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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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.

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. 

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.

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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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.

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.