Waters Project Events Calendar
Waters Project End-of-the-Year Celebration
Thursday, April 21, 6-8 p.m., Fountain Room -
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Join Butler colleagues as we watch the water flow forward from
another productive and successful academic year. All faculty are
invited, along with their spouse, partner or significant other, to
attend this celebration, hosted by the Provost and the Waters
Project Committee. The winners of Waters Project awards will be
announced, artwork related to the Waters Project will be on
display, and JCFA's Dr. Matthew Pivec will assemble a jazz ensemble
to perform music on the theme of the event. Celebratory beverages
and light appetizers will be served. The RSVP-by date has been
extended to April 15. Please RSVP to Monica Strigari by clicking
here.
"Generosity Water"
Monday, April 18, noon, JH180
Students in ED403 (Perspectives in Leadership), taught by Deb
Lecklider, kick off Water Week on Monday, April 18. At this event,
students in the class will present information about the clean
water crisis in developing countries, information on Generosity
Water, and plans for the class' "Water Week," April 18-22.
"Waters of the World - Human Stories of
Water"
Tuesday, April 12, 4 p.m., Outside Starbucks
(inside Starbucks in case of inclement weather)
Water is a dominant theme in the stories of many cultures across
the globe. In this panel discussion, participants from the College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences will share stories of African, Indian,
Scottish, Mediterranean, and Nordic peoples, and discuss the
importance of water in their storytelling traditions. These stories
will encourage those in attendance to consider the role that water
plays around the world and throughout human history.
"An Evening of Water-Inspired Music for
Piano"
Friday, March 4, 8 p.m., Eidson-Duckwall Recital
Hall
In conjunction with the "Piano at Butler Recital Series," the
Waters Project is sponsoring "An Evening of Water-Inspired Music
for Piano"
Simon Docking presents a program of water-inspired piano music
from around the world. Liszt's eerie premonition of Wagner's
Venetian funeral procession contrasts with the brightness and
resonance of three key works from Simon's native Australia. Peter
Sculthorpe's Djilile ("whistling-duck on a billabong") is
a simple and beautiful arrangement of an Aboriginal traditional
song; Richard Meale's Coruscations evokes the flickering
of sunlight on waves, and Ross Edwards' Kumari depicts the
interplay of insect and bird noises at Pearl Beach, a seaside
village north of Sydney. In La Bouscarle, from Olivier
Messiaen's epic Catalogue d'Oiseaux, we are transported to
the rivers and wetlands of central France for a virtuoso display by
the teeming local birdlife, while in Britten's appealing
Holiday Diary the English seaside is peopled with
swimmers, sailors and other holidaymakers. After Berio's serene
miniature Wasserklavier, the concert ends with John Cage's
outrageous Water Music, where Docking plays not only the
piano but various other "props" including radios, horns of various
sizes, shells, and yes, even a bucket of water!
"¡Viva agua!: The Waters Project in Spain"
Monday, February 15, noon-1 p.m., Modern
Language Center (JH387)
In Fall 2010, Dr. Linda Willem led a class of 17 students in
Butler University's Semester in Spain program. The students studied
at Universidad de Alcalá de Henares and visited various sites
throughout Spain, paying attention to the waters at each location.
Additionally, Dr. Willem taught a course on Madrid in which she
also incorporated the waters theme. Join us for a light lunch and
refreshments as Dr. Willem and some of her students recall the
waters of Spain and share their experiences.
"Turning Water into Beer and other Small
Miracles"
Friday, December 3, 3 p.m., Johnson Room, Robertson
Hall
Join faculty home brewers for a discussion and demonstration on
the art and science of beer making. Drs. Hege, Hess, Swenson, and
Watts have brewed two batches of a cream ale using the same recipe
but different water sources to highlight the role water plays in
the brewing process. A tasting of the experimental beers and four
other beers (a Northwestern IPA, a Colonial-style big-bad brown
ale, a Belgian Tripel, and a Spiced Christmas ale) will be
presented for interested parties aged 21 and over. All are invited
to participate in the discussion.
"Local Waters = Local Brews"
Thursday, November 18, 5 p.m., Krannert Room
(Clowes)
Each year, more than 50,000,000,000 pints of beer are consumed
in the United States.
On average, about 95% of each pint is water.
Join three Indianapolis area brewers (Dave Colt from Sun King
Brewing, Ted Miller from Brugge, and Jon Lang of the new Triton
Brewing Company), Anita Johnson from Great Fermentations, and Rita
Kohn, author of True Brew: A Guide to Craft Beer in
Indiana, for a lively conversation on the role of water,
locality and sustainability in Indiana brewing.
The next time you hoist a pint, ask yourself: Where are you
drinking?
"The Sea is Calm Tonight: A Centennial Celebration of
the Music of Samuel Barber"
Sunday, November 14, 5 p.m., Irwin Library, Main Floor,
Southwestern Quadrant
This year (2010) marks the centenary of the birth of Samuel
Barber (1910-1981), one of America's premier classical
composers. Barber has been described as "one of the most
honored and most frequently performed American composers in Europe
and the Americas during the mid-20th century."
