Visual and Performing Arts News

Category: Music

From Stevie Wonder to the Count Basie Orchestra

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6d0ad8e0a28cd2be005229a55d2f4839342a878aDid you know that as a child prodigy, Stevie Wonder signed with a Motown record label at the age of 11? That after the death of Count Basie, the Pontiac, Michigan native Thaddeus Jones took over the leadership of the legendary Count Basie Orchestra? That students majoring in engineering, chemistry, forestry and business currently also perform in a wind ensemble and take classes in music composition at Michigan Tech?

The Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts and Department of Visual and Performing Arts are proud to present the Superior Wind Symphony in a concert titled “Michigan Music.” The performance will be led by Michigan Tech’s Director of Bands, Michael Christianson, at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Feb. 3) in the Rozsa Center.

According to Christianson, “Michigan Music is a collection of music by Michigan composers, arrangers and communities for wind band. The range of music includes a classic march, Bach for clarinet choir, a piece for hand clappers, powwow music, a piece that captures the inner mind of a single dancer, several beautiful ballads, a joyous Motown tune and a modern Rag.”

Michigan Composers featured will be Pulitzer Prize winner William Bolcom; Grammy Winner Stevie Wonder; Thad Jones; Warren Benson; George Kenny; and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.

Tickets for “Michigan Music” are on sale now, $13 for adults, $5 for youth and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee.

Tickets are available by phone at 7-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance. Please note the Rozsa Box Office only opens two hours prior to performances.

By Bethany Jones

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Backstage Jazz Celebrates “50 Years of Jazz” at Michigan Tech

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23247406793_6d17059fcc_k“Backstage at the Rozsa” again opens its doors to the groovin’ sounds of small-combo jazz to celebrate the 50th year of jazz studies at Michigan Tech.

There will be three student ensembles: Jaztec, Momentum with a combination of funk and fusion; AstroSax; and one special guest ensemble: The Dan Fuhrmann and Tim Havens Duo, here for their second guest appearance at Michigan Tech.

The Rozsa stage will become a pop-up jazz club, and the intimate atmosphere is a perfect setting for some funk and fusion and even some standards from these four ensembles.

Join Jazz Studies Program Director Mike Irish and the Michigan Tech Jazz ensembles who bring to life the great sounds from throughout the years. Hot and steamy to cool and mellow.

Join us in Club Rozsa and enjoy the intimate atmosphere reminiscent of the birthplace of jazz. Backstage at the Rozsa is at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (Jan. 27/28).

According to Irish, “There will be two ‘Backstage Jazz Series’ again this year, culminating in a finale concert on Saturday, March 25, featuring both big bands, guest artists and a return of the always-popular Alumni Jazz Band.”

Tickets for Backstage Jazz at the Rozsa are on sale now, $13 for adults, $5 for youth and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available at 7-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance. (Note the Rozsa Box Office only opens two hours prior to performances). Unable to make the performance? You can Listen Live starting at 7:30pm.

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Handel’s “Messiah” Saturday at the Rozsa

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Messiahby Bethany Jones

Tickets are now on sale for a concert that celebrates a glorious rite of the Christmas Season. The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra and Michigan Tech Choirs, along with renowned guest vocalists, present the beloved Christmas masterpiece, Handel’s “Messiah.”

The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 10), in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.

Among the guest performers are: Baritone Nathan Herfindahl; Soprano Jennifer D’Agostino; Mezzo-soprano Sandra Loy; and Tenor Clark Sturdevant. The performance is conducted by Jared Anderson, chair of the department of visual and performing arts.

Tickets are $19 for adults, $6 for youth and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee.

For ticket information and more, read the full story.

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“The Studio for Here and Now” Shares Art and Readings in an Open Studio Event

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Anne BeffelThe Department of Visual and Performing Arts presents an open house, exhibition and reception of “The Studio for Here and Now,” a space for work by Professor Anne Beffel, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today (Nov. 10) in Wadsworth Hall, G04W (located in the lower level of Wadsworth Hall across from the WMTU radio station).

“The Studio for Here and Now” serves as a place for creative community members to meet, share work and discuss ideas. This evening you are free to wander “The Studio for Here and Now” and experience some of the projects and thinking that evolves in the space.

Anne Beffel, professor of Art in Visual and Performing Arts, will give a short talk on her research from 7 to 7:20 p.m. Information on studio happenings will also be provided. “The Studio for Here and Now” is supported by the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Michigan Tech. This event is free and open to the public.

By Bethany Jones

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Backstage at Rozsa Celebrates 50 Years of Jazz at Tech

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9d3fd38403e31e207286e7b17e99edcab2f979fc (1)“Backstage at the Rozsa” again opens its doors to the groovin’ sounds of big band jazz to celebrate the 50th year of Jazz Studies at Michigan Tech.

The Research & Development Big Band and the Jazz Lab Band will present a program featuring both the old and new—vintage and contemporary. A wide variety of tunes will be featured; Latin, mainstream, funk, ballads, rock and swing.

