Posted on Oct 19, 2005

Tri Julia Fisher, violin; Danjulo Ishizaka, cello; Milana Chernyavska, piano; are to play at Union College's Memorial Chapel on Friday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m. as part of the Union College Chamber Concert Series.

The trio's performance will include Beethoven's Trio in E flat, Op. 1 No. 1; Mendelssohn's Trio No. 1 in d, Op. 49; and Shostakovich's Trio in e, Op. 67. This is the North American debut performance of these three young virtuosi in a program of classic piano trios.

Acclaimed for her talent at the young age of 22, Julia Fischer has been hailed as an exceptional musician. She will perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on three occasions prior to arriving in the Capital Region. For the upcoming Christmas and New Year's concert season, she will return to play with the New York Philharmonic, with Lorin Maazel.

Danjulo Ishizaka is one of the world's great young cellists.  His remarkable technical abilities combined with his sensitive intonation and intelligent phrasing has led him around the globe, performing with such famous orchestras as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, and the Munich Chamber Orchestra.  A first prize winner at the international cello competition in Zaragoza, Spain in 1999 and the International Lutoslawki cello competition in Warsaw, Poland in 2001, Ishizaka is also a recording artist for the renowned Sony Classical label. 

International Record Review called young pianist Milana Chernyavska's playing “responsive” and “velvet-toned.”  Chernyavska, who hails from the Ukraine, has been invited to numerous music festivals and played large concert halls in Canada, the USA, Japan, and nearly all the countries of Europe.  An EMI recording artist, she has also won prizes at several distinguished international piano competitions.

Tickets are $20 for the general public and $8 for students; at the door one hour before the performance or available at the College Facilities Building, call 388-6080. For further information, call 372-3651 or visit the Union College website at www.union.edu.

Posted on Oct 19, 2005

Midsummer set in Hawaii at Yulman

Shakespeare's famous work about the trials and tribulations of love will take an island twist this year when Lloyd Waiwaiole, guest artist in costuming in Union College's Department of Theater & Dance, stages a Hawaiian-themed “A Midsummer Night's Dream.”

The show will be performed Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 1-5, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets are now on sale at the Yulman Theatre box office.

“Because I am Hawaiian and I value and embrace the Hawaiian culture, I wanted to combine this cultural aspect with the Shakespearean theme. They are truly compatible,” said Waiwaiole.

“I've done maybe 20 Midsummers in my career, and it's been a blessing to reconnect with my roots in this way and to share it with students. Two years ago I worked on an island midsummer, and it definitely influenced me. But that was more of a Caribbean shipwrecked thing; this is specifically Hawaiian.”

To add to the authenticity, Waiwaiole looked to his own family – specifically, sister Nalani Taylor, who flew in from Kauai to teach traditional hula dancing, chants and lei-making to the cast.

“The whole production is very challenging for the actors,” said Waiwaiole. “All the songs are in Hawaiian – we added 12 songs – and they're all learning the hula. In addition to creating a different culture, there's the whole Shakespearean text to learn. Bringing in Lani as choreographer and cultural advisor, to make the Hawaiian culture live on stage, has been a huge help.”

“It's a wonderful, beautiful culture that embraces the aloha, a sense of true respect for people and their surroundings.”

The two siblings (whose father toured the country in the 1950s in a Hawaiian band known as “Prince Pokii's Pacific Silhouettes”) last worked closely together in a high school play in California in the early 1970s.

“When Lloyd first had his brainstorm for this production, he called and said, 'I need you Lani. It's going to be a big one,'” Taylor recalled. “It's a unique and very creative production. Lloyd's got a wonderful vision, and I'm doing whatever I can to help him produce it. This is his baby, his dream.”

Midsummer involves more than 70 people, with 24 actors and a large technical crew. Set design, by Charles Steckler, also reflects an island sensibility. 

“The set has magical qualities,” Waiwaiole said. “Things appear and disappear. At one point, Titania takes a shower in the waterfall; one minute it's there, then it isn't. We change from location to location in a breath. Scenes take place at the bottom of the ocean and the top of a volcano.

“The fairy world in the piece is often portrayed as an ethereal and fragile environment. Ours is much more earthy and sensual. That was an intent of Shakespeare's at the time; at least, that's our interpretation.”

“It's a brilliant idea and it really works,” said Steckler of transposing the Bard's classic play into a Hawaiian dreamscape. “It is my task to evolve a beautiful Hawaiian isle as it might appear in a dream while providing an undulating stage space for the actors. We'll have palm trees, a spiraling bamboo ramp, a volcano spewing lava, volcanic rocks, a waterfall, a popcorn moon, an undersea scene with fish puppets and a gecko that climbs the proscenium.”

