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Visiting Writers Series Announces Spring Lineup

Author Edwidge Danticat, winner of a 2009 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant,” will open the spring 2010 Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 in the Atherton Union Reilly Room.

She will be followed by Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz (Feb. 11), acclaimed poets Lucille Clifton (Feb. 22), Lawrence Raab (March 23) and Mark Strand (April 13), and novelist Mona Simpson (April 19).

All events in the series are free and open to the public; no ticket is required. Call (317) 940-9861 for more information.

Times, locations and more about each writer follows.

Edwidge Danticat

7:30 p.m. Jan. 13

Reilly Room

Danticat is a novelist whose moving and insightful depictions of Haiti’s complex history are enriching our understanding of the Haitian immigrant experience. In works that chronicle the lives of ordinary Haitians, she evokes themes of family, isolation, and community that, while grounded in a specific cultural milieu, resonate with a wide range of audiences.

Her books include The Farming of Bones (1999), The Dewbreaker (2004) and the memoir Brother, I’m Dying (2007), which pays tribute to her father and uncle through an unflinching account of the triumphs and tragedies they experienced in Haiti and the United States. She has been a visiting professor of creative writing at New York University (1996-1997) and the University of Miami (2000 and 2008).

Junot Diaz

7:30 p.m. Feb. 11

Reilly Room

Díaz is the author of Drown (1996) and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), which won the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, African Voices, Best American Short Stories (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000), in Pushcart Prize XXII and in The O'Henry Prize Stories 2009.

He has received a Eugene McDermott Award, a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, a Lila Acheson Wallace Readers Digest Award, the 2002 Pen/Malamud Award, the 2003 US-Japan Creative Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Lucille Clifton

7:30 p.m. Feb. 22

Krannert Room of Clowes Memorial Hall

Clifton’s first book of poems, Good Times, was rated one of the best books of the year by The New York Times in 1969. She remained employed in state and federal government positions until 1971, when she became a writer-in-residence at Coppin State College in Baltimore. There, she completed two collections: Good News About the Earth (1972) and An Ordinary Woman (1974).

She went on to write several other collections of poetry, including Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 (2000), which won the National Book Award; The Terrible Stories (1995), which was nominated for the National Book Award; The Book of Light (1993); Quilting: Poems 1987-1990 (1991); and Next: New Poems (1987). Her collection Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980 (1987) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize; Two-Headed Woman (1980), also a Pulitzer Prize nominee, was the recipient of the University of Massachusetts Press Juniper Prize. Clifton has also written Generations: A Memoir (1976) and more than 16 books for children, written expressly for an African-American audience.

Lawrence Raab

7:30 p.m. March 23

Krannert Room

Free-verse poet Raab has published six volumes of his work, which uses simple, everyday language to explore a wide range of large, complicated issues. In 1993’s What We Don't Know about Each Other, for instance, observations of the natural world, including dogs, birds, and trees, lead to speculations about the supernatural, such as angels, ghosts, and extraterrestrial life.

His new book is The History of Forgetting. Other books include Visible Signs: New and Selected Poems (2003) and The Probable World (2000). He has been a lecturer in English at Williams College in Massachusetts since 1976.

Mark Strand

7:30 p.m. April 13

Reilly Room

Strand is the author of 12 books of poems, including Blizzard of One (1998), which won the Pulitzer Prize; Man and Camel (2006); New Selected Poems (2007); Dark Harbor (1993); The Continuous Life (1990); Selected Poems (1980); The Story of Our Lives (1973); and Reasons for Moving (1968). He has also published two books of prose, several volumes of translation (of works by Rafael Alberti and Carlos Drummond de Andrade, among others), several monographs on contemporary artists, and three books for children.

The 1990 U.S. poet laureate, he is recognized as one of the premier contemporary American poets as well as an accomplished editor, translator and prose writer. The hallmarks of Strand’s style are precise language, surreal imagery and the recurring theme of absence and negation. He currently teaches English and comparative literature at Columbia University in New York.

Mona Simpson

7:30 p.m. April 19

Robertson Hall Johnson Room

Mona Simpson is the author of four novels: Off Keck Road (2000), A Regular Guy (1996), The Lost Father (1992) and Anywhere but Here (1986). Excerpts from her new novel, My Hollywood, have appeared in Harper's magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, Best American Short Stories and on “This American Life.” Simpson is also a contributor to various anthologies and essay collections.

