Prepare for some Friday jazz

BU will host its 15th Annual Jazz Festival Friday, April 4. As part of the festival public concerts will be given at 11 am by the BU Jazz Band and special guests The Dave Stryker Trio will perform at noon with a clinic immediately following at 1:00 p.m. Admission is free.

Guitarist Dave Stryker has fronted his own group (with 23 CD’s as a leader to date), and been a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and many others. Gary Giddins in the Village Voice calls him “one of the most distinctive guitarists to come along in recent years.” He was voted one of the Top Ten Guitarists in the 2001 Downbeat Readers poll, and a Rising Star for the last 5 years in the Downbeat Critics Poll. His approach combining the jazz burn to a soulful blues feeling is communicating to new fans wherever he plays. His most recent CD “Blue Strike” has made many Best of 2011 lists including WBGO Jazz Radio and Tom Reney/New England Public Radio.

Guitar and bass concert

Dez Cordas, a double bass and guitar duo featuring Bloomsburg University guitar professor Matthew Slotkin and Craig Butterfield, associate professor of double bass and jazz studies at the University of South Carolina will perform Tuesday, March 11, at 6 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, room 166. Admission is free.

They will perform works by Bela Bartok, Robert Beaser and Alec Wilder, as well as the premieres of two new compositions that we commissioned from Irish composer Greg Caffrey and American composer James Crowley.

More information is here:  www.dezcordas.com, www.butterfieldbass.com, www.matthewslotkin.com.

The season for holiday concerts and shows

Students Tyler Knipe and Alex Link will present a guitar recital Monday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 pm at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 N. Market St. The event is free and open to the public.

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Though not strictly holiday-related — An evening of 10-minute plays, projects directed by Bloomsburg University students, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, in the Theatre Lab, Bookstore Annex. The event is free and open to the public.

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The fall concert by Bloomsburg University’s Jazz Ensemble will be held Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 7 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information about the Jazz Ensemble, contact Stephen Clickard, chair of music, theatre and dance, at sclickar@bloomu.edu.

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Bloomsburg University’s Guitar Ensemble will perform Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 7 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Admission is free.

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The Carols by Candlelight Concert featuring Bloomsburg University’s Concert Choir, Husky Singers and Women’s Choral Ensemble will be presented Thursday, Dec. 5, and Friday, Dec. 6,at 7:30 pm at the First Presbyterian Church, 345 Market St., Bloomsburg. Admission is free but tickets are required, and available at Bloomsburg University’s Mitrani Hall box office, 570-389-4409.

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An evening of one-act plays directed by Bloomsburg University students, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, in the Theatre Lab, Bookstore Annex. The event is free and open to the public.

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BU’s Celebrity Artist Series kicks off the holiday season with a jazz performance, Christmas with Sara Gazarek, Friday, Dec. 6, at 8 pm in Bloomsburg University’s Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Tickets for the Celebrity Artist Series show are $30 for regular admission and $15 for BU students and children. For tickets or more information, visit www.bloomu.edu/cas or call the box office at 570-389-4409.

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The Jubilate Choir and Orchestra will hold a holiday concert Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7 pm and Sunday, Dec. 8, at 3 pm at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 N. Market St. The concerts by the 70-member choir and 30-member orchestra are free and open to the public.

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A Tuba Christmas will be presented Saturday, Dec. 7, at 3 pm in Bloomsburg University’s Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Musicians who wish to perform may pre-register by calling 570-389-4284. Open registration will begin at noon, with rehearsal at 1 p.m.

Jazz expert Sascha Feinstein featured River Poets reader

Poet and jazz expert Sascha Feinstein to read from his work Thursday, Nov. 7 with the River Poets at the Bloomsburg Public Library, Market Street, at 7:30 p.m. An open reading will follow with the suggested theme All That Jazz. The public is invited.

 Feinstein is the author of two collections of poetry, Ajanta’s Ledge and Misterioso (the winner of the Hayden Carruth Award.) His poems have appeared in such publications as American Poetry Review, The Georgia Review, The Missouri Review, and North American Review, as well as in anthologies such as American Poetry, the Next Generation, The Penguin Book of the Sonnet and Poets Against the War. Essays he has written have appeared in scholarly journals and he also writes regularly for JAZZIZ magazine. He has written liner notes and program notes for Jazz at Lincoln Center. Feinstein hosts Jazz Standards, a radio program on WVIA-FM, the public radio station for Central Pennsylvania. In 2008, he received the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Artist of the Year. He enjoys playing the saxophone at local venues.

A preview of concerts and shows at BU

Here's the schedule of concerts and plays at BU for the 2013-2014 academic year. Most concerts are free. There's a modest admission charge for most plays. It's early, so there may be adjustments to the schedule down the line.

For myself, I'm particularly interested to see what the Chamber Orchestra does with guitarists Matt Leece and Victoria Hummer and the theatre shows, which seem to include a number of new pieces and a provocative classic by Lillian Hellman. — EGF.  

