Jon Hendricks performs at Artomatic 419

One of Toledo’s biggest art events is happening this month, and The University of Toledo College of Visual and Performing Arts is in the middle of the action. At Artomatic 419! more than 20 individual visual artists with ties to UT – current students, former students, faculty and alumni – plus five classes have art on display. In addition, six musical groups, a group of student actors, and a faculty puppeteer are on the performance slate.

This community arts event, produced by The Arts Commission and Toledo’s creative community, is held this year at 911 N. Summit Street. Participation in Artomatic 419! is one example of the CVPA’s involvement in the Toledo arts community. Through their participation, students gain connections in Toledo’s creative community and increase community awareness of UT talent.

A few students are gaining first-hand experiences in arts administration and marketing through Artomatic 419!, by participating in semester-long internships with The Arts Commission, Hannah Evans focuses on projects dealing with event logistics, visual arts and volunteer coordination. Caitlyn Witt oversees University outreach, and assists with marketing the event. Aria Johnson designed the Artomatic 419! event programs, which are handed out to each event attendee.

The creations of several UT Art classes are on display this year at Artomatic 419! Their work ranges from the tech-influenced 3D portrait busts of Seder Burns’ Digital Photography class to the personal expression and experimentation of Dan Hernandez’s Explorations in Drawing class to the whimsy of Prinstallation,  an edifice consisting of colorful, ubiquitous images printed on cardboard boxes created during a summer class taught by Arturo Rodriguez. The spring 2013 Gallery Practices class is showing an installation drawn from its Nexus exhibition, focusing on categorization and found objects. Social issues are addressed, as well. One Million Bones, a national project using art to bring attention to social issues in Africa, is represented by a collection of ceramic bones made by students of Karen Roderick-Lingeman and Adam Shiverdecker. Selections from sculpture students are also on display at the event.

Among the UT Art alums in the exhibition: Jody Russ and her site-specific installation of rope and scissors; Helen Grubb and her portraits on shrinky-dink jewelry; Tinola Mayfield-Guerrero, who exhibits with the Launchpad Collective; Courtney Macklin and her tiny hand-bound books to be read while wearing elegant white gloves; Clifton Harvey and his colorful, intricate illustrations; and Hannah Lehmann and Julia Labay, with an installation of shadow puppets seen against screens sewn from clothing and fabric scraps.

Performers have included students Estar Cohen, Dan Palmer, Ben Maloney, and Travis Aukerman; a puppet show by Erica Frank; selected scenes from the spring 2013 UT production of Three Sisters; the UT Opera Ensemble, led by UT Opera Director Denise Ritter-Bernardini; and Jon Hendricks, accompanied by Olman Piedra and Norman Damschroder.

This Saturday, April 27 – Check out these UT performances/events

• 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Brass Quintet with Wesley Forney; Percussion Ensemble led by Olman Piedra; and the Contemporary Arts Ensemble led by Jay Weik. (Violet Stage)
• 3:15-5:15 p.m. Pamela Stover will lead an Orff-Schulwerk Workshop. (Blue Room)
• 4 p.m. Glacity Underground Cabaret, led by Edmund Lingan, will perform (Green Room on the second floor)

The non-juried biennial event provides exhibition opportunities for visual artists and performance opportunities for musicians, actors, filmmakers, and more. Artomatic 419! presents an occasion to meet and interact with all facets of the local arts community, and a space to realize experimental projects for a receptive audience. The event is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on one more date: Saturday, April 27. The event is located at 911 N. Summit Street and features performances on three stages, in addition to the work of 400+ visual artists on display in several buildings.

Blues artists Betsy Marshall (left) and Mary Martin

 

The annual Spring Festival of New Music, presented by The University of Toledo Department of Music, showcases a range of genres of new works of music. This year’s festival celebrates new music for chamber ensembles and electronic music media. Highlights of this year’s Festival include the announcement of the winners of the 25^th Annual Craig’s Keyboards/UT Young Composers Contest, and will conclude with a performance from guest blues artists, Martin and Marshall.

 

The concert schedule:  (The following concerts are at 7 p.m. in the UT Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall. Each of these events is free.)

• Wednesday, April 3 – Faculty Chamber Music Recital (Winners of the competition for best student and amateur compositions for brass quintet, will be announced)
• Thursday, April 4 – Student Chamber Music Recital
• Friday, April 5 – Concert opens with performance of new electronic music, presented by graduate student Christina Eck, followed by blues artists, Martin and Marshall in concert

Glenn Ruihley didn’t graduate from The University of Toledo, and he didn’t have a career in music. But when he passed away at the age of 87 in December 2011, he chose to make an estate gift to benefit UT’s music department as the way to best honor his parents as well as his family’s love of the arts.