“People are excited, and the Union community has been very supportive,” said Waiwaiole, noting support from UNITAS, the ARTS and Blue Minerva houses, the Dean's Fund and an Intellectual Enrichment Grant.

Waiwaiole last took the reins on a campus play in February 2004, when he directed Tartuffe.

Midsummer Night's Dream features William A. Finlay, associate professor of theater, as producer and fight choreographer; and John Miller, the theater's technical director, as lighting designer.

Actors include Mandee Moondi as Titania, Jonathan Gerard '08 as Oberon, Jackie Offray Garrity as Helena, Rich Leahy '08 as Demetrius, Aneesah Dambreville '07 as Hermia, Sean Mulkerne '09 as Lysander, Cooper Braun-Enos '06 as Puck and Anthony Morello '09 as Bottom.

Tickets for the play are $7 for members of the Union College community and $10 for the public.

For more information, call the Yulman Theatre Box Office at 388-6545.

Posted on Oct 19, 2005

Alumni, students, parents and guests will be part of the festivities at Union College's Homecoming Family Weekend, Oct. 21-23. 

People from all over the country, some from as far as California, Texas and Florida will converge on Union's campus and the city of Schenectady.

“As always we anticipate an exciting fall weekend,” said Nick Famulare '92, Director of Alumni Relations. “We are well on our way to having more than 2000 people come back this year, which will meet and probably break our attendance record for this annual event.”  

Homecoming and Family Weekend 2005 features events ranging from athletic home games and Minerva House receptions, to tours, panel discussions and dinners.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for parents to experience campus life for a brief moment, said Lis Bischoff-Ormsbee, director of parents program. “They'll have the opportunity to meet our Interim President Jim Underwood, take a class, see an athletic event, learn about internships and terms abroad, attend the Parents Association Meeting, and just have time with their children.”

WRUC Anniversary

The college's radio station WRUC will celebrate its 85th anniversary being on-air. In 1920, Union students used makeshift equipment in a shed behind the electrical engineering lab to broadcast 27 minutes of music through the airwaves – widely considered the first scheduled radio broadcast in the country.

The “first station in the nation” continues to provide commercial free, student-run radio, featuring everything from jazz and rock to news and sports, on 89.7 FM and through its streaming Internet feed. Union alumni will step back into the booth as guest DJ's all weekend.

Terms Abroad

Union's dedication to international programs and travel will be highlighted by a reception and dinner for the Rennes (France) Term Abroad program on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Orange House.

Bill Thomas, director of International Programs, notes that 710 individuals have taken part in the term since 1969. The gathering to mark the 35-year milestone will bring together alumni, friends, current students, French exchange students and faculty members. 

Union Football

The Fighting Dutchmen Gridiron Club (comprised of current and former players, coaches and friends of the college's football team) will honor the 1985 and 1995 undefeated regular season teams at a special halftime presentation during Saturday's home game.

Weekend highlights include:

• President's welcome reception, Friday, 4:30-6 p.m., Nott Memorial


• Volunteer appreciation dinner, Friday, 5:30 p.m., Ballroom, College Park Hall


• Alumni Council meeting, Saturday, 9 a.m., Reamer Campus Center Auditorium


• Football vs. Coast Guard Academy, Saturday, 1 p.m., Frank Bailey Field


• WRUC 85th anniversary cocktail reception, Saturday, 4-6 p.m., Reamer Campus Center patio


• Union Women Connect career panel, Saturday, 4:30 p.m., F.W. Olin Center Auditorium

For the entire schedule go to http://www.union.edu/HFW/ or call 388-6168.

Posted on Oct 19, 2005

Union College will host three guest lecturers as part of the New York Council for the Humanities' Speakers in the Humanities program from Oct. 25 through Nov. 3, 2005.

The first lecture in the series will be given by Roland Dollinger, associate professor of German at Sarah Lawrence College. “Jewish Life and Culture in Postwar Germany” is the topic on Oct. 25, at 1:45 p.m. in Union College's Old Chapel.

Born in Augsburg, Germany, Dollinger studied at Augsburg, the University of Pittsburgh and at Princeton University, where he received a Ph.D. in literature in 1989. He is currently an associate professor at Sarah Lawrence, teaching German language, literature and cultural studies since 1990. He is the author of several books and articles on 18th, 19th and 20th-century German literature and culture.

The second lecture features Steven P. Scalet, visiting assistant professor of philosophy at State University of New York at Binghamton, who will speak on  “Corporate Social Responsibility” in Hale House on Nov. 3 from 4 to 5 p.m.

