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Lawrence Faculty Musicians Perform Benefit Concert for Japan

A special benefit concert to support the victims of last month’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan will be performed Sunday, April 17 by 11 Lawrence University faculty musicians.

The Concert for Japan, at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, is open to the public, with free-will offerings directed to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief Fund.

Featuring the music of Brahms, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Schubert and others, the concert will include performances by Janet Anthony, cello; Dewa Ketut Alit Adnyana and Sonja Downing, gamelan; Kenneth Bozeman, Catherine Kautsky, Michael Mizrahi and Nicholas Towns, piano; John Gates, bass; Wen-Lei Gu, violin; Karen Leigh-Post, mezzosoprano; and Steven Paul Spears, tenor.

The concert also will include readings by conservatory of music faculty members Joanne Bozeman , Julie McQuinn and Brigetta Miller.

“With the issues happening in the world, especially in our own country, it is easy to become desensitized to the need of our fellow world citizens in Japan,” said Spears, who organized the benefit concert. “The material for this program is not based in Japanese culture. However, it is hoped that our work will heighten global awareness in our local community and encourage us to give – whether it be monetarily or through some other form of ourselves.”

On March 11, the northeast coast of Japan was hit with a record 9.0 magnitude earthquake that triggered a 32-foot tsunami. The country’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was severely damaged in the aftermath. To date, the disaster has left an estimated 12,700 dead and 14,700 missing. To contribute to the relief effort online, click here.

World Culture, Fashion Celebrated in Annual International Cabaret

More than 100 Lawrence University students from around the globe will perform during the 35th annual Lawrence International Cabaret, a musical celebration of world culture.

With a theme of “Unity in 57” — a salute to the 57 countries represented in the Lawrence student body — two performances will be staged in Stansbury Theatre of the Music-Drama Center: Saturday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 17 at 3 p.m. A buffet dinner featuring international dishes will be served in the Warch Campus Center following the Sunday performance. In keeping with the theme, the dinner promises 57 ingredients.

Tickets, at $8 for the performance only and $17 for the show and dinner, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.  Children four and under are free.

This year’s Cabaret also will include some fund-raising activities to support victims of the floods in Pakistan, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and various campus organizations involved in humanitarian projects, such as Globemed, which supports a children’s school and health care facility in Ecuador.

“We want to broaden the reach of Lawrence International to be an organization that’s more than just a tableau of cultures,” said LI President Siddhant Dayal, a senior from Mumbai, India. “We want to be an organization that makes a positive difference around the world, especially in the home countries of our students.”

Cabaret features nearly two dozen acts, including a pair of fashion shows highlighting the colorful dress of students’ native countries, music from Bali, Brazil, Ghana and Japan as well as traditional dance performances from Belarus, the Caribbean, China, Ethiopia, Japan, Ghana, the Indian Subcontinent and Latin America.

The Evolution of Present Day Latin America Examined in International Lecture Series

The origins of Latin America and the role its colonial heritage played in shaping what it has become today will be examined in the second installment of Lawrence University’s 2011 Povolny Lecture Series in International Studies “Latin America: Past, Present and Future.”

Jake Frederick

Jake Frederick, assistant professor of history at Lawrence, presents “Discovered and to be Discovered — The Creation of Latin America” Thursday, April 14 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

With more than 20 countries speaking as many as five “official” languages and accounting for more than half the population of the Americas, defining Latin America and how it came to be is a question with a complex answer. Frederick will provide historical context to the processes that created the region. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts and his Ph.D. in history from Penn State University.

Frederick, whose scholarship includes Native resistance, the experience of Afro-Latinos in 18th-century Mexico and municipal infrastructure in colonial Mexican cities, joined the Lawrence faculty in 2006. He was the recipient of Library Scholars grant from the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University in 2008.

In conjunction with this year’s lecture series, a Latin America-themed film series will be shown in the Warch Campus Center cinema beginning Tuesday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. with the 2008 documentary “Walt y El Grupo” (Walt and the Group). The film is free and open to the public.

The film follows Walt Disney’s 1941 journey of investigation with a team of artists, writers and other employees to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay as part of the United States’ “Good Neighbor” policy. The trip led to the creation of the animated movies “Greetings Friends” and “The Three Caballeros.”

The “Latin America: Past, Present and Future” 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.

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet Performs April 16 in Lawrence Memorial Chapel

The energetic Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, known for diverse programs that range from Bach to bluegrass, performs Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel as the fourth and final concert of the 2010-11 Lawrence University Artist Series.

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

Recognized by The New York Times for their ability to break through “barriers between classical, jazz and pop,” the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet  sets the standard for virtuosity among guitar ensembles.

