LOCAL NEWS

Fighting malaria with music

International rising star and activist, African guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, will perform in the University of Dayton Arts Series 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30 in Kennedy Union's Boll Theatre, showcasing his unique Malian blues and drawing attention to the global fight against malaria.

Touré will perform in the first of three 2007 World Rhythms Series concerts produced in partnership between the University and Cityfolk, capping a series of campus events to raise awareness about the disease.

Son of the late Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, the younger Touré works through the UNICEF “Fight Malaria” campaign to raise awareness about the deadly disease. Malaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide, causing an estimated million deaths annually.

In conjunction with Touré’s performance, the University of Dayton will hold several events and lectures on the fight against malaria:

• A panel of UD students who have contracted malaria will discuss the impact of the disease on their lives from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22 in Sears Recital Hall. Films about malaria around the world, and Touré and his father will also be shown.

• Internationally recognized malaria researcher and president of the newly-created European Research Council, Fotis Kafatos will speak 4:30 p.m. Friday Oct. 26 in Science Center 114. Kafatos is also chair of the department of immunogenomics at Imperial College London, where he studies the malaria-carrying mosquito.

• Throughout the week, UD student-athletes will be working to promote Nothing but Nets, a nonprofit organization using a grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, through fundraising efforts and purchase of anti-malaria bed nets.

Touré’s recently released debut album has met with critical success and he was featured this summer in a National Geographic Live! Concert in California. He has created his own version of the acoustic, guitar-driven blues style pioneered by his father who was called “Africa’s greatest bluesman.”
Tickets for Touré’s concert are $18 for the public; for $16 UD faculty, staff and alumni; and $9 for students. For tickets, call the UD box office at 937-229-2545.

Hear Vieux Farka Touré’s music at http://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com.

Blues and news from New Orleans

The music of a resilient New Orleans comes to the University of Dayton when Delta blues harmonica player J.D. Hill takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21 in Sears Recital Hall at the 15th annual Humanities Symposium.

Hill, who received one of the first homes in Habitat for Humanity's New Orleans Musicians' Village after Hurricane Katrina, will be accompanied by guitarist Kenny Holladay.

After their performance in Sears Hall, which includes "Babe You Don't Have to Go," "Ain't Got a Home" and "Highway 39," they'll move on to ArtStreet, where they'll jam with music professor Willie Morris III, Eric Suttman and UD students.

Hill comes to campus as part of the 15th annual Humanities Symposium, “Race, Class and History: New Orleans Post Katrina," and will be joined on stage by the Rev. Inman Houston, director of the Habitat for Humanity Musicians’ Village.

Houston, a pastor at the First Baptist Church of New Orleans, will speak about the role of faith communities in reconstructing New Orleans and about Musicians Village, a 70-home project for low-income musicians and those displaced by the hurricane.

Hill, who performed for President Bush when he visited Musicians’ Village in 2006, has been featured in Rolling Stone, recently filmed a commercial with Harry Connick Jr. for Lincoln Continental and will appear in an episode of This Old House on PBS.

For more information call 937-229-3490 or go to http://universityofdayton.blogs.com/newsinfo/2007/08/race-class-and-.html.

Klezmer music to ring out

Susanne Ortner, an internationally-known klezmer clarinetist will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 11, at Sears Recital Hall in the Jesse Philips Humanities Center on campus, bringing the lively sounds of this upbeat, distinctively Jewish music to Dayton.

The event is cosponsored by Dayton Christian Jewish Dialogue and the UD departments of religious studies, languages and music.

Klezmer, Eastern European Jewish folk music, has been revived in the United States and in Germany, where the music not only connects Jews to their traditions, but also has become a way for Germans to learn about Jewish culture.

Ortner, a music teacher in Augsburg, Germany, is a visiting musician at the University of Pittsburgh European Union Center of Excellence, exploring intercultural understanding through music and literature, primarily focusing on the Holocaust.

Retired UD professor Ken Rosenzweig, a member of the Dayton Christian Jewish Dialogue and who was instrumental in bring Ortner to Dayton, said Ortner, who is not Jewish, “pursues klezmer for the love of the music and as a symbol of reconcilation.”

