F L O R I D A S TAT E UNIVERSITY SPRING 2018 C E L E B R AT I N G 20 YEARS OF THE ARTS
OpeningNights2017_PRINT.pdf 1 9/8/2017 5:00:55 PM
The City of Tallahassee
Congratulates Florida State University on the
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MY
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The artists, direction, and outstanding performances continue to enrich the lives of our citizens and shine a spotlight on the cultural connection between the city and university.
17/18
SPONSORS P L AT I N U M L E V E L
GOLD LEVEL KE N KATO & NAN NAGY
WEALTH MANAGEMENT ADVISORS
FSU License Plate
SILVER LEVEL
MIKEY BESTEBREURTJE & WILSON BAKER
HERB & MARY JERVIS
BERNADETTE & ROGER LUCA
BRONZE LEVEL T E R ESA B E AZ L EY W I DM E R
AU D IO/VID EO CO N NECTIO NS Architects Lewis + Whitlock
C H A R LES S. & SUSAN A . ST RAT TO N
ARCHITECTURE INTERIOR DESIGN PLANNING
GILCHRIST ROSS CROWE
CY N TH I A TIE & JOHN TAY LO R
L A RRY & JO DE E B
JIM & B E T T Y AN N RODG E RS
ARCHITECTS
JA N E T HINKLE
L EE HINKL E
RO D & VI RG I N I A VAUG H N
M I C H AE L SH E R I DAN & J U DY W I LSON SH E R I DAN
P REVEN TIVE CARD IOLOGY & I NTERN AL MED ICIN E ASSOCIATES
L INDA S MITH
GRANT SUPPORT
IN-KIND SPONSORS
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OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 3
2018'S NEWEST SOLO ACT THE ALL-NEW 2018 TOYOTA CAMRY
3800 West Tennessee Street Tallahassee, FL 32304
LegacyToyota.com Proud Sponsor of Opening Nights
Focusing on the Future
T
hank you for making Opening Nights’ 20th Anniversary so successful by joining us for a program this season. In fact, many of you have attended multiple performances and we appreciate your support. While we are now midway through our season, there are many outstanding performances yet to come covering a spectrum of genres, including jazz, classical, Latin and other world music as well as dance, film and theatre. Stellar artists as diverse as Taylor Mac, Mnozil Brass, Patti LuPone, Danish String Quartet and Silkroad Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma will round out our 20th Anniversary Season. I encourage you to try both a program you are familiar with and another that is new to you. ON co-commissioned three new works this season. The first two, The Blue Hour was performed by A Far Cry with Luciana Souza in November, and A New Work for Goldberg Variations was performed by Pam Tanowitz and Simone Dinnerstein in December. The final program we’ve cocommissioned is by Martha Graham Dance Company (2/27, 2/28), who will perform a world-premiere work by awardwinning dancer and choreographer Gwen Welliver, a faculty member at FSU’s School of Dance.
Offering educational programming to students is a cornerstone of Opening Nights. In addition to several master classes offered to FSU students by our visiting artists, ON will be providing arts-education programming to local elementary and middle school students this spring. globalFEST on the Road: The New Golden Age of Latin Music and Mnozil Brass will provide special performances for Leon County students. One of the most exciting aspects of celebrating 20 years of Opening Nights is that it provides the foundation for the next 20 years! To that end, you, our sponsors, audience members and others in our Opening Nights family who have been so supportive of our efforts deserve the credit for our 20 years of success. As a community, we have collectively shared exciting and thought-provoking seasons. The past 20 years are opening doors and providing the path forward to many new, equally stimulating and vibrant offerings to come in the 18-19 Season and beyond. Again, your ideas, suggestions and input are welcomed. You help craft what it is that we offer and how we reach and serve all residents within our community.
Michael Blachly Director, Opening Nights at Florida State University OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 5
CONTENTS Florida State University
13
John Thrasher, President Opening Nights Staff Michael Blachly Director Caroline Conway Poole Director of Development Bethany Atwell Assistant Director
globalFEST
15
Martha Graham Dance Company
17
Mnozil Brass
Lori Elliott Marketing & Communications Manager Calla MacNamara Education & Engagement Manager Grace Atkins Operations Assistant Sydnee Peterman Artist Services Intern Amanda Hartsfield Multimedia Design Specialist University Communications, Creative Services Rodney Johnson Assistant Director of Creative Services University Communications, Creative Services
Tierney Sutton Band
19
Purple Dreams
21
Ben Wendel Seasons Band
23
Opening Nights Development Council Gus Corbella, Chair Michael Obrecht, Chair-elect Ruth Akers Teresa Atkins Lauren Bacon Sara Bayliss Brandi Brown Kimberly Criser Eric Friall Heather Mitchell Nan Nagy Ron Sachs Susan Stratton Erin VanSickle Brian Wolfe Florida State University Office of the President College of Arts and Sciences College of Fine Arts College of Motion Picture Arts College of Music Askew Student Life Cinema Fine Arts Ticket Office Florida State University Foundation University Communications
Look & See, A Portrait of Wendell Berry
31
Danish String Quartet
33
Silkroad Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma
35
SOUTHERN CIRCUIT FILM TOUR
25
Patti LuPone
27
Taylor Mac
29
A Movie You Haven’t Seen
Cover: Martha Graham Dance Company Photo by Brigid Pierce OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 7
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OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 9
WE M AKE NORTHWEST FLORIDA A WONDERFUL PL ACE TO LIVE, WORK AND PL AY.
WE M AKE NORTHWEST FLORIDA A WONDERFUL PL ACE TO LIVE, WORK AND PL AY.
ARTS
E D U C ATI O N
ARTS
E D U C ATI O N
ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT
H E A LT H C A R H E A LT H C A R E
The St. Joe Community Foundation was created with the express purpose of making Northwest Florida a wonderful place to live, work and play. Over the Sponsor ofover Opening Nights to enhance past 16 years, the FoundationProud has contributed $18 Million The St. Joe Community Foundation was createdatwith the express performances Florida Statepurpose of cultural strengthen improve the makingarts, Northwest Florida aeducation, wonderful place to live, healthcare work Overprotect the University Panama Cityand play.and environment. can we help nonprofit organization? past 16 years,How the Foundation has your contributed over $18 Million toArts, enhance Providing funding for Education, Cultural Healthcare and the Environment. Over $18 million cultural arts, strengthen education, improve healthcare and protect the granted in Northwest Florida since 1999. environment. How can we help your nonprofit organization?
How can we Help You? How can we Help You? FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT JOEFOUNDATION.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT JOEFOUNDATION.COM © The St. Joe Company 20158 All Rights Reserved. “St. Joe Community Foundation” is a service mark of The St. Joe Company or its affiliates. © The St. Joe Company 2015 All Rights Reserved. “St. Joe Community Foundation” is a service mark of The St. Joe Company or its affiliates.
2017-18 MEMBERS CONTINUED
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OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 11
YOUR STORIES, OUR COMMUNITY
lottery
POWERED BY
SUNDAY
February
25 7:30 P.M.
LOCATION
The Moon Orkesta Mendoza, Photo by Josh Harrison
TICKETS
$25 | $15 | Free for students openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500 GENRE
latin
Las Cafeteras, Photo by Rafael Cardenas
globalFEST on the Road: The New Golden Age of Latin Music Acoustic alt-folk band Las Cafeteras from East LA and indie mambo Orkesta Mendoza from Tucson, Ariz., are some of the freshest, most innovative and provocative bands in contemporary Latin music. globalFEST: The New Golden Age of Latin Music reveals the global energies now at work in the American Latin music scene. This is the second national touring extension of globalFEST and the first to spotlight Latin artists based in the United States. In addition to concert performances, the tour will include outreach programs at universities across the country and matinee performances for young audiences. It continues the mission of globalFEST to bring the world’s music to America.
SPONSORED BY
Continued on page 37
OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 13
, Marisa Chanin, B.S. 17 President’s Undergraduate Humanitarian of the Year Award Winner
What does preeminence mean?
u. ed fs
It means some of the finest arts programs in the world. It means being one of only four U.S. universities to receive the most prestigious award for internationalization. It means elite research and the world record-breaking National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. It means a $10 billion economic impact on our state. And it means stellar alumni shaping the future like Marisa Chanin. Preeminence means Florida State University.
u
One of the nation’s great universities: wide-ranging in academic excellence, tenaciously entrepreneurial, and a trailblazer in preparing one of the most diverse student populations in the nation to become globally competent and competitive. Preeminence means vaulting 10 spots in two years among Top 50 public universities. It means a 4-year graduation rate that is 15th in the country.
TUESDAY–WEDNESDAY
February
So Young An, Ari Mayzick, Anne O’Donnell, and Lorenzo Pagano in Dark Meadow Suite. Photo by Brigid Pierce.
27&28 7:30 P.M. LOCATION
Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Hall TICKETS
$55 | $25
openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500 GENRE
dance
Martha Graham Dance Company “The FSU archives have old programs/newspaper articles about Martha Graham visiting campus in the late 1930s and 40s. I put together a program that references those years and visits—but that also features some of the new works the company is commissioning. The first half of the program is made up of Graham classics: Ekstasis, Dark Meadow Suite, Errand into the Maze, Lamentation Variations, Woodland. Martha herself performed her now iconic solo Lamentation at FSU in the 1930s. The audience will see a film of Graham in that role followed by three short variations (inspired by the film) created by three of today’s top choreographers. One of the three Lamentation Variations will be a World Premiere, commissioned by Opening Nights at Florida State University especially for our performance at FSU. This variation is created by the noted choreographer Gwen Welliver who is a resident artist at Florida State University.” - Janet Eilber, Artistic Director
ENCORE PERFORMER 1932
SPONSORED BY
Continued on page 37 OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 15
FINE &
Performing Arts AT TALLAHASSEE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ART EXHIBIT: DENISE BOOKWALTER Feb. 15 – Mar. 22 Monday – Friday 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. TCC Fine Art Gallery
ART EXHIBIT: ANNUAL JURIED STUDENT ART EXHIBIT Apr. 5 – 9 Monday – Friday 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. TCC Fine Art Gallery
THEATRE TCC! PRESENTS: SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK LIVE!
ART EXHIBIT: PYRAMID STUDIO ARTISTS
Apr. 5-7 & 12-14 | 8 p.m.
May 10 – July 19
Turner Auditorium
Monday – Friday 12:30 – 4:30 p.m. TCC Fine Art Gallery
THURSDAY
March
1
7:30 P.M.
