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Expanded Earth Day Celebration Offers Scholarly, Artistic, Musical Look at Environmental Issues

APPLETON, WIS. — Earth Day, the annual nationwide observance of environmental education and activism, celebrates its 39th birthday Wednesday, April 22 and Lawrence University will mark the occasion with a week-long series of events.

Jeff Clark, associate professor of geology and faculty associate to the president for Green Roots: The Sustainable Lawrence Initiative, which is one of the celebration sponsors, said part of Green Roots’ mission is to “cultivate habits of mind and dispositions that lead to care of the earth.

“We hope that by hosting a full week of programming we will engage the broader Fox Cities community in discussions of timely and locally relevant environmental issues such as local food systems and agriculture, waste and recycling and artistic expressions of the environment,” said Clark, chair of Lawrence’s interdisciplinary program in environmental studies.

Each day of the Earth week celebration will be devoted to a singular topic theme. The complete schedule is as follows:

Monday, April 20 — Food and Agriculture Day

• “Hands on Gardening,” 1-4 p.m., Sustainable Lawrence University Garden (bottom of Union Hill).

• “Food vs. Agricultural Biotechnology,” Andrew McCann, coordinator, Sustainable Local Food for All Canadians Program, St. Lawrence College, 6:30 p.m., Science Hall 102

Tuesday April 21 — Waste Reduction Day

• “Where Does Your Waste Go?,” an overview of the Outagamie County

Solid Waste and Recycling Facility, 5:15 p.m., Science Hall 102.

• “The Story of Stuff,” an animated, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of production and consumption patterns with Annie Leonard, an expert in international sustainability and environmental health issues, 6:15 p.m., Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

Wednesday, April 22 — Global Climate Change Day

• “Climate Feedbacks and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Northern Peatlands: Meltdown of the Great White North,” Jeffrey White, professor of environmental sciences, Indiana University, 4:30 p.m., Science Hall 102

Thursday, April 23 — Environmental Art Day

• “Primitive Ways in an Accelerated World,” a presentation by sculptor Patrick Dougherty, who combines his carpentry skills with his love for nature to create works that allude to nests, cocoons and hives as well as the man-made forms of huts, haystacks and baskets by interweaving branches and twigs, 4:30 p.m., Wriston Art Center auditorium.

Friday, April 24 — Green Music Day

• “Music for Sea and Sky,” Lawrence University Wind Ensemble concert, featuring the world premiere of “Awaiting the Ghost Bird,” written by Lawrence Instructor of Music John Benson and “Peace is the River, Gently Flowing…” written by 1957 Lawrence graduate John Harmon, 8 p.m., Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

Saturday, April 25 — Greenfire Day, a variety of music and volunteer activities sponsored by Greenfire, the student environmental organization

&bull: Pancake Breakfast, 9 a.m., Greenfire House.

• Fox River clean-up, 10 a.m., meeting point is the sustainable garden.

• Information booths, music, children’s activities, 11 a.m. -3 p.m. Main Hall Green.

A Window to the World: Lawrence International Hosts 33rd Annual Cabaret

APPLETON, WIS. — More than 80 students from around the world are scheduled to perform when Lawrence International presents its 33rd annual Cabaret — “A Window to the World” — Sunday, April 19 at 3 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. A buffet dinner featuring delectable international dishes will be served in Colman Hall following the performance.

Tickets, at $10 for the show and $15 for the show and dinner, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749. Children 6 and under are free.

“Cabaret is a vibrant celebration of life through music, song, dance and cuisine from around the world,” said Tim Schmidt, Lawrence International advisor. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for Lawrence’s international students to share a part of their own culture and heritage with other members of the campus as well as the greater Fox Valley community.”

This year’s schedule of 17 separate performances include a hip-hop dance-off, a vocal performance from Sudan, a Chinese instrumental performance and native dances from Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Japan, India, Latin America, Ukraine and Vietnam, among others.

Lawrence University Choirs, Symphony Orchestra Present Opera Chorus Gala

APPLETON, WIS. — Acclaimed bass-baritone Mark Schnaible will the guest soloist when the Lawrence Concert Choir, Cantala women’s choir, Viking Chorale and the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra present the Opera Chorus Gala concert Saturday, April 18 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 510 E. College Ave., Appleton.

Tickets, at $10 for adults and $5 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

More than 200 student voices will join Schnaible in performing choruses from a dozen noted operas, including the march of the toreadors from “Carmen,” the coronation scene from “Boris Godunov,” the triumphal scene from “Aida” and the anvil chorus from “Il Trovatore.”