Scalet will address the question: Do corporations have responsibilities beyond maximizing profits and obeying the law?

Scalet posits that some corporations say they do not, and to expect more is to misunderstand the business system, while others contend that they do. He will present both perspectives.

The third lecture brings Sherrie Baver, associate professor of political science at City University of New York, who will speak on “Ciudad y Suburbia: The Changing Nature of Latino Immigration,” Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in F.W. Olin Center Room 115.

Baver teaches political science and Latin American studies at City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, focusing on the Hispanic Caribbean and mainland diasporas. She will examine Latino immigration, especially in New York and the Northeast. In the past, Baver said, Latino immigration meant establishing roots in cities. Today, many immigrants stay in cities for a short time or bypass them completely by moving to the suburbs. 

These programs, which are free and open to the public, are made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities' Speakers in the Humanities program.

Launched in 1983, Speakers in the Humanities is a series of more than 200 lectures by a renowned and diverse group of some 150 scholars. Guest speakers are made available to hundreds of cultural organizations and community groups across the state, an exciting program open to not-for-profit organizations, including high schools.

October is Humanities Month in New York state.

“This is a great opportunity to bring regional expertise to Union College and our area,” said Jill Salvo, director of government grants. “It gives our students the chance to hear about a range of topics in the field of humanities from faculty across the state.”

Each lecture is connected to a course taught at the College this term. Faculty memebrs selected the speakers. This is the first year Union will participate in the series.

Any not-for-profit organization in New York State is eligible to apply for the Speakers in the Humanities program. Each host organization may host up to four different speakers programs in a single calendar year.

Since 1975, the New York Council for the Humanities has actively nurtured the role of the humanities in the intellectual and cultural life of New York state. As a not-for-profit, independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Council works with more than 4,000 cultural institutions such as libraries, historical sites, museums, art galleries, colleges and universities, and community centers to bring innovative, thought-provoking programs to more than a quarter of a million New Yorkers annually.

Posted on Oct 18, 2005

To: Members of the Union College Community
From: Frank Messa '73, Presidential Search Committee Chairman
Subject: Presidential Search Committee Activities Update

With Homecoming Weekend upon us, I wanted to provide an update on the activities of the Presidential Search Committee. As of my last report, our Committee had met in August to narrow the candidate pool to 12 prospects. During the month of August, additional telephone interviews and reference checks were completed by committee members and the candidate pool was further narrowed to 8 individuals.

On September 23-24, our committee conducted face to face interviews for approximately two hours with each of the eight candidates at an undisclosed location in the Capital District. Following these group interviews, the committee met and selected three finalists for the next stage of the process. All three candidates were invited to follow-up interviews on our campus. During the weeks of October 3, and October 10, each of the candidates and their spouses visited Union for a two-day series of meetings, interviews, and social events. In addition to meeting with members of the Presidential Search Committee, each candidate met with selected members of the college community including the Faculty Executive Committee, senior Administration officers, and students.

Having received feedback from everyone involved in these meetings, the members of the Presidential Search Committee are in the process of completing additional reference checks on each of the candidates with the expectation of making a presentation to the Board of Trustees at the upcoming meeting during Homecoming Weekend.

Posted on Oct 17, 2005

Albany, N.Y. (Oct. 17, 2005) – Men's hockey player Olivier Bouchard (Quebec City, QUE) has been selected as the ECAC Hockey League Player of the Week for the week ending October 16th for his efforts in Union's home-opening weekend. The junior combined for four goals and three assists in a pair of games, including his first career hat trick against Sacred Heart to give the Dutchmen their first win of the season. Freshman T.J. Fox (Oswego, N.Y) was named to the honor roll after registering a goal and an assist.

Bouchard's three-goal outburst, the first since teammate Scott Seney scored three goals in a game at Princeton back on November 19, 2004, was capped off with his third power play goal of the game at 6:14 of the third period against the Pioneers in a 5-2 victory. He also netted the game-winner early in the second period at 2:23 and added an assist on Union's final goal. 

In a 4-4 tie against Connecticut Bouchard scored Union's second go-ahead goal of the game at 7:55 of the second period. He also assisted on Union's first and third goals. Bouchard leads the team with four goals and eight points on the season and is tied for the lead with four assists. He also sits atop the ECACHL in goals and points, and is tied for second in assists.

Against the Huskies Fox scored his second goal of the season, a power play tally, at 16:44 of the second period. He also got his first assist of the season on Union's first goal of the game. He is currently second among freshman with three points on the season.