Archive for the ‘School of Performing Arts’ Category

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Musicians from Around the World to Play at Minsky

Tuesday, March 18th, 2014

University of Maine music professor Anatole Wieck and Bangor Symphony Orchestra violinist Sascha Zaburdaeva will perform with guests Pierre Henri Xuereb and Jean-Louis Haguenauer at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 29, at Minsky Recital Hall.

Born in Latvia, Wieck also conducts the University Orchestra. The violinist and viola player earned his degrees, including his doctorate, at The Juilliard School.

Zaburdaeva is a music teacher and plays violin with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. As a youth, the Moscow native performed with the Russian Youth Symphony and Youth Talents of Moscow. Zaburdaeva studied with Masao Kawasaki and Itzhak Perlman at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Xuereb is professor of viola at Paris Conservatoire and at Ecole Nationale de Musique de Gennevilliers. He has collaborated with numerous ensembles and orchestras, recorded several CDs and teaches master classes at music festivals around the world.

Haguenauer is a member of the piano faculty at Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University. He recorded pieces by French composer Claude Debussy for four CDs in celebration of Debussy’s 150th birthday in 2012.

The program will include: Leopold Wallner’s “Danse melancolique”; Schubert-Liszt-Drillon’s “Two Lieder for Viola and Piano”; Debussy’s “Cloches à travers les feuilles” and “L’isle joyeuse”; Dmitri Shostakovich’s “The Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147”; and Antonin Dvorák’s “Terzetto” for two violins and viola.

Tickets are $9/free with student MaineCard. For more information, or to request disability accommodations, call 207.581.1755.

Posted in Arts, Campus Announcements, School of Performing Arts |

Williams Named Interim Director of Collins Center, BDN Reports

Tuesday, March 11th, 2014

The Bangor Daily News reported on the University of Maine announcement that Daniel Williams has been appointed to serve a two-year term as interim executive director of the Collins Center for the Arts. UMaine President Paul Ferguson said, “Danny has demonstrated remarkable leadership in diverse opportunities at UMaine and consistently brings excellent results. At this time, his leadership and experience are particularly important to the Collins Center for the Arts. Consistent with the Blue Sky Plan, the CCA is poised under his leadership to achieve its full potential, engaging Maine citizens and providing high-quality entertainment and education.” Williams has been a member of the UMaine community since 1986, serving in leadership roles in marketing, fundraising, community outreach and the performing arts. Most recently, he was associate director of planned giving with the University of Maine Foundation.

Posted in Alumni, Arts, Blue Sky in the News, School of Performing Arts, UMaine in the News |

Williams Named Interim Director of CCA

Monday, March 10th, 2014

Daniel Williams of Orono has been appointed to serve a two-year term as interim executive director of the Collins Center for the Arts (CCA) at the University of Maine.

Williams replaces John Patches, the longtime director of the Collins Center, who retired Jan. 31.

The Collins Center for the Arts, home to the Hutchins Concert Hall and the Hudson Museum, opened in 1986. Today, it is one of the focal points of community engagement under the Blue Sky Plan, UMaine’s five-year strategic plan.

“Senior Vice President Janet Waldron and I are very pleased that Danny Williams has agreed to assume leadership of the Collins Center for the Arts,” says University of Maine President Paul Ferguson. “Danny has demonstrated remarkable leadership in diverse opportunities at UMaine and consistently brings excellent results. At this time, his leadership and experience are particularly important to the Collins Center for the Arts. Consistent with the Blue Sky Plan, the CCA is poised under his leadership to achieve its full potential, engaging Maine citizens and providing high-quality entertainment and education.”

Since 1986, Williams has been a member of the UMaine community, where he has served in leadership roles in marketing, fundraising, community outreach and the performing arts. Most recently, Williams was associate director of planned giving with the University of Maine Foundation. He is a faculty member in the School of Performing Arts and has served on the Collins Center for the Arts advisory board since 1993, chairing both the Special Events and Gala Committee, and the Community Relations and Outreach Committee.

The Bangor High School graduate received a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in higher education administration from UMaine in 1991 and 1994, respectively.

In addition, Williams served as president and director of development for the Eastern Maine Community College Foundation, director of annual and reunion giving for the University of Maine Alumni Association, and assistant to the dean for UMaine Enrollment Management. In 1998, he served one term as Maine state representative for District 122.

His honors include the UMaine Patrons of the Arts Vincent A. Hartgen Award in 2005.

“The arts are thriving at UMaine and in the Bangor region, and the Collins Center has an essential and exciting role to play, bringing together the campus, the community and world-class performers.” says Williams. “My commitment is to excellence at the CCA, and to seeing the center continue to expand its educational and cultural impact throughout the region and the state.”

Williams lives in Orono with his wife, State Sen. Emily Cain.

