The University Daily KANSAN
ENTERTAINMENT
December 2.1983 Page 6
Vespers signals beginning of holiday to many
By DAN HOWELL
Staff Reporter
The suffocation of academic work is about to give way to the freshness of the holidays. As classes wind down, KU's Vespers signals to many the beginning of the season.
The 90th annual Vespers, a KU choral and orchestral tradition, will be performed at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Hoch Auditorium, where an audience of at least 3,000 is expected for each performance. Several participants said they would never prevent the holiday mood for many people.
"I suppose there's an aura about this," said James Ralston, director of choral activities,
adding that people who don't come to other programs attend Vespers.
Julie Weisshaar, Creston, Iowa, senior and alto in the University Chair, said, "This is my fifth time I love being involved in it. It's a community and community and it makes Christmas special to me."
Webb said, "The music changes but the purpose doesn't."
He said that his favorite piece in this year's program was Benjamin Britten's 'Hymn to the
CARLE AND RICHARD Webb, Lawrence graduate student and tenor in the choir, said Vespers was consistently impressive for audience and performers alike.
"It's got some intriguing harmonies," he said.
"It's also done with double choirs."
Other pieces include two works from Handel's "Messiah," performed by the University Choir and University Symphony; Tealikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite March," by the symphony; and the traditional English "Coventry Carol," by the Balcony Choir.
Just before each performance, the Trombone Chair and University Band Brass Ensemble will provide half an hour of carols from the auditorium balcony.
Ralston said, "I try to find things that will be attractive and that will change the mood."
THE PRIMARY MOOD, he said, is set by the candlestick procession with its "constant movement of light," despite the need to use electric candles for safety.
minutes before the program and resuming immediately afterward.
Choral and symphonic works make up the core of the program, but not the whole event. Albert Gerken, University carillonist and professor of music at the Royal College of Music, each performance for half an hour, ending 15
"ITS ONE OF THE main events we have for raising scholarship funds." Kimber said
Vespers is open to the public at no charge, but the music department requests an offering for the Vespers Scholarship Fund. Michael Kimber, a graduate of Oberlin College, said about $2,500 was given at last year's concert.
KANU FM will provide stereo radio coverage of the afternoon performance, the first broadband FM station in New York.
"I just think it's important that we do occasional live broadcasts of University events to showcase the patients here," he said. "It also is important to make things available to senior citizens."
station program director, said a remote pickup unit allowed attainment of two goals.
For others, attendance as a group helps make Vespers memorable. Several Greek houses, including Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Gamma Phi Beta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon, add at least a small party to the evening. For Chi Omega it is a big social event
"Our Christmas formal is that night and we take all our dates and go," Jance Halur. Garden City, junior and Chr Omega member. The dance was in the dinner before Vespers and the dance is later.
Determined citizens revive Opera House
By PHIL ENGLISH Staff Reporter
Four years ago, a popular thing to do would have been to travel to friends and spend the day in their home. It was all the same.
The historic building was the sight of several sold-out concerts, featuring rock bands of all kinds, from XTC and The Gun Club to Tommy Tutone and the Go-Go's.
But financial troubles hit, and the Opera House was in limbo for several semesters. Bankruptcy and a possible foreclosure threatened the life of the old building.
On Sept 1, the charges were dismissed, but the future of the Lawrence music scene was still a little cloudy. Skip Moon, owner of the hall, is confident that success differently, than before, and he is optimistic.
"I believe there is a strong likelihood that the music scene will be revived. Promoters are beginning to see a lot of interest in Lawrence and the Omera House," he said.
"SEVERAL YEARS AGO, we generated all the space and did our own promoting and bookings. Now that we have re-opened we strictly rent it out." Moon said.
Jake Glasse, a Lawrence resident and bass player in the band Pillbox, is spending a great deal of time trying to bring music to the Opera House.
Much of the music that now emanates from the opera House is the result of dedicated local musicians.
"I've been in touch with several bands and their management and they have all expressed a great interest in playing in Lawrence." Glassay said.
In August, Glassey helped to book a band popular in Lawrence, Jason and the Nashville Pops. He also helped to build the
"I CALLED NEW WEST Productions and hassled with them until they allowed me to handle the booking and rental of the Opera House," he said.
Originally New West, a concert promoter, had the band booked into Kansas City for two nights, but the band preferred playing Lawrence instead.
"The news has been spreading, especially after the Jasson show." Glasser said.
"When they played Lawrence during the middle of their 33-city tour, they made the most amount of money on their whole tour, and also had their most enthusiastic audience," he said.