LOCATION
Opperman Music Hall TICKETS Photo by Carsten Bunnemann
$55
openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500 GENRE
classical, jazz, humor
Mnozil Brass “Mnozil Brass is one of the funniest, and most creative, chamber groups on the planet.” - ClassiCalite Mnozil Brass has established itself as one of the world’s premiere brass ensembles. With over 130 performances a year, the group has sold out houses from the farthest reaches of the European continent to Israel, China, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United States, and has captivated audiences with their blend of immense virtuosity and theatrical wit. No wonder their videos have garnered millions of YouTube views and their fans have travelled countless miles to hear them play. Continued on page 47
SPONSORED BY
OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 17
TUESDAY
March
6
7:30 P.M. LOCATION
Goodwood Museum and Gardens
Photo by Jeff Bandy
TICKETS
$40
openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500
Tierney Sutton Band
GENRE
jazz
The Sting Variations
“A serious jazz artist who takes the whole enterprise to another level.” - The New York Times The Tierney Sutton Band’s release “The Sting Variations,” comprising of Tierney Sutton alongside pianist Christian Jacob, bassists Trey Henry and Kevin Axt, and drummer Ray Brinker, explores the music of British rock icon Sting, and delivers unique arrangements of both familiar and lesser-known gems. Spanning the entirety of Sting’s career, the arrangements are filled with elegance, virtuosity and surprise, and each band member is featured to maximum effect. Some songs included on the album and to be included in performance are “Driven to Tears”, “Shadows in the Rain”, “Fields of Gold”, “Every Breath You Take”, and “Message in a Bottle”. Continued on page 48
SPONSORED BY
OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 19
For your planning for tomorrow side. We plan for our future, so our loved ones don’t have to do it for us. Nationwide offers long-term care options to help you financially prepare for unexpected events down the road. This way you can spend more time with your family, and less time thinking about “what if?” Contact your Nationwide agent today to learn more about long-term care options.
TREE TO TREE ADVENTURES Beautifully integrated within the Museum's 52 acres of native plants and wildlife, Tallahassee Tree to Tree Adventures will transport you through swamps, forests, wildlife habitats and more! 3945 Museum Drive | (850) 575-8684 tallahasseemuseum.org
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Creativity Connects. CenturyLink proudly supports the local arts community. Whenever you’re trying to do something that’s never been done before, you’ll always have a fan at CenturyLink.
See how we connect at centurylink.com/southeast
CenturyLink is proud to support Opening Nights at Florida State University.
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SUNDAY
March
18 5:00 P.M. LOCATION
Askew Student Life Cinema TICKETS Free for Students
$10 | $5 FSU Faculty/Staff openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500 GENRE
documentary
Purple Dreams
South Arts Southern Circuit Film Festival PRESENTED BY OPENING NIGHTS AND THE ASKEW STUDENT LIFE CINEMA
SPONSORED BY
Purple Dreams is an extraordinary arts education story following high school students on a three-year journey of transformation. Struggling with homelessness, low-income neighborhoods, gang-related violence, and single-parent households, these students broaden their world through a triumphant musical production that ultimately propels them into a world of opportunity previously beyond their reach. Filmmaker: Joanne Hock Continued on page 49 OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 21
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CONCERTS | EVENTS | CLASSES | SHOWS | TOURS
TALLAHASSEE Launching early 2018 // Visit 850Tix.com for more information.
MONDAY
March
19 7:30 P.M.
LOCATION
Opperman Music Hall TICKETS
$50
openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500 GENRE
jazz Photo by Josh Goleman
DIRECTOR’S CHOICE
Ben Wendel Seasons Band In 2015, Grammy nominated and award-winning saxophonist, bassoonist, composer Ben Wendel released a music-video art project entitled The Seasons—inspired by a set of 12 piano pieces written and released each month by Tchaikovsky in 1876. Wendel’s modern take on the idea was to compose and release 12 original jazz chamber duets in video format on YouTube with modern luminaries Joshua Redman, Luciana Souza, Eric Harland, Julian Lage, and Ambrose Akinmusire, among others. As the videos garnered acclaim among social networks, the project became an unexpected word of mouth success and was featured prominently in The New York Times (Best of 2015), NPR’s All Things Considered, and The CBC.
Student tickets for this performance subsidized, in part, by Mikey Bestebreurtje & Wilson Baker.
SPONSORED BY
Continued on page 51 OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 23
BE CREATIVE. IT’S WHAT YOU DO BEST.
3131 Lonnbladh Rd. | www.earlbacon.com | 878-2121
Congratulations to Opening Nights on its 20th Season of presenting outstanding creative experiences for our community. Capital City Bank is proud to have supported the festival since its inception and to have presented Rufus Wainwright during the 2017-2018 Season. 402.7500 www.ccbg.com
THURSDAY
April
5
7:30 P.M. LOCATION
Ruby Diamond Concert Hall TICKETS
$85 | $75 | $65
openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500
Photo by Rahav “Iggy” Segev
GENRE
Broadway
Patti LuPone Far Away Places DIRECTED BY: Scott Wittman MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Joseph Thalken and the Gypsy Drifters MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS BY: Joseph Thalken Patti LuPone most recently starred on Broadway as cosmetics pioneer Helena Rubinstein in the Scott Frankel-Michael Korie-Douglas Wright-Michael Grief musical War Paint (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical). Next fall she will return to London’s West End stage in Marianne Elliot’s new production of the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical Company.
Student tickets for this performance subsidized, in part, by Mikey Bestebreurtje & Wilson Baker.
SPONSORED BY
Continued on page 51
OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 25
THURSDAY
April
12 7:30 P.M.
LOCATION
Richard G. Fallon Theatre
Photo by Sarah Walker
TICKETS
DIRECTOR’S CHOICE
$45
openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500 GENRE
music, theatre, extravaganza
Taylor Mac
A 24-Decade History of Popular Music A 24-Decade History of Popular Music is Mac’s subjective history of America since its founding in 1776. The project chronicles the ways in which communities build themselves as a result of being torn apart. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Drama, the piece was originally performed as a one-time 24 hour-long event and was recognized on the New York Times’ 2016 lists of Best Performances, Best Theatre, and Best Music. This abridged version of the show is a highly-immersive and outrageously entertaining crash course in the 240 years (and counting) of the history of American culture and dysfunction. Told from the perspective of groups whose stories are often “forgotten, dismissed or buried,” the show highlights various musical genres and artistic voices ranging from murder ballads to disco, Walt Whitman to David Bowie and Beyond. Joined by music/ arranger Matt Ray, costume designer Machine Dazzle, and an incomparable band, Mac appears on stage decked and bedazzled in gloriously irreverent regalia for a night that is “Startlingly unique... a must see for anyone who wants to see a kinder, gentler society.” (Huffington Post) Mac is a recipient of a 2017 MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant.
Please be advised that this performance is intended for adult audiences. Continued on page 53 OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 27
Garnet and Glitter ADD is proud to support Opening Nights at Florida State University.
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8/30/17 3:40 PM
Sponsors of The North Florida Educational Tour featuring Echoes of Nature by Dr. Nan Liu & Haiqiong Deng
We support arts and education for students of all ages W A L M A R T. C O M
SATURDAY
April
14 7:30 P.M. LOCATION
Askew Student Life Cinema TICKETS
$35
openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500 GENRE
film
A Movie You Haven’t Seen Rose’s (1999), The Red Violin (2000), Curdled (2001), Gettysburg (2002), The General (2003), 11:14 (2004), The Agronomist (2005), The Trees Have a Mother, Stories of the Amazon (2007)
Curated by Geoffrey Gilmore, Director of the Tribeca Film Festival: The Visitor (2008), 500 Days of Summer (2009), Blue Valentine (2010), Win Win (2011), Being Flynn (2012), War Witch (2013), Palo Alto (2014) Curated by Paul Cohen: Racing Extinction (2015), Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), Gifted (2017)
Since its inception in 1999, Opening Nights has presented an annual movie. Silent films, local creations, Oscar® Nominees, and international film circuit delights—each film has added to the collective cinema experience in Tallahassee. The selected film will be appropriate for all audiences and will include a panel discussion with industry professionals. Presented collaboratively with the FSU College of Motion Picture Arts Torchlight Program, this year’s film is sure to inspire, entertain and educate.
SPONSORED BY
Continued on page 55 OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 29
Congratulations Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of Opening Nights Performing Arts. When members of the community support the arts, they help inspire and enrich everyone. Artistic diversity can be a powerful force for unity, creating shared experiences and a desire for excellence. Bank of America is proud to support Opening Nights at Florida State University for its success in bringing the arts to performers and audiences throughout our community. Visit us at bankofamerica.com/local Life’s better when we’re connected®
©2017 Bank of America Corporation | SPN-129-AD | ARMWTPSR
We can help you achieve your personal goals - and your goal to help others Merrill Lynch congratulates Opening Nights Performing Arts on 20 years.
Giving back to your community is important to you - and to us. That’s why we’re committed to helping you make a difference.
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SUNDAY
April
15 5:00 P.M. LOCATION
Askew Student Life Cinema TICKETS Free for Students
$10 | $5 FSU Faculty/Staff openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500 GENRE
documentary
Look & See:
A Portrait of Wendell Berry South Arts Southern Circuit Film Festival PRESENTED BY OPENING NIGHTS AND THE ASKEW STUDENT LIFE CINEMA Look & See is a cinematic portrait of the changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America seen through the mind’s eye of writer, farmer, and activist Wendell Berry. Filmed in Kentucky’s Henry County, where Berry, one of America’s most significant living writers, has lived and farmed since the mid-1960s. Look & See chronicles decades of industrial and economic changes to this community’s agrarian way of life. Filmmakers Laura Dunn and Jef Sewell skillfully weave Berry’s poetic and prescient words with gorgeous cinematography and the testimonies of his family and neighbors in this first documentary about Berry’s life and career.
SPONSORED BY
Filmmaker: Laura Dunn & Jef Sewell Continued on page 57 OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 31
Carlton Fields is pleased to sponsor the 2017-2018 season of Opening Nights Performing Arts Series and Festival. We celebrate the arts as an essential cornerstone of creativity and innovation.
www.carltonfields.com Atlanta • Hartford • Los Angeles • Miami • New York • Orlando Tallahassee • Tampa • Washington, D.C. • West Palm Beach Carlton Fields practices law in California through Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, LLP.
