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(10/04/13 3:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The life and work of professor Violette Verdy will be celebrated this weekend as IU Opera and Ballet Theater presents its fall ballet, Classical Europe — Celebrating Violette.The show will open 8 p.m. Friday at the Musical Arts Center, with a second performance at 8 p.m. Saturday.Verdy, originally from France, spent the majority of her career as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, where she worked with legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Upon her retirement, she served as director of both the Paris Opera Ballet and the Boston Ballet and taught at the New York City Ballet before joining the IU faculty in 1996. Verdy is the choreographer of “Variations for Eight,” one of three ballets, along with Nicolo Fonte’s “Left Unsaid” and Balanchine’s “Divertimento No. 15,” in the fall program. “The reason we do three ballets is because it gives more opportunities to the dancers,” said Michael Vernon, artistic director of IU Ballet Theater. “But it’s also great for the dancers and the audiences that there are three different styles.”Senior Colleen Kerwin is one of four female dancers in “Variations for Eight,” a classical ballet broken up into various sections. “There’s no story line that goes throughout the whole piece, but each individual short piece has its own feeling,” she said. The ballet is traditional in style, but Kerwin thinks it’s still distinct.“We’re dancing very classical, but she puts these little quirks in there that are really cute and funny, and it brings a certain style to the piece that is very unique,” she said. And despite Verdy’s status in the ballet world, Kerwin said she is pleasant to work with. “The way she gives us corrections makes me want to work hard for her and improve and do well,” she said. Sophomore Alexandra Hartnett, another dancer in “Variations,” also complimented Verdy’s teaching style. “Everything she says is so on point and helps you fix something that you may have been struggling with,” she said. “Left Unsaid,” a contemporary ballet choreographed by Nicolo Fonte, is the second performance in the program. Sophomore Aaron Anker, had a great experience learning Fonte’s original work from the choreographer himself. “To get to work with the actual creators is really special,” he said. “It’s really exciting to be able to be on the forefront of the dance world and what’s being created right now.”Of his decision to include the piece in the fall program, Vernon said, “What I’m trying to bring here is the same sort of cutting-edge ballets that a major professional company would perform.”But the atypical nature of Fonte’s choreography has proved to be a bit of a challenge for some of the dancers. “It’s not what they’re used to, but it’s good for them because that’s how they learn about other styles,” Vernon said.Despite the choreography’s novelty, Anker said he is happy to be pushed outside his comfort zone.“I’ve never done a contemporary ballet before, so that’s been difficult because it’s something new, but it’s also been a nice learning experience,” Anker said. The final ballet in the fall program, and the only one accompanied by an orchestra, is Balanchine’s “Divertimento No. 15.”“Nowadays, it’s one of the testing grounds for dancers to be able to do Balanchine’s work because it’s classical, it’s en pointe, it’s demanding and technically challenging,” Vernon said. “It’s a great education for the dancers and the audience.” Junior Leslie Theisen is one of five female soloists in “Divertimento.”“It’s very playful with the music, which makes it more of the neoclassical that Balanchine goes for,” she said. Hartnett, another of the soloists, said “Divertimento” is reminiscent of older styles of ballet, while still moving fast.With only two weeks for dancers to learn and execute the choreography, the short rehearsal time has proved to be difficult. “There’s so many details that need to be addressed,” Hartnett said. “We had to learn it in a really condensed version of time.”Maria Calegari, a former New York City Ballet principal dancer who worked extensively with Balanchine, came to IU to stage “Divertimento.”“We have a lot to learn from her because she was part of that whole new generation of dance, so it’s really cool to listen to what she has to say,” Theisen said.Hartnett said she appreciated Calegari’s attention to detail during rehearsals. “She’s very careful and thorough with how she stages the piece on us, which is always helpful,” she said.Vernon thinks watching “Divertimento” will be a special moment for viewers. “I often say that once you see a Balanchine ballet, you will always hear the music differently because if it’s famous music, he puts the images to it in such a way that it’s hard to forget,” he said. “It’s very powerful.”With each ballet, Vernon said he hopes the beauty of the movement and its relationship to the music arrest the audience. “Dance is meant to speak about things that you can’t really talk about,” he said. “The things that work best in dance are visual, spatial and linear, and all three of these ballets are.”Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(10/03/13 3:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The music industry worried about copyright decades before iPads and Napster.The history of copyright and its effect on the music industry was discussed Wednesday afternoon at the Jacobs School of Music.Jocelyn Neal, a professor of music and adjunct professor of American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented “Who Owns That Song? Copyright Law and the Emergence of the Popular Music Recording Industry.”This was the second presentation Neal gave this week as part of her visit to Jacobs as the year’s first guest in the Five Friends Master Class Series.On Monday, she gave a public lecture about country music entitled “More Than Just a Country Song: Socioeconomic Lessons with a Twang.”During Wednesday’s discussion, Neal spoke about the music copyright history and individuals who had a big effect on the subject.Neal focused on Ralph Peer, a music talent scout and record producer who worked with legendary acts like Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family early in their careers and helped launch the genre of country music.“Most of the songs sung by Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family were not composed by them,” Neal said.She also played music clips for audience members and spoke at length about the copyright history of particular songs, including “In The Jailhouse Now.”“As a scholar, you run into these questions all the time, and as a researcher, I was looking for early versions of these songs that I was writing about,” she said. “One of the sources you can use are copyright records to find out what was written by whom and when.”The majority of Neal’s presentation focused on the era before 1978, as she said that is her main area of interest.