“The wide variety of literature presented in the program pose unique language and musical challenges, requiring us to explore the breadth of our intellectual and stylistic expression,” said Assistant Professor of Music Phillip Swan, who directs Cantala. “We are continually being stretched and motivated throughout this musical journey and we look forward to sharing the richness of these familiar, grand and cherished choruses in one special performance.”

Praised for his “strong, rich and warm-colored voice with assured style,” Schnaible has performed professionally throughout Europe and the United States. A past winner of the Marseille International Opera Competition, he has sung more than 40 roles in his career, including the title characters in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” and Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd.” Last month he sang Escamillo in “Carmen” with the New Orleans Opera.

Swan will join Professors of Music Richard Bjella and David Becker in conducting combined choir and orchestra portions throughout the concert.

Lawrence University Art Historian Named American Council on Education Fellow

APPLETON, WIS. — Lawrence University Professor of Art History Michael Orr has been named an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow for 2009-10. Orr was one of 42 fellows selected from nominations by college and university presidents or chancellors in a national competition.

Established in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program is designed to strengthen institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing promising senior faculty and administrators for responsible positions in college and university administration.

“The ACE Fellowship is a great honor, both for Professor Orr and for Lawrence,” said Lawrence President Jill Beck. “Michael is an intellectually gifted and dedicated faculty member who has participated effectively in faculty governance at Lawrence and has great potential to offer academic and administrative leadership. The future of higher education depends upon developing outstanding leaders, and we are very pleased to be part of the ACE program.”

According to Sharon McDade, director of the ACE Fellows Program, most previous fellows have advanced into major positions in academic administration. Of the more than 1,500 participants in the program’s history, more than 300 have become chief executive officers and more than 1,100 have become provosts, vice presidents or deans.

“I am honored to receive an ACE fellowship and am indebted to President Beck and Provost David Burrows for supporting my nomination,” said Orr. “I am excited at the prospect of participating in the ACE fellowship program and hope that it will challenge me personally and broaden my understanding of the place of the liberal arts college within American higher education.”

As an ACE Fellow, Orr will focus on an issue central to Lawrence while spending the 2009-10 academic year working with the president and other senior administrative officers at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.

The ACE Fellows Program combines seminars, interactive learning opportunities, campus visits and placement at another higher education institution to condense years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single year. The fellows are included in the highest level of decision making while participating in administrative activities and learning about an issue to benefit Lawrence.

During his fellowship, Orr will attend three week-long retreats on higher education issues organized by ACE, read extensively in the field and engage in other activities to enhance their knowledge about the challenges and opportunities confronting higher education today.

Orr, a specialist in medieval art and illuminated manuscripts, joined the Lawrence faculty in 1989. A past recipient of Lawrence’s Young Teacher Award (1992) and the Freshman Studies Teaching Prize (2006), he has worked as an exhibition consultant for the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, Calif., and been awarded research and travel grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the British Academy.

He has co-authored three volumes in the Harvey Miller series “An Index of Images in English Manuscripts from the Time of Chaucer to Henry VIII” and recently completed book chapters on the hierarchies of decoration in English prayer books and the iconography of St. Anne.

Between 1998 and 2000, Orr co-chaired Lawrence’s Trustee Task Force on Student Residential Life and has served as chair of a number of other faculty committees, including the Tenure and Promotions Committee and the Faculty Committee on University Governance. He earned his bachelor’s degree in art history at University College London and his master’s and doctoral degrees in art history at Cornell University.

Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation’s higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.

Edgar Meyer, “Best Bassist Alive,” Performs April 17 at Lawrence University

APPLETON, WIS. — Three-time Grammy Award winning bassist Edgar Meyer puts the exclamation mark on Lawrence University’s 100th anniversary celebration of its 2008-09 Artist Series with a performance Friday, April 17 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

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

Hailed as “the best bassist alive” by San Diego Magazine, Meyer combines unmatched technical virtuosity with innovative composition to set new standards for the double bass, generating growing acceptance and popularity of the bass as a solo instrument in the process.

He has recorded several of Bach’s cello suites — once considered an unimaginable feat for the bass — and his classical solo performances have earned critical acclaim. But Meyer also steps outside the classical genre, collaborating frequently with a wide range of country, folk and bluegrass artists, among them the Chieftains, Garth Brooks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett and Travis Tritt.

