Rick Peterson

Author: Rick Peterson

Rossini comic opera “Le comte Ory” comes to Stansbury Theatre March 1-4

The stage of Stansbury Theatre will be transformed into Formoutiers, France, circa 1200, for Lawrence University opera studies’ production of Gioachino Rossini’s “Le comte Ory” (“Count Ory”).

Four performances of the French comedic opera will be staged March 1-3 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee show March 4 at 3 p.m. Tickets, at $15 for adults, $8 for students/seniors, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749. The production will be performed in English.

A scene from the opera "Le comte Ory"
Countess Formoutiers (Anna Mosoriak ’19) reads a letter informing her the town’s men are returning from fighting the Fourth Crusade as Isolier (left, Emily Austin ’20), Alice (Annie Mercado ’18) and Ragonde (Lorna Stephens ’18) look on. Photo by Ken Cobb.

For his first and only French comedy, Rossini borrowed liberally from the popular vaudeville and burlesque shows that used satire to expose the corruption and the dying strains of the noble class and church-ordained rule.

Religious piety and taboo, along with a dose of gender-bending and cross-dressing, lead to situations worthy of the opera’s roots in burlesque and farce.

Written in 1828, the plot follows the attempts of the notorious gadabout Count Ory to seduce the Countess Formoutiers, whose brother has joined the town’s other able-bodied men to go off and fight in the Fourth Crusade, leaving her in charge. The countess creates a safe haven for the noble war widows inside the castle, barring all men from entering its walls.

Outside the castle, and hiding behind the power of the church, Count Ory disguises himself first as a hermit and later as a nun in his seduction efforts. But the disguises are thin and he is unmasked before he is able to complete his conquest.

Copeland Woodruff, Lawrence’s director of opera studies, calls “Le comte Ory”
“a product of its time.”

A scene from the opera "Le compe Ory"
Luke Honeck ’19 portrays Count Ory (left) while Erik Nordstrom ’19 (center) plays his friend, Raimbaud, and Alex Quackenbush ’19 (right) sings the role of the Tutor. Photo by Ken Cobb.

“The dissolution of the nobility was in flux in post-Revolutionary France, as well as in the rest of Europe, including Rossini’s native Italy,” said Woodruff. “Monarchs in Spain, Italy and France were half-heartedly supporting constitutional monarchies with varying percentages of power shared with appointed and elected parliamentary houses.

“While all the history and context is fairly heavy, the mode of theatricality stays at home in vaudeville with broad farce as its engine,” he added. “The designers, cast and artistic team have worked to find an environment that pays homage to theatrical traditions appropriate to the burlesque style of the piece.”

In the double-cast production, which runs 135 minutes with one 15-minute intermission, junior Luke Honeck, Anchorage, Alaska, shares the role of Count Ory with Benjamin Boskoff, a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music. Senior Clio Briggs, Moretown, Vt., and junior Anna Mosoriak, Highland, Ind., each sing the role of Countess Formoutiers.

The role of Isolier, Ory’s page, is sung by sophomore Emily Austin, Washington, D.C., and senior Martha Hellermann, Shorewood. Juniors Nathan Brase, Salem, Ore., and Alex Quackenbush, Sun Prairie, share the role of the Tutor.

Sophomore Nick Fahrenkrug, Davenport, Iowa, and junior Erik Nordstrom, St. Paul, Minn., sing the role of Raimbaud, Ory’s friend.

Ragonde, a companion to Countess Adele, is sung by senior Lorna Stephens, Blue Hill, Maine, and junior Clover Austin-Muehleck, San Francisco, Calif.  Senior Annie Mercado, Des Plaines, Ill., and senior Charlotte Noble, Traverse City, Mich., share the role of the peasant girl Alice.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Cultural competency series presentation examines attitudes and ideologies inherent in standard Englishes

The range of Englishes that people, particularly those born outside of the United States, may use will be the focus of the latest presentation in Lawrence University cultural competency series.

Cecile Despres-Berry
Cecile Despres-Berry
Lavanya Proctor
Lavanya Proctor

Cecile Despres-Berry, director of English as Second Language and Lawrence’s Waseda student exchange program and Lavanya Proctor, assistant professor of anthropology, present “Supporting People Who Use Diverse Englishes” Thursday, March 1 at 11:15 a.m. in the Warch Campus Center. The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration would be appreciated at div-inclusion@lawrence.edu.

