Tag: SMTD

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

Tsukumo

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: UM’s Jazz Ensemble puts on a Big Swing Face

camsterdam

University of Michigan’s SMTD Jazz Ensemble

Rackham Auditorium

October 23, 8:00 p.m.

On Thursday, UM’s Jazz Ensemble put on their ‘Big Swing Face’ and transformed the Rackham Auditorium into a nostalgic 1940’s concert hall. The concert showcased mostly contemporary pieces of up-and-coming big band composers, such as Christine Jensen and Alan Ferber, but paid homage to classic favorites like Duke Ellington and Leonard Bernstein.

I was disappointed that of the 22 musicians in the ensemble, zero of them were girls, especially considering that it is not an “all-boys only” group. Nevertheless, the musicians gave an outstanding performance. Each soloist perfectly intertwined their own creativity and soul with the common themes and emotions of each piece, and passed the improv torch between each other effortlessly. Even when there wasn’t a solo, the collective group played with a very colorful energy. The ensemble jumped right into the swing of things with Bill Potts’ “Big Swing Face,” a piece that showed off the ensemble’s brilliant talent from the first measure. Music Director Ellen Rowe had so much trust in her group that she stepped to the side and let the group take full command of the audience.

A highlight of the performance was the Duke Ellington piece, “Day Dream,” which truly painted a picture of love-filled haze in my mind. The ensemble accompanied U of M student Lauren Scales, whose vocal range and singing talents are off the charts! I could close my eyes and pretend that I was in a smoky bar with Ella and Billie serenading me until dusk.

Overall, the concert was fantastic, but that should be expected from the top Jazz Ensemble on campus! Mostly, the audience was made up of parents and other relatives of the musicians. The pep and nostalgic atmosphere is a must for students who have ever suffered from “Midnight in Paris” syndrome and wish that they could time-travel to an earlier decade, and perfect for a free escape from the campus world.  I definitely recommend staying up to date on when their next concert is! You’ll be jumpin’ and jivin’ all night.

PREVIEW: Jazz Ensemble (UM’s School of Music)

camsterdam
Image via ilovewb.com

After a long week of midterms and cold, not quite Fall/not quite Winter weather, come enjoy a big band jam session by the top Jazz Ensemble in U of M’s School of Music! Your feet will dance as you sit in your seat. Your mind will be free to imagine life in many colors and tunes and sounds you didn’t even know instruments could make!

What: UM’s Jazz Ensemble concert

When: Thursday, October 23 at 8:00 pm

Where: Rackham Auditorium

How Much?: Free!

Jump and jive to contemporary big band pieces by Ellen Rowe, Fred Sturm, Paul Ferguson, John Clayton, and Benny Golson. Unfamiliar with these names? That’s okay! Since when is expanding your taste in music ever a bad thing?

And while you wait for Thursday night, listen to the Jazz Ensemble’s phenomenal performance of Charles Mingus’ “Moanin'” from last year!

REVIEW: The Magic Flute

Chelsea Zabel

I’d like to take a moment to freak out about the brilliant lighting scheme of “The Magic Flute”. This opera is, I think, about finding a compromise between dark and light, between pure disorder and pure order, but doing so through the eyes of a child. This might not make any sense to you, but I thought that the lighting portrayed that beautifully. There was a particular circle that was useful in telling me the time of day and how I should feel about it by the color that was lighting it up.

Anyway, now for a quick summary:

“The Magic Flute” begins in the bedroom of a young girl. Her parents are fighting, it’s thunderstorming in the night, and her wardrobe doors are forced open by a young prince running away from a dragon. The Queen of the Night sends this Prince Tamino on a quest to save her daughter from her kidnapper, Sarastro (who didn’t actually kidnap her because Pamina is the daughter of the Queen of the Night and Sarastro). Pamina and Tamino fall in love while Tamino’s friend, Papageno, can’t learn to keep quiet, but in the end they manage to stop to the war between Sarastro (who appears to be a kind of lord of light) and the Queen of the Night.

That was very quick and will probably have Emanuel Schikaneder rolling in his grave, but I wanted to get that out of the way to talk about the cast. Jacob Wright and Jonathan Harris, who played Tamino and Sarastro, respectively, have outstanding voices that I remembered from “The Barber of Seville” last semester. Katy Clark’s soprano was thrilling as Queen of the Night, and Natasha Drake performed a beautiful Pamina. All of the leads were phenomenal, and I am amazed to think that there is another set of entirely different Michigan students who are equally as talented.

Although at times this show was a little slow and heavy, it was also fanciful and sentimental, and I especially enjoyed the ending. After all of their hardships, so many circumstances vying to tear them apart, Pamina and Tamino find a way to be together in the light of day, away from the chaotic Queen of the Night. As an audience we find ourselves again in the long-forgotten little girl’s bedroom where her parents are bringing her a tray for breakfast. Day has dawned over night just as it always will, but I do wish we could have seen the dragon again.

PREVIEW: The Magic Flute

Chelsea Zabel

Presented by the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, students studying opera will be performing “The Magic Flute” on Thursday, March 27 at 7:30pm; Friday, March 28 at 8:00pm; Saturday, March 29 at 8:00pm; and Sunday, March 30 at 2:00pm.

This performance of Mozart’s opera at the Mendelssohn Theatre is sure to be terrific, and tickets may already be sold out! For up-to-date information, you can contact the League Ticket Office at 734-764-2538.