Posted on Feb 5, 2010

Matthew Jones, an internationally acclaimed violist and musicians’ health consultant, will present a lecture/demonstration on Alexander Technique and Kundalini Yoga and other wellness methods in Emerson Auditorium at the Taylor Music Center Monday, Feb. 15 at 4:30 p.m.

The event, titled “A Holistic Approach to Music-Making,” is sponsored by the Department of Music.

“Musicians, singers, and dancers are welcome to attend, as well as those with an interest in posture aches and pains, health and general well being,” said Hilary Tann, the John Howard Payne Professor of Music.  

A native of Wales who lives in London, Jones was 22 and a student at London’s Royal College of Music when a Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) resulted in serious tendonitis. He gave up music for several years while visiting specialists to find a cure, and along the way, he discovered Alexander Technique and yoga as a way to relieve tension.

The winner of numerous musical prizes, Jones is violist of the Bridge Duo and the Debussy Ensemble and professor of viola and chamber music at the Charterhouse International Music Festival. In 2008, he made his Carnegie Hall debut. He has worked extensively as a health consultant to musical organizations such as the European Union Youth Orchestra, Berklee School of Music and Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. 

He has recorded four CDs, including one of Tann’s chamber music.
 

Posted on Feb 5, 2010

A new exhibit in the Burns Atrium Gallery is a veritable feast of beauty, complexity and variety for the eyes. “Here and There: Two Degrees of Separation,” which opens Monday and runs through March 19, features 40 pieces by 20 printmakers. Ten are printmakers from the Capital Region, who invited an artist they admire from outside the area to participate. 

The show is the brainchild of Sandy Wimer, senior lecturer, printmaker and artist-in-residence at Union. It showcases prints made using traditional methods, as well as those created using newer, digital processes. The exhibit also includes letters from each area artist, in which they explain their own work and their reasons for inviting their chosen peer.

“I have always liked the satirical caricature tradition of works from Francesco de Goya to Honore Daumier in art history. The genre has both sting and grace,” printmaker Sunghee Park said in her statement. “I was delighted to see Manny Guerra make a series of small, satirical black-and-white etchings of Mexican-American stories.”

“I not only love Manny’s work, but I thought the contrast of my contemporary Asian sensibility with his Meso-American images would be an interesting mix for the show,” she added. “I am certain that showing our works together will be an exciting experience.”

Manny Guerra is from El Paso, Texas. For a complete list of participating artists, and access to images of their work and written statements, click here.

An opening reception will be held Thursday, Feb. 18 from 4-6 p.m. in the gallery.

Posted on Feb 5, 2010

Back for the second time this season, the young virtuosos of Trio Cavatina will share the stage in Memorial Chapel with talented mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford Sunday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m.

Trio pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute, violinist Harumi Rhodes and cellist Priscilla Lee, together with Mumford, will present a bicentennial birthday tribute to Chopin and Schumann. They will perform Chopin’s Cello Sonata, Trio and Nocturne in C, Op. 48, No. 1. The four musicians will also play Schumann’s Frauenliebe and Leben, Violin Sonata No. 1 in A, Op. 105, and Trio No. 1 in D, Op. 63.

Mumford, a native of Sandy, Utah, is a rising musical star. This season, she returns to the Metropolitan Opera for “Die Zauberflote,” “Il Trittico,” “Elektra,” and “Ariadne auf Naxos.” Mumford recently debuted at the Opera Company of Philadelphia in the title role of “The Rape of Lucretia” as well.

Mumford has also placed highly in prestigious contests, including the 2005 Sullivan Foundation Competition, the 2005 Connecticut Opera Guild Competition and the 2004 Joyce Dutka Foundation Competition. In 2005, she won the Arthur E. Walters Memorial Award in the Opera Index Competition.

Formed in 2005 during the renowned Marlboro Music Festival, Trio Cavatina is rapidly emerging as one of today’s most outstanding chamber ensembles. The group, which makes it Carnegie Hall debut in 2010, won the 2009 Naumburg Chamber Music Competition.

In addition to its classical and romantic repertoire, Trio Cavatina is committed to collaborating with living composers. They have worked closely with American composer Leon Kirchner, for instance, who will compose his third piano trio for them. The group will record all three of Kirchner’s trios for CD release and premiere in the 2010-2011 season.

The show is free to members of the Union community. General admission tickets cost $20, though area students may attend for $8. For a full Concert Series schedule, click here.

Posted on Feb 4, 2010

The Union College Chorale will perform “A Celebration of Walt Whitman Sunday, Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. in Memorial Chapel.  Included on the program will be two works based on the poetry of the great 19th century American poet.

First on the bill is “Dona nobis pacem” by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams featuring soprano Deborah Rocco and baritone Kenneth Carnes. A multi-movement piece, it weaves Whitman's poetry together with texts from the Old Testament and the Latin Ordinary of the Mass. The second piece, “The Song of Democracy,” by the American composer Howard Hanson was written in the 1950’s and captures the American spirit of exuberant hopefulness and optimism.

Both works will be accompanied by Professor of Engineering Palma Catravas and conducted by Victor Klimash, the Music Department’s director of performance. 

The Chorale is open by audition to all faculty, staff and students at Union as well as to members of the local community. Rehearsals are at Emerson Auditorium in the Taylor Music Center Monday evenings, 7-9 p.m. Contact Klimash at vklimash@aol.com for more information.

Posted on Feb 4, 2010

Young people from around the state are putting on their thinking caps and getting ready for the STEP (Science and Technology Entry Program) Regional Science Bowl this weekend. Sixteen STEP teams from around the state, made up of about 80 high school students, will compete Saturday, Feb. 6, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. at College Park Hall. President Stephen C. Ainlay will give the welcome address Saturday morning, and Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton is the keynote speaker.

STEP encourages historically underrepresented students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The Science Bowl is a “Jeopardy-style” contest in which teams compete in several rounds. Each squad is mentored by one of about a dozen institutions, including Monroe Community College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Syracuse University and the University at Albany. Union’s two teams are being coached by Chris Vargas ’10 and Peter Cardone ’10.

This is the first time Union is hosting the competition, now in its 20^th year. “Union shows its commitment to diversity and its dedication to fostering a more diverse interest in science, technology, engineering and math among young people,” said Angela Tatem, director of the Kenney Community Center, which oversees the College’s STEP initiatives. “The participants are empowered by the opportunity to see students who look like them battling for the chance to be the best in science and math.”

The final round of competition is scheduled for 1:50 p.m. Saturday, with an awards presentation at 2:15 p.m. The winning team will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. in May to compete in the national competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Saturday’s event is sponsored by the President’s Office. The Schenectady Museum is supplying free passes to all Science Bowl participants, and the New York State Department of Education provides support for Union’s STEP program. Fifty members of the Union community are volunteering to support the College’s STEP efforts and the Science Bowl. Several professors are involved, as are members of the Society of Physics Students, Chemistry Club, Biomechanical Engineering Society, Pre-Health Society, Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers, Lambda Pi Chi and SNMA-MAPS (Student National Medical Association-Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students).