Nathan Wysock, who teaches classical guitar in the Lawrence conservatory of music, said a LAGQ concert is like “watching a great magician.”

“No guitar quartet better exemplifies precision, style and grace than the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. They are simply the best,” said Wysock. “They are all individual masters of the instrument, but when they come together they really create something special. When I hear them play, I am always struck by their effortless mastery. They create beautiful, exhilarating music with what appears to be a simple wave of their hands.”

Now in its 30th year of concert performances, the LAGQ traces its roots to University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where the original foursome met as students.  Three of the founding members — John Dearman, William Kanengiser and Scott Tennant — are still with the quartet.  The newest member, Matthew Grief, joined the group in 2006.

Known for their flair of interweaving various musical styles into their own unique sound, the LAGQ has recorded everything from baroque to tango, from jazz to John Philip Sousa.

Their CD “Guitar Heroes” won a Grammy for Best Classic Crossover Recording in 2005, while the disc “LAGQ: Latin” was Grammy nominated in the same category in 2003. Most recently, they were featured on the recording “Interchange, concertos by Rodrigo and Assad” by the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, which was released last spring.

Classical, Jazz Composer/Pianist Laurie Altman Performs During Visiting Artist-in-Residence

Award-winning composer and pianist Laurie Altman, whose extensive repertoire covers both classical and jazz, opens a week-long, visiting composer-in-residence at Lawrence University with a guest recital Sunday, April 10 at 3 p.m. in Harper Hall of the Music-Drama Center.  Altman will perform some of his solo piano compositions as well as jazz standards with Lawrence faculty musicians Dane Richeson, percussion, and Mark Urness, bass.

All Altman events during his residency are free and open to the public.

Laurie Altman

Highlighting his residency will be the world premiere of his composition “The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter” Friday, April 15 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel during the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra and Lawrence choirs concert.

The work, based on a poem by Ezra Pound of the same name, will be performed by the orchestra and Cantala, Lawrence’s women’s choir, and will feature guest artist Professor of Music Patrice Michaels, soprano.

Associate Professor of Music Joanne Metcalf will moderate a preconcert discussion of the work with Altman and Michaels beginning at 7:15 p.m. in the Chapel.

Other scheduled activities during Altman’s residency include:

• Monday, April 11 — Jazz Jam Session with Altman, students and faculty performing jazz standards and arrangements by Altman and others. Warch Campus Center cafe, 9:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 12 — Composition Studio Master Class, Lucinda’s, Colman Hall, 11:10 a.m.

• Thursday, April 14 — Jazz Composing and Arranging Workshop, Shattuck Hall 146, 12:30 p.m.

• Thursday, April 14—Chamber Music of Laurie Altman: A brief concert of works for small ensembles featuring Lawrence students and faculty. Harper Hall, 9:30 p.m.

Altman performed extensively throughout the 1970s and ’80s at many of New York City’s most famous jazz clubs, including The Blue Note, Soundscape and Seventh Avenue South. He has written more than 100 jazz pieces as well as chamber, vocal, piano, opera, choral works and film scores.

A native New Yorker now living in Switzerland, Altman has been recognized with two National Endowment Fellowships, a Lincoln Center Felt Forum Award and the Mason Gross Composition Prize.

Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy Examiner Anton Valukas ’65 Discusses Case in Lawrence University Presentation

As the court-appointed examiner in the bankruptcy case of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., 1965 Lawrence University graduate Anton “Tony” Valukas had an insider’s look at one of the reasons the country teetered on the brink of financial crisis in 2008.

Valukas, chairman of the Chicago law firm Jenner & Block, returns to his alma mater to discuss his involvement in what is believe to be the largest bankruptcy case in U.S. history Thursday, April 7 as part of the college’s Lawrence Scholars in Law program. He presents “Lawrence University to Lehman Brothers:  A Journey” at 5:30 p.m. in the Warch Campus cinema. The presentation is free and open to the public.

A specialist in civil and white collar criminal litigation, Valukas spent more than a year searching through virtually every e-mail message at Lehman Brothers in search of evidence implicating a cover-up involving the accuracy of valuations on Wall Street that contributed to country’s financial meltdown.

In March, 2010, Valukas released a 2,200-page document detailing the inner workings of Lehman Brothers that indicated the firm’s financial books were manipulated through an accounting tactic known as “Repo 105.”  The strategy involved “selling” assets, usually government securities, to another firm in exchange for cash, and then repurchasing them several days later. The value of the sold assets were typically 105 percent of the cash Lehman received in exchange.

