Posted on Feb 12, 2009

Posted on Feb 12, 2009

Cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han rank among the most esteemed classical musicians in the world. On Sunday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m., they will give their 17^th Chamber Concert Series performance in Memorial Chapel.

The pair will be joined by violinist Philip Setzer who, like Finckel, is a member of the renowned Emerson String Quartet. The three musicians will present selections from Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat and Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat.

Finckel and Han, artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, perform each season at some of the country’s most prestigious venues, including Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and Atlanta’s Spivey Hall. Internationally, the pair has played in Mexico, Canada, Scandinavia and Europe. In recent years, they have gained recognition for their initiatives in expanding audiences for classical music and for guiding the careers of countless young musicians.

Guest artist Setzer studied at the Juilliard School with Oscar Shumsky. He is the recipient of a bronze medal at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Brussels in 1976. A professor of violin and chamber music at Stony Brook University, he has appeared with the National Symphony, Aspen Chamber Orchestra, Memphis Symphony and other prestigious ensembles.

Sunday’s concert is free for the Union College community, $25 for general admission and $10 for area students. For tickets, call (518) 388-6080; for more information on the Union College Concert Series, call (518) 372-3651 or visit http://www.union.edu/ConcertSeries/.

Posted on Feb 11, 2009

Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts, whose improbable real-life story was the subject of the blockbuster 2007 film, “American Gangster,” will speak Tuesday, Feb. 24, in the Nott Memorial.

The 5:30 p.m. talk is free and open to the public.

In the 1970s, Lucas was a ruthless drug dealer who ruled the streets of Newark and Harlem. He and his gang made millions by smuggling pure heroin inside the coffins of American soldiers returning home from Vietnam.

Roberts was a tough-guy cop-turned prosecutor from New Jersey determined to bring Lucas to justice. He pursued Lucas relentlessly, and Lucas was finally arrested in 1975. A year later, he was convicted on federal drug charges.

Lucas, who once put a hit out on Roberts, faced a sentence of 70 years to life, but served only seven years after his main nemesis convinced him to become a government informant. The cooperation by Lucas helped lead to the conviction of other criminals and corrupt police officers.

Roberts eventually became a defense attorney; his first client was Lucas. The two developed a close friendship, visiting with each other and talking weekly. Roberts is also the godfather to Lucas’s son, Ray, 12, and helps pay his private school tuition.

Roberts and Lucas frequently appear together to discuss their story and to de-glamorize the criminal life that drew the interest of Hollywood.

In the movie, which has grossed more than $265 million worldwide, Denzel Washington played the part of Lucas, with Russell Crowe as the Roberts character.

A free screening of the movie will be shown at 7 p.m. in the Reamer Campus Center auditorium the night before the talk by Lucas and Roberts. Both events are sponsored by the Speakers Forum.

Posted on Feb 11, 2009

Feb. 14 through March 1
Mandeville Gallery
Nott Memorial
2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition

The 10^th annual show will feature select works in all mediums from students in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and southern Saratoga counties. Curated by Mandeville Gallery Director Rachel Seligman, Visual Arts Prof. Fernando Orellana and Theater Prof. Charles Steckler. Closing reception Sunday, March 1, 1-3 p.m.  Also, reception set for Friday, Feb. 20, 5-7 p.m., in conjunction with Art Night Schenectady. 

Through March 2
Wikoff Student Gallery
Nott Memorial
Slow Motion 

Have you ever dropped a glass and wondered what’s physically happening in that split second when it shatters? The images by Dan Phakos ’11 were created in a controlled environment where the sound of impact triggers a strobe light, illuminating the scene for a fraction of second, long enough to capture the image on film. The result is perfectly frozen motion of an object being broken apart; a sight too fast to be captured by the human eye. “Slow Motion” is co-sponsored by the departments of Physics and Visual Arts.  

Through March 13
Arts Atrium Gallery
Visual Arts Department
Works by James McGarrell

This exhibit features “Orbiana Oliveto,” a suite of monotype drawings by Vermont artist James McGarrell with related poems by noted poet Rosanna Warren, as well as a selection of small paintings. McGarrell’s works have been exhibited since 1955 in galleries and museums in the Unites States and Europe, including in five Whitney Museum Annuals and Biennials, two Carnegie International Exhibitions and the American pavilion of the 1968 Venice Biennale. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Whitney, the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, among others.

Warren has served as chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and The New York Times Resident in Literature at the American Academy in Rome. She is a contributing editor of Seneca Review, the poetry editor of Daedalus and the Emma MacLachlan Metcalf Professor of the Humanities at Boston University.

McGarrell will speak Thursday, March 5, 2 p.m., in Reamer Campus Center Auditorium, followed by an artists' reception in the Arts Atrium, 4:30-6 p.m. Warren will give a poetry reading 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Visual Arts Room 215. Events are co-sponsored by departments of Visual Arts and English.

Through March 24
Schaffer Library Atrium
Union Notables

The third Union Notables exhibit, a rotating show of extraordinary people from the College, features John Bigelow, Class of 1835; Sue J. Goldie, ’84; and Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Union faculty member from 1902 to 1923.

Posted on Feb 11, 2009

Union will host the 2009 High School Regional Juried Art Exhibition this month, highlighting works in all mediums from students in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and southern Saratoga counties.

The art will be on display at the Mandeville Gallery Saturday, Feb. 14 through Sunday, March 1.

Modeled after a similar event developed by the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, it has evolved into an annual event that rotates between Union, the Opalka Gallery at Sage College and the Deitel Gallery at the Emma Willard School. Union is hosting the show, now in its 10th year, for the third time.

“We’re delighted to have it back,” Mandeville Gallery Director and Curator Rachel Seligman said.

“It’s such a great opportunity, not only for our community to see what high school students are doing and for students to experience a juried exhibit at an actual gallery, but for the students to get a chance to visit campus, as well.”

Seligman is one of the show’s jurors, along with Fernando Orellana, assistant professor of visual arts, and Charles Steckler, professor of theater.

This, week, the jurors were sifting through some 300 pieces, from which they will select more than 100.

Awards will be presented at the show’s closing reception, Sunday, March 1, 1-3 p.m.

In addition, there will be a reception during Art Night Schenctady Friday, Feb. 20, 5-7 p.m.

The exhibit is free and open to the public.