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Monday, April 29, 2013

River Poets Thursday reading to feature Rob Burnside

Rob Burnside will be the featured reader for the River Poets on Thursday, May 2, at 7:30 pm at the Bloomsburg Public Library, 225 Market Street. The theme of the reading is Old Friends. A native of northeastern Pennsylvania, Burnside's interest in poetry began in childhood, listening to his mother recite from memory. He is a graduate of Wyoming Seminary and received a B.A. in Art Education from Wilkes University. In the early 1990s, near the end of a career on the Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department, he began writing poetry and short fiction to fill in long night shift hours at the fire station, and joined the River Poets shortly thereafter. He currently resides in Swoyersville, and has published a chapbook Falling Off the Bone, with the help of Finishing Line Press. His work is substantially influenced by the poetry of Stanley Kunitz, Ruth Stone, William Stafford, Patti Smith, and Walt Whitman. MC is Mike DeMarco.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Concert Choir to perform downtown Saturday

The BU Concert Choir will give a concert on Saturday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church, 345 Market St., Bloomsburg.

This concert is free and open to the public. The program will feature sacred and secular music, including Z. Randall Stroope’s “Lamentations of Jeremiah” and “Inscription of Hope” and Randall Thompson’s “Choose Something Like a Star.” World music selections will include “Dubula” by Stephen Hatfield and the “Jamaican Market Place” by Larry Farrow.” Gospel music, spirituals and vocal jazz will complete the program.

Following commencement on Saturday, May 18, the Concert Choir, BU’s Husky Singers and Women’s Chorale will perform concerts in Chicago, with proceeds benefiting cancer-related organizations in memory of the late professor Eileen Hower, who passed away in December 2012. The Concert Choir is directed by professor of music Alan Baker and accompanied by Harry Martenas, jazz musician and church organist.

More weekend music

Two Bloomsburg University ensembles will perform in the annual Knoebels Amusement Resort Pops Concert Sunday, April 28, at the park in Elysburg. BU’s Concert Band will play at 2 p.m., followed by the Jazz Ensemble at 5:30 p.m. The performances are open to park visitors free of charge.

Renaissance Jamboree Saturday Schedule


Renaissance Jamboree Entertainment Schedule

April 27, 10 am - 5 pm
Downtown Bloomsburg

Courthouse Stage


  • 10 am Beef—Classic Rock
  • 11 am Seasoned Sounds—Contemporary Swing 
  • Noon Joyous—Classic Motown & Funk
  • 2:30 pm Chamuris and Brown—Classic Acoustic Rock 
  • 3:45 pm Stained Grass Window-Bluegrass & Country

Iron Street Stage


  • 10 am Darling Run- Modern Rock
  • 11 am Finally Surrendered—Original & Contemporary Christian Rock
  • Noon Fricknadorable—Americana, Roots, Novelty
  • 1 pm Clickard Consortium—Straight Ahead Jazz
  • 2 pm Mime Tribes—Original Music
  • 3:00 pm Finally Surrendered—Original & Contemporary Christian Rock
  • 4:00 pm Jeff Brown- Classic Acoustic Rock

Market Square


  • 10:10 am Greenwood Friends & Susquehanna International Folk Dancers
  • 10:45 am Susque Country Danjo Wheelers Square Dance
  • 11:30 am Flippenout Extreme Aerial Trampoline Team
  • Noon Rainbow Twirlers
  • 12:30 pm Crosswinds Martial Arts
  • 1:15 pm Flippenout Extreme Aerial Trampoline Team
  • 1:30 pm YMCA Zumba
  • 2:15 pm Flippenout Extreme Aerial Trampoline Team
  • 2:30 pm Covered Bridge Cloggers
  • 3:15 pm Karen Gronsky School of Dance Dancers
  • 4 pm Flippenout Extreme Aerial Trampoline Team
  • 4:30 pm International Student Assn Dancers

Jefferson Street Children’s Show Area


  • 10:30am Dora Show
  • 11:15 am Jerry Brown- “The Monkey Man”
  • Noon Sully Show
  • 12:45 pm The Magic of Brent Kessler
  • 1:30 pm Dora Show
  • 2:15 pm Jerry Brown—“The Monkey Man”
  • 3 pm Sully Show
  • 3:45 pm The Magic of Brent Kessler


Strolling performances by Jerry Brown, Dora, Sully, and Leo Schott on Bagpipes.