Much of his work is drawn from Appalachian and Celtic musical traditions and he traces his love of folk and bluegrass music to his childhood Tennessee roots and his choice of instrument to genetics.

“My father was a bass player, one of my father’s brothers was a bass player and my mother’s only brother was a bass player,” Meyer explained in an interview with National Public Radio. “The bass was a very natural way to spend [my] time.”

In 2002, Meyer was awarded a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship, the so-called “genius grant” and he is the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize, which recognizes exceptional American classical musicians.

“Expect to be amazed,” said Mark Urness, Lawrence assistant professor of music who teaches string bass, of Meyer’s upcoming concert. “He is one of the world’s pre-eminent double bassists. But more importantly, Meyer transcends the instrument and creates incredible music by any measure. His concerts are infused with the diversity of music styles he loves: classical, bluegrass, and jazz.

“After hearing him perform,” Urness added, “you’ll understand why he has won multiple Grammys as well as the Avery Fisher Prize and the MacAurthur ‘genius’ award.”

Meyer’s discography includes “Appalachian Journey” with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’Connor, which earned a Grammy Award for best classical crossover album, “Perpetual Motion” with banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck, which earned two Grammys and “Short Trip Home” with Joshua Bell, Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, which received a Grammy nomination for best classical crossover album.

Lawrence University’s Chiara Terzuolo Awarded Fulbright Research Fellowship to Japan

APPLETON, WIS. — Ever since she first began reading about Japan as a middle-school student, the island nation with its unique blend of time-honored traditions with the ultra modern and has held a special fascination for Chiara Terzuolo.

Terzuolo

The Lawrence University senior will soon spend a year in her favorite country courtesy of the U.S. Fulbright Program. Terzuolo has been awarded a $30,000 Fulbright Scholar research fellowship for a 12-month study project beginning in September.

Terzuolo, who entered Lawrence as a vocal major in 2005 but will graduate in June with a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies, intends to explore how classical Western music and traditional Japanese music interact in a modern context during her year-long project.

“I want to see what similarities and contrasts may exist not only in teaching methods, but also in performance and social interactions between music students and professors,” said Terzuolo, who calls Rome, Italy, home. “I want to see what similarities and contrasts may exist not only in teaching methods, but also in performance and social interactions between music students and professors. I hope to discover how the two genres influence each other and what boundaries they may have set.”

As part of her exploration of the relationship between classical and traditional music, Terzuolo plans to take lessons on the koto, a 13-string zither-like instrument and one of Japan’s most traditional instruments for female musicians. Terzuolo was first exposed to the koto last spring, when she spent five months on a study-abroad program at Kanda University. As part of that program, she interned as a Shinto shrine maiden and got to practice the koto with the shrine’s sacred ensemble.

“That was an unbelievably rare experience, especially for someone who is not Japanese,” said Terzuolo. “Every hour I spent at the shrine was an education in Japanese social structure, language and music. I just knew I had to go back and that’s what led me to apply for the Fulbright.”

Terzuolo will use a Japanese conservatory as her research base. While the exact location is still to be determined, she most likely will live in either Osaka, Kyoto or Nagoya.

“Traditional musical training used to be the prerogative of a closed system of ‘iemoto,’ but Japanese conservatories are now offering courses in ‘hogaku’ (traditional music) alongside the usual Western-based options,” said Terzuolo, who counts Japanese among five languages that she speaks. “By basing myself at one of these music schools, I’ll have the opportunity to intensely study how the classical and traditional ‘worlds’ interact.”

The daughter of two former U.S. foreign service officers, Terzuolo has lived in a handful of cities around the world, including Paris and Prague, but it is Japan’s siren call that most intrigues her.

“This will be a great opportunity to study something I’m passionate about in the country where I most want to be,” said Terzuolo. “I eventually would like to work in the Japanese music scene and this could be the beginning of a career tied to Japan.”

Terzuolo is the second Lawrence student this spring to be named a Fulbright Scholar and the college’s 11th since 2001.

Created by Congress in 1946 to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s premier scholarship program. Since its founding, it has supported opportunities for nearly 300,000 American students, scholars and other professionals in more than 150 countries. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, CEOs, university presidents, professors and teachers. Thirty-seven Fulbright alumni have earned Nobel Prizes.

