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From Johannesburg, to Cape Town, and back to Ann Arbor, the Michigan Women’s Glee Club hopes to share their summer experience through a musical facet in their upcoming fall concert.

The Glee Club spent the summer in South Africa, performing in four concerts and experiencing a unique culture and beautiful landscape unlike Ann Arbor’s. The club didn’t only learn about African culture, however. They encountered other choirs from New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, and California – the other four choirs who participated in the Ihlombe! Choral Festival from Classical Movements. The club’s blog from the trip can be found through this link: http://wgcsa.blogspot.com/.

The fall concert will highlight multiple pieces learned in South Africa, both native South African songs, as well as others learned from other touring choirs. The club will perform a song in Maori, an aboriginal New Zealand language, which is communicated through both sign language and song. Other pieces include a Belgian song performed in French, and an Australian piece called “Ngana,” which has an aggressive, funky sound. Listen for “Homeland,” a strong and emotionally-driven song about what it means to call a place home.

The club will be performing on Saturday, November 10 in Hill Auditorium at 8:00pm. Tickets are $5 for students.

Julie Delpy– star, director, and co-writer of 2 Days in New York– has managed to put together what is one of the funniest, yet underwhelming pieces of film I have seen in a while. The movie, a sequel to 2 Days in Paris, is not what I would consider Academy Award material, but its unparalleled realness and freshness make it a must-see.

Chris Rock and Julie Delpy play an interracial couple (Mingus and Marion, respectivelyt) both with children from their previous marriages. This relationship in itself is what makes the movie incredibly fresh. Their interactions stick true to those of many relationships– relationships which, of course, we rarely see on the big screen. Throughout the movie, the pair is shown engaging in realistic arguments, embraces, and quests for mid-afternoon quickies.

With Marion’s family in town, tempers soar as her father spends countless days without showering, as her sister walks around the apartment with not a single article of clothing on her body, and as her sister’s less-than-intelligent boyfriend sparks up joints of marijuana in their apartment building’s elevator. This all begins to expose faults in the relationship of the two main characters. This, paired with the satirical representations Marion’s father getting detained in Customs for trying to smuggle large amounts of sausage into the stared, and with the represenation of Marion’s sister and sister’s boyfriend having loud sex in their bathroom (with what may have been Mingus’s electric toothbrush?) puts audiences in a state of confused awe.

Delpy uses her film to delve into issues of race, culture, stereotypes, and misconceptions in order to bring satire and to heighten comedic value. The French old man– Marion’s dad– barely bathes. Her entire family, for that matter, is loud, and “rude”. Her sister has no sense of shame; she walks around naked or half naked and is not embarassed at all. Marion’s child calls Mingus “fake daddy,” and references to their different skin tone is made. Overall, Delpy “goes there”. She does this in such an exaggerated way that is obviously– or I would hope is obvious– just satirizing stereotypes and misconceptions.

“I like the theme more than the execution,” a critic tells Marion during her photography show’s opening. All in all, that is eactly how I feel about this movie. It has a good idea. It has hilarious moments– the scene described in the title of this post being my favorite. Marion argues with an automated phone machine while trying to spell her name. Priceless. Alas, I think everyone should see this movie BUT I don’t think anyone should see it more than once.

First. Symphony Band, Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, University Philharmonic shows are 100% juice, 100% FREE @ Hill Auditorium.
Second. UMS and Music School event calendar here

Now, I truly do not mean to toot my own horn but I thought it may be neat to review the show as a member of the group. A kind of artistic mole, or “a reporter on the performance side of the curtain.” This is also the first time in that I’ve publicly reviewed a show I’ve been a part #livingadangerouslygeekylife. Here it goes.

Call was 7:30. The Band of some 70+ members arrived all suited up. The traditional black bow-tie and tuxedo. Stop. Hammer time. 1-second on tuxes. I think the tuxedo is out-dated for what we do. Sometimes I feel like I’m putting on my grandma’s moth balls and there’s hair in there and holy ja-hoopin-nanny how long has this smelled like mildew?? Sure, it’s the “highest” formality in terms of western attire but white under black on black on black is just done! We could afford to be much more sleek and modern and sexy. Like black on black on black on black – classic. Secretly, putting on a tux does make me feel like a million bucks and I love that but high school homecoming was much too long ago. Damn, just hit up GQ. Back to it..

