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(01/18/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It can be said that racial segregation in America birthed one of the greatest jazz icons of all time.David Nathaniel Baker Jr., current distinguished professor of music and chair of the Jazz Studies Department at the IU Jacobs School of Music, is deeply respected globally and through the generations for his contributions to the jazz world.This weekend, the Jacobs School of Music will hold an 80th birthday celebration for Baker. Although his birthday was Dec. 21, the school said it wanted to honor the jazz legend in a manner that students could participate in.The energetic octogenarian is credited with more than 2,000 compositions, including jazz, symphonic and chamber works, and has published 65 recordings, 70 books and 400 articles. Widely seen as one of the ABCs of modern jazz education — “B” is for Baker, while “A” and “C” refer to his renowned collaborators Jamey Aebersold and Jerry Coker, respectively — Baker is also regarded as one of the world’s premier jazz educators. In 1955, after graduating from IU with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education, Baker took up a substitute teaching position at Lincoln University in Missouri — a stint that would mark the beginning of a long journey of accomplished pedagogy. “I remember in our high school yearbook, where it says ‘name,’ ‘specialty’ and ‘what are your intentions in the future,’” Baker said. “I’d said I wanted to be a music teacher.”Baker was born in Indianapolis in 1931, where he attended Crispus Attucks High School, which was built in the early 20th century and designated as an institution for African-American students. Because it was a rule that an all-black school could only hire all-black teachers, there were many overqualified educators teaching at the high-school level.“I didn’t know of any professional orchestras in the U.S. at that time that had an African-American playing in the orchestra,” Baker said. “Given that lack of an option, I studied church music, learned how to play rock ’n’ roll and rhythm and blues and the other styles that were open to a young African-American who wanted to teach, so I didn’t choose jazz at first — it chose me.”Baker honed his jazz performance skills in bars and pubs, but it was only upon attending IU in 1950 that he was able to receive formal training in classical music. Still, the love for jazz had already been deeply embedded in the young student. “In the schools, it was not considered an important music ... they always thought that jazz was inferior to other music,” Baker said. “We weren’t supposed to play jazz in the practice rooms here. And there was a penalty for doing that. But, being young, full of ideas, I was determined — I did what everyone else did — have jam sessions.”Baker managed to convince his peers that jazz was as important to society as the music of classical masters like Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. “We were of the notion that jazz was America’s music,” Baker said. “I mean, if we’re talking about music that was born here, it would be music that had come out of slavery, that had come out of Black Prohibition, all those early years when blacks were not allowed to go to the movies, could not get into most schools.”When Baker first arrived at IU, African-American students were not allowed to live in the dorms use public restrooms or visit hair salons. It was not until former IU chancellor Herman B Wells made a stand that the chokehold began to loosen. Finally, by the time Baker returned to found and develop the Jazz Studies Department 10 years later in 1964, the doors of segregation had already been largely broken down by revolutionary figures like Martin Luther King Jr. As he worked to make IU’s music school one of the best in the country, a young man who lived in a small city 20 miles from Baker’s hometown started to play the jazz trumpet. The man was David Miller, founder of Jazz Fables, a concert series that began in Bloomington in 1977 and featured many jazz studies students and alumni. Notable names include prominent drummer Shawn Pelton and keyboardist Jim Beard, both of whom will be visiting IU this weekend to hold free jazz clinics. Baker himself played the cello for regular sets with the band approximately once every school semester since the start of the concert series at Bear’s Place. Brought up in a household that was constantly filled with all kinds of music, Miller was exposed from an early age to the jazz publication “Downbeat Magazine,” in which he read about and explored music by jazz greats, including Miles Davis and a certain David Baker. Miller arrived at IU the same year Baker succeeded in pushing for jazz studies as a degree-granting program. Despite choosing to pursue a sociology degree, Miller sat in for as many of Baker’s jazz classes as he could. “Even though I continue to try to learn on my own, I don’t think any of the things I’ve accomplished with Jazz Fables would have come about without what David built with the Jazz Studies Department,” Miller said. “He inspires young musicians to learn at the highest level.”“He is the epitome of jazz,” said sophomore Tori Miner, who took Baker’s History of Jazz course in the fall 2011 semester. “He embodies everything that jazz music is,” she said. “Watching him and listening to him talk — his experiences make jazz feel more real than they’ve ever felt for me.”As the original designer of the IU jazz program, Baker continues to teach courses that he has taught for the past 40 years. Despite possessing a wealth of knowledge and experience regarding topics taught, Baker chooses to keep himself updated by constantly revising class material.“What I do is teach life experience,” Baker said. “For instance, music doesn’t exist in a vacuum. And so when I teach music, I’m teaching people how the world works. At the same time, there’s music, there are wars, there are pestilences, there are illnesses, there are new inventions, old inventions, cellphones, new things. And what I teach is all of that because I’ve lived all of that. So I teach those things that are part of my life experience.”This care for the world around him permeates his entire life. Despite his many glittering accomplishments and connections with important people, Baker remains humble. He credits his success and reputation to his professors at IU, including world-famous Menahem Pressler, János Starker and Josef Gingold, who commissioned Baker to write classical music scores while he was still in school. But most of all, Baker said he owes it all to God. “Everything I’ve ever needed has been given to me,” said Baker, who sees his talent for performance, composition, writing and pedagogy as gifts from God. He believes everyone has an “expiration date”: His goal in life, above all the honors and recognition, is to leave the world a better place, with no stone left unturned. “Everything I’ve gathered as a jazz musician is credited to what I’ve learned from him and people he’s taught,” said Miller, who has arranged a concert with Pelton, Beard, Robert Hurst, Ralph Bowen and Scott Wendholt — all of whom studied under Baker in the 1980s. “They’re all steeped in the way he’s done things,” Miller said. “David’s an individual that’s so gifted and determined to do what he does. It’s like a diaspora extending from him.”The celebrationThursdayWHAT Jim Beard clinicWHEN 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.WHERE Recital Hall StageWHAT Bob Hurst clinicWHEN 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.WHERE Recital Hall StageWHAT Performance by Ralph Bowen, Scott Wendholt, Jim Beard, Bob Hurst and Shawn PeltonWHEN 5:30 to 8 p.m. WHERE Bear’s PlaceMORE INFO Admission is $8 for students and $10 for the general publicFridayWHAT Lecture by Larry Jacobson, vice president of financial services for Universal Music GroupWHEN 12:20 to 12:50 p.m.WHERE Music Building Addition, room 454WHAT Shawn Pelton clinicWHEN 1 to 2:15 p.m. WHERE Music Building Addition, room 454WHAT Jim Beard, Shawn Pelton and Bob Hurst rythym section classWHEN 2:30 to 4 p.m.WHERE Auer Hall Green RoomSaturdayWHAT Ralph Bowen clinicWHEN 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. WHERE Music Building Addition, room 454WHAT Scott Wendholt clinicWHEN 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.WHERE Music Building Addition, room 454WHAT Panel discussion featuring David Baker, Monika Herzig and the authors of “David Baker: A Legacy in Music”WHEN 3 to 4:30 p.m.WHERE: Musical Arts Center lobbyWHAT David Baker’s 80th Birthday Celebration ConcertWHEN 8 to 10:30 p.m. WHERE Musical Arts Center stageMORE INFO Tickets are fully distributed, but more tickets will be available for standby the night of the event on a first-come, first-served basis. The concert will also be streamed live by IUMusicLive! at music.indiana.eduWHAT ReceptionWHEN 10:30 p.m.WHERE Musical Arts Center lobbyWHAT Jam and HangWHEN 11:30 p.m.WHERE Café DjangoSundayWHAT Shawn Pelton percussion clinicWHEN 1 p.m.WHERE Music Building Addition, room 401WHAT Michael Weiss jazz piano clinicWHEN 1 p.m.WHERE Merrill Hall, room 7ATo share a personal memory or birthday wish with Baker, visit the celebration blog at blogs.music.indiana.edu/bakercelebration