The Bloosmburg Theatre Ensemble will perform their theatre in the classroom show Patch Works: Life & Legends of the Coal Towns, at 2 pm in Phillips Emporium. The show is free.

Pony Party Paradise will be offering pony rides for a nominal charge on Market Street north of the Fountain.

Backyard Bouncin’ will have two inflatable games for a nominal charge at Main & West streets.

Renaissance Jamboree is co-sponsored by: Columbia Montour Area Chamber of Commerce, Program 
Board of Bloomsburg University, Town of Bloomsburg, Bloomsburg University, Renaissance Jamboree Committee, Downtown Bloomsburg, Inc.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Art you can wear

BU's ninth annual Personal Adornment Day and Makeup Extravaganza (PADME) on Thursday, April 25, will feature a lecture and a workshop on embroidery technique and history, "Extraordinary Embroidery: Stitches in Unexpected Places."

The PADME catwalk and stage presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Moose Exchange, 203 W. Main St., Bloomsburg. The event allows students enrolled in BU’s 3-D Design and Fabric Design classes to express visual form through artwork made for the body.

Nick DeFord, professor of art at the University of Tennessee, will present a lecture at 9:45 a.m. and workshop at noon on BU's campus.

All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required for the lecture and workshop. To register, contact Meredith Grimsley, associate professor of art, mgrimsle@bloomu.edu.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Grammy winner Kathy Mattea to perform at BU Friday

This is a treat for country music fans. 

Triple Grammy Award winner Kathy Mattea will perform Friday, April 26, at 8 pm in BU's Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall.  Tickets cost $34.50 for adults, $19.50 for children and $17 for BU students.

At about 1,700 seats, Haas is a pretty intimate setting to see a show by a major performer for $35 a ticket.

Mattea will play songs from her most recent album, “Calling Me Home,” and her hits, including “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses” and Grammy Award-winning “Where’ve You Been.”


More info about the Friday evening show at www.bloomu.edu/CAS or call the Haas Center Box Office, (570) 389-4409.

Mattea also will deliver the keynote address for BU’s 22nd annual Health Sciences Symposium and Wellness Fair, The Healing Power of the Arts, at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in Mitrani Hall, followed by a workshop, The Positive Effects of Music in the Health Field, at 9 a.m. Friday, April 26, in Kehr Union, Ballroom. Both Mattea’s Thursday evening keynote address and Friday workshop are free and open to the public.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

The impact of Marcellus Shale ... in art, film and words


Just a reminder: The Moose Exchange on West Main is hosting a multi-disciplinary project focused on the impact of Marcellus Gas Shale on Pennsylvania communities. 

The extensive multi-disciplinary project includes an art exhibit, lectures, film screenings. Get the details direct from the Moose. 

***

The Moose is also hosting a Mayoral Debate for the Town of Bloomsburg.

A tribute in song this Sunday

BU's  Husky Singers and the Women’s Chorale will give a concert on Sunday, April 21, at 2:30 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Admission is free.

The program’s highlight will be the premiere performance of a new work from Canadian choral composer Stephen Hatfield. “As She Goes” was commissioned by the Bloomsburg University choirs in memory of Eileen Hower, assistant professor of music, who passed away in December 2012. For this new work, Hatfield combined his original text and music with musical quotations from the Celtic folk song, “Wild Mountain Thyme,” one of Hower’s favorite tunes.

Other works to be performed by the women’s ensemble include Eleanor Daley’s “In Remembrance,” sacred Renaissance works of Arcadelt and Palestrina, a variety of spirituals and gospel arrangements, and a jazz arrangement of “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music.”

Selections by the Husky Singers, BU’s male vocal ensemble, will include music from the southern gospel tradition, spirituals, glee club standards, Morten Lauridsen’s “Dirait’on” and “Hol’ You Han,” a Jamaican/rap novelty song.

Directed by Alan Baker, associate professor of music, the Husky Singers specialize in doo-wop, barbershop and other popular arrangements, complete with comic sketches and Motown-inspired dance moves.

