Visual and Performing Arts News

A Choral Mosaic

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A Choral Mosaic“A CHORAL MOSAIC” AT THE ROZSA

The first half of the concert features conScience: Michigan Tech Chamber Singers performing for the first time in the Rozsa Center. They will perform the music of Paul Hindemith as well as settings of folk tunes from Poland, Finland, and Estonia.

According to Jared Anderson, D.M.A., Michigan Tech.’s Director of Choral Activities, “This concert will be the first time that the newly formed group, conScience: Michigan Tech Chamber Singers has performed in the Rozsa Theatre.”

Read more at ABC10, by Burns.

“A Choral Mosaic” at the Rozsa this Saturday

This will be a beautiful performance by the Tech Concert Choir and conScience: Michigan Tech Chamber Singers, performing a special concert that includes the repertoire that will be performed in May on tour to Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia.

Read more at Tech Today, by Bethany Jones.

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Former KSO Director Brings JOY to the Community

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Joy PosterChristmas often brings families together, and father-son duo Milt and PJ Olsson have combined their varying musical talents to release a Christmas album, “Joy.”

Four years in the making, “Joy” unites the classical arrangements of Milt – the former Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra director – with the Grammy-nominated engineering and production skills of PJ. The result is a modern take on classic holiday favorites.

The album includes music sung by the Michigan Tech Concert Choir in 2006 with rhythm added to it.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Zach Kukkonen.

“Joy! Holiday Sounds with a Twist”

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Corey Saari.

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KSO and Hampton String Quartet

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KSO and HSQAs the world’s best selling string quartet, HSQ plays classically influenced arrangements of Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Nirvana, and more. Wireless Magazine says: “One listen will change the way you hear both classical and pop music.”

The HSQ will be the featured guest artist for the 2nd Keweenaw Honors String Festival, with high school string players from Houghton, Negaunee, Marquette, and Escanaba joining the string quartet and KSO in clinics, masterclasses, rehearsals, and the closing concert. The public is invited to the following events during the Festival (all on the Rozsa stage):

*4-6 p.m. Masterclass with HSQ and student musicians (Friday, Dec. 7)

*1-2 p.m. Q&A with HSQ (Saturday, Dec. 8)

*7:30-9:30 p.m. KSO/HSQ/Festival Combined Concert (Saturday, Dec. 8)

Read more at Tech Today.

Hampton String Quartet and KSO at Rozsa

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Alex Saari.

Rock and classical music collide
HSQ joining forces with KSO, high school musicians

The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra will open Saturday night’s concert with a performance of a pair of the movements of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” as well as a world premiere by composer Elizabeth Meyer. HSQ will then take the stage and perform a variety of rock classics from Jimi Hendrix to Nirvana.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Zach Kukkonen.

Hampton String Quartet Rocks the Rozsa
Saturday night, local string players were honored to perform with the Hampton Rock String Quartet

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Travis Pellosma.

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ROMANCING HORROR: FOUR STORIES BY H.P. LOVECRAFT!

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HP LovecraftThe Tech Theatre Company presents “Romancing Horror: Four Stories By H.P. Lovecraft!” in the McArdle Theatre, this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, November 29-December 1, at 7:30 pm each night. Join the Tech Theatre Company as they present the literary works of H.P. Lovecraft, “devised” for the stage, in an original theatrical production!

Read more at ABC 10.

Tech Theatre Company Presents “Romancing Horror” in the McArdle Theatre

Growing from the fertile soil of the romantics and the symbolist poets, HP Lovecraft surpassed his predecessor, Edgar Allen Poe, in perfecting the classic horror story.

Read more at Tech Today, by Bethany Jones.

Tech Theatre Company to present “Romancing Horror: Four Stories By H.P. Lovecraft!” Nov. 29 – Dec. 1

According to Director Roger Held, Chair, Department of Visual and Performing Arts, “‘Devising’ is the contemporary expression for the common theatrical practice of creating a performance from non-dramatic literature, or a script developed through the improvisations or written contributions of the actors. Such theatre pieces also provide design and performance challenges students don’t usually experience in educational theatre programs.”

Read more at Keweenaw Now.

Tech Theatre Company prepares for “The Horrors of H.P. Lovecraft”

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Nick Blecha.