International Challenges Facing Obama Administration Focus of Lawrence University Lecture Series

APPLETON, WIS. — Against a backdrop of world-wide economic distress and ongoing threats of terrorism, Lawrence University’s annual Povolny Lecture Series in International Studies focuses on some of the global challenges facing the administration of President Barack Obama in the four-part series “What Should Obama Do?”

Paul Blustein, journalist-in-residence in the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., opens the series Thursday, April 16 with the address “U.S. and World Trade Disorganization” at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. All lectures in the series are free and open to the public.

A specialist in international trade and economic policy, Blustein will examine challenges facing the World Trade Organization, particularly the possibility of an “erosion” in its authority as the chief rule maker and arbiter of international trade, which he says “could be highly damaging to the world’s long-term economic health.” Blustein will discuss Obama’s options to prevent the international trading system from following the financial system into global crisis.

Fueling the WTO’s woes, says Blustein, was the failure of its 153 member nations to reach an agreement in the Doha Round, the series of negotiations launched shortly after 9/11 aimed at lowering trade barriers in a way that would most benefit poor countries. The round is named for the capital of Qatar, the location of the WTO meeting where the talks were initiated.

Blustein attended the WTO meeting in Doha as well as last summer’s session in Geneva, Switzerland, where the talks collapsed after a nine-day meeting of trade ministers.

As a result of the Doha failure and the global world-wide economic downturn, Blustein calls the WTO’s ability to continue performing its crucial role in the international order “imperiled.”

A Rhodes Scholar, Blustein joined the Brookings Institute in 2006 after spending 30 years covering economic policy issues for Forbes Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. While at The Wall Street Journal, he was recognized in 1985 with the prestigious Gerald Loeb Award, which honors journalists who make significant contributions to the understanding of business, finance and the economy.

Blustein is the author of two books, “The Chastening: Inside the Crisis That Rocked the Global Financial System and Humbled the IMF” in 2001 and “And the Money Kept Rolling In (And Out): Wall Street, the IMF, and the Bankrupting of Argentina” in 2005. He is currently working on a third book about the WTO and the Doha Declaration.

Joining Blustein on this year’s series will be:

• April 21 — Robert Becker, Lawrence’s Distinguished Visiting Scarff Professor, former U.S. foreign service officer and deputy head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Croatia, “U.S. and European Relations.” Becker will discuss the importance of the two continental societies working collaboratively in the face of common financial, terrorist, ecological, social-migration and international criminal threats.

• April 29 — Peter Blitstein, associate professor of history at Lawrence, “Russian-American Relations and the Obama Administration.” Blitstein will review the different approaches Western nations, including the United States, have used in their relations with Russia, make the case only one of these approaches is effective and examine the issues facing the current U.S.-Russia relationship from that standpoint.

• May 12 — Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, director general of Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology and former governor of Guanajuato, Mexico, “Mexico and the U.S.”

The “What Should Obama Do” 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.

Five Lawrence University Musicians Earn Top Honors in State Music Competition

APPLETON, WIS. — Lawrence University student musicians accounted for three of the six winners at the 14th annual Neale-Silva Young Artists competition conducted March 22 in Madison.

The percussion trio of Felicia Behm, David Ranscht and Stacey Stoltz, along with bass-baritone Derrell Acon and pianist Leonard Hayes shared top honors with clarinetist Ching-Chieh Hsu and violinist Elias Goldstein, both from the UW-Madison and saxophonist Phillip Dobernig of Mukwonago High School in the state competition sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio. Each received $400 for their winning performances.

Lawrence students have won or shared top honors in the Neale-Silva event four years in a row and nine of the past 11.

The competition is open to instrumentalists and vocal performers 17-26 years of age who are either from Wisconsin or attend a Wisconsin college. This year’s competition attracted a total of 23 soloists and ensembles, 14 of which advanced to the finals. In addition to the three winners, Lawrence had two other finalists: pianist Dario LaPoma and the piano trio of Laura Hauer, Anna Henke and Megan Karls.

Acon, Hayes, and the members of the percussion trio will reprise their winning performances Sunday, April 26 at 12:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison. The concert will be broadcast live statewide on the NPR News and Classical Music Network of WPR.

For the April 30 concert, Behm, a senior from Monument, Colo., Ranscht, a junior from La Crosse, and Stoltz, a sophomore from Aurora, Ill., will share a single marimba in a highly visual performance of Mark Ford’s “Stubernic” and an arrangement of Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” written by Behm. All three study in the percussion studio of Dane Richeson.