(01/12/12 1:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The wooden planks that make up the ceiling are raw and exposed. At lunch hour on a Tuesday afternoon, they creak and tremble every few minutes, sending soft echoes through the chilly chamber. If not for the music booming and hip crowd swaying at the venue four nights a week, the room, barely lit save for some candles and colored bulbs, sends out an eerie vibe.Such is the charm of the Root Cellar Lounge, one of Bloomington’s best-kept secrets situated in the cellar beneath FARMbloomington. In recent years, the Root Cellar has held regular themed live music events, such as Classic Disco and Funk Nights, Soul in the Hole and Low-End Blend, an electronic showcase spun by some of the areas best DJs.The discretion of the Root Cellar exists in stark contrast to the locally famous restaurant that houses it. Set up by local chef Daniel Orr, FARM is famed for its dedication to producing “real food” — using only fresh food grown locally. FARMbloomington is a light-drenched, airy eatery that sits beside the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and specialty chocolatier Blu Boy on Kirkwood Avenue.Many locals and members of the IU community have embraced the locale for its wholesome dishes and quirky decor. The idea of a farm in a rural but naturally beautiful countryside manifests in FARM’s aesthetics: branches and a prohibition-era sign hang from the ceilings, as well as knick-knacks like artistically arranged tin watering cans, antique potties and wicker baskets.In that way, the lounge in FARM’s basement is no different. Perhaps apt for a little-discovered “dark secret,” one entrance to the Root Cellar — a staircase near the back of the room — is guarded by what seems to be a bearded man’s head emerging from a wine barrel.The other Root Cellar entrance is tucked behind a small alley on Walnut Avenue between Kirkwood Avenue and Fourth Street. It sits in what is called “The Cage,” a mess of metal bars that form a stairwell leading up to the private apartments above.The signs that point to the lounge are vague and located a good distance away, but management has plans to create more awareness with the likes of a few more directional signs in addition to a permanent one that hangs directly above the inconspicuous gray door.For now, a homemade sign, crafted by former Inner Chef owner David Wade and lit by a single bulb secured by an old mason jar, will do.The lounge and FARM opened five years ago when Orr decided he wanted a speakeasy/bourbon bar below the restaurant. Having succeeded in converting the old Oddfellows coal room into what is today one of the hippest hangouts in town, Orr said he is proud of the community they have developed.“One of the great things is that we’ve had five or six people who met in the Root Cellar and got married, and we catered their weddings for them,” he said.
(01/10/12 5:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last year, pianist Menahem Pressler turned 88 years old, and, after a concert performance, he received a birthday card from the President. The Obamas called him into the ranks of “extraordinary Americans.” But a birthday wish isn’t Pressler’s only accolade — this German-born muscian has contributed to music and sound worldwide. He is the IU Dean Charles H. Webb Chair in Music and a founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio, a chamber music performance group. This trio has been praised in the Washington Post and the New York Observer.This year marks Pressler’s 57th year teaching at the IU Jacobs School of Music, but has also seen him honored with the Music Teachers National Association Achievement Award, an honor bestowed to individuals who have had an impact on music teaching. For Pressler, the award highlights both his life’s work and greatest passion. IDS You’ve received numerous honors over the years. How is this award different for you?PRESSLER It’s always a happy thing to be recognized for what one has done. When you do it, when you teach, you don’t think of awards. For (a teacher), your award is when the students can understand the great masters, and you can show him (the way) into the hearts of the masters. When the world says to you, “We appreciate what you have done,” and you are an example for other teachers, of course you are thrilled, of course you appreciate the recognition. IDS When you joined the music school, you were a young pianist jetting around the world for performances. Why did you decide to start teaching at IU?PRESSLER Teaching has been my passion, my life. All my students, in a way, are my children — children of my spirit, children of my knowledge.After all, I have accumulated a lot of knowledge and a lot of wisdom, a lot of experience that I’d like to share with my students. I loved (Bloomington) from the first day. I loved the little town. I have loved the music school. It surely is a wonderful school, truly one of the best in the whole world. I love my colleagues. I love my students. (From 1955) I attracted better and better students. They came from all over the world. They are (now) professors, they play concerts, they are important to the world of music. IDS What do you think makes you a good teacher?PRESSLER A good teacher also teaches how to love. Music is something very special, because it requires a tremendous amount of excellence. You need to be especially good. But yet, it does not mean that you either become rich, or that the fame is given to everybody. No. But what is given to everybody is the love of the subject. Music is not just a profession, music is part of you. It’s part of your soul. You conserve words of the great masters — of Beethoven, of Bach, of Schumann, of Brahms, of Debussy. IDS What is it about music that keeps you going?PRESSLER The height the human spirit soars to is music. Music is a language that doesn’t need words to make you feel. It is not only felt by the one who plays it, but also the one that listens to it. When I play, people feel. To a great extent, if I trust my critics, if I trust my friends, I do that. There is something very beautiful that happens in my body and soul when I touch, hear and play music, and there’s something very beautiful in my soul when I teach it to my students. IDS In author Stuart Isacoff’s nonfiction “A Natural History of the Piano,” he described you as “a bullet train without brakes.” How do you balance your hectic lifestyle?PRESSLER I’ve been endowed with a great deal of energy, and that has been my saving grace. I’m all over the world in a few days. I’m running here, I’m running there — I don’t have to rest like many people. My students bought me, many years ago, this little icebox, because I came straight to the studio (from the airport), then home. I went directly to teach. (They gave me) an icebox so I could get something to eat first. Although I’m old and have slowed down a bit, (the energy’s) still good enough for two. It used to be good enough for 10. IDS You have contributed to the worlds of music and pedagogy in so many different ways. What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?PRESSLER A life has to have a reason. It’s not just about a job. Life has to be more. There is more to it. It is the love for music, it is the love for spirituality, it is the love for the most beautiful things in life, which is what one creates for oneself in one’s own soul. And I feel, as a teacher, that it is my pleasure, duty and privilege to be able to introduce my students to such things.