According to Valukas’ report, Lehman Brothers was able to reduce its net balance sheet through its Repo 105 practice by more than $138 billion between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the end of the second quarter of 2008.

The report concluded that while Lehman’s directors should have exercised greater caution, they did not cross the line into “gross negligence” and Lehman’s demise was more “the consequence than the cause of a deteriorating economic climate.”

A former United States Attorney (1985-89), Valukas has been lead counsel in a wide variety of matters relating to government contracts and issues of fraud and compliance and has extensive experience in representing clients in SEC investigations and in civil securities fraud lawsuits.  He joined Jenner & Block in 1976.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in government at Lawrence, Valukas earned his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 1968.

Launched last fall as an complement to the Lawrence Scholars in Business initiative, the Lawrence Scholars in Law program brings alumni experts who have been highly successful in their careers to campus to share their experience and advice with current students.

Latin America Focus of Annual International Lecture Series

Political shifts, human rights and the impact of immigrants on the U.S. economy will be examined in Lawrence University’s 2011 Povolny Lecture Series in International Studies “Latin America: Past, Present and Future.”

Kenneth Roberts, professor of government and the Roberts S. Harrison Director of the Institute for Social Sciences at Cornell University opens the five-part series Thursday, April 7 with the address “Free Markets and Troubled Democracies: Understanding Recent Political Trends in Latin America.”  The presentation, at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium, is free and open to the public.

Cornell University Professor of Government Kenneth Roberts

A scholar on the political economy of development, political representation and the politics of social inequality in Latin America, Roberts will examine the contradictory political and economic development patterns in Latin America and discuss how they relate to the trends toward political democracy and market liberalization that re-aligned the region’s politics — and its relations with the U.S. — at the close of the 20th century.

While Latin American governments have been historically more stable, more democratic and more respectful of human rights in recent times, political party systems are in disarray in much of the region, leading to support for anti-system populist leaders. Underemployment and inequality also remain sources of political unrest.  Over the past decade, support for U.S.-backed free market economies has eroded and political shifts have led to the election of leftist presidents in 10 countries, representing nearly two-thirds of the regional population.

Roberts, who earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University, has conducted grant-funded research in Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Argentina. He is the author of the book “Deepening Democracy? The Modern Left and Social Movements in Chile and Peru” and serves on the editorial boards of the journals Latin American Research Review and Latin American Politics and Society.

Joining Roberts on this year’s series are:

• Jake Frederick, assistant professor of history, Lawrence University, “”Discovered and to be Discovered – The Creation of Latin America,” April 14, Wriston auditorium, 7 p.m.

• Alexander Wilde ’62, senior scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., “Argentina and Chile: Democratic Transition and Human Rights,” April 19, Wriston auditorium, 7 p.m.

• Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, governor of Guanajuato, Mexico, “U.S.-Mexican Relations: A Mexican Perspective,” May 6, Thomas Steitz Hall of Science 102, 4:30 p.m.

• Sarah Bohn ’99, research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, “Mexican Immigrants and the U.S. Economy,” May 9, Wriston auditorium, 7:30 p.m.

In conjunction with this year’s lecture series, a Latin America-themed film series will be shown in the Warch Campus Center cinema at 7:30 p.m..  Dates and titles are as follows:

• April 12 — “Walt y El Grupo” (Walt and The Group) USA, 2008.

• April 26 — “Matar a Todos” (Kill Them All) Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, 2008.

• May 3 — “Amores Perros” (Love’s a B*tch) Mexico, 2000.

• May 10 — “Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti” Haiti, 1985.

The “Latin America: Past, Present and Future” 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.

The Role of Collaboration in Innovation Focus of Lawrence University Convocation

The importance of collaborations in innovation and problem solving will be the focus of a Lawrence University convocation.

Professor of Theatre Arts Tim Troy

Timothy X. Troy, professor of theatre arts and J. Thomas and Julie Esch Hurvis Professor of Theatre and Drama at Lawrence, presents “Unexpected Collaborators: The Geniuses Among Us” Tuesday, April 5 at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. Troy also will conduct a question-and-answer session at 2 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center cinema. Both events are free and open to the public.

Troy was selected for the 2010-11 convocation series as the second recipient of Lawrence’s Faculty Convocation Award. Chosen by President Jill Beck from nominations collected by the Committee on Public Occasions, recipients for the award are selected for the high quality of their professional work.

While innovation is often considered the result of brilliant people making major discoveries, closer examination reveals “the geniuses among us” work closely with colleagues to solve pressing problems and lead us into the future. Troy will examine some of the “rules” he’s learned for productive collaboration in his career working with playwrights, composers, actors, design teams and technicians.