Her U.S. performances and work have centered on using this Jewish art form to promote interfaith understanding to a variety of audiences.

She will be accompanied by guitarist Steven Stuhlbarg, director of the Cincinnati Klezmer Project.

Ortner’s performance is free and open to the public. Free parking for the Sears Recital Hall is located in Lot C, off Evanston Avenue, near Kettering Labs.

For information on the performance, contact Ken Rosenzweig at 937-298-7140 or by e-mail at ken.rosenzweig@udayton.edu.

Fusion

Poetry and piano, jazz and funk, Latin and African rhythms — even theatre and politics. Check out the 2006-2007 Art Series line-up.

Fusion is the focus of the University of Dayton's 2006-07 Arts Series, which will feature performances that explore new territory and create new sounds.

Tickets for individual performances are $14 for the public, $8 for UD faculty, staff and alumni, and $5 for students. For tickets, call the UD box office at 937-229-2545.

First up this season is Burnt Sugar: The Arkestra Chamber at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, in Kennedy Union Boll Theatre. The East Coast improvisational ensemble fuses jazz, R&B, funk and African rhythms and was founded in 1999 by former Dayton residents Greg Tate and Jared Nickerson. Burnt Sugar will also conduct a series of workshops with students from the University of Dayton and Stivers School for the Arts.

* MUSE, a 60-member women's choir from Cincinnati, will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in the Immaculate Conception Chapel. The group started in 1984 and performs gospel, folk, jazz, and blues. MUSE has produced three recordings, most recently Growing Into Our Roots in 2005.

* The Azmari Quartet, inspired by the Aramaic verb meaning “to sing,” will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, in Boll Theatre. The string quartet of graduates of the Cleveland Institute of Music will explore the classical and contemporary sounds of the 20th century.

* Arm of the Sea Theatre, a mask and puppet theater group, takes the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, in Boll Theatre with “La Consecha” (The Harvest). The group includes themes such as immigrant workers, Native American practices, Greek tragedies and Jewish traditions. Performances are conducted in both English and Spanish and include live music.

* Oni Buchanan performs “Poetry in Piano” at 8 p.m. Friday, March 23, in Boll Theatre, celebrating the lyric works of such composers as Ravel, Scriabin and Liszt.

The University will also host the World Rhythms Series, presented in conjunction with Cityfolk. General admission tickets are $18; seniors, UD faculty, staff and alumni $16; students $9. Performances will be held in Boll Theatre and include:

* Aurelio Martinez
8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16
Hailing from Honduras, Martinez blends the African and Latin acoustic roots of the Caribbean.

* Jean Paul Samputu and Ingeli
8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1
A master percussionist, Rwanda's Samputu sings in six different languages while serving up a rhythmic fusion of Rwandan dance music, soukous and Afro-beat.

* Kiran Ahluwalia
8 p.m. Wednesday, March 21
India's ancient art is reinvented by Ahluwalia, who specializes in both folk songs from the Punjab and ghazals, a form of sung poetry of Persian origin.

The series also includes a special event, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, at 8 p.m. Friday, March 2, at the Dayton Masonic Center. Based in Budapest, this ensemble dances in colorful, authentic costumes with an effect The New York Times calls “unreservedly brilliant.” For special event pricing and tickets, call Cityfolk at 937-496-3863.

A little bit of everything for campus

Politics, law, church and state, stopping hate, and jamming and running for a cause among the topics and events during the next month and a half on campus.

AN INSIDE LOOK AT A LARGE WASHINGTON, D.C., LAW FIRM - Teddy Roosevelt's grandson and University of Pennsylvania law professor, Kermit Roosevelt, will speak from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, at the University of Dayton School of Law's Keller Hall. It is free and open to the public. Roosevelt will discuss his book - In the Shadow of the Law: A Novel - which is about lawyers in a Washington, D.C., law firm handling two major cases. Roosevelt specializes in constitutional law, federal jurisdiction and the conflict of laws.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT CHURCH AND STATE? - The Rev. James L. Heft, S.M., president of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies and the former UD professor of faith and culture, will address “Politics and Religion: The Catholic Contribution” at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, in the Sears Recital Hall on UD's campus. Heft will discuss the following topics. Do biblical texts support the separation of church and state? Won't the poor always be with us? What about the 54 Catholic democrats in Congress who recently explained their faith and politics? What did the June meeting of the Catholic bishops say about pro-choice Catholic politicians?

