Performing Artist Series 2008-2009
David Boaz, September 12, 2008
7:00 p.m. Lecture
G. Mennen Williams Auditorium
It's a pleasure to introduce the executive vice president of the Cato Institute, the author of The Politics of Freedom, David Boaz.
David Boaz is a provocative commentator on a wide range of policy and political issues. Since 1981 he has directed the public policy studies of the Cato Institute, which has put libertarian ideas on the map for members of Congress and Washington journalists. In that capacity he edited books on school choice, drug legalization, and politics as well as several collections of libertarian policy proposals. He has also helped to edit and publicize more than 200 books and policy studies and has appeared on television shows ranging from C-SPAN and "Firing Line" to "Crossfire," "Politically Incorrect," and “The O’Reilly Factor.”
Before joining the Cato Institute, he served as editor of New Guard magazine and executive director of the Council for a Competitive Economy.
David Boaz is probably best known these days as the author of Libertarianism: A Primer and the editor of The Libertarian Reader, both of which received very favorable reviews in newspapers and magazines across the country. The noted scholar Richard Epstein called Libertarianism: A Primer "a readable and informative account of the basic principles of libertarian thought written by someone steeped in all aspects of the tradition. David Boaz's Primer unites history, philosophy, economics and law--spiced with just the right anecdotes--to bring alive a vital tradition of American political thought." And the Reader has been described as "the most magnificent collection of libertarian writings ever published."
His latest book is The Politics of Freedom, a collection of essays on policy, politics, and libertarianism.
Book Signing in Auditorium Lobby courtesy of Great Lakes Book and Supply
More information can be found at: http://www.cato.org/politicsoffreedom/
Alan Zweibel
October 3, 2008, 7:00 p.m. Lecture
G. Mennen Williams Auditorium
Mr. Zweibel's last visit here was during the 1970's....
Book Signing in Auditorium Lobby courtesy of Great Lakes Book and Supply
An original Saturday Night Live writer, Alan Zweibel has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild of America, and TV Critics awards for his work in television which also includes It’s Garry Shandling’s Show (which he co-created and executive produced), Monk and Curb Your Enthusiasm. In films, he co-wrote the screenplays for Dragnet, North, and The Story of Us. In addition, he wrote the popular children’s book, Our Tree Named Steve and the 2006 Thurber Prize winning novel, The Other Shulman. His humor has appeared in such diverse publications as Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Op-Ed page, MAD Magazine and have been reprinted in numerous anthologies around the world. Alan’s theatrical contributions include the play Bunny Bunny – Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy which he adapted from his best-selling book. He also collaborated with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award winning play 700 Sundays, as well as Martin Short’s Broadway hit Fame Becomes Me. A frequent guest on talk shows such as Late Night with David Letterman, Alan is currently finishing his next Broadway show tentatively titled “Sunday Nights at 8:00”, is doing a television pilot with Bob Newhart, and his new book – a collection of his short stories and essays titled “Clothing Optional” – will be published by Random House next fall.
For more information, see: http://www.alanzweibel.com/
Hugo Wolf Quartett
7:00 p.m. Concert
February 20, 2009
G. Mennen Williams Auditorium
"New Stars on the Quartet Heaven" Der Standard, Vienna
Listen to Hugo Wolf Quartett on "WGBH Classical Performance" - website
Sebastian Gürtler, Violin
Régis Bringolf, Violin
Gertrud Weinmeister, Viola
Florian Berner, Cello
Within just a few short years the Hugo Wolf Quartett has developed from a chamber music lover's insider tip to one of the most sought after string quartets of its generation. Critics the world over have provided testimony to its rapid development: "New stars on the quartet heaven" (Der Standard, Vienna); "Urgent and impassioned, but with an absolute commitment to the ideal values of every note" (Los Angeles Times); "One hears in these players, embryonically and in miniature, the qualities that make the Vienna Philharmonic special" (New York Times).
The Hugo Wolf Quartett was founded at the Vienna Conservatory. Shortly thereafter, the four young musicians won the Fifth International String Quartet Competition in Cremona and took first prize at the 45th International G.B. Viotti Chamber Music Competition, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Special Prize, and the European Cultural Award for Chamber Music, and made their debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus, a moment that was celebrated by public and press alike.
The Hugo Wolf Quartett has concretized for over ten years in the most prominent concert halls and renowned festivals such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie Berlin & Cologne, the Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Herkulessaal Munich, Tonhalle Zurich, Rudolfinum Prague, Mozarteum Salzburg, Musikverein and Konzerthaus Vienna, Edinburgh Festival, Gidon Kremer's Lockenhaus Festival, Schubertiade Feldkirch, Carinthian Summer, L'été musical dans la vallée du Lot, Colmar Festival, and many others. Extensive concert tours regularly take the ensemble to South America, Mexico, Japan, and the USA.
In the 2007/08 season they embarked on two highly acclaimed tours in the USA performing 25 concerts coast to coast at prestigious chamber music series including Washington DC, Los Angeles, La Jolla and Pittsburgh, which led to re-invitations and appearances for the 2008/09 season at the Frick Collection in New York, Kreeger Museum, Washington DC, Chamber Music Society Chicago, Ottowa and Boston, where they also gave a live performance and interview at WGBH. During the summer 2008 they have a return engagement by Gidon Kremer for his festival and they will perform in the Caramoor, Chatauqua and Music Mountain festivals.
