2007

Year: 2007

Patricia Barber, Branford Marsalis Headline Annual Lawrence University Jazz Weekend

APPLETON, WIS. — Singer, songwriter and pianist Patricia Barber and legendary saxophonist and composer Branford Marsalis headline Lawrence University’s 27th annual Jazz Celebration Weekend Nov. 9-10.

Described as a combination of Diana Krall and Susan Sontag, with “throaty, come-hither vocals and coolly incisive piano” by Time magazine, Barber opens the two-concert weekend Friday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The Lawrence Jazz Singers, under the direction of Lee Tomboulian, will perform the concert’s opening set.

Marsalis, a three-time Grammy winner, performs with his band Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p .m. at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in downtown Appleton. The 17-member, award-winning Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble (LUJE), recipients of Down Beat’s 2007 big band “outstanding performance” award in the magazine’s annual student music competition, will open the Marsalis concert under the direction of Fred Sturm.

Barber is replacing the previously announced vocal ensemble New York Voices, which canceled its appearance. Tickets for the Barber concert are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749. All tickets sold for New York Voices will be honored for the Barber concert or ticket holders may request a refund by contacting the Lawrence Box Office. A limited supply of tickets for the Branford Marsalis Quartet concert are available through the Performing Arts Center Box Office, 920-730-3760.

Hailed as “the most fearless, most intellectually stimulating and by extension, most interesting singer-songwriter-pianist on the American jazz scene” by Jazz Times, Barber has released nine albums in her career, including “Mythologies” in 2006. The disc features 11 tracks, each based on a different character from the centuries-old classic of Western literature “The Metamorphoses of Ovid.”

“Patricia Barber is a one-of-a kind, a highly literate, witty songwriter, with a dark, understated alto, who has mastered the art of implication,” said Tomboulian. “Her piano and organ and atmospheric backing by her committed band, demonstrate the kind of maturity that speaks of a commitment to communication, as opposed to mere technical mastery, although they have that, too. It should an unforgettable evening.”

Marsalis, who has performed with the pantheon of jazz greats, among them Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock, has established himself as a man of multiple musical interests. In addition to his role as performer, Marsalis has expanded his skills as a composer and founded his own record label to showcase his own projects as well as those of the jazz world’s most promising new and established artists.

His discography includes more than 20 albums, including 2006’s Grammy-nominated “Braggtown.” Marsalis, who served as musical director of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” for two years in the 1990s, won his first Grammy Award in 1992 for best jazz instrumental performance for his blues-inspired album “I Heard You Twice the First Time.” He also earned Grammy awards in 1993 for his collaboration with Bruce Hornsby on the song “Barcelona Mona” and in 2000 for the disc “Contemporary Jazz.”

“Branford Marsalis presents a lofty model of crossover artistry for our conservatory students,” said Sturm, who founded Lawrence’s Jazz Celebration Weekend in 1981. “He was reared in one of New Orleans’ most storied musical households, classically educated, steeped in blues and funk and exposed to the great jazz traditions. He never drew lines of demarcation between his work with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, touring with a pop artist like Sting and recording a classical saxophone CD with symphony orchestra. He’s continually evolving upward.”

In addition to the Barber and Marsalis concerts, more than 700 instrumental and vocal students from nearly 50 middle and high school jazz ensembles from five Midwestern states will showcase their talents throughout the day in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, Harper Hall, Shattuck Hall and Cloak Theatre. All of the Saturday daytime performances are free and open to the public.

Author Paul Hawken Discusses Worldwide Social Justice Movement in Lawrence University Convocation

APPLETON, WIS. — Best-selling author, environmentalist, ecological entrepreneur and corporate reformer Paul Hawken discusses the diversity, innovative strategies and extensive history of the largest environmental and social justice movement on earth in a Lawrence University convocation.

Hawken presents “Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming” Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The address is based on his 2007 book of the same name.

A question-and-answer session with Hawken will be held at 2 p.m. in Riverview Lounge of the Lawrence Memorial Union. Both events are free and open to the public.

Since starting his own company at the age of 20, a natural foods wholesale business in Boston, Hawken has devoted his life to writing, lecturing and teaching about the impact of commerce on the environment.

“Blessed Unrest” is the result of 10 years of research he conducted on national and international organizations, from billion-dollar nonprofits to single-person dot.com causes, which collectively comprise the largest movement on earth. In the book, Hawken chronicles the growth of a movement that has no name, leader or location and is resisting corporatization and working on issues of sustainability.