Lessons Learned from Lovecraft

The way the four mini-plays were performed was quite different from the norm. Two student narrators, Laura Larsen and Sean Miller, set up each piece as husband/wife hosts who welcomed us into their home before scaring us with their tales.

Read more at TechAlum Newsletter, by Dennis Walikainen.

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Jazz Showcase: Backstage at the Rozsa

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See the Rozsa stage transformed into an intimate jazz-club atmosphere for the Jazz Showcase: Backstage at the Rozsa. Jazz Showcase Backstage at the RozsaThe Rozsa stage will become a jazz lounge with cocktail tables and cash bar, and of course hot jazz provided by two Michigan Tech jazz ensembles: the Jazz Lab Band and the Research and Development Big Band, with special guest performances both nights by Mike Christianson, the new Michigan Tech Director of Bands.

Read more at Tech Today, by Bethany Jones.

Backstage at the Rozsa: Jazz Showcase

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Alex Saari.

Campus Jazz Band takes the Rozsa

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Nick Blecha.

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Celebrate Halloween at the Rozsa with “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940”

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Musical Comedy MurdersThe Tech Theatre Company presents the “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940,” by playwright John Bishop, a hilarious “who done it” that pokes fun at 1940s movie thrillers and campy musical comedies. Don’t miss this pitch-perfect Halloween theatrical production, sure to tickle the funny bone and make for an enjoyable night out at the Rozsa Center.

Read more at Tech Today, by Bethany Jones.

Musical Comedy Murders of 1940

“The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 is a deceptively intricate work. I hope the audience will appreciate the play at its rudimentary style of farce. At the same time, the play will tickle the intellectual funny bone of those patrons who have experienced 1930s musical comedies (theatre and film), 1930s horror films and the likely familiar ‘who-done-it?’…”

~Trish Helsel, director

Read more at the VPA Blog.

“The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940”

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Corey Saari.

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KSO Concert Tour

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KSO Tour 2012With the combined talent of over 60 musicians, the musical director says the goal of “From Russia with Love” is to tell a story.

“‘Sleeping Beauty,’ ‘Antar Symphony,’ the Shostakovich Symphony, the fascinating history of the mockery of the Stalin regime through a symphony. It’s a compelling program and a compelling educational program and its musical merit is very compelling,” Neves said.

The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra performances:

Norway-Vulcan Performing Arts Center Thursday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets $10 and $5 for students

Marquette’s Kaufman Auditorium Saturday, October 27 at 7 p.m.
Tickets $12 for adults and $5 for students

Escanaba’s William Oliver Auditorium Sunday, October 28 at 2 p.m.
Tickets $10 adults $5 for students

Read more at Upper Michigans Source, by Gabrielle Mays.

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2012 Northern Lights Film Festival, November 1, 2 and 3

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Northern Lights Film FestivalThe 8th Annual Northern Lights Film Festival will be held November 1, 2 and 3rd in McArdle
Theatre on the Michigan Tech Campus. Featured this year are filmmaker Ray Tintori and the
award-winning dramatic film Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin 2012). Tintori headed up the special effects unit for the film and is a member of the independent filmmaking collective Court 13. Tintori will introduce the film on Friday evening at 7 p.m. and participate in a Q&A following the film. Beasts will be shown again at 9:30 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday at 2 p.m., Tintori will screen some of his short films and music videos and join in an informal discussion with students and festival-goers about independent filmmaking.

Other festival highlights include recent award-winning documentaries and narratives films including El Velador (Natalia Almada, 2012), The Interrupters (Steve James, 2011), Only the Young (Elizabeth James and Jason Tippet, 2012) and The Arbor (Barnard, 2010). The festival will conclude with Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) with Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly.

The Northern Lights Film Festival is sponsored by the departments of Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts and Cin/Optic Communication and Media Enterprise Team. It is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Erin Smith at smitherin@mtu.edu or (906) 487-3263. Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer.

The full schedule and information about the films are available at: http://hdmzweb.hu.mtu.edu/wp/nlff2012 or visit the Humanities Department website http://www.mtu.edu/humanities quick links section.

Film Festival a success

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Nicole Iutzi.

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