Proctor and Despres-Berry will lead a discussion on how various varieties of English are neither more or less correct than others, but simply different. In an effort to offer practical guidance to inclusive interactions across the range of Englishes used in the community, Proctor and Despres-Barry will examine language attitudes and ideologies inherent in the idea of standard Englishes and how to recognize and avoid linguistic discrimination.

Proctor, who joined the faculty in 2014, has research interests in linguistic anthropology. Despres-Berry has taught at Lawrence since 2002, teaching courses designed to help non-native speakers of English reach their language learning goals.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.”  Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

World Music Series welcomes Gaelic Irish quintet Goitse

The multi-award winning quintet Goitse brings its distinctive sound of Irish traditional music to Lawrence University’s Harper Hall Monday, Feb. 26 as part of the university’s World Music Series.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors/students and are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

Irish band Goitse
Goitse is James Harvey, Tadhg Ó Meachair, Áine McGeeney Colm Phelan and Conal O’Kane.

Known for the quality of their own compositions interspersed with traditional tunes from Ireland and abroad, Goitse was launched at Limerick University’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. Crowned Live Ireland’s “Traditional Group of the Year” in 2015, the band has since added Chicago Irish American News’ “Group of the Year” and Germany’s prestigious “Freiurger International Leiter award in 2016 to its resume.

The band consists of All-Ireland bodhrán champion Colm Phelan, South Philadelphia native guitarist Conal O’Kane, the sweet, charismatic voice and energetic fiddle playing of Áine McGeeney, award-winning banjo and mandolin virtuoso James Harvey and Dublin piano and piano accordionist Tadhg Ó Meachair, who bridges the gap between melody and accompaniment.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Public policy scholar examines tension between Trump administration, implementation of regulatory policy

A public policy expert examines the growing political tensions between the Trump administration and administrative agency expertise and special-interest group influence in the development and implementation of U.S. regulatory policy in an address at Lawrence University.

Susan Webb Yackee
Susan Yackee

Susan Yackee, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science at UW-Madison, presents “Rulemaking and Presidential Control in the Trump Era” Monday, Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Yackee’s scholarship focuses on U.S. public policy-making process, public management, regulation, administrative law and interest group politics. With the support of a $500,000 Regulatory Science Award, she is conducting a study on regulatory policymaking at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Widely published in public administration, public policy and political science, Yackee was recognized with a national award in 2017 for her article, “Clerks or Kings? Partisan Alignment and Delegation to the U.S. Bureaucracy.” She is an elected member of the National Academy of Public Administration.

A former legislative research assistant to U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Yackee began her academic career at the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy and joined the faculty at UW-Madison in 2007. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

North America’s deep-time surface history focus of science presentation

A geologist specializing in continental tectonics and mantle dynamics discusses new techniques for understanding what has shaped the topography of the mid-continent over long timescales in a Lawrence University Science Hall colloquium.

Rebecca Flowers
Rebecca Flowers

Rebecca Flowers, associate professor in the department of geological sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, presents “Deep-time Surface History of the North American Continental Interior, Kimberlites and Mantle Dynamics” Thursday, Feb. 22 at 4:30 p.m. in Thomas Steitz Hall of Science 102. The event is free and open to the public.

Flowers’ research focuses on the coupling of deeper Earth and surface processes, including questions related to the carving of the Grand Canyon and the uplift history of the southern African Plateau. While scientists are more familiar with plate tectonic processes that produce crustal deformation and the development of mountains at the boundaries between plates, large-scale “warpings” of the interior of the continent, including features like the Michigan Basin, which is responsible for the Niagaran escarpment, are less well understood. Current research suggests the surface of the continental interior responds to processes that originate at great depths in the Earth’s mantle.

The author or co-author of nearly 50 published research articles, Flowers joined the University of Colorado Boulder faculty in 2007. She earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from the College of William and Mary and her Ph.D. in geology and geochemistry from MIT.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Music lecturer Evan Williams ’11 wins Detroit Symphony’s 2018 Classical Roots African American Composer Residency

Evan Williams, who is spending the 2017-18 academic year as a visiting lecturer in music in the composition department at Lawrence University, has been named the winner of the Detroit Symphony’s 2018 Classical Roots African American Composer Residency.

Evan Williams
Evan Williams ’11

Williams, a 2011 Lawrence graduate, was chosen from a national application process. He will be in residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Feb. 24-26. During his residency, he will conduct community outreach education with the civic ensembles of the DSO.