“I’m really interested in how this worked before sound recording became part of the dialogue,” she said.In regard to the current music industry, Neal said many current country stars are being forced by record labels to sit down with songwriters and co-write songs together. “Record labels want a cut of publishing money,” she said. At the end of her presentation, Neal answered several questions from audience members.“Copyright was immeasurably important in what songs got recorded how and when, which has shaped our memory of the musical history of popular music,” she said.Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/30/13 3:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The eclectic sounds of musician Leyla McCalla filled a packed First Christian Church on Saturday night at the 20th annual Lotus World Music and Arts Festival.McCalla, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who plays cello, banjo and guitar, entertained the crowd with the help of band mate Josh Kossman during her more-than-one-hour set.She performed a variety of songs including several from her upcoming album “Vari-Colored Songs,” which is set to be released in February 2014.McCalla raised more than $20,000 last December through a campaign on Kickstarter to cover the costs of making the album, which she describes as a tribute to Langston Hughes. “I felt his life, legacy and body of work was so inspiring,” she said of the poet.McCalla said she related to his words. “He really made me want to be an artist, so it seemed appropriate to share his works through my music,” she said.In addition to compositions she wrote to Hughes’s poetry, the album will include original pieces and Haitian folk songs.McCalla, who was raised in New Jersey by her Haitian-immigrant parents, studied cello performance and chamber music at New York University before moving to her current home in New Orleans in 2010.She told the audience at Saturday’s show of her deep connection to her parents’ native country.“I’ve been exploring a lot of Haitian music,” she said. “It’s become a big part of my repertoire.”She also spoke about the misconceptions many people have about the Caribbean nation.Some of the stereotypes she listed included the poverty and devastation presented in the media.“There’s a lot of reasons for why Haiti is the way it is,” McCalla said. “It’s not inherent to just Haiti. It’s inherent to the way some countries have dealt with power.”Although this was her first time performing at Lotus, McCalla said she and Kossman were enjoying their experience at the festival.“We’ve had such a great time just walking around and being with other artists,” she said. “It’s so wonderful to have a space to share our music.”McCalla spoke about meeting other Lotus performers, including Nomadic Massive, a Montreal hip-hop group that’s made up of people from all different backgrounds.“Some of the guys in Nomadic Massive are Haitian, so we spoke Creole to each other,” she said.She also invited two members of David Wax Museum onto the stage to accompany her in a song.“It’s great to have these guys to fill out our sound,” she said.At the end of her set, McCalla thanked the crowd as she received a standing ovation.“I can’t say enough how happy we are to be a part of the festival this year, and we hope to be back again,” she said.Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/27/13 3:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The story of a hypochondriac and those trying to save him from himself is told through physically demanding performances in Friday’s premiere of “The Imaginary Invalid.”Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre, with additional showings next week.“Imaginary Invalid,” a comédie-ballet, first premiered in 1673 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.The satire tells the story of a hypochondriac named Argan and chronicles his many attempts to cure himself of his imaginary illnesses. Despite constant reminders of his health, Argan can’t be convinced and even tries to force his daughter to marry a doctor.Josh Krause, a second-year M.F.A. student who plays Argan, said he was drawn to the obscurity of the storyline and his character’s complete belief that he is deathly ill.“Everyone else is separately trying to save him from himself, and yet no one ever really succeeds in getting him to accept that about himself,” Krause said.Director Gavin Cameron-Webb, who previously directed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Richard III” for IU Theater, modernized certain aspects of “Invalid” to relate to today’s health care industry.“I hope they take away the director’s vision for the play that not everything can be solved with a pill,” Krause said.With the large amount of movement that takes place on stage, “Invalid” has proven to be physically taxing for Krause.“It’s a constant battle of not running completely out of breath because then you can’t serve the text,” he said. “It’s about finding a balance between the physical and vocal demands.”Senior Courtney Lucien plays Angélique, Argan’s daughter and the center of a love triangle. Lucien said she was immediately drawn to her character.“I love ingénue characters with a twist,” she said. “I wanted to experiment with how different she could be as a stock character.”Lucien said although she has found some challenges come with a period piece like “Invalid,” she admires Angélique’s spirit when it comes to love.“She’s a strong, sassy young woman who’s on a mission, and she won’t let society or her father get in the way,” she said. “She believes that nothing will stand in the way of her getting the love of her life, which, hilariously, is a guy she met a week ago.”Lucien said because of the physical and visual nature of the show, audiences will get most of the story’s humor from the things they see.However, she and the other actors still had to find reality within the humor and portray their characters as real people.“It can’t just be funny to be funny,” Krause said. “There has to be some real determination that each character’s fighting for.”Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/26/13 3:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Jacobs School of Music’s New Music Ensemble, under the direction of
David Dzubay with guest composer Sebastian Currier will perform its
first show of the year at 7 tonight at Auer Hall.The ensemble of about 20 students will perform one of Currier’s works, “Bodymusic.” Created in 2009, the work is divided into 16 movements all related to something about the human body.“It’s
very interesting because it combines recorded sounds played through an
audio system surrounding the audience with sounds from the musicians on
stage,” said Dzubay, a professor of music and composition department
chair at Jacobs.The New Music Ensemble, which Dzubay has directed since 1992, tends to play more recent music.“It’s mostly music by living composers, and they are often present at the concert,” he said.When the ensemble performs a piece by a student or staff member, the work is typically recorded for release.The
second piece that will be performed at the concert is Eric Lindsay’s
“Icarus,” which will be recorded following its Thursday premiere.Lindsay
said the context of the work came from transitions he faced in his own
