Category: News

41 North Film Festival Program Now Online

41 Film Festival logoThis year’s 41 North Film Festival will be held November 1-4 in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. The complete program is now online. The festival will feature events with several filmmakers, including Houghton native Heather Courtney (Where Soldiers Come From) who will be here with her new film, “The Unafraid”.

There will be panels on rural healthcare, STEM education, mining history, and a special work-in-progress screening of “Copperdog” (working title) about women mushers in our own Copperdog 150. The festival is free and open to the public. If you are not a student, please reserve a ticket. Only one ticket needed for the entire event. Students should bring their Michigan Tech ID.

KSO Alumni Concert Saturday

Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra in the lobby of the Rozsa
Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra in the lobby of the Rozsa

Former music directors and the current director of the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra (KSO) will share the podium as former orchestra members return for a historic KSO Alumni Concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 13) in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. Past Directors Grover Wilkins III, Michael Griffith and Milton Olsson will join current director, Joel Neves.

Founded in 1970, the KSO—an ensemble comprised of Michigan Tech students, faculty, staff and community members—is the Upper Peninsula’s oldest orchestra.

Most of the musicians pursue something other than music as a career, with engineers, scientists, mathematicians, educators and retirees filling the roster. Students occupy about 60 percent of the orchestra; none are music majors. The Visual and Performing Arts at Michigan Tech offers three music minors and concentrations to students. The KSO presents four to five concerts per year—including choral-orchestral, opera, ballet and pops—in the Rozsa Center.

Past KSO Music Directors:

  • John Clark (founder): 1970-1972
  • Grover Wilkins III: 1972-1976
  • Milton Olsson: 1976-2009
  • Michael Griffith: 1979-1989
  • Jeffrey Bell-Hanson: 1989-2002
  • Alton Thompson: 2003-2006
  • Joel Neves: 2009-current

Tickets are on sale now, $19 for adults, $6 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.

For more details, contact Joel Neves or call 7-2859.

Live Through This

Dese'Rae L. StageShe found answers from her past in the experiences of other suicide attempt survivors. Suicide survivors were and are silent, anonymous, reduced to stereotypes and statistics.

Dese’Rae Stage wanted to show the world that suicide is not an affliction of the other—it affects people of all ages, races, faiths, ethnicities, gender presentations, sexual orientations, professions and so much more.

She founded the project, LiveThroughThis, which explores life on the other side of suicide through the stories of attempt survivors, in their own words, and the portraits taken following their stories being told.

The Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, the Center for Diversity and Inclusion and Michigan Tech’s Counseling Services present suicide attempt survivor Dese’Rae Stage at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 10) in the Rozsa Center.

Accompanied with dry humor and a dapper fashion sense (she refers to it as “sassy grandpa chic”), Sage comes to Michigan Tech to challenge preconceived notions about those with lived experience of suicidal thoughts and actions through the powers of photography and storytelling.

This is a free event and is open to all campus and community members (no tickets necessary). Come share space with our community and hear the stories of suicide attempt survivors and help be part of a community which works to fight and destigmatize mental health issues and create awareness about suicide.

Join us for a Q&A reception with the speaker and community mental health organizations following the keynote in the Rozsa Lobby.

“Never Empty” Gallery Exhibit Opens Friday

Mount runoff landscapeThe Department of Visual and Performing Arts and the Rozsa Center are excited to announce the fall gallery exhibition, “Never Empty,” featuring work by artists Dylan Miner (Ann Arbor) and Amanda Breitbach (Nacodoches, Texas).

The exhibit will run from Friday, Oct. 12 through Saturday, Nov. 10 in Michigan Tech’s A-Space Gallery, within the Rozsa Center. Gallery hours are M-F 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays. A reception will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. Artist Amanda Breitbach will give an artist talk at 6 p.m. that evening.

The exhibit, curated by Lisa Gordillo, curator and director of the Rozsa Galleries, features photographs by Breitbach and mixed media paintings by Miner. Both artists’ work investigates stories about local and national lands.

Our collaboration is dynamic and thought-provoking. The exhibit digs into the myths and the tensions present in our landscapes, and the peoples who have histories there. Both artists work to uncover, and to showcase, stories that may not be present at a first glance.—Lisa Gordillo

This exhibit is part of Gordillo’s effort to showcase minority voices within the gallery, and to pay special attention to First Nation artists. According to Gordillo, “It’s very important for all of us, but especially for Michigan Tech, as our campus sits on Ojibwe lands. I hope this exhibit inspires thoughtful conversations about landscape, land-use and the many heritages of our nation.”

Amanda Breitbach’s photographs and Dylan Miner’s cyanotype-process paintings recompose the narratives we often speak when talking about “the land,” “expansion,” and “environments.” Together, the two artists dig into the myths and tensions that exist within the landscape and peoples who have histories there.

