If you’re an indecisive appreciator of art, or an enthusiast of all forms, the upcoming SMTD@UMMA performance, Image in Motion, is for you. In this collaboration between the Department of Dance and the University of Michigan Museum of Art, U-M Dance students will use UMMA’s new exhibit Europe on Paper as inspiration for the performance. The Europe on Paper collection features the work of German and Austrian Expressionist painters; dancers will interpret the works’ emotion and color through movement.
These two artistic modes lie close to my heart, and based on past STMD@UMMA performances, the beauty of UMMA’s gallery space only further brings SMTD work to life. This marriage of artistic forms is happening Thursday, November 17 at 7:30 in UMMA, and is free and open to the public.
Tomorrow evening, SMTD’s own University Symphony Orchestra and University Philharmonia Orchestra are joining forces to present a concert with works of French origins and inspirations.
The program features Mozart’s Paris Symphony, as well as works by French composers that feature talented soloists from the School of Music. Daniel Fendrick, SMTD’s 2016 Concerto Competition winner, will perform Marcel Bitsch’s Bassoon Concerto, and Professor Joan Holland will be the harp soloist in Claude Debussy’s colorful Sacred and Profane Dances.
The program will end with Hector Berlioz’s revolutionary Symphonie Fantastique, a programmatic work which was composed while the composer was under the influence of opium, morbidly dreaming about his unrequited love for a young actress.
Maestro Kenneth Kiesler will be giving a pre-concert talk about the music on the program at 7:15pm. The concert begins at 8pm in Hill Auditorium and is free of charge. You do not want to miss out on this fantastique program!
Even if the hallowed arches of Hill Auditorium have finally ceased reverberating from the thunderous applause of a packed and appreciative house, it is certain that the hearts of every individual who attended the Berlin Philharmonic’s concerts on Saturday and Sunday are still pulsating from the sheer brilliance of the two performances.
The world-class orchestra presented two bold programs to Ann Arbor, which was fortunate enough to be one of three cities in the US that the orchestra is visiting on their final US tour under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Saturday night’s program opened with an odd mix of the fine musicians filing onto the stage. They performed Pierre Boulez’s Éclat, a relatively new work by the late, great conductor that draws the listener’s attention to the reverberations that exist in between the gestural, colorful melodic fragments. The instrumentation included some unconventional instruments such as mandolin, guitar, and hammered dulcimer. I sat high up in the balcony, but was pleasantly surprised at how every single note resounded as clearly as if it were being played ten feet away from me. The rest of the orchestra joined them after this piece to perform Mahler’s monumental, rarely-performed Seventh Symphony. The orchestra was so massive that they hardly fit on stage. I was repeatedly overwhelmed by how all of these musicians came together to sound as one phenomenal player. Every section was perfectly together, and played with an astounding and refined tone. The orchestra acted as a chamber ensemble, breathing as one organism, journeying through the winding pathways of the work until the triumphant ending.
Sunday afternoon’s concert felt very much like a continuation of Saturday night’s, and not only because the composers featured on the first half were of the generation after Mahler’s. The electric energy created by Saturday night’s concert seemed to still hang in the air of the hall. The first half, with multi-movement orchestral works by Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg, was performed as one string of pieces without applause in between works, and ended, about as literally as it can get, with a bang (Berg actually calls for a giant hammer in his instrumentation, a la Mahler 6). In the second half, the Philharmonic’s performance of Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 was by far my favorite performance of any work by that composer. The orchestra exuded the joy and warmth that radiates from the rich harmonies of the symphony that is often referred to as “pastoral.”
There is this unmistakeable feeling that happens, for me, when I hear something astounding––the force of my pounding heart becomes so powerful that I am compelled to leap from my seat at the sounding of the final chord. But this time, I did not just experience this rush of adrenaline; it was more substantive, more satisfying, and more lasting––and I think this was the effect of witnessing such total musicianship and togetherness coming from such a large ensemble. Underneath every note, the orchestra communicated love: their love for the art form, their appreciation of the audience, and the joy they find working together to create such beautiful music. It was, all clichés aside, a truly transcendental experience, a living, breathing example of why classical music is more relevant and necessary in this chaotic world than it perhaps has ever been before.
On Sunday morning, members of the Philharmonic gave masterclasses to SMTD students, and from what I saw, I quickly came to the conclusion that the Berlin Philharmonic is not only made up of some of the finest musicians in the world, but also some of the world’s finest people. The instrumentalists were all constructive in their criticisms, yet kind, talented beyond belief, yet humble, and above all, dedicated to passing along their musical legacy to the students.
With the rather chaotic atmosphere that has significantly affected the country and our school over the past week, the Berlin Philharmonic’s remarkable performances this weekend served as a much-welcome reminder of the restorative power of music. My only regret about the concerts was that they ended.
It is a rare event when you get to see some of the world’s best musicians all on a stage together, directed by the very famous Simon Rattle. What was almost as special as this was the mere fact of how many people showed up to Hill Auditorium both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon to see the Berlin Phil. I know that classical music can sometimes be a tad old-fashioned or out of the interests of millennials, but it was incredibly encouraging to see the masses of people, all different ages and backgrounds, coming out to see the concert.
