Special promotional content provided by Agnes Scott.

Mary Wallace Kirk graduated from Agnes Scott as the treasurer and poet of the class of 1911. She returned to the college in 1917 as the youngest member of the Board of Trustees and served until her death in 1978.

There are few who have contributed more to the life of the college than Ms. Kirk, and these contributions endure through her establishment of the James T. & Ella Rather Kirk Fund in 1978. Named in honor of her parents, the fund is used to expand and enrich the academic programs of art, history, literature, and philosophy. In 1981, on the seventieth anniversary of her graduation, the Kirk Concert & Event Series was inaugurated and has hosted guest musicians and composers on campus since that time.

The Kirk Fund allows for the Kirk Event Series, which includes not only concerts, but guest writers, scholars, and artists to campus. Because of Ms. Kirk’s endowed gift, Agnes Scott has been able to significantly enlarge its public offerings of arts and cultural experiences over the years and provide for its students and the surrounding community these special performances and opportunities to work with internationally distinguished musicians, artists, and scholars.

This spring, Agnes Scott welcomes classical duo, Sonic Escape, to campus on Thursday, February 2 for a public concert and special master class for students.

Shawn Wyckoff and Maria Millar founded Sonic Escape in 2009.  Armed with flute & violin, their game plan – use hyper-instrumentals to fill hearts with indescribable joy – has landed them on hundreds of stages across 40+ North American states, provinces and beyond. In this family-friendly show, listeners get up-close and personal with the flute and violin. Maria & Shawn combine their world-class training (they met at The Juilliard School, although admittedly through a love of rollerblading) with an addiction to expanding upon classical tradition.  In fact, their signature “hyper-instrumental” shows fuse multiple genres and sounds heard in diverse cultures, with a dedication to movement and audience interaction.

The Catalyst Quartet will perform the next Kirk Concert on Thursday, March 2. The Catalyst Quartet, known for “perfect ensemble unity” and “unequaled class of execution” (Lincoln Journal Star), has toured widely throughout the United States and abroad, including sold-out performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., at Chicago’s Harris Theater, Miami’s New World Center, and Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall in New York.  The Catalyst Quartet combines a serious commitment to diversity and education with a passion for contemporary works.

The Kirk Event Series also includes visiting guest writers and scholars, and almost all of Agnes Scott’s cultural events are free and open to the public. For more info, visit the campus calendar by clicking here.