Our musical squad walked on stage minutes before showtime for a last second warm up. As a percussionist, I was having a momentary FrEaKout, and frantically made sure my instruments and sticks we set, my music in place and my mind focused. I made sure that my set-up for the Chamber’s (of 2 congas, a djembe, 2 pirate ship bells, china cymbal, hi-hat, chimes, and LARGE tam-tam a.k.a Gong) was good to go just before the lights went up. All the members of the band stopped doodling and sat with a keen attentiveness. Michael Haithcock, our conductor, walked on stage, bowed to the applauding audience, swiveled round on his left heel in pin-dropping silence, raised the stick and off to the races we went.

El Salón México began the set. Behind the xylophone and temple blocks (hallow blocks of wood) from which I sparsely played, I had a clear vantage point to the rest of the percussionists and the brass. The Kettle Drums sang various solos and accents after rhythmic conversations with the snare drum, cymbal, bass drum, and the brass section. The crazy time signatures flew blew in exquisite feel and pacing. Next, Outcry and Turning. It’s a piece written about the morning anger in the aftermath of 911. Evan Chambers is a composer on faculty here and his shrieking of the horns and the woodwinds were backed by an arsenal of drums and gongs. The piece drove with a sporadic and shrill introduction. Unfortunately during the bongo ostinato, the group tempo quivered in parts it never had before and teetered on the edge of falling apart yet found balance. This show was only preparation for the recording session of the work the following night (6 hours in hill, cinnamon roll saved the night, whew!) The Bates was meant to represent “the phenomenon of dead animals decaying and drifting downward through the water” and the audience loved it…so they ate it up? Umm Yuck? However, the effects: knocks on top of the piano and a rhythmic typewriter played by the lovely Christina, made the work well worth it. The Band sounded tip-top together and played sparkly during the first movement, and dark during the second and third. I sat behind the timpani, and left with a sour taste in my mouth – not my personal best, could have played much better.

After the Bates, we have 15 minutes to transition between set-ups for the second half. This amounted to a militaristic drill, planned acutely before hand. “can I take this?”, “we don’t use those!”, “go, go, go!” Once the dust settled, myself, along with four of the six other percussionists remained back stage while Paul played solo on Ladder to the Moon – also written by a UM composer on faculty. The Granthum, through all it’s quirky dissonances and white-jazzy-swing sections, tagged the end of the show with a kick in the ass. Playing xylo, maracas, and spoons (hold two spoons by the ends so that the backs of the eating discs face each other, clap them together against your leg and bam, qualified musician. 10 points for execution) went as well as I could have hoped though it racked the ol nerves going inkto it. The Xylophone duet and feature locked and had flow – the bull’s eye we were aiming for. The spoon section, endearing and cheerful – all 6 of us clacking them together as we rose our spoons high and mighty to the air. The Band really came together. All around sound – superb.

The show ended, we were given a standing ovation, and off the stage. We un-dressed as the lights came down and as the rest of the symphony band left for home, the percussionists got as busy as the squirrels collecting fat for the winter – packing up all the gear needed for the show. “The Pack” went well, everything set in it’s right place in preparation for the following Halloween concerts and recording sessions early this week. A job well done. All walked home, tuxes and bowties in tow.

See more here.

Shameless Plug >>> BAND-O-RAMA THIS WEEKEND. Saturday night @ Hill Auditorium.

Wishing for SNOW SNOW SNOW. And Sandy, who invited you? Git out our subways and our beaches and boardwalks and such . Hunter Chee

PROGRAM
Aaron Copland – El Salón México
Evan Chambers – Outcry and Turning
Mason Bates, Sea-Blue Circuitry, Patricia Cornett, graduate conductor
Michael Daugherty – Ladder to the Moon, Yehonatan Berick, violin
Donald Grantham – J’ai été au bal (“I went to the ball”)

Updated . Nov 2.12 9:35am

After a run in the Michigan theater, “2 Days in New York” is now playing the State Theater. This 2012 romantic comedy is a sequel to “2 Days in Paris”.

Marion, played by Julie Deply, lives in New York with her son in order to be closer to the boy’s father  Jack, played by Chris Rock. She and her new boyfriend have a comfortable and cozy relationship. When Marion’s family arrives on vacation from France, the group’s two days in New York are “tested by ‘unwitting racism and sexual freakness'”.

2 Days in New York has received numerous critical acclaims and has played in multiple film festivals including the Sundance.

Check out the State theater any time between now and November 1st to catch this comedy.