Middlebury College Students, Faculty, Staff, and audiences from the surrounding communities joined in the celebration of the 15th anniversary and dedication of the Kevin P. Mahaney '84 Center for the Arts, March 6-9, 2008.
Public Affairs' Office press release on the celebration, March 2008
Original press release on the renaming, September 2007
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday, March 6
**THIS EVENT CANCELLED**
Eloquent Music
3:00 PM., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Middlebury College Museum of Art
Middlebury student chamber musicians play among the nineteenth-century American landscape photographs on view in the current museum exhibition, Eloquent Vistas: The Art of Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography from the George Eastman House Collection. Free
Poor Butterfly: A Geisha’s Journey from Puccini Opera to Jazz Standard
4:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 221
The Faculty Lecture Series presents this public lecture by Larry Hamberlin, Assistant Professor of Music. In 1898, John Luther Long’s short story “Madame Butterfly” offered a stinging indictment of U.S. imperialism in the Far East. But that story’s later musical and dramatic adaptations softened the harshness of Long’s critique and gave Americans a more palatable--if fictitious--portrayal of East-West relations. Hamberlin explores how Cho-Cho-San represents a constantly shifting personification of Japanese culture in sources ranging from Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly to the jazz standard “Poor Butterfly.” Refreshments are available prior to the lecture. Free
Arts Week Alumni Panel
4:30 P.M., Johnson Memorial Building, Room 205
Alumni artists and artisans discuss their transition from Middlebury to making a living using their artistic talents. Featuring Caroline Ballou ’83, director of design at B.A. Ballou jewelry; Richard Bissell, fine woodworker/furniture maker; Judy Bonzi ’82, sculptor, leather and wood; installations; Nancy Howe ’73, oil painter; and Nancy Ravanel ’86, objects conservator, Shelburne Museum. Presented by the Career Services Office, 802-443-5407. Free
Green Strategies for Historic Buildings: Jean Carroon
7:30 P.M. , Johnson Building , Room 304
The Architecture &… lecture series is pleased to present Jean Carroon, AIA, LEED, Principal for Preservation at the architectural firm of Goody Clancy, Boston. Ms. Carroon, whose projects have included Trinity Church and the Massachusetts Statehouse in Boston, is a national leader in appropriately integrating sustainable design with architectural preservation. Her lecture is part of the ongoing series exploring issues in design organized as a collaborative venture between Middlebury College and Bread Loaf Corporation. Free
Friday, March 7
Arts Week Alumni Panel
12:30 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 221
(Buffet luncheon.) Alumni artists and artisans discuss their transition from Middlebury to making a living using their artistic talents. Featuring Rich Price ’99.5, songwriter/producer and composer; and Damien Saccani ’95, film producer/independent filmmaker. Presented by the Career Services Office, 802-443-5407. Free
Theatre Lunch
12:30 P.M., Hepburn Lounge
Alex Cranmer '98, New York city-based theatre and film actor, and Daniel Pruksarnukul '04, casting director for Arena Stage in Washington, DC, speak with current students about the who, where, what, and how of starting a professional career. Designed for students on the verge of beginning their post-Middlebury life, the lunch should be of particular interest to students of acting and directing.