Breitbach is a photographer whose work focuses on the complex relationships between people and land. She grew up on a family ranch in Montana; she offers portraits of a farm in decline, centered within the expansive high plains.  Dylan Miner is a Wiisaakodewinini (Métis) artist, activist, and scholar. His work reimagines the landscape as he layers pigments, minerals, and smoke on top of Upper Peninsula images.

The artists’ visit is supported in part by the Michigan Tech Visiting Women and Minority Lecture Series, which is funded by a grant to the Office of Institutional Equity from the State of Michigan’s King-Chavez-Parks Initiative. Both artists will spend time with the community during their visit.

For more details, contact Lisa Gordillo 7-3096.

Rivers and Trails: A Landscape Music Concert Saturday

River in a forestThe Landscape Music Composers Network and Michigan Tech’s Department of Visual and Performing arts will present “Landscape Music: Rivers & Trails,” part of a nationwide series of concerts this fall commemorating the 50th Anniversaries of the National Trails System Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 4) in the McArdle Theatre in the Walker Arts and Humanities Center.

The concert features Jon Ensminger (piano), Susan Byykkonen (flute, piccolo), Patrick Booth (clarinet), Andrew Shaud (cello), Lindy Wagner (violin) and Charles White (percussion).

The “Landscape Music: Rivers & Trails,” initiative has mobilized the network’s composers to compose 11 new works in this concert series. Five rivers—Sudbury, Klamath, Owyhee, American and Chattooga—and six trails—Juan Bautista de Anza Trail, New England Trail, North County Trail, Carson Trail, Oregon Trail and Florida Trail—will be highlighted.

For details, contact Libby Meyer (VPA), by phone, 7-3015, or email.

Volunteers Needed for the 41 North Film Festival

41 Film Festival logoBe a part of the action and volunteer with 41 North Film Festival. This year’s festival will take place Nov. 1 through 4 and we need your help to make it happen. We welcome film enthusiasts, members of the campus community and local area residents. Our volunteers help us keep 41 North free and open to the public.

The 41 North Film Festival spans four days and showcases award-winning independent films and filmmakers from around the region, country and world. Its mission is to provide Michigan Tech students and the surrounding community with an opportunity to critically engage films that are currently in distribution and under discussion, as well as the chance to interact with filmmakers, producers and other industry professionals about the art and business of cinematic storytelling.

Volunteers are needed for any and all of the four days of the festival (Thursday through Sunday). Volunteer for a few hours or volunteer for the whole festival—it’s up to you. Volunteers will attend a brief training prior to the festival and are provided with a free t-shirt. All volunteers will also be invited to attend a post-festival thank you reception. We couldn’t do it without you.

If you have questions about volunteering or would like to sign up, contact Volunteer Coordinator Allison Neely.

WWI Symposium Keynote Speakers

WW1CC logo with Quincy MineTwo speakers are featured this weekend with the WWI symposium “Armistice and Aftermath.”

John Morrow, Jr. (University of Georgia) will present “African American Experience in WWI and Aftermath” from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday (Sept. 28)in the Rozsa Lobby. Lynn Dumenil (Occidental College) will present “Women and the Great War” from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 29) in the MUB Ballroom. Both talks are free and open to the public.

Morrow’s talk will address how African Americans understood and participated in the war effort on the home and fighting fronts and how white Americans responded to their efforts. He will explore how the war affected race relations and the conditions of African American life in the postwar United States.

Dumenil’s talk will focus on popular culture images of women in World War I, especially the attention given to how American women challenged gender conventions. She will explore claims that the war transformed traditional gender roles as well as the persistent power of expectations about women’s traditional roles.

Morrow Jr. and Dumenil will be on campus all day Friday (Sept. 28). If you are interested in meeting with either of them, email ww1cc@mtu.edu.

The visits have been supported by the Visiting Women and Minority Scholars program. The public lectures are part of “World War I in the Copper Country,” an extensive program of events and exhibits commemorating the WWI Armistice. Sponsors include Michigan Technological University Institutional Equity office, the Departments of Humanities, Social Sciences and Visual and Performing Arts, Finlandia University, the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw and the Michigan Humanities Council.

Superior Wind Symphony Presents Free Outdoor Concert

Superior Wind Symphony playing bassonsBring your lawn chairs, bring your blankets. The Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts and Department of Visual and Performing Arts presents a concert by the Superior Wind Symphony (SWS), titled “Europe, America and the World,” a celebration of the music of WWI era band leader from Harlem, James Reese Europe.

The SWS will perform a free outdoor concert at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28 on Walker Lawn.

If it rains, the concert will be held inside the McArdle Theatre, second floor of Walker Arts and Humanities Center.

Ensemble Recreates Mine Sound in Rozsa during Masterclass

Copper Mine, Keweenaw CountyIn an unusual turn of events, the University of Michigan Digital Music Ensemble (an experimental ensemble using electronic means to create sound art/concerts) is invited to perform in the Delaware Mine in Delaware, MI on October 7, 2018, which is located in the heart of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The ensemble will be presenting two concerts at the Delaware Mine, one at 6:00 and one at 7:30pm. Wine and Cheese reception above ground starting at 5:30pm. Space is limited to 40 people.

