Posted on May 24, 2007

Bohemia comes to campus this fall, thanks to an exciting Washington National Opera initiative aiming at making opera more accessible for young people.

The well-known opera company said it planned to simulcast a live matinee performance of Puccini’s “La Bohème” – the story that inspired the hit Broadway rock musical “Rent” – to at least 19 universities, colleges and high schools across the country.

The three-hour performance will feature Adriana Damato singing the role of Mimi and Vittorio Grigolo as Rodolfo. Mariusz Trelinski will direct.

The performance, which originates at the Kennedy Center Opera House, also will be simulcast outdoors at the Washington Monument, an annual event begun two years ago that has attracted thousands of viewers.

"This project gives an audience that might not have had much exposure to opera the chance to get up close and personal with one of the classics of the repertoire in a high-quality production,” said Tim Olsen, chair of Union’s Music Department.

Union’s simulcast will be shown in the new Taylor Music Center's Fred L. Emerson Foundation Auditorium, which can hold up to 171 people.

“We’re very excited about showing off the state-of-the-art technology built into our new Emerson Auditorium,” Olsen said. He noted that while other campus venues were considered, the logistics of preparing them for the simulcast made Emerson the best choice.

Instrumental in tapping Union for the operatic event was Hans Black ’74, chairman of Interinvest Consulting Corp., a global money management firm in Montréal. Black is a member of the opera company’s Board of Trustees, which is picking up the estimated $500,000 for the widespread simulcasts.

“We are so happy to make this simulcast free, not only to our university partners across the country, but also to local students and anyone who wants a taste of top-quality opera,” said Plácido Domingo, the Washington Opera’s general director.

The free tickets will be available to members of the campus community in September. Any unclaimed tickets will be offered to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. The College also is looking for ways to expand audience access to the performance, including streaming it on the Web.

“This project shows the commitment of both Washington National Opera and Union College to providing innovative cultural and learning experiences for the community,” Olsen said.  

Posted on May 24, 2007

“We left safe places and we had to stretch out into the unknown,” said Margaret Patterson Green ’72. “My only regret about my two years at Union is that it could not have been four.”

Green, a high school teacher and former respiratory therapist and supervisor who lives in Sarasota, Fla., was one of the original women of Union. She and about two dozen others transferred to Union in 1970 during the College’s first year of co-education. Two years later, they became the first-ever female graduates. 

As part of the 35th ReUnion Committee for the Class of 1972, Green helped organize the luncheon for her pioneering classmates, to be held in the Upper Class Dining Room at Reamer Campus Center, Friday, June 1, at 11:30 a.m.   

Margaret Patterson transferred from the all-female Russell Sage College in nearby Troy to Union College, where her brother, Richard E. Patterson Jr., was a member of the Class of 1970. She was often the only woman in pre-med science courses and said most of the male students and professors were friendly and supportive. By the end of her senior year, she had finished much of her pre-med work and set off to study abroad in Europe with Professor Frederick Klemm.      

“Professor Klemm knew that I loved music. And there we were in Vienna, Austria, the city where music was practically born. He arranged for me to sing with the Vienna Conservatory. I was just in heaven to be 21 and singing on the stage with the Vienna Conservatory,” Green recalled.  

More than 1,500 alumni are expected for ReUnion 2007, scheduled for May 31-June 3. For more details, visit www.union/edu/ReUnion.

Posted on May 23, 2007

The campus community will be treated to a free simulcast of a live matinee performance of Puccini’s 'La Boheme' by the renowned Washington National Opera this fall.

Union is among 32 schools tapped to show the three-hour performance, which begins 2 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Opera House Sunday, Sept. 23.

Union’s simulcast will be shown in the new Fred L. Emerson Auditorium in the Taylor Music Center.

A limited number of free tickets will be available to the campus community beginning Sept. 5 by calling 388-6785, or visiting Visual Arts 101.

Any remaining tickets will be available to the general public starting Sept. 17. For more information, call 388-6201.

“This project is important because it gives an audience that might not have had much exposure to opera the chance to get up close and personal with one of the classics of the repertoire in a high-quality production,” said Tim Olsen, chair of the Music Department.

Olsen said several sites were considered for the simulcast, including larger venues like Memorial Chapel and the Reamer Campus Center auditorium. But he said the logistics of preparing those facilities for the simulcast made Emerson the best choice.

“We’re very excited about showing off the state-of-the-art technology built into our new Emerson Auditorium,” he said.

The performance will be directed by Mariusz Trelinski and feature Adriana Damato as Mimi and Vittorio Grigolo as Rodolfo.

For the past two years, Washington National Opera has presented a free live outdoor simulcast at the Washington Monument that has attracted tens of thousands of viewers. In addition, a simulcast was made available to several movie theaters in the region.

The idea to expand the simulcasts to schools is part of an effort to reach young opera lovers.