(12/12/11 1:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>How does one woman stop a war? By joining forces with other women in withholding sexual pleasure from their husbands.
That is the message of Lysistrata, a play written by Greek comic
playwright Aristophanes in Athens in 411 BC. The comedy centers around
one woman’s incredible efforts to bring the Peloponnesian War to an end.
Popularized throughout the centuries, in part due to its bawdy theme and content, the play has been adapted multiple times, Director Fontaine Syer said. One of these modern adaptations was created by American actress-playwright Ellen McLaughlin and staged by the IU Department of Theater & Drama. The production ran from Dec. 2 to Dec. 10 at the Wells-Metz Theater. McLaughlin wrote the script as part of The Lysistrata Project, which protested American aggression toward Iraq before the 2003 invasion, Syer said.While still staying true to the original script’s humorous and anti-war content, the department’s version catered to modern audiences with the insertion of references to popular culture and adaptation of visual and audio elements. “This translation was written to be performed as if it was being performed today,” said Syer about the decision to use modernized, Grecian-inspired dress in the play. “It’s full of the slang that we use and the way that we talk.”Even the theater’s setup departed significantly from the ancient Greek aesthetic. It was made to look like a circus arena with a center stage covered in blue, green, yellow and orange painted swirls and stripes. Similarly brightly colored banners hung from the rafters to resemble the roof of a circus tent. “The idea was that we were entering this world to cause something to happen, and then we leave it at the end,” said Kristl Densley, who played the lead role of Lysistrata and using her performance as part of her master’s thesis.Audience members, seated on three levels, were positioned so they formed a circle around the stage. Those seated on the ground floor were in close proximity to the performers, and for much of the show, were enthusiastic with their whoops and hearty laughter.“Because we open it up for audience participation at the top, they feel free to comment like that, which is how theater always used to be,” Densley said. “Any show is always a marriage between the audience and the performers, so I think it made for a fun experience for both parties.”Perhaps the part of the show that garnered the most gasps, laughs and shock from audience members was the long, inflated balloons tied to actors’ waists or sticking out from their trousers to represent erections. These exaggerated images were created in order to illustrate the men’s weakening resolve to resist the women’s demands.True to its approach of audience interactivity, male audience members were pulled from their seats near the end and brought on stage, where similar balloons were tied around their waists. Despite the embarrassed looks on some audience members’ faces, others saw the risqué jokes and scenes as vital to the play. “It was very funny, very clever,” said teacher and audience member Kitty Llerandi. “But I thought that they were not over the top. I thought it was appropriate within the context of what they were doing.”Making the adaptation as cunning as possible was Syer’s main prose.“I’ve tried to make the play as funny as I can,” Syer said. “But I’ve also tried to make it as heartfelt as I can. When Lysistrata sits down and convinces the other women of Greece to stop having sex with their husbands, she talks about being lonely and being terrified all the time that her husband is dying. It’s very powerful.”Underlying the hilarity and light-hearted jokes, however, is a deeper message, an anti-war thread directly inspired and related to America’s war in the Middle East. “The intention with any Themester is to connect what’s happening on campus to the larger world,” said Tracy Bee, director of Academic Initiatives at the College of Arts and Sciences.That was why Lysistrata was chosen as one of the plays to convey the Fall 2011 Themester “Making War, Making Peace” theme. “One thing that Ellen (McLaughlin) said when she was here was that this play needs to be updated every year,” Densley said. “Because it’s political humor, and political humor changes every year.”
(12/12/11 1:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Early music is the study and performance of classical European music that dates back to the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. “It is a philosophy about how to make classical music,” said Jody Killingsworth, associate pastor for music and worship at ClearNote Church. “It’s really trying to recover the way that music was played in that time. (You) try to scrub back the dust, the layers of time, try to get back to the original thing. In the trying, I think there’s something beautiful that’s created.”Killingsworth was trained in Baroque violin technique at the Jacobs School of Music; he currently plays guitar and performs lead vocals with the Good Shepherd Band, which is comprised mainly of chief musicians at ClearNote. The group’s affinity for the art form explains the Baroque-tinged, folk-infused, ambient rock Christmas carols that enveloped audience members during a performance Dec. 9. Backed by adult and children’s choirs and an orchestra that included violins, trumpets and a saxophone, GSB led the crowd in song at the fifth annual Good Shepherd Band Christmas Sing-A-Long. “We look forward to this all year long,” said Kelly Steimnetz, a ClearNote churchgoer and Ivy Tech math professor. “A lot of people who have moved away come back just for the show.”During two hours, the audience listened and watched in wonder as the band played old favorites and presented original songs. While bells chimed and electric guitarist David Pryor danced wildly during “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” members of the children’s choir belted out “Little Lamb” alongside solo guitarist and choral director Benjamin Gulick. “We’re realizing that hymns are mostly in a language that is, unfortunately, dead — a lot of archaic words, complicated turns of phrase,” Killingsworth said. “So, we felt the need to start writing new songs that are equally good, bring hymns alive using more common words.” ClearNote choral director Philip Moyer said the band tried to marry the text with the music.“The text is very strong. What we have today — take, for example, ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ — ... you end up getting a Precious Moments kind of thing ... but it’s like, no, it’s about angels, and angels were feared.” Moyer said people fell on their faces in front of angels, so the band aimed to match the excitement and the strength with the music.“We’re always about the text, and not just playing, not just going along with it,” he said.Moyer has taken time away from his doctoral program at the Jacobs School of Music to pursue his studies at the church’s pastoral college, but he said he and his bandmates aren’t performing for the fame. “I love playing the violin, but I don’t miss it,” Killingsworth said. “It’s weird. I was always looking for something that was vital, that really mattered. I was looking for it, and I feel like I’ve found that in the church.” Moyer said the band’s main goal is to help its church and others.“We write music, and we want other churches to be able to use our music, like a resource,” he said.