The Women’s Chorale’s repertoire ranges from ancient to contemporary pieces, directed by of Andrew Robinette, professor of music. Both ensembles are accompanied by pianist Valyn Boy.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Miscellanea: Economics, Edith Wharton, Poetry + Jazz

Economics

A Harvard University professor called “America’s leading immigration economist” by Business Week and The Wall Street Journal will speak at 2 p.m., Thursday, April 18, in BU's Kehr Union, multipurpose rooms.

George J. Borjas, professor of economics and social policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, will discuss “Immigration and Economics.” The free lecture is open to the public.

A research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor. His editorials appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journaland Le Monde, and he is the author of the textbook, Labor Economics, now in its sixth edition, and Heaven’s Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy.

He has appeared on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” the PBS “NewsHour” with Jim Lehrer, the nightly news shows of CBS and NBC, Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor” and “Fox and Friends,” and Ben Wattenberg’s “Think Tank.” The lecture is sponsored by BU’s College of Liberal Arts, economics department, and International Economics Honors Society. For more information, contact Mehdi Haririan, chair of economics, (570) 389-4682 or mhariria@bloomu.edu.

I know this isn't strictly arts related. However, the speakers that Mehdi Haririan has brought to campus over the years —including NYT columnist Paul Krugman — have been consistently superb and insightful. — EGF

Edith Wharton


BU English professor Ferda Asya will give a talk on "Edith Wharton's Transatlantic Homes and Friends" on Thursday, April 18, from 4:30 – 5:30 pm, in Warren Student Services Center, room 004 This event is open to the public and free of charge. Light refreshments will be provided. Edith Wharton was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence (1920) and she was the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate degree from Yale University. For her war work, she was awarded la Légion d’honneur, the highest decoration given by the French government.

Asya will explore Wharton’s passion for her houses in the United States and France, devotion to her transatlantic friends, including Elisina Tyler, Rosa de Fitz-James, Minnie David Bourget, Paul Bourget, Walter Van Rensselaer Berry, and William Morton Fullerton, and enactment of her friends in some of her fiction.

Poetry


The River Poets will host readings Thursday, APril 18, at 7:30 pm (sharp) at Bloomsburg Public Library, 22 Market St. Abigail Hess and other poets from the Slam Poetry group at Susquehanna University will perform and present their poems. MC is Tara Holdren.

More Poetry + Jazz


A tidbit from guitarist Matt Leece: Channel your inner bohemian Friday night at the Center Street Café (next to Artspace). Poetry readings and jazz music commence at about 7 pm.

An unexpected exhibit on Main Street

Here's a great example of artistic initiative. A group of graduating BU art students are showing their work in a downtown storefront.

Dubbing their show the "Senior Squat Exhibit," the students will display their work at 40 East Main Street until Saturday, April 27 (Renaissance Jamboree). The gallery space, donated by Jag Student Housing, will be open from noon to 8 pm daily except for Sundays, when it will be noon to 6 pm. There will be an opening reception Friday, April 19, from 3 to 6 pm.

I had a chance to get a peek at the show as it was going up over the weekend. Definitely worth a walk on Main Street ... the students' work is big, bold and ambitious. I've posted the photo above to give a sense of the scale they've worked in without giving away the details. —EFG.

Monday, April 15, 2013

The parrot may be dead. This talk won't be.

BU philosophy professor Gary Hardcastle helped write a book about Monty Python, Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think!

Hardcastle will share his Python prowess in a free talk, "The Philosophical Importance of Monty Python," on Thursday, April 18, at 7 pm in McCormick Center, room 2303.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

At some point, someone will be upside down






Bloomsburg University's Dance Ensemble will perform Thursday and Friday, April 18 and 19, at 7 pm at Haas Center for the Arts. Admission is free. More than 150 students involved in the ensemble and the students really take on much of the choreography and organization of the show themselves — giving it a great roll up your sleeves, do-it-yourself vibe. There will be 25 different dance routines in the show and they typically range from ballet, jazz, hip-hop to tumbling. (This shot is from  the show two years ago.)

Looking ahead to more dancing ...

BU also has a dance minor and the Third Annual Repertory/Ensemble Dance Minor Concert will be Sunday, May 5, at 3 pm and Monday, May 6, 7:30 pm in Carver Hall, Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium. Admission is free. The doors open half an hour before the show.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Essayist and poet Lia Purpura to read Tuesday

Essayist and poet Lia Purpura will give a reading Tuesday, April 16, at 7 pm in BU's Hartline Science Center, Kuster Auditorium.