 “What a wonderful way to draw younger audiences to opera with this innovative new production,” said Placido Domingo, general director of the Washington National Opera. “We are so happy to present this simulcast free to our school partners across the country and anyone who wants a taste of top quality opera.”

Hans Black ’74 was instrumental in having Union join the simulcast with other institutions such as Princeton University, Wellesley College and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Chairman of Interinvest Consulting Corp., a global money management firm based in Montreal, Black is a member of the opera company’s board of trustees, which is picking up the estimated $500,000 tab for the widespread simulcasts.

“This project shows the commitment of both Washington National Opera and Union College to providing innovative cultural and learning experiences for the community,” Olsen said.

Posted on May 22, 2007

The Union College Cycling club will stage a three-hour charity ride 11 a.m. Saturday, May 26 to benefit United Way of Schenectady County.

Registration costs $20 and begins at 9 a.m. in the south end of the parking lot off Seward Place. 

The idea for the ride came from UCC President Steven Hopengarten '09 and club advisor Stephen G. Romero, assistant professor of psychology, as a way to promote the sport of cycling and its health benefits to the Union community and the public while also helping a local charity.

“We’re anticipating cyclists from the campus and Capital Region will participate in the ride,” said Hopengarten. “We’re hoping the event will make Union Cycling become more recognized in both the campus and local communities.”

UCC members will lead the procession from the campus. Riders can choose either a 25-mile or 50-mile loop. Both routes combine sightseeing and rolling hills through the surrounding areas of Schenectady County. Food and water will be provided at rest stops.

Following the ride, Delta Kappa Epsilon will host a barbecue for all riders and volunteers in the parking lot of Fox Residence Hall. DKE members Jason Melville '07 and Alex Leisenring '08 are members of UCC.

Union College Cycling provides competitive cycling opportunities for students and recreational riding for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community.

For information on volunteering Saturday, contact Megan Allen at megan@uwschdy.org. For information on the ride, contact UCC President Steven Hopengarten at hopengs2@union.edu.

For more information about cycling at Union, visit Union College Cycling.

Posted on May 22, 2007

A memorial service for Joseph Finkelstein ’47, professor emeritus of history, economics and management, will be Sunday, May 27, at 2 p.m. in the gazebo behind the Reamer Campus Center in the gardens he adored.

In the event of rain, the service will be moved to the Schaffer Library’s Phi Beta Kappa Room. A reception will follow at Finklestein’s home in Schenectady.

Finkelstein, whose teaching career at Union spanned nearly five decades, died last Nov. 6.

“Joe will be remembered by his colleagues and students for his good humor, his high standards, his deep commitment to the College, and his spirited, collegial discussion of issues large and small,” said Therese McCarty, interim dean of faculty.

Finkelstein, a native of Troy, N.Y., majored in social studies at Union, and began teaching history classes a year before graduating. He went on to earn a master’s degree and doctoral degree from Harvard University in 1952. He did post-doctorate research under a Fulbright Fellowship at the London School of Economics, and later returned to Union in 1953, becoming a full professor 10 years later.

He specialized in economic history, in particular the interaction of technology and society. He was the author of The American Economy: From the Great Crash to the Third Industrial Revolution (1992). He edited a 1989 collection, Windows on a New World, that compared the inventions of the automobile and the silicon chip and their impacts on economic development. He also co-authored Economists and Society: The Development of Economic Thought from Aquinas to Keynes (1973).

At Union, he was instrumental in developing the Graduate Management Institute, now Union Graduate College. He lived in Japan for two terms as professor in residence at Kansai Gadai University. Among his many service contributions at Union, he was interim editor of the Union College Alumni Review and coordinator of student activities.

He retired in 1996, predicting in his usual dry wit, “I’m going to do exactly the same things I’ve been doing – except I won’t be teaching classes or going to meetings.”

Indeed, in retirement he remained a fixture on campus. He was a frequent participant at faculty meetings, where colleagues reveled in his institutional knowledge and his clever engagement of college officials, his voice rising in pitch as debate intensified. At one meeting, when then-President Roger Hull tried to conclude an exchange by saying, “Joe, we’ll have to agree to disagree,” Finkelstein shot back: “I would never agree to that!”

An avid gardener, he traveled to the world’s botanical destinations. He was known for raising rhododendrons and azaleas at his homes in Schenectady and Cape Cod. A certified master gardener, he was active in a number of gardening organizations and volunteered his expertise to other gardeners in the community.

An organizer of the Schenectady Museum, he served on the board of directors and as its president.

Survivors include his wife, Nadia Ehrlich; three children, Sharon Finkelstein of Schenectady; Jonathan Finkelstein of Lexington, Mass; and Neal Finkelstein of Oakland, Calif.; five grandchildren; and his brother, Morris Finkelstein, of Albany, N.Y..

His family held private services in Boston.