LAW SCHOOL TO CELEBRATE RED MASS SEPT. 24 - The UD School of Law and Catholic judges of the Dayton area will celebrate a Red Mass at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24, at UD's Immaculate Conception Chapel. Daniel Pilarczyk, archbishop of Cincinnati, will celebrate the Mass, which is open to the public. It will be the first time UD has hosted the Mass that legal professionals and academics nationwide hold annually to request guidance from the Holy Spirit for all who seek justice. Red Masses usually coincide with the opening of the U.S. Supreme Court on the first Monday in October. Members of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court and other government officials have a Red Mass annually in the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C.

STOP HATE WEEK AT UD SEPT. 25-29 - In its second year, STOP HATE Week is designed to create awareness of bias and hate. The week also provides information about the availability of UD's Web site as a safe place to report incidents of bias and hate. Events during the week include movies with themes surrounding gender, race, sexual orientation and ethnicity - “North Country,” “A Day Without a Mexican,” “Hotel Rwanda,” “Transamerica” and “Crash” - and panel discussions and talks. A dialogue with students - “Who Do You Think I Am?” - will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, in ArtStreet Gallery Studio D. Journalist Helen Zia, who has covered Asian American communities, sexuality and social and political movement, will discuss “From 'Minority' to 'Majority,' Invisible to Envisioning: Diversity Challenges and Other Evils” at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, in the Kennedy Union ballroom. Zia also wrote Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People. Chris Duncan, chair of UD's political science department, will discuss “Pushing Bricks, Building Cathedrals and Stopping Hate: What's Love Got to Do with It?” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, in the Kennedy Union ballroom.The week concludes with a Unity Mass at noon Friday, Sept. 29, at UD's Immaculate Conception Chapel. For more information, call Jessica Gonzalez at 937-229-3968.

10TH ANNUAL CONCERT AT UD WILL BENEFIT BREAST CANCER RESEARCH - Zeta Tau Alpha sorority will hold its FREEFAHL - Forever Reminding and Educating Every Female About Healthy Living - concert from 4:30-11 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, in the University of Dayton's Humanities Plaza. Tickets are $6 in advance and $7 the day of the event. The event is open to the public. “Chill and Grill” is this year's theme. Featured artists include Hayward Williams, Damn The Torpedoes, Matt Saggio, James Wade, Julie Roth, From Midnight On and Red Wanting Blue. All proceeds go to breast cancer education and awareness. For more information or to purchase tickets, e-mail ztafreefahl@yahoo.com, or call Erin Rickert at 262-442-3803 or Caitlin Boyle at 440-227-7074.

UD 5K RACE TO BENEFIT THE OTHER PLACE - The Frericks 5K starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, which is during UD's Parents Weekend, in front of UD's Frericks Center. The race, which is run though UD's campus, costs $15 when registering before Oct. 20 and $20 if registering after Oct. 20. Early registrants will receive a race T-shirt. Runners can apply at http://www.keysports.net. It is open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to donate a pair sneakers for The Other Place, a local homeless shelter. Awards will be presented to the top male and female finishers in the following divisions: 10 and younger, 11-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74 and 75 and older. Food and drinks will be provided after the race. For more information, contact Andrew Zeller at 513-379-6737.

Music for the maestro

There will be a Mozart requiem, of course. The University of Dayton will hold a free concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 26, to honor the retiring Richard Benedum.

There will be a Mozart requiem, of course, a Bach fantasia and other inspired selections befitting the occasion: a dedication concert in honor of Richard Benedum, who is retiring this spring after more than 30 years at the University of Dayton.

The free concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 26, in the Kennedy Union Boll Theatre will feature performances by the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds, conducted by Patrick Reynolds, and the University Chorale, conducted by Robert Jones.

