Thursday, December 29, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Piano recital culminating dissertation research of online piano lessons
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| Prof. James Byo and digital media staffer Joey Watson |
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| Prof. Gregory Sioles |
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| Rebecca Belleo briefs her charges. |
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| Joey Watson operating the live stream |
Saturday, December 17, 2011
LSU Opera students--grateful for scholarships from BROG
Baton Rouge Opera Guild (BROG) Scholarship Students from the LSU Opera
program.
From the left: Joel
Mathias, Megan Barrera, Penelope Shumate, Robyn Lamp, Vincent Turregano,
Chelsea Miller, Nathan Walker, Gregory Gallagher, Sean Matassa.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Lisette Oropesa ('76) debut with San Francisco Opera
http://sfopera.com/Season-Tickets/2011-2012-Season/Xerxes.aspx
http://sfopera.com/Profile-Bios/Artists_1112/Lisette-Oropesa.aspx
http://sfopera.com/Profile-Bios/Artists_1112/Lisette-Oropesa.aspx
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| Lisette Oropesa at an LSU Opera fundraiser on Sept. 25, 2011. Photo by Alice Stout |
Alley Theatre interview with LSU theatre alum Elizabeth Ashley
http://www.alleytheatre.org/Alley/An_Interview_with_Elizabeth_Ashley_EN.asp?SnID=2
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| (Left to Right) Elizabeth Ashley as Stella Gordon, Penny Fuller as Lucille and Roger Robinson as Doug in the Alley Theatre’s production of Dividing the Estate. Photo by Jann Whaley |
Friday, October 28, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Reasons why great students choose LSU for the performing arts
On Wednesday, September 21, 2011--at about the same time, Olympia Dukakis will be holding a master class for LSU theatre students--while jazz legends McCoy Tyner and Joe Lovano will be doing the same with LSU jazz students--interacting and answering questions.
2011 MacArthur Fellowships announced--3 performing artists
There are 22 winners of MacArthur fellowships by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The winners each receive $500,000 grants that are paid out over five years and come with no strings attached.
Francisco Núñez, 46, a conductor and composer with the Young People's Chorus of New York City. He has shaped the future of choral singing for children by expanding access from inner-city to elite schools, redefining the artistic and expressive boundaries of the youth choir.
Dafnis Prieto, 37, a jazz percussionist and composer in New York City. He has electrified audiences with dazzling technical abilities and rhythmically adventurous compositions while infusing Latin jazz with a bold new energy and sound.
Alisa Weilerstein, 29, a cellist in New York City. She has combined technical precision with impassioned musicianship in performances of both traditional and contemporary music, and expanded the cello repertoire through collaborations with leading composers.
This individual produces and co-hosts a favorite NPR program of mine--Radio Lab, he also won--
Jad Abumrad, 38, a radio host and producer at WNYC, in New York City. He has engaged a new generation of listeners with audio explorations of scientific and philosophical questions that evoke a sense of adventure and recreate the thrill of discovery.
Taken from the Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/article/12-Academics-Are-Among-22/129079/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Monday, September 19, 2011
LSU alum Chris Boneau works with Janice H. Pellar Creative Arts Entreprenurship Project
Joseph Skillen, Coordinator of Brass and Percussion Studies and Director, Janice H. Pellar Creative Arts Entrepreneurship Project hosted NYC publicity executive and press representative Chris Boneau (of BONEAU/BRYAN-BROWN, INC.,) for an exciting 2-day residency. Chris Boneau is pictured here with LSU students who participated in a special marketing workshop.
Since 1991 BONEAU/BRYAN-BROWN's Broadway and off-Broadway productions have won:
144 Tony Awards
7 Pulitzer Prizes
133 Drama Desk Awards
97 Outer Critics Circle Awards
Since 1991 BONEAU/BRYAN-BROWN's Broadway and off-Broadway productions have won:
144 Tony Awards
7 Pulitzer Prizes
133 Drama Desk Awards
97 Outer Critics Circle Awards
l.r. Michael Martin, Paris Rumford, Chris Boneau, Jordan Stage,
Breanne Strawn, Christina Sutton and Dean Kaptain
Breanne Strawn, Christina Sutton and Dean Kaptain
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Exceptional creativity from LSU
[SONIC | MEDIATION] is a trio of Baton Rouge-based sonic artists using
technology to make connections between ideological and societal
currents, interactivity, and sound.