"On every other step they make, they spread the word about the Lawrence Opera House," he added.
Glassey is currently negotiating with several bands from Athens, Georgia.
Steffan "Doc" Klein, Wichita law student, also has been busy trying to drum up the business.
As a part of his own company, Power Productions, Klein has booked in the Neats, a band from Boston, who will be appearing at the Opera House tonight.
"I SEE A DEFINITE future for the Lawrence music scene." Klein said.
Kiem is the owner of Raw Power, a night club in San Antonio, Texas, that caters to the
"I have quite a few contacts through my club, so it is fairly easy to get the word across that Lawrence is a great place to play. Along with the work done by KJHK, I can see many more bands playing at the Opera House next semester," he said.
The station manager for JKHK, Kim Bue has been successful bringing bands to the Kansas
"The Micronotz and the Embrassament helped considerably in putting Lawrence on the map. In order to get the music scene thriving from people like Klein and Glassley, she said
"I have made many contacts through my work at the station, and with the help of anyone concerned, Lawrence can be the thriving place it used to be." Buie said.
"All it will take is some involvement, and I know the enthusiasm is there."
Holiday Art Fair is set for Sunday
By the Kansan Staff
Tis the season to be shopping, and 40 local artists are hoping that the holiday rush for gifts will happen.
The artists are members of the Lawrence Arts Guild, and will be displaying and selling their work at the annual Holiday Art Fair, open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Lawrence Arts Guild.
Lori Malait, a watercolor painter, said artists had to apply to a jury to display their work at the fair. The event is so popular that many people want to show and sell their work there.
"It's a mob," she said. "It's been very profitable, because people are in the mood for it."
The artists are in charge of our booths during the fair. Malett said. After the fair, some leave of some of their pieces at the Arts Center for Dec. 6. The gallery will be open from Dec. 6, Dec. 22.
All kinds of crafts, including ceramics,
woodwork, weavings, fabric art, pen and ink
drawings, paintings, jewelry, toys, ornaments,
glass and wreaths will be on display.
At 3 p.m. Sunday, the Excalibur Choir of Central Junior High School will perform traditional Christmas carols. Refreshments will be provided without the day by parents of the choir members.
The jury helps keep the show, which uses several rooms in the Arts Center, from getting to crowded, and also keeps the quality of work high, said Marki Bieri, organizer of the fair.
Roberta Bicci, Leawood sophomore, left, as Volupia, the Goddess of Sensuality, and Karen Hummel, Lawrence graduate
student, as Bellezzn, the Goddess of Beauty, rehearse the opera
L'Egisfe: Wednesday night in the Inge Theatre in Murphy Hall.
'L'Egisto' involves love entanglements
Bv PAMELA THOMPSON
Staff Reporter
An opera that involves almost as many love entanglements as a Shakespearean pastoral comedy will be presented this weekend by the KU Opera Workshop.
The Italian opera "L'Egisto" will be performed tonight and tomorrow at 8 in the Inge Theatre in Murphy Hall. *Tickets for both performances, which are open to the public, are*
George Lawner, professor of fine arts and producer of "L' Eigito," said that it was the first movie by him.
"L' Eigistó" was written in 1643 by Francesco Cavalli, who was a successor of Claudio Monteverdi, one of the premier names in 17th century Venetian Opera, Lawner said.
"IT'S A UNQUE opportunity to hear an opera like this," he said. "KU has never done anything like that."
Lawner said that the KU Opera Workshop, which is an accredited class, alternates each semester between producing a complete work such as Exhibition and performing short scenes of different operas.
The 16 cast members, five of whom play multiple roles in the three-act opera, are graduate and undergraduate voice students, he said.
Although all the parts in the opera are
substantial, Lawner said that Stotian Humes, Lawrence graduate student,杰弗尼 Foltte, Nilton M., senator, and Wayne Kompellien, Minneapolis Mim, grad student, play the leading roles in their production.
"THE CLASS IS called a workshop because the students are able to put into practice what they learn to perform." Lawner said. "It's an experience that is not easy to get."
Jean Harkness, Lawrence graduate student and the opera's musical director, will play the piano. Leanna Hillner, assistant professor of music, will play the harpischord, he said.
He described the lighthearted opera as baroque because it was filled with highly embellished melodies and fugues.
Norman Paige, professor of music and voice and stage director for "L'Egisto," said that many of Calvalli's works had been performed at other American colleges and throughout Europe.
"LEGIGOT" WAS one of the composer's most popular operas. Paige said. "The modern version of 'L'Egisto' was first performed by the Santa Fe Ogo Company in 1974."