(11/24/11 5:34pm)
“Everything Will Be Alright” was
written as a continuation of Meyer’s second, 2009 release, “Heartbeat
EP.” The record, a five-track fruit of self-discovery during the Berklee
grad’s break from the industry, spawned television hits.
(11/18/11 4:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Give a man a vitamin and you treat him for a day. Teach him how to eat well, and he is fit for a lifetime. According to its website, Timmy Global Health is an Indianapolis-based, non-profit organization that works to empower student and medical volunteers to participate directly in global development, promote sustainability and tackle international health challenges. Every spring break, students from the IU chapter travel to Guatemala, where they partner with Association Pop Wuj to set up clinics and provide health care for impoverished communities nationwide. “Our goal is to be able to leave the area and have the clinic that we started there support itself,” said junior Sonya Jayaratna, the fundraising co-chair for the chapter. “They don’t have to rely on an outside source to keep healthy.”Once every semester, a fundraising concert collects proceeds toward the maintenance of Guatemalan clinics and local doctors’ wages. “That’s the idea of sustainability,” Jayaratna said. Local bands Busman’s Holiday and the Calumet Reel played Thursday night at The Bishop as part of fall 2011’s benefit concert. David James, guitarist and lead singer of the Calumet Reel, said, “It was a good cause, and we’re happy to play.”
(11/14/11 4:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Africa is the birthplace of most modern genres of music. Watching the African Children’s Choir perform, it is not difficult to see why or how. At the “Journey of Hope” musical production Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, the troupe, named Choir 37 for its place in the organization’s history, proudly displayed diverse African musical traditions. The choir also shared political and economic struggles on the continent with the audience through a dynamic array of song, dance and vibrant costumes. From the first song, the children enraptured the audience with their natural talent and high-quality performance. Four boys stationed at the stage front performed sharp, well-arranged drum sequences throughout the show as their counterparts emerged on stage with explosive dance moves.It was evident the children performed and practiced the routine countless times. Each of them had been handpicked from their schools and churches more than a year ago and have been touring North America since August 2010. Bloomington was one of the last stops before the troupe returns to Uganda in early January. Between the ages of 8 and 12, the children cope with being so far from home by relying on their new family — each other — as well as their chaperones. “Whilst you’re in the choir, it becomes family. You become attached to each other,” said Mary Kirabo, a chaperone and former member of the choir. “So we always look out for each other as sister and brother. You stay on the road for quite some time, so you get to know each other a little bit better.”Since its inception in 1984, the African Children’s Choir’s parent company, Music For Life Institute, has taken underprivileged children from across Africa and equipped them with tools to work toward a brighter future. While on tour with their second family, the children help their biological families back home. They are not only trained in music and dance but also academically. The tour has an Ugandan curriculum to ensure children do not miss that aspect of education while away from home. Apart from music and dance teachers, chaperones act as the children’s teachers in English, math, social studies and geography. “Many of them come from very needy families,” Victor Thiessen said. Thiessen has worked with the choir for more than 12 years and is currently the tour leader for Choir 37. He said he believes being on tour greatly prepares the children for life. “There’s a lot of exposure to culture and technology and a wide variety of situations and cultures they would not be exposed to at home,” Thiessen said. “It broadens their perspective enormously, being able to interact with different food, different opinions. All that puts them ahead of their peers in Africa who do not have such experiences.” Thiessen said former choir members who are now in their 20s and 30s lead successful, enriched lives. “Everything they experienced on tour helped them widen their perspective and increase their confidence,” he said. “(They are) very grateful that they were able to realize their potential.”During the performance, the story of Mark Masai was told. Masai was in the 10th choir and is now a news anchor with China Central Television Africa. He still makes a point to keep in touch with and mentor current choir members. “It’s good to be able to inspire them,” Masai said. “It takes me back to when I was open to the big world around me. I had to perform in front of thousands of people at 7 years old — it really prepared me for what I do now.”As promised in the production title, the audience was brought on a journey through the early history of the African Children’s Choir ministry to the hopes and dreams of current choir members. Near the end, 24 children gathered on stage to perform the worship song “You Are the Shepherd.” Upon exiting the stage, the children took turns approaching the microphone at the front of the stage, declaring their ambitions and dream occupations. Proclamations of “Amen” and “Hallelujah” could be heard from the audience as children declared their dreams of being nurses and police officers.But the biggest reaction came as applause and cheers as a child announced his dream was to be a bus driver for the African Children’s Choir. “I thought it was really interesting,” said Katie Pauly, a freshman at Bloomington High School South. “The culture was so hard growing up there, and they had such big dreams about what they wanted to do. I thought that was really inspiring.”
(11/14/11 2:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sweat and tears streaming down his face, Lamar Campbell raised his eyes and hands to the heavens while he stood fixated against the backdrop of robust choral voices. “(It) seems like the English language is just not enough to express the way we really feel about the one who died to save us and rose to set us free,” Campbell said as he led the audience in his latest song, “From the Heart.”“Since sometimes I can’t express it with words, what I can do is sing it with love songs.”Campbell and other Indianapolis-based gospel musicians were in Bloomington on Saturday for the day-long “Why We Sing: Indianapolis Gospel Music in Church, Community and Industry” conference at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The day concluded with a concert and performance featuring Campbell and a local volunteer choir.The conference was designed as part of a dissertation project by Raynetta Wiggins, a master’s student in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. “I hadn’t known much about the Indianapolis gospel music scene,” Wiggins said. “Then I discovered all these people who are doing amazing things, and I think that really that just compelled me to want to investigate it further.” Wiggins worked with Department Director Mellonee Burnim and doctoral candidate Tyron Cooper to bring Campbell, president and CEO of Aleho International Records Al “The Bishop” Hobbs and many other prominent gospel figures to the conference.“It was above and beyond what I could have imagined,” Wiggins said. “We were able to highlight how Indianapolis music has contributed to gospel music locally and nationally, and even internationally.”The visiting industry leaders took part in three panels throughout the day. The conference began with the consideration of “Gospel Music in Church and Community” and ended with a look at “New Directions in Gospel Music.”“(The conference) was very well organized and well researched,” professor of ethnomusicology Portia Maultsby said. Maultsby was a respondent to the conference’s second panel, “The Indianapolis Gospel Music Industry.” “It’s a great topic because Indianapolis is a major center of gospel music. We often overlook treasures in our own backyard,” she said.Topics included secular versus sacred music in entertainment and how gospel fits between both contexts, as well as the way the evolution of social media has changed the dissemination of music and how record labels do business. Campbell, who uses multiple Facebook pages, said he appreciates how social networking has allowed him to inspire a wider audience than ever before. “I want people to always feel like when they come to my page that they’ll be able to get a word of encouragement. They’ll be able to feel loved,” Campbell said. “I’m excited about the opportunities to be able to touch people (I will never meet in person) and feel like I know them.”Campbell and his team are preparing to embark on a venture with digital song downloads and hope to depend on social media to create buzz prior to album sales. The conference was brought to a close by the energetic gospel concert at Fairview United Methodist Church, located at 600 W. Sixth St., where shared passion for God and freedom of expression were in abundance. More a time of worship than a performance, catchy hooks and uplifting melodies were played without breaks. This created a platform for choir directors Rodnie Bryant, Sherri Garrison and Campbell to lead the crowd in rousing choruses of praise. The high-powered worship leaders jumped and danced in the front of the room and were joined by shouts of exultation and raising of hands from the young and old in the crowd. The Bloomington Community Choir, a large, diverse group from every performance expertise level, was directed by Garrison. Members sang and danced with smiles on their faces.In theme with a main conference focus, the choir exemplified the desire for, and the future of, the gospel music industry: a cohesive group of people from all races, ages and cultures, worshipping God in unity — as they believe it is in heaven.