The performance started with a more contemporary piece called Éclat by Boulez. The piece contrasted a variety of instruments on stage, from mandolin to harpsichord. Every musician had to be incredibly attentive to one another, as their entrances came randomly and spaced out by an arbitrary number of rests. Additionally, the combination of instruments kept changing to showcase different mixtures voices. Though it was not my personal favorite, the piece offered a fascinating contrast to the following part of the program.
The next piece they played was Mahler’s 7th Symphony. I have long been biased towards Mahler’s work, always feeling incredibly in tune with his melodies and emotionally connected to the solos. One of the most impressive aspects of the Philharmonic’s performance was the woodwind solis, which usually consisted of the flute, oboe, and clarinet principals, as well as the second principals at times. These few musicians were perfectly connected in their musicality and phrasing, to the extent that their separate instrument timbres would melt into one another at the end of a phrase. This was such a treat to hear, being a clarinetist myself and always enjoying the beautiful bell tones of a leading clarinet player.
But of course, I have to also mention the conductor. Rattle was a very enthusiastic conductor, but not to the extent like some others such as Dudamel. His exuberance was more subtle and concentrated into his communication with the musicians. Most of all, you could tell how close the director and symphony had come, when at the end Rattle traveled through the orchestra and shook the hand of every principal musician. It was a very touching moment, and I believe the entire audience felt its impact.
Tonight’s choice of organ music was none other than “Over the Rainbow,” from the Wizard of Oz, a fitting tune considering featured guest Athi-Patra Ruga recently put on a show of the same name. Ruga framed his lecture by talking about self-made superheroes, these characters or rather, avatars, that he has both created and embodied to deal with past traumas. These figures have become the central focus of all his varied artistic ventures throughout the years.
One of the very first avatars he created was “Miss Congo,” who he describes as a “club kid.” At this time he took up tapestry work, saying that he would prefer to define his own fate, and his own story, rather than let others do so for him. In particular he wanted to explore the way that black women have been portrayed at art.
The next character he explored was “Injibhabha,” which translates from his native language of Xhosa into alopecia, or hair-loss, in English. This character was created directly in response to a specific incident that occurred in his life. Ruga had been in Switzerland when he saw a poster featuring cartoon white sheep kicking a cartoon black sheep out of the country, with the message promoting “cleaning up” the country by forcing immigrants out of the country. He had built up in his mind Switzerland as a kind of utopian space, but in this moment it all came crashing down. He did a piece of performance art in which he dressed up as this avatar by sewing together an outfit of “costume afros,” and entering a pen of white sheep. He continued to experiment with this avatar for a while, and some of the photos he took at this time of Injibhabha are placed below.
The Death of Beiruth
The next character he began exploring was “Beiruth,” which was made in response to a news story covering a South African woman that had been attacked by a man in a taxi for simply wearing a miniskirt. Beiruth was meant to be hyper sexualized, and create an immediate reaction in those that come across her. However, eventually the weight of these issues began to wear on him, and so he “killed off” both of these characters with a dramatic photo of Beiruth standing in front of the crashing waves.
His next major avatar was “Ilullwane,” which refers to a bat, or in the context of his culture, a boy who goes to circumcision school as a rite of passage. Many young boys would die because of infection and ill treatment during this process, and those who leave the program would have to face heavy social stigma. He wanted to create a “superhero” that would provide inspiration for these young boys. This idea led to several other interesting works. One of which being, “The Body in Question.” He showed the video below during the presentation.
With this series he hoped to raise awareness about transgender rights. One of his more elaborate works with the avatar of Ilullwane involved a performance act in an Olympic-sized swimming pool and 12 synchronized swimmers. The photo gallery below shows just some of the images from that performance.
The most recent of his series is “The Future White Women of Azania.” Azania is a word used to reference the East African coast line since at least 14 AD among the Greeks. The major motif of this series is Ruga’s body entirely covered in balloons, and by popping these balloons he is “shedding his identity.” This project is ongoing, and he continues to find new ways to explore this series, already producing everything from sculpture to photography to textiles.
The presentation ended with the premier of Ruga’s new video, “Queens In Exile,” which marks the start of yet another character. The video started out with Ruga dressed as a queen, with extravagant jewels and costuming. The video took us through several distinctive sections before ending with the shot you see below. You can see a clip of the video, and hopefully eventually the full video on Ruga’s Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/AthiPatraRuga/
I also got a chance to attend the Q&A session immediately following the presentation. Nearly every lecture has a Q&A session, and I’ve always found them to be tremendously enriching. This time Ruga discussed in further depth his thoughts on the recent US election, the current trend towards conservatism globally, his process for getting into character, and the influence the internet has had on his life and work.
The Stamps Speaker Series is held every Thursday at 5:10 PM at the Michigan Theater. There are only two more presentations this semester, but the series will pick right back up next semester.
This Wednesday, November 16, the University Musical Society is bringing ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro to the University of Michigan! The concert will take place in Hill Auditorium at 7:30pm.
Photo taken from http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/home/photos/
Shimabukuro started playing ukulele at the age of four, and now he is doing concerts around the world! With a four-stringed instrument, he is able to play anything from classical music to popular songs such as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. More information on Jake Shimabukuro can be found at his website: http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/home/
Photo taken from http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/home/photos/
Tickets are on sale for $16.00-$60.00 (depending on the location of the seats) at http://ums.org/performance/jake-shimabukuro/.