life after completing his doctorate in composition. It got him thinking about the inconsistencies of all the goals people set in their life.“We’re
always dealing with innovations and changes in the world,” he said. “It
seems like we’re constantly reassessing and repositioning ourselves.”In
order to capture the noise of all of these events, Lindsay composed a
piece that has several pulses going on simultaneously at various layers
of speed, which he said creates distinct overlaps.“The focus is on how these different layers reconcile themselves when they’re all playing at once,” Lindsay said. At one point, there are five strands of speeds going at the same time. “It creates a delightful noise that all hangs together,” Lindsay said.With
its distinct and complicated nature and no previous recording for the
ensemble to listen to, Lindsay said “Icarus” is not an easy piece to
learn.“They are doing a fantastic job bringing it to life even
though it engages styles that most of the players aren’t familiar with,”
he said.Dzubay also complimented the students who will play at Thursday’s performance.“The musicianship they play is at a really high level,” he said.Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/23/13 3:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Latin American, Caribbean and Spanish cultures were celebrated Saturday morning at the eighth annual Fiesta del Otoño at the Bloomington Farmers’ Market.Organized by the Latino Outreach Division of the City of Bloomington Community and Family Resources Department, the “Fall Festival” brought together local members of the community in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month.The event showcased the cultures of more than 20 countries. Representatives for each country also provided additional information to visitors.Festival attendees were given booklets containing facts about the countries and had the opportunity to collect stamps of each country’s flag as they made their way from table to table.Bloomington resident Sudhir Sahu stood at the Honduras table and taught visitors about his native country. He discussed the American presence in the poor Central American nation as well as some of the best Honduran sites for travelers, such as the ancient Mayan civilization at Copán.IU graduate student Stephanie Huezo, whose family is from El Salvador, said although the country is the smallest in Central America, it is the most densely populated. She spoke about Salvadoran cuisine, including the pupusa, which is similar to a stuffed corn tortilla, and showed pictures of Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo, a popular statue in the nation’s capital city, San Salvador.In addition to learning about the countries, guests were able to eat Latin American cuisine and watch performances from local Bloomington music and dance groups.One of the representatives for Spain was Bloomington High School North student Maria Halloran, who spent seven weeks this past summer in Valencia, the third largest city in the country.She spoke of her experience abroad and said she discovered differences between Spanish and American cultures.“Spanish culture is much more relaxed, and people put much more emphasis on enjoying everyday life,” she said. “The people in Spain always make time for their families and each other, and I wish more Americans did that.”Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/20/13 3:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The sounds of Mozart will fill the Musical Arts Center Friday and Saturday night as the IU Opera and Ballet Theater begins its 2013-14 season with two performances of Le Nozze di Figaro. The four-act comedic opera, based on a 1784 stage comedy by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais, was composed in 1786 by Mozart in collaboration with Italian librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was the first of three collaborations between the duo, who later created Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte.“Figaro is such incredible music,” Stage Director Christopher Alexander said. “It’s so unbelievably beautiful and intelligent, and dramaturgically, what Mozart and Da Ponte put together from Beaumarchais’s work is quite remarkable.”Adam Walton, a second-year doctoral student in voice performance, is one of two men to play the titular role in the double-casted production. “It’s such a fun show to be in,” he said. “It’s very crowd-pleasing, and the audience always likes it.”With only three weeks of rehearsals, Alexander said it was a challenge to get “Figaro” ready for the stage with two casts in such a short amount of time. He also said the comedic nature of the show required more preparation than more serious operas. “It’s a very intelligent comedy, so in comparison to a drama or tragedy, you’re giving three or four times as many instructions to your people on stage,” he said. “And they have to be practiced because slapstick is much more difficult as processed on stage than straight drama.”Anastasia Talley, a second-year master’s student in vocal performance, plays Figaro’s fiancée Susanna. She said she enjoyed being challenged to capture the versatility and intricacy of her character.“I wanted to play Susanna because I really love her spirit,” Talley said. “She’s a very dimensional character — spicy, smart, loving and caring.”Walton, a bass-baritone, said he’s excited to play Figaro because the character is different than many of his past roles.“For my voice type, this is one of the few roles you get to play where you’re the hero of the show,” he said. “Usually you’re a villain or an old man or a father. It’s really fun to be the hero that people are rooting for.”But playing the hero comes with its own set of challenges, as Walton discovered. “It’s a lot harder to play a good guy than a bad guy,” he said. “When you’re playing a bad guy, you can be over the top, but when you’re the good guy, you have to always be in control and be noble and likable all the time.”When rehearsing for “Figaro,” Talley said Alexander was encouraging and patient and allowed her to bring her own ideas to the stage. “He provided such a sturdy framework for this insanely complex opera, but he also gives you room for your own interpretation,” she said.In regards to his directing style, Alexander said it is important to remember he is not the one on stage. “They’re on stage, so the more of the characters that comes from them, the better it is,” he said of the performers. “I’m like a big mirror for many people on stage, and I try to inform them about what they’re showing me or not showing me as much as possible.”Although the set being used for the show is not new, members of the artistic staff, including lighting designer Patrick Mero and set and costume designer Robert O’Hearn, worked to capture the essence of the 18th-century surroundings and bring the story to life. Alexander said he hopes the performers make the roles come alive for audiences and bring the passion of the comedy to the stage. “Everybody on stage has some intention and some purpose and wants to get that with the blood of his heart,” he said. “The audience has to see that and go along with it.”Walton said “Figaro” is the kind of show all types of people can enjoy.