MONDAY
April
16 7:30 P.M.
LOCATION
Opperman Music Hall TICKETS
$50
openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500
Photo by Caroline Bittencourt
GENRE
classical, world music PROGRAM DIRECTOR’S CHOICE
Danish String Quartet
“The Hunt” String Quartet No. 1 in B-flat major, “La chasse” Haydn String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat major, “Hunt” Mozart
Embodying the quintessential elements of a fine chamber music ensemble, the Danish String Quartet has established a reputation for their integrated sound, impeccable intonation and judicious balance. With their technical and interpretive talents matched by an infectious joy for music-making and “rampaging energy” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker), the quartet is in demand worldwide by concert and festival presenters alike. Since making their debut in 2002 at the Copenhagen Festival, the musical friends have demonstrated a passion for Scandinavian composers, who they frequently incorporate into adventurous contemporary programs, while also giving skilled and profound interpretations of the classical masters. The New York Times selected the quartet’s concerts as highlights of 2012 and 2015, praising “one of the most powerful renditions of Beethoven’s Opus 132 String Quartet that I’ve heard live or on a recording,” and “the adventurous young members of the Danish String Quartet play almost everything excitingly.”
Intermission “Jagdquartett” Widmann String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat major Brahms
SPONSORED BY
Continued on page 57 Student tickets for this performance subsidized, in part, by Mikey Bestebreurtje & Wilson Baker. OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 33
BRAV
What a season! Opening Nights, you’ve got our standing ovation!
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Ken Kato & Nan Nagy Proud Supporters of Opening Nights Performing Arts AND SPONSORS OF J A Z Z AT L I N C O L N C E N T E R O R C H E S T R A WITH WYNTON MARSALIS
!
TUESDAY
April
17 7:30 P.M. LOCATION
Ruby Diamond Concert Hall TICKETS
$165 | $140 | $125
openingnights.fsu.edu 850.644.6500
Photo by Jennifer Taylor
GENRE
classical, world music
Silkroad Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma The Silkroad Ensemble creates music that engages difference, sparking radical cultural collaboration and passion-driven learning to build a more hopeful world. Founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the group has been called “vibrant and virtuosic” by the Wall Street Journal, “one of the 21st century’s great ensembles” by the Vancouver Sun, and a “roving musical laboratory without walls” by the Boston Globe. Silkroad musicians appear in many configurations and settings, from intimate groups of two and three in museum galleries to rousing complements of 18 in concert halls, public squares, and amphitheaters. Off the stage, they lead professional development and musician-training workshops, create residency programs in schools, museums, and communities, and experiment with new media and genres to share Silkroad’s approach to radical cultural collaboration.
ENCORE PERFORMER YO-YO MA 2014
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OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 35
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globalFEST Continued from pg. 13
LAS CAFETERAS
Daniel French - vocals, jarana Enrique Chi - guitar Denise Carlos - vocals, jarana, zapateado Jose Cano - drums, cajon Hector Flores - vocals, jarana, zapateado Gloria Estrada - bass The six-piece band Las Cafeteras began as a group of students at Eastside Cafe, a community space in East Los Angeles, where they learned to play son jarocho, a traditional music style from Veracruz, a state in the Gulf of Mexico. All of the band’s members are children of immigrants. The group features traditional Mexican folk instruments, including the jarana, an 8-string guitar; the quijada, a donkey jawbone (which serves as a percussive scraper) and a tarima, a wooden platform for dancing. While rooted in son jarocho, the LA Times called their sound a “uniquely Angeleno mishmash of punk, hiphop, beat music, cumbia and rock.” It’s a mixand-match of styles and sources that serves to deliver socially conscious lyrics, in both English and Spanish. “We’re organizers. We’re movement kids,” said band member David Flores in a recent interview. “But we don’t say we’re political. We say we’re storytellers. It’s just not the mainstream story.” They have released two recordings. Their song “La Bamba Rebelde”, a politically-charged remake of “La Bamba” (perhaps the most famous son jarocho) from their CD It’s Time (2012) became a theme song for the telenovela Bajo El Mismo Cielo on the Telemundo network. Las Cafeteras’ second album, Tastes Like LA, featuring the powerful song “If I Was President”, was released in April 2016.
ORKESTA MENDOZA
Sergio Mendoza - vocals, guitar, keys Brian Lopez - vocals, electric guitar Sean Rogers - bass, vocals Marco Rosano - trombone, clarinet, accordion, keys Quetzal Guerrero - violin, electric guitar, vocals Jaime Peters - drums, programming
Orkesta Mendoza, originally founded by singer and guitarist Sergio Mendoza in 2009 to play a 20-minute tribute set honoring Cuban mambo king, Dámaso Perez Prado, is a dapper sextet that plays a high-energy combination of mambo, cumbia, psychedelia and rock. The Orkesta´s music, arranged to suggest a big band with a touch of lo-fi electronics, speaks of a borderless world in which U.S. culture and Latin traditions come together.
National Endowment for the Arts
“I think it has to do with being near the border,” explained Mendoza, who also toured and recorded with Calexico, in an interview with the online magazine Rhythm Passport. “I grew up in Nogales, Sonora. Living in Mexico exposed me to cumbia and many regional styles of Mexico, such as mariachi and norteño. When I was 7, I moved to Nogales, Ariz. I started getting into American music and that is where the mixture of cultures begins.”
Copyright to all Martha Graham dances presented held by the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc.
“From about 12 to 24 I completely forgot about Latin music. I studied a bit of many styles of music during that time. A little jazz, salsa, ska and a lot of classic rock and roll. I took a little bit from all the styles I had played and that’s how I started Orkesta Mendoza. Today we just want to rock more. Of course, it is Latin-based, but we like turning up our amps and consider ourselves a rock band.” It’s the music of ¡Vamos a Guarachar! (Let’s Party!), the band’s most recent release and an invitation to dance with a travelogue of styles that goes from surf rock to mambo and pop rock.
Martha Graham Dance Company Continued from pg. 15
E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R LaRue Allen
A R T I ST I C D I R E C TO R Janet Eilber
S E N I O R A R T I ST I C A S S O C I AT E Denise Vale Major support for the Martha Graham Dance Company is provided by: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Howard Gilman Foundation
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature The Artists employed in this production are members of the American Guild of Musical Artists AFL-CIO.
All rights reserved.
THE COMPANY
Abdiel Jacobsen Lloyd Knight Ben Schultz Xin Ying Natasha M. Diamond-Walker Charlotte Landreau Lloyd Mayor Ari Mayzick Lorenzo Pagano Anne Souder So Young An Laurel Dalley Smith Anne O’Donnell Leslie Andrea Williams Marzia Memoli
PROGRAM EKSTASIS Choreography by Martha Graham reimagined by Virginie Mécène Costume by Martha Graham Original Music by Lehman Engel Music for reimagined Ekstasis by Ramon Humet† Lighting by Nick Hung Premiere: May 4, 1933, Guild Theatre, New York City Ekstasis (reimagined): Feb. 14, 2017, The Joyce Theater, New York City Natasha M. Diamond-Walker ”Interludi meditatiu VII” from Homenaje a Martha Graham, © Neu Records 2016, used by arrangement with the copyright owner. †
DARK MEADOW SUITE Choreography and Costumes by Martha Graham OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 37
CELEBRATING
20
YEARS OF THE ARTS
Ber n ad ette R o g er L uc a
PROUD SUPPORTERS OF O P E N I N G N I G H T S AT F L O R I DA S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
Mikey Bestebreurtje & Wilson Baker Proud Supporters of Opening Nights at Florida State University
Take Center Stage with an FSU License Plate Proceeds support scholarships for FSU students. Go to mytag.fsu.edu or simply visit any tax collector’s office and request an FSU license plate today. Rebates are offered for first-time buyers.
Arrangement by Janet Eilber Music by Carlos Chavez† Lighting by Nick Hung Premiere: April 1, 2016, Library of Congress, Washington, DC Through the act of dancing forgotten memories emerge. We sense that we have been all things. “I have been ere now a boy and a girl, a brush, a bird, and a dumb fish in the sea.” (Empedocles) Lloyd Mayor, Anne Souder So Young An, Laurel Dalley Smith, Abdiel Jacobsen, Charlotte Landreau, Ari Mayzick, Marzia Memoli, Ben Schultz, Leslie Andrea Williams Commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. La Hija de Colquide used by arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc., agent for Carlanita Music Company, publisher and copyright owner. Adapted and conducted by Aaron Sherber. †
ERRAND INTO THE MAZE Choreography by Martha Graham Music by Gian Carlo Menotti† Lighting by Lauren Libretti Costumes by Maria Garcia Premiere: Feb. 28, 1947, Ziegfeld Theatre, New York City There is an errand into the maze of the heart’s darkness in order to face and do battle with the Creature of Fear. There is the accomplishment of the errand, the instant of triumph, and the emergence from the dark. Charlotte Landreau, Ben Schultz Used by arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc., publisher and copyright owner. †
INTERMISSION LAMENTATION VARIATIONS Choreography by Bulareyaung Pagarlava, Gwen Welliver, and Larry Keigwin Music by Gustav Mahler, Henri Purcell, and Frédéric Chopin† Lighting (Pagarlava, Keigwin) by Beverly Emmons Lighting (Welliver) by Yi-Chung Chen Costumes (Welliver) by Jennifer O’Donnell Conceived by Janet Eilber Premiere: Sept. 11, 2007, Joyce Theater, New York City Welliver Variation Premiere: Feb. 27, 2018,
Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theater, Tallahassee, Fla. The Lamentation Variations is an event that was conceived in 2007 to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. The work is based on a film from the early 1940s of Martha Graham dancing movements from her then new, and now iconic, solo, Lamentation. The choreographers were each invited to create a movement study in reaction to the Graham film for the current company of Graham dancers. Pagarlava Variation So Young An, Ari Mayzick, Lorenzo Pagano, Ben Schultz Welliver Variation Ari Mayzick, Leslie Andrea Williams, Xin Ying Keigwin Variation Full Company The Lamentation Variations was commissioned by the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc. with support from Francis Mason. Welliver Variation was commissioned for the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc. by Opening Nights Performing Arts, Florida State University. Mahler (Pagarlava): “Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz”, from Lieder eienes fahrenden Gesellen; Purcell (Welliver): What power art thou (the ‘Cold Song’ from Purcell’s King Arthur), countertenor Kyle Christensen; Chopin (Keigwin): Nocturne in F Sharp, Op.15 No.2. †
Stuart Singer, Creative Collaborator for Welliver Variation.