(11/11/11 2:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After a year of touring the United States and Canada, the African Children’s Choir is bringing its latest musical production, “Journey of Hope,” to Bloomington. Choir 37, named for its place among the number of choirs created since the first was formed in 1984, will perform at 7 p.m. Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. “Journey of Hope” is a large-scale production featuring more costumes and scenes than previous shows, according to a press release. It will tell the history of the African Children’s Choir and showcase many African traditions and cultures through the use of singing, dancing and drumming. Features of the performance range from the tale of a crocodile encounter on Lake Victoria to the celebration of harvests and courtship to all-time favorite Gospel tunes. Although this is the choir’s third performance in Bloomington this year, it is its first theater show. Tour leader Victor Thiessen said the children, all Ugandan and between the ages of 8 and 12, are excited about performing for a campus audience.“Our children enjoy singing on a college campus because there’s much more clapping and cheering,” Thiessen said. In the U.S., the choir performs mostly in churches. At a performance at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship during Memorial Day weekend this year, the choir met Mary Beth Goff and Kellan Way, who have played a big part in organizing and promoting the performance. In addition to providing homes for the children and chaperones at their homes, Goff and Way booked the theater space and sponsor all of the choir’s expenses. “They’re an amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing group of children,” Goff said. “The moment you see them, you can’t help but smile. They have so much character and wisdom, and they are so young at the same time.” The concert is open to the public, and admission is free. Patrons will be able to make donations at the end of the performance. All proceeds go to the Music for Life Institute, the African Children’s Choir’s parent company, which helps and educates underprivileged children in Africa, providing them with tools for working toward a better future.Thiessen said the profits from donations, the institute child sponsorship program and merchandise sales contribute to year-round school fees for 8,000 children in Africa. “They often have really exciting choreography that just makes the show a whole lot of fun to watch, even (through YouTube),” said senior Zhizhong Xie, an IU choral music education major. “You feel like you want to get out of your seat and dance along with them.”That is exactly what audience members can do tonight. “There’s one song ‘Renege,’ or ‘The Courtship Dance,’ at the end where half a dozen children come down into the audience and dance with them,” Thiessen said.This excitement and energy is what makes Goff so enthusiastic about the choir’s work.“As soon as their show is over, you just say, ‘Ugh, I can’t believe it’s over,” Goff said. “Seems to go by so quickly.”
(11/10/11 1:21pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Tip: Divide appreciation of “Ceremonials” into parts. With her
second album, Florence Welch dips a toe into sophomore slump but manages
not to sink into the quicksand. Her wide-ranging, grandiose vocal
presence and impressive layering of a plethora of sounds ensure that
every song on the album shines. But since it fights to stand out, the
record’s cohesiveness is disastrously affected.
Compared to “Lungs,” “Ceremonials” offers listeners a completely
different, almost otherworldly experience. Where Welch amazed with a
simplistic but powerful musical and lyrical core in her first offering,
she digs deeper to produce a darker and more complex sound this time
around.
The soothing and intricate arrangement of strings and keys still
permeates the record, as does the disperse yet prominent thumping
drumbeat. Welch’s voice continues its trend of upward scale to banshee
howls in most of the recordings, justifying her place as queen of feline
power.
As a sure sign of musical growth, the band chugs through each track on
“Ceremonials” like a well-oiled machine. The album has a tighter focus
on baroque pop and, thanks to the Midas touch of star British producer
Paul Epworth, reusing some of the winning formula that catapulted
“Lungs” to renown and ubiquity, is steered in the right direction.
The two most memorable tunes — unsurprisingly, pre-launch hits — are
“What the Water Gave Me” and “Shake It Out.” The former is built on an
eerie hook, while the latter harks back to Welch’s older material in
terms of chord progression, macabre lyrics and the swaying of vigorous
vocal exercise.
Even with the heavy and somber throbbing beats, the album comes to air
with glimpses of upbeat British soul. “Lover to Lover” contains
blues-tinged wording, and is reminiscent of Ella-style robustness. But
where the first album relied on strong, sharp lyrics and unforgettable
melodies, this album seems to place complex instrumentation and layering
first.
Thankfully, Welch will never fit into the typical pop star mold. But in
an era where cool is less than it is more, where the artsy, intellectual
artist label is by invitation only, she is trying a little too hard to
impress.