“If you have never seen opera, this is absolutely one of the best operas you can go to,” he said. “It’s funny, touching, and has beautiful music. It has everything you could want out of a show for an evening.”Follow Jacobs School of Music reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/19/13 3:43am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Jacobs School of Music’s chamber orchestra, under the direction of conductor Uriel Segal, performed its first concert of the year Wednesday night at Auer Hall.The Israeli-born Segal has served as a principal guest conductor at Jacobs since 2004 and has lead a respectable international career, which started in 1969 after he won first prize in the Dimitri Mitropolous Conducting Competition in New York City. Shortly after, he served as an assistant to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic until 1970. He has since conducted in orchestras around the world, including those in the United States, Israel, Japan and throughout Europe.“The Jacobs Chamber Orchestra is one of seven orchestral ensembles in the school,” said Linda Cajigas, Jacobs publicity and media relations specialist. “It is the quintessential classical orchestra because it represents the core instruments of an orchestra before the more embellished Romantic period, which added percussion and additional instrumentation.”Three compositions, each from a different composer, were performed at the concert.“The varied program performed Wednesday night is a great kick-off to this ensemble’s very full season,” Cajigas said.The first work performed was Symphony No. 44 in E Minor, commonly known as “Trauer,” which was completed in 1772 by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn.The second was Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto in D, sometimes referred to as “Basle,” which was composed in 1946 shortly after Stravinsky became an American citizen.The final work was the lighthearted Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93, created by Beethoven in 1812.Senior Caleb Wiebe and freshman Grant Barker both performed on trumpet at the concert.Barker said although preparations during the previous two weeks were time consuming, he thought the program was really strong.Wiebe was especially happy with the location of concert. “It’s great that the chamber orchestra gets to perform in Auer Hall because it has the best acoustics,” he said.He also noted the diversity in programs the orchestra will play at its upcoming concerts. “This semester has a wide range of repertoire,” he said.Follow Jacobs School of Music reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/16/13 5:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Embarrassing moments and confessions were featured Friday night at The Bishop as local storytellers took the stage to spill their dirt.The stories were part of Bloomington Storytelling Project’s event, Dirt. The project plays host to live events, staging themed storytelling sessions.Friday’s theme was people’s dirt: stories of embarassing moments in front of high school crushes, ripped pants and parents finding sex toys. Started in 2009, the Bloomington Storytelling Project feeds the stories that make up “The Porch Swing,” a WFHB radio show. “Dirt sounded like a good way to start off the beginning of the year,” said Leigh Bush, managing producer of the Bloomington Storytelling Project. “You can interpret it in so many ways, like your worse moment story or a story about how you literally got filthy.”While the stories told at the live events vary, they relate to the storyteller.Storytellers range from young to old and come from different walks of life.“I’ve had 6-year-olds all the way up to older grandparents,” Bush said. Audience members shared anonymous confessions on slips of paper. Some even came on stage and told their own tales.Juliet Barrett had the crowd laughing with her story of an embarrassing audition. Barrett used to have her own storytelling show on WIUX.After her show ended, Barrett found herself missing the experience, so she began working with WFHB and the Bloomington Storytelling Project as a story collector. Friday was her first time telling a story live.“Telling stories is awesome, and I especially love this story because it was the birth of my entrance into the theater world,” she said. Alycin Bektesh, WFHB news and executive producer, said the live storytelling events are one of her favorite parts of her job.“It’s very different to be there while someone is sharing a part of themselves that they would not share if you just met them on the street,” she said. Something the group often comes across, Bektesh said, is people not thinking they have stories to share. However, she said she wants people to realize their stories are significant.“If anyone would take something away from here, it would be they have stories to tell and that all of these stories help us identify our community more wholly,” she said. Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/12/13 4:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The stage at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater was transformed into a deserted island Wednesday night during a preview performance of Cardinal Stage Company’s “Lord of the Flies.” Based on the Nobel Prize-winning 1954 dystopian novel of the same name by William Golding, “Lord of the Flies” is part of a collaboration between Cardinal and the College of Arts and Sciences for Themester 2013: Connectedness: Networks in a Complex World and Cardinal’s first production of the 2013-14 season.It’s not only a Midwest premiere, but also only the third professional production ever staged in America.Each year for the past five years, Cardinal has done a show for Themester that relates to what students are learning in public schools. Past performances include “The Grapes of Wrath,” “All My Sons,” “Inherit the Wind” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”“We thought ‘Lord of the Flies’ would work really well and be a good fit in terms of social connections and social constructs,” said Randy White, show director and Cardinal Artistic Director.Several IU theater students have roles in the production, including junior Nat Zegree as Ralph, junior Nathan Robbins as Jack and sophomore Todd Aulwurm as Simon. Many of the actors are much older than their literary counterparts, which was an intentional part of casting, White said.“I felt strongly that the play was going to be too difficult for younger actors to be able to embody,” he said. “For physical movement and crazy expressive stuff that happens later in the play, the deeper emotional connection, I feel that younger actors weren’t going to be able to convincingly and safely portray it.”Even with older actors, White still had to find the right set and lighting to bring the scenes and locations in the book to life.Set designer Mark Smith and lighting designer Michael Jackson created a unique combination featuring a raised set designed to suggest different locations based on lighting changes.