Posted in Alumni, Arts, Blue Sky News, News Releases, News Releases Home Page, School of Performing Arts |

Free Press Previews University Singers Concerts

Monday, March 10th, 2014

The Free Press of Rockland advanced the March 11 University of Maine Singers concert that will take place at the Owls Head Transportation Museum. The show is one of five free public concerts the group is performing in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts over spring break.

Posted in Arts, Outreach, School of Performing Arts, UMaine in the News |

Students Talk to WABI About Touring Spring Break Performance

Thursday, March 6th, 2014

University of Maine School of Performing Arts’ students Christian Giddings, Megan Rounds and Sydney Walker spoke with WABI (Channel 5) about the school’s spring break production of the child-friendly folktale “Baba Yaga and the Black Sunflower.” The students are performing the play on campus March 22, as well as at several schools around the state. Walker said performing the play is a nice way to be able to give back to the community. Carol Korty, professor emerita at Emerson College and a guest artist at UMaine, wrote and directs the play about a young girl who doesn’t fit in, and a witch that lives in a walking house. Korty told WABI the tour is a good learning experience for the students to see what it’s like to be on the road.

Posted in Arts, Outreach, School of Performing Arts, UMaine in the News |

Students to Tackle Monster Piano

Thursday, March 6th, 2014

The Maine Music Teachers Association and the University of Maine School of Performing Arts announce the second biennial Monster Piano Festival on Saturday, March 8, at Minsky Recital Hall on the Orono campus.

What is a monster piano? It’s 113 students in grades 4 through 12 and several adults simultaneously playing 11 pianos. That’s 226 hands, or 1,130 fingers tickling 968 keys.

After a day of rehearsals with UMaine music instructor and conductor Ginger Yang Hwalek, the 113 people from 18 piano studios in Maine will perform in concert at 5 p.m. Donations will be accepted at the door.

Two or three pianists will be seated at each of the 11 pianos on stage during the concert, which will include a mix of classical and jazz and pieces written by composers who specialize in creating music for emerging pianists. Music teachers will also play a selection.

Posted in Arts, Campus Announcements, Outreach, School of Performing Arts |

UMaine Students to Perform Folktale During Spring Break, WVII Reports

Wednesday, March 5th, 2014

WVII (Channel 7) reported University of Maine School of Performing Arts students will perform the child-friendly folktale “Baba Yaga and the Black Sunflower” on campus March 22, as well as at schools around the state during spring break. Carol Korty, professor emerita at Emerson College and a guest artist at UMaine, wrote and directs the folktale about a young girl who doesn’t fit in, and a witch that lives in a walking house. Korty said she hopes the performances will be a learning experience for audience members and the UMaine students in the play. “For our college students, they see the effect of theater on young children, and notice the difference,” she said.

Posted in Arts, Outreach, School of Performing Arts, UMaine in the News |

WABI Reports University of Maine Singers Spring Tour Dates

Thursday, February 27th, 2014

WABI (Channel 5) reported a list of the University of Maine Singers’ spring tour dates. Over spring break the group will perform five free public concerts in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The tour kicks off March 10 at First Baptist Church in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Posted in Arts, Outreach, School of Performing Arts, UMaine in the News |

SPA Students to Perform Child-Friendly Folktale

Thursday, February 27th, 2014

University of Maine School of Performing Arts students will perform “Baba Yaga and the Black Sunflower” at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at Al Cyrus Pavilion Theatre on campus.

Carol Korty, professor emerita at Emerson College and a guest artist at UMaine, wrote and directs the folktale recommended for children 8 and older. It contains themes about getting along with others, intuition, imagination and courage.

Two main characters are Baba Yaga, a wise, feared witch, and Maryushka, a young girl who feels like she doesn’t fit in. Baba Yaga is a Russian folktale character. She brews magic potions, is rumored to eat misbehaving children and lives in a five-sided talking hut that walks on giant chicken legs. She flies through the deep forest in a giant mortar that she steers with a pestle. Maryushka, who loves nature and is scared of it, has gotten into trouble and is determined to find a way out.

Korty hopes the play captures the essence of a traditional Russian Baba Yaga folktale as well as the feeling that she had and that other adolescents have of living in two different worlds — one with family and one with schoolmates.

During UMaine’s spring break, the cast and crew of “Baba Yaga and the Black Sunflower” will stage free performances at area schools, including in Bangor, Ellsworth, Hermon, Lincoln and Presque Isle. Tickets are available at the door for the March 22 performance at UMaine. Cost is $5 per person, or free with a valid student MaineCard.

Posted in Campus Announcements, Outreach, School of Performing Arts |

Media Report on University Singers’ Spring Tour

Wednesday, February 26th, 2014

The Village Soup advanced the March 11 University of Maine Singers concert that will take place at the Owls Head Transportation Museum. The show is one of five free public concerts the group is performing in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts over spring break. The Maine Edge also carried a report on the group’s tour.

Posted in Arts, Outreach, School of Performing Arts, UMaine in the News |

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