A leading author in the "New Essay" movement, A 2012 Guggenheim fellowship recipient, Purpura is the author of three collections of poems (King Baby, Stone Sky Lifting, The Brighter the Veil), three collections of essays (Rough Likeness, On Looking, and Increase) and one collection of translations (Poems of Grzegorz Musial: Berliner Tagebuch and Taste of Ash).

Her poems and essays appear in AGNI, The Antioch Review, DoubleTake, FIELD, The Georgia Review, The Iowa Review, Orion Magazine, The New Republic, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, Ploughshares. Southern Review.

Her visit, part of the Big Dog Reading Series, is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and is free and open to the public.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Miscellanea: Jazz in the afternoon ... film in the evening

Jazz in the afternoon

The Bloomsburg University Jazz Ensemble will perform Friday, April 12,  at 1 pm, and the John Vanore and Abstract Truth will play at 2 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. The performances are part of BU's annual Jazz Festival for high schools and middle schools, but the public is invited.

Photos of the ensemble rehearsing and short video are at www.bloomufocus.com.

A film festival to celebrate women

LUNAFEST, a fundraising film festival dedicated to promoting awareness about women's issues, will be hosted Sunday, April 14, from 3 to 4:30 pm and 5:30 to 7 pm in BU's McCormick Center, room 1303. Three short films will be shown during each time. The screenings are sponsored by BU's WISE: Women Inspiring Strength and Empowerment There is a charge of $5 at the door to benefit the Breast Cancer Fund, Columbia Montour Family Health, Inc. and WISE.

A cinematic look at moving to America

The film Amreeka will be shown Monday, April 15, at 7 pm in BU's McCormick Center, room 1303. The screening is sponsored by BU's department of languages and cultures and the Middle Eastern studies minor. Free and open to the public.

A fun take on the expression: "Keep your pants on"

The Bloomsburg University Players will present comedian Steve Martin’s adaptation of Carl Sternheim’s play The Underpants from Wednesday, April 17, to Saturday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 21, at 3 p.m. at the Alvina Krause Theater, 226 Center St., Bloomsburg.

Admission is free with BU ID, $6 for adults and $4 for students and seniors. Directed by David A. Miller, assistant professor of theatre, The Underpants tells the tale of Theobald Maske and his unusual problem: his wife’s underpants won’t stay on. One Friday morning, they fall to her ankles right in the middle of town. Mortified, Theo swears to keep her at home until she can find some less unruly undies. Amid this chaos, he's trying to rent a room in their flat, and the prospective lodgers have some surprises of their own.

 Miller said Martin’s comic genius and sophisticated literary style have transformed the 1910 German social satire written by Sternheim into a comedy about gender politics.

Advance tickets are available at Haas Center Box Office at (570) 389-4340. For more information, visit buplayers.org.

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Works by famed ceramicist Takaezu to be shown at BU

This is certainly one of the most significant art exhibits that BU has hosted in Haas Gallery. Rereading Karl Beamer's remembrance of his mentor reminded me of what an enduring contribution she made to the campus. The photo above was taken during a reception in 2008 when she spoke with faculty and students in 2008 and presented Bloomsburg with 19 of her works. Takaezu is second from left with Beamer sitting at her side. Art history professor Nogin Chung is on the right. —EGF. 

Ceramics by famed artist Toshiko Takaezu will be exhibited in BU’s Haas Gallery. The exhibit, running April 17 to May 1, will include 19 ceramic works that Takaezu gifted to the university. A reception for the show will be held Wednesday, April 17, from 4 to 7 p.m. Karl Beamer, professor emeritus of art and art history and a close friend of the late Takaezu, will give a lecture at 4:30 p.m.

Takaezu’s relationship with Bloomsburg University began in 1958 through a friendship with the late BU art department chair, Percival “Bob” Roberts. Her relationship continued through a friendship with Beamer, who was BU’s ceramics and sculpture professor. In addition to the many ceramic works she donated to the university, Takaezu cast the bronze bell, her first created in North America, which hangs in the Academic Quad outside the Andruss Library. She also donated a large painting by famed Japanese artist Sawada, which hangs in the lobby of Mitrani Hall. In addition to her contributions of art to BU, she visited campus many times to work and speak with students.