(11/04/11 12:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Each time Cold War Kids’ bassist Matt Maust came to the edge of the stage, Ivy Tech junior Dan Jones and his friends thrust their palms forward — face up — and shouted at him. Near the beginning of the set, Maust had playfully reacted to Jones and his friends’ taunts by kicking their upturned palms. For the rest of the show, the bunch turned repeatedly to one another, yelling, “He does kick. He does kick.”“(It was a) spur of the moment type of deal. That’s all that is,” Jones said. “You could tell that they get into it as much as the crowd does. It’s really cool. Spur of the moment — put it up and get your hand kicked.”This spontaneity permeated the audience. As soon as the band stepped foot on The Bluebird Nightclub stage Wednesday, the crowd — a mixture of all types, from hipsters to professors — broke into loud cheering and shoved, beer bottles in hand, toward the front of the tightly packed, dimly lit room.Apart from a brief introduction, scattered thank-yous and comments about its first show in Bloomington, the band didn’t say much else. But they didn’t have to. Fans knew every word to all 19 songs played and sang along from start to finish. “Every song that I didn’t like as much on Pandora, or any CD version — tonight was amazing,” senior Andrew Ashton said. “My favorite song they played tonight, even though it’s not my favorite song they created, was ‘Hang Me Up To Dry.’ Live is 10 times better.”The band played a medley of old favorites and new hits from 10 p.m. to midnight. A continuous stream of sound, the show was marked with thumping bass beats, down-home rock melodies and frontman Nathan Willett’s soaring vocals, which was amplified by dance moves from the crowd. The band complemented its standard musical composition with percussive instruments. Bringing the set to an end as dynamic as its start, guitarist Jonnie Russell excited fans with “Hospital Beds” as he jumped while hitting a cymbal with a pair of mustard-colored maracas.The only time band members paused to breathe was for a technical glitch. As Willett reconnected wires with the help of a stagehand and other members wandered around the spacious platform, ever-supportive fans continued to cheer through the silence. “Are we doing our own stunts?” Willett said jokingly. “We were overcoming engineering obstacles here. We’ll also fix your car in the parking lot if you wanted,” Willett said as he took his seat back at the keyboard. When a beige bra was tossed onstage, Willett, Maust and Russell glanced down and retreated from it. The singing and cheering quietened down as the audience waited for a reaction, before a stagehand swooped in with a kitchen towel and picked the bra off the ground. Formed in 2004, the seasoned band seemed unfazed by the crowd’s actions and requests. Nevertheless, the band members remained accessible, talking and posing for pictures with fans in front of their tour bus after the show. “We’re like really spoiled right now,” said Colin Caulfield, lead vocalist of opening band Young Man. “The Cold War Kids guys are really, really awesome. Super nice. Just taking care of us in unique ways. If we ever run into trouble, they’re really supportive. And they lend a hand, which is great, because they’re a huge band, you know?”Young Man garnered much support from existing fans and first-time listeners, with its ambient folk sound during its set.Corey Staton, a Brightpoint, Inc. business analyst working in Indianapolis, drove to Bloomington especially to see Young Man live. The 6-footer stood out in the crowd as he yelled cheers and fist-pumped. “I’ll be here for Dr. Dog on Friday,” said Staton. “My wife is really good about letting me come for these shows.”This is the first show in Bloomington for both Young Man and Cold War Kids. But fans can cling on to the hope of a second showing soon.“A hundred percent. A plus,” Maust said of his plans to return to town. “I think (the crowd is) lively, smiley and loud.”
(11/03/11 12:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Let’s face it: Zooey Deschanel, queen of every next Hollywood hipster production even before it’s created, is reason enough to buy She & Him’s latest record. Her third collaboration with M. Ward is a festive holiday mix of the classics. Deschanel writes three of the 12 tracks on the album, with opener “The Christmas Waltz” as a highlight.Deschanel has the uncanny ability to vary her voice from Marilyn-raspy to Etta-smooth. The honey-laden “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is successful in seducing college students — in longing for soon-to-arrive winter holidays, that is. Setting the tempo for “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is perhaps the one wrong turn the duo took. The cover flows raggedly, too quickly to convey the sensual mood the original was written to produce. Deschanel’s voice has also been digitally altered — a tragedy, given her natural talent. She & Him claim to live in an alternate universe where “rain may be coming down, but somewhere nearby, everything looks bright,” and if this record is any indication, they’re right.
(10/27/11 1:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>During the past five years, Shara Worden has made her mark with a compelling mixture of classical music training instinct and an interest in art rock, experimentalism and chamber and cabaret gaiety. “All Things Will Unwind,” Worden’s third record with the moniker My Brightest Diamond, is a meticulously assembled work of art. Every track is tightly edited with an exacting flow that brings out the ethereality of slinking melodies and the delicate layering of husky vocals and orchestral instrumentation. The eccentric chanteuse, a former touring member of Sufjan Stevens’ Illinoisemakers band and a recent collaborator with indie darlings The Decemberists, echoes the artistic sensibility of 1950s divas, tainted with a rebellious edge a la Bjork.With closing track “I Have Never Loved Someone” — haunting yet endearing, and an apt finale to an exquisitely progressive album structure — this record gleams like a dazzling jewel under the rays of audio enlightenment.
(10/21/11 3:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From one person, a desk and a telephone to 8,600 living graduates, 1,290 current students and 70 full-time faculty members on eight campuses, the IU School of Social Work has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1911.Now, 100 years after its creation, the School of Social Work is the oldest of its kind continuously affiliated with a university in the United States. Many others founded in the early 1900s were begun as training programs associated with nonprofit agencies, said Katharine Byers, Bloomington bachelors of social work program director.“I think the sustainability of the school shows just how much there are still people who are willing to make $30,000 a year in order for other people to live the best life they can, to put others first,” said Stacy Chattin, a senior and social work major focusing on child welfare services.The school will sponsor a series of centennial events Saturday through Monday in conjunction with its theme of “Celebrating 100 Years of Giving Hope and Changing Lives.”Celebrations began in early 2011 with various programs across the eight IU campuses. This month’s events begin with an alumni tour of the Bloomington campus and culminate in a conference called “Continuing Education: The Past, Present, and Future of Social Work” and a gala dinner in downtown Indianapolis. The dinner will be led by keynote speaker James Morris, a former executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme.Chattin said she plans to drive to Indianapolis on Monday for the day’s festivities.”It’ll be fun because I’ll be surrounded with people (who are) all passionate about what we do,” she said.According to a press release, the School of Social Work was founded in 1911 by Edna Henry, well-known social worker and founder of the Associated Charities of Anderson, Ind., and Ulysses Grant Weatherly, an IU sociology professor. The two embarked on a venture to merge the Department of Economics and Social Sciences with the newly established Department of Social Service, an affiliate of the City Dispensary of the School of Medicine in Indianapolis.Weatherly aimed to develop the area he called “applied sociology,” a result of the growing field of social work at that time. A program was created in which students were instructed in sociological methods and theories in Bloomington and could then gain practical experience at the department in Indianapolis. The aftermath of the 1913 flood in Indianapolis and of World War II 30 years later kept the need for professional social workers alive and growing throughout the decades, according to a press release about the School of Social Work’s history.As the curriculum evolved, the school’s label changed. The training course for social work model continued until 1936, when the program was limited to graduate study. In 1945, the graduate program branched out separately into the Division of Social Service, later the School of Social Service.On the Bloomington campus that year, the undergraduate social work program was reestablished in the College of Arts and Sciences. However, as a small program the department continued, until the 1970s, to send about 20 students each year to Indianapolis to complete their final practicum, the release said. As the school grew in prominence, its mission became more focused. With a clearer definition of its values and objectives, the School of Social Service was renamed the School of Social Work in 1977.The school now has a budget of more than $7 million — compared to $800 when it was founded 100 years ago — and offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees, as well as minors and certificates on all IU campuses. The master of social work is still not offered on the Bloomington campus — the two degrees available are the bachelor of social work degree and the social welfare advocacy minor. The Bloomington campus houses just less than half of the total 300 social work undergraduates at IU, 47 of which will graduate this spring.In May 2004, the program graduated its first class, made up of 30 students, on the Bloomington campus. In the 2005-06 academic year, the School of Social Work marked a milestone as enrollment topped 1,000 students for the first time. Jason Carnes, a 2005 graduate, stayed in Bloomington after graduation and became immersed in social work in the political arena. This is his fifth week as the Monroe County Commissioners’ Administrator.