Visual and Performing Arts News

Category: Music

Mardi Gras Party Friday

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Colorful face masks with feathers on topThe Department of Visual and Performing Arts presents a musical Mardi Gras Party Friday. The Superior Wind Symphony, under the direction of Michael Christianson, will present a concert celebrating grooves born in the US.

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Feb. 16) in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets are $13 for adults, $5 for youth and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech Fee.  Tickets are available online, by phone 7-2073, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the SDC or at the Rozsa Center box office the evening of the performance.

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Diversity in Jazz at ‘Club Rozsa’

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32454304261_38295e8c57_mJoin Jazz Studies Program Director Mike Irish and the Michigan Tech Jazz ensembles for a Rozsa Club Jazz Showcase: Backstage at the Rozsa at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (Jan. 26 and 27).

According to Irish, “Diversity in Jazz. That’s what you get with the Jazz Combos Backstage at the Rozsa. Three dynamic small jazz groups will be featured. The mainstream jazz offering will be handled by JazTec, featuring two horns and a four-piece rhythm section. Momentum is a funk and fusion ensemble with three horns out front and an electric rhythm section. The guest group for both evenings will be the Dan Fuhrmann Trio, providing the best in piano trio jazz. Music by some of the greatest names in Jazz including Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane and many others. There will be something for every taste. Live jazz provides energy, creativity, surprises and is a treat for all of the senses. Join us and immerse yourself in the diversity.”

Tickets are on sale now, $15 for adults, $5 for youth and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee, 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. The Rozsa Box Office opens two hours prior to performances.

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Faculty, Students Win at Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival

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IMG_1272.JPGKent Cyr was recognized at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region III with a faculty service award for Innovative Teaching. The KCACTF Region III festival was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, January 9-14 at the University of Indianapolis. The goal of the festival is to encourage, recognize, and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs.

Also, a number of our Visual and Performing Arts students were recognized. Congratulations!

Design Storm!

Student consults with other designers, dramaturg, and director to create a key scene in a play, prepare initial sketches, basic ground plan/rendering, and discusses how the design illustrates personal ideas and production intention/concept.

  • Hunter Storie (Scene Design) and Ethan Troyer (Dramaturgy) Most Wretched Deathbed Dreams of Edgar Allen Poe

Regional Design Projects

Regional Design Projects are intended to serve Region III student designers with the opportunity to showcase their work for non-realized design projects, and to receive a response to their work that will help them improve their design skills and grow as designers. Seven students presented in Sound Design and two in Costume Design.

  • Sarah Calvert (Winner), His Dark Materials, Sound Design
  • Noah Schumaker (Finalist), Insurrection, Sound Design
  • David Brown (Finalist), Galileo, Sound Design

Realized Design Projects

National-eligible for consideration in all design areas. Winners are invited to present at the Kennedy Center National Festival in April.  Three students participated and two were finalists.

  • Chris Wilson (Finalist), Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Music Composition
  • Alex Weber (Finalist), West Side Story, Lighting Design

Tech Olympics Individual Best Times

Performance is judged on time and/or accuracy in setup, skill, and performance.

  • Kity Williams and Brendan Espinosa, Sound
  • Ryan Nickolas and Hunter Stori, Lighting
  • Alex Weber and Jack Horrigan, Knots
  • Lexa Walker and Jason Scott, Costumes and Props

The Games of The Technological Olympiad Overall

  • Alex Weber and Jack Horrigan, Third Place
  • Ryan Nickolas and Hunter Storie, Second Place
  • Lexa Walker and Jason Scott, First Place
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Ken Steiner Memorial Concert at Rozsa

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kenA benefit concert in memory of Ken Steiner will be held Friday (Jan. 12) in the Lobby of the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. Steiner, a well-known local musician, chef, and volunteer, died on New Year’s Day, 2017.

Friday’s concert will benefit Steiner’s favorite charity, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly. The evening will feature good food, a cash bar and music by many of Steiner’s friends. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with music playing until 11:30. The lineup features:

  • Steve Jones and the Garden City Hot Club, 7 p.m.
  • Uncle Pete’s All Star BBQ Blues Band, 8:15 p.m.
  • OUTLAW’D, 9:30 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $10, $20 and $30 with 100 percent of ticket sales donated in Steiner’s name to Little Brothers. Ticket purchases are considered donations and are tax deductible. Tickets are available online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the SDC, by phone at 7-2073 or at the Rozsa Center box office the night of the concert.

