The Westport Art Center’s (WAC) Chamber Concert series is set to host quintessential American string performers—the Juilliard String Quartet—at the Southport Pequot Library on Sunday, May 17 from 4 to 6 p.m.

The Julliard String Quartet will perform at Pequot Library. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

According to WAC officials, the famed quartet’s program is a salute the music of Vienna from modern masterpieces by Webern and Berg, closing with Beethoven’s triumphant final quartet in F Major, Op. 135. 

“The most recent appearance of the Juilliard String Quartet in our series was a sold-out sensation,” said Russell Platt, WAC’s curator for Chamber Music.

“I expect no less this time around, especially since the group, renowned for the depth of its interpretations, is playing music from the Viennese tradition.

The cast of “The Liar,” the Westport Country Playhouse season opener, takes a bow Wednesday night at a preview performance prior to its formal opening night on Saturday. “The Liar” by David Ives is an update of Pierre Corneille’s 17th century classic comedy. It is directed by Penny Metropulos and runs through May 23. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Best-selling author Sue Miller (l) was in conversation tonight with Westporter Sybil Steinberg, Publisher’s Weekly contributing editor, at the Westport Library, They, talked about Miller’s latest novel: “The Arsonist” about a family and a community tested when an arsonist begins setting fire to the homes of the summer people in a small New England town.She said it was based on her experience living in a summer beach community where there were some unexplained arsons.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

Marton Nemes,  a Hungarian artist and the “EAST Meets WESTport” artist in residence at the Westport Arts Center, shows off some of his works to be displayed in WAC’s project space during the SOLOS 2015 exhibit opening Friday with a 6 p.m. reception. The residency is a collaboration between WAC and Quinnipiac University and seeks to introduce visiting artists to the New York and Connecticut art communities. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

The Westport Country Playhouse has been awarded a $30,000 federal grant to support its production this season of “Broken Glass” by Arthur Miller, the state’s congressional delegation announced today.

The Playhouse was among 15 competitively awarded Connecticut grants totaling more than $1 million from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Oct. 6 – 24 production of “Broken Glass” celebrates the playwright’s 100th birthday. It is a powerful drama about New York Jews suffering from afar as they read accounts of atrocities in Nazi Germany. Director is Mark Lamos, Playhouse artistic director.

The announcement said the grant was awarded “to support a production of ‘Broken Glass’ by Arthur Miller, and a community outreach initiative celebrating Miller’s life and work.

CLASP Homes hosts its 11th annual Taste of Westport event Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Westport Inn.

Neil Fuentes: “singing chef.” Conributed photo

A feature of the event is a pre-party with “The Singing Chef,” Neil Fuentes, a recent winner on Food Network’s “Rewrapped” and executive chef at Jojoto in Branford, described as Connecticut’s only Venezuelan restaurant.

The evening includes tasting specialties from choice area restaurants, accompanied by a selection of wines, beers and cocktails, and ends with desserts, cappuccino and gelato.

The pre-party begins at 6 p.m. and tickets for this party and the full Taste of Westport are a $95 donation to CLASP. The Taste event alone is $75.

The Westport Arts Center’s SOLOS 2015 exhibition featuring works of its members opens Friday with a reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Pictured are Richard Klein, the juror of SOLOS 2015 and exhibitions director of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, with Helen Klisser During, WAC’s artistic director, helping to install artist Rick Schaefer’s oversized, “Gelbvieh” charcoal on vellum mounted on aluminum (42in x 65in). The exhibit runs through June 27 and is sponsored by the Sun Hill Foundation in remembrance of Westport artist and art patron Susan Malloy, who died last month. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Leslie LaSala for WestportNow. com

Westport personal tech expert David Pogue marked Green Day today with a Westport Library talk. Host of PBS’s NOVA “Making Stuff” series, he highlighted the episode on “Making Stuff: Cleaner.” He later autographed copies of his newest book, “Pogue’s Basics: Essential Tips and Shortcuts (That No One Bothers to Tell You) for Simplifying the Technology in Your Life.” He said it was his first book to make The New York Times best seller list. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

Nancy Diamond, co-chair of the Westport Arts Advisory Committee, today welcomes guests to its second TEA (Thinkers, Educators, Artists) Talk at Westport Town Hall. The event, called “Healing through the Arts,” featured professionals in the visual and performing arts who utilize music and art therapy for veterans, cancer patients, and prison inmates and their families. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com