“The county government is there to help people make sure that everything they need, from infrastructure to services, is in place,” Carnes said. “Working on the government level, you’re creating programs, ordinances and laws on a global level. And having that social work reference, that frame of mind, helps you to see things from the person’s perspective.” Chattin, Carnes and alumna Lauren Hall from the Bloomington campus talked about the sense of belonging due to a close-knit community in the school. They said social work professors — deeply experienced, well-trained and knowledgeable — were vital in their understanding of and preparation for the real world. “My Introduction to Social Work (class) with Carlene Quinn (encouraged) me to go into social work,” said Hall, who earned her bachelors of social work in 2010. “I had been a Fine Arts major because I wanted to become an art therapist. And then I took a social work class, and they got me.” Hall works as an independent living coach with local, nonprofit organization Stepping Stones, which was founded by fellow social work alumna Sheri Benham.“It’s such a small program, and you end up getting to know everyone in it,” Hall said. “You end up feeling like this little family, like social work comrades.” Byers said she agrees with the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ prediction that the need for social workers will continue to grow. She believes that the aging of baby boomers, especially in the next 10 years, and a heightened interest in child welfare will call for increased need in health care services. Allowances must also be made as people become more comfortable in seeking help for mental and addiction problems, Byers said. “Our graduates have started new agencies to meet emergent needs. They speak out on important social justice issues,” Byers said in an email. “In our small and indirect way, we are making a difference in the quality of life for many people. I think that tradition will continue into the future.”
(10/19/11 11:25pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Five full-lengths and two EPs after creating Crooked Fingers, Eric Bachmann — writer, vocalist, instrumentalist and producer — once again emerges strong with his latest folk-rock album, the bold yet nostalgic “Breaks in the Armor.” These songs are the result of refreshed self-discovery after a stint in 2009 teaching English in Taipei, Taiwan. With the help of fellow singer-songwriter Liz Durrett as backing vocals, Bachmann creates a gentle, well-paced, dynamic tracklist that shows a wide range of his musical leanings. The track “Black Candles” has roots in traditional Appalachian music, with Bachmann’s down-home drawl gliding with ease through each soaring note and melodic punch. He follows this with the feat of smooth transition into lighter-than-usual fare, chamber pop-influenced “Went to the City.”Though his sound bordered on being strained and self-conscious in previous recordings, Bachmann has finally found his sweet spot — melding all components together, such as in “Typhoon” and “The Counterfeit,” in which hooks linger long after the song is gone. This album is crowned his most listenable to date.
(10/19/11 11:06pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Electric Six is that band, the band with that one song — in this case, two — that sparks manic shrieking, projectile arm-raising and Jagger-proud dance moves from every person in the room. For the past eight years, the sextet has been nothing more than its success with smash hits “Gay Bar,” which featured pseudo Abe Lincolns cavorting around the White House, and “Danger! High Voltage.” If you believed, after 2003, the band fell off the face of the earth into one-hit-wonder depths, you were right. Although it reportedly produced seven albums between then and now, its latest offering gets us excited. “Heartbeats and Brainwaves” is pure homage to the electrifying eighties. The signature cracking lines and spacey riffs of the musical style permeate all 14 tracks. Raised and based in Detroit, the pop-rock-punk-disco-metal-garage band brings its unique brand of electro goodness to the table. In line with its cover art, the album opens to eerie sound effects and pulsating beats. The track “French Bacon” is a grounded, gritty dance number that sounds like Matt Berninger of The National as he would’ve been in emo-punk, teenage years. It is not until the middle of the album that we get a glimpse that maybe, just maybe, the band has matured in sound and lyrical depth. “Interchangeable Knife” contains an intelligent layering of synth tones. “Eye Contact” features pensive lyrics about a broken relationship: “we arrived here alone/And we left here together/Like birds of a cardinal feather.”Only “Gridlock!” comes close to past recordings, with a bubblegum tune and frontman Dick Valentine’s absurd rhymes and diction.Electric Six is a band that doesn’t take itself seriously. If you’re in the mood for polished, prankster hilarity, then this might be the album for you. But be warned — the group’s carefree attitude backfires at times — here, on its careless composition of the final, title track and resulting lack of cohesiveness of the album. Then again, Electric Six is that band that, even with its faults, you can’t help but embrace.
(07/14/11 12:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In Hollywood, it pays to be white.At least that’s what assistant telecommunications professor Andrew Weaver discovered in a study he directed, which was recently published in the Journal of Communication.Weaver’s team set up a series of web pages that resembled IMDb lists where the only varying factor was a manipulation in thumbnail pictures. They discovered that as the percentage of minority actors in a film went up, white interest in seeing the film went down. “They didn’t think they were part of the intended audience of the film,” Weaver said. “When they saw minority characters, they assume that this is a film that was made for somebody else, not them.”The root of the problem, Weaver said, is films with minority characters are not marketed in the right way. “It’s an assumption that audiences make based on their previous experience, based on what we’ve lived with in Hollywood movies in the last decade or so,” Weaver said. “So in some way you have to break the cycle, and that’s the hard part.”David Waterman, a fellow telecommunications professor, said he believes movie audiences go through “conditioning.”“When people decide whether to go to a movie or not, they go on a basis of what they expect the movie to be like,” Waterman said. “So it’s a natural thing, and it’s nothing to do with prejudice ... different ethnic groups identify with actors from within their own culture readily.”Hollywood’s extravagant budgets also factor in, Waterman said. A large segment of movie audiences tend to base their expectations on the perceived production value of the film. Because of how Hollywood has always cast its mainstream movies, audiences connect films with mainly white cast members with high budget, and therefore, high quality films. Weaver explained, “Essentially, it’s discrimination going on against minority cast members in the name of economics.“If you can get the white audiences to believe that the film is made for them regardless of the race of the cast, and they show just as much interest in seeing the film, then we have some base to convince producers that casting can become more of who’s the best actor or actress for this role, not about who’s the best white actress or actor for this role — which is what it is right now,” he said.Waterman, however, disagreed.“People base their decisions about movies on their expectations,” Waterman said. “And if a producer deviates from that, they jeopardize the revenue potential of their movie. And so they have no incentive.”Weaver was more optimistic about the future for marketing films.“It’s a vicious circle,” Weaver said. “But if we could get some more character-driven movies that succeed with diverse casts, then I think that wall could be broken down very quickly. I’m an optimistic person, so I’m hopeful that change will occur.”