Albers Trio
with Pei Yao Wang, piano
8:00 P.M. , Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
All accomplished soloists, the three Albers sisters have flourishing careers as string players. Violist Rebecca Albers played on the Middlebury series last season in a program of chamber music with pianist Pei Yao Wang. Laura Albers (violin) and Julie Albers (cello), who complete the trio, first perform works by Beethoven and Martinů. Then they join forces with Wang for the grand Piano Quartet in A Major by Johannes Brahms. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved Seating. Tickets: $15/12/5
Pre-performance dinner: Rehearsals Cafe, 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $15
Saturday, March 8
Exhibition of Studio Art Works
Ongoing, Mahaney CFA, Lower Lobby Hall
View landscape paintings, pinhole photographs, projected artwork, sculpture, and large-format photography created by students in the Program in Studio Art. Free
Christian A. Johnson Symposium in the History of Art and Architecture: The Question of Collaboration
9:00 A.M.–1:15 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
A public symposium with papers presented by Middlebury College faculty and students of the Department of History of Art and Architecture. Cosponsored by the Middlebury College Museum of Art and the Department of History of Art and Architecture. To register, order lunch, and request further information, please call 802-443-5234 (deadline March 3.) Free
Arts Week Alumni Panel
11:00 A.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 209
Alumnus Christian Parker ’93, Associate Artistic Director, Atlantic Theater Company, discusses his transition from Middlebury to making a living in the arts. Presented by the Career Services Office, 802-443-5407. Free
Exhibitions on View at the Middlebury College Museum of Art
12:00–5:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M–Midnight
Art Now: Recent Acquisitions in Photography and Film/Video
12:00–5:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M–Midnight, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Overbrook Gallery
For the past eight years, the Project in Contemporary Photography and Film/Video has offered students the opportunity to help select works of art for the Museum collection. During the spring, Art Now installations feature videos by Tracy Moffett, Jacco Olivier, and the Swiss team of Fischli and Weiss, along with photographs by Roger Ballen, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Robert Mapplethorpe, among others. Free
Eloquent Vistas: The Art of Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography from the George Eastman House Collection
12:00–5:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M–Midnight, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Christian A. Johnson Memorial Gallery
A landscape has been described as “a mindful creation that frames a view of the world.” The 78 images in this extraordinary exhibition include daguerreotypes of Niagara Falls, photographs of Civil War battlefields, and spectacular views of expanding railroad lines and the vast American West. All created in the last half of the nineteenth century, by artists like Timothy H. O’Sullivan, Eadweard Muybridge, William Henry Jackson, and Carlton E. Watkins, the works were selected from more than 10,000 American landscape images in the collection of the George Eastman House. Eloquent Vistas: The Art of Nineteenth-Century American Landscape Photography from the George Eastman House Collection and its tour were organized by George Eastman House. Free
Tombs, Temples, Palaces, and Tea: The Social Roles of Ceramics in Asia (on view through December 7)
12:00–5:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M–Midnight, Mahaney Center for the Arts, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Robert F. Reiff Gallery of Asian Art
This exhibition explores the practical and social uses of ceramics in Asia. Asian ceramics are the most varied in the world: they have been used for vessels, ritual objects, sculpture, and for even architectural ornament. They are also unrivaled in technical quality and in their sheer volume. They played important roles in Korea and Japan, where they lay at the very heart of the tea ceremony, while in the Islamic world ceramic tiles were indispensable to architectural facades.
Asian ceramics, particularly Chinese, were exported in staggering quantities and exerted a profound influence on Western ceramics. Chinese and Japanese porcelains were widely copied in the West, and the wabi aesthetic of the Japanese tea ceremony lies behind almost all modern studio pottery. We invite you to explore the wonderful world of clay transformed.
This exhibition is curated by students in the fall 2007 College Writing Course on Asian ceramics taught by Colin Mackenzie. Free
European and American Art
12:00–5:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M–Midnight, Middlebury College Museum of Art
This installation features highlights of the Museum’s collection of Western art from the Renaissance to the end of the nineteenth century. Free
Ancient Mediterranean and Early European Art
12:00–5:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M–Midnight, Middlebury College Museum of Art
On view in this new installation of the Museum’s permanent collection is a survey of early Western art, ranging from its origins in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to Classical Antiquity and Europe through the fifteenth century. Free
4 (Chetyre)
3:00 and 8:00 P.M., Dana Auditorium
Director Ilya Khrjanovsky’s unique and disturbing film 4 (Chetyre) is an apocalyptic journey through the dark heart of the new Russia. Three strangers meet in a Moscow bar and spin fantastic stories, all of them lies. They go their separate ways through a landscape filled with modern industrial horrors. The film was held up by Russian censors who wanted 40 minutes cut, but relented after the film won acclaim at film festivals around the world. In Russian with English subtitles. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (Russia, 2005, 126 minutes) Free
Kevin P. Mahaney ’84 Center for the Arts
Dedication Ceremony
7:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Upper Lobby
Share in a celebratory toast at this dedication ceremony and reception on honor of Kevin P. Mahaney '84. Music provided by a student string quartet including Emily Kim Goldsmith '08, violin; Molly Holmes '10, violin; Hannah Rommer '08, viola; and Erik Lewis '08, cello. Free
Dick Forman Jazz Group
8:00 P.M. , Mahaney Center for the Arts, Concert Hall
The Dick Forman Jazz Group (DFJG) delights audiences with its sparkling, straight-ahead, mainstream jazz in celebration of the music that’s been called “America’s national treasure.” Some of the region’s top players offer a program of great jazz—from blues to ballads to bebop—sure to set fingers snapping and toes tapping. This popular concert event is certain to draw a full—and lively—house. Sponsored by the Department of Music. Free
Leyya Tawil and Dance Elixir
8:00 P.M. , Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
An Arab-American artist of Syrian-Palestinian descent, Leyya Tawil is 2007-2008 Dance Artist in Residence. Her company Dance Elixir presents CAPITAL LIFE TRIPTYCH, a powerful and insightful series that uses choreography grounded in the power, weight, and speed of the human body to investigate three facets of contemporary culture: mass media, political landscaping, and individual stance. The work features original music by Dance Elixir’s resident composer Topher Keyes. The program also features their recent repertory work Raincoat Rebellion, performed with an original score by renowned composer Stephen Rush. Tawil’s kinetic, charged, and earthy dances have earned her a place among the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s “Top 10 Choreographers to Watch in 2006,” along with other critical accolades. Visit www.middlebury.edu/arts for information on residency activities and master classes. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Tickets: $15/12/5. (Second performance on Sunday.)
Curtain Up: Scenes, Songs, and Monologues Celebrating Theatre at Middlebury
8:00 P.M., Mahaney Center for the Arts, Seeler Studio Theatre
Middlebury College’s nationally-renowned Theatre Program’s contribution to the celebration showcases a mix of accomplished alumni and current students to take part in a theatrical evening sure to delight theatre buffs and newcomers alike. Among the dozen or-so alumni who hope to join us are Matt Saldivar ’89, (presently on Broadway in Grease); Alex Cranmer ’98 (recently seen in the ESPN miniseries The Bronx Is Burning), Cassidy Freeman ’04 (recent film release, Razor Sharp), and independent recording artist Rich Price ’97.
Screening of Film and Media Culture Student Works
8:00 P.M.–midnight, Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 221
Continuous screenings of four or more student films, generated in their work in Film and Media Culture Program classes. Total screening time: one hour.
15th Anniversary Celebration Beaux-Arts Ball
for the Kevin P. Mahaney '84 Center for the Arts
10:00 P.M. , Mahaney Center for the Arts, Lobbies
After all the performances and symposium activities conclude for the day, join us for an after-hours celebration of the CFA! Dress up, dance to the music of two exciting bands, and enjoy festive food and drinks as we toast the Naming/Dedication of the Center and 15th Anniversary season in a “Beaux-Arts” style bash.
Two fantastic bands are scheduled to appear. First is Market Zero, a Celtic-Jam-Rock fusion band led by Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki '08, fiddle; with Max Obata '09, drums; Brian Harris '08, bass; and James Riley '08, guitar and lead vocals. Next is the Sound Investment Jazz Ensemble (SIJE), a swinging, big-band jazz group of 20+ students, directed by Dick Forman, a Music Department affiliate artist and jazz musician extraordinaire. The event is free and open to the public.
Sunday, March 9
Leyya Tawil and Dance Elixir
8:00 P.M. , Mahaney Center for the Arts, Dance Theatre
An Arab-American artist of Syrian-Palestinian descent, Leyya Tawil is 2007-2008 Dance Artist in Residence. Her company Dance Elixir presents CAPITAL LIFE TRIPTYCH, a powerful and insightful series that uses choreography grounded in the power, weight, and speed of the human body to investigate three facets of contemporary culture: mass media, political landscaping, and individual stance. The work features original music by Dance Elixir’s resident composer Topher Keyes. The program also features their recent repertory work Raincoat Rebellion, performed with an original score by renowned composer Stephen Rush. Tawil’s kinetic, charged, and earthy dances have earned her a place among the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s “Top 10 Choreographers to Watch in 2006,” along with other critical accolades. Visit www.middlebury.edu/arts for information on residency activities and master classes. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Tickets: $15/12/5. (First performance on Saturday.)
For more information, please contact Liza Sacheli Lloyd at sacheli@middlebury.edu or 802-443-3169.