Calendar briefs

“Smoke Signals” director Sherman Alexie to speak
Native American filmmaker Sherman Alexie will speak about “Killing Indians: Myths, Lies and Exaggerations” Thursday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Union Theater.

A strong voice for Native Americans as a Coeur d’Alene tribe member, Alexie wrote and produced the award-winning “Smoke Signals” in 1998.

Alexie also won accolades for poetry, short stories and fiction about identity, alienation and racial hatred. Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” “The Business of Fancydancing” and “Reservation Blues” have all won major literary awards.

The lecture is free, but tickets are required. Pick them up at the Union Theater Box Office, 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekdays. The series concludes with noted historian Howard Zinn on April 18. Information: Alden Oreck, 262-2216.

Musical partners perform
Flutist Marina Piccinini and pianist Andreas Haefliger, partners off stage and on, will make their Madison debut at the Wisconsin Union Theater Saturday, March 4, at 8 p.m.

Piccinini was the first and only flutist to be awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and has won numerous prizes including First Prize at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Andreas Haefliger is a pianist with a reputation for the intelligent architecture of a musical line combined with passionate expressivity and effortless technique.

Tickets: $27 ($26 for union members and $13 for UW–Madison students). Box office: 262-2201.

Speaker presents agenda for saving the planet
Russell Peterson, former chair, President’s Council on Environmental Quality, discusses “An Agenda for Saving the Earth.” Peterson also has served as director, U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and president of the National Audubon Society. 4 p.m., Thursday, March 2, Memorial Union. Information: 263-5599.

Europe’s rebirth reviewed
Elizabeth Pond, former Moscow and Bonn bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor discusses the topic of her recent book, “The Rebirth of Europe.” Sponsored by the European Union Center. 7 p.m., Thursday, March 2, 4151 Grainger Hall.

Pro Arte Quartet performances scheduled
The Pro Arte Quartet will be busy in coming weeks. Members will perform at the Faculty Concert Series March 3, in Mills Concert Hall, 8 p.m., and at Sunday Afternoon Live at the Elvehjem Museum of Art Baroque Gallery, March 5, at 12:30 p.m.

Jin-Wen Yu presents “Interplay”
With his head deep in goldfish habitat, Jin-Wen Yu will perform “Interplay,” a cross-cultural and multi-media dance concert at Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall, 8 p.m., March 2-4.