She was named one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists and has won several prestigious awards, including the Whiting Writer’s Award, a Guggenheim grant, the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, and a grant from the Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Foundation. Since 1988 she has taught at Bard College.

Bud Kerwin to Reprise Role As Drosselmeyer in Butler Ballet's 'The Nutcracker'

A newly choreographed party scene and an old favorite dancing the role of Herr Drosselmeyer will highlight Butler Ballet’s 2009 production of The Nutcracker, Dec. 3-6 at Clowes Memorial Hall.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 3); 8 p.m. Friday (Dec. 4); 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 5) and 2 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 6).

Tickets are $21.50-$28.50 for adults; $17-$23 for children, students and seniors; and $14-$20 for groups of 20 or more. They’re available at the Clowes Hall box office, (317) 940-6444, and Ticketmaster, (800) 982-2787.

This year’s Nutcracker, the 27^th consecutive annual production by Butler Ballet, will feature retired dance professor Bud Kerwin reprising his role as Drosselmeyer for the first time since 1996.

“He’s a staple of Butler Ballet and an integral part of the artistic development of The Nutcracker,” said Michelle Jarvis, chair of the Dance Department.

Kerwin began teaching at Butler in 1971 and retired in 1997 as a professor of dance. He estimates that he’s danced the role of Drosselmeyer 16 or more times, and figures this is likely to be his last time.

“It’s a challenging role, believe me,” Kerwin said. “He’s sort of like the master of ceremonies at the party, and there are just a lot of entrances and exits and getting people on and off. It’s not a matter of remembering steps as much as it is remembering cues. And he creates a lot of magical effects, which have to be worked out carefully, of course.”

Nevertheless, Kerwin said participating has been energizing.

“I’m very much looking forward to doing this,” he said. “It’s so exciting to be in rehearsals and see all the young students. They’re really at a high level of technique and it’s very assuring to see that Butler is on the move in the Dance Department. I enjoy being with them. Their enthusiasm is really wonderful.”

The Party Scene in which Drosselmeyer works his magic is newly choreographed by Assistant Professor of Dance Derek Reid, who was one of Kerwin’s students. Reid said the new scene will feature explosions and smoke, a puppet show with three small children and a mechanical soldier.

Reid said he’s had fun working with Kerwin, in what amounts to a reversal of roles.

“I did several dances for Bud when I was in school,” he said. “His energy and humor bring back some great memories. There are probably few things that could be more rewarding than giving back some of the knowledge and creativity to one who helped develop those tools.”

The 2009 production of Butler Ballet’s The Nutcracker will feature Kristianne Kleine and Jamie Ripsky as the Sugar Plum Fairy and James Kopecky and Holt Walborn as the Nutcracker.

Thomas Lewellen and Thomas Lewey will play the Snow King, Tiffany Bovard and Clare Davidson will be the Snow Queen. The Dew Drop Fairy will be danced by Sarah Farnsley and Michael Galloway will play the Cavalier.

Dancing the role of Clara will be Grace Phelps, a 13-year-old student at Westlane Middle School in Indianapolis, who studies at the Jordan Academy of Dance.

“We always enjoy having a community Clara because it makes the story so believable when children are involved,” Jarvis said.

Luther DeMyer, 10, also a JAD student, will portray her brother Fritz. DeMyer is in fifth grade at The Center for Inquiry, IPS School 84.

“This year,” Jarvis said, “we’re seeing the stars of tomorrow and yesterday.”

The full list of Butler Ballet dancers appearing in The Nutcracker follows:

