Author: Tsukumo

Senior interested in performing arts of all kinds, and practically anything that interests YOU.

PREVIEW: Dead Man Walking

Tsukumo
design courtesy Boston Opera Collabroative

If you want to go to the scariest, most powerful, and most thought-provoking event during this weekend, this is the one. Based on a book by Sister Helen Prejean, “Dead Man Walking” by Jake Heggie is one of the most performed contemporary operas today.

The story, as taken from the School of Music website, goes like this:

“Dead Man Walking tells the true story of [Sister Helen Prejean’s] experience as a spiritual advisor to a convict on Louisiana’s death row. Through his appeals for pardon to the inevitable final execution, Sister Helen stands by Joe de Rocher despite her internal struggle to reconcile her faith in his humanity with the heinousness of his crimes. Her unpopular and controversial choice to attempt to save his soul leads to confrontations with those closely affected by his actions. A powerful tale of compassion and the effect of crime on the families of both the victim and perpetrator, Dead Man Walking is both inspirational and devastating.”

As the students in the School of Music, Theater, and Dance pour their heart into the production for countless hours, their performances will surely leave you with some intense feelings and food for thought. And what’s even better? This performance is on the Passport to the Arts, so you can actually get a free ticket!

Be advised that this opera contains violence and vulgarity.

When: Thursday, November 13, at 7:30pm*; Friday-Saturday, November 14-15, at 8pm; Sunday, November 16, at 2pm

Where: Power Center for the Performing Arts

Tickets: Students $10 with ID (or free using the Passport to the Arts); buy online or at Michigan League Ticket Office

* Sister Helen Prejean, the author of the original book, will be present to lead a discussion session after Thursday’s performance.

PREVIEW: University Symphony Orchestra & University Philharmonia Orchestra

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When: Wednesday, November 12 at 8pm

Where: Hill Auditorium

Tickets: none (free)!

U-M School of Music’s two orchestras come together to perform a program that reflects on what it means to be American — from Native American, African American, and Bohemian visitor’s perspectives. The concert with musicians from University Symphony Orchestra (USO) & University Philharmonia Orchestra (UPO) features a movement from William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony (1930); Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Tracing Mississippi, a concerto for flute (2001); and finally, Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (1893). I’m sure many of you are familiar with the tune “goin’ home, goin’ home…” Did you know that this is one of the most famous solos for English horn in Dvořák’s “New World” symphony? From rarely performed works to many audiences’ favorite, this concert will surely be worth your attention. Also, this is one of the very rare chances to see School of Music, Theater, and Dance’s Dean Christopher Kendall conduct. Don’t miss out!

REVIEW: Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition

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Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition made me think about being human in a technology-heavy and science-driven world. And no, you don’t have to be a physics nerd to appreciate this performance (because I certainly am not). In fact, I’m going to focus on the non-scientific aspects of this performance.

The stage set-up was pretty simple: 10 Mac screens in the very front, 10 slightly bigger screens a few feet back, and 2 big screens behind them all. In between, there was a table of equipments set up for the two human performers to add life to the work — playing morse code at each other, experimenting with different tuning forks, solving cryptic crossword puzzles, and so on.

The two human performers typed out messages that were impossible to process real-time, because multiple screens showed totally different messages. We can only focus visually on one aspect — what the performer is doing, what one (not both) of them is typing, or what is on the front screens. That’s human. As humans, we can’t do everything.

As humans, we sometimes find discomfort in scientifically-produced “music”. superposition explored the effects of using booming bass, almost inaudible low-frequency drones, piercing high pitch, clashing near-frequency notes. These cause mild physical pain and discomfort. Sharing these emotions make us human, too.

Another aspect of human-ness was in the pitch forks. In this segment, the two performers each took a pitch fork tuned to “A” — but with different frequencies, used in orchestras worldwide. The U.S. American standard is often A=440Hz, but in other countries, any frequencies from A=419.9Hz to 454.7Hz are possible (source: 10 small screens in the performance). And indeed, they sound different. The performers played two of these 10 differently-pitched tuning forks at a time, which cause the vibrations to clash against each other. This reminded me of how much tuning A can be a source of conflict between musicians. Even the difference between using A=440Hz or A=442Hz to tune can cause problems to orchestral musicians that are expected to play perfectly in tune all the time. These cultural differences and conflicts are very much human — computers can’t feel the anger and frustration that come with them.

