Lawrence University News

Dance Marathon Craze Revisited in Wild Space Dance Company Performance at Lawrence University

The dance marathon craze of the 1930s will be recreated when Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company performs “Physical Evidence” Friday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. in Lawrence University’s Stansbury Theatre.

Tickets for the performance, at $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and students, can be purchased at the Lawrence University Box Office in the Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton, 920-832-6749.

Described as a “high-energy tribute to a bygone era” in a review by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Physical Evidence” follows determined dance contestants and their quest for fame and fortune. Derby races, juggling and endurance stunts create a vibrant backdrop for Wild Space’s inventive choreography.

This will be only the second performance of an updated version of “Physical Evidence,” following its revival show last November in Milwaukee. The biggest hit ever staged in Wild Space’s history, a slightly different version of “Physical Evidence” originally premiered in the spring of 2004.

“Our performance is inspired by the frenzy and challenge of the dance marathons and what drove people to test the endurance of their body, minds and souls,” said Debra Lowen, artistic director of Wild Space, which began a company-in-residence appointment at Lawrence in 2000. “Characters are drawn from real-life contestants in a 1931 Milwaukee marathon, with each company member adding personal touches.”

In telling the contestants’ story, “Physical Evidence” goes back in time — literally and figuratively. The 10-dancer performance begins at the end of the marathon, when the winner is selected and the remaining contestants go home. An emcee connects the retrograde narrative with a running commentary, much like the original marathon hosts. The emcee also engages the audience, which becomes the spectators for the fictional marathon.

Popular during the Depression, dance marathons attracted participants who physically fit, eager to win and willing to adapt their life story to the entertainment the promoters were selling. The marathons offered the spectacle of weary dancers pushed to their limit, rivalry and romance — both real and concocted — and the survival of the fittest. Sprinkled throughout the long dancing sessions were vaudeville comics, specialty acts and weddings that happened over and over again from town to town.

But it was the contestants’ struggle to survive that captivated audiences for more than a decade. Dance marathon participants, to a certain degree, were the forerunners of today’s reality entertainment “stars” on such programs as ”Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “American Idol” and even professional wrestling. In dance marathons, everyday life became celebrity and celebrity shaped the reality of the participants.

Wild Space’s appearance also will feature a bonus performance of excerpts from company member Katie Sopoci’s recent graduate concert. Spirited along by several of Meryn Cadell’s ingenious vocal poems, this quirky, physical romp follows one woman and her many encounters through a life interrupted by musings, misfortunes and mischief. One piece, “I wish I was a cat,” highlights the best of Spoci’s unique, rigorously physical choreography, liquid phrasing and her animalistic to meticulous movements. Sopoci is a master of fine arts candidate at UW-Milwaukee.

Hailed as “richly imaginative and witty” by the New York Times, Wild Space Dance Company was founded in 1986. Known for site-specific works and artistic collaborations, Wild Space merges contemporary dance with music, unusual environments and visual art in its innovative performances. In addition to Lawrence, it is a company-in-residence at Milwaukee’s Lincoln Center Middle School of the Arts.

“Chaos or Commuity?” Theme of Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at Lawrence University

“Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” will be the theme of the 13th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Monday, January 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the Lawrence University Memorial Chapel. The celebration, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by Toward Community: Unity in Diversity and Lawrence University.

“The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is an opportunity for both the Lawrence and surrounding communities to honor the work of Dr. King and to collectively share in the understanding of the challenges we face today,” said Rod Bradley, assistant dean of students for multicultural affairs. “The celebration highlights the importance of awareness, commitment and diversity as we strive to help improve human rights and civic engagement.”

Eugene Kane, a long-time columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, will deliver the celebration’s keynote address. A native of Philadelphia, Kane is a graduate of Temple University and a former John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University. His thrice-a-week column has been recognized with several national and local journalism awards, including the National Headliner Award, the Sigma Delta Chi Award and the National Association of Black Journalists Award.