Kayla Armgardt, freshman, Albuquerque, NM

Kathryn Austin, junior, San Clemente, CA

Anna Boltz, junior, Boca Raton, FL

Tiffany Bovard, senior, Charles Town, WV

Leslie Bradley, sophomore, New Windsor, NY

Madalyn Brinkhaus, sophomore, Louisville, KY

Christina Brown, freshman, North East, PA

Heather Brustolon, sophomore, Mystic, CT

Jordan Burke, senior, Harwich, MA

Shelby Canella, freshman, Fairfax, VA

Clarissa Carey, junior, Dayton, OH

James Cleary, freshman, Lawrenceville, NJ

Callie Croom, junior, Xenia, OH

Andrea D’Annunzio, junior, Conshohocken, PH

Clare Davidson, senior, Rochester, MN

Rebecca Deitrich, sophomore, Lexington, KY

Olivia DePaulis, freshman, Medford, NJ

Meghan Dietz, sophomore, Kent, OH

Leslie Dodge, senior, Indianapolis, IN

Matthew Doolin, freshman, Jacksonville, FL

Jessica Dumas, junior, Marblehead, MA

Christine Dunn, junior, Ridgefield, CT

Xavier Ellison, sophomore, Terre Haute, IN

Hope England, senior, Dublin, VA

Sarah Farnsley, senior, Columbus, IN

Christine Finch, senior, Old Saybrook, CT

Alexandra FitzGibbon, freshman, Fresno, CA

Rebecca Fleisher, senior, Dallas, TX

Kristen Francomano, junior, New City, NY

Michael Galloway, senior, Madison, AL

Garrett Glassman, sophomore, Gurnee, IL

Hailley Goleta, freshman, Oxnard, CA

Patrick Green, freshman, Washington, DC

Emilija Grinvalds, sophomore, Falls Church, VA

Kristen Hammer, junior, West Bloomfield, MI

Mary Fowler Howell, junior, Nashville, TN

Nicole Humphrey, sophomore, Dallas, TX

Tara Hutton, junior, Wichita, KS

Rachel Jacobucci, sophomore, Virginia Beach, VA

Jean Jang, freshman, Austin, TX

Mary-Priestly Jarrard, junior, Macon, GA

Abigail Kaesberg, sophomore, Mahomet, IL

Kristianne Kleine, senior, Franklin, WI

Mikaila Koenig, junior, Jacksonville, FL

James Kopecky, senior, Lake Villa, IL

Erin Langston, junior, Vestavia Hills, AL

Thomas Lewellen, junior, Peoria, IL

Thomas Lewey, senior, Carpentersville, IL

Kristina Liu, freshman, Reston, VA

Kara Lozanovski, senior, Crown Point, IN

Aleksa Lukasiewicz, junior, Novi, MI

Danielle Martin, freshman, Mount Laurel, NJ

Jennifer Martin, sophomore, Tucker, GA

Jessica Martin, junior, Fayetteville, GA

Elizabeth McGleam, senior, Downers Grove, IL

Brianna Meisenbacher, sophomore, Skillman, NJ

Madalyn Menor, sophomore, Jacksonville, FL

Justin Metcalf-Burton, freshman, Gaithersburg, MD

Lindsay Moncrieff, sophomore, Acton, MA

Amanda Moos, senior, Mandeville, LA

Danielle Moreno, freshman, Saint James, NY

Olivia Morris, sophomore, Dayton, OH

Chloe Obert, freshman, Lexington, KY

Caitlin O’Riordan, junior, Papillion, NE

Natalie Parker, senior, Boca Raton, FL

Carrie Patterson, junior, Lawrenceville, GA

Darcie Perkins, junior, Wolcottville, IN

Anna Peters, freshman, Colbert, WA

Rachel Pike, junior, Buffalo Grove, IL

Danella Pistono, junior, Bolivar, TN

Lauren Reed, freshman, Milwaukee, WI

Jamie Ripsky, senior, Naperville, IL

Erica Lily Rupp, junior, Ottawa, Ontario

Christina Sahaida, sophomore, Pittsburgh, PA

Kyle Schlaefer, sophomore, Lucas, TX

Mary Agatha Schmank, junior, Chesterfield, MO

Sean Sessions, sophomore, Columbia, MD

Amanda Sewell, junior, Millersville, MD

Morgan Sicklick, freshman, Woodcliff Lake, NJ

Sara Smith, freshman, Brighton, MI

Alexis Spooner, freshman, Rocky River, OH

Anna Steinmetz, junior, Fox Point, WI

Emily Tashjian, sophomore, Lisle, IL

Sarah Taylor, junior, Salisbury, MD

Erin Tsukashima, senior, San Diego, CA

Mai Uesaka, sophomore, West Bloomfield, MI

Laura Urrutia, sophomore, Lawrenceville, GA

Katrine Vorsa, freshman, Atco, NJ

Holt Walborn, senior, Princeston, KY

Karl Watson, sophomore, Novelty, OH

Loren Williams, freshman, Webster, NY

Jacqueline Wurzer,sophomore, Wethersfield, CT

Olivia Yoch, sophomore, Richmond, VA

Brittany Yourstone, sophomore, Ellicott City MD

Alessandra Yrure, senior, Milpitas, CA

Contact Marc Allan
(317) 940-9822
mallan@butler.edu

Butler Literary Magazine to Host Launch Party

Booth,the new online literary magazine sponsored by Butler University’s MFA program, will host a launch party from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Harrison Center for the Arts,1505 North Delaware St.