Takaezu’s ceramic art focused on poetic expression rather than practicality. She drew from nature, such as her vertical closed-form pieces modeled after the scorched trees along the Devastation Trail in Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park. Her glazing technique, in which she brushed, dripped or poured color onto the clay, brought a spontaneous element to her work.

“I see no difference between making pots, cooking and growing vegetables,” Takaezu once said when asked about how art ingrates itself into everyday life.

Takaezu was born in Pepeekoo, Hawaii, in 1922, and died in March 2011. She studied at the University of Hawaii, Cranbrook Academy of Art and traveled to Japan to study Zen Buddhism. She taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art and at Princeton University. Her works are included in the permanent collections in many major art museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Smithsonian Institute.

This gallery exhibit is presented by the Museum Exhibition Class and is open to the public free of charge Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 2 p.m. For more information, contact gallery associate Rebecca Morgan at rmorgan@bloomu.edu or (570) 389-4708.

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Monday, April 08, 2013

Speaking ahem ... figuratively. Are you an A** ... ?

There are words that aren’t spoken in polite company, but still are part of the common vocabulary. Philosopher Aaron James will speak about one of those terms and the traits it identifies in a free lecture Thursday, April 11, at 7:30 pm in BU’s McCormick Center, room 2303.

James said in a Huffington Post blog that the term relates to “a person who systematically allows himself special advantages in cooperative life out of an entrenched sense of entitlement that immunizes him against the complaints of other people.” His lecture, “Are You an A**hole?” builds on his book with a similar title, which offers a philosophical analysis of the term and the people to whom it applies.

James is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of California at Irvine. He earned a doctoral degree from Harvard University and recently was an American Council of Learned Societies Burkhardt Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

The idea for his latest book came from a 2008 encounter with a fellow surfer who, he said, “was blatantly breaking the rules of right-of-way.”

I designed the poster for this lecture and it was one of those projects that I could picture immediately. A blast to do. In print versions around campus, the center of the "O" is reflective, like a mirror. —EGF.



Sunday, April 07, 2013

The American dream, translated

Anna Monardo, award-winning author of The Courtyard of Dreams and Falling in Love with Natassia, will visit Bloomsburg University on Thursday, April 11, for a lecture and question-and-answer session.

The lecture, "Translating the American Dream," will be at 7:30 pm in McCormick Center, room 1303; the question-and-answer session will be held at 3:30 p.m. in Warren Student Services Center, room 004. The events, sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, Department of English and Gender Studies Minor (GSM), are free and open to the public.

Music on the horizon

John Vanore and Abstract Truth are special guest performers at Bloomsburg University’s Jazz Festival on Friday, April 12 in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Bands from middle schools and high schools will participate in master classes for each section and a full band clinic. The BU Jazz Ensemble will perform a free concert at noon.

BU student Kyle Moore, pianist, will give a free recital Saturday, April 13, at 5 pm in First Presbyterian Church, 345 Market St.

Bloomsburg University’s Concert Band will perform Sunday, April 14, at 7:30 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall.

Democracy on Celluloid 

The move Recount, starring Kevin Spacey, will be shown Thursday, April 11, at 6:15 pm in Hartline Science Center, room G42. The screening is part of BU's Constitutional Freedom Film Series. The movie explores the human drama surrounding the 2000 presidential election. The film screening, sponsored by the Frederick Douglass Institute and the American Democracy Project, is open to the public free of charge. 


Saturday, April 06, 2013

Miscellanea: Poetry and an International Festival

Poetry at the Priestley Chapel

April's First Sunday Program at Priestley Chapel is this Sunday, April 7, at 9:30 am. Bloomsburg University professor Claire Lawrence will discuss poet Elizabeth Bishop. Ann Evans will read a selection of her poems. Bucknell student Nate Dresher will perform several classical pieces on the chapel piano. The Priestly Memorial Chapel is located at 380 Front Street, Northumberland, which is about a half an hour drive from Bloomsburg.

International Festival

BU’s International Student Association will hold its Cultural Diversity Festival on Friday, April 19, beginning at 5 pm in the Kehr Union Ballroom. In addition to international cuisine, there will be a fashion show and performances. Admission is $10 with BU Student ID; $20 for others. Tickets are available at the Office of International Education Services in the Student Services Center or by contacting msharma@bloomu.edu.