Prior to “Blessed Unrest,” Hawken had written six other books, among them “The Ecology of Commerce” in 1993, “Growing a Business,” which became the basis of a 17-part PBS television series and 1999’s “Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution,” which President Clinton declared one of the five most important books in the world today.

In addition to his writing, Hawken has founded several ecological businesses, including the popular gardening and horticultural retail and catalogue business Smith & Hawken as well as the California-based Natural Capital Institute, a nonprofit organization committed to the restoration of the earth and the healing of human culture.

He serves frequently as a consultant to governments and corporations on issues of economic development, industrial ecology and environmental policy.

Author James Howard Kunstler Discusses Suburbanization of America at Lawrence University

APPLETON, WIS. — Suburbia, according to author and social critic James Howard Kunstler, represents “a set of tragic choices that we made collectively.”

Kunstler offers his explanation of how and where things went wrong in the final installment of Lawrence University’s 2007 Spoerl environmental studies lecture series on “green” cities.

Based on his 1993 book of the same title, Kunstler presents “The Geography of Nowhere” Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

A one-time staff writer and editor for Rolling Stone magazine, Kunstler has written four nonfiction books and nine novels, but he is perhaps best known for his observations about the urban landscape and life in big cities. In “The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-made Landscape,” Kunstler offers an irreverent critique of the suburbanization of America, arguing that endless highways and nondescript strip malls are in part responsible for the deterioration of civic life and the growth of social and economic problems.

A native of New York City who has no formal training in architecture or city planning, Kunstler also addressed urban life issues in the books “Home from Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the Twenty-First Century” (1996) and “The City in Mind: Meditations on the Urban Condition” (2001).

In his most recent book, 2005’s “The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century,” Kunstler asserts the world has passed its peak oil production and reflects on the implications of living in an industrialized world with diminishing energy resources.

Kunstler’s appearance is sponsored by the Spoerl Lectureship in Science in Society. Established in 1999 by Milwaukee-Downer College graduate Barbara Gray Spoerl and her husband, Edward, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on the role of science and technology in societies worldwide.

Former Intelligence Analyst Discusses War on Terror in Lawrence University Address

APPLETON, WIS. — Jonathan Schanzer, director of policy at the Jewish Policy Center in Washington, D.C., discusses the war on terror and examines U.S. policies in response to terrorist threats in an address at Lawrence University. Schanzer presents “Radical Islam and the War on Terror” Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Youngchild Hall, Room 121.

A former counterterrorism analyst for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Schanzer will review U.S. policies, beginning with the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and examine their effectiveness, especially those policies following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He also will discuss the differences between radical and moderate Islam. A question-and-answer session will follow his address.

Schanzer is the author of the 2004 book “Al-Qaeda’s Armies: Middle East Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror.” His appearance is sponsored by the Viking Conservatives student organization.

“Snow, Ashes” Author Alyson Hagy Conducts Reading at Lawrence University

APPLETON, WIS. — Short story author and novelist Alyson Hagy will conduct a reading Thursday Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at Lawrence University’s Wriston Art Center auditorium. A reception and book signing will follow. The event is free and open to the public.

Hagy, who teaches creative writing at the University of Wyoming where she is an associate professor of English, is the author of two novels. “Snow, Ashes,” a suspenseful portrait of a friendship that survives the hard life of Wyoming sheep ranching and the trenches of the Korean War, was published earlier this year. Her first novel, “Keeneland,” was released in 2000.

She also has written three collections of short stories: “Graveyard of the Atlantic” (2000); “Hardware River” (1991); and “Madonna on Her Back” (1986). “Search Bay,” one of Hagy’s stories in “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” was selected by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx for inclusion in “Best American Short Stories 1997.”

Her appearance is sponsored by the Marguerite Schumann Lectureship fund.

UN Official Discusses Rwandan Criminal Tribunal at Lawrence University

APPLETON, WIS. — Roman Boed, legal officer with the Appeals Chamber of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda discusses the origins of the court and its role in prosecuting perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide in an address at Lawrence University.

A 1987 Lawrence graduate, Boed presents “The Development of International Criminal Law: The Case of Rwanda” Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 102. Free and open to the public, the address is an extension of Lawrence’s Povolny International Studies Lecture Series “Africa Today: Problems and Solutions” that began last spring.

Evolved from the military trials at Nuremberg following World War II, international criminal tribunals were established in the 1990s to prosecute the mass violations of human rights in the former Yugoslavia and during the Rwandan genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 people died, most of whom were members of the country’s ethnic Tutsi minority.