His address will feature two poems: “The Geniuses Among Us,” by Marilyn Taylor and “Sometime During Eternity” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, which will be delivered with Dean of the Conservatory Brian Pertl, Professor of Music Dane Richeson and Associate Professor of Music Mark Urness.

A 1985 graduate of Lawrence, Troy first returned to his alma mater in 1989, serving as a lecturer in theatre and drama for three years. He went on to work with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater Education Department and taught at Augustana College and the College of DuPage before returning to Lawrence a second time on a tenure-track appointment in 1997.

During his career, he has directed more than 100 plays, musicals and operas for both university and professional theatres and has written four plays, including 2010’s “Radio and Juliet.” He was a featured contributor to the 2006 Academy Award-winning documentary “A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin” and directs Lawrence’s “Theatre of the Air” radio drama program. He was recognized with Lawrence’s Freshman Studies Teaching Award in 2004.

In addition to a bachelor’s degree from Lawrence, Troy earned a master of fine arts degree in theatre arts/directing from the University of Iowa.

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Salutes Russian Composers in Lawrence Artist Series Concert

The critically acclaimed Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Stuart Chafetz, performs Friday, April 1 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel as part of the 2010-11 Lawrence University Artist Series.

Tickets, at $30 for adults and $15 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office in the Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton or by calling 920-832-6749.

The orchestra’s seven-piece, all-Russian program will include Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 9” and Tchaikovsky’s Waltz from the ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” as well as works by Gliere, Glinka and Prokofiev.

MSO Conductor Stuart Chafetz

Hailed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for their performances that “crackle with energy,” the 88-member Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is recognized as one of the finest orchestras in the country, performing more than 140 concerts each season. The MSO has toured Europe, Japan and in 1999 became the first American orchestra to perform in Cuba since the late 1950s.

“This is truly an outstanding opportunity for the Lawrence and Fox Valley audiences to enjoy one of the country’s premiere professional orchestras,” said David Becker, director of orchestral studies at Lawrence. “Hearing these great Russian masterworks in a live performance will be a unique and very special experience for all concert goers.”

Chafetz, known for his ability to engage audiences, is increasingly in demand with orchestras nationwide. His guest conducting appearances include The Buffalo Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra and Toronto Symphony, among others.

His work also includes collaborations with a variety of classical and pop artists, among them George Benson, Regina Carter, Natalie Cole, Jean Phillipe Collard, Marvin Hamlisch, Thomas Hampson, Jason Scott Lee, Randy Newman, Jon Kimura Parker, Bernadette Peters, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Chee Yun.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, Chafetz was principal timpanist of the Honolulu Symphony for 20 years and served as music director of the Maui Symphony and Maui Pops Orchestra from 1999-2009 before joining the MSO.

Well-known for its ventures into new technologies, the MSO has been doing national radio broadcasts for more than 30 years. In 2005, the MSO became the first orchestra in the country to offer their live recordings for download through online music stores.

Pianists, Saxophonists Share Top Honors in State Music Competition

Performances by Lawrence University student musicians earned four of the five first-place honors awarded at the 16th annual Neale-Silva Young Artists competition conducted March 20 in Madison.

Piano soloists Daniel Kuzuhara, a freshman from Madison, and James Maverick, a junior from Baton Rouge, La.; the piano duo of Dario LaPoma, a senior from Eugene, Ore., and Hazim Suhadi, a senior from Jakarta, Indonesia; and the saxophone quartet of David Davis, a senior from Sussex, Phillip Dobernig, Will Obst, a junior from St. Paul, Minn., and Sumner Truax shared top honors with violinist Daniel Kim of UW-Madison in the state competition sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio. Each musician received $400 for their winning performances.

Dobernig, a sophomore from Mukwonago, and Truax, a senior from Chicago, Ill., are both Neale-Silva repeat winners, having previously earned first-place honors as soloists in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Last fall, the LaPoma and Hazim piano duo and the saxophone quartet were named co-winners of the annual Lawrence Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. The saxophone quartet will join the orchestra as guest performers at its May 21 concert.

This was the sixth consecutive year and 11th time in the past 13 years that Lawrence students have won or shared top honors in the Neale-Silva event.

The competition is open to instrumentalists and vocal performers 17-26 years of age who are either from Wisconsin or attend a Wisconsin college. Lawrence musicians accounted for six of the competition’s 15 finalists. Also representing Lawrence in the competition was saxophonist Jake Crowe and pianist Max Feldkamp.

All eight Lawrence musicians will reprise their winning performances Sunday, April 17 at 12:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison. The concert will be broadcast live statewide on the Classical Music Network of WPR and can be heard locally at 89.3 FM.

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.