But, in the end, what is the significance of this human-ness in today’s world?

The fun part of this performance was my attempt to figure out what the performance actually means. There is no definite answer. superposition asked me a very vague, open-ended question — what’s the humans’ role in a society where technology and science replaces a lot of our roles? Hashtag: food for thought.

REVIEW: Dear White People

Tsukumo

dearwhitepeople2

“Dear White People” (2014) boldly tackles the intricate issue of racism on campus, through the lens of multiple black students. It addresses the diversity within the black student community, and examines a few identities outside of white race or black race — although not deeply.

The central incident is the “African American”-themed Halloween party put on by white students at the Winchester University, a fictional Ivy League school in which the black students are mainly marginalized, oppressed, and implicitly (and explicitly) forced to be in their corner. The invitation for the party was almost exactly quoted from the real party at the University of California, San Diego in 2010 (Post-Racism? Yeah, right).

Think of your favorite movie from the past; the chances are, most, if not all, of the important characters in that movie are white and heterosexual. On the contrary, “Dear White People” gives life to many black characters that were often marginalized in U.S. movie screens, including one gay black man. Through the eyes of Lionel Higgins, the movie touches the issue of intersectionality between race and sexual orientation, even if briefly. Another aspect about identity that this movie represented is the particular difficulty of being a multiracial person, as seen when Sam White talks about her interaction with her white father. Is the movie entirely inclusive of all identities? Definitely not. I can make a whole list of identities that were unmentioned in the movie. However, it can serve as a discussion-starter for looking far and beyond the binary of white vs. black, gay vs. straight, and so on.

The movie tries to bust the white-or-black binary by including one character that is neither. As the only Asian-American member of the Black Student Union, Sungmi suggests BSU to collaborate with the Asian-American and Latin@ organizations on the Halloween night to break into the African-American-themed party. I felt like she represents the whole rest of the spectrum of races — people that identify as neither black nor white. Unfortunately, her character’s identity and existence was attached to the black-ness, which didn’t give her much room to be defined outside of the white-or-black binary. But without her, the whole spectrum of races went entirely unmentioned. Sungmi speaks to the invisibility of oppression directed towards Asian, Latin@, and Arab students — and many, many more.

The audience filled up most of the State Theater screening room, about half of whom were perceivably people of color. They laughed, awww’d, oooh’d, and cheered as they found the story resonate with them. They left the theater talking about their identities, mostly about their race. Perhaps the biggest contribution that “Dear White People” is making to the society is its ability to bring people in the theater to share the emotions surrounding race, and continue talking about their identities and how those affect their lives.

Dear White People (and everyone else). Please watch this movie. And think about your identities, and how you perceive racism, sexism, heterosexism, and all other -isms based on your identities.

PREVIEW: Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition

Tsukumo

Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition brings a Japanese visual and sound artist to prove that art and science can interact. As a part of UMS’s International Theater Series, Ikeda creates a show that combines “synchronized video screens, real-time content feeds, digital sound sculptures, and for the first time in Ikeda’s work, human performers.” (UMS.org)

Photo by Kakuo Fukunaga

When: Friday, October 31 at 8pm -and- Saturday, November 1 at 8pm

Where: Power Center for Performing Arts

Tickets range from $12-20 for students, with ID. If you are first-year or sophomore, you are eligible to go to an UMS performance for free thanks to Bert’s Tickets program. Read more about how to claim your Bert’s Ticket and/or use other Student Ticket deals here!

PREVIEW: Halloween Concert

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What: Halloween Concert

When: Sunday, October 26, 2014 at 4:30pm

Where: Hill Auditorium

Halloween Concert, along with Band-O-Rama (Friday, October 31 at 8pm) and A Grand Night for Singing, is a fundraising tradition at the U-M School of Music. Every year, members of the two university orchestras — University Symphony Orchestra and University Phiharmonia Orchestra — come together to perform a Halloween concert for audiences of all ages. The performers are certainly excited to get out of their tuxedo and concert black clothes to dress up as something funky and fun! Come check out some creative costumes and beautiful music. Audience costumes are welcome! (Disclaimer — despite the candy-full nature of Halloween, there is no food allowed in Hill Auditorium. Boo.)

You can purchase the tickets ($18/15/10/8) online, or at the Michigan League Ticket Office.

Edit 10/20 — The concert is on the Passport to the Arts for October 15-31, so you can actually get the tickets for free. For more details, check out this website!