WOODLAND Choreography by Pontus Lidberg Music by Irving Fine† Costumes by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung Mask Patterns by Wintercroft Designs Lighting by Nick Hung Premiere: April 1, 2016, Library of Congress, Washington, DC Ying Xin Laurel Dalley Smith, Abdiel Jacobsen, Lloyd Knight, Charlotte Landreau, Ari Mayzick, Anne O’Donnell, Lorenzo Pagano, Leslie Andrea Williams Co-commissioned by the Verna and Irving Fine Fund in the Library of Congress, Washington, DC and the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc. Woodland is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Notturno for Strings and Harp
†
NOTES ON THE REPERTORY EKSTASIS (1933) Ekstasis is thought to be the 87th creation by Graham. In a 1980 interview, Graham explained that the genesis of this dance came from a pelvic thrust gesture that she discovered one day. This led her to explore “a cycle of distortion” that she found deeply meaningful. “Before Ekstasis, I had been using a more static form, trying to find a ritualist working of the body,” she concluded. Virginie Mécène reimagined this version of Ekstasis based on the sparse documentation of this original solo, which included a few photos by Soichi Sunami and Barbara Morgan. DARK MEADOW SUITE (1946) The Dark Meadow Suite is made up of highlights from a much longer work by Martha Graham, Dark Meadow, which premiered on Jan. 23, 1946, Plymouth Theatre, New York City. The Suite, created in 2016, is designed to feature the exceptional choreography that Graham created for the ensemble of dancers in Dark Meadow. Both the unison dancing and the partnering have been recognized as some of Graham’s most architectural, ritualistic and profound creations. They are clearly inspired by Graham’s love of the rituals of the natives of both the American Southwest and Mexico, which she observed as a young woman. The Mexican composer Carlos Chavez wrote the spacious musical score for Graham. The dancers often work in counterpoint to the score using the sound of their feet and other body percussion effects. In her original program note, Graham wrote, “Dark Meadow is a re-enactment of the mysteries which attend the eternal adventure of seeking.” It is an abstract work about life’s journey and the search for connection with one’s self and one’s community. This dance is a prime example of Graham as a leader in mid-20th Century modernism. ERRAND INTO THE MAZE (1947) Errand into the Maze premiered in 1947 with a score by Gian Carlo Menotti, set design by Isamu Noguchi and starring Martha Graham. The duet is loosely derived from the myth of Theseus, who journeys into the labyrinth to confront the Minotaur, a creature who is half man and half beast. Martha Graham retells the tale from the perspective of Ariadne, who descends into the labyrinth to conquer the Minotaur. The current production of Errand OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 39
Congratulations Opening Nights Thank you for fostering the Arts and putting the STEAM in STEM We assist our clients with the complex projects needed in a growing state, including large area planning; coastal resorts; power plants and transmission lines; resource extraction; infrastructure ďŹ nancing and management through special districts; real estate transactions and state and local taxation. We are proud of our track record. mo www.hgslaw.com. Find out more:
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into the Maze was created in reaction to the damage done to the sets and costumes by Hurricane Sandy. This version, stripped of the classic production elements, is meant to intensify our focus on the dramatic, physical journey of the choreography itself. LAMENTATION VARIATIONS (2007) The Lamentation Variations is an event that was originally conceived to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. It was premiered on that date in 2007. The work opens with a film from the early 1940s of Martha Graham. We see her dancing movements from her then new, and now iconic, solo, Lamentation. The variations were developed under specific creative conditions. Each choreographer was asked to create a spontaneous choreographic sketch of their reaction to the Graham film, and was required to adhere to the following conditions: 10 hours of rehearsal, public domain music or silence, basic costumes and lighting design. Though it was planned to be performed on only one occasion, the audience reception for the Lamentation Variations was such that it has been added to the permanent repertory of the Martha Graham Dance Company. WOODLAND (2016) Using Irving Fine’s music as my point of departure, rather than using a concept, I heard structure as well as possible imagery: woodland, moonlight and wandering creatures. I wanted to interact with the music, not just impose choreography on it, so I chose to reorder the movements and add a repeat, turning a linear work into one that is almost cyclical—a structure that I’ve explored continuously in my compositions. I also often take inspiration and impetus from the dancers, and the Graham dancers have been a generous and inspiring group of collaborators. Woodland was developed in collaboration with these dancers. In the end, as in many of my works, the individual is a counterpoint to the group—somewhat isolated and looking for the means to connect with others, all the while remaining separated on a singular trajectory. –PONTUS LIDBERG
ABOUT MARTHA GRAHAM
Martha Graham has had a deep and lasting impact on American art and culture. She single-handedly defined contemporary dance as a uniquely American art form, which the
“The body is a sacred garment.” -Martha Graham
Blakeley White McGuire in Martha Graham’s Errand. Photo by Christopher Jones
nation has in turn shared with the world. Crossing artistic boundaries, she collaborated with and commissioned work from the leading visual artists, musicians, and designers of her day, including sculptor Isamu Noguchi and composers Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, and Gian Carlo Menotti. Graham’s groundbreaking style grew from her experimentation with the elemental movements of contraction and release. By focusing on the basic activities of the human form, she enlivened the body with raw, electric emotion. The sharp, angular, and direct movements of her technique were a dramatic departure from the predominant style of the time. Graham influenced generations of choreographers that included Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, and Twyla Tharp, altering the scope of dance. Classical ballet dancers Margot
Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, and Mikhail Baryshnikov sought her out to broaden their artistry. Artists of all genres were eager to study and work with Graham—she taught actors including Bette Davis, Kirk Douglas, Madonna, Liza Minnelli, Gregory Peck, Tony Randall, Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, and Joanne Woodward to utilize their bodies as expressive instruments. During her long and illustrious career, Graham created 181 dance compositions. During the Bicentennial she was granted the United States’ highest civilian honor, The Medal of Freedom. In 1998, TIME Magazine named her the “Dancer of the Century.” The first dancer to perform at the White House and to act as a cultural ambassador abroad, she captured the spirit of a nation. “No artist is ahead of his time,” she said. “He is his time. It is just that OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 41
Season
Days of Dance April 13 & 14, 20 & 21
dance.fsu.edu
WWW.THF-CPA.COM TALLAHASSEE
TAMPA
School of Dance
Spring MFA February 9 & 10
the others are behind the time.”
ABOUT THE COMPANY
The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in the development of contemporary dance since its founding in 1926. Today, the Company is embracing a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists. With programs that offer a rich thematic narrative, the Company creates new platforms for contemporary dance and multiple points of access for audiences. Since its inception, the Martha Graham Dance Company has received international acclaim from audiences in more than 50 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Russia, and the Middle East. The Company has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, the Paris Opera House, Covent Garden, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as at the base of the Great Pyramids in Egypt and in the ancient Herod Atticus Theatre on the Acropolis in Athens. In addition, the Company has also produced several award-winning films broadcast on PBS and around the world.
BIOGRAPHIES JANET EILBER (Artistic Director) has been the Company’s artistic director since 2005. Her direction has focused on creating new forms of audience access to Martha Graham’s masterworks. These initiatives include contextual programming, educational and community partnerships, use of new media, commissions from today’s top choreographers and creative events such as the Lamentation Variations. Earlier in her career, as a principal dancer with the Company, Ms. Eilber worked closely with Martha Graham. She danced many of Graham’s greatest roles, had roles created for her by Graham, and was directed by Graham in most of the major roles of the repertory. She soloed at the White House, was partnered by Rudolf Nureyev, starred in three segments of Dance in America, and has since taught, lectured, and directed Graham ballets internationally. Apart from her work with Graham, Ms. Eilber has performed in films, on television, and on Broadway directed by such greats as Agnes deMille and Bob Fosse and has received four Lester Horton Awards for her reconstruction
and performance of seminal American modern dance. She has served as Director of Arts Education for the Dana Foundation, guiding the Foundation’s support for Teaching Artist training and contributing regularly to its arts education publications. Ms. Eilber is a Trustee Emeritus of the Interlochen Center for the Arts. She is married to screenwriter/director John Warren, with whom she has two daughters, Madeline and Eva. DENISE VALE (Senior Artistic Associate) joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 1985, attaining the rank of principal dancer. Roles performed include the Pioneering Woman in Appalachian Spring, Woman in White in Diversion of Angels, Chorus Leader in Night Journey, Chorus in Cave of the Heart, the Attendant in Hérodiade, Leader in the 1980s reconstruction of “Steps in the Street”, and Night Chant, a ballet created for Ms. Vale by Martha Graham in 1989. Graham solos performed include Lamentation, Frontier, Satyric Festival Song, and Serenata Morisca. ABDIEL JACOBSEN (Principal), native of Cote D’Ivoire, joined the Company in 2011 and performs lead roles in Graham’s iconic repertory, including Errand into the Maze with prima ballerina Diana Vishneva. As well, he performs works by Nacho Duato, Robert Wilson, Sonya Tayeh, Luca Veggetti, Andonis Foniadakis, Michelle Dorrance, Larry Keigwin, Doug Varone, Richard Move, and Bulareyaung Pagarlava. Mr. Jacobsen received a B.F.A. in Modern Dance from the University of the Arts. He is also a Professional Competitive Ballroom and Latin dancer/instructor, and a guest artist with the Cecilia Marta Dance Company. LLOYD KNIGHT (Principal) joined the Company in 2005 and performs leading roles in Appalachian Spring, Embattled Garden, Errand into the Maze and others. Born in England and raised in Miami, he trained at Miami Conservatory of Ballet and graduated from New World School of the Arts, under the direction of Daniel Lewis. There he worked with choreographers, Donald McKayle, Robert Battle, and Michael Uthoff. He received scholarships to The Ailey School and Dance Theatre of Harlem. Dance Magazine named him one of the “Top 25 Dancers to Watch” in 2010. Recently he partnered with Wendy Whelan in Moon and Misty Copeland in At Summer’s Full.