Jesse Allison [allisonic.com] | LSU Assistant Professor of Experimental
Music & Digital Media, President of Hardware Engineering, Electrotap LLC
Nick Hwang [nickhwang.com] | Sonic and Experimental Artist, Interactive
Programmer, PhD Candidate in Composition at LSU
Michael Straus [mstraus.net] | Saxophone Interventionist, EAR Duo, PhD
Student in Experimental Music & Digital Media at LSU
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Report on LSU Opera alums by Dan Bivins
It is such an honor to be Dean of a performing arts entity with alumni who appear in film and on stage all over the world and across the U.S. Our theatre alums and faculty can be seen in films like The Grifters and Monsters Ball, and on stage in Equity theatres all over the country. LSU Opera patron Dan Bivins tracks our opera alums (a big job--because there are so many!)-and I'm copying and pasting his report here:
VETERAN BARITONES. The first week in September LSU baritone Donnie Ray Albert was back in Prague, singing the final two performances of the Four Villains in Tales of Hoffman. They seem to like him. At least the critics did not fuss about his accent. It was sung in Czech.
Another veteran baritone, James Johnson of LSU, sang with the San Francisco Symphony. Guest conductor was the esteemed Eschenbach, hope I spelled that correctly.
Michael Devlin, another LSU veteran bass baritone, coming off respected, critically acclaimed performances at the Met of the role of the Major Domo is reported to have told friends that he will sing more in 2011-12 at the Met. I checked all of the major casts at the Met for the coming season, did not find him. It is almost certain he has comprimario engagements, which are not listed in principal casts of the Met.
* * *
BARITONE Scott Hendricks, also of LSU, sings the part of Scarpia, Monday evening at the Washington National Opera. It is a good opportunity for Scott. In Houston, Scott continues his March to the Met, engaged by Houston to sing Rodrigo in Verdi's great opera, Don Carlos.
* * *
TENOR Paul Groves, will be back at LSU on Sept 25 to help his former teacher Bobby Grayson raise funds for scholarships in the Voice division of the LSU School of
Music. He will be assisted by rising star at the Met, Lisette Oropesa. Don't miss that.
# * * *
I Have mentioned previously Arthur Espiritu, a fine young tenor who graduated from UNO. Arthur is scheduled to sing the tenor lead in Verdi's seldom-performed opera Attilla tomorrow at the Washington Concert Opera.
* * *
CLOSER to home, Thursday saw a well-received performance of Gounod's Faust presented by Opera Louisianne, Baton Rouge's fledgling young opera company.
Soprano Kat Drake sang the role of Margurite. She is still a young singer, but has gained much experience through LSU Opera, whose conductor Michael Borowitz also provided musical direction for Faust. Leeann Pettit Clement is executive director of Opera Louisianne. She has been around LSU Opera for a number of years, as a student. She earned stage direction stripes working for Dugg McDonnough, esteemed director of LSU Opera. By the way, should you have an opportunity to hear Leeann's fine mezzo soprano voice, you will not be disappointed.
* * *
LISETTE Oropesa has among her 2011-12 engagements a Handel opera at the Met on New Year's EVe, running the first three weeks of January. She will make her house debut at the San Francisco Opera in another Handel opera, partnering the starry mezzo Susan Graham.
