Author: Lindsay Fedewa

Don’t miss the amazingly talented Yuja Wang and Leonidas Kavakos playing at the Power Center this afternoon! Widely recognized as one of the most important pianists of her generation, Yuja is frequently praised for her ability to execute the most complicated technique of her repertoire, the depth of her musical insight, and her charisma on stage. Joining Yuja, violinist Leonidas Kavakos is internationally renowned for his virtuosity, superb musicianship, and integrity. Combining the mind-blowing talent of these superb musicians will undoubtedly make for a fantastic performance. Check out a recap of the details below.

 Yuja Wang and Leonidas Kavakos

Sunday, 23 November 2014, 4 pm

Hill Auditorium

$20 tickets

In honor of Trans* Awareness Week, Kit Yan, a queer, transgender, and Asian American Brooklyn based slam poet from Hawaii, will be performing his poetry this evening at 7 pm at Trotter Multicultural Center. Kit performs entertaining, educational, and theatrical slam poetry pieces about his life as a queer, transgender, and Asian American through stories about family, love, and social justice. Kit has performed his poetry on several national and international tours, as well as received countless awards for his inspiring work. Whether or not you identify as a sexual or gender minority, this is a performance you won’t want to miss. Check out a recap of the details below.

Kit Yan Slam Poetry Performance

Monday, 17 November 2014, 7-8 pm

Trotter Multicultural Center

No cost

 

In honor of National ADHD Awareness Week, Jerry Mills performed Extraordinary: A Concert-Style Journey into the Heart of the ADHD Experience at the Rackham Auditorium this past Thursday. Since being diagnosed with ADHD, Mills has dedicated much of his life to using the performing arts as a vehicle to spread his refreshing views on the link between mental health, education, and identity around the world. Combining storytelling, songwriting, and keynote speaking with active participation from the audience, Mills’ performance was both engaging and meaningful.

Throughout his performance, Mills not only dug into the heart of the ADHD experience, but of educational reform. His experience as both a troubled student suffering from undiagnosed ADHD and an elementary school teacher grant him a uniquely holistic view of the flaws of the one-size-fits-all educational system that dominates the majority of today’s schools. During Extraordinary, Mills conveyed through song and storytelling how he eventually came to believe that something was innately wrong with him solely because his teachers continually told him that his inability to fit this one-size-fits-all mold was abnormal. Using song-writing as a means of self-discovery, he slowly came to realize that the fault lied within the system, not himself. Now, Mills not only uses his song-writing as a continued means of self-discovery, but as a means to spread the message that the world needs all kinds of minds, and the educational system must therefore change in order to better cater to the healthy development of these diverse thinking styles.

Because of these positive and relevant messages his work advocates, I find Mills’ artistic intentions refreshingly genuine. Unlike many performing artists, his pursuit of music and public speaking clearly did not stem from an ulterior motive to become famous; rather, it stemmed from his genuine desire to let those suffering from ADHD know that they are not alone, while simultaneously helping people without ADHD come to a greater understanding of the daily challenges that accompany this mental illness. Ultimately, Jerry Mills not only filled the audience with a childlike, carefree happiness, but with a sense of urgency regarding the need for social change within the spheres of education and mental health.

Named after the classical god of music and the sun, Apollo’s Fire uses music as a means of communication, striving to strike an emotional chord within each audience member. Join them this evening at 7:30 pm as they perform Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, a dramatic choral masterpiece that evokes the struggle between the archaic and the revolutionary. With their focus on music as an emotional journey, Apollo’s Fire will undoubtedly bring a new life to this old piece. See below for details.

Apollo’s Fire Orchestra and Choir Present: Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610

Thursday, 6 November 2014, 7:30 pm

St. Francis of Assisi Church

 General Admission: $40.00 / Reserved Seating: $50.00

Participate in National ADHD Awareness Week with a free Jerry Mills concert! Drawing on his own personal experience with ADHD, Mills blends music, storytelling, and visual media to portray the daily challenges of living with this mental illness. Look below for more details.

Jerry Mills Presents: A Concert-Style Journey Into the Heart of the ADHD Experience

Rackham Graduate School Auditorium

Thursday, 6 November, 12 pm

free

Truly an artist that lets his work speak for itself, Ryoji Ikeda discussed his innovative approach to art and the messy meaning of his work during last Thursday’s Penny Stamps lecture. One of three stops on his American tour, the Power Center presented Ikeda’s superposition this past weekend. Although Ikeda mentioned his distaste for talking about his work several times throughout the lecture, he managed to offer a basic explanation of the premise behind the complicated and often confusing art he creates. Essentially, Ikeda transforms the overwhelming amount of data that constantly permeates the modern world into art by forming it into a pattern, syncing it with unconventional digital sounds, then projecting it onto an enormous stage through myriad screens varying in size. Infusing bold and often political statements into his work, such as “Religion is a boundary condition” and “Science is a diffusional complicity,” Ikeda pushes his audience to question their current understanding of the world; however, he wants his audience to draw their own conclusions from these questions, which is part of the reason why he rarely talks about his art. This concept constitutes the messy meaning of Ikeda’s art: instead of expressing a single, clear cut meaning of his work, he validates everyone’s unique interpretation.

In addition to this messy meaning, Ikeda’s innovative approach to art is also defined by how he chooses to present his work. Both Ikeda and teachers use data as their medium; however, Ikeda’s creative presentation of data transforms it into art, whereas the way teachers present data foregoes this transformation, so the data remains purely academic. This central aspect of Ikeda’s work manifests the idea that a creative presentation can transform anything into art.