Benedum, the former Alumni Chair in the Humanities, served as music department chair from 1980 to 1988 and again from 1996 to 2001. He received the College of Arts and Sciences Award for Teaching in 1994; the Ohioana Library Association Music Citation in 1995; the inaugural Opus Award from Culture Works as the outstanding arts educator in greater Dayton in 1996; the University of Dayton Alumni Award for Teaching in 1998; and the Ovation Award from the Vocal Arts Resource Network of Ohio in 2001.

This summer, the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, Benedum will direct “Mozart's Worlds,” a National Endowment for the Humanities interdisciplinary institute for teachers, to be held in Vienna, Austria.

He has previously directed 10 NEH Mozart Seminars and Institutes, all in Vienna. He has also co-directed 10 mini-institutes on operas not only by Mozart and Beethoven but also by other composers for teachers in Ohio and Florida, with funding from the NEH and the Ohio Humanities Council.

Benedum also has been active as a performer, both as an organist and for 28 years as conductor of a professional-level chorus, the Dayton Bach Society, which he founded. He has written the program notes for the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra since 1976, sharing more than just names and dates and opus numbers with students and the general public. He wrote and produced a six-part series of programs for National Public Radio on "Mozart: His Music and His Letters," which was broadcast by an estimated 150 stations nationally.

The concert in his honor will include:

Serenade in c minor, K. 388 -- W. A. Mozart
Requiem Mass in d minor, K. 626 -- W. A. Mozart
O Beatum et Sacrosanctum Diem -- Peter Philips
With a Lily in your Hand -- Eric Whitacre
Here I Am, Lord -- Daniel Schutte
I'm Gonna Sing 'til the Spirit Moves -- Moses Hogan
Fantasia in G major, BWV 572 -- J.S. Bach
After a Gentle Rain -- Anthony Iannaccone
Concerto for Alto Saxophone -- Ingolf Dahl
Suite From "Pineapple Poll" -- Sir Arthur Sullivan

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Contact Richard Benedum at (937) 229-3986.

Hearing horns

Horn studio recital to be held Nov. 21.

University of Dayton students will present a horn studio recital at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, in Sears Recital Hall in the Jesse Philips Humanities Center on UD's campus. The concert will feature students of Richard Chenoweth, UD professor of horn and principal horn player for the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra.

The horn students will perform solo music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Strauss, Eugène Bozza and Paul Hindemith, accompanied by pianist Linda Hill Lally. The concert also will include ensemble performances by the UD Horn Quartet and the UD Horn Choir, a large ensemble of horn players that has toured the East Coast and regularly hosts the UD Master Class series. Two high school students who are members of the horn section of the Dayton Youth Philharmonic Orchestra also will participate in the studio recital as special guests.

The concert is free and open to the public.

High school horn players are encouraged to attend, as much of the music to be performed is included in the Class A category of the Ohio Music Education Solo and Ensemble Contest List.

For more information, contact Richard Chenoweth at (937) 229-3925.

Singing strings

University Orchestra fall concert to include premiere of student composition.

The University Orchestra will present its fall concert at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, in the Kennedy Union Boll Theatre on the University of Dayton campus.

During the concert, the orchestra will perform the premiere of UD student John-Philip Fultz’s composition “Four Dances,” which Fultz will discuss during the show. In addition, the Orchestra will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Violin Concerto No. 2,” featuring UD student soloist Jassic Wade.

The orchestra also will perform a Chinese folk song, Edvard Hagerup Grieg’s “Prelude,” Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Elgie,” Johannes Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance No. 5” and Edward Elgar’s “Serenade for Strings.”

The concert is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Jiang Liu, music director and conductor of the University Orchestra, at (937) 229-3917.

Sunday songs

Next Second Sunday performance to feature members of Wind in the Woods, guitarist Jim McCutcheon and MUSICA! ensemble.

The next concert in the University of Dayton’s Second Sunday series will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, in Sears Recital Hall, located in the Jesse Philips Humanities Center on UD's campus. Margaret Erin and Michael Mattimore, tenor recorder players from the early music ensemble Wind in the Woods; guitarist Jim McCutcheon; and MUSICA! will be the featured performers.

