Davidson College hosts a variety of public events this month, including lectures by a pair of business celebrities: Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers and Federal Reserve Vice Chair Donald Kohn. Other events this month range from a performance of the new music ensemble Yarn/Wire to an appearance by the noted critic Diana Hume George.  A new exhibit opens March 11 at the college art gallery, featuring concrete and paper sculptures and new etchings by visiting assistant art professor Lydia Musco. The schedule also includes a variety of lectures, concerts and a Women’s Leadership Conference. Details below.

TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 7:30 p.m., Davidson College Sloan Music Center, Tyler-Tallman Hall – Davidson College Concert Series presents Yarn/Wire, an ensemble of two pianists and two percussionists who specialize in the music of new and modern composers. General admission $20, or $15 for seniors, $5 for youth 18 and under. For tickets call 704-894-2135 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, or reserve online www.davidson.edu/tickets ^[1]. For more information call 704-894-2848.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 7:30 p.m., Alvarez College Union 900 Room — Literature lecture by writer and critic Diana Hume George on Wednesday evening, March 10. George will present the annual R. Windley Hall and Charles E. Lloyd Writing Competition awards to students, and read from her work. A book signing will follow. There is no charge to attend the event, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Smith 900 Room of Alvarez College Union. For information call 704-894-2254.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 8 p.m., Duke Family Performance Hall – Davidson College Artist Series presents Thodos Dance Chicago. Contemporary dance by established American choreographers including founder Melissa Thodos. Includes Bob Bob Fosse’s 1960s trilogy: Mexican Breakfast, Cool Hand Luke and the Tijuana Shuffle. Tickets: $8 Davidson Students; $15 Faculty/Staff; $20 Public. Details on the college website. ^[2]

THURSDAY, MARCH 117-9 p.m., Davidson College Belk Visual Art Center, Griffith and Main streets – Art opening and lecture with Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Lydia Musco. Lecture, 7:30 p.m. The exhibit “Lydia Musco: New Sculpture” runs March 12-April 14. Free. For information call 704-894-2519. More on the college website. ^[3]

THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 7:30 p.m., Davidson College Sloan Music Center, Tyler-Tallman Hall – “Celebration of Chopin,” in honor of Fryderyk Chopin. Artist Associates in Piano Cynthia Lawing and Ruskin Cooper will be joined by their scholarship piano students in a recital of Chopin’s music in celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth. Free. For information call 704-894-2848.

FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2:30 p.m., Dana Hall Room 146 — Biology lecture by Jenn Caldwell Wilhelm ’01 on “Limited Peripheral Axon Regeneration in Neurotrophin Knockout Mice.” Free. For information call 704-894-2184.

MARCH 12 to APRIL 14, Belk Visual Art Center, Griffith and Main streets – “Lydia Musco: New Sculpture,” an exhibition of concrete and paper sculptures and new etchings by Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Lydia Musco. There is no charge to visit the gallery, which is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4 p.m. For information call 704-894-2519.

FRIDAY, MARCH 12 and SATURDAY, MARCH 13, Chambers Building Lilly Family Gallery — Women’s Leadership Conference, on the theme “Empowering Within, Empowering Around, and Empowering Beyond.” Registration is $15 for students and $25 for community leaders. Events begin at 6 p.m. on March 12 and at 8 a.m. on March 13. For a full schedule and registration go to the college website. ^[4]

SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 5 to 10 p.m., Alvarez College Union Sprinkle Room – The Davidson College chapter of Rotary International’s ROTARACT club invites community members to participate in a dance marathon, with live and recorded music. For all ages. Proceeds benefit a children’s orphanage in Malawi, Africa. For registration fees and more information, call Brittany Pillsbury at 704-605-0290.

SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 7:30 p.m., Sloan Music Center Tyler-Tallman Hall – Liederabend choral concert by Davidson voice students. Free. For information call 704-894-2848.

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 4:30 p.m., Dana Science Building, Room 146 – Doug Marchuk, director of Duke University’s program in genetics and genomics, lectures on “Human Molecular Genetics of Cardiovascular Disease.” Free. For information call 704-894-2184.

TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 4:30 p.m., Alvarez College Union 900 Soom – Associate Professor of Philosophy Paul Studtmann and Doug Ottati, Craig Family Distinguished Professor of Religion and Ethics, will present a discussion titled “Is Religious Belief Immoral?” Free. For information call 704-894-2095.

TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 7:30 p.m., Davidson College Presbyterian Church – Organ at Davidson presents Timothy Belk, director of music ministries and organist at Gastonia’s First Presbyterian Church. Belk will present an all-Bach program. Free. For information call 704-892-5641.

TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 7:30 p.m., Sloan Music Center, Tyler-Tallman Hall — Novelist Thomas Mallon reads from his work-in-progress, “Watergate: A Novel.” Mallon has written nonfiction books about plagiarism, diaries, letters, and the Kennedy assassination, as well as two volumes of essays, and his work appears in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, and The New York Times Book Review. Free. For information call 704-894-2254.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 7 p.m., Alvarez College Union 900 Room — Christian Lander, author of the blog “Stuff White People Like,” will speak about how his popular blog became a best-selling book. Free. For information call 704-894-2651.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 11:30 a.m, Alvarez College Union Room 302 — Matt Samson and his students will discuss “Human Rights in Latin America.” Free. For information call 704-894-2095.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 4;30 p.m., Chambers building Room 3155 –  Win-Chiat Lee, professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University, lectures on “Citizens as Appellate Judges: Dworkin’s Protestantism about Law.” There is no charge to attend the talk, which begins at 4:30 p.m. in Room 3155 of Chambers Building. For information call 704-894-2218.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 10 p.m., Alvarez College Union 900 Room – Davidson Jazz Ensemble will perform a Live Thursdays concert featuring the winners of the Jazz Ensemble’s vocalist competition, Jared Smith and Lexi Valauri-Orton. Free. For information call 704-894-2848.

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 12:30, Sloan Music Center, Tyler-Tallman Hall — Musical Interludes concert with percussionist Adam Snow. Free. For information call 704-894-2848.

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2:30 p.m. in Room 146 of Dana Science Building. — Lee Wheless ‘05 will present a biology lecture titled “From Populations to Polymorphisms: Cancer Risk Is More Than Skin Deep.” Free.  For information call 704-894-2184.

Jim Rogers

SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 7:30 p.m., Alvarez College Union 900 Room – Jim Rogers, President and CEO of Duke Energy, will give a lecture titled “The Energy Industry’s Search for Greener Power” as the final lecture of the 2009-10 Bank of America Lecture Series: “Responding to the Global Energy Crisis:  Technology, Policy and Security.” Free. For information call 704-894-2440.

SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 7:30 p.m., Sloan Music Center Tyler-Tallman Hall — An Evening of American Art Song with artist Associate in Voice Diane Thornton and pianist Grant Jones will perform, premiering four songs by Davidson area composer Mary Armistead-Jones. The program will also include music by Leonard Bernstein, Ernest Charles, Aaron Copland, Lee Hoiby, and Ben Moore. Free.  For information call 704-894-2848.

SUNDAY, MARCH 21, 7 p.m., Chambers Room 1062 – Tim Pennings, professor of mathematics at Hope College, and his dog Elvis, a Welsh Corgi, will present a Math Coffee titled “Do Dogs Know Calculus?” Free.

SUNDAY, MARCH 21, 7:30 p.m., Sloan Music Center Tyler-Tallman Hall – Piano Studio Recital with Davidson College piano students of Cynthia Lawing and Ruskin Cooper, performing selected works. Free. For information call 704-894-2848.

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Donald Kohn

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 8 p.m., Chambers Building Lilly Family Gallery — Donald L. Kohn, ^[6]vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, delivers the college’s annual Cornelson Distinguished Lecture in Economics, speaking on U.S. monetary policy. Free. For information call 704-894-2398.

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 4 p.m., Room 146 Dana Science Building — Rachel Horak ’01 will give a lecture titled “Environmental Factors That Control Nitrogen Release from Nitrogen-Fixing Endosymbionts of Shipworms.” Free. For information call 704-894-2184.

WEDNEDAY, MARCH 24 to SUNDAY, MARCH 28, Duke Family Performance Hall – College theater department production of ” Leading Ladies” by Ken Ludwig, directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Mark Sutch. The comedy tells the story of two struggling British actors who find themselves penniless in rural Pennsylvania. Shows begin at 7:30 p.m. on March 24-25, at 8 p.m. March 26 -27 and at 2 p.m. March 28. All performances will take place in the Duke Family Performance Hall. General admission is $15 for adults, $11 for seniors, and $6 for students. The play is recommended for ages 12 and up. For tickets, call 704-894-2135 or visit www.davidson.edu/tickets ^[1]

MONDAY, MARCH 29, 4:30 p.m., Carolina Inn, Main Street – Cole Barton, professor of psychology, Ruth Beeston, professor of chemistry, and Rick Gay, professor of education present a panel discussion “Memory & Madness” as part of the “Memory and…” discussion series. Free. For information call 704-894-2385.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 7:30 p.m., Alvarez College Union 900 Room – Writer Victoria Redel will answer questions following the screening of “Loverboy,” a film based on her novel and directed by Kevin Bacon. Free. For information call 704-894-2254.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 4:30 p.m., Alvarez College Union, Room 302 – English professor Cynthia Lewis and students will discuss “Shakespeare and Moral Wisdom: Reflections on Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice.” Free. For information call 704-894-2095

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 7:30 p.m., Alvarez College Union, 900 Room – Novelist and poet Victoria Redel will present the annual Vereen Bell Writing Competition Awards to students and read from her work. Redel is the author of two books of poetry and three books of fiction. Free.