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Come join MUSKET for what is sure to be another amazing production. This time, they are tackling Big Fish, a musical adaption of the novel by Daniel Wallace. This story follows the fantastical tales of Edward Bloom as he recounts them to his son Will. See how MUSKET tackles this relatively new musical.
March 18th & 19th at 8:00
March 20th at 2:00
Performed at the Power Center
Tickets are $7 for students, $13 for adults. Prices for tickets at the door are increased.
If you happened to be in East Quad last Saturday, you might have been surprised to find yourself in the middle of a bookfair. The main atrium was stuffed with tables featuring booksellers, publishers, and various literary magazines (both student and non-student run). For a book-lover, or any person nostalgic for the days of elementary school bookfairs, this was a dream come true.
In the basement of East Quad, at the Keene Theatre, were panels running all day long with publishers, authors, and professors. I attended the panel on the Midwestern character with the authors Angela Flournoy, Fred Arroyo, Peter Geye, and Phong Nguyen. The panel purported discussion on both the character of the physical landscape and the people, but ended up leaning towards the former. Though the desire was not articulated, a main function of the panel seemed to be to dispel the notion that the Midwest is bland, boring, and indistinct–that unlike the coasts or the cities, the in-between has nothing noteworthy to say. However, as the panel pointed out, five of the nine Americans who have won the Nobel Prize for Literature were from the Midwest and many of America’s “great” writers, such as Mark Twain, also hailed from here. The argument then shifts from whether or not we have a voice to whether or not our voice is too ingrained in America’s literary tradition to distinguish between the Midwest and the rest of America–can we exist and thrive as a unique entity when the Midwest often seems to speak for all of America? But even this goes unrecognized–the Midwest is usually thought of as having no literary tradition of any importance rather than as the stronghold of the American literary voice. As Angela Flournoy pointed out, “Midwestern writers are often recruited to other places,” and this applies especially to the loud ones, the ones who rebut the meekness that is expected of them. She used Toni Morrison as her example, who, in spite of the fact that she was born in Ohio, is often seen as a Southern writer.
But the panel talked about more than just the voices and the literary traditions of the Midwest–they also discussed the landscape of this place. Fred Arroyo stated that “the stories are in the landscape.” What he meant by that is that when you look around, when you see a rusting farm, an abandoned factory, a foreclosed home, when you see these things that are just a passing glance in your world, you’re seeing the loss and heartbreak of someone else’s story. You can’t get very far without finding something to write about. Furthermore, there’s always the question of the place, of this very point of latitude and longitude. From one perspective, it’s just an endless, rolling sea of plains and as Geye asked, “why come here?” That’s a question these writers consider when situating there stories (and also a question that was considered by the pioneers who stopped here instead of continuing on their way)–why here? Why not further west with it’s deserts and mountains, or the east coast with its seas and cities? What drew us here?
I’m not sure that’s a question I can answer–at least, not for anyone but myself. What I will say is that after that panel I found myself thinking of the importance of having literature that features your home or places like your home. People often read books hoping to find something of themselves–and they can do that without the book taking place in their hometown, but every place is unique and every city has it’s own set of stories. And for those of us who didn’t grow up in NYC, it can be difficult to find books about the world in which you live, about the highways that never end, the cornfields changing with the seasons, the silence of cities sleeping under the snow, the rusted and vacant buildings, about, well, home. To me, that’s the point of the Voices of the Middle West Festival: to celebrate the books written by us and about us.
In case you are wondering, there is no one named Jack in the JACK quartet. The name is actually an anagram for its four members, John Pickford Richards, Ari Streisfeld, Christopher Otto, and Kevin McFarland. On March 8th, The University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theater and Dance hosted the JACK quartet as they performed a guest recital at Stamps Auditorium. The recital not only featured pieces composed by UMich students in the Composition PhD program at the School of Music, but two pieces by other contemporary composers. It was an incredibly diverse program that emphasized the talent and energy of what many call the “superheroes” of contemporary music.
A notable feature of this performance was the fact that the JACK quartet premiered Carolina Heredia’s piece, Ausencias/Ausencias/Absences. The piece was powerful, inspired by Heredia’s research into the suicides of female artists. Not only did she compose a beautiful piece for the quartet, but implemented an electronic element that featured moments or pieces of the lives of three female artists who committed suicide. Played in tandem with the quartet, the electronic elements combined seamlessly with the musicians, creating one powerful piece that expressed the sorrow and intensity of these talented women’s lives.