(06/05/11 9:34pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU’s Kelley School of Business is reaching across oceans to educate different kinds of students. These students are the women of Malaysia. Since 2010, the Kelley School’s Institute of International Business has been working in conjunction with other organizations to help women in Malaysia overcome their fears and become more financially capable.The pilot project in the Global Women’s Economic Empowerment initiative helps train these women to build and sustain their own microventures. The greatest challenge women face in starting their own ventures is insufficient confidence rooted in a lack of awareness, Brenda Bailey-Hughes, Kelley School of Business communications lecturer, said. To help alleviate that problem, the Institute’s managing director LaVonn Schlegel said GWEE gives the women microloans, which are then reinvested in their family and the community.A microloan is a small, short-term loan usually given to an entrepreneur in an impoverished country.“We know that by focusing on women that we can make a difference at the most micro-level, the family, and that it will grow out exponentially,” Schlegel said.The project is divided into three phases, said Tamuna Gabilaia, executive director and chief of staff at the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations, the organization Kelley has partnered with for the project. The first was to develop a plan for training. The second involved training close to 50 selected volunteers who would later be training participants.Gabilaia said she hopes to start the third phase of training the participants within the next few months.Participants receive training during a course of seven weeks with three hours of personal guidance each week. The women will gain skills such as developing a business idea, raising and managing funds and marketing one’s venture. The program involves video training and tools designed by Kelley lecturer Mark Long and Bailey-Hughes, as well as a deep understanding of the country’s market.“Most of the training out there is very short-term, like one or two days,” Gabilaia said. “Women actually do not learn much, and they wonder what’s next.“The actual training, the transfer of knowledge, is only 30 percent. So the way we designed this project is unique.”Schlegel said the program will hopefully be expanded to other countries, such as Thailand, Peru, Indonesia and countries in Africa.Ultimately, one of the program’s main goals is that participants develop support networks among themselves. “What we hope will happen with this training is that you’re building this network of other women,” Bailey-Hughes said. “These become the women that I call when I’ve had a bad customer interaction and I just need to vent and get feedback. These are the women I’m friends with, and I can call and talk with them.”
(03/21/11 3:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The room fell silent as the speaker announced this statistic: Within three years of leaving the league, 85 percent of NFL players are divorced or bankrupt. “An old but true statistic,” said Frank Reich, the current wide receivers coach for the Indianapolis Colts. He said most NFL players get into the game at a very young age. In time, their lives are overtaken by football. For a long time nothing else in life but the game matters. Leaving the league reveals the problem.On March 10, more than 300 students braved the heavy downpour to listen to three men speak at Assembly Hall. For its annual outreach event, Campus Crusade for Christ invited Reich, current Colts Chaplain Ken Johnson and Shawn Harper, who played for seven years in the NFL, to share their stories.“If your identity is in your vocation, then that’s where it’s going to lead you,” Reich said. “It’s deciding what you’re going to let define your life.”The message of the event was to know one’s goal in life, to know what one is aiming for. Should people be satisfied upon achieving money and fame, or are their lives worth more than that? It is about scoring the right goals, about winning at the game of life. Reich is a former NFL quarterback for teams like the New York Jets and the Detroit Lions, but he also played basketball in high school. He told the story of how once, at a big game, he shot the ball into the wrong net. Reich’s girlfriend at that time was present at the game. The crucial point came when they shared an “intimate gaze,” causing Reich to make the fatal mistake. “I took my eyes off the goal, what I was meant to do, and that cost me.” Reich said he constantly reminds himself of his purpose in the game of life. He said football used to mean everything to him. Then he met his wife’s cancer-stricken friend, who forced him to re-evaluate his plans.“Who is on your team with you? Who gives you meaning? Who lets you know you can keep on keeping on?” Reich said. Head of the CRU outreach team, junior Wesley Terry, said he is thankful so many people showed up. “We figured the rain killed us a little bit,” Terry said. “It’s an opportunity to try and appeal to the campus and give the Gospel message out to as many people as possible ... at one time.”Freshman Lyndi Hollis, who attends CRU meetings regularly, said she likes how the event was set up.“I liked that they shared the Gospel straight up,” Hollis said. “In college we’re all wrapped up in getting good grades, career, our future ... We need to stop and remember that next to God, none of it matters.”As IU alumnus Harper quoted Matthew 6:33, he said he understands how college students tend to view life through a limited lens of knowledge and intellect, but “using your intellect when it comes to Christ is like comparing a professor to a toddler.” He advised college students to lead a humble lifestyle and seek what is beyond worldly values and treasures that are temporal.“I wash feet,” Johnson said, referring to the Biblical story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet as an act of humility. “And you know what? Sometimes feet stink. But you just show up anyway.” Johnson said he was raised in a broken home. As a college student, he said he was extremely racist against white students. The turning point came when, playing for the school team, he befriended a white quarterback.The quarterback looked past “my stupidity and past my pigmentation — and loved me,” Johnson said.That was when Johnson said he made the decision to “live real,” to pursue the things that really matter. Start with the end in mind, Johnson said. Every setback is a chance for comeback. God is “not calling you to be perfect. Only in Christ can you be perfect,” he said. Harper closed the session retelling the Gospel with an analogy of a computer, its operating system and a virus. “One thing you can’t argue is a changed life,” he said. Harper praised mankind for the many achievements during the last 10 years but claimed that there is one frontier we have tried time and again, and are unable to conquer: the human condition. Senior Michael Goodpaster, who manages sound for CRU meetings, agreed with Harper. “Even though the man can bend a frying pan with his bare hands or tear a telephone book in half, he is still only human,” Goodpaster said. “As a society, we place professional athletes on a pedestal. We hold them up to a standard of perfection. Even ‘perfect people’ can fail like us. We kind of forget that sometimes. We all make mistakes,” Goodpaster said, referring to Harper’s stunts at the beginning of the program.