Entertainment will include live music from the band Nightjar and readings by Jason Bredle, Emily Doak and Jim Walker. In addition, artists Ryan Abegglen and Mab Graves will offer a one-night exhibit of artwork.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, or to learn more about Booth, visithttp://booth.butler.edu/or contact Editor Robert Stapleton atrstaplet@butler.edu.

More information about the participating artists follows.

Nightjar recently won the Broad Ripple Music Festival’s online Battle of the Bands and helped open the festival with a live set at The Vogue on Oct. 17. More information: http://nightjarmusic.com/.

Jason Bredle is the author of Standing in Line for the Beast, A Twelve Step Guide and Pain Fantasy. He lives in Chicago.

Emily Doak teaches writing at DePauw University. Her work has appeared in Gettysburg Review and The Spoon River Poetry Review, among others. More information: http://www.depauw.edu/acad/english/facultydirectories/doak_emily.asp.

Jim Walker is the director of Second Story, founder of Big Car Gallery and a writing instructor at Butler University. His reading will be accompanied by musical saws.

Ryan Abegglen is an Indianapolis artist and was the first featured artist in Booth. More about him and his work here: http://www.ryanabegglen.com/.

Mab Graves is an Indianapolis artist and recently won the local Art vs. Art contest (http://www.artvsart.com/). She will be featured in an upcoming issue of Booth.

Contact Marc Allan
(317) 940-9822
mallan@butler.edu

Grace Fong to Perform Recital at Eidson-Duckwall

Acclaimed pianist Grace Fong, director of Keyboard Studies at Chapman University Conservatory of Music and the winner of the 2009 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship of the American Pianists Association, will perform a recital at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16 in Butler University’s Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall.

The concert, the second in the new Piano at Butler series, will feature compositions by Prokofiev, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart and Carl Vine. The program is below. It is free and open to the public. No ticket is required.

For more information, call (317) 940-9246.

Fong also will give a masterclass at 10 a.m. Nov. 17 at Eidson-Duckwall. That, too, is free and open to the public.

Fong has been praised as "positively magical," an artist of "rare eloquence and grace." She has won numerous international competitions, including the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition in the United Kingdom, 2007 Bosendorfer International Piano Competition, San Antonio International Piano Competition, Viardo International Piano Competition and the Cleveland International Piano Competition.

In winning the DeHaan Fellowship, she participated in a competitive 1½-year process that began with nominations and culminated in solo, chamber, lieder and concerto performances in Indianapolis in spring 2009. She was the first female winner in 12 years.

As part of the fellowship, she receives three years of concerts and recitals both nationally and internationally through the APA's PianoFest program, promotional materials and a debut CD release. She will also participate in education and community outreach programs called Concerto Curriculum. The value of a two-year Fellowship is $75,000.

More information about her is available at http://www.pianistgracefong.com/.

The program for her performance includes:

Prokofiev Sonata no. 1 in F minor, op. 1

Chopin

Impromptu no. 1 in A flat major, op. 29

Impromptu no. 2 in F# minor, op. 36

Tarantella op. 43

Liszt Ballade no. 2 in B minor, S. 171

Mozart - Variations on "Ah! Vous dirai-je, maman", K.265

Carl Vine Piano Sonata no. 1

Contact Marc Allan
(317) 940-9822
mallan@butler.edu

Butler Hosts Hitting Facility Open House

The Butler Athletic Department will officially unveil its new baseball/softball/golf hitting facility with an “Open House” Thursday, Nov. 19 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. The hitting facility was made possible thanks to generous donations to the ButlerRising campaign.

Butler coaches Steve Farley (baseball), Jeanne Rayman (softball) and Bill Mattingly (golf) will be on hand, along with Butler student-athletes, to show visitors the Indoor Hitting Facility. The building is 5,720 square feet and runs adjacent to the left field foul line of Bulldog Park, which is located off of 52nd Street behind Hinkle Fieldhouse. The hitting facility features three full length batting cages and an artificial putting green.

Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served. People attending the Open House are asked to park in the Butler Tennis Bubble lot, located west of Boulevard Place on 52nd Street.

Nov. 11 Forum on Principal Leadership, Licensure

Butler College of Education’s Experiential Program for Preparing School Principals and WFYI will co-host “It’s a Matter of Principal,” a public discussion on principal licensure, on Wednesday, Nov. 11, from 7–9 p.m. in Atherton Union, Reilly Room.

A panel of educational leaders will discuss the leadership role of K-12 school principals. The discussion will be focused around themes from the documentary The Principal Story and from changes to the licensure process proposed by the Indiana Department of Education in the Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability.

Panelists will include

· Professor of Education Todd Whitaker of Indiana State University. Whitaker has authored numerous books on education, including What Great Principals Do Differently

· Superintendent Robert Brower of the North Montgomery Community School Corporation (Crawfordsville). Brower is a nationally recognized expert on the trimester schedule.

· Superintendent James Halik of the Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County (New Palestine)

· Principal Tina Merriweather of Northview Middle School, Washington Township (Indianapolis)

· Nicole Law, curriculum coordinator for MSD Wayne Township (Indianapolis), and recipient of the national Milken Educator Award.

Dr. Walter Bourke, superintendent of the Franklin Township Community School Corporation (Indianapolis) will facilitate the discussion.

RSVP to vkramer@butler.edu or (317) 940-6481.

Contact: Mary Ellen Stephenson
(317) 940-6944
mestephe@butler.edu

Berkeley Professor to Deliver Thornbrough Lecture

Waldo Martin, professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley, will deliver the 2009 Thornbrough Lecture, “Be Real Black for Me: Black Cultural Politics in the Black Power Era,” at 4 p.m. Nov. 13 in Jordan Hall 141.

Admission is free; no ticket is required. Call Deb Smith at (317) 940-9230. A reception will follow the lecture.

Martin has authored numerous books, including No Coward Soldiers: Black Cultural Politics and Postwar America (2005), Brown v. Board of Education: A Brief History With Documents (1998) and The Mind of Frederick Douglass (1984).

The Thornbrough Lecture is sponsored by the Indiana Association of Historians and Department of History and Anthropology of Butler University, with support from the Frederic M. Ayres Fund.

Contact Marc Allan
(317) 940-9822
mallan@butler.edu

BSO to Perform Mahler's 'Resurrection'

The Butler Symphony Orchestra, Butler Choir and Butler Chorale – more than 200 musicians and singers in all, including some situated in the balcony – will perform Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony, Resurrection, at 3 p.m. Nov. 8 in Clowes Memorial Hall.

Admission is free and open to the public. No tickets are required. For more information, call (317) 940-6444.

An hour before the concert, a discussion will be held about the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. For more information, visit here.

This performance is part of the Jordan College of Fine Arts’ yearlong Mahler Project, which pays homage to the 150^th anniversary of the great German composer’s birth in 2010. It also celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, on Nov. 9, 1988.

More information is available at http://www.butler.edu/jcfa/.

“This is a happening,” said BSO conductor Richard Auldon Clark. “This is the largest ensemble we will ever have assembled onstage at Clowes. Just to witness something like this live and be part of that experience – but also see what our students have accomplished – is wonderful.”

Nancy Davis Booth, soprano, and 2005 alumna Ursula Kuhar, mezzo, will sing the solos, and eight horn players will play in the balcony. (The composition calls for the musicians to be off stage.)

Mahler wrote the 90-minute, five-movement symphony during a period from 1888-1894 and revised it in 1903. At the time, some critics called it bloated romanticism.

“I think that’s a naïve, ignorant appraisal,” Clark said. “As a conductor, studying the score and looking at the orchestration and how he builds a piece, I think he’s one of our great, great geniuses. For me, he’s the greatest romantic composer of all time.”

Clark breaks down Resurrection this way:

The first movement – which started as a tone poem, a funeral rite – alternates between depressing and invigorating. “This is the death, the funeral, the end of life,” he said. “But it’s still in question form because some aspects of it are very beautiful and other aspects are absolute hell – you hear the anger, as if you were descending into hell.”