The group will rehearse in a “virtual mine” during September, and will write music during the Music in the Mines – Masterclass in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, October 6, 2018 from 10:30am to 12:00pm and then perform the arrangement in the Delaware mine and in Ann Arbor – emulating the ambiance of the mine in sight, sound, and smell.

Director, Stephen Rush, Professor of Music, University of Michigan, has visited the mine already, doing an impulse response which means capturing the acoustical behavior of the performance space/Delaware mine digitally – for reproduction in the Rozsa and in Ann Arbor. This means that during classes/rehearsals at U-M will “sound” like the mine. The students will also be reading two books, The History of the Delaware Mines and Life of Douglas Houghton by Steve Lehto. In these books, they will learn three major things: the economic and geological history of Michigan, the importance of specifically copper mining to the United States and Michigan, and a new aspect on the history of the University of Michigan.

As a Michigan native, I am deeply interested in the Copper industry (central to the founding of the state as well as the U-M) as well as the acoustical properties of the Mines that gave birth to the industry (and to the founding of the State).  Digital Sonic Analysis of unique spaces is still considered cutting edge technology, and unbeknownst to our students (and faculty) a subset of a standard musical program we now teach called “Logic©”, has an “impulse response” Plug-in, meaning that such digitization of interesting sonic spaces are including in the course materials of every student in our program (over 150 – majors and non-majors), but not necessarily taught.  Lecturer Jeremy Edwards and I have undertaken study of “impulse responses” as a preparation for this project – a new research area for me, and delightful. — Steven Rush

As discussed above, new approaches to both physical and historical context in music making will be delivered through this project. Through the support materials the students will have an expanded understanding of local/Michigan history as well as institutional history (University of Michigan).  This will be complemented by an exploration of Sonic appreciation of place, due to a new “angle” in the curriculum, a digital emulation of unique spaces. Every student will now be able to explore unique sonic spaces and emulate them digitally.

The students, as part of this project, will travel to the Upper Peninsula, live in a Yurt for three days, perform in an underground Copper Mine and collaborate with Michigan Tech faculty, students, and the Keweenaw community. Equally, students will be interacting with geologists, and historians. They will also learn about digital emulation of unique sonic spaces and a vastly expanded appreciation for the history of the state of Michigan and the University which they attend. The technology used by the class to emulate the mine in rehearsal will quickly transfer to the entire PAT (Performing Arts and Technology) community. It is a unique if non-complicated, technology. It will allow all students to explore the sound of the spaces they experience more fully.

Most students, down to the last one, have not even been in the Upper Peninsula and no student has performed in a mine before. They will also be living and cooking in the community for 4 days in a Yurt in a remote part of the Upper Peninsula.

The challenge is to address space and place. Rush notes “real listening is on the decline – due to headphone usage.  Actually listening to rivers, woods, trees, or large spaces, man-made or natural; cathedrals or caves is rare.  What is equally rare is the digitization of those spaces, history seems currently subject to opinion. The students will be asked to study the history, their own context, of our State and our University.”

During the masterclass, new music will be created specifically in reaction to the performing space. No such classes have been offered at the School of Music in the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor that dealt with the creation of new music for the space. There certainly has been location performances (UMMA/the Arb, etc.) to address this issue. Only the Dance Department has really explored this genre deeply. Site-specific performances are an extremely important genre in the Arts, even a sub-genre/category for NEA grants, etc. and new faculty lines that feature this as a specialty. This is literacy and experiential learning combined.

The concert in the Mine will recorded but the concert will be recreated in Ann Arbor with visual projections, the music that we performed in the mine (complete with digital emulation of the mine itself, as described above) and an attempt to create the musky smell of the mine.  The Michigan Muse (the alumni magazine of the school that reaches 11k alums) is also writing an article about the project.  In addition, the performance in Ann Arbor as well as at the mine will be shown/broadcast on YouTube.

Fundraiser Celebrates 25th Anniversary of VPA

Circle with Gala surrounded by colored splashesThis academic year, we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Michigan Tech. We will hold a celebratory 25th Anniversary Gala beginning at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.

Celebrate with an evening of cocktails, dinner and live arts entertainment. The VPA 25th Anniversary Gala will feature intimate performances in the lobby and on stage, and live auction supporting the Marian and John Irish Award for Environmental Art, the Visual and Performing Arts Department Theatre Scholarship Fund and the Rozsa Center’s Class Acts Program.

Come dressed for celebration. There will be a cocktail hour (cash bar), full dinner, live music throughout the evening both in the lobby and on stage, an auction of unique arts experiences, artists working during the gala and more.

Tickets for the evening are $75 per person. We will also be selling corporate tables (seating eight) for $1,000. Tickets can be purchased by calling the SDC Ticket Office at 7-2073 or following this link. More information can be found here.