In the 10 years since the first trial began, the Rwandan tribunal has prosecuted more than 80 cases, including the former prime minister, other former government ministers as well as military, religious and local political leaders. The tribunal’s conviction of a Rwandan mayor in 1998 was the first ever conviction by an international tribunal for the crime of genocide while the former prime minister’s conviction for genocide confirmed to the world that the concept of “sovereign immunity” would no longer protect government leaders from responsibility for mass atrocities.

The international tribunal, according to Boed, has played an important role in restoring peace and justice in Rwanda.

“Through its work, the tribunal has exposed those most responsible for the genocide as criminals, discrediting the extremist ideology that fuelled the genocide,” says Boed, who works with the court in The Hague, Netherlands. “In case after case, the tribunal’s judgments have recognized that genocide against the Tutsis took place in Rwanda, foreclosing any future historical revisionism on this issue.”

Boed first joined the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1999 as an associate legal officer. He spent two years as the tribunal’s judgment coordinator before moving to the tribunal’s appeals chamber as legal officer, overseeing the legal support section of the ICTR Appeals Chamber.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in government and economics from Lawrence, Boed earned a law degree from DePaul University, studied at Oxford University and earned master of law degrees from both Cambridge University and Columbia Law School. He is currently a doctor of law degree candidate at the University of South Africa.

The “Africa Today: Problems and Solutions” lecture series is sponsored by the Mojmir Povolny Lectureship in International Studies. Named in honor of long-time Lawrence government professor Mojmir Povolny, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.

Appleton’s RiverHeath Project Examined in Lawrence University Environmental Series Lecture

APPLETON, WIS. — Appleton’s RiverHeath project, a 15-acre mixed-use development valued at more than $25 million and located on the Fox River below the College Avenue bridge, will be the focus of the second installment of Lawrence University’s 2007 three-part Spoerl environmental studies lecture series on “green” cities.

Mark Geall, founder and project development director of Denver-based Tanesay Development, which is building the RiverHeath project, presents “What’s a Green Neighborhood? Challenges Faced by Green Developers in Appleton,” Tuesday, Oct. 23. The presentation, at 7 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 102 on the Lawrence campus, is free and open to the public.

Geall will discuss the trade-offs developers face when trying to embrace sustainability while building profitable projects. He also will unveil some of RiverHeath’s plans developed by Milwaukee-based architects Engberg Anderson Design Partnership.

Construction on the RiverHeath project is expected to begin next summer with completion of the first phase slated for the spring of 2010.

The U.S. Green Building Council recently named RiverHeath to a nationwide pilot program for green design that has expanded its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification beyond individual buildings to include entire neighborhoods. RiverHeath is one of 234 projects nationally selected for the new neighborhood program.

According to Geall, RiverHeath scores well in the LEED system because of its downtown location, short walking distances to jobs, schools, and restaurants, close access to public transit routes as well as parks and biking/hiking trails. The project also exceeds the requirements of the USGBC pilot program on several fronts as well, including plans to have nearly 100 percent of its energy needs provided by the Fox River.

Author and social critic James Howard Kunstler concludes the series Tuesday, Oct. 30 with the address “The Geography of Nowhere” at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium.

The series is sponsored by the Spoerl Lectureship in Science in Society. Established in 1999 by Milwaukee-Downer College graduate Barbara Gray Spoerl and her husband, Edward, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on the role of science and technology in societies worldwide.

MyElectionDecision.org Encourages Political Engagement, Lawrence University Creates Tool to Educate Voters

APPLETON, WIS. — With a historic presidential election on the horizon, Lawrence University has launched a new Web site, designed to help voters — especially college students — try to find which candidate’s positions best match their own on a variety of important national issues. Called MyElectionDecision.org, the Web site is a project of Lawrence faculty and staff, in a partnership with researchers from the University of California-Irvine.

Lawrence University President Jill Beck said the creation of the Web site was driven by statistics indicating the lack of political participation among many college students. “This is by no means restricted to Lawrence,” Beck said. “It’s a concern I share with faculty members and other college and university presidents.”

The Web site uses a series of interactive questionnaires to assess the users’ ratings on critical issues including Iraq, health care, immigration, the environment, and the economy. Visitors to the site rate which issues are most important to them, take a blind test without knowing which candidate said what, evaluate which issue statements they support, and then, with computer assistance weighing the preferences, find out which candidate most closely supports their views.

By considering the candidates’ own statements on the issues, without regard to their appearance, personality, fundraising ability, or the news media’s interpretation or bias, MyElectionDecision.org strips away many of the factors that have soured people on the political process.