Throughout the performance, the quartet used their instruments in surprising and unique ways to produce a cacophony of sounds that was all at once dynamic, engaging, and unexpected. My previous experiences with string instruments has always been very traditional: the musician glides the bow across the strings and holds his or her finger down to produce different notes. But the pieces that the JACK quartet played were the exact opposite: untraditionally using their instruments to produce unique and often startling sounds. In Heredia’s piece, the quartet drummed on their instruments with their fingers during the third movement, and in Ritonrello 2.sq.2.j, they lightly tapped their bows against the strings to achieve a more muted pizzicato sound. This creativity produced a dynamic performance that was impossible not to enjoy.
However, the piece written by John Luther Adams, a composer known for his love of nature and the environment was the highlight. The Wind in High Places layered the sounds of the strings to create a tone that mimics the wind. None of the three sections sounded anything alike: the first section layered the sharp, high sounds of the violins over the softer, moving cello that died away slowly; the second section increased the intensity, as each instrument played quickly, meshing their sounds together; the third was a slow, steady and rhythmic conclusion to the piece. What was most significant, however, was that throughout this piece, the musicians never touched the fingerboard of their instruments. Their strings were played completely open or by only applying light pressure, creating sounds that resembled a harp, or wind chimes.
JACK quartet’s creativity and energy demonstrated the sharp difference between contemporary classical music and traditionally classical music. Their performance was enrapturing, my eyes unable to leave their as they played each piece. Overall, this dynamic and engaging performance made me rethink my definition of classical music as it presented an out-of-the-box recital that deserved the standing ovation it received. If you have are looking for a way to spice up your perspective on classical music, I highly recommend you check out JACK quartet.
Saturday the 3rd annual Voices of the Middle West Literary Festival brought together writers and independent presses from all around the region. Among a book fair and various panels, the Festival also hosted an Open Mic event! The MC was Rachel Hurwitz, a Midwestern Gothic intern and RC student, both organizations which made the Festival possible.
It was a fun hour of sharing and listening to local, mostly student, artists read their own work. There were nine readers who signed up before the event and since there was extra time a handful of others also volunteered to read on the spot. This event showcased a variety of different styles, themes, and voices. We had everything from a structured ghazal poem to stream of consciousness spoken word poetry set to music. Themes and topics included rants about emojis, loss, fathers, brokenness, love (there were lots about love as one would expect), stars, and skunk ape- Which I learned is another name for bigfoot because in different regions he has different names. The Open Mic was informative, fun, humorous, thought provoking and created a sense of community and support that truly encapsulated the purpose behind the Festival.
Ross Gay, the renowned poet and essayist, is coming to U of M’s Residential College. Writers’ Teas are held a couple times a semester and are largely attended by RC students, often majoring in the RC’s Creative Writing and Literature Program. I myself recently declared a second major in creative writing and, even before declaring, have always enjoyed the Teas. It’s a chance for students to share their work with each other and, occasionally, even with professionals! Like Thursday, March 9th at 7pm in the Benzinger Library when Ross Gay visits.
An author of three books- Against Which, Bringing the Shovel Down, and most
recently Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude– Ross Gay grew up in Levittown, Pennsylvania. He currently teaches at Indiana University. In addition to many nominations and honors, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude is a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award this year. He is one of the founding editors of Some Call it Ballin’ (on online sports magazine), as well as being an editor for several chapbook presses. Outside of the literary field, he is involved in a free-fruit-for-all food justice project, Bloomington Community Orchard, as a founding board member. Check out his website to learn more about his many accomplishments and his writing: Ross Gay
I look forward to hearing Ross Gay read his work and talk about his journey as a writer. And to hear what my peers have been writing this semester!
Do you enjoy reading? Meeting authors? Bookfairs? Open mics? Literally anything to do with the written word? Then come on down to East Quad this Saturday and attend the Voices of the Middle West festival! There will be a bookfair in the main atrium in EQ all day (10am-5pm) and panels with authors, professors, and publishers in the Keene Theater (basement of EQ) from 10am-3:30pm. For a list of the various panels and panel speakers, see here. Then, there will be an open mic from 3:45-4:45pm and finally, the keynote with Ross Gay at 5pm. It is the best literary event to happen on campus all year, so don’t miss out!
And, if all that’s not enough for you, come to the Voices of the Middle West Kickoff Reading at Literati, this Friday at 7pm.
