Celebration highlights the arts

National Art and Humanities Month

By BRIANA DOOLAN

Updated: September 5, 2012, 9:34 PM

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The Fall Arts Celebration showcases the best Grand Valley State University has to offer in the art, dance, lecture, music, opera and poetry departments. The celebration kickoff, next week, is in celebration of National Art and Humanities Month.

“Fall Arts is an annual event which celebrates the arts throughout the entire semester,” said Ellen Pool, associate professor of music. “It’s going to celebrate history in addition to the arts. There is historical relevance to this music as well as it being a music experience.”

The music department will present “Music for the ‘Era of Good Feelings’: Beethoven in Federalist America” on Monday at 8 p.m. in the Louis Armstrong Theatre of the Performing Arts Center on GVSU’s Allendale Campus. A prelude carillon concert will begin shortly after 7 p.m., with a reception following the main event.

Pool, who prepared the arts chorale for the performance, said she thinks it will be a very energetic show.

“There will be so much energy because the music is so dramatic,” Pool said. “It’s very charged music.”

The music selection will commemorate freedom and liberty in the 200 years since the War of 1812. This music is rarely performed, but is some of Beethoven’s best work.

Phipps said they are performing this music because it is rarely performed, because it allows us to remember a time that is not always remembered and because “It’s Beethoven!”
“It’s Beethoven!” Phipps said. “Who doesn’t love Beethoven?”

Pool said the music being performed isn’t played often. Therefore, students should take advantage of this opportunity.

“It’s going to be fantastic,” Pool said. “People should attend live performances! This is an opportunity to experience music by master composers.”

Daniel Mendelsohn, lecturer, writer, critic and translator, will speak on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Eberhard Center on GVSU’s Pew Campus. He will present “Medea on the Jersey Shore: Tragedy and the Crisis of Reality in Contemporary Culture.” A book signing and reception will follow.

“Forged in Metal: Deshi/Shihyou-Mentee/Mentor,” an exhibition opening Oct. 4 will feature contemporary Japanese jewelry. The display will represent the work of students and their mentors from Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry in Tokyo, and highlight the relationship between student and teacher.

The exhibit is co-curated by Renee Zettle-Sterling, associate professor of art and design from GVSU, and James Bove, associate professor of art at California University of Pennsylvania. The exhibit will open at 10 a.m. and the opening reception will begin at 5 p.m. in the GVSU art gallery in the Performing Arts Center on the Allendale Campus.

Nikky Finney and B.H. Fairchild, both author and poets, will discuss their work in an evening of poetry, on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Eberhard Center on GVSU’s Pew Campus. Finney and Fairchild have both received national recognition for their work. The topic of their works includes regional history and cultural issues. The night will conclude with a reception and book signing.

“The Baroque Splendor of Venice: Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons in Dance,” a new interpretation of Vivaldi’s work, by Shawn Bible, GVSU assistant professor of dance, will be performed on Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. in the Louis Armstrong Theatre of the Performing Arts Center on GVSU’s Allendale Campus. The performance, by violin soloist Rachel Barton Pine and Thodos Dance Chicago, will be in collaboration with members of the GVSU dance program. A prelude carillon concert will begin shortly after 7 p.m., with a reception following the main event.

“Amahl and the Night Visitors,” in celebration of the holidays, tells the story of a Christmas miracle. The concert will include GVSU music department faculty, students and guest
artists. The performance, the final event of the Fall Arts Celebration, will take place on Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids.

All Fall Arts Celebration events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.gvsu.edu/fallarts/ or call (616) 331-2180.

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Published September 5, 2012 A&E