The Rozsa stage becomes a pop-up jazz club, and the intimate club atmosphere is a perfect setting for the Research & Development  (R&D) Big  Band and the Jazz Lab Band to loosen the reins on creativity and capture the flow of jazz!

Join Jazz Studies Program Director Mike Irish and the Michigan Tech Jazz ensembles for Jazz Showcase, “Backstage at the Rozsa” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (Oct. 21-22).

According to Irish, “There will be two ‘Backstage Jazz Series’ again this year, culminating in a finale concert on Saturday, March 25, featuring both big bands, guest artists and a return of the always popular Alumni Jazz Band.”

Elaborating about the history and excitement of Jazz, Irish says “Jazz was  born in the ‘tonks and joints’ of Storyville in New Orleans, and has always found a home in the small but lively entertainment venues throughout the  world—the “speakeasies” of Chicago, the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan, Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem, Birdland in New York, Ronnie Scott’s in London, the Town Tavern in Toronto, the  A—Trane in Berlin, the Shaft in Istanbul, the Blue Note and Vanguard in New York and the Orpheum in Hancock.”

Irish says “Jazz is now enjoyed and practiced all over the world, and is  one of America’s greatest cultural exports. So sit back, and immerse yourself in the music. In the words of jazz legend Art Blakey, ‘Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life.'”

Tickets for “Backstage Jazz at the Rozsa” are on sale now, $13 for adults, $5 for youth and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee.

Tickets are available by phone at 7-2073, online at Rozsa.mtu.edu, in person at the Central Ticketing Office or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance. Note the Rozsa Box Office only opens two hours prior to performances.

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Pep Band Pre-Celebrates “50 Years of Be-striped Peppiness!”

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173b3e1ec83385f368cc1ed7a32a5ab773e62927The Michigan Tech Huskies Pep Band pre-celebrates 50 years of be-striped peppiness in its inimitable concert style at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Oct.) in the Rozsa Center.

Not yet experienced the sound and sight sensation that is the Huskies Pep Band? They are a true sensory extravaganza. The Huskies Pep Band is a Michigan Tech point of pride and one of the most lauded pep bands in the Midwest. Members dressed in “bumble-bee” stripes perform at concerts, athletic events, parades and special events all around Houghton and support Michigan Tech teams on the road as well.

The Huskies Pep Band is a nationally-known Division I pep band of nearly 250 members that performs at all home football, basketball and hockey games.

The band was selected as the host band to the WCHA Final Five Tournament in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

What can you expect at the concert? According to Director of Bands Michael Christianson (VPA), “… As the Huskies Pep Band becomes ‘almost golden’ as a ‘scramble band,’ they are ‘concerned’ about their ‘legacy’ of ‘music-making’ and ‘stylish dress’ and their ‘failure to yet achieve the gold.’ Please join us in our concert/therapy session as we loudly and flamboyantly try to work out ‘our issues’ in ‘our own special way'”

Tickets for Almost Golden at the Rozsa Center are on sale now, $13 for adults, $5 for youth, and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available by phone at 7-2073, online at Rozsa.mtu.edu, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex.

by Bethany Jones

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Grammy Winner Jerry Blackstone To Conduct Honors Choir Festival

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fac5e5d9a73ad485410d1448022185a7f3ee9731The Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts and the department of visual and performing arts (VPA) presents “Honors Choir Festival” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8 in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.

The concert contemplates the forces of nature and weather in its many forms; springtime, a thunderstorm, a prairie fire and the Schoolchildren’s Blizzard of 1888.

The Choirs of Michigan Tech and the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra welcome singers from Northern Michigan University and upper peninsula high schools to perform Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Whispers on the Prairie Wind,” under the direction of Jerry Blackstone, the Grammy Award winning director of choral activities at the University of Michigan. The KSO will also present Beethoven’s Symphony no.6 in F Major (Pastoral), conducted by Jared Anderson.

By Bethany Jones

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Music O Rama: Celebrating John and Biruta Lowther

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82783a59e1337c6e3ea2a469b341525360d6b160The Department of Visual and Performing Arts presents “Music O Rama” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 1) at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.

“Music O Rama,” an annual musical variety concert, will be held this year in honor of a couple that has spent many years participating in the Arts at Michigan Tech. This concert is sponsored by John and Biruta Lowther, in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. The Lowthers and their family took part in many of Michigan Tech’s various music ensembles.

The celebration will feature performances by conScience, Superior Wind Symphony and Jazz Lab Band. According to John Lowther, “We wanted to celebrate our 50th anniversary and express our appreciation to the music department for the years of music our family has enjoyed. I played in the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra for a number of years. Our son played in the Pep Band and sang in the Concert Choir. Biruta and I enjoyed singing together in the Concert Choir.”

Tickets are on sale now, $13 for adults, $5 for youth, and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available by phone at 7-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex or at the Calumet Theatre Box Office.

by Bethany Jones

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