* * *
ALEC Shrader (boy friend of LSU's Daniella Mack) got good notices this summer for his appearances at the Salzberg Opera Festival. And by the way, check out New Orleans Opera's production of Salome by Strauss. It is their third opera of the season, will be in the spring, and one of singers will be Gwen Jones. She will bring her mezzo soprano to the role of Herodias. She and Dugg McDonnough are a couple. It is a role with teeth in it. Looking forward to it. DAN
Friday, September 9, 2011
LSU Department of Theatre, Swine Palace to Hold Master Class with Oscar Winning Actress Olympia Dukakis
LSU Department of Theatre, Swine Palace to Hold Master Class with Oscar Winning Actress Olympia Dukakis
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| Oscar Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis At LSU!!! |
Arts presenting in Houston
http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/07-24-11-houston-salon-gets-a-makeover/
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Photo by Jenni Rebecca Stephenson Spacetaker's weekly Cultured Cocktails happy hour at Boheme Cafe & Wine Bar offers a fun way for Houston arts groups, artists and audiences to mix, mingle and enjoy some killer-good sangria. |
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Photo by Man Ray Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, 1922, gelatin silver print. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution |
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
LSU CMDA students win iPad 2
Senior Briana Anyigbo (Houston) and doctoral student Arisia Gilmore (Colorado Springs) each won an iPad 2 from a drawing held after the 2011 Opening Convocation. Guest speaker Margo Drakos drew the winning names and the iPads were donated by Janice Pellar ('73), President and CEO of EMCO Technologies and benefactor of the Janice H. Pellar Creative Arts Entrepreneurship Project.
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| Senior Briana Anyigbo (Houston), left and doctoral student Arisia Gilmore (Colorado Springs) right--along with Dean Kaptain. |
Photo by Alice Stout
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Gene Worley (1927-2011) Friend of the School of Music
Arthur Gene Worley
Gene was born in Junction City, AR on April 27, 1927 and passed away August 25, 2011 at the age of 84 surrounded by his loved ones. He grew up in
El Dorado, AR where he attended Southside School and El Dorado High School. The day after graduation he was drafted into the Army.
He proudly served his country during WWII. While stationed at LSU, he joined the chancel choir at First United Methodist Church, where he met Virginia. Four months later, on August 5, 1947, they were married. This month, they celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary. He was discharged from the Army in the summer of 1948 and went on to complete his Bachelor’s degree in three years. He will be remembered by many for the years he ran an Esso station on Highland Rd., his time in the Mayor’s Office as Woody Dumas’s Adm. Assistant and as “the chocolate man” of World’s Finest Chocolate. He always said he had the sweetest job, which he loved for 25 years. He was also a 32nd degree Mason. Gene and Virginia took many wonderful trips where they made friends along the way. But their travels always brought them back home where he enjoyed gardening, blogging, activities at First United Methodist church where he was a member for 64 years and especially time with family and friends.
Gene was a beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother. He was preceded in death by his parents, Abie and Will, an infant brother and sister, brother Malcolm and sister Louise. He is survived by his wife, Virginia Durrett Worley; son and daugher-in-law, David and Charlene Worley; daughter and son-in-law, Tricia and Willis Delony; brother and sister-in-law, Wren and Virginia H. Worley; grandchildren Kari Worley Roucher, Chris Worley, Craig Delony, Mary Claire Delony and Ben Delony; four great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. The family would like to express gratitude to the doctors, nurses and staff of the ICU at Baton Rouge General on Bluebonnet and to Gene’s nephew, Mitch Worley, for his love and support.
Come celebrate Gene’s life with his family during a visitation at First United Methodist Church on Monday, Aug. 29 from 9 a.m. until the service in the church sanctuary at 11 a.m. Funeral arrangements made through Rabenhorst Funeral Home on Government St. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First United Methodist Church Music Program, or to the LSU Foundation -- School of Music Scholarship Fund.
Seniors embark on new musical horizon | Home | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA
Seniors embark on new musical horizon | Home | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA |
| Betty Schroeder, right, tries playing the clarinet Saturday while New Horizons Band instructor Andrew Gerbitz, a doctoral student in the LSU School of Music, offers assistance. The band designed for people over 50 who always wanted to play a musical instrument was being formed during an open house event at the LSU Performing Arts Academy. BRENDEN NEVILLE / THE ADVOCATE |
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
CONSTANTINIDES¹ MUSIC ON PROGRAMS OF SIX SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS IN USA, SOUTH AMERICA AND EUROPE
CONSTANTINIDES’ MUSIC ON PROGRAMS OF SIX SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS IN USA, SOUTH AMERICA AND EUROPE
Recently Louisiana Sinfonietta director and LSU Boyd Professor Dinos Constantinides has had his music scheduled on six symphony orchestra programs in the USA, South America and Europe.