The concert will feature the music of Thomas Morley, Georg Philipp Telemann, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Isaac Albeniz, Stephen Sondheim and spirituals arranged by Robert DeCormier, Paul Hogan, and Robert Shaw and Alice Parker.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Margaret Erin manages and plays recorder and viola da gamba with Wind in the Woods Early Music Ensemble. She also directs a student early music ensemble at the University of Dayton and teaches recorder at her home studio. Michael Mattimore began playing the recorder while in high school and has taught the recorder at Antioch University, the Springfield Community Schools Program, Chantry Music Press in Springfield and the Center for Musical Development at Wittenberg University.

Jim McCutcheon has taught guitar at UD and his private studio since 1978. Wright State University awarded him its first distinguished music alumni award in 1992 and the School of Graduate Studies’ outstanding alumni award in 2002.

MUSICA! was founded in January 1990 by singers from the Dayton Bach Society who so enjoyed singing together for a Christmas party the month before that they decided to continue to meet. The ensemble has released two CDs, “Great Day” in 2001 and “Reflections on Spirituals” in 2005.

Robert Jones is artistic director of MUSICA! He also directs University of Dayton Chorale and Choral Union at the University of Dayton. He has served as an adjudicator, guest conductor, clinician and baritone soloist in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. His articles and music reviews have appeared in several regional and national publications.

For more information, contact Robert Jones at (937) 229-3909.

You sing it, girl!

"Girl/Solo/Live" features performances by female singer-songwriters.

The next Girl/Solo/Live performance will feature five singer-songwriters at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in ArtStreet's studio D. The University of Dayton’s ArtStreet is located on the corner of Kiefaber Street and Frericks Way in the student neighborhood south of UD’s campus.

Girl/Solo/Live showcases female artists who are solo or duo singer-songwriters in a variety of musical styles. The free show will feature a relaxed, coffeehouse-style environment.

Performances will be by:

• Emily Strand, founder of Girl/Solo/Live and assistant to the director for liturgy at UD’s Campus Ministry office. Cincinnati CityBeat wrote that Strand “specializes in smart, confident and organic pop songs.” Her band, The Town, won the top prize in the “Tri-State’s Best Unsigned Band” category in the 2003 “97Xposure” contest sponsored by modern rock radio station 97X (now WOXY.com). Strand and The Town also were named one of the Top 10 acts of 2004 in a Cincinnati CityBeat year-end critics’ poll. In addition, Strand’s song “Lou” won the prestigious grand prize in the folk category in the 2004 John Lennon International Songwriting Competition. An executive committee of judges featuring such noted performers as Elton John and Judy Collins chose the song from thousands of entries. For more on Emily Strand, see www.emilystrand.com.

• Brooke Fox, a New York City-based singer-songwriter formerly of Nashville, Tenn. The Nashville Scene wrote that Fox’s music “is both haunting and engaging. Reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, her songs contain a pop sensibility that could also link her to artists like Alanis Morisette and Stevie Nicks. Her live shows … support the talented statement her music makes.” For more information, see www.brookefox.com.

• Julie Roth, a first-year University of Dayton student from Napoleon, Ohio. Roth has performed regularly at Ohio University’s Frontroom and Union Perk in Hillsdale, Mich. Her live performances and recordings have been aired on radio stations. As a junior in high school, Roth recorded her first EP and a year later released her full-length CD. For more information, see www.julieroth.net.

• Whitney Barricklow of Cincinnati. Usually playing with her pop-rock group the Whitney Barricklow Band, she’ll perform solo at this show. Barricklow recently was nominated for a Cincinnati Entertainment Award in the singer-songwriter category. In an article about her band, Cincinnati CityBeat wrote that “Barricklow has sharp lyrics, fantastic melodies, abundant charm and one of the biggest, best voices that you’ll hear almost anywhere.” For more information, see: www.whitneyb.com.

• Carole Walker of Cincinnati-based The Walker Project, winner of the 2003 audience-nominated Cammy Award for best urban hip hop vocals. The band describes its style as blending folk and poetry with spoken word and soul.  For more information, see thewalkerproject.homestead.com.

For media interviews about "Girl/Solo/Live," contact Emily Strand at (937) 229-5750.