“It’s the biggest set we’ve ever put into the Buskirk-Chumley Theater,” White said. “There’s so much movement and so many light and sound effects. They spent a lot of time working and putting it all together.”The play will show 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. All performances are at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.The stage version of “Lord of the Flies” closely follows the story in Golding’s novel, with White referring to it as “the book on stage.”White said the production captures the book’s fascinating examinations of humanity’s tendency toward chaos through the relationship between characters Ralph and Piggy.“I think there are several central ideas at its core, like the ways in which we organize ourselves in social construction that are designed to both enhance the best parts and mitigate the worst parts of us as human beings,” White said.Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/11/13 2:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Jacobs School of Music’s Philharmonic Orchestra, accompanied by conductor David Effron and pianist André Watts, will perform 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Musical Arts Center.About 70 students will perform at the concert, the first of the year.“I’m excited, and the students are extremely excited about the first concert,” Effron, a professor of orchestral conducting at Jacobs, said. “We’re especially excited that a man of André Watts’s stature is going to be a soloist. He’s so much fun to work with for everybody.”Watts is a piano professor who joined the School of Music faculty in 2004. His career began in 1963 when he was only 16 years old, after he was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to perform with the New York Philharmonic at one of its Young People’s Concerts. He has since received numerous awards, including the 2011 National Medal of Arts, given by the President of the United States in recognition of his contribution to arts in the U.S.Works that will be played at the concert include German composer Otto Nicolai’s overture to “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” Norweigan composer Edvard Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16,” with Watts on piano, and German composer Johannes Brahms’s “Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73.”“I wanted to perform works that would be familiar to audiences as this will give a good start to the 2013/14 season,” Effron said. “It will be a wonderful, joyful beginning to the semester.”Follow Jacobs School of Music reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/11/13 2:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Local food and music invaded the front of the IU Art Museum Tuesday as part of the Big Red Eats Green food festival.Organized by the IU Office of Sustainability, Big Red Eats Green brought local restaurants, food growers and speakers to teach guests about the benefits of eating locally, while they sampled some of Bloomington’s sustainable food options.Many students stopped by the festival between classes and bought food from the various vendors, including Lennie’s, Laughing Planet Cafe, Sweet Claire’s Bakery, BLU Boy Chocolate Café and Cakery and Upland Brewing Company.Student groups also promoted their sustainability-focused initiatives.“Vegan and vegetarian food is sustainable and environmentally-friendly,” junior Becca Polk, treasurer of VegIU, said. “We’re trying to spread the word about these types of foods on campus.”Senior Erin Kilhefner is the membership and publicity director of the Student Sustainability Council, which brings together representatives of several student organizations on campus to advance issues of sustainability.“We try to pass initiatives as a collective community and work together to promote and accomplish projects,” she said.Kit Gambill served as co-coordinator of Big Red Eats Green. She said she grew up on a small farm near Terre Haute and was raised on local food.“When I got to Bloomington, I was so impressed by the amount of local food that was available, and it was great being able to eat food that I grew up on,” she said.However, she said she realizes many students did not have an upbringing like hers and lack knowledge about the subject.“They know about restaurants, but they don’t know that a lot of these restaurants get their food from local farms and that a lot of their ingredients come from people who live twenty minutes away,” she said. “They don’t know the importance of eating locally and what their options are, and Big Red Eats Green helps reveal that.”In addition to eating food, guests were given an opportunity to listen to three presentations from IU faculty members.Christine Barbour, a senior lecturer in the political science department, discussed the importance of knowing where food comes from and presented ways to eat more sustainably.“It matters where our food comes from,” she said. “Food tastes better when it’s thoughtfully produced.”She also said food has a bigger effect than many people think.“The way that we eat, the way that we nurture ourselves, feeds more than just our stomachs.”Follow Jacobs School of Music reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/06/13 3:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two new fall exhibitions, “Past/Present” and “La Vida Sexual,” will have their opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at The Kinsey Institute.“Past/Present,” a mixed media exhibition, will feature several different types of art, including paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures and collages, all of which were donated to Kinsey.The featured works are displayed in groups, with the idea being to pair up old artwork with more contemporary work to show their similarities.“In some cases, we’re showing where people are clearly looking at something and going off of that,” said Catherine Johnson-Roehr, curator of art, artifacts and photographs at The Kinsey Institute. “In other cases, they may not have seen the work we’re showing with it, but the same idea is carrying through, and I think that’s really interesting.”The exhibit is part of the current Themester theme: “Connectedness: Networks in a Complex World.”“What we’re doing with this show is showing that connection between past and present,” Johnson-Roehr said. “With artists who are clearly revealing in their work, there’s a connection to past work.”While “Past/Present” is focused on connections, “La Vida Sexual” is concentrated on Latin American artwork and pieces from artists who were originally from Latin American countries in honor of the 40th anniversary of La Casa, IU’s Latino cultural center.“It’s a way of highlighting the range of material we have from those countries,” Johnson-Roehr said. “Students and others may not think of coming here to view material from Latin America, but we actually have quite a lot of it.”Several works in the exhibit were produced by Cuban artist Emilio Sanchez, though pieces from other artists and materials from Kinsey’s library are on display as well.“We received a large Sanchez gift a couple of years ago, and we thought it would be nice to display his work,” Johnson-Roehr said.“Past/Present” and “La Vida Sexual” will be on display through Dec. 20.