The Hugo Wolf Quartett has also been invited back to Northwestern University for ensemble coaching and master classes.
For its tenth anniversary the Hugo Wolf Quartett established its own cycle in the Konzerthaus in Vienna. Composers Zbigniew Bargielski, Friedrich Cerha and Erich Urbanner wrote and dedicated these works especially for this occasion. The quartet's repertoire spans across the two Viennese Schools and has performed a number of world premieres which received high critical acclaim. In addition they have ventured into including the attractive Jazz work by Kenny Wheeler into their programs.
In 2007 Gidon Kremer invited the quartet to his Festival Lockenhaus and chose Bartok's Quartet #4 to be performed again on the season finale concert. CPO will release Franz Mittler's two string quartets this fall and a CAM Jazz production with Kenny Wheeler and John Taylor can be heard on the CD Other People. The Hugo Wolf Quartett has recorded for the Gramola, Atlantis Art and Extraplatte Labels, and appeared on numerous radio and television productions such as the BBC, Radio Berlin, KBS, ORF. They were awarded the ORF-Pasticcio Prize for Beethoven's op.18/4 and op.132.
The name was granted to the quartet by the International Hugo Wolf Society of Vienna. The late Romantic composer Hugo Wolf was situated between the great Viennese music tradition and its departure into the modern period; his name is thus used as a symbol for a performing repertoire stretching from the Classical period to music far beyond the Second Viennese School.
For additional information, please go to this link: http://www.marianneschmockerartists.com/hugowolf.shtml
Maison Bleue
Ann Arbor's Cajun & Zydeco Band
March 1, 2009, 3:00 p.m. Concert
Rankin Center, Dome Room
Formed in 2000, Ann Arbor band plays toe-tapping music of rural southwestern Louisiana, Cajun two-steps, waltzes, zydeco, swamp pop and New Orleans tunes. Garry Kaluzny (accordion, voc), Gil Simon (gtr, voc), Mary Schraffenberger (percussion, sousaphone, voc), Cole Latimer (fiddle), Kip Godwin (gtr), Tim Berla (bass), John Marion (drums). Join us for an afternoon of Cajun music and the Dance lessons are FREE!
More info can be found here: http://www.michigumbo.com/maisonbleue/index.html
Arn Chorn Pond
April 24, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Human Rights Lecture
G. Mennen Williams Auditorium
As a child, Arn Chorn-Pond survived the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime by playing revolutionary songs on the flute. Today, he is an internationally recognized human rights leader and speaker, the recipient of the Reebok Human Rights Award, the Anne Frank Memorial Award, and the Kohl Foundation International Peace Prize. He is also the subject of the Emmy-nominated documentary, The Flute Player.
Music saved Arn’s life in the Khmer Rouge’s killing fields. He was separated from his family and put in a work camp with five hundred children. Arn was one of six chosen to take khim lessons from an elderly musician the soldiers brought to the camp. After a week, the soldiers decided the old man had taught enough and killed him. Arn learned enough to play for the soldiers in the evenings, and believes those performances allowed him to be among the fifty children who survived the work camp.
He managed to escape to a refugee camp, where he was adopted into an American family. Arn emerged as a crusader for world peace and children’s rights. He received numerous international awards for his work, and spoke all over the world on behalf of Amnesty International.
In the 1990s, Arn returned to Cambodia to work on humanitarian programs. A stunning 90% of Cambodia's traditional artists had died during the years of the Khmer Rouge and the years of famine and hardship that followed.
Arn became aware that some the great masters he remembered from his youth had somehow survived Pol Pot’s madness. However, in the crushed economy, the traditional performers could not revive their art.
Arn located performers who had been household names before the Khmer Rouge years but now lived in poverty on back streets. Arn knew if these few survivors died without passing on their knowledge, his country’s musical heritage could disappear forever. When Arn returned to the US in 1996, he began the effort that grew into the Cambodian Living Arts.
Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) was founded eight years ago by Arn Chorn-Pond, a Cambodian-American refugee who was featured in the Emmy-nominated movie, The Flute Player. Originally called the Cambodian Masters Performing Project (CMPP), Arn founded this organization when he first returned to Cambodia in order to support the music teachers who helped him survive the horrors of the Khmer Rouge.
Approximately ninety percent of Cambodia’s performing artists died during the Khmer Rouge regime, a devastating blow to all of Cambodia’s oral traditions. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, this cultural tragedy was compounded by two subsequent decades of economic hardship, when very few of the surviving master musicians could make a living performing or teaching.
For more information: http://www.cambodianlivingarts.org/people/arnchornpond
Season Ticket Info & Pricing
Season tickets must be purchased by 9/12/08
Student Price: $10.00
General Admission: $20.00
G. Mennen Williams Auditorium Box Office
Mon-Fri 11 am to 4 pm
At the door Price for all Events after 9/12/08:
$3.00 Students, $5.00 General Admission
Link to G. Mennen Williams Auditorium Box Office for tickets: http://www.ferris.edu/arts/Tickets.htm