Thursday, April 04, 2013

Barber's Adagio. On marimba.

Photo by Gordon Wenzel/Impressions


This is a big deal.

BU's Percussion Ensemble will perform an arrangement of Samuel Barber's Adagio at their concert on Tuesday, April 9, at 7:30 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. 

Ensemble director Gifford Howarth arranged the music for marimba. The Adagio — one of the most recognizable and beautiful pieces ever written — was created for strings (though there have have haunting choral arrangements done). It's been featured in a lot of movies ... notably Platoon ... it was played for JFK's funeral and it inspired a book length critical analysis The Saddest Music Ever Written. It happens to be my very  favorite piece of music. 

It's not a piece that would seem to intuitively lend itself to the marimba. But Howarth is an ace. If it can be done ... he can do it. This is a must see.  

PS: You can hear the Adagio on YouTube. Interesting note: Barber was a Pennsylvanian and while the Adagio is his towering achievement, many of his other works are singularly beautiful. The second movement of his Violin Concerto is especially lovely. It's one of the things I like to have on the CD driving into work. — EFG

The concert will also feature Matt Savage’s “Spirits Rising,” Paul Goldstaub’s “Six Slick Stix Click Licks” and Alice Gomez’s “Marimba Flamenca.” Students Josh Nesmith and Kyle Richards will perform solos.

More recitals

BU student Scott Ashford, tenor, will give a free recital at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 6, in the First Presbyterian Church, 345 Market St., Bloomsburg.

BU students Victoria Hummer and Matt Leece will give a recital Monday, April 8, at 7 pm in Haas Center, room 166. The performance will feature works ranging from the baraque and classical to modern compositions. Also look out for number featuring the piano as well.


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Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Orchestra concert to feature violist



I've got a soft spot for the viola — the violin's bigger sister. I think it's got a prettier voice than the violin. It speaks in a register and timbre that seems human. Tuned a fifth lower than a violin, the viola is larger — but not as large as it should be proportionally. So compromises are made, but for me those compromises, limitations perhaps, just add to the charm. That will make next Sunday a special treat. — EGF.

The featured solist for the Bloomsburg University-Community Orchestra spring concert is violist Adam Cordle. The show, conducted by Mark Jelinek, will be Sunday, April 7, at 2:30 p.m. in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Here's the program:

  • Overture to Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio”
  • Carl Stamitz’s Viola Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Opus 1
  • Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Opus 17, “The Little Russian” 

Cordle teaches violin and viola and coaches chamber music at BU as well as Mount St. Mary’s University. He has performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall as the first prize winner of the 2011 American Protégé International Competition. He performs regularly as a member of the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes.

Eliesha Nelson's performance of Quincy Porter's works are a nice showcase for the viola. The disc has got a stylish melancholy all of its own.


Monday, April 01, 2013

Of books ... and authors

Books ... (and videos and CDs)

The Friends of the Bloomsburg University Library Association (FOBULA) will hold their 13th Annual Book Sale from Saturday, April 6, to Monday, April 8, in the Andruss Library Schweiker Room. The book sale is their largest fundraiser, bringing in $25,000 in the first twelve years, which has gone toward a number of special projects, two of which are the digitization and preservation of local and university historic materials and providing textbook scholarships to deserving students. The sale also includes CDs, DVDs, video tapes, cassettes and even records.

and authors

Michael Shepard will be the featured speaker for the Annual Author's Dinner of the Friends of the Bloomsburg University Library Association. The dinner will be Friday, April 19, from 6 to 8 pm, in the Monty's meeting room. There will be an open wine bar with live music Tickets are $25 for the evening (reservations required) Contact: rabbott@ptd.net or call 784-0428.

Shepard, a planetary scientist at BU, will be honored as this year's recipient of the Maroon and Gold Quill Award. Shepard wrote "The Curious Professor" column in the Press Enterprise for three years before retiring the column after 100 installments. Shepard has published papers on Venus, Mars, and the Moon. Using a sample of the actual lunar soil, he analyzed its light reflection properties in his lab here at the University. Most recently he has been studying asteroids using the great Arecibo Radar telescope in Puerto Rico. Shepard has over 150 publications and has been cited in over 800 publications.