In addition to Kane’s address, singer Ken Daniel, a 1991 Lawrence graduate, will perform during the celebration. Daniel, who has toured nationally and performed locally numerous times, directs a music ministry in the Milwaukee area that administers through heartfelt songs of worship, praise and thanksgiving.

Toward Community will present its annual Jane LaChapelle McCarty Unity in Diversity Award to an area individual who has made great strides in bringing different people in the community together.

The celebration also will include winning essays written and read by area youth who reflected on Dr. King’s dream and the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the African American national anthem, will be sung. The celebration will conclude with a reception for all in attendance.

In keeping with the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, members of the Lawrence community will be participating in a variety of volunteer opportunities in the area, including Pioneer Village, a retirement living facility, the Salvation Army and the Emergency Shelter of the Fox Valley, Inc..

WLFM Showcases New Studio in Community Open House

The public is invited to a community open house of the new studios of WLFM, Lawrence University’s campus radio, Saturday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. WLFM staff members will offer tours of the remodeled facility and give demonstrations of some of the newly installed equipment. WLFM converted from an over-the-air FM signal to an all web-based broadcast format last fall. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the station’s founding.

As part of the open house, a concert featuring the Lawrence student band 8bitbEtty, the Chicago-based band Piglet and the three-member group El Oso from Milwaukee will perform in Cloak Theatre beginning at 9 p.m. The WLFM studios are located on the lower level of the south end of the Lawrence Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave.

“Language of Angels” Production Selected for Regional Theatre Competition

With a stage production, five individual actors and two designers, the Lawrence University theatre arts department will be exceptionally well represented at the upcoming regional competition of the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival Jan. 10-15, 2006 at Illinois State University in Bloomington, Ill.

Lawrence’s Term I production of Naomi Iizuka’s “Language of Angels,” under the direction of Kathy Privatt, associate professor of theatre arts, was one of 12 plays selected for performances from among 58 entries in the five-state Region III, which includes colleges and universities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

“Language of Angels” is the second Lawrence production in six years to be selected for a ACTF regional performance, joining “Translations” in 2000. The eight member cast will perform the play three times at the festival — all on the same day: Friday, Jan. 13 at 12 noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Nearly 75 productions from colleges and universities nationwide will participate as finalists in eight regional competitions in January. Four regional competition winners will be invited to the national finals in April and perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

“This invitation to perform at the festival is really an honor, particularly since I chose this show as an artistic stretch with opportunities for collaboration,” said Privatt. “It’s the first production I’ve directed that could be chosen for the festival, so to receive an invitation the first time around is certainly gratifying.”

The ACTF program was founded in 1969 to encourage, recognize and celebrate the finest and most exciting work produced in college and university theatre programs and provide opportunities for participants to develop their theatre skills.

Nearly 1,000 productions and 20,000 students nationwide annually participate in the competition, which doesn’t differentiate by school size or institutional type, which means Lawrence’s production was selected over some from much larger universities, including some with graduate theatre departments.

“Competing successfully against schools with MFA’s certainly gives credit to the training and artistic work we undertake here at Lawrence,” said Privatt. “Honors like this one also suggest that we have a solid sense of who we are and what we do well as artists. An invitation to perform at the festival is certainly an affirmation of the truly magical theatre that happens when Lawrence faculty, staff and students work together.”

Last year’s ACTF Region III competition attracted a record crowd of 1,646, the most of any region in the 38-year history of the festival. That record could be eclipsed this year, with attendance projected to top 1,700.
In addition to the production as a whole, seven Lawrence students have been invited to participate in individual categories at the ACTF regional competition.

Three members of the “Language of Angels” cast — seniors Zach Johnson (Racine) and Julie Silver (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and sophomore Asher Perlman (Madison) — along with seniors Siri Hellerman and Melissa Law, who performed in last spring’s production of “First Lady,” were selected for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition.