Written in 1931, Barber's Dover Beach is a setting for
baritone and string quartet of a melancholic Victorian poem by
English poet Matthew Arnold. Many of the work's musical
themes are directly related to the undulating tide. These
include the opening and closing motifs and the central musical
themes in the string quartet which have a tidal shape and
feeling. The poem relates the ebb and flow of water to the
ebb and flow of religious faith. Arnold uses very direct
water imagery in the poem, the first stanza of which reads:
The sea is calm
to-night.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits, on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand;
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! You hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
This lecture/recital would involve performances of Barber's
Dover Beach with JCFA voice faculty member Dr. Kyle
Ferrill accompanied by a string quartet made up of JCFA School of
Music students, a brief lecture on Barber and his Adagio
by JCFA faculty emeritus Dr. Wayne C. Wentzel, and a performance of
Barber's String Quartet Op. 11 from which the Adagio is
taken.
"Rivers of India: Population, Pollution and
Piety"
Monday, November 8, 6 p.m., Jordan Hall 141
India's rivers present a paradox. They are among the most
polluted rivers in the world. And yet, at the same time, many
of them are deified, considered goddesses by pious Hindus who bathe
in them daily and hope to die and be cremated along their
shores. In fact, these pieties at times obstruct attempts to
address the problem of pollution, as they do in the case of the
river Ganges. After all, how could the river goddess ("Mother
Ganges") be impure? Dr. David Haberman, Professor of
Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, and Dr. Kelly
Alley, Professor of Anthropology at Auburn University, will deal
with these and other issues relevant to the rivers of India.
"Something in the Water" by FYS 101:024 (Scary Stories)
students
Thursday, October 28, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.,
JH083
Students in FYS 101:024 (Scary Stories) will have a poster
session focused on all things scary related to water. Come
view student artwork and scholarly posters and discuss with the
students their findings about the frightening dimensions of our
most precious resource.
Refreshments will be provided.
"Moravian Music" by Sarah Eyerly
Tuesday, October 26, 7:30 p.m., Eidson-Duckwall Recital
Hall
Throughout history, blood has been described as the "water of
life" [aqua vitae], and it is through this lens that the improvised
singing of the Moravians can be viewed. Like many religious
communities throughout history, members of the eighteenth-century
utopias of the Moravian church crafted rituals of
self-transformation that arrested participants through the senses.
Moravian believers longed to be caressed and cradled inside
Christ's body, pierced and gashed by thorns and nails, their mouths
overflowing with blood.
They sang together softly, prostrate upon the floor, meditating
upon graphic representations of the suffering Christ. In the
ecstasy of these communal rituals, worshippers improvised hymns.
Improvisation was a religious practice, and demonstrated a
commitment of body, mind, and soul to the community.
Improvised singing cast an aural boundary around the community.
Through this improvised communal singing, Moravians connected the
inward (physical) and outward (spiritual) realm into one harmonious
creation. In the words of one hymn, "Their mouths were filled
with blood, and they sang together in joyful union with the
heavenly spheres."
The concert will begin with a 30-minute lecture on the musical
practices of the Moravian church. Then, audience members will
witness an actual improvised service, called a Singstunde [singing
hour]. The participants in the Singstunde will be Dr. Sarah
Eyerly, 16 student singers, and an organist. During the
service, graphic 18th-century artworks created by Moravians to
accompany their singing will be projected on the back of the stage.
These artworks depict the blood and suffering of Christ in
intensely personal ways: little wound bees burrowing into Christ's
wounds, cups, tables, and chairs portrayed inside Christ's side
wound, stages of the decaying body of Christ, and worshippers
bathing in the blood of Christ. The audience will also be
encouraged to sing at certain points in the concert.
Following the concert Lovefeast buns (traditional buns served by
Moravians during Singstunden) and coffee will be served.
"Maiden Voyage" by Matt Pivec and the Faculty Jazz Combo
and Guests
Tuesday, October 19, 7:30 p.m. (pre-concert lecture
@ 7:00 pm), Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall
Matt Pivec (JCFA) and the Faculty Jazz Combo, along with guest
musicians, will perform the songs from Maiden Voyage, an
album by the famed jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. The five tone
poems that comprise this album have become standards in the jazz
repertoire. Furthermore, the album as a whole is considered a
"must listen" for jazz musicians and aficionados.
Each of Hancock's five pieces depicts a particular aspect of a
sea voyage. In Hancock's own words from the original album
cover:
The sea has often stirred the imagination of creative minds
involved in all spheres of art. There still exists an element
of mystery which surrounds the sea and living aquatic creations
which provide it with its vital essence. Atlantis, the
Sargasso Sea, giant serpents, and mermaids are only a few of the
many folkloric mysteries which have evolved through man's
experience with the sea.
This music attempts to capture its vastness and majesty, the
splendor of a sea-going vessel on its maiden voyage, the graceful
beauty of the playful dolphins, the constant struggle for survival
of even the tiniest sea creatures, and the awesome destructive
power of the hurricane, nemesis of seamen.
Each of the five pieces is frequently performed
individually. However, they are rarely performed as a
complete unit. The Butler Faculty Jazz Combo will perform the
pieces from Maiden Voyage in the order they were presented on the
original album. Prior to the formal performance, Dr. Pivec
will present a brief pre-concert lecture. The purpose of the
lecture is to provide the audience with background knowledge
through which to better understand the performance. In
particular, he will discuss the specific musical devices and themes
that Hancock uses to depict his vision of a vessel's maiden
voyage.