Blues and boogie-woogie pianist Mark Lincoln Braun has become one of the premier purveyors of a vanishing art form. Having learned his craft firsthand from the early masters, he is a rare living link to the first generation of blues and boogie pianists. Steeped in the rich legacy of this exhilarating music, Mr. B studied directly with legends like Little Brother Montgomery, Boogie Woogie Red, and Blind John Davis.

Join Ngoc Minh Ngo (author and photographer) and Ivan Shaw (Corporate Photography Director at Condé Nast) for a conversation about her career and lifelong engagement with flowers and gardens. Ngo’s work has appeared in The World of Interiors, T Magazine, Vogue, and Architectural Digest, and she is the author of three books: Bringing Nature Home, In Bloom: Creating and Living with Flowers, and Eden Revisited: A Garden in Northern Morocco, each featuring her own photography.

Ngo will discuss her latest publication, Roses in the Garden. The inspiration for this series and book came from her father, a former colonel in the Vietnamese army and avid gardener who settled with their family in California in the 1970s. In his final days, Ngo tended his garden in hopes he would see his roses bloom one last time. Following his passing, Ngo returned to Brooklyn, New York, where she now lives. There, she began volunteering at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and photographing rose cuttings. What started as a personal meditation grew into a series exploring the rose’s cultural and historical significance, culminating in a book celebrating the iconic flower and the renowned gardens where it thrives. Roses in the Garden will be available for purchase and signing by the artist.

Presented with American Sign Language interpretation

Image: Ngoc Minh Ngo, Ninfa Garden, Italy, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. (c) Ngoc Minh Ngo, 2025.

Combo Daguerre, based in Brooklyn, performs original psychedelic chanson with a predominantly Latin crew and a hybrid style influenced by boleros, cumbia, 60s rock, French chanson, and 1930s surrealism. Their music is a blend of joy and darkness, deep grooves and dirges, nostalgia and futurism.

Combo Daguerre features:

• Olivier Conan (Chicha Libre) on cuatro and vocals
• Adele Fournet on keyboards
• Felipe Wurst (Banda Chuska/Tipa Tipo) on guitar
• Andres Fonseca on drums
• Neil Ochoa (Los Crema Paraiso, Chicha Libre) on percussion
• Dan Martinez on bass

Filled with all-things K-POP - music, dancing, games, food and more - this immersive event is your ultimate introduction to Korean culture. Supported by DIA’s auxiliary Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures, local Korean American community members come together to share this high-energy pop-culture that has taken the world by storm. 

Featuring performances by ArtLab J’s K-Pop dance team and Chicago’s PRISM Cru, plus interactive Korean games like Red-light, Green-light and Ddakji Chigi, and samples of Korean culinary treats, this event is sure to be full of excitement, learning, and delicious experiences! Korean Gift Boxes will be given to the first 50 participants who complete all four games!

• 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. ꟾ Registration & Photo Booth Open in Great Hall
• 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. ꟾ Game Zones Open in Great Hall
• Noon - 2 p.m. ꟾ Food Samples, as supplies last, in Great Hall
• 1:30 a.m. & 1:15 p.m.  ꟾ Red Light, Green Light in Rivera Court
• 12:30 & 2 p.m. ꟾ K-Pop Performance in Rivera Court
• 2:30 p.m. ꟾ Korean Galley Tour departs from Great Hall

The theme for the 32nd season of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival is “Blueprints in Sound,” featuring a captivating mix of artists and repertoire that transcend the boundaries of traditional chamber music. 

Blueprints in Sound bridges the gap between sound and structure, all set in the breathtaking venue of the DFT Auditorium.

Program:

• Robyn Bollinger: CIACCONA: The Bass of Time

The theme for the 32nd season of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival is “Blueprints in Sound,” featuring a captivating mix of artists and repertoire that transcend the boundaries of traditional chamber music. Blueprints in Sound bridges the gap between sound and structure, all set in the breathtaking venue of Rivera Court.

Artists: Dillon Scott, Paul Watkins, Kimberly Kaloyanides Kennedy, Paddington Trio, Jack Walters

Program:

• Michi Wiancko: Fantasia for Tomorrow
• Hannah Kendall: Vera, for String Trio and Clarinet
• Maurice Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor

Performance Sponsored by Barbara Heller

Join us for ArtLab J’s 13th Annual Spring Concert — a vibrant season-end showcase featuring our talented students in dance, art, and music, celebrating creativity and growth. As a leading academy with an integrated Creative Arts Program, we champion the transformative power of multidisciplinary arts education. Don’t miss this inspiring performance!

Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment

Dr. Mary Morton, Curator and Head of French Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the groundbreaking 1874 exhibition in Paris, widely regarded as the birth of Impressionism. In this lecture, Dr. Mary Morton will share new insights from her recent scholarship, examining the social, political, and cultural forces that shaped this pivotal moment in France. She’ll explore how the artists we now call Impressionists responded to the world around them — and how their work fit within a broader, dynamic artistic landscape, where they exhibited alongside the official French Salon.

The Lecture is presented as Bonnie Ann Larson Modern European Artists Series Lecture.

Image: Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise, 1872, oil on canvas, Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris.

Create your own custom tote with Detroit artist Shingo Brown!

Learn how Shingo brings a project to life, then design a one-of-a-kind tote using a variety of materials and techniques. Limited totes will be available, or feel free to bring your own tote, hat, or garment to customize.

About the Artist:

Shingo Brown is a Detroit-based graphic artist and founder of HARD GALLERY, a community-focused space for AAPI, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA artists. His work can be seen in murals, local business designs, and Detroit’s favorite events. At the core of his work is creative, community-driven collaboration.

This event is made possible in part by the PNC Foundation

Ways of Seeing: Canto Ostinato invites audiences to explore new ways of ‘seeing’ through deep listening and spatial experience. Highly emotive and intuitive, this work is described by composer Simeon ten Holt as more ritual than concert. 

Over the course of its nearly 90-minute, trance-like duration, time turns into space and the music begins to hover, offering listeners the chance to enter their own transcendental space. Originally scored for four pianos, this performance reimagines the piece as a solo piano journey, weaving together all four parts into a singular, immersive experience.