They will be among more than 300 student actors who will perform individual scenes of their choosing before a panel of judges. Two regional winners each will receive $500 scholarships and advance to the national finals in Washington, D.C. where two national winners will be chosen and awarded $2,500 scholarships. The Irene Ryan Scholarship was established in the will of the late actor, best known for her role as Granny on the TV hit show “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

Also from the “Language of Angels” production, senior Brian Teoh (Katy, Texas) was one of 19 students chosen for the sound design competition while sophomore Jes Vittitoe (Missouri Valley, Iowa) will be among 13 students participating in the make-up design competition.

“The whole festival is an educational candy store for faculty and students alike,” Privatt said. “It offers opportunities to connect with other colleagues, see their best performances and learn from them in workshops in a focused setting. It’s truly an exceptional experience.”

First performed in 2000 in San Francisco, “Language of Angels” follows a group of working-class friends who are haunted by the disappearance of a young girl in a backwoods cave in North Carolina. The small-town tragedy provides a vehicle for a chilling mystery of fate and redemption.

Other productions invited to the regional competition include: “Side by Side by Sondheim,” Valparaiso University; “Homebody/Kabul,” University of Toledo; “Phenomenon of Decline,”Kalamazoo College; “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head,” Central Michigan University; “Crumbs from the Table of Joy,” University of Wisconsin – Madison; “Red Herring,” University of Wisconsin – Green Bay; “Leavesakes,” Indiana State University; “Urinetown,” Oakland University; “Life Sentence,” University of Wisconsin – Whitewater; “Anatomy of Gray,” University of Evansville; “Proof,” Ashland University.

Lawrence University Musicians Finish 1-2 at State Chamber Orchestra Competition

A pair of Lawrence University musicians claimed the top two places at the 20th annual Concord Chamber Orchestra’s concerto competition Dec. 17 in Glendale.

Soprano saxophonist Sara Kind, a 2005 Lawrence University graduate and current student of Steven Jordheim in the Lawrence Academy of Music, was named the competition’s winner, while senior pianist Alvina Tan was named runner-up. Tan studies in the piano studio of Anthony Padilla.

This year’s competition featured 15 string, woodwind, brass and percussion players. It is open to musicians 25 years of age or younger who are residents of Wisconsin or attend a Wisconsin high school, college or university.

A 2001 graduate of Oshkosh West High School, Kind received $500 for her winning audition and will perform “Fantasy for Soprano Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra” by Hector Villa-Lobos in concert with the Concord Chamber Orchestra Wednesday, March 8 and Saturday, March 11.

Kind is the fourth Lawrence student in the past five years to win the CCO competition. Burcu Goker was last year’s winner, while Julien Poncet and Charlotte Maclet won the competition in 2002 and 2001, respectively. Leslie Boulin-Raulet was the CCO’s competition’s runner up in 2003.

Based in Wauwatosa, the Concord Chamber Orchestra features volunteer adult players from various professions and age groups. It was founded in 1975 and performs under the direction of conductor Jamin Hoffman.

Lawrence University Awarded $100,000 Grant for Study of its Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Lawrence University has been awarded a $100,000 grant by the New York City-based Teagle Foundation to support an assessment study of its new postdoctoral fellows teaching program.

Lawrence was one of five institutions nationally the Teagle Foundation recognized with a grant through its Working Groups in Liberal Education Program, which supports projects designed to generate fresh thinking about how to strengthen liberal education.

Announced in June, the Lawrence Fellows in the Liberal Arts and Sciences program provides recent Ph.D. recipients with mentoring relationships, teaching opportunities and research collaborations to better prepare them for professorial careers at selective liberal arts colleges.

The program also seeks to enrich student learning, more quickly introduce the newest research techniques being pursued at distinguished graduate programs to the Lawrence curriculum and its student research programs and further enhance Lawrence’s extensive offerings of one-on-one learning experiences for students.

The $100,000 Teagle Grant will support a working group of faculty, staff, students and administrators who, over the course of the next 20 months, will study the fellows program and assess the degree to which it is achieving its intended goals.