Acon, a junior from St. Louis, Mo., will sing “Il lacerato spirito” by Giuseppe Verdi, Howard Swanson’s “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “All the Little Horses” by Aaron Copland and “Amiamo” by Gaetano Donizetti. He studies in the voice studio of Patrice Michaels.

Hayes, a sophomore from Dallas, Texas, will play “Piano Sonata Op. 7 in E- flat Major,” by Beethoven and Olivier Messiaen’s Noel from “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jesus.” Hayes, who studies in the piano studio of Catherine Kautsky, also will perform as accompanist for Acon.

The Neale-Silva Young Artists’ Competition was established to recognize young Wisconsin performers of classical music who demonstrate an exceptionally high level of artistry. It is supported by a grant from the estate of the late University of Wisconsin Madison professor Eduardo Neale-Silva, a classical music enthusiast who was born in Talca, Chile and came to the United States in 1925.

Lawrence University Organists Earn First, Second Place Honors in Regional Organ Competition

APPLETON, WIS. — Lawrence University first-year student Daniel O’Connor didn’t need to go anywhere but back home to have an exciting spring break.

O’Connor returned to his hometown of Dallas, Texas, during the recent spring recess and earned first-place honors March 28 in the chapter division of the Regional Competition for Young Organists. He received $250 for his winning performance.

Sponsored by the American Guild of Organists, the RYOC is considered the country’s most prestigious competition for emerging organists. Conducted every other year, the RCOY is open to participants under the age of 23.

Susanna Valleau, a junior from Andover, Mass., took second place in the RYOC held in Boston the same day. Both are students of university organist Katherine Handford.

With his winning performance, O’Connor advances to an AGO regional competition June 28-July 1 in Albuquerque, N.M., one of seven held around the country. A first-place performance there earns O’Connor designation as a “Rising Star” and an invitation to perform in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2010.

O’Connor’s 30-minute competition program in Dallas included J.S. Bach’s “Prelude and Fugue in A minor,” “Clair de Lune” by Louis Vierne, “Blithely Breezing Along” by Stephen Paulus and the German hymn “Lasst uns erfreuen.”

O’Connor, who is considering a double degree with majors in organ performance and economics, began playing the organ five years ago. While in high school, he studied with 1974 Lawrence graduate Thomas Froehlich.

Founded in 1896, the American Guild of Organists is the national professional association serving the organ and choral music fields. The Guild serves approximately 20,000 members in 330 chapters throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Lawrence University’s Hainze Named Fulbright Scholar, Will Teach English in Venezuela

APPLETON, WIS. — A study-abroad program in Argentina in 2007 provided Anna Hainze a taste of South American culture, but the Lawrence University senior from Whitefish Bay was looking for an opportunity to return and experience more.

Hainze

That opportunity arrived in the mail recently when Hainze was named a Fulbright Scholar and awarded one of only three fellowships available in Venezuela. Beginning in September, Hainze will embark on a 10-month stay as a secondary school English teacher in either the capital city of Caracas, Maricaibo or Merida. Her city assignment will be finalized in late April.

“I had a positive experience in Argentina and when I investigated the Fulbright program, South America really appealed to me as a destination,” said Hainze, who will graduate in June with a major in Spanish and minors in Latin American studies, history and music. “I really enjoy teaching and thought this would be a great opportunity to see if that’s a career path I want to pursue.

“The fact that I’ve never been to Venezuela before makes this all the more exciting,” Hainze added. “It’s new territory for me. While I know what to expect and am looking forward to it, part of me is still a bit anxious.”

Hainze has served as a writing and Spanish tutor for the past three years in Lawrence’s Center for Teaching and Learning and volunteered as an after-school mentor for elementary-age students at Bruce Guadelupe School in Milwaukee while still in high school.

Unlike many Fulbright Scholar recipients who serve as language assistants, Hainze’s appointment will be a full-fledged teaching assignment with her own classroom.

“This will be much more of a teaching opportunity than some of the other Fulbright positions,” said Hainze. “I’m looking forward to seeing where this takes me. Hopefully, this experience will help show me where I want to go with my life.”

Hainze is the 10th Lawrence student since 2001 selected as a Fulbright Scholar.

Created by Congress in 1946 to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s premier scholarship program. Since its founding, it has supported opportunities for nearly 300,000 American students, scholars and other professionals in more than 150 countries. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, CEOs, university presidents, professors and teachers. Thirty-seven Fulbright alumni have earned Nobel Prizes.