|
|
|
CHAMBER PLAYERS TO PRESENT CONCERT, CLINIC FOR CAPE ELEMENTARY STUDENTS
The Southeast Chamber Players will present a concert and clinic for elementary students from Franklin and Blanchard schools Dec. 6 on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.
The performance is scheduled for 12:55 to 1:55 p.m. in Academic Auditorium. Those in attendance will hear the story of William Tell and will be introduced to various instruments.
The ensemble, which was formed in 1990, is comprised of Southeast faculty and students as well as area music teachers and has distinguished itself not only with local performances and school workshops but also with a performance for the Missouri Music Educators Association at Tan-Tar-A.
The Dec. 6 program will open with a transcription for 10 winds of one of Franz Joseph Haydn's most popular symphonies, the "Oxford Symphony." Such transcriptions were not only common during the 18th Century but were often, as was the case with this transcription, approved by the composers themselves. The second selection on the program will be Ludwig van Beethoven's "Rondino" for pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons. Even though this is one of Beethoven's lesser known works, it is a prime example of the work of a mature and experienced composer.
In 1986, the Spanish composer, Salvador Brotons, composed a chamber symphony for 13 wind instruments and percussion, of which the Southeast Chamber Players will perform all four movements. The work contains a great variety of instrumental colors and was no doubt conceived with mature
virtuoso performers in mind. The final piece on the program, a transcription for 11 instruments of Rossini's Overture to the opera "William Tell," is guaranteed to please all in attendance.
The Goals 2000:Fine Arts Grant is sponsoring this concert and clinic.
BOWL SEASON A BUSY ONE FOR BERNHARDT
Barry Bernhardt, director of Southeast Missouri State University Bands, has a very busy holiday season planned.
He currently is writing the choreography for five major college football bowl game halftime shows including the Alamo, Liberty, Sugar, Gator and Orange bowls. He also will personally conduct the Alamo Bowl halftime show on Dec. 28 in San Antonio, Texas, which will be aired on ESPN, and the Gator Bowl halftime show on Jan.1, 2000, in Jacksonville, Fla., which will be aired on NBC.
Over the past Thanksgiving holiday, Bernhardt served as a conductor, clinician and adjudicator in Hollywood, Calif., for the 68th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade, which was seen on the West Coast via the UPN network. He also rehearsed a massed band of over 1,500 high school bands at the Hollywood Bowl for the inaugural "Bands At The Bowl." In addition, Bernhardt wrote all of this fall's halftime shows for the University of Notre Dame Band.
Bernhardt is in his 10th year at Southeast, where he conducts the Golden Eagles Marching Band, Southeast Show Band, University Concert Band, Studio Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band. He also is the director of the Southeast Summer Music Camps and chairman of the Department of Music Student Recruitment and Retention Committee.
FACULTY AND STUDENTS BEAUTIFY BICYCLE TRAIL
Three faculty members and 25 students from Southeast Missouri State University gathered for class outdoors on Nov. 29 to plant trees along the Cape LaCroix Recreational Trail in Cape Girardeau.
Rachel Finch, a part-time instructor of English; Larry Hamilton, assistant professor of sociology; Glen Williams, assistant professor of speech communication and theatre; and students in the "Be All You Can Be" Freshmen Learning Team, a course that Williams supervises; planted a grove of Bald Cypress along a portion of the trail. The grove, purchased by the students, will line a section of the trail, just south of the new bridge at Hopper Road.
"This section of trail was most appropriate for planting trees because it will give the area around the bridge a scenic backdrop," Williams said.
Williams, Finch and Hamilton began working with Cape Girardeau Parks & Recreation last fall in laying the groundwork for the project. A trail-side survey was conducted by the team of faculty and the Fall '98 Freshmen Learning Team. Together, they compiled results of a survey from 280 visitors, finding that trail users are concerned about safety, litter control and landscaping issues.
As a result, the team worked with Darrin Tipton of Cape Ambulance Services to improve safety by mapping the trail so that it is consistent with the grid for city streets. Cape Ambulance Service now is able to pinpoint the exact location of anyone on the trail who might need emergency medical attention.