His work China II-Beijing was performed at Avery Fisher Hall in New York with the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra International on June 6, 2011; again in Uruguay with La Filarmonica de Montevideo on July 27, 2011; and in Argentina with the Orquestra Sinfonica de Buenos Aires on July 30, 2011, all under the direction of Jonathan Griffith.
Constantinides’ Concerto for Piano and Orchestra will be premiered by the LSU Symphony, with soloist Michael Gurt, on September 12, 2011 in Baton Rouge, under the direction of Carlos Riazuelo; and his Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra will be premiered by the Louisiana Sinfonietta and violin soloist, Yova Milanova, on October 9, 2011, in Baton Rouge under the direction of the composer.
The Constanta Symphony Orchestra of Romania will include his Concerto No. 1 for Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra with saxophone soloist, Stathis Mavromathis, and his Sixth Symphony in a concert directed by Constantinides as a part of Constanta’s Festival of Ballet and Opera on October 28, 2011. Finally, trombonist and member of the Canadian Brass, Achilles Liarmakopoulos, will premiere Constantinides’ Concertino for Trombone and Orchestra on March 18, 2012 in Baton Rouge, with the Louisiana Sinfonietta under the direction of the composer.
For tickets and information on the Louisiana Sinfonietta’s upcoming concerts for the season, contact the group at its new address: P.O. Box 80371, Baton Rouge, LA 70898, call 578-4010 or 766-3487, or consult the Sinfonietta’s website: www.louisianasinfonietta.org.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Aspen Music Festival – A fully staged West Side Story
LSU's Noel Bouley mentioned
August 22, 2011
United States Aspen Music Festival (13): Recitals by Edgar Meyer (bass) and Sarah Chang (violin), Steven Osborne and friends play Ravel’s Piano Trio, Opera Theater does West Side Story. 19.8.2011 (HS)
Aspen Opera Theater Center knew that its decision to present a fully staged West Side Story would present a challenge. The iconic musical, an adaption of “Romeo and Juliet” set in the gang culture of 1950s New York (with the Jets as the Montagues, the Sharks the Capulets), fits into 2011′s Shakespeare theme. Young opera singers, however, must adapt to unfamiliar singing styles, they must dance convincingly, and there’s dialog. Lots of it, in accented American English.
So let’s say that the production, which debuted Tuesday in Wheeler Opera House, achieved partial success. On the plus side, the orchestra, under Michael Christie, captured the flair of Bernstein’s music well. The sets were fine and Edward Berkeley’s unobtrusive direction brought out nuances of the book and the score. The singing, by and large, reflected the music’s distinctive jazz- and Latin-inflected styles. It was also a pleasure to hear such an iconic musical in its original orchestration and volume level, without the distortion and amplification so common in theaters these days.
Only a few standouts in the all student cast actually managed to combine singing, dialog and movement into complete roles, however. Opening night jitters might have been responsible for a tentativeness in many of the performances, especially in dialog but also in song and dance, which had the effect of taming the book and score. For the dancing, which carries much of the plot, the cast was game and Jeanne Slater’s simplified choreography managed to get the story told, but not with the pizzazz that can be the glory of this piece.
As Tony, Brenton Ryan matched his light lyric tenor well with the creamy soprano of Ying Fang (Maria). They sounded hesitant in all their scenes together, however. It’s probably unfair to cast a non-English speaker as Maria, which requires dialog in a Puerto Rican accent. Ying did better in the second act, especially opposite mezzo-soprano Megan Marino’s Anita in the powerful “A Boy Like That”/”I Have a Love” scene.