He said that the KU production was a "bottle-of-production," because the costumes only sug-
Miriam Stewart Green, professor of voice who helped the students with costume ideas, said the
brightly colored leotards and draped robes used were simple and would challenge the audience members to use their imaginations rather than relying on a visual cue.
she said the set, which is composed of a series of platforms and a black backdrop, also would have to be moved.
Despite the simplicity of the costumes and set, the production was an expensive one to produce because the rights to Raymond Leppard's stage costumes had been issued before it could be performed. Lawyer said.
"FOR 150 TO 200 years the opera was not performed at all," he said, "unless Leppard realized the opera and arranged the whole score for a small ensemble."
Unlike Shakespeare's comedies, the opera involves Greek gods as part of the drama, which takes place on Zakthentn, an island in the Ionian Sea.
"The opera is highly symbolic. Lawner said
"The right lover eventually finds their way back
to the opera."
The four Greek heroines Dido, Hero, Semele and Phaedra, who died for love and ban together to take revenge upon Cupid, are involved in the rivalry between Venus and Apollo, he said.
Lawyer, who has been involved with the KU Opera Workshop on and off for 17 years, said that his part in the production this semester was to do most of the planning for the opera.
"I did most of the dirty work this time," he said.
Nature flows from hands of Chinese artist
By DONNA WOODS
Staff Reporter
Within three or four strokes of an ink pen, the artist transforms a lifeless piece of white rice paper into a stark swan gliding through still waters and maryre seeds.
Ind ink drawings of camels winding through a desert, hawks soaring above vast plains and yaks romping playfully through a barren cold characterize the work of artist Wu Zouen.
Museum of Art, Wu showed a videotape featuring examples of his work that have led to his status as one of the world's foremost artists of the traditional Chinese style.
The swift but deliberate strokes appear to come with ease to the untrained observer, but the artist has spent more than 50 years refining and improving his technique.
Although Wu's masterpieces vary in subject matter, the unifying theme of his work can be traced to the Chinese axiom "learn from nature and surpass it."
Over the years, Wu has developed his talent in a variety of mediums including ink drawings, oil paintings, and clay sculptures.
Wu draws on his own experiences and travels across China and in the Western world to complete his art work that depicts animals, particularly camels, yaks, hawks and panda
Although he once concentrated on developing a Western style of art, he embraced the traditional Chinese style in the early 1940s after leaving a war-torn city and moving to the highlands. Wils exposure to the Tibetan and Mongolian tribes in Sichuan was largely responsible for the shift in his style.
bears.
A footnote to that idea, he said through a translator, is that the artist should always leave some room.
Wu's style has led to his acclaim in the Chinese art world where he now holds many administrative positions, including honorary president of the Central Institute of Fine Arts in Peking, acting chairman of the Chinese Association of Library Workers, and the All China Federation of Literacy and Art Circles.
His work is on display through Dec 16 in the University of Missouri at Kansas City art gallery.
SPARE TIME
SUA WILL SHOW "Mary Poppins" at 3:30 p.m.
and 6:30 p.m. today and tomorrow in Woodruff
Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Tickets are
$1.50.
"NIGHTSHIFT" will be shown at 9:30 p.m. today and tomorrow, and "Easy Idle" will be shown at 10:30 a.m. today.
SUA Films. They will be in Woodruff Auditorium
in the Union for $1.50 each.
AN ARTS AND Crafts Bazaar sponsored by
SA will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today in
the library.
AUDITIONS FOR THE KU production of the opera "Die Fieldermaus" will be conducted at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall.
SUA FILM WILL SHOW "The Road to Utopia"
at 7:30 Monday in Woodruff Auditorium in
the University Theater.
THE MOVIE “High Sierra” will be shown by SUA Films at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Woodruff
BY BERKE BREATHED
"THE ARTIST'S View," a brown bag talk by Gary Nieman, associate professor of design, will be given at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Spencer Museum of Art.
"NATURE IN CHINA," a lecture and slide show by Robert Hoffmann, curator of mammals at the Museum of Natural History and professor of systems and ecology, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the museum. Admission for non-members is $5.
A HOLIDAY SQUARE Dance, sponsored by the Lawrence Barn Dance Association, will be from 7:30 to 10:30 Dec 10 at the Ecumenical Church. Admission is $2, but musicians get in free.
BLOOM COUNTY
AT THE WORLD MUSIC'S YOUTH PRESENTATION CAMPAIGN (NYC) WITH MORE INFORMATION AT THE MOST ELECTRONIC SPACE FOR THE BOWING ON THE DUMMY.