quad to fascinating talks, the 2024 Free Summer Events Series at Cornell will offer a fresh mix of entertainment and education open to the public. Presented by the School of Continuing Education (SCE), the events take place at 7 p.m. on select Wednesdays and Fridays, June 28 through July 26.

Kicking off the music series on July 7 on the Cornell Arts Quad is renowned drummer Paa Kow.Touring internationally with his custom Ghanaian drum set and his Afro-Fusion Orchestra, Paa Kow brings deep grooves and incredible beats to Cornell fresh from Rochester’s International Jazz Festival.

Local favorites follow, with soul sensation Sing Trece and Stone Cold Miracle on July 5; legendary saxophonist Bill Easley with the I-bop Jazz Septet on July 12; Jorge T. Cuevas & The Caribe Jazz Allstars, a Latin music ensemble featuring world-renowned Cuban dance instructor, Clara Nieto-Hernandez, on July 21; and the ever-popular beats and rhymes of the Gunpoets on July 26.

This year’s Wednesday lectures at Warren Hall, B25 on the Ag Quad, begin with Dr. Shahrad Taheri, Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell, presenting, Can We Reverse Type 2 Diabetes, One of the Greatest Global Health Challenges? on July 10. His lecture will look at how intensive lifestyle intervention can result in putting their type 2 diabetes remission without medication and possibly increase lifespan.

On July 17, Dr. Saurabh Mehta, Cornell’s Janet and Gordon Lankton Professor, Nutritional Sciences will present his lecture, Precision Nutrition for Population Health: One Size Doesn’t Fit All, which will explore implementing precision nutrition-based approaches for global populations with a focus on technology and artificial intelligence.

Dr. Katheryn Fiorella, assistant professor, Cornell’s Department of Public and Ecosystem Health, will conclude the lecture series on July 24 with her presentation, How Global Fisheries Connect Us All—Environmental Change for Health and Well-being.

All concerts and lectures are free and open to the public. Friday concerts on the Arts Quad are family-friendly; concertgoers can bring picnics, blankets and lawn chairs. Cornell Dairy will sell ice cream, mango sorbet and bottled water during performances.

To celebrate the start of the series, free ice cream will be offered June 28 starting at 6:30 p.m. on the Arts Quad for the first 400 guests.

Wednesday lectures are indoors with a TED Talk-like format followed by an engaging Q&A.

All events begin promptly at 7 p.m.

For a complete calendar and details, visit the SCE events page.