The group will analyze data gathered through a variety of methods, including self-assessment of teaching and scholarship, video and in-class observations, course evaluations, surveys and other reports. The results, when compiled, will be widely disseminated through a variety of means, including a webpage dedicated to the project as well as a conference that Lawrence will host.

“The results of this study are expected to provide beneficial information not only on the Lawrence Fellows program, but be helpful to postdoctoral fellowship programs conducted at other institutions as well,” said Bill Skinner, Lawrence’s director of research administration, who will oversee the study. “The impact of postdoctoral programs has rarely been assessed and this study will place Lawrence in a unique position to demonstrate the role liberal arts colleges can play in preparing the future professoriate of higher education.”

Eight fellows were selected as the program’s first appointments and joined the Lawrence faculty in September for the start of the 2005-06 academic year. They were chosen from a pool of more than 240 applicants, who pursued their doctorate or terminal degree at top-ranked research institutions in the United States, as well as Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Lawrence fellows are appointed for two years, during which time they teach courses, offer individualized instruction opportunities to students and continue their professional activities as scholars and or performers. A goal of the program is to have up to 20 fellows on campus in any given year.

“Liberal education should provide students with the intellectual tools they need as they struggle with life’s big questions about themselves, their morals and values and their place in society,” said W. Robert Connor, president of the Teagle Foundation, in announcing the five Working Groups in Liberal Education Program grants. “We hope the ideas that emerge from these projects will help strengthen liberal education not only on these campuses but at other institutions as well, so that all students in the liberal arts get the help they need in answering these big questions.”

The Teagle Foundation ( www.teaglefoundation.org) was established in 1944 by the late Walter C. Teagle, longtime president and later chairman of the board of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), now the Exxon Mobil Corporation. The foundation supports intellectual and financial resources to ensure that today’s students have access to challenging, wide-ranging and enriching college educations through broad and intellectually stimulating curricula that engage students in active learning, explore questions of deep social and personal significance, set clear goals and systematically measure progress toward them.

Award-winning German Vocal CD Features Composition by Lawrence University’s Joanne Metcalf

Joanne Metcalf won’t receive a funky, little gold statuette for her efforts, but the Lawrence University assistant professor of music says personal satisfaction is its own reward.

Metcalf wrote the main composition on a classical CD by Singer Pur, a German-based sextet that recently won the German Recording Academy’s ECHO Klassik prize for best vocal ensemble performance at an awards ceremony in Munich. The ECHO is considered the most prestigious classical music award in Europe.

Metcalf’s “Il nome del bel fior” (“The Name of that Fair Flower”) is a 25-minute, seven-part vocal composition that was used as the last track on the CD “Rihm, Metcalf, Moody, Sciarino” on the Oehms Classic label. The text of the composition is taken from Dante’s “Paradiso.” The work was performed on the CD by both Singer Pur and London-based The Hilliard Ensemble, one of the world’s premier chamber vocal groups.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest things to ever happen in my life,” Metcalf said of the award. “It’s very gratifying that the CD was recognized and I contributed to it.”

Metcalf, The Hilliard Ensemble and Singer Pur trace their collective roots back a dozen years. In 1994, The Hilliard Ensemble sponsored its first, and because it was overwhelmed with submissions, only international composition competition. Metcalf’s “Music for the Star of the Sea” was named one of the competition’s three winners. Singer Pur was just launching its career at the time and was working with Hilliard Ensemble when Metcalf submitted her winning composition. An ongoing collaboration was instantly born.

Metcalf wrote “Il nome del bel fior” in 1998 and since then, the work has been performed more than 100 times in concerts around the globe.

A member of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music faculty since 2001, Metcalf’s work as a composer has been widely recognized. She earned first-prize honors in 1993 from the International League of Women Composers, was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for study at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague that same year and more recently earned the Aaron Copland Award from the Copland Heritage Association in 2000.