Highlighting his residence will be a performance of his composition “GRIME” performed during the Classical Roots Chamber Recital Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. at Detroit’s Plymouth United Church of Christ.

Written in 2013 for the Fresh, Inc. chamber music festival at UW-Parkside, “GRIME” is an eight-minute work for violin, viola, cello and double bass. Calling it a “confluence of seemingly disparate inspirations, including rock, spectralism, minimalism and modernist techniques,” Williams said the goal of the piece was to create a piece that would recreate the sound of a different instrument, in this case, an electric guitar with heavy distortion.

The work’s title came near the end of the composition process. Its working title was “GRIND” due to the harsh grinding sound that resulted from the molto sul ponticello and bow overpressure used in the work.

“In the search for a title, I wanted a word that began with G and also had an ‘edgy’ feel to it, given the rock inspiration,” Williams wrote in a blog post about the work. “I eventually decided against the word ‘grind,” as it held more hip hop and rap connotations for me. While ‘GRIME’ doesn’t hold any rock connotations that I am aware of, the title seemed to be more suited to the work.”

Prior to joining the Lawrence faculty, Williams spent a year as a composer fellow at Bennington College and taught in the Young Musicians Program at the Walden School in New Hampshire.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in theory/composition at Lawrence, Williams earned a master’s degree in composition from Bowling Green State University and a D.M.A in composition from the University of Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

 

Education scholar discusses role of information in school choice decisions in Lawrence presentation

TMI, a popular expression for more information than one might want to know, might apply to issues related to school choice options according to recent research.

Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj
Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj

Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Services at Seton Hall University, shares the results of her study she co-authored involving New York City students who were making decisions on which high school to attend and how the results of those decisions could help guide other school districts with school choice programs around the country in a Lawrence University presentation.

Sattin-Bajaj presents “Reducing Overload to Improve School Choices: How Targeted Information Shapes Students’ High School Choice in New York City” Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in Thomas Steitz Hall of Science 101. The event is free and open to the public.

The study was designed to help low-income middle-school students in New York City navigate their choice to attend one of the city’s 400-plus high schools. Some students from the 165 schools involved in the study received customized, user-friendly information as opposed to the exhaustive amounts provided by the city’s Department of Education.

It found that the students who received simplified information were more likely to choose schools with higher graduation rates and schools where they were more likely to get in, raising a cautionary tale of the importance of avoiding information overload.

Sattin-Bajaj’s research focuses on Latino immigrant-origin families’ experiences negotiating education systems with an emphasis on school choice and points of educational transition. She is the author of the 2013 book on high school choice in New York City “Unaccompanied Minors: Immigrant Youth, School Choice and the Pursuit of Equity.”

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

“Consummate artist” Sasha Cooke performs in Lawrence Artist Series concert

Grammy Award-winning mezzo soprano Sasha Cooke brings her versatile repertoire and love of new music to the stage of the Lawrence Memorial Chapel Saturday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. in the second concert of Lawrence University’s 2017-18 Artist Series.

Tickets for the performance, at $25-30 for adults, $20-25 for seniors, $18-20 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.Sasha Cooke sitting in chair

Cooke, the 2010 winner of the prestigious Marian Anderson Vocal Award, has performed works of Gustav Mahler to great acclaim on four different continents. Hailed as “equal parts poise, radiance and elegant directness” by Opera News, Cooke has become a highly sought-after talent by many of the world’s leading orchestras, opera companies and chamber music ensembles.

Steven Spears, a voice professor in Lawrence’s conservatory of music, calls Cooke “one of a handful of current singers who defines the phrase ‘consummate artist.’”

“One only needs to scan her biography to have a snapshot of music history,” said Spears.  “At such a young age, Sasha has literally done it all – early music with Baroque expert Sir Harry Bicket to pieces where the ink isn’t even dried yet by innovative composers of contemporary vocal music such as John Adams and Nico Muhly. Her languages are excellent, technique top-notch, but those are nothing compared to the beauty and richness of her voice and her superior skills as an actor.”

Cooke earned a Grammy Award in 2012 for her work on the Metropolitan Opera recording of “Doctor Atomic,” an opera that examines the stress and anxiety experienced by the scientists involved with the development and initial test of the first atomic bomb. “Doctor Atomic” has been a work featured in Lawrence’s Freshman Studies program.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

 

 

What really works? “The Why Axis” author shares insights on solutions to social, business, economic issues

How effective can incentives be in motivating people to change their behavior?

