Preview: Music-Con: The Comic-Con of Michigan Music

watsonsauce

Music-Con is an event sponsored by The Center for Campus Involvement, The Ark and the University of Michigan’s own, student-run, musical performance organization: New Beat Happening.
Sunday, October 21st, 12:00pm-4:00pm (FREEEEEE!!!!)

This event is for students who are interested in learning more about the music world through workshops on Demo Listening, Talent Buyer and Agent Forum, How to Get and Promote Gigs, a Song Writing Workshop, Street Marketing and Social Media as well as a Panel of local arts talking on “Being the Artist.”
Active members of the Michigan music scene lead all of the workshops. The keynote speaker for this event is Eric Morgeson; founder, producer and engineer at Studio A (http://www.studioarecording.com/).
Other workshop leaders hail from The Blind Pig (http://www.blindpigmusic.com/), The Ark (http://theark.org/), Radio hosts, iSPY magazine (http://mispymag.com/), and others.

This event takes place on Sunday October 21st 2012 from 12-4pm in the Michigan Union.

Registration is open to all students until Tuesday October 16th.

Register at: http://campusinvolvement.umich.edu/content/music-con-2012-registration

(if it is after Tuesday the 16th and you are still interested in registering go to: http://campusinvolvement.umich.edu/article/music-con-2012 to find updates on registration)

Please come and absorb the wisdom of these incredible human beings for the furthering of your musical and personal success!

EVENT BREAK DOWN:
11:30am-12:00pm Registration Check In – Michigan Union, 2nd Floor

12:00pm-12:45pm Keynote Speech: Eric Morgeson, Founder, Producer and
Engineer at Studio A
Eric tells us how he got to where he is today owning and operating a recording studio, and the lessons he learned along the way.

1:00pm-1:45pm How to Get and Promote Gigs: Get insider tips on forging through
the local scene to book successful gigs. These experts have worked
in many areas of the industry and offer up-to-date advice.
w. Susie Giang, Vice President and Agent at Fleming Artists and Joe Choma, Owner and Talent Buyer for Grand Circus Media

Talent Buyer and Agent Forum: Have questions about the talent buyer vs. agent relationship? Want to know more about this as a career? This panel discussion will give you the chance to ask questions.
w. Mike Green, Agent for TG2Artists, Adam Bauer, President and Agent at Fleming Artists, Anya Siglin, Programing Director at The Ark, and Jason Berry, Talent Buyer for The Blind Pig

Demo Listening: Demos submitted at the session are listened to, and then our experts provide a to-the-point discussion on what they are hearing and what music execs listen for in a demo.
w. David Siglin, Former Director of The Ark, and Rob Reinhart, radio host at WDET and Acoustic Café

2:00pm-2:45pm Street Marketing and Social Media: From flyering to Facebook,
this meeting explores the trends in marketing and social media.
w. Tim Adkins, Bro-Founder of Pakmode Media + Marketing, and Publisher of iSPY, and Matthew Altruda, Radio Host for Ann Arbor’s 107.1FM Treetown Sound and Marketing Event Coordinator for Sonic Lunch

Songwriting Workshop: Get creative and start writing some songs. This workshop provides guidance in getting your music on paper.
(speaker TBA)

Being the Artist: A discussion with local artists about making a name for yourself, creating albums, being a role model and more.
w. Dante LaSalle, Hip Hop Musician and Deejay
(other artists TBA)

2:45pm-4:00pm Trade Show: Featuring live music, a raffle for Ark tickets and local
vendors offering information about their music related products
and services.

All sessions will be located in the Michigan Union.

Here’s how to have your best conference experience:
· – Make sure you arrive to register between 11:30am-12:00pm so you don’t miss any of the keynote speech by Eric Morgeson!
· – You can choose 1 session to attend from 1:00pm-1:45pm and 1 session to attend from 2:00pm-2:45pm.
· – There will be a 15 minute break between each session to go to the rest room, check your cell phone, grab a snack or ask the speaker a one on one question.
· – The sessions will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. So go to your desired session first, and if it is at capacity, we will ask you to choose another session.
· – Planning to attend the demo listening workshop? Bring your personal demo in on CD for the chance to have your demo critiqued by the experts.
· – Planning to attend the songwriting workshop? Bring a pen and paper.
· – This conference is for you to build your knowledge about the music industry, so make sure you ask questions of the speakers during the Q&A portions of the sessions.
· – Don’t miss out on the trade show at the end of the conference. There’ll be more time to mingle with the speakers, check out local vendors who offer music related products and services, live music and a raffle for a chance to win tickets to The Ark!