She earned a Ph.D. in music composition from Duke University.

Timeless Classics Featured in Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir Concert

More than 250 voices will lend their talents to music that has stood the test of the time — from lullabies to spirituals — in the Lawrence University Academy of Music’s Girl Choir concert “Choral Classics” Saturday, Dec. 10 in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 510 E. College Ave., Appleton.

For the first time in the girl choir’s 15-year history, the concert will be performed twice on the same day, at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets, at $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and students, are available at the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

The concert will feature performances by five separate choirs — Primo, Allegretto, Intermezzo, Cantabile and Bel Canto — under the direction of Molly Tomashek, Cheryl Meyer and Karen Bruno. Members of the choirs, selected by audition, include girls 8-18 years of age representing more than 50 schools from throughout northeast Wisconsin.

Selections to be performed include Handel’s “Give Thanks and Praise,” the Scottish folk song “The Raggle-Taggle Gypsies,” Schubert’s “Benedictus” and Gustav Holst’s “Ave Maria,” which is widely considered a masterpiece among women’s choir literature.

“The repertoire that will be performed in this concert is exceptionally varied,” said Karen Bruno, artistic coordinator of the girl choir program. “We will feature European ‘art music’ from as early as the 16th century, as well as more contemporary American choral compositions and folk songs from several foreign countries.

“We try to make our programs as accessible as possible, so no one should worry about being intimated by this type of musical literature,” Bruno added. “There will be extensive program notes with helpful information and lots of interesting facts.”

Founded in 1991, the Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir program provides quality choral opportunities for girls in the greater Fox Valley area and encourages the development of vocal technique, music reading skills, creativity, expressive artistry and an awareness of various cultures.

Four Lawrence Academy of Music Ensembles Showcased in Pair of Concerts

Nearly 200 young musicians representing four ensembles from the Lawrence University Academy of Music will showcase their talents Sunday, Dec. 4 in a pair of concerts at the Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

The string orchestra and the flute choir will take the stage in a 3 p.m. concert, while the honors band and wind ensemble will perform in a 7 p.m. concert. Tickets for each concert are $6 and can be purchased at the Lawrence Box Office, 832-6749 or at the door the day of the event.

The 63-member string orchestra, featuring students in grades 4-8 under the direction of Linda Callahan, will perform a program with appeal to youngsters as well as the young at heart. Highlighting the concert will be two works arranged by Appleton elementary and middle level strings teacher Carrie Gruselle — “Postcards from Russia” and “John Henry.”

The flute choir concert will include works by Handel, Beethoven, Brahms and conclude with a rendition of Ricky Lombardo’s stirring arrangement of “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” The 13-member ensemble comprised of students in grades 8-12 features several different types of flutes, including bass flute and alto flute. Barb Boren, flute choir coach and Lawrence sophomore Katie Buchanan will co-direct the ensemble.

In the evening concert, the honors band will pay tribute to Ralph Rothe. A 1949 Lawrence graduate, Rothe spent more than 30 years as band director in the Appleton school district. Following his death earlier this year, he bequeathed to Lawrence and the Academy his entire collection of 1,600 band arrangements, music that spans nearly the entire 20th century.

The 57-member band of seventh, eighth and ninth graders, will perform four pieces from Rothe’s collection, including Grant Hull’s “European Folk Tune Suite,” which features a Russian dance, a Polish lullaby and a Spanish dance.

The honors band also will premiere an arrangement by Jon Meyer, the ensemble’s director, of A.F. Weldon’s 1914 March, “Gate City,” an eclectic collection of Southern tunes ranging from Stephen Foster to “Dixie” written to honor Atlanta, once known for its large number of gated yards.

Closing out the evening concert will be a performance of the 62-member Academy Wind Ensemble under the direction of Michael Ross. The ensemble features advanced woodwind, brass and percussion students in grades 9-12.