John List in a classroomJohn List, one of the country’s leading e experts on experimental economics and a pioneer in the use of field experiments, examines the things that really work in addressing major social, business and economic issues in a Lawrence University address.

Based on his book of the same name, List presents “The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life,” Tuesday, April 17 at 4:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Based on research conducted in factories, offices, schools and communities across the country and abroad, where real people live, work, and play, List observed people in their natural environments without their knowledge they were being observed. In his quest for better understanding of what motivates people and why, among the findings he discovered were ways to close the gap between rich and poor students, stop inner city school violence, correctly price products and services and the real reasons why people discriminate.

Book cover of "The Why Axis"Originally from Wisconsin, List is the Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor of Economics 
and chair of the economics department at the University of Chicago. He is a former senior economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and was twice named a top 50 innovator (2016, 2015) by Non-Profit Times Power & Influence.

List earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from UW-Stevens Point and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wyoming. He’s been recognized by both institutions with Distinguished Alumnus awards.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

 

John Holiday gives encore recital at the Kennedy Center as Marian Anderson Vocal Award winner

The journey from Rosenberg, Texas to the stage of one of the most famous performance venues in the country has been a “yellow brick road of blessings” according to John Holiday.

The countertenor and first-year assistant professor of voice at Lawrence University from that small, southeast Texas town will find himself in the spotlight of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Thursday, Feb. 15 for an encore recital as the winner of the prestigious Marian Anderson Vocal Award in January 2017.

John HolidayFirst conducted in 2002 to honor the personal and humanitarian achievements of one of the most acclaimed singers of the 20th century, the Marian Anderson Vocal Award celebrates “excellence in performance by recognizing a young American singer who has achieved initial professional success in the area of opera, oratorio, or recital repertory and who exhibits promise for a significant career.”

“You cannot imagine how overwhelmed I was,” Holiday said of winning the award. “In previous years, I eagerly watched, with awe-struck eyes, singers receive the award, hoping and praying that I would one day be able to join their ranks.”

Like a student cramming for finals, Holiday is “fervently preparing” for his recital, which will feature works by Francis Poulenc, Reynaldo Hahn, Margaret Bonds, and others, what he calls “music that I love, in hopes that, even if for a brief moment, I can bring some beauty into the world with my artistry.”

Anne Midgette, chief classical music critic for the Washington Post, has called described Holiday as “an impressive figure on an opera stage. He’s one of the sweetest-voiced countertenors I’ve encountered, with a mellifluous sound supported by clean crisp diction” while the New York Times hailed him as “an exceptional singer with a strong voice, even in its highest range.”

Brian Pertl, dean of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music, calls the multi-interested Holiday “a perfect fit for Lawrence.”

“At home on the opera stage, a jazz night club, soloing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic or teaching his students at the conservatory, John Holiday is one of the most versatile vocalists around,” said Pertl. “We couldn’t be happier that John decided to join our outstanding voice department.”

Because the recital means so much to him, Holiday admits to some nervousness as the performance draws near.

“I am lucky enough to know that those nerves really mean that I am excited,” said Holiday, who also received a $10,000 prize as the winner of the Anderson vocal award. “Any time that I’m on stage, I cherish each moment, so it’s never just another performance. It’s an opportunity to get to share what I love to do with a room full of beautiful people.

John Holiday smiling“Marian Anderson opened so many doors for me and countless other African-American artists and allowed us to stand boldly in our art. I hope that, in some small way, I am able to do the same thing she has done for me for this next generation of artists and educators.”

Prior to his recital, Holiday will participate in a short residency at the opera workshop program of Washington’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts where he will lead a masterclass.

“I believe it is important for one to lift others up as they climb up, so I am eagerly looking forward to sharing and spending time with these bright-eyed students,” said Holiday, who joined the Lawrence Conservatory of Music faculty last fall. “When I look out into the audience on February 15th, I look forward to seeing the light in their eyes, and I hope they can can see mine and feel the gratitude for all of the love, support and encouragement throughout the years.”

Two past Marian Anderson Vocal Award winners include mezzo soprano Sasha Cooke (2010), who will perform at Lawrence on Feb. 24 as part of the university’s Artist Series concert program, and tenor Lawrence Brownlee (2006), who sang here as part of the 2015-16 Artists Series.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.