Raised in Toledo, Dr. Ruihley earned a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Michigan and a doctorate in history at the University of Wisconsin. He served in the United State Army and worked for the U.S. State Department, stationed in Paris and in Guayaquil, Ecuador. While serving as a diplomatic courier for the State Department, he enjoyed traveling throughout the world.

After returning to the United States, he served as an English professor at Eastern Michigan University, teaching poetry for many years until his retirement. (read more)

After nearly 20 years, UT will perform its first full opera—Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Medium”—November 9 and 10 in the UT Center for Performing Arts Studio Theatre. The performance, called “Murder, Mayhem and The Medium,” will open with several macabre opera classics, followed by a brief intermission and then “The Medium” in its entirety. The whole performance will last about 90 minutes.

Assistant professor of voice and director of the UT Opera program, Dr. Denise Ritter Bernardini says the production is a collaborative effort between the UT Departments of Music and Theatre & Film. Associate professor of theatre, Cornel Gabara, will direct the performance. Gabara is also directing the Toledo Symphony production of “Soldier’s Tale,” and he also directed the Symphony’s 2011 Carnegie production of “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.”

Dr. Bernardini says she is thrilled that the production is taking place. “In more recent years the UT Opera ensemble has performed only selections from operas. Since we announced that we were doing a full opera, enrollment in UT Opera has tripled.”

She adds that much thought went into the decision to perform “The Medium.” “I wanted something that was very accessible to the audience, something fun that even people who are new to opera would enjoy. And something that would showcase the talents of our graduate students.”

“The Medium” is the story of crafty and often cruel medium who finds herself questioning her line of work when one of séances goes awry and a mysterious experience leads her from suspicion to paranoia and ultimately, to tragedy.

Performances are Friday and Saturday, November 9 and 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the UT Center for Performing Arts Studio Theatre. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.

There is no charge for admission to these performances; a $10 donation per ticket is requested but not required. Tickets are available at the door, but since seating is very limited, it is suggested that they be reserved in in advance by calling the UT Department of Music at 419.530.2448.

Save the Date! The UT Opera will present its inaugural Holiday Opera Gala, Sunday, December 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Doermann Theater in University Hall. (main campus)

Dr. Michael Boyd, Professor of Piano, University of Toledo

University of Toledo professor of piano, Dr. Michael Boyd was invited to co-direct and perform on the Beethoven Tour 2012, which included visits to Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium and Germany. The summer tour featured concerts, lectures and rare excursions to places of significance in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, including his birthplace in Bonn and Vienna, where he spent most of his life and career.

The tour has been an annual event for 14 years. Normally, it is organized by William Wellborn, a pianist who teaches piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Adam Wibrowski of the Conservatory of Paris. Due to illness, Wellborn was unable to serve as director or to perform, so he asked Dr. Boyd.

Dr. Boyd was tremendously honored to be asked. “This tour is one of the best of its kind, because of the unique and historically significant places we were able to visit and to perform in. I presented several lectures throughout the tour in different places. The most memorable was on a visit to the cemetery where Beethoven is buried. I presented the original oration that was written for his funeral—translated into English—but in the very place where it was originally given. That was one of the highlights of the tour for me.”

“I also performed and presented a lecture at the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels. My program and the lecture were on two Beethoven piano sonatas. It was really a great experience to play in a setting with so much historical importance.” The museum (also known as “the MIM”) is famous for its collection of instruments from many periods of musical history, including the period in which Beethoven lived.

Dr. Boyd performed the Piano Sonata Op. 31, No. 3 in E flat major and Op. 57 (the appassionato) in F minor. The concert and lecture was open to the public and was attended by more than 200 people from the area and around the world.

Dr. Boyd’s biography: http://www.utoledo.edu/cvpa/music/faculty/m_boyd.html
UT Department of Music at http://www.utoledo.edu/cvpa/music/

Aura Strohschein

UT Music alumna, Aura Strohschein (Master of Music) will be presenting a paper at the upcoming Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Collegiate Chapters Piano Pedagogy Symposium in Cincinnati http://pianosymposium.com/  She is also working on a book, “Creative Pedagogy for Piano Teachers: Musical Games and Aural Pedagogical Techniques as a Dynamic Supplement for Teaching Piano,” which she co-authored with Jeff Agrell, UI horn professor.

Aura graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, IN with a Bachelor of Music in piano performance and a Bachelor of Arts in French with university honors. She studied piano at the Conservatoire National de Region de Lille in France for three years under the direction of Bernard Lerouge. She obtained her Master of Music degree from the University of Toledo, studying piano with Dr. Michael Boyd. She is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Iowa under the instruction of Dr. Rene Lecuona.