Although planting the trees is not a requirement for the course, Williams encourages it. "A significant part of the University's mission is to give to the community," Williams said. "We try to realize this mission by involving students in community service projects."
INVESTITURE OF PRESIDENT DOBBINS TO BE HELD DEC. 10
The Southeast Missouri State University campus community will celebrate the investiture of Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins as the 17th president of the institution at a campus ceremony planned for Dec. 10.
The investiture will be held at 3 p.m. in Academic Auditorium. A reception will follow.
Because Dobbins has served as a Southeast administrator for more than eight years and is well-known both on- and off-campus and since he prefers a less elaborate ceremony than a formal inauguration, a more modest occasion is in store, said Jim Biundo, assistant to the president for University Relations. The investiture is planned largely for the campus community, although the public is invited, he said.
Marching in a processional, robed in academic regalia, will be the Presidential Party, including the University's Board of Regents, followed by 118 faculty members, 11 deans of the University's colleges and schools, Student Government, and 11 administrators, staff and representatives of staff organizations. Faculty will march collectively in the chronological order of the founding of the institution from which they received their terminal degree.
Dr. Tom Harte, chair of the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre, will serve as master of ceremonies. T. Ron Hahs, former chairman of the board of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation, will present the invocation. Greetings to the president will be presented by Tanya Efken, president of Student Government; Dr. Walt Lilly, professor of biology, representing the faculty; Gil Seres, director of business operations, representing the staff; and Judy Wilferth, former chair of the Board of the University Foundation, representing the alumni and Foundation.
Dr. Aubrey Lucas, president emeritus of the University of Southern Mississippi and former chair of the Board of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, will present the keynote address. He currently is a professor of higher education at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Donald L. Dickerson, president of the Southeast Board of Regents, joined by the full Board, will officially invest Dobbins and will present him with the presidential medallion. Dobbins then will present a response. The ceremony will conclude with a performance of the alma mater.
The Marquette Trio, including Dr. Ronald Francois, violin, Dr. Sara Edgerton, cello, and Dr. James Sifferman, will present a pre-ceremonial concert.
The investiture is planned for Dec. 10 since Academic Hall Auditorium already will be set for the honors convocation held in conjunction with December commencement the following day, Dec. 11.
JAZZ CONCERT SLATED FOR DEC. 8
The Southeast Missouri State University Jazz Program will present its final concert of the fall semester Dec. 8 on the Southeast campus.
The concert will be held at noon in the University Center lobby. The event is free and open to the public.
The concert will feature performances by the University Jazz Lab Band and the Studio Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Barry Bernhardt, director of University Bands at Southeast. The concert is free and open to the public.
The Jazz Lab Band will perform "Front Burner," "St. Thomas," "Back in the Sack" and "Computer." The Studio Jazz Ensemble will perform "Blues at Drury," "Festival," "Let It Snow!" "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "The Christmas Song" and a "Christmas Medley."
For more information, contact the University Bands Office at (573) 651-2335.
YEO NAMED RECIPIENT OF 1999 PRIDE AWARD
Dr. Frederick Yeo, assistant professor of middle and secondary education at Southeast Missouri State University, will receive the University's Pride Award during commencement exercises scheduled for Dec. 11 in the Show Me Center.
The Pride Award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence as a teacher and who has exhibited an extraordinary level of scholarship and service.
Yeo was selected for the award by the Council of Deans after nominations were solicited from each of the University's Colleges and Schools. This is the fourth year the award has been presented.
"Fred Yeo was chosen from a field of excellent nominees, all of whom exemplify the teacher scholar model," said Dr. Dennis Holt, interim provost at Southeast. "Fred is a committed teacher, an accomplished scholar, and actively involved in university and regional service. He has developed a well-deserved reputation for integrity and intelligence with both students and colleagues. His achievement in combining productive scholarship with effective teaching is most impressive and demonstrates that scholarship and teaching are not mutually exclusive."
Yeo's impressive record of dedication to teaching excellence is demonstrated by his authorship of two books; more than 21 published articles; numerous chapters and reviews; a full calendar of speaking engagements and presentations; and an assortment of editorships.