Pre-viewing Film :: Samsara

Hunter Chee


In short, this film collected footage from 25 countries over 5 years and is the latest in a line of nonverbal films – Chronos and Baraka. The nontraditional documentary is meant to be “…showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet”

Mark Magidson, the producer of the film, says that Samara is much more modern in comparison with its predecessor Baraka. “touches on a lot of elements of human experience, conflict, war, birth, death, sexuality…the film is, hopefully, an attempt to let you feel like you’re part of the phenomenon of being alive at this moment”

The Director, Ron Fricke said, “…[Samsara] was conceived as a nonverbal guided meditation on the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Really sculpted, really produced by the power of [guided] flow” (Samsara itself is a word derived from Sanskrit and has different meanings to different eastern religions. In Buddhism, it means suffering, in others, flow)

Baraka hit me real hard. Just like straight jumping into glacial runoff, the same kind of shockingly refreshing feeling. The scenery shot, in combination with the music, had a chance to speak for itself – beauty for beauty’s sake, free from assumption or assertion or distortion. It was an open style in which you connect your own meaning and be as amazed and curious about what you were watching without being told about it, lots like a mental ‘choose your own adventure’ book. While at the same time providing eye candy in bulk to convey something words cannot. Going bonkers for this, cannot wait!!

Where
The Michigan Theater FREEEEE with an arts passport
Times
Sat 10.13 4:45, 7:00, 9:30
Sun 10.14 4:45, 7:00, 9:30
Mon 10.15 4:30, 9:30
Tue 10.16 4:15, 6:45, 9:00
Wed 10.17 9:45
Thur 10.19 7:15, 9:45

Mabe sees you there, review to cooome . Hunter Chee

The Trailer
The Film Webpage
Feisty ass mother f*ing squirrel

Preview: Rhymenoceros in the HOUSE

Danny Fob

I’m back! It’s been a long time and I was an ocean away last time you heard from me. Writing about the arts in Italy was a really great experience, but I definitely missed American musical theater and especially the culture of the arts in Ann Arbor. The Power Center

has been my favorite venue on campus for three years now and nothing like it existed in Bologna. Of course they had huge grandioso 200 year old theaters, but still, not the Power Center. And saying that, I am so happy to be back to art[seen] and to Ann Arbor. My first show, though only because I had to miss the Kidd Pivot performance :(, is the Théâtre de la Ville: Ionesco’s Rhinocéros performance. I’ve heard really great things about it and I would really like to see a show before going somewhere for fall break. It’s been so long since I’ve seen a show of any kind that I feel like I might explode if I don’t go to a show soon, so I chose the one where people randomly turn into rhinos. What can you do?

I am very interested in the show tonight, even if I make fun of the premise. The writer, Eugène Ionesco, was influenced by his time in Romania when everyone around him began converting to a more fascist way of life. Being an Italian major, I’ve spent so much of my academic concentration studying the culture, structure, and effects of fascism in Italy, Europe, and worldwide. I hope this play will continue to help us understand such a large part of the world’s darker history and entertain the us like only the theater can.

Normally here I would give a breakdown of how much I’m paying for tickets and everything, but I still don’t have my tickets and I’m sort of writing to you during class, so I will get the tickets afterword, but I assume student rush tickets are around $10 or you can use Passport to the arts vouchers. Other than that I can give you the other details.

What: Théâtre de la Ville: Ionesco’s Rhinocéros
Where: Power Center for the Performing Arts
When: Friday, October 12, 2012, 7:30pm and
Saturday, October 13, 2012 7:30pm

Maybe I’ll see you there! Happy break!

coming to you from Art History lecture,
Danny Fob

REVIEW: Art Outta Town ArtPrize

nina.j 2 Comments

ART OUTTA TOWN: ARTPRIZE

Two weekends ago, Art Outta Town ventured to Grand Rapids for the nation-wide festival, ArtPrize. I missed the boat on the Michigan affiliated trip, but I did make it on my own just in time for the closing weekend. From museums to galleries to restaurants to public parking lots to rooftops to bridges to store fronts and even in the river, the city was sprinkled with creativity and craft. The genres ranged broadly from installation pieces to sculpture, paintings, fibers, wood, glass, laser etching, metal, and photography.

Similarly, the mediums were also alternative and exploratory. In the photos below, the last is comprised entirely of jelly beans and just above that is a mosaic of water bottle caps. The second photo, one of my favorite pieces of the whole show, is made of twisted branches that resemble a stead of mustangs traversing the river. The piece is called ‘Stick-with-it-ness,’ a perfect title for the steadfast, life-like creatures. The photo just below the horses is an installation piece that reach from the bank of the river to a near-by rooftop. In fact, this piece is what brought me to ArtPrize: my friend is a Kalamazoo Art School grad and the man behind the metal. He is competitive for a prize in the show. The winners are yet to be announced, but fingers crossed!

Ever so conveniently placed beside each piece was a telephone number the viewer could dial to hear a recording of each artist explain his or her piece. There was also a code the viewer enter to vote for their favorite. The competition is juried but there is also a huge prize for the fan favorite. The entire ArtPrize experience was both inspiring and entertaining. It’s a great way to celebrate art in the community and art in the city. If only Ann Arbor held a similar exhibition! I guess we’ll have to wait til Art Fair next summer.