“We think it’s kind of fun to do two exhibits,” Johnson-Roehr said. “We don’t have the luxury of having a lot of display space, but we make the best of what we have.” Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(09/04/13 4:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The crowd cheered as Camelia Voin emerged onto the stage in a long, flowing purple gown. She walked to the center and smiled at the audience, holding her position until the room was in complete silence. After a few seconds, the sounds of the piano began to fill the air, and she started singing.Voin, a lyric colortura soprano, performed an intimate recital of Romanian songs Tuesday night at Ford-Crawford Hall.She was accompanied by pianist Gary Barnett as she sang works from an array of Romanian composers, including Tiberiu Brediceanu, Mansi Barberis, Mihail Jora and Dinu Lipatti.“I hope the audience takes away the spirit of Romania and its culture,” Voin said.Voin, who is originally from Transylvania, Romania, has performed on some of the most famous stages in the world and participated in several international music competitions.She is a professor of voice at Claremont Graduate University, California Baptist University and University of California, Riverside, and still maintains an active performance career. She said music has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember.“My father sang beautifully and he always taught me folk songs and from there I was always on stage,” she said.Although she started singing at an early age, Voin didn’t develop an interest in classical music until her teenage years after she was introduced to it by a music teacher.Today, she performs operas, oratorios and recitals. She said she loves all types of performances because they act as learning experiences and expose her to new things.While Voin doesn’t have a favorite type of performance, she does have a favorite composer.“I love singing Bellini,” she said. “It just suits my voice very well.”Voin didn’t perform any Bellini at Tuesday’s recital, but she did sing music about which she’s equally passionate.“I am interested in promoting Romanian music,” she said. “Some of this music is very difficult to find and I think it’s so beautiful and I would love for the new generation to hear these songs.”Follow Jacob’s School of Music reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(08/30/13 3:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Aaron Chandler, the owner of Rewind, a Bloomington recording studio and music school, is a former IU student who always knew he wanted to be a musician. Today, he uses Rewind to help other aspiring artists hone their skills, one of his current students being a 9-year-old electric guitarist. “Up a string,” Chandler said to the boy during his lesson Tuesday. “There it is.”He paid careful attention as the student played, offering advice and encouragement along the way.“Music takes a lot of commitment,” he said. “You can’t half-ass it.”Thirty-one-year-old Chandler has been a musician for more than half his life. After first picking up a guitar in his early teenage years and playing throughout high school, he joined a band in Nashville, Tenn., at age 18. He came to know pop star Katy Perry, who worked in Nashville in the early stages of her career.“I had a big crush on her at the time,” he said jokingly. Chandler eventually enrolled in the Indiana University School of Music, now known as the Jacobs School of Music. He came close to finishing his degree but dropped out during his senior year when he was given the opportunity to record an album.“I never cared about getting a degree anyway because I knew I wanted to be a musician,” he said.While recording the album, he taught guitar at the now-closed Smith-Holden Music in downtown Bloomington until opening Rewind in March 2010.“Our goal is to help local artists get their music out there and to help them reach their potential as musicians,” Chandler said.Rewind hosted several live shows during its first year but eventually had to stop due to a lack of space. To combat the lack of performances, Chandler built a soundproof recording studio that now hosts several bands per week as they record both demos and full-length albums.He also started an independent record label, Rewind Records, in summer 2011 to help kickstart local bands who wouldn’t normally be able to afford recording.“We take a promising young artist from Bloomington, give them a recording contact and let them record for free,” Chandler said.Bands that have released albums on Rewind Records include Elephant Quiz and Forest Rambler, among others.When the staff at Rewind isn’t dealing with the recording studio, they aim to help people of all ages become better musicians through music lessons.Ben Fowler has worked at Rewind since its inception and currently teaches drums. He encourages a collaborative environment and helps kids form “School of Rock”-type bands.“I love helping kids learn songs together and learn about songs that they like,” he said. “It’s a really empowering thing to see.”As for the future, Fowler said he would like to see more momentum behind the things already taking place at Rewind.“I feel really good about what’s happening,” he said. “There’s a lot of good going on here.”Follow Jacobs School of Music reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(08/30/13 3:43am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Members of the Bloomington community gathered Thursday evening at Boxcar Books for an outdoor reading by zine writers and friends Katie Haegele and Joseph Carlough. The event was organized by Richard Wehrenberg, Jr., a volunteer at Boxcar and a poet who also read some of his work.This was just one stop on Haegele and Carlough’s zine tour, which has seen them travel to Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Champaign, Ill. They said they initially planned their weeklong excursion for pleasure, but changed their minds and decided to also turn it into a zine tour.“It was initially just a vacation we had planned,” Carlough said. “We drove out here to see a musician play and we figured maybe we should set something up.”“It just sounded like a lot of fun,” Haegele added.Haegele, who works professionally as an arts journalist in Philadelphia, read an excerpt from her memoir, “White Elephants: Yard Sales, Relationships, and Finding What Was Missing.” She is currently working on her next book and said she hopes to publish it soon.Carlough, who read some of his original poems and an excerpt from a book he is currently writing, works as an independent publisher in N.J. and also writes SAT material part-time. He has published multiple zines, a card game, and even a record. He said he was enjoying traveling to new places on the zine tour.Haegele and Carlough said they will travel to Louisville and Maryland before finishing up their tour in New Jersey. As for the future, they said they both have one simple wish.“I would love to one day not work for anyone else,” Carlough said. “That’s the dream, I think.”Haegle laughed. “That’s mine, too,” she said.Follow Jacobs School of Music reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.