Yeo assists young people who wish to become professional educators through a schedule of advising and teaching assignments that include undergraduate and graduate courses, both on-campus and at several of the University's off-campus sites. Highlights of his record of service to the University and his community include membership on a North Central evaluation preparation team; serving on the editorial board for Educators for Urban Minorities; membership on the editorial board for Multicultural Education; and assisting a myriad of local area secondary school authorities in hiring and certifying new teachers, specifically those in which the district had areas of special need.
He is currently president-elect of the Board of Missouri chapter of the National Association of Multicultural Education, and chair of the Multicultural Education Task Group of the National Rural Education Association.
"I have to admit to being personally very surprised and gratified to receive the award," Yeo said. "In a way, it was particularly surprising that a faculty member who has only been here three years would be given such an honor, and yet that kind of approving acceptance has been one of the characteristics of Southeast which I use to describe the university to professor friends around the country."
He added, "It is gratifying to have been singled out amongst a faculty comprised of many superb teachers and scholars. It means a lot to me to have colleagues and administrators with whom I work confirm that recognition of what I do in the classroom and in terms of my writing."
Yeo is the fourth recipient of the Pride Award. Past recipients are Dr. William Snell Jr., professor of psychology; Dr. David Ritter, associate professor of chemistry; and Dr. Janet Weber, associate professor of nursing.
FACULTY SOLOISTS TO PERFORM DEC. 9 WITH SYMPHONIC WIND ENSEMBLE
- Two members of the Southeast Missouri State University music faculty will perform with the Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble in a concert Dec. 9 featuring the music of American and Hungarian composers.
Paul Thompson, flutist, and Dr. James Sifferman, pianist, will perform in the concert scheduled for 8 p.m. in Academic Auditorium on the Southeast campus.
"This is a rare opportunity not only for the young musicians in the wind ensemble but also for the community to hear two world-class soloists," said Dr. Robert Gifford, conductor of the Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
Included on the evening's concert will be three works by American composers for the full ensemble, beginning with the rousing and technically demanding "American Overture for Band" by Joseph Wilcox Jenkins. The music of Percy Grainger has delighted audiences for almost a full century and is characterized by sprightly tunes and unique instrumental colors. Members of the Cape Central High School percussion session, under the leadership of Mark Ellison, will join the Southeast students in a spirited performance of Percy Grainger's "The Gum-Suckers" March. The concert will conclude with a march by America's "March King," John Philip Sousa.
Thompson, a graduate of the London College of Music, studied at the Paris Conservatory on a scholarship from the French government and earned a master of music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Thompson has performed extensively as a soloist in England and the United States, where he recently was featured at the National Flute Association Convention in New York City. He currently is instructor of flute and a member of the Baroque Trio at Southeast. Thompson will be featured in the concert in a performance of "Concerto for Flute, Harp, Celesta, Winds and Percussion" by Hungarian composer Frigyes Hidas. Hidas will be the featured guest composer during Southeast's Hungarian Music Festival next march. This concerto is typical of his creative genius.
Sifferman, an associate professor of music at Southeast, has performed extensively throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Europe and the Far East, and has appeared as concerto soloist with numerous orchestras. He has toured on the Columbia Artists Community Concert Series, and in 1992 performed in recital on the legendary Horowitz Steinway. In 1988, he gave his solo debut at Carnegie Recital Hall, and in 1990, released the first of two solo compact discs. Sifferman will join the Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble in a performance of Hungarian composer Kamillo Lendvay's "Concertino for Piano and Small Wind-Ensemble." Since its creation in 1959, the "Concertino" has received more than 130 performances throughout the world.
The numerous invitations that the Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble has received to perform at state and regional conferences are indicative of the respect that this group has received both for quality of performance and innovative programming. The group has presented seven world premieres and 11 American premieres of works for the contemporary wind band and has performed for both the Missouri Music Educators and the College Band Directors National Association. The Ensemble recently has been selected through competitive taped audition to be the featured Missouri collegiate to perform for the 2000 Missouri Music Educators Association Conference to be held at Lake of the Ozarks in January.
Parking for the concert will be available in lots 18 and TCD just across from the University Center. Handicapped parking will be available, with street-level elevator access.
General admission is $5. Tickets for senior citizens and students are $3. University faculty, staff and students will be admitted free with a valid I.D.
|