The site is updated as candidates make new statements or change positions. The views of four Republicans (Giuliani, McCain, Romney, and Thompson) and four Democrats (Clinton, Edwards, Obama, and Richardson) are currently reflected on the site. After the primaries, the site will shift its focus to the two surviving candidates.

The 2008 presidential election will be the first without a presidential or vice-presidential incumbent candidate since 1928, and political analysts have said it has the potential to become one of the most historic elections in U.S. history.

“One of the founding traditions of a liberal arts college is the education and creation of good citizens,” Beck said. “When statistics show that only a third of college-educated Americans follow public affairs regularly, and less than two-thirds vote in both national and local elections, it’s clear we can do more in that regard. It’s my hope that Lawrence University and MyElectionDecision.org will contribute to political awareness, inspire debate on the issues, and create greater voter turnout at a time when it has never been more important.”

Lawrence University Environmental Lecture Series Looks at “Green” Cities

APPLETON, WIS. — Against a backdrop of U.S. land space increasingly devoted to development at rates far outpacing the percentage of population growth, the ecological, social and political issues surrounding “green” urban growth will be explored during Lawrence University’s 2007 three-part Spoerl environmental studies lecture series.

Donna Erickson, a land-use and landscape planning consultant in Missoula, Mont., opens the series Tuesday, Oct. 16 with the address “MetroGreen: Connecting Open Space in North American Cities.” The presentation, at 7 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 102 on the Lawrence campus, is free and open to the public.

Based on her 2006 book of the same title, Erickson will discuss how ecology, recreation, transportation, community and green infrastructure can motivate city planning and affect the spatial fabric of contemporary cities. The presentation will examine comparative case studies Erickson conducted on 10 North American cities, among them Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee.

Erickson is a former professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, where her scholarship focused on open-space and landscape-scale conservation planning. A 2003-04 Fulbright Scholar, she earned degrees in landscape architecture from Wageningen University in The Netherlands and Washington State University. She has written for numerous publications, including Landscape and Urban Planning, Land Use Policy, and Environmental Management.

Other talks scheduled in the series include:

&bullOct. 23 — “What’s a Green Neighborhood?: Challenges Faced by Green Developers in Appleton,” Mark Geall, principal developer at Tansey Development, 7 p.m., Science Hall 102.

&bullOct. 30 — “The Geography of Nowhere,” James Howard Kunstler, noted author and social critic, 7 p.m., Wriston Art Center auditorium.

The environmental lecture series is sponsored by the Spoerl Lectureship in Science in Society. Established in 1999 by Milwaukee-Downer College graduate Barbara Gray Spoerl and her husband, Edward, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on the role of science and technology in societies worldwide.

Brentano String Quartet Opens 2007-08 Lawrence University Artist Series

APPLETON, WIS. — The acclaimed Brentano String Quartet brings its “luxuriously warm sound” to the stage of the Lawrence Memorial Chapel Saturday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. for the opening concert of the 2007-08 Lawrence University Artist Series.

Tickets for the concert, at $22-20 for adults, $19-17 for seniors, and $15-17 for students, are available through the Lawrence University Box Office in the Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton or by phone at 920-832-6749.

Hailed as “an ensemble of exceptional insight and communicative gifts” by the London Daily Telegraph, the Brentano String Quartet was founded in 1992. It has since performed to popular and critical acclaim in many of the world’s most prestigious venues, among them New York City’s Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Vienna’s Konzerthaus in Vienna, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Sydney Opera House.

In 1996, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center invited them to be the inaugural members of Chamber Music Society Two, a program that has since become a coveted distinction for chamber groups and individuals. Brentano toured Europe for the first time in 1997, earning the United Kingdom’s Royal Philharmonic Award for “most outstanding debut.”

Brentano performs the entire two-century range of the standard quartet repertoire as well as many musical works pre-dating the string quartet as a medium. They have recorded the Opus 71 Quartets of Haydn, the music of Steven Mackey, Bruce Adolphe, Chou Wen-chung and Charles Wuorinen and have collaborated with such artists as soprano Jessye Norman and pianists Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida.

The quartet is named for Antonie Brentano, who is widely considered by music scholars to be Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” the intended recipient of his famous love confession.

Other scheduled performers on this year’s Lawrence Artist Series are the all-male vocal ensemble Cantus, Feb. 23; classical pianist Jon Kimura Parker, March 7; and the American Brass Quintet, April 19.