(08/22/13 2:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Many IU students are spending their Welcome Week focused on moving and settling in on campus, but senior Rachel Awoyemi is focused on something bigger. The arts management major is busy preparing for the second installment of “A Festivus for the Rest of Us,” a music and artist showcase opening 9 p.m. Friday at Max’s Place. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Bloomington’s Bethel AME Church to assist with its outreach and education programs.Festivus will feature about 20 musicians at the hip-hop-based show. Work from a local jewelry business and graphic designer will also be on display.“We really want it to be a melting pot of all the local artists in Bloomington,” Awoyemi said.Chinedu Onye, a hip-hop artist known by the stage name Jayali, will headline the show. Awoyemi now acts as Jayali’s personal manager after seeing him perform at the Bloomington Music Festival last October. “I fell in love with his music right then and there and networked with him after the show,” Awoyemi said. Awoyemi and Onye embarked on an independent music tour this summer, where he put on six shows around the Midwest. “He’s such a great individual, and I’m so glad that he’s my artist,” Awoyemi said.Although Awoyemi spends much of her time on the management side of music, she sings and plays instruments, too.“I’ve been a musician my whole life,” she said. “I love singing, but I love managing at the same time, so it’s all about finding that balance.”Awoyemi is currently a co-owner of Alpha Pack Records and also runs her own promotions and marketing company, Festivus Marketing Group. In the future, she plans to start another record label and open up her own management company.Until then, she is focused on Festivus, which will have a new show each month.“I just want everyone to come out and enjoy the local arts scene,” Awoyemi said. “I planned this show for artists to showcase their talent and to promote themselves.”
(08/21/13 3:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Scents of fresh herbs and vegetables filled the air Tuesday afternoon in the Children’s Courtyard Garden at the Monroe County Public Library. Children and members of the community came to taste the contents of the garden in the final event of a three-part series.Janet Lambert, a children’s reference assistant at the library, organized the planting of the garden and was on hand to teach guests about the different kinds of herbs and vegetables displayed. “The real joy I get out of it is how people always stop by when we weed and water the garden, and they say how wonderful it is and how much they appreciate seeing everything grow,” she said.The garden was first planted in May as part of the Creative Aging Festival when almost 50 seniors and children worked together to plant the various flowers, vegetables and herbs. “Our goal was to bring together our young patrons and our senior patrons and do a program that would energize and help the creative process and the gardening process for both generations,” Lambert said. “They had an intergenerational understanding of one another, which was really cool.”Ann Segraves, the library’s Homebound Service Coordinator, assisted Lambert with several events at the garden and also witnessed the benefits of the two generations working together. “It’s stimulating for the older folks, and kids can learn a lot from them,” she said.In July, Lambert hosted Make a Worm Hotel, where she taught kids about the importance of worms in gardening. The children were given a jar with layers of soil and got to take home worms of their own with the promise that they would release them after three days. Tuesday’s event, the last involving the garden, allowed guests to see how the garden transformed from its inception. “It’s a chance for the kids to see the whole process from beginning to end and for the community to get involved also,” Lambert said.Thyme, lavender, oregano, basil, cucumbers and tomatoes were just some of the items on display for visitors to enjoy. Although the garden has been planted for the past five years, this was the first time it involved beds with raised walls to keep pests and heavy rain from disrupting the plants. The beds were able to be purchased with a donation from a library staff member. Lambert said the raised beds really made a difference and helped make this year’s garden the most successful yet.“We wanted to get the kids outside and have them get their hands dirty and experience what it’s like to dig in the dirt,” Lambert said. “And, we wanted to teach the kids how important it is to appreciate where your food comes from. It doesn’t come from the grocery store. It comes from the ground.”