Gene Perla, jazz bassist

Jazz bassist, Gene Perla will join the UT faculty jazz ensemble, CrossCurrents on stage in the UT Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall, tonight, Tuesday October 16 at 8 p.m. Perla also performed to a packed house with the group at its Monday UTJazz Night at Crystal’s Lounge last night. Perla, a UT alumnus, has also been on campus working with students, teaching and sharing his knowledge.

Below is his bio, or visit his web site at  http://www.perla.org/

GENE PERLA grew up in northeastern New Jersey attending public school grades 1-12. After one year of postgraduate study at New York Military academy he entered the University of Toledo majoring in civil engineering and business. He then attended Berklee School of Music and Boston Conservatory before heading to New York City.

At age five Gene’s musical studies began with Classical piano. Upon entering high school he was given a trombone, which he played for five years culminating in marching on Fifth Avenue in New York City as part of the Memorial Day Parade. During high school he became aware of Jazz and was thrilled to attend the first New York performance of Ted Heath?s Big Band at Carnegie Hall. It wasn’t until his last year at UT that his interest in music became primary.

After struggling with too many notes, and thanks to Charlie Haden?s performance on Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come, Perla, at 24, switched to bass as his main instrument. Not long after arriving in the City his talents became in demand and he found joy in performing with artists such as Willie Bobo, Carlos “Patato” Valdes, Nina Simone, Woody Herman, Sarah Vaughan, Elvin Jones, Thad/Mel Lewis, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, and Frank Sinatra.

As an educator Mr. Perla has taught as William Paterson University, New School University, Center for the Media Arts and is currently at Lehigh University. Sound design has been a significant endeavor yielding credits on Broadway shows, them parks and custom installations.

Having a business sense, Gene has continuously expanded his activities to include music publishing, record labels, recording studios, promotional firms, Internet design and hosting and computer networking businesses as vehicles for his ideas.

Pianist, Ryan Behan

Ryan Behan will visit the University Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6 and 7, and be the first artist to perform in the fall Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Series.

His program will include works by Beethoven, Debussy, Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff.

The pianist will present a master class at 10 a.m Saturday and a recital at 3 p.m. Sunday. The free, public events will be held in the Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall.

Behan, an adjunct faculty member at Ohio State University, has won acclaim from audiences in Europe and the United States as a soloist and collaborative pianist.

He recently presented a solo concert series for the bicentennial celebrations of Liszt, Chopin and Schumann.

Winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Behan has served as a collaborative pianist for the Mozarteum International Sommerakademie in Salzburg and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, He regularly performs with members of the Columbus Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic and Indianapolis Symphony.

The Toledo Piano Teachers Association assists with The University of Toledo Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Series. The association provides students for the master class, publicity for the class and concert, and refreshments for the reception in the lobby following the concert.

For more information on the series, contact Dr. Michael Boyd, UT professor of music, at michael.boyd@utoledo.edu or 419.530.2183.

UTJazz Friends and fans:

Welcome to a UTJazz new concert season. The UTJazz nights will start up this coming MONDAY, September 17th – from 7:30-10:30pm at Crystal’s Lounge in the Ramada Inn (Secor and I-475).

We will be doing a similar format as last year; The UT Faculty group, CrossCurrents will perform the first set, followed by a great student group, and finally a jam session.

We also have some fun special events planned, including:

 A 91st Birthday celebration for the great JON HENDRICKS (including a performance by him of course) –

An 80th Birthday celebration for Toledo’s own, CLAUDE BLACK

And an appearance by the legendary jazz bassist, GENE PERLA

Among other great stuff! Hope you can come out and enjoy.

The cover is only $5 for the general Public and $3 for students and Seniors – -parking is FREE and there is a full bar and restaurant so it is always a fun night.

Hope to see you this coming Monday and tell your friends!

Gunnar Mossblad
Director of Jazz Studies

(Reposted from Pam Stover’s Facebook wall)

Well, after my little “University of Iowa” bash below (or sideways depending on Timeline), I am happy to announce that fellow IOWA grads, Dr. Stan Schleuter and Dr. Lois Schleuter will be speaking at the University of Toledo Music Education Lab at 8 am on Friday.

They studied with Dr. Edwin Gordon while at Iowa. Lois was chair of the Music Department at the University of Toledo. Stan was my (and Tim Brakel’s) mentor at Indiana University.

I hope that all of our music education majors will attend MED lab on Friday, whether you are required to be there or not! Come and have your questions ready.

It will be good to see the Schleuters again!