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arts & culture
KANSAN.COM | THURSDAY, SEPT. 22, 2016
Aries
(March 21-April 19) You can take ground on long-term family financial goals over this next month, with the Sun in Scorpio. Enjoy precious time together, especially today and
Taurus 20 May 20
(April 20-May 20)
Develop partnership over the next month, with the Sun in Scorpio. Take your relationship to the next level. Romance and friendship flower. Prioritize family matters today and tomorrow.
Gemini
(May 21-June 20) Communicate with your networks today and tomorrow. Share information. Prioritize health and well-being over
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
(June 21-July 22)
Today and tomorrow are good for making money. It's easy to spend, too. Enjoy a fun, games and romance phase over the next month under the Scorpio Sun. Get
In the dark month, with the Sun in Scorpio. Nurture your body, mind and spirit.
playful.
Leo
23-Aug. 22)
Leo
(July 23-Aug. 22)
You're especially hot today and tomorrow. This month with the Sun in Scorpio favors home renovation projects. Get into a sweet domestic phase. Family matters engage you.
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Review and revise. Slow down and contemplate options over the next few days. The next month under the Scorpio Sun benefits communications. Research and write your discoveries.
Libra
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Develop a team strategy over the next few days. It's easier to make money over the next month, with the Sun in Scorpio. Research investments carefully.
Scorpio
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Career matters engage you today and tomorrow. The spotlight shines bright, with the Sun in your sign this month. Pour physical energy into pursuing a personal dream. Provide leadership.
Sagittarius
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Exploration and discovery tempt today and tomorrow. Turn your thoughts inward over the next month, with the Sun in Scorpio. Complete old projects and invent new possibilities.
Baxter Schanze/KANSAN
Capricorn
(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
With the Sun in Scorpio this month, play with friends, groups and community.
Review the numbers with your partner over the next two days. Together, you can move mountains.
Aquarius
(Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Your partner is a big help today and tomorrow.
Career matters have your attention this month, with the Sun in Scorpio. Take on a professional challenge.
Pisces
(Feb. 19-March 20) Your work is in demand over the next two days. Expand territory this next month under the Scorpio Sun. Exploration and adventures call you out. Enjoy
trips and classes.
University alumnus Michael Kirkendoll tries to use his compositions to offer commentary on social issues.
Professor offers social commentary through contemporary piano pieces
OMAR SANCHEZ
@OhMySanchez
on a recent afternoon, assistant professor and pianist Michael Kirkendoll had just finished teaching a class and stopped to order a quick coffee - a plain black shot of espresso - before heading home.
"My wife and I come here a lot. They actually sponsored a concert series," Kirkendoll said. "Decade is one of my favorites and it's on my way home, too."
It was on the second floor of Decade, a little, white-bricked coffee shop on Delaware Street. Local artistry hangs on the walls and pottery perched on the windows look out onto the street below. Soothing 70's soul music — like Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" — played in the background, adding to the ambiance.
Kirkendoll, an Andover native, has worked on his piano pieces at coffee shops like this one to become a
widely-respected pianist with a contemporary style. But for the majority of his work, Kirkendoll said a more comfortable place lay elsewhere.
"It's mostly pass and go for me," he said. "My think tank is just in my kitchen. I usually just stay home with a glass of wine and work."
Kirkendoll, a self-proclaimed "deep hobbyist" of wine and wine-tasting, focused on contemporary piano after working with composers during his time in college. Kirkendoll said it is an avenue that offers the opportunity for social commentary, one that he couldn't provide in the same way with writing or other media.
Kirkendoll has his bachelor's and doctorate from the University. In 2010, he founded a summer music program in Cortona, Italy. Now, he's returned to his alma mater as a professor, where he instills in future generations of musicians what he has
learned in his long career with the contemporary form.
"I like all art, all literature and movies, but I felt that the ability of 21st century music to provide commentary on the world we actually live in is really important and necessary," Kirkendoll said. "I just developed a passion for that; being able to play music that's influenced and/or inspired by either the chaos of modern society or the joys and pains."
But that isn't a knock on Kirkendoll's passion. As Pierce said, Kirkendoll brings "a sense of whimsy and delight in the process of making music that is really contagious for those around
Forrest Pierce, a fellow professor and music composer, has worked with Kirkendoll since they met 11 years ago while Kirkendoll was still working on his doctorate. Pierce finds these themes in Kirkendoll's work to be unique, complex and technically demanding.
him."
It is a curiosity and enthusiasm in his work that has brought Kirkendoll to work with Pierce overseas with performances in Europe and at the Cortona Sessions in Italy.
But if one wanted to accurately describe Kirkendoll's array of work, they don't have to look further than his recent on-campus program performance Sept. 18.
When I play,I want people to leave just with thought."
Michael Kirkendoll
Assistant professor/pianist
Kirkendoll performed a piece entitled "De Profundis," based on the Oscar Wilde letter that detailed the playwright's and novelist's own imprisonment in the late 19th century for gross
indecency.
Through his piece, Kirkendoll said it helps to illustrate "the desire from all people to be respected and to be thought of as beautiful, wonderful and worthy."
Social justice, religion and spirituality are just some of the few themes in Kirkendoll's work. While he acknowledges that there is still a ways to go for certain groups of oppressed people to be heard and appreciated, Kirkendoll said his music can help spark thought into the mind of those who listen.
"When I play, I want people to leave just with thought," he said. "I don't care for people to agree with me or really like the music that I play. But at least to have an appreciation for it and leave with a feeling of consideration for both the music and subject matter."
- Edited by Christian Hardy
Assistant professor Michael Kirkendoll teaches piano at the University while also composing his own pieces.
Baxter Schanze/KANSAN
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