(04/12/12 4:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students and community members are gearing up for IU’s annual Relay For Life, which raises money for the American Cancer Society. The event will be this weekend from 5 p.m. Saturday until 8 a.m. Sunday at the Billy Hayes Track.Senior and event chair Sara Friedline said she and her fellow organizers hope to raise $35,000. “I’m optimistic about this year,” she said. “We have a lot of enthusiastic participants who are going to make this event worthwhile.”Relay For Life currently has 249 registered participants who are raising money.“It’s a team-based fundraiser, so participants are in teams of 10 to 15 people or more, and they raise funds together,” said Erica Meyers, community representative at American Cancer Society for Monroe County. Participants raise money in several ways, one of which is through the Relay For Life website. “As far as fundraising on the website goes, we’re probably at the same amount we were at last year at this time,” Meyers said.Teams participate in a noncompetitive casual walk throughout the event. To go along with the Relay For Life tagline of “Cancer never sleeps, so neither do we,” organizers ask all teams to have at least one member on the track at all times.Other activities that will take place include games, ceremonies and a dinner that celebrates cancer survivors and their caregivers.“I think we’re going to have a big turnout of cancer survivors,” Meyers said. “They range from a two-month cancer survivor to a 34-year cancer survivor.”Senior Tiffany Kellogg first became involved with Relay For Life in eighth grade. She continued her involvement throughout high school and the last four years at IU. “Cancer has hit my family pretty hard,” said Kellogg, who lost an aunt, uncle, grandmother and grandfather to the disease. “It’s just something that is really important to me.”This year, Kellogg served as one of the executives on the planning committee and coordinated all of the live entertainment. She said she is most looking forward to the Luminaria Ceremony, which honors cancer survivors and those who have lost their battles with cancer.“People decorate bags in memory of a loved one that has had cancer,” Kellogg said. “We line them up around the track and fill them with candles or glow sticks.”Junior Ali Kissinger is participating in Relay For Life for reasons similar to Kellogg’s. She has been personally affected by cancer and said she hopes to make a difference.Kissinger first became involved in Relay For Life when she was eight years old. She has been involved with the event at IU for two years and currently serves as one of the co-chairs. Kissinger’s initial involvement was sparked by her grandmother’s cancer diagnosis. A few years later, her three-year-old sister was diagnosed, as well. Consequently, Relay For Life is very important to Kissinger’s family, she said. “It is a place where my whole family comes together,” Kissinger said. “Cancer is one of the things we are very passionate about finding a cure for.”Kissinger said she is anticipating many things about this weekend. “I’m looking forward to seeing all of our hard work and planning come together and to seeing the survivors because that means they can celebrate another birthday, and that’s what Relay For Life is all about,” she said.
(03/22/12 3:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Several IU science faculty joined Walter Alvarez, professor emeritus of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, in the panel discussion “Evolution in the 21st Century: Science, Education, and Politics” on Wednesday at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures.Origins of life on EarthLisa Pratt, provost’s professor of Geological Sciences, discussed what she described as an extreme lack of information that exists about the origin of life. She said not much is moving forward with the initiatives behind these studies. “We seem to know less by the day instead of more by the day,” Pratt said. Pratt said there is no general agreement about the origin of life on Earth or of life anywhere else. “To accept the fact that scientists can’t seem to reach an agreement on the most basic ideas is troubling,” Pratt said. “We are stuck in a scientific rut.” Pratt said scientists have been trying to figure out how to create life in a test tube for 50 years and have failed. Because of this, she said people must accept the idea that life is not readily formed in ordinary conditions. Before tackling the origin of life, Pratt said one has to start with the basics. “It would be absolutely delightful if we even had a definition of life because we won’t have one now,” she said.Field of Big History is gaining popularityAlvarez discussed his interest in a new emerging field called Big History, which he described as the history of everything possible a person has the chance of observing. Alvarez said science has worked really well by specialization. These specializations include the cosmos, earth, life, humanity and what they all have to do with each other. “Big History has a wonderful effect of bringing together humanistic scholars with people like us who do science,” he said.Alvarez has a reputable name in his field and is best known for his work establishing the theory that an asteroid collision caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.“Walter Alvarez is one of the most distinguished scientists of our time,” wrote Kathy Schick and Nicholas Toth, co-directors of the CRAFT Research Center and the Stone Age Institute, according to a press release. “As a geologist, he teamed up with his father, the physicist and Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez, and proposed the hypothesis that the dinosaur extinction 65 million years ago was caused by a catastrophic extraterrestrial impact of an asteroid or comet. “Subsequent research over the past several decades has supported this hypothesis, including the discovery of a gigantic impact crater of the same time in the Yucatan area.”Tracing back to a common ancestorProfessor of Anthropology Kathy Schick discussed the field of paleoanthropology and the effects of Darwin’s “Origin of Species.”“It’s really since ‘Origin of Species’ that people open their eyes to this fact that there’s this deep, deep history to everything, including the earth, animal forms and other human forms,” she said.She said a big question paleoanthropologists have is tracing back to the last common ancestor. “We and the chimpanzees have evolved from a common ancestor,” she said. “They’ve had their own evolutionary trajectory, and we’ve had ours. How far back can we trace our lineage to that split? We’re getting closer and closer.”Walter Alvarez will present “Big History: A Bridge Between Humanities and Sciences” on March 26 in the Whittenberger Auditorium at the Indiana Memorial Union.