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.

Staged reading of two new plays at the Moose

Bloomsburg University students will give a staged reading of two new plays Thursday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 pm at the Moose Exchange, 203 West Main St.

The plays, written by students in BU's Advanced Playwriting Course, are:

"Milly" by Julie Redmond 

"From Hell" by Lauren Dodge

The performances are sponsored by the Center for Visual and Performing Arts and the Division of Theatre and Dance. Theatre professor David Miller will direct. Admission is free.

The Graduate comes to Haas Center

The play is called "The Graduate" ... though in my mind I always think Mrs. Robinson after the Simon and Garfunkel song. This Friday, Nov. 15, L.A. Theatre Works brings cult favorite “The Graduate” to life at 8 p.m. at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania’s Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall.

Tickets for the Celebrity Artist Series show are $35 for general admission and $17 for BU students and children.

Reviewer Caroline Sposto of Broadway World praises the new production for “the skillful use of an innovative genre bolstered by deft direction, peerless performances and spellbinding sound design. “Their reprisal of this classic is a fascinating hybrid — radio production meets stage production — that unfailingly delivers the best of both. The actors appear in costume and are physically suited to their roles, but they perform with minimal staging. Live manual sound effects replace props and there are no sets per se. As a result, vocal nuances, full-on facial expressions and solid literary writing carry the fast-paced performance.”

 From novel to big screen, the film received multiple Academy Award nominations and remains one of the top-grossing films. L.A. Theatre Works, known for the spontaneity of its live performances, takes “The Graduate” to stage embodying character favorites Mrs. Robinson, Benjamin, Elaine and other. Based on Charles Webb’s novel, this production coincides with the 50th anniversary of its publication. 

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.

Come on down to 'Avenue Q'

The Bloomsburg University Players will present the comedic musical Avenue Q at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 7, 8 and 9, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, at the Alvina Krause Theater, 226 Center St., Bloomsburg.

Staged with large puppets (a la Sesame Street), Avenue Q is a laugh-out-loud, Tony Award-winning musical about a group of 20-somethings seeking their purpose in life in the big city. Avenue Q is the timeless story of a recent college grad named Princeton who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. There, he meets Kate (the girl next door), Rod (the Republican), Trekkie (the internet sexpert), Lucy the Slut (need we say more), and other colorful types who help Princeton finally discover his purpose in life.

Admission is free with BU ID, $12 for adults and $8 for seniors. Advanced tickets are available at the Haas Box Office at 570-389-4340. For more information about the BU Players, visit buplayers.org.

PLEASE NOTE: Mature content not suitable for children.*

The coming week music at BU

Bloomsburg University will host three musical events in the coming week.

The Percussion Ensemble will perform Thursday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. The show will feature works for quartets, quintets, and a large ensemble. Look for some non-traditional percussion stylings as well. Gifford Howarth conducts. Admission is free.

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The University-Community Orchestra will perform Sunday, Nov. 10, at 2:30 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. The program will feature works by composers LoPresti, Sammy Nestico, and Copland. Trombonist Todd Hunter will be the featured soloist. Mark Jelinek conducts. Admission is free.

Hunter will hold a trombone master class will be held Saturday, Nov. 9, at 9:30 am. Call Mark Jelinek at 570-389-4289 if you're interested in attending.

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The Bloomsburg University Wind Ensemble will perform Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 pm in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall.

The ensemble will perform works originally composed for symphonies, inlcuding: Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody,” Camille Saint-Saens’ “Dance Macabra,” Antonin Dvořák’s “Finale from the New World Symphony,” Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero,” Peter Tschaikovsky’s “March Slav” and Luigi Denza “Funiculi-Funicula Rhapsody.”

Steve Clickard conducts. Admission is free.

Guitarist to perform at BU

Guitarist Stephen Mattingly will perform at Bloomsburg University on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Haas Center for the Arts, room 166. Mattingly is active as a soloist and a member of the Tantalus Quartet.