Similarly, the mediums were also alternative and exploratory. In the photos above, the last is comprised entirely of jelly beans and just above that is a mosaic of water bottle caps. The second photo, one of my favorite pieces of the whole show, is made of twisted branches that resemble a stead of mustangs traversing the river. The piece is called ‘Stick-with-it-ness,’ a perfect title for the steadfast, life-like creatures. The photo just below the horses is an installation piece that reach from the bank of the river to a near-by rooftop. In fact, this piece is what brought me to ArtPrize: my friend is a Kalamazoo Art School grad and the man behind the metal. He is competitive for a prize in the show. The winners are yet to be announced, but fingers crossed!

Ever so conveniently placed beside each piece was a telephone number the viewer could dial to hear a recording of each artist explain his or her piece. There was also a code the viewer enter to vote for their favorite. The competition is juried but there is also a huge prize for the fan favorite. The entire ArtPrize experience was both inspiring and entertaining. It’s a great way to celebrate art in the community and art in the city. If only Ann Arbor held a similar exhibition! I guess we’ll have to wait til Art Fair next summer.

PREVIEW: Aspen Santa Fe Ballet

nina.j

ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET

There will be three performances this weekend at the Power Center by the visiting dance group Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. The company is known for its skillful, contemporary ballet and its reputation for being a ‘uniquemulti- dimensional arts organization.’ Founded in 1996 by Bebe Schweppe, the small company works with dancers and directors from all over the world, incorporating European and American movement styles into their choreography. As they name suggests, the company has homes in both Aspen and Santa Fe. Their repertoire is ‘accessible,’ ‘sophisticated,’  and ‘resonates with an electricism and energy.’ It ‘speaks a complex language’ and ‘challenge its audience.’

If it sounds like too much for you, though, do not fear! Among the three performances, there is one designed for families and young children!Saturday, September 6th at 1 pm (family performance) & 8 pm, and Sunday September 7th at The Power Center.

Click here for more on the performance, to see a video of the company, and to get information about tickets (rush tickets and half-priced student tickets) from UMS.

REVIEW: Ingrid Michaelson

Kayla Silverstein

REVIEW: Ingrid Michaelson
Lovably quirky. Ingrid Michaelson warmed our hearts tonight as she lit up the stage with her shimmering, strong voice. I had some friends who’d seen her previously, and they all said that she is even more amazing than on her recordings. I wasn’t sure how that was possible until tonight. It is her belty, pure voice that comes through live in a way that is inimitable on recording. The best example of the night for me was her performance of the song “Ghost”. On the recording, the lines are of course haunting: “I’m a ghost, haunting these halls, climbing up walls I never knew were there, and I’m lost, broken down the middle of my heart. You make me a ghost.” But when she sat down at the piano this evening and those lyrics just flew out from her – the song conveyed something more desperate and miserable than ever before. It was amazing, and I had chills.

The opening act was Sugar and the Hi-Lows. I hadn’t heard of them before, but my friends and I went halfsies on an album of theirs which we were able to get autographed after the show. They were folksy and adorable, coming from Nashville, Tennessee with spunk and warm accents. Their first song wasn’t that impressive, but once they added some personal stories and displayed more of their repertoire, I was in love. Definitely a great pair to open for Michaelson.

Ingrid Michaelson was so adorable – she would tell cute stories before nearly every number which only made you love her songs even more. It was so fun. I’ll never hear her songs the same way again. Her stories of remembering high school, commuting to work, releasing emotions through music were so relatable everyone laughed and groaned along with her.

Such an outstanding concert – it’s difficult to tell you just how much better she is live than her recording! Guess you’ll just have to experience it for yourself. Surrounded by electronically lit candles and wearing warm fall colors, it was a truly magical evening to watch and listen to Ingrid Michaelson.

Ingrid photo: http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&biw=1311&bih=627&tbm=isch&tbnid=qVJUfAa7440ZGM:&imgrefurl=http://www.last.fm/music/Ingrid%2BMichaelson&docid=EWuj0lBvjD1v6M&imgurl=http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/300×300/45591647.png&w=300&h=300&ei=CbRpUPiuBNKmqwGTrIDQCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=111&vpy=165&dur=27&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=129&ty=95&sig=111695003534451835307&page=1&tbnh=130&tbnw=130&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:139

Sugar and the Hi-Lows photo: http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&biw=1311&bih=627&tbm=isch&tbnid=Q8-PpbIod70I_M:&imgrefurl=https://twitter.com/sugar_thehilows&docid=Dp5WtMIsmZ0CmM&imgurl=https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1652400839/Sugar_Cover_jpeg&w=338&h=339&ei=NbRpUKCXN8mzyAHe_4GoBQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=176&sig=111695003534451835307&page=1&tbnh=139&tbnw=139&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:70&tx=74&ty=103