BEN SCHULTZ (Principal) joined the Company in 2009 and dances leading roles including King Hades in Clytemnestra and Jason in Cave of the Heart. He premiered Martha Graham’s work in Russia performing Errand into the Maze with prima ballerina Diana Vishneva at the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg. Earlier dance credits include the Tony Award® winning Blast!, the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, and Hannah Kahn Contemporary Dance. Mr. Schultz has served as faculty and resident choreographer for the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Mr. Schultz starred in the world premiere of AXE, a work created by Mats Ek for the Company. XIN YING (Principal) joined the Company in 2011 and performs lead roles in Diversion of Angels, Clytemnestra, Woodland and I used to love you among others. In 2008 she received the China Dance Lotus Award. She was the director of the Dance Department at Sichuan College of Arts & Culture and a guest teacher at the Graham School, the Beijing Dance Academy and Nanjing University of Arts. She was awarded a full scholarship to the Graham School, and was a member of Graham 2. NATASHA M. DIAMOND-WALKER (Soloist) hails from Los Angeles, Calif., and joined the Company in 2011. Ms. Diamond-Walker performs lead roles in Graham’s Appalachian Spring, Diversion of Angels, Cave of the Heart, Embattled Garden, and has worked with Annie-B Parson, Kyle Abraham, Sonya Tayeh, Liz Gerring and Nacho Duato. She graduated with a BFA in Dance from Fordham University and directs, alongside Don Martin, The Lester Horton Dance Theater in L.A. She writes for Moesley Road Inc., and works within commercials, TV/Film as an actress, dancer, and model. CHARLOTTE LANDREAU (Soloist) a native of France, joined the Company in 2013. She dances lead roles in Graham’s Appalachian Spring (The Bride), Errand into the Maze, The Rite of Spring (The Chosen One) and Maple Leaf Rag. She trained as a rhythmic gymnast and studied ballet, circus, acting, and modern dance at the Maurice Béjart School (Switzerland). In 2012 she received a scholarship to study at the Martha Graham School. Ms. Landreau danced with Graham 2 and was honored with the Pearl Lang Award. OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 43
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SO YOUNG AN (Dancer) joined the Company in 2016. Ms. An received a BFA from Dong-Ah University in Korea. She is the recipient of the 1995 International Arts Award and the Grand Prize at the Korea National Ballet Grand Prix in 2001. She has danced with the Korea National Ballet Company and Buglisi Dance Theatre and has also performed works by Yuri Grigorovich, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Mats Ek, Patricia Ruanne and Samantha Dunster. LAUREL DALLEY SMITH (Dancer), from England, joined the Company in 2015. She performs lead roles in Graham’s Errand into the Maze, Maple Leaf Rag and Diversion of Angels, and roles in contemporary works by Marie Chouinard, Pontus Lidberg and Annie-B Parson. Ms. Dalley Smith graduated from Central School of Ballet with 1st class Honours. Before joining Graham she performed with the UK Tour of West Side Story, Joss Arnott Dance and Yorke Dance Project, creating roles in Robert Cohan’s 2014 Lingua Franca and Lacrymosa.
Blakeley White McGuire and Abdiel Jacobsen in Martha Graham’s “Errand.” Photo by Christopher Jones.
LLOYD MAYOR (Soloist) joined the Com-
ulty at The Ailey School.
pany in 2012 and performs lead roles in Ap-
LORENZO PAGANO (Soloist) joined the Company in 2012 and dances lead roles in Graham’s Appalachian Spring, Embattled Garden, Night Journey, Dark Meadow, and Diversion of Angels and in contemporary works by Andonis Foniadakis, Nacho Duato, Pontus Lidberg and Sonya Tayeh. A native of Torino, Italy, he moved to the United States and trained as a scholarship student at The School at Jacob’s Pillow and the Martha Graham School. In 2016 Pagano received the Italian International Dance Award for “Male Rising Star”.
palachian Spring, Diversion of Angels, Embattled
Garden, Andonis Foniadakis’s Echo, and Richard Move’s The Show (Achilles Heels), first
danced by Mikhail Baryshnikov. In 2014, Mr. Mayor was honored with the Clive Barnes Dance Award and is now a board member of the Foundation. For the Company’s 90th anniversary in April 2016, Mr. Mayor danced an excerpt of Appalachian Spring with former Étoile and Artistic Director of the Paris Opera Ballet, Aurélie Dupont. ARI MAYZICK (Soloist) hails from New York where he began his professional dance training at the age of 11. Ari has danced with Pearl Lang Dance Theater, Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre (now Rioult), Scapino Ballet (Holland), Washington Opera as a guest soloist, Les Ballets Grandiva, Buglisi Dance Theatre and Dance Iquail just to name a few. He is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award of Excellence in Dance and is currently on fac-
ANNE SOUDER (Soloist) joined the Company in 2015. Ms. Souder began her dance training in Maryville, Tenn., and continued to earn her degree in the Ailey/Fordham BFA program, graduating with a double major in Dance and Theology. There she performed works by Alvin Ailey, Ronald K. Brown, Dwight Rhoden, and more. Upon graduation, Ms. Souder joined Graham 2 and was awarded a Dizzy Feet Foundation scholarship.
ANNE O’DONNELL (Dancer) joined the Company in 2014 and performs lead roles in Graham’s Appalachian Spring and Dark Meadow Suite and in new works by Marie Chouinard, Mats Ek, Pontus Lidberg, Annie-B Parson and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. She danced with Ailey II and Buglisi Dance Theatre and attended Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Program, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, and Springboard Danse Montreal. She appeared on the cover of Dance Spirit’s February 2016 Issue “Young and Modern”. LESLIE ANDREA WILLIAMS (Dancer) was born in Newport News, Va., and grew up in Raleigh, N.C.. Ms. Williams joined the Company just two months after graduating from The Juilliard School in May 2015. Since then, she has performed numerous featured roles in iconic Graham ballets, such as Chronicle, Appalachian Spring, Diversion of Angels, and Embattled Garden. She was recently featured in Dance Magazine as a dancer “On The Rise.” MARZIA MEMOLI (New Dancer) is originally from Palermo, Italy. She began her training at the age of 16 at the Academy of Teatro Carcano in Milan where she graduated with high honors. In 2016 she graduated from The Rudra Bejart School. OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 45
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MARTHA GRAHAM CENTER O F CO N T E M P O RA RY DA N C E STA F F LaRue Allen, Executive Director Janet Eilber, Artistic Director Denise Vale, Senior Artistic Associate Faye Rosenbaum, General Manager Simona Ferrara, Company Manager A. Apostol, Development Officer/Executive Associate Amanda Hameline, Director of Individual Giving Charley Harris, Development Associate Oliver Tobin, Director of Martha Graham Resources Melissa Sherwood, Marketing Manager Amber Schmiesing, Media and Archives Assistant Luisa Hill, Administrative Associate Haejin Han, Production Supervisor Yi-Chung Chen, Lighting Supervisor Karen Young, Costume Supervisor Jennifer O’Donnell, Wardrobe Supervisor Anne Posluszny, Theatrical Property Restorer Jennifer Patten, Head of School Tadej Brdnik, Director of Teens@Graham Virginie Mécène, Program Director / Director of Graham 2 Tami Alesson, Dean of Student and Government Affairs Julie Carter, School Administrator Janet Stapleton, Press Agent
R EG I SS EU RS Tadej Brdnik, Linda Hodes, Peggy Lyman, Virginie Mécène, Miki Orihara, Marni Thomas, Ken Topping, Denise Vale, Blakeley White-McGuire
B O A R D O F T R U ST E E S Kenneth Bloom, Chairman Judith G. Schlosser, Chairman Emerita Inger K. Witter, President Lorraine Oler, Secretary LaRue Allen, Executive Director Janet Eilber, Artistic Director Amy Blumenthal Barbara Cohen Merrie S. Frankel Inga M. Golay Sandra Harris Emil Kang Jayne Millard Kathryn White Hooman Yazhari
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I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P R E S E N TAT I O N LaRue Allen, Executive Director lallen@marthagraham.org
A LU M N I S E A RC H If you or someone you know has ever performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company or attended classes at the Martha Graham School, please send us names, addresses, telephone numbers and approximate dates of membership. We will add you to our alumni mailing list and keep you apprised of alumni events and benefits. Call 212.229.9200 or e-mail info@marthagraham.org. The Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance is a not-for-profit corporation, supported by contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies. Contributions in support of the Martha Graham Center will be gratefully received at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, Inc., 55 Bethune Street, New York, NY 10014, or visit marthagraham.org/ contribute. For information, visit marthagraham.org
Mnozil Brass Continued from pg. 17
Mnozil Brass takes its name from the “Gasthaus Mnozil,” a restaurant across the street from the Vienna Conservatory, where, in 1992, seven young brass musicians met and began playing at a monthly open-mic. Since then, the group has embraced repertoire for all ages and stages of life: from folk to classical to jazz to pop; all executed with the same fearlessness, immense technical skill, and typical Viennese “schmäh” (almost impossible to find an English translation, but best rendered as a kind of sarcastic charm!). In their time away from touring, Mnozil Brass has recorded 8 albums and 6 DVDs. They’ve collaborated on three operetta and opera productions, and composed and recorded the music for the 2006 film “Freundschaft.” The group has been nominated for the Amadeus Austrian Music Award and won the prestigious Salz-
burger Stier Cabaret Prize in 2006.
THOMAS GANSCH
Born in Melk an der Donau, Thomas is one of the band’s founding members. By the time he turned the tender age of 17, he was already playing at the Vienna State Opera. However, his love of jazz was stronger, and led him to become one of the most versatile trumpeters in Austria; one who can play jazz, classical, crossover and everything in between. He is a whirlwind on stage and can tell a good joke or two, as well. When he has time off, he composes for Mnozil Brass.
ROBERT ROTHER
Like Thomas, Robert also hails from Melk an der Donau. As children, the two of them played in a brass band conducted by Thomas’s very strict father. Polkas, waltzes, and marches were always on the program—a good learning experience it seems! Now, Robert can engender a tone with so much longing and feeling that it is guaranteed to bring anyone to tears. Unlike Thomas, Robert hardly moves on stage at all and lets the music speak for itself.
ROMAN RINDBERGER
Roman was born into a musical family and played folk music as a youngster with his father and two brothers. His father Hans, in turn, would meet up with Gerhard Füßl’s father Franz because the families lived nearby. Roman loves technical passages, and renders them with the precision of a Swiss clock-maker. And he even knows how the instruments work! If anyone wants to know more about brass music, Roman is the man for you. On stage, his character is the Latin Lover.