University-Community Orchestra: Young Person’s Concert, Oct. 1, 10 a.m., Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts. Mark Jelinek, conducting.

Fall Choral Festival: Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, 345 Market St., Bloomsburg. Featuring Women’s Choral Ensemble, Husky Singers and the Concert Choir Alan Baker conducting.

Chamber Orchestra Concert: Oct. 27, 2:30 p.m. Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 N. Market St., Bloomsburg. Featuring Victoria Hummer and Matthew Leece, guitar. Mark Jelinek conducting.

Percussion Ensemble Concert: Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m., Mitrani Hall, Haas Center Gifford Howarth, directing.

Theatre: Avenue Q, by David A. Miller Performed by Bloomsburg Players Nov. 7, 8, 9, 10. Alvina Krause Theatre, 226 Center St, Bloomsburg.

University-Community Orchestra: Nov. 10, 2:30 p.m., Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts. Featuring Todd Hunter, trombone. Mark Jelinek, conducting. A trombone master class will be offered Nov 9. Email mjelinek@bloomu.edu for information.

Wind Ensemble: Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts Stephen Clickard, conducting.

Theatre: An Evening of 10-Minute Plays,  Student-Directed Projects, Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m., Theatre Lab, University Bookstore Annex.

Jazz Ensemble: Dec. 3, 7 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts Stephen Clickard, conducting.

Guitar Ensemble: Dec. 4, 7 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts Matthew Slotkin, directing.

Carols by Candlelight: Dec. 5 and 6, 7:30 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, 345 Market St., Bloomsburg. Featuring the Concert Choir, Husky Singers, and Women’s Choral Ensemble. (Admission free, but tickets required; pick up at Performing Arts Box Office located in lobby of Haas Center.)

Theatre: An Evening of One-Act Plays, Student-directed projects, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m. Theatre Lab, University Bookstore Annex

SPRING 2014

Spring Music Residency, PROJECT Trio: Feb. 7 to 9.

Theatre: February Festival, 30 Plays in 60 Minutes: Original scripts by the BU Players. Feb. 13-15, 19-20, Alvina Krause Theatre.

Theatre: 24-Hour Plays, Feb. 22, Alvina Krause Theatre.

Theatre: The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman, April 11-15, Alvina Krause Theatre.

Fourth Annual Dance Minors Concert, April 27-28, Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

Honors Recital: Feb. 13, 7 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

Chamber Orchestra: March 9, 2:30 p.m. St. Matthew Lutheran Church 123 N. Market St., Bloomsburg

Jazz Festival: April 4, noon Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

Spring Orchestra Concert: April 6, 2:30 p.m., Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts. Mark Jelinek directing. A piano master class will be offered April 5. Email mjelinek@bloomu.edu for information.

BU Choirs Spring Concert: April 12, 7:30 p.m. First Presbyterian Church 345 Market St., Bloomsburg

Concert Band: April 13, 2:30 pm Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium, Carver Hall

Guitar Ensemble: April 15, 7 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

Percussion Ensemble: April 17, 7:30 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

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.

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.

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. 

Ready for some jazz Thursday?

The BU Jazz Ensemble will perform Thursday, Nov. 29, at 7 pm* in Carver Hall, Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium. Admission is free.

The concert will feature jazz saxophonist Virginia Mayhew (featured in the video above), a Downbeat magazine rising star.

Dan McClenaghan of All ABout Jazz says "Who's this Virginia Mayhew woman anyway? Dexter Gordon's daughter? Sonny Rollins' niece? She plays the saxophone like a blood relative of those two giants."

In the video below, the Jazz Ensemble's Christian Smith solos on drums during rehearsal.

* Note: Two different times had been listed for the show at various points. The time has been corrected to 7 pm.

Breakfast for Jazz

The Bloomsburg University Jazz Ensemble will hold a fundraising breakfast on Sunday, Dec. 9, from 8 am to 10 am at Applebee's Restaurant on Route 11, Bloomsburg. The breakfast will support the Jazz Ensemble's performance trip to the Crescent City Jazz Festival in New Orleans this March. Tickets for the breakfast — all-you-can-eat pancakes and while being seranaded by a jazz trio — are $7 and can be purchased from director Steve Clickard.

If you'd like to see the Jazz Ensemble before March, they perform Thursday, Nov. 29, at 7 pm in Carver Hall, Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium. Admission is free.

Music with spirit, improvisation

The Bloomsburg University Gospel Choir will have it's 22nd annual Gospelrama Saturday, April 21, at 4 p.m. in the Kehr Union, Ballroom. This year’s theme, “Yet Will I Trust You,” is inspired by Psalms 121:1. The concert is open free to the public.

More photos of the choir can be found at www.bloomufocus.com.