The 23-minute first movement is followed by five minutes of silence. “It’s such a heavy movement that you don’t want to go into something else immediately,” Clark said.

The second movement is quirky, almost like a German waltz. “A stylized, gentle, nurturing, beautiful movement. Then it gets blaring and ugly for a few seconds – blaring and ugly and rhythmically complex, with the instruments struggling against one another.” This section finishes with what Clark describes as “a gorgeous little old world song.”

“For me, that’s always Mahler looking back at the destruction of the old aristocracy, the old art,” he said.

The third movement is “at times distorted and a little on the grotesque side, but for the most part very charming and witty.” In this portion of the symphony, Mahler is questioning the meaning of life: You struggle, you live and then it’s over.

Mahler follows that with a fourth movement that is “one of the most beautiful, most powerful songs he ever wrote,” Clark said. “It’s a small work, almost a eulogy or an elegy, but it’s a beautiful, poetic comment on the meaning of life.”

The fifth movement brings back the grotesqueness from the third movement while also quoting Wagner and Schubert.

“Mahler was a great conductor and conducted all the repertoire,” Clark said. “He always has the influences of the great composers who preceded him in his works.”

This closing section signifies an ascension – the soul finding its place in heaven. Soloists return, as does the full choir.

“The minor, dark part turns into this major, beautiful section where everything’s ascending,” Clark said. “It’s incredible energy.”

Contact Marc Allan
(317) 940-9822
mallan@butler.edu

Butler Wind Ensemble Welcomes ISO Concertmaster

Zach De Pue, concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, will be guest soloist when the Butler University Wind Ensemble performs at 2 p.m Nov. 1 in Clowes Memorial Hall.

Admission is free and open to the public; no ticket is required. Call (317) 940-6444 for more information.

De Pue will perform solos in two compositions by his father, Wallace, who retired after a long tenure as professor of composition at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. The two selections are Serenade and The Fiddler’s Contest, the latter of which is a concerto that is a tribute to the fiddling contests Zach and his three brothers used to play at various state fairs and competitions during the summers. It is filled with remembrances of the music of country fiddlers, with hoedowns, old-fashioned waltzes, polkas and the like, replete with many pyrotechnical passages that pay homage to the art of “fiddlin’.”

“This is a special treat, to hear one of the great violinists in the country play in a different setting,” said Robert Grechesky, professor of music and conductor of the Wind Ensemble.

In addition, the Wind Ensemble will present the premiere performance of Little Death Canyon Expedition by graduate student composer Scott Comanzo. This major work is filled with fresh sounds and images, and represents a new take on crossover music, fusing elements of jazz, rock, and classical music in a most creative way.

Other works on the program include Music for a Festival by Gordon Jacob, Antiphonals by Donald Coakley, Song by William Bolcom and Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn by Norman Dello Joio.

Contact Marc Allan
(317) 940-9822
mallan@butler.edu

Rejoice! Tickets Now Available

Rejoice! with the Butler University choirs and the Butler Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11 and 12 in Clowes Memorial Hall as they present holiday concerts featuring a range of selections, highlighted by Jonathan Willcocks’ Magnificat.

The concerts are free, but a ticket is required for admission. Tickets are now available at the Clowes Hall box office.

There is a limit of four tickets per person. Call (317) 940-6444 for more information.

This year’s Rejoice! concerts, which are Butler’s annual gift to the community, will feature a varied format that will include the sacred and the secular. (A sample from Willcocks’ composition can be heard here.)

Also on the program is the holiday sing-along The Many Moods of Christmas made famous by Robert Shaw. The Butler Symphony, Butler University Choir, Butler Chorale and Butler Chamber Choir each will take turns entertaining the audience, and there will be several performing groups in the lobby.

“There’ll be something for everybody,” said Eric Stark, associate professor of music and artistic director for Rejoice!

This will be the 23rd annual Rejoice! concert, and each year the conductors and musical selections change. Last year, the performance featured Bach’s Magnificat.

The varied program is done to keep audiences entertained and for educational purposes.

“In any given concert year, you’ll look onstage and see 100 singers,” Stark said. “Three-quarters of them are going to be directing holiday programs or singing in them throughout much of their lives. So we want to give them exposure to the variety of holiday experiences they can program as directors. So we go from light to serious and everything in between. We hope the kids walk away with experiences that will help them in the professional world.”