Marino, in fact, just about stole the whole show. In scene after scene, she owned the stage, a compelling presence informing songs and ensembles such as “America,” and the “Tonight” quintet. Her dialog and dancing looked natural and assured. Same can be said of baritone Timothy Campbell, who carried himself like a gang leader and sang Riff’s jazzy songs, such as “Cool,” with idiomatic élan. Tenor Adrian Rosas made a worthy counterpart as Bernardo, and Noel Bouley (a superb Falstaff last month) anchored his scenes as Doc, his dialog worthy of a pro actor.
Quality of dancing notwithstanding, musical values carried ensemble scenes such as the wordless Prologue, “America,” “The Dance at the Gym,” and “Officer Krupke,” which benefited from secure singing and Christie’s clear conducting. The final scene, however, which should have everyone in tears, left me dry-eyed despite the best efforts of the orchestral underscoring.
Those who bought special event tickets for Sarah Chang’s concert Thursday in the tent can be excused if they felt a bit short-changed. Her contribution to the 75-minute event consisted of two short pieces and the violin part of Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 3, all of which she played with her characteristic flair. Christopher Richardson, a very young pianist, opened the concert with short pieces by Schumann and Liszt. He played them extraordinarily well, but why was he on a Sarah Chang special event? Accompanied deferentially by Rita Sloan, Chang spun out a lovely long line in Bach’s aria commonly known as “air on the G string” (the second time we have heard it this summer), and dug into Gardel’s tango “Por una cabeza” at too rapid a clip to let the music do its work. Chang, Sloan, cellist Brinton Smith and violist Stefan Wyrczynski played the quartet with warmth and suppleness.
Bassist Edgar Meyer certainly gave his audience their money’s worth in his solo recital Wednesday night in Harris Hall. His playing on Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 was the most nuanced I have heard from him (he plays this one often). A new three-movement composition for solo bass, identified only as “a work in progress,” brimmed with inventive ideas, especially the pizzicato second movement, which seemed to improvise on a distinctive scale, and the rondo-like finale, which kept returning to a cheeky riff. The second half consisted mostly of older compositions structured as in jazz, setting out a song form, improvising and returning to the song, entertaining to hear and jaw-dropping in their virtuosity. For encores he played two duets with his son George, a violinist in the Festival Orchestra this year. The first, a deceptively simple composition by Meyer the Younger, had charm and soul, and the other came straight out of bluegrass.
Monday’s faculty chamber music concerts have been at a consistently high level this year, and the performance this week of Ravel’s Piano Trio took things to a peak. Pianist Steven Osborne, cellist Smith and violinist Bing Wang (three quarters of the quartet for the Messiaen on Saturday) dived into the music with a splash and never let up. It’s a gorgeous trio, with twists and turns typical of Ravel, and the musicians exulted in it all.
Earlier, a mostly student ensemble joined pianist David Friend, a champion of new music who plays with extraordinary sensitivity, in a juicy performance of Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques, a collection of bird calls colored by the composer’s orchestrations. Friend also played onStimulus Package, a 2009 piece by composer in residence George Tsontakis. It weaves music from his ancestral home, Crete, with modern gestures. Cello soloist Mariel Roberts, a member of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, played the challenging part soulfully, accompanied by Friend and two percussionists.
Harvey Steiman
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
LSU School of Music students win national prizes
Results from the 2011 Falcone Festival
Euphonium Artist Division
1st place - Toby Furr, teacher Dr. Brian Bowman, University of North Texas
2nd place - Daniel Chapa, teachers Dr. Brian Bowman & Dr. Joseph Skillen, University of North Texas
3rd place - Matthew Shipes, teachers David Zerkel, Dr. Benjamin Pierce & David Graves, University of Georgia
Tuba Artist Division
1st place - Andy Larson, teacher Dr. Joseph Skillen, Louisiana State University
2nd place - Brian McBride, teachers Phil Sinder, Jeff Jarvis, Craig Knox, & Alan Baer, Michigan State University
3rd place - Colby Fahrenbacher, teacher Mark Moore, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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