In a a jazzier vein

Garry L. Hagberg, James H. Ottoway Jr. Professor of Philosophy and Aesthetics at Bard College and guitarist with the Atlantic Jazz Trio, will speak and perform Monday, April 23, at 7 pm. in Bloomsburg University’s McCormick Center, room 1303. Hagberg’s talk, “Playing as One: Group Improvisation and Collective Intention” will feature live jazz improvisation. The program is presented as part of BU’s Center for Applied and Popular Philosophy.

More concerts at BU

• Bloomsburg University’s Wind Ensemble will present a concert at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 25, in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. 
• The Bloomsburg University’s Concert Choir will perform Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. in First Presbyterian Church, 345 Market St., Bloomsburg. 
• Two Bloomsburg University instrumental ensembles will perform in the annual Knoebels Amusement Resort “Pops” Concert Sunday, April 29, weather permitting. The Concert Band will play at 2 p.m.; the Jazz Ensemble will perform at 5:30 p.m. 

More than fashion: Art you can wear

BU students will show wearable art creations at the annual Personal Adornment Day and Makeup Extravaganza on Thursday, April 26. The catwalk and stage presentation will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Moose Exchange, 203 W. Main St., Bloomsburg. This event, part of BU’s Center for Visual and Preforming Arts, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Meredith Re’ Grimsley, associate professor of art, at mgrimsle@bloomu.edu.

In a mood for dance

 “New Heights,” the second annual repertory/ensemble dance minor concert, will be given Sunday, April 29, at 3 p.m., and 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Bloomsburg University’s Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Admission is free.

Gas Springs Eternal (?)

Not strictly arts related, but there seems to be a considerable overlap in the community interested in the arts, and in the environment. 

John Hintz, associate professor of geography and geosciences, will give a lecture “Gas Springs Eternal: The Marcellus Shale and Pennsylvania’s Unconventional Future,” at 4 p.m., Wednesday, April 25, in the Harvey Andruss Library, Schweiker Room. The event, open to the public free of charge, is presented by BU’s Institute for Culture and Society.

In a mood for jazz

Jazz musicians Grace Kelly and Phil Woods will perform Friday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Bloomsburg University’s Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall.

Along with the Grace Kelly Quintet, Kelly and Woods will perform selections from their saxophone duet album, “Man with the Hat.” This is Kelly’s sixth release since she was 12 years old. Now 20, she has been praised by jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis as having “intelligence, wit and feeling.” Woods, age 80, is a veteran jazz musician who received the 2011 Jazz Legacy Award from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF). This performance is supported in part by the Jazz Touring Network, a program of MAAF, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tickets are $34.50 for adults and $19.50 for children. For information or tickets, www.bloomu.edu/CAS or call (570) 389-4409. Kelly and Woods also will take part in BU’s annual jazz festival for middle and high school jazz ensembles. A free public performance will be presented Friday, April 13, at noon in Mitrani Hall.

This concert is the final show in the 2011-12 season of BU’s Celebrity Artist Series.

Looking ahead

One of my roles at Bloomsburg University is to create many of the marketing pieces for the Celebrity Artist Series. Perhaps I'm a little biased, but I'm personally pretty interested in three of the remaining four shows. The remaining shows are:

• Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Friday, Feb. 10
• National Broadway Musical Tour: The Color Purple, Saturday, Feb. 18
• Complexions Contemporary Ballet (pictured), Saturday, March 31
• Grace Kelly & Phil Woods, saxophonists, Friday, April 13

The Color Purple will be a sellout or near sellout, so if you're interested, get your tickets early. For me though, it's the other three shows that really intrigue.

Now, the Nutcracker by the Russian Ballet that played in Haas in December was a fun and colorful event for the family. My daughter loved it; my wife and I thought that the Spanish dancers had the best connection to each other and the audience.

But Complexions Ballet will bring a whole new level of athleticism and physicality to the stage. Check out the video clips.

I'll also take a close look at the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra (my wife is a violinist) and the saxophonists, because jazz in the spring just seems right.

Adult tickets for the shows range from $29.50 to $34.50. The box office number (570) 389-4409 and holiday hours are: Monday through Friday, Noon to 4 p.m. Closed Dec. 23 to Jan. 2.

A jazz-inflected holiday show

Not free, and a little bit of a drive, but definitely intriguing.

JoAnne Henry (vocals), Andy Seal (strings) and Steve Adams (keyboards), will perform a concert Thursday, Dec. 15, at 7 p.m. at the at the Priestley Chapel on Front Street in Northumberland (30-40 minute drive). “Waiting in the Dark,” will be 75 minutes of jazz music, song and the spoken word. Tickets for the event are $10 at the door.

The show will include seasonal favorites as “The Christmas Song,” “Let It Snow, Let It Snow,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” along with chants honoring the winter solstice, and Armenian lullaby and even Joni Mitchell’s “River.”