LEONHARD PAUL
Leonhard was born in Mödling near Vienna and is the first musician his family has ever produced. (Though there was a grandfather who earned his money as a painter, and whose pictures hang in every other house in the better parts of Vienna!) Recently, the other members of the band have started to get a little concerned about him, because he seems to have taken a liking to shady characters on stage. Everyone wants to play the hero, but Leonhard likes roles that show the darker side of man. No one knows exactly what’s going on in his head!
GERHARD FÜSSL
Gerhard grew up near where Roman lived, and OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 47
also had a father who taught him a lot about brass music. He is the most well-liked in the group; probably because he looks after the financial matters. Everyone tries to keep on his good side, and no one wants to incur his wrath. For his part, he is usually friendly to all.
ZOLTAN KISS
Austrian folk music was certainly not part of Zoltan’s upbringing. He was born in Budapest, spent some time in Poland, and finally settled in Vienna, where he plays trombone in four languages. One of the group’s favorite games is to put some really difficult music in front of him and see if he can play it. He usually can! His technical skills take your breath away. Bets have been placed as to when and how something will be written that he cannot master, but, so far, high, low, slow, fast, he can play it all!
WILFRIED BRANDSTÖTTER
He began his meteoric rise to fame on the humble recorder. After that he sang treble in the choir. And then he wanted to be a violinist. It seemed he had settled for the trumpet, before finally plumping for the tuba. Speed is not really his thing. What he likes to do best is to produce some nice notes that are neither too high nor too low and make the concert hall and those sitting in it resonate in a pleasant way. He has no idea why people like tunes in brisk tempi.
Tierney Sutton Band Continued from pg. 19
An eight-time GRAMMY® nominee, Sutton has received seven consecutive nominations for “Best Jazz Vocal Album”—a nomination for every project she has released for the last decade. In 2013 she released After Blue, a jazz-inspired re-imagining of the legacy of Joni Mitchell. The album received wide acclaim and was Sutton’s breakout as a leader without her longtime Band, and features Al Jarreau, Hubert Laws, Peter Erskine, Larry Goldings, Mark Summer, Kevin Axt, Serge Merlaud and The Turtle Island String Quartet. With a recording and touring history spanning over 20 years and 9 CDs, The Tierney Sutton Band, “TSB” has traveled a rare path. Com4 8 | OPENING NIGH TS SPRING 2018
prised of Sutton and instrumental virtuosos Kevin Axt, Ray Brinker, Trey Henry and Christian Jacob, the band functions as a true collaborative (and legally incorporated) unit and makes all musical as well as business decisions as partners. In 2011 the TSB received a Grammy nomination for its collaborative arranging, the only collaborative team ever to receive that honor. Their discography is thematic and rich and past TSB projects have addressed: Americana (American Road, 2011) Materialism (Desire, 2009), The Pursuit of Happiness (On The Other Side, 2007), as well as the musical legacies of Bill Evans (Blue in Green, 2001) and Frank Sinatra (Dancing in The Dark, 2003). Along these same lines, TSB released a new recording in Fall 2016, The Sting Variations. In addition to this, Christian Jacob and TSB scored the original music for Clint Eastwood’s feature film “Sully”, starring Tom Hanks and Laura Linney. The film premiered on Sept. 9, 2016. Tierney has headlined in recent years at The Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center and Jazz At Lincoln Center. She can also be heard on film and television soundtracks including that of The Academy Award-nominated film “The Cooler” as well as on television commercials (BMW, Green Giant, Yoplait Yogurt, Coke) When she is off the road, Tierney is in demand as both a producer and vocal educator. She taught for over a decade at USC’s Thornton School of Music and served for 5 years as Vocal Department Head at The Los Angeles College of Music in Pasadena, Calif., where she created a new curriculum for vocalists of all genres. Tierney is currently Associate Professor of Music in Jazz Studies at The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Tierney has taught and mentored some of music’s finest new generation of singers including Gretchen Parlato and Sara Gazarek.
CHRISTIAN JACOB, PIANO
Born in Lorraine, France, Christian Jacob began playing classical music at age 4 and became immersed in the music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, whose harmonic universe was influential on jazz. “I was 9 or 10 when I discovered jazz,” Christian reminisces, “and the very first thing that appealed to me was the harmony, the chords. The first time I heard Oscar Peterson, I kept going to
Tierney Sutton. Photo by Tatjana Shoan
the store to order the part, of course I never received it; later, when I learned it was improvised, I couldn’t believe it. I’ve always had perfect pitch, so I was known for hearing anything and knowing the notes. However, my training was not open to improvisation.” It was “learn the piece, and then interpret it,” he says. “Even at that age they would basically interpret it for you. In retrospect that probably taught me what is the basic musical feel.” Though studying classical music, the young pianist continued to play jazz “as a hobby”; he worked in combos in Lorraine, and began to develop a style. “Dave Brubeck was my first discovery, then Oscar Peterson was a different dimension. I could hear his classical technique; his personality was there, too. What he says, he means, and you can hear him having so much fun doing it.” After graduating with “First Prize” from the Paris Conservatory, Christian took the risk of going to America to study jazz. “Going to America wasn’t something I had planned to do. It would cost a fortune and I didn’t speak English. Then one day a friend of mine said that he was going to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and I realized that it was a great opportunity. My friend spoke English and if I could get a scholarship, I believed I could make it work. It was a great plan, but I didn’t get a scholarship, and at the last minute my friend couldn’t go. So I ended up going alone. To make matters more difficult I had arranged
to arrive two weeks before classes started so that I could work on learning English. It seemed like a good idea, but it never occurred to me that the dormitories would not be open and I would have no place to stay. Fortunately for me a recruiter for Scientology spotted me wandering around, and wanted to teach me all about their religion. He wanted me to really understand what Scientology was, but his books were in English. So every day we sat with a dictionary and Scientology writings and he taught me the meaning of each word, making sure that I really got it. So basically I had a full two weeks of English lessons right before classes started.” It was at Berklee that Christian shed a lot of his classical emphasis and concentrated nearly exclusively on jazz, on learning the art of improvisation and on developing his own personal style. While at Berklee Christian won a number of awards, including the Oscar Peterson Jazz Masters Award, the Great American Jazz Piano Competition and “Downbeat” magazine’s distinction as Top Collegiate Jazz Soloist. After graduating Christian took a teaching position at Berklee, but gave that up when the opportunity came along to tour with Maynard Ferguson. “Life on the Road with Maynard was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. We toured eight months out of the year and performed almost every day. It was exhausting, educational, inspirational and most of all it was fun.” Ferguson plucked Christian from the ranks of an early 1990s edition of Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau band to be the first featured artist in the “Maynard Ferguson Presents” series on Concord Records. He produced Christian’s first two trio recordings: “Maynard Ferguson Presents Christian Jacob” and “Time Lines.” After leaving Maynard Ferguson’s band Christian quickly began performing and recording with many of today’s jazz legends: Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, Randy Brecker, Miroslav Vitous, and Bill Holman to name just a few. By the mid 1990s Christian teamed up with vocalist Tierney Sutton, drummer Ray Brinker and bassist Trey Henry to record their first CD together, “Introducing Tierney Sutton”. The band became known for its sophisticated, refreshing arrangements, and the obvious musical joy they felt when playing together. They
developed into a tightly knit group that recorded seven critically acclaimed CDs for Telarc Jazz; “Unsung Heroes”, “Blue in Green”, “Something Cool”, “Dancing in the Dark”, “I’m With The Band”, “On the Other Side”, “Desire”, and “American Road”. The latter four were each nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. “American Road” yielded Christian a personal nomination (as well as each band member) in the “Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal” category as well. In the midst of his success with the Tierney Sutton Band, Christian released his third trio CD, this time on his own independent label WilderJazz. The 2004 release, “Styne & Mine”, is a tribute to the music of Jule Styne, and reached #3 in the jazz radio charts. The success of “Styne & Mine” motivated Christian to record “Contradictions” in 2006. The CD pays homage and offers another look at the original compositions of renowned pianist Michel Petrucciani. Due to these recordings Christian was asked to tour and record in Japan. The resulting CD “Live in Japan” was released in November 2008.
RAY BRINKER, DRUMMER
Ray is an alumnus of the heralded North Texas State University’s (now University of North Texas) Jazz Studies program, and performed as a member of NTSU’s Grammy-nominated 1 O’Clock Lab Band. Upon graduation, Ray toured worldwide with jazz high-note trumpet player Maynard Ferguson before moving to the west coast, where he has become a staple in the Los Angeles studio scene. Ray’s performing and recording credits feature a diverse roster of artists, including Pat Benatar, Joe Cocker, David Lee Roth, Cinderella, Woody Herman, Brian Setzer, Jack Sheldon, Anita O’Day, Diane Shure, Randy Brecker, Mitch Forman, Chris Walden Big Band, Wayne Bergeron Big Band, Frank Gambale, Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, Christian Jacob Trio, Tom Kubis Big Band, Veronique Sanson, Ray Charles, and countless others. Recently Ray recorded Ray Charles’ 8-time Grammy Award-winning “Genius Loves Company” CD, featuring James Taylor, Norah Jones, Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Cole, Michael McDonald, Johnny Mathis, Dianna Krall, and others, as well as the soundtrack for the movie “Ray”, the Ray Charles story.
Other film credits include Shrek, Chicken Run, Dear God, The Alamo, Brother Bear, Lilo & Stitch, Pluto Nash, Assault On Precinct 13, and Ray is heard on countless TV credits. Ray has performed as a founding member, drummer, and co-arranger for the Tierney Sutton Band for 14 years, including 8 CDs and a Grammy Nomination for “I’m With The Band”, the band’s first live recording, recorded at New York’s famous Birdland jazz club. He is a proud endorser of Yamaha Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, and Vic Firth drumsticks.
KEVIN AXT, BASSIST
Kevin Axt was born in Burbank, Calif., and has been a freelance musician in LA since 1982. He began studying classical guitar at the age of 13, later adding tuba, electric bass and finally string bass to his instrumental arsenal by his late teens. He attended USC on an orchestral scholarship studying string bass with LA Phil co-principal bassist, Dennis Trembley. He has performed, recorded and toured with artists as diverse as Natalie Cole, Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith, Hank Jones, Phil Woods, Lalo Schifrin, Shelby Lynne, Queen Latifah, Placido Domingo, Pat Williams, Russell Watson, Patti Austin, Bobby Shew, Chuck Mangione, Bernadette Peters, Cristian Castro, Lea Salonga, KD Lang, Dave Koz, The Tierney Sutton Band, David Benoit, Bob Florence, Mitch Forman and Chuck Loeb, Robben Ford, Jack Sheldon, Etta James, James Moody, Christopher Cross, Cheryl Bentyne, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Glenn Frey, and Melissa Manchester to name just a few. Kevin has performed on over 150 albums and has performed bass in dozens of theater, film and television productions. Kevin has played on projects that have garnered a total of 12 Grammy nominations. He also received a Grammy Nomination in 2012 as a co-arranger in the “Best Arrangement Accompanying A Vocal” category.
Purple Dreams Continued from pg. 21
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JOANNE HOCK, DIRECTOR
Joanne Hock is a passionate and prolific storyteller. She has written and directed feature films and documentaries, lensed and directed countless television commercials and directed national and international television shows. With more than 30 years in this ever-changing industry—and among a small population of women to break the glass ceiling in directing and cinematography, Joanne’s career continues to expand and grow. Her PBS projects include: From Poverty to Power – The James B. Duke Story, Laugh at Us, In the Footsteps of Elie Wiesel, The Spirit of Sacagawea, The Newport Effect and Crossroads Charlotte. Joanne has directed over 30 episodes of True Crime television for networks such as Discovery ID, Biography and Lifetime. Her original screenplay, Wednesdays at the Gem, was a semi-finalist in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ prestigious screenwriting competition, the Nicholl Fellowship and is now in development at GreyHawk Films which she co-owns with Robin Grey. Most recently she completed two notable pop-culture documentaries, which are in the film festival circuit; the feature length documentary Purple Dreams and Martin Hill: Camera Man. Purple Dreams premiered to a sold out crowd at the prestigious Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in April 2017. The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is a program of South Arts. This screening is supported in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
Ben Wendel Seasons Band Continued from pg. 23
In 2016, after viewing an expressionist painting by Lee Krasner at The Whitney Museum entitled “The Seasons,” Wendel decided to expand upon the original duets project by reimagining the arrangements for a five-piece ensemble comprised of musicians and dear friends from The Seasons—Aaron Parks(piano), Gilad Hekselman (guitar), Matt Brewer (bass) and Kendrick Scott (drums).
The Seasons band will be launching a string of tour dates with Wendel’s debut as a leader at the legendary Village Vanguard (2/273/4), followed by the recording session for The Seasons album (to be released in the Fall of 2018), and tour dates in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Cambridge, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Chicago, Winter Park and Tallahassee. “The uniqueness of this tour, and upcoming recording, is that this music was never played live or released as a traditional album. So this is the premiere of an exciting new chapter in the Seasons project!,” said Wendel. In 2017, the Seasons project received a 2017 Canadian Arts Council Grant.
BIOGRAPHY
GRAMMY® nominated saxophonist Ben Wendel was born in Vancouver, Canada, and raised in Los Angeles. Currently living in Brooklyn, NY, he has enjoyed a varied career as a performer, composer and producer. Highlights include multiple domestic and international tours with artists such as Ignacio Berroa, Tigran Hamasyan, Antonio Sanchez, Gerald Clayton, Eric Harland, Taylor Eigsti, Snoop Dogg and the artist formerly known as Prince. Ben is a founding member of the GRAMMY nominated group Kneebody, currently signed with Concord Records and Brainfeeder Music. As a composer, he has received an ASCAP Jazz Composer Award, the 2008 and 2011 Chamber Music America “New Works Grant” and most recently was awarded the Victor LynchStaunton award by the Canada Council For The Arts. He also co-wrote the score for John Krasinski’s adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s “Brief Interviews With Hideous Men.” Wendel’s recent work includes producing and playing in jazz and many other genres, including the GRAMMY-nominated album “Life Forum” for pianist Gerald Clayton on Concord Records, the new Kneedelus album (Kneebody + Daedelus), released on Brainfeeder and given a rave 8.0 review from Pitchfork, appearing on Julia Holter’s new film score, and collaborating with her on a new non-jazz album he is co-creating with Daedelus (the album will feature artists such as Terrace Martin, Knower and Mark Guiliana), producing an album for Folk/Americana artist Darryl Holter (a BMI Woody Guthrie Fellowship Recipient), playing on Jimmy
Ben Wendel, photo by Josh Goleman
Chamberlin’s (drummer from Smashing Pumpkins) new instrumental album, and producing live concerts at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Calif. from 2008-2015, with the help of Quincy Jones and his production team. He also recently worked with conductor Kent Nagano in producing a series of concerts for the Festspiel Plus in Munich, Germany. Wendel is a former Adjunct Professor of Jazz Studies at USC and a current Adjunct at the New School in NYC. Educational outreach has been a constant in his career with over 250 masterclasses at various colleges, universities, high schools, and previous work with the LA Philharmonic Artist Program. Wendel has recorded for Sunnyside Records, Concord Records and Brainfeeder, with two solo albums under his belt, Simple Song (2009) and Frame (2012), a duo project with French-American pianist Dan Tepfer entitled Small Constructions (2013) and multiple Kneebody albums. His music video project, The Seasons, inspired by Tchaikovsky’s works of the same name, was released throughout 2015. Wendel’s critically acclaimed third solo album What We Bring was released in the Fall of 2016 on Motema Music. The Seasons recording will be released in the Fall of 2018!
Patti LuPone Continued from pg. 25
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Musical and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Performance of the Season for her performance as Madame Rose in the most recent Broadway production of Gypsy, her other stage credits include appearances with the Los Angeles Opera in their new production of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles and Weill-Brecht’s Mahagonny (debut), the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s opera To Hell and Back with San Francisco’s Baroque Philharmonia Orchestra, Mrs. Lovett in John Doyle’s production of Sweeney Todd (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations; Drama League Award for Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theatre), the title role in Marc Blitzstein’s Regina, a musical version of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes at the Kennedy Center, Fosca in a concert version of Passion, which was also broadcast on PBS’ Live From Lincoln Center, a multi-city tour of her theatrical concert Matters of the Heart, the City Center Encores! productions of Can-Can and Pal Joey, the NY Philharmonic’s productions of Candide and Sweeney Todd (NY Phil debut) and performances on Broadway in Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, David Mamet’s The Old Neighborhood, Terrence McNally’s Master Class and in her own concert Patti LuPone On Broadway. Since 2000 she’s appeared regularly at the Ravinia Festival. First in its Sondheim series when she starred as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Desiree in A Little Night Music, Fosca in Passion, Cora Hooper in Anyone Can Whistle, Madame Rose in Gypsy and in two different roles in Sunday in the Park with George. Her subsequent appearances there include a reprise of her performance in Heggie’s To Hell and Back, a concert performance of Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins and starring in the title role in a concert production of Annie Get Your Gun. A graduate of the first class of the Drama Division of New York’s Juilliard School and a founding member of John Houseman’s The Acting Company in which she toured the country for four years, her subsequent New York credits include Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of An Anarchist, David Mamet’s The Water Engine, Edmond and The Woods and Israel Horovitz’ Stage Directions and performances in the musicals Pal Joey for City Center Encores!, Anything Goes(Tony Award nomination, Drama Desk Award), The Cradle Will Rock, Oliver!, Evita (Tony and Drama Desk
Awards- Best Actress in a Musical), Working and The Robber Bridegroom. In London, she won the Olivier Award for her performances as Fantine in the original production of Les Miserables and in the Acting Company production of The Cradle Will Rock. She also created the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award, and recreated her Broadway performance of Maria Callas in Master Class. Her book, Patti LuPone: A Memoir, is a New York Times Best Seller.
F I L M Cliffs of Freedom (upcoming), The Comedian, Union Square, Parker, City by the Sea, David Mamet’s Heist, State and Main; Just Looking, Summer of Sam, The 24 Hour Woman, Family Prayers, Driving Miss Daisy, Witness.
Musical Theater Composers Initiative, a select group, including the legendary Stephen Sondheim that has received grants and commissions to create new works and expand the musical theater art form. On Broadway, Mr. Thalken served as conductor for Victor/Victoria with Julie Andrews and Liza Minnelli, and for Gypsy with Patti LuPone. As a pianist or conductor, he has worked with Bernadette Peters, Barry Manilow, Polly Bergen, Kristin Chenoweth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, opera stars Denyce Graves, Catherine Malfitano and Elizabeth Futral, and acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell, among others. He has provided orchestrations for albums of Patti LuPone, Marin Mazzie & Jason Danieley, Rebecca Luker, Howard McGillin, Kathy Lee Gifford, Nathan Gunn, and Judy Collins and he can be heard as a pianist on a number of Broadway cast albums.
T E L E V I S I O N Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Penny Dreadful (Critics Choice nomination), Girls, American Horror Story: Coven, Law & Order: SVU, Glee, 30 Rock, PBS Great Performances The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Ugly Betty, Will & Grace (as herself), PBS Great Performances’ Candide, Oz , the TNT film Monday Night Mayhem, PBS’ Evening At The Pops with John Williams and Yo-Yo Ma, Falcone, Bonanno: A Godfather’s Story (Showtime); Frasier (1998 Emmy nomination); Law & Order, An Evening with Patti LuPone (PBS), the NBC movie Her Last Chance, Showtime’s ACE Award and Emmy nominated The Song Spinner (Daytime Emmy nomination, Best Actress), The Water Engine, L.B.J., AMC’s Remember WENN and ABC›s Life Goes On.
R ECO R D I N G S Far Away Places, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Patti LuPone at Les Mouches, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd (both the 2006 Broadway revival cast recording and 2000 live performance recording on NY Philharmonic’s Special Editions Label); and The Lady with the Torch.
JOSEPH THALKEN
Joseph Thalken is an award-winning composer whose work includes the musicals Harold and Maude (book and lyrics by Tom Jones), Was (book and lyrics by Barry Kleinbort), And the Curtain Rises (book by Michael Slade, lyrics by Mark Campbell), and Borrowed Dust (book and lyrics by Martin Moran). The Shen Family Foundation included Mr. Thalken in their
Taylor Mac Continued from pg. 27
Taylor Mac (who uses “judy”, lowercase sic, not as a name but as a gender pronoun) is one of the world’s leading theater artists. A playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, performance artist, director and producer and “Critical darling of the New York scene” (NY Magazine), judy’s work has been performed in hundreds venues including New York City’s Town Hall, Lincoln Center, Celebrate Brooklyn, The Public Theatre and Playwrights Horizons, as well as London’s Hackney Empire and Barbican, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, Los Angeles’s Royce Hall and Ace Theater (through the Center for the Art of Performance), Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, the Sydney Opera House, The Melbourne Festival (Forum Theater), Stockholm’s Sodra Theatern, the Spoleto Festival, and San Francisco’s Curran Theater and MOMA. Judy is the author of many works of theater including the soon to be produced plays, “Gary, A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”, “Prosperous Fools”, and “The Fre”, and the previously produced works, “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music”, “Hir”, “The Walk Across America for Mother Earth”, “Comparison is Violence”, “The Lily’s Revenge”, “The Young Ladies Of”, “Red Tide Blooming”, “The Be(a) st of Taylor Mac”, “Cardiac Arrest or Venus OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 53
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on a Half-Clam”, “The Face of Liberalism”, “Okay”, “Maurizio Pollini”, “A Crevice”, and “The Hot Month”.
an Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History for A 24-Decade History of Popular Music.
Sometimes Taylor acts in other people’s plays (or co-creations). Notably: Shen Teh/Shui Ta in The Foundry Theater’s production of “Good Person of Szechwan” at La Mama and the Public Theater, Puck/Egeus in the Classic Stage Company’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”, and in the two-man vaudeville, “The Last Two People On Earth” opposite Mandy Patinkin and directed by Susan Stroman.
MACHINE DAZZLE
Mac is a MacArthur Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama and the recipient of multiple awards including the Kennedy Prize, a NY Drama Critics Circle Award, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Guggenheim, the Herb Alpert in Theater, the Peter Zeisler Memorial Award, the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, 2 Bessies, 2 Obies, and an Ethyl Eichelberger Award. An alumnus of New Dramatists, judy is currently a New York Theater Workshop Usual Suspect and the Resident playwright at the Here Arts Center.
MATT RAY
Matt Ray (music director/arranger/pianist/ vocals) can be seen in some of New York’s best venues where he performs regularly either fronting his own band, or accompanying some of the city’s most dynamic performers. Recent work includes performing at Carnegie Hall with Kat Edmonson, touring with Reggae legend Burning Spear, music directing The Billie Holiday Project at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, string and piano arrangements for the fifth season finale of Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, performing at Lincoln Center with Joey Arias, shows in Paris and the UK with Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, and monthly gigs at Joe’s Pub with Bridget Everett and the Tender Moments. Other recent work includes performing at the Edinburgh Fringe with Lady Rizo, and touring the world with Taylor Mac’s show A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. In addition, Matt music directed and played piano in Taylor Mac’s Obie award winning play The Lily’s Revenge at the HERE Arts Center in New York. Matt has released two jazz albums as a leader: We Got It! (2001) and Lost In New York (2006); and one album of original pop/folk material called Songs For the Anonymous (2013). Ray is a co-recipient (with Taylor Mac) of
Machine Dazzle (Performer/Costume Design) (né Matthew Flower) moved to New York City in 1994 after attending The University of Colorado Boulder. Mixing odd jobs by day with art and dance clubs by night erupted in a unique lifestyle grounded in costume and performance art. Machine’s DIY and transgressive nature comes face to face with his conceptualist-as-artist identity; the results can be seen on stages all over the world. Machine has worked with Taylor Mac, Justin Vivian Bond, Joey Arias, Julie Atlas Muz, Big Art Group, The Crystal Ark, The Dazzle Dancers, Pig Iron Theater, Stanley Love Performance Group, and The Pixie Harlots, to name a few.
A Movie You Haven’t Seen Continued from pg. 29
PAUL COHEN
Paul Cohen is an independent motion picture executive who for more than three decades created a number of New York City-based successful distribution and production companies. His filmography includes: Academy Award-winning, Best Foreign Language Picture, Mephisto, introducing Klaus Maria Brandauer; Oscar-nominated My Brilliant Career, introducing Judy Davis & Sam Neill; Oscar-nominated The Thief; numerous Golden Globe nominations, BAFTA, Cesar, Donatelo, Fipresci, Spirit, NBR, Gotham and NY and LA Critics Circle Awards; among many others. Gov. Lawton Chiles appointed Cohen to promote independent motion picture production throughout the sunshine state, where he was instrumental in founding the first Florida Film Forum and creating the plan for the inaugural Palm Beach International Film Festival. He first lectured as a visiting industry executive at the FSU College of Motion Picture Arts (CMPA) Graduate Conservatory more than 25 years ago; then located in Sarasota, Fla. He is a Filmmaker in Residence and Level III teaching instructor, joining the CMPA facul-
ty 11 years ago to share his vast experience, knowledge, contacts and expertise in independent motion pictures with thesis students in what he references as “the art of business and the business of art” in marketing, distribution, producing and exhibition courses. He has donated a number of classic 35mm motion picture prints including Jean Luc Godard’s Eloge de L’amour to the College of Motion Picture Arts over the years. In 2008, Cohen along with his Deans Braddock and Patterson co-founded the Torchlight Program and continues serving as its executive director. FSU’s College of Motion Picture Arts established the program to enhance the education of students through instruction in current and emerging business practices of the motion picture industry. The Torchlight Program has provided more than 550 interning students the opportunity to distribute, market, present and exhibit more than 185 independent motion pictures. Cohen mentors his film students and interns during their time at FSU and continues to offer expertise and advice well after they graduate; as they move into industry opportunities. The Torchlight Program has played a prominent role in assisting with many community and on-campus initiatives, including the Veteran Film Festival for more than seven years, educational screenings of narrative and documentary feature films presented at the Askew Student Life Center and Ruby Diamond Auditorium; including collaborating for the 11th year with Opening Nights, representing CMPA’s association in the presentation of what
Paul Cohen OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 55
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Cohen has coined “A Movie You Haven’t Seen,” serving again as this year’s curator. He continues to support, inspire and expand the voice and power of independent cinema throughout the State of Florida and continues to executive produce films such as the recently released theatrical documentary Dislecksia: The Movie, with Billy Bob Thornton and Joey Pantoliano. This past year Cohen joined with CMPA alumnus, Josh Tickell to executive produce Josh’s Good Fortune; the rags to riches story of billionaire John Paul DeJoria who offers half of his fortune to people less fortunate serving as an example of “conscious capitalism”. This year Paul continues to executive produce, assisting one of his film school colleagues and securing theatrical distribution, for the Tallahassee independent motion picture production of Life and Nothing More, an award-winning film by Antonio Mendez Esparza. Cohen continues to inspire while being inspired to again bring opportunities for the presentation of compelling, informative and entertaining cinema with exciting new Opening Nights projects on the horizon. After all, “A Movie You Haven’t Seen” night is Paul’s favorite night.
Look & See Continued from pg. 31
“As I see, the farmer standing in his field, is not isolated as simply a component of a production machine. He stands where lots of lines cross – cultural lines. The traditional farmer, that is the farmer who was first independent, who first fed himself off his farm and then fed other people, who farmed with his family and who passed the land on down to people who knew it and had the best reasons to take care of it... that farmer stood at the convergence of traditional values... our values.” – Wendell Berry, Author, Activist and Farmer
ABOUT WENDELL BERRY
In 1965, Wendell Berry walked away from the foreordained path for American writers. After living in California, Europe and New York, Wendell decided he would return home to Port Royal, Ky. He and his wife Tanya bought a small farmhouse and began a life of
farming, writing and teaching. This lifelong relationship with both the land and community would come to form the core of his prolific writings. A half century later Henry County, like many rural communities across America, has become a place of quiet ideological struggle. In the span of a generation, the agrarian virtues of simplicity, land stewardship, sustainable farming, local economies and rootedness to place have been replaced by a capital-intensive model of industrial agriculture characterized by machine labor, chemical fertilizers, soil erosion and debt - all of which have frayed the fabric of rural communities. Writing from a long wooden desk beneath a 40-paned window, Berry has watched this struggle unfold, becoming one its most passionate and eloquent voices in defense of agrarian life. As a creative, Berry is one of the most decorated and recognized authors of our time, having won countless awards, including the National Humanities Medal, the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, the Roosevelt Institute’s Freedom Medal and the Cleanth Brooks Medal for Lifetime Achievement. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2015 became the first living writer named to the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame. Filmed across four seasons in the farming cycle, Look & See blends observational scenes of farming life, interviews with farmers and community members with evocative, carefully framed shots of the surrounding landscape. Thus, in the spirit of Berry’s agrarian philosophy, Henry County itself will emerge as a character in the film - a place and a landscape that is deeply interdependent with the people that who inhabit it.
LAURA DUNN
Director / Producer / Editor Laura Dunn started making documentaries in response to her undergraduate experience at Yale University. Through a chronicle of labor strikes on campus, The Subtext of a Yale Education examines the corporatization of higher education. She then returned to her birthplace to make Green, a sobering look at environmental racism along the Mississippi River petrochemical corridor, a.k.a. “Cancer Alley”. Other work includes experimental films BABY, a personal take on population issues,
and Become the Sky, an ecological map of power in Texas. Her first feature documentary, The Unforseen, executive produced by Robert Redford and Terrence Malick, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was released theatrically and broadcast on the Sundance Channel. Her new film, Look & See, also executive produced by Robert Redford and Terrence Malick, and funded in part by the Sundance Documentary Film Fund, is a cinematic portrait of writer and farmer Wendell Berry. Honors include a Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship, Student Academy Award, Yale’s Trumbull Fine Arts Prize, International Documentary Association Pare Lorenz Grant and an Independent Spirit Truer Than Fiction Award. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and six young boys.
JEF SEWELL
Co-Director / Producer / Visual Designer Jef Sewell acted as producer on Laura’s first feature documentary The Unforeseen. In addition to fundraising and extensive on-location work, Jef designed The Unforeseen’s motion graphic sequences for which he was nominated for an Outstanding Achievement in Graphics and Animation at the inaugural Cinema Eye awards. Jef is also Founder/CEO of Austin-based Amplifier, a vertically-integrated merchandising logistics firm that serves wellknown Internet brands such as MailChimp, Rooster Teeth, Reddit, Geek and Sundry, Slack, InVision and many others. The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is a program of South Arts. This screening is supported in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
Danish String Quartet Continued from pg. 33
Frederik Øland, Violin Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Violin Asbjørn Nørgaard, Viola Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, Cello The Danish String Quartet’s expansive 2017-18 North American season includes more than 30 performances across 17 states. The ensemble OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 57
gives debut performances at numerous renowned venues, such as Bravo! Vail and Ravinia summer festivals, Cleveland Chamber Music Society, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Oregon Bach Festival, and San Francisco Performances, among others. