Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

ASU Programming: From Fredrich Dürrenmatt to Friedrich Kuhlau

Compiled by Kathleen McFadden

Whether your interest is bilingual drama or music, music, music, the programming at Appalachian has your those bases covered during the coming week.

Bilingual Staged reading of The Physicists March 29 and 30

ASU’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and Department of Theatre and Dance will produce a bilingual staged reading of Die Physiker/The Physicists on Thursday and Friday, March 29 and 30, in I.G. Greer Studio Theatre at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $4 and can be purchased at the door or by calling the Valborg Theatre Box office at 262-3063.

Playwright John Crutchfield has translated Swiss playwright Fredrich Dürrenmatt’s comedy The Physicists into a bilingual German/English adaptation. The eccentric patients in a mental hospital seem to be relatively harmless until someone is murdered. Are they really mad, or are they playing a murderous game with the whole world at stake? Watch as a beleaguered inspector attempts to unravel the mystery while dealing with the likes of patients who believe they are Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.

Appalachian faculty members Paulette Marty and Beverly Moser direct the madcap piece. The challenge of staging a reading of a play with theatre and German students is formidable, and the two have assembled a cast of 12 students playing multiple roles. The German-speaking students include Lisa Michelle Brower, Kevin Gamble, Emily Robe, Jill Cannizzo, Nathan Thomas, Alec Ullrich and Jesse Shane. Theatre students in the cast are Rachel Wright, James Houston, Crystal Frid, Holly Shuffler, Whit Emerson, Alysa Wooden and Nicholas Jimenez. Senior theatre performance major Hilary Edwards is stage manager.

Woodwind Ensemble Performs April 1

A concert on Sunday, April 1, will highlight a variety of woodwind instruments and compositions written to showcase them. An Evening of Woodwind Chamber Ensembles begins at 8:00 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall at ASU. The performance is free and open to the public.

The evening will open with the nine-member ensemble Blazing Bassoons performing Charles Knox’s “Introduction and Allegro.” Next, oboe, horn and piano will combine on the “Allegro Moderato” from Carl Reinecke’s Trio in a minor, op. 188.

A flute quartet will perform “Figaro Fantasie,” and flutes and violin will team up for “Allegro” from Quartet in d minor by Georg Philipp Telemann. A saxophone quintet will perform Orlando Gibbons’ “Fantasia” and George Gershwin’s “A Foggy Day,” and a flute duo will perform Jean Baptiste Loeillet’s “Adagio” from Sonata No. 1.

Also on the program are a flute trio performance of Jean Berger’s “Animato” from Divertimento, a flute duo performance of “Allegro assai” from Friedrich Kuhlau’s Grand Duo, Op. 39, No. 1, and the “Adagio” and “Allegro” from Mozart’s Cassazione in E-flat major performed by flute, clarinet, horn and bassoon.

The concert concludes with “Evangeline and Gabriel” from Catherine McMichael’s Legends From The Greenwood performed by a flute quartet, and Franz Schubert’s “The Shepherd On The Rock” performed by soprano vocalist, clarinet and piano.

Jon Beebe, Alicia Chapman, Scott Kallestad and Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham coach the student musicians.

Appalachian Percussion Ensemble Performs April 2

The Appalachian Percussion Ensemble at continues its Contemporary Trends Series with a Monday, April 2, performance featuring the premiere of a composition by Stuart Saunders Smith. The performance begins at 8:00 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall. Admission is free.

Rob Falvo directs the ensemble, and Matt Troncale will assist with the performance.

The program opens with the premiere of Smith’s “Ground” featuring Falvo on glockenspiel. Smith will talk about the piece, as well as his composition “Two For Four” written for four percussionists.

“‘Ground’ is a very complex piece,” Falvo said. “I have been working on it for more than two years.” Falvo pointed out that pieces written for solo percussion are rare.

“Two For Four” is performed on a variety of percussion instruments, including woodblock, marimba, tympani, xylophone, wind chimes and triangle.

The performance concludes with George Antheil’s “Ballet Mécanique” that caused riots when it premiered in France in 1926. “People didn’t know what to think of it,” Falvo said. The composition was originally performed on percussion and 10 pianolas (player pianos). The piano rolls in the pianolas were synchronized to play with the percussionists.

The April 2 performance will feature 18 percussionists, four pianists and sampled sound played from four laptop computers.

“Ballet Mécanique” was written to accompany a 1924 film of the same name by Fernand Leger. While the film wasn’t shown at the premiere of Antheil’s composition, it will be shown as part of the percussion ensemble’s performance.

“The film contains a lot of pulsed and repeated images, such as numbers, faces and geometric objects moving across the screen,” Falvo said. “It’s a powerful piece with its minimalist, driving rhythms.”

Appalachian’s Jazz Faculty Performs Original Compositions April 3

Boone audiences are familiar with the musical talents of Todd Wright, Andy Page and Ron Brendle. On Tuesday, April 3, audiences will be introduced to the musicians’ talents as composers as they perform their original compositions at 8:00 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall at ASU. The performance is free.

Wright plays saxophone, Page plays guitar and Brendle plays bass. All teach jazz in Appalachian’s Mariam Cannon Hayes School of Music. Drummer Rick Dilling, saxophonist Scott Kallestad and trombonist Harold McKinney, who also teach in the music school, will join them.

The program features Wright’s “Wisteria,” “San Rafael” and “Traneing Wheel.”

Page’s compositions on the program are “Swingmaster General,” “Tranquility” and “Sungrazer.” Brendle’s works on the program are “Passing By,” “Hypermobility” and “When I Was There.”

More Music!

All these performances are free. For more info, call 828-262-3020.

Wednesday, March 28—Student Tuba Recital, Keegan Watson performs, Recital Hall, 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 29—Student Cello Recital, Franklin Keel performs, Recital Hall, 6:00 p.m.

Friday, March 30—Student Composer Recital, Alex Newton presents, Rosen Concert Hall, 6:00 p.m.

Friday, March 30—Student Piano Recital, Allie Utley performs, Recital Hall, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 31—Student Clarinet/Viola Recital, Sarah Bean and Amanda Roberts perform, Recital Hall, 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 31—Hayes String Quartet, Recital Hall, 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 31—Student Flute Recital, Talina Pasour and Kristen Aggers perform, Recital Hall, 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 1—Student Piano Recital, Rachel Dennis performs, Recital Hall, 2:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 1—Student Bass/Saxophone Recital, Milton Williams and Sean McClure perform, Recital Hall, 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 1—Student Cello Recital, Hannah Utley performs, Recital Hall, 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 4—Student Guitar/Viola Recital, Kat Chaffin and Eva Mowry perform, Recital Hall, 8:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 5—Student Piano Recital, David Omer performs, Recital Hall, 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 5—Appalachian Jazz Ensembles I & II, Todd Wright & Rodney Berry directors, Rosen Concert Hall, 8:00 p.m.