Highlighting the concert will be a pair of solo performances by guest artist Marty Erickson, a former principal/solo tubist for 26 years with the United States Navy Band in Washington D.C. Heard on more than 40 recordings of orchestra, concert band, brass band, dixieland jazz, folk and children’s music, Erickson has performed in 48 of the 50 states, throughout Europe as well as in Japan and Cuba. He has played with such legendary ensembles as the Boston Pops Orchestra, the National Symphony and the Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Gunther Schuller.

Erickson currently teaches tuba and euphonium in the Lawrence Conservatory of Music. During the concert, he will perform Rossini’s “Largo al Factotum” and “Concertino for Tuba” by Rolf Wilhelm.

Magnificent “Magnificat” Gets Triple Treatment in Lawrence University Holiday Choral Concert

Johann Sebastian Bach’s famed “Magnificat,” with its spectacular opening chorus, will be one of three different versions of the biblical Canticle of Mary performed by a trio of Lawrence University choirs and the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra in the holiday concert “A Bach Family Christmas.”

The concert, featuring three conductors and guest soloist Chad Freeburg, a 1999 Lawrence graduate, will be performed Friday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 510 E. College Ave., Appleton. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors/students (free to LU students, faculty and staff) and are available at the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

The 46-member Lawrence Concert Choir and the symphony orchestra will open the concert with a performance of Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach’s 1749 version of the “Magnificat” conducted by David Becker, director of orchestral studies. C.P.E. Bach, the second-oldest surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach, wrote his version of the “Magnificat” in 1749 in Berlin while serving an appointment as chamber musician to Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. It will be the latest of the three versions that will be performed during the concert.

The Lawrence Women’s Choir, under the direction of Phillip Swan, associate director of choral studies and accompanied by the string orchestra, will sing Italian baroque composer Nicholai Porpora’s “Magnificat.” Porpora, who collaborated with J.S. Bach’s youngest son, Johann Christian Bach in England, wrote his “Magnificat” for the famous all-girl choirs of the Venice “ospedali” — charitable orphanage-conservatories that provided musical training for orphaned, abandoned and illegitimate children of the city. The four ospedalis in Venice attracted many of Europe’s greatest composers of the time.

The concert finale, conducted by Richard Bjella, director of choral studies, will combine more than 180 voices and the symphony orchestra as the Lawrence Chorale joins the concert choir and women’s choir on stage in a performance of J.S. Bach’s 1732 D major version of the “Magnificat.” Bach’s first “Magnificat,” in E flat, was originally written to be first performed at Vespers on Christmas Day 1723 at the Church of St Nicholas in Lepizig along with four Christmas interludes in German.

“Even though they each use the same words, the text in each version is displayed quite differently,” said Bjella. “These remarkable works encompass much of the ‘best of’ from each composer. In a span of 30 minutes, J.S. Bach’s version explores many very dramatic, romantic and ancient music traditions. And the C.P.E. Bach ‘Magnificat’ may have the most incredible soprano solo written during the 18th century. I think this will be an absolutely breath-taking concert.”

Freeburg, a 2001 national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, returns to his alma mater as the concert’s featured soloist.

A tenor currently living in New York City, Freeburg has established himself as an accomplished singer of both opera and concert literature. Count Almaviva of “The Barber of Seville” has become a signature role for Freeburg, who has performed it with Opera Roanoke, Opera Delaware and Washington Summer Opera. He also will reprise the role in upcoming appearances with Utah Opera, Austin Lyric Opera and Lyric Opera of San Antonio.

Already in his young career Freeburg has performed with the American Ballet Theater at the Metropolitan Opera, the National Chorale at New York’s Lincoln Center, the Portland Symphony Pops, the Indianapolis Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has performed “Diary of One Who Vanished” with pianist Richard Goode at the Marlboro Music Festival and sang as tenor soloist for “Bach Weekend” under the baton of Blanche Moyse.

“Magnificat” is the title commonly given to the Latin text and translation of the Canticle of Mary taken from the Gospel of St. Luke.