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“The Sound from Within Us” Saturday

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soundThe Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts and the Department of Visual and Performing Arts present a concert by the Michigan Tech Concert Choir and Superior Wind Symphony. “The Sound from Within Us,” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 16) in the Rozsa Center.

The concert celebrates themes of common humanity and features music by American and British composers, including Vincent Persichetti’s “Celebrations,” Lee Hoiby’s “Hymn for a New Age,” Charles Ives’ “Psalm 90” and “Circus Band,” and John Rutter’s “Gloria.”

According to Michael Christianson, Michigan Tech’s director of bands, “From the many possible ways humans have invented for making music, groups of singers and wind instrumentalists have in common that the human breath initiates all sounds. There are many more instruments that are struck, bowed, plucked, etc. that are ‘inspired by expiration.’ And the human voice is the first true musical instrument, the most universal, so it seemed like a logical conclusion to concertize together.”

VPA Chair Jared Anderson adds “‘The Sound from Within Us’ celebrates the fact that wind players and singers both create music by using perhaps our most common trait, breath. The capacity to make beautiful sounds is within us all. The texts of the music that will be performed emphasize what we share as individuals and communities, the need for connection and kindness. It is a great opportunity to hear beautiful music and to celebrate in the midst of the holiday season.”

Tickets are on sale now, $15 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 Rozsa box office the evening of the performance. Note: the Rozsa box office only opens two hours prior to performances.

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Concert to Support Italian Hall Victims Memorial Monument

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Guitarist on stage, soft and blur conceptThere will a benefit concert of American Roots Music at 2 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 8) at the Calumet Theatre. Hosted by Oren Tikkanen, the concert is in support of the Italian Hall Victim’s Memorial Monument.

Retired Michigan Tech History Professor Fredric Quivik is among the performers featured in the show. Quivik is a member of the 1913 Singers.

Additional performers include Keweenaw Brewgrass, the Acoustic Jimmy Hats, Michelle Hawkins, Valerie DePriest, the Thimbleberry Band and more. A reception in the ballroom will follow the concert.

All donations are welcome.

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Scrambling all the Way: 50 Years of Be-striped Irreverence

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Huskies Pep Band Concert Celebrates “50 Years of Be-Striped Irreverence!”

The Huskies Pep Band presents Scrambling all the Way: 50 Years of Be-striped Irreverence next Friday, October 13, at 7:30 PM in the Rozsa Center. The Huskies Pep Band (HPB) is a Michigan Tech point of pride and one of the most lauded (and loud!) pep bands in the Midwest. Members dressed in “bumble-bee” stripes perform in unscripted and unrestrained glory 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 from the Pep Band “live and In-concert?” According to Director of Bands Michael Christianson,

“On this date, or likely some other one 50 years ago, Michigan Technological University’s Director of Bands Don Keranen decided to transform the Huskies Pep Band into a bestriped, scrambling, irreverent, annoying, distracting force for both good (for our athletic teams) and not as good (for the opposing teams). Since then, the HPB has performed at many arenas and stadiums (including some from which they have been banned for creating a “home atmosphere” for Michigan Tech’s teams), learned more than 8 songs, developed the capacity to breathe fire, been a P.E. credit for many movement-challenged students, and reached the age of 50 as a “Scramble” band!”

Christianson adds, “To celebrate, our yearly Pep Band Concert will feature tunes from all 50 years of scramblin’ (as well as several from our brand-new CD, plus photos and videos from many years. Our world-famous HPB Swag will be available for purchase at intermission, and we fully intend to have well-known guests with us for the event, as soon as they make bail. The concert is Friday October 13, there will likely be a ghoulish flavor to the evening…bwahahaha. Actual Quotes:

“I didn’t know such sounds were possible!”- Marlee Matlin.

 

“Vertical stripes aren’t always slimming.“- Anna Wintour.

 

“Will there be another taco eating contest?”-Taco Bell”

 

Tickets for Scrambling all the Way: 50 Years of Pep 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 (906) 487-2073, online at Rozsa.mtu.edu, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex, or at the Rozsa box office the night of the show. Please note that the Rozsa box office opens only two hours before performances.

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Mike Christianson in the news!

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Michigan Tech’s very own Michael Christianson in the news. A great review of his Lincoln Center appearance with the legendary Fred Hersch two weeks ago.

“…Mike Christianson‘s trombone proved to be an indispensable voice, covering the low-middle ground with strength.”

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fred-herschs-leaves-of-grass-at-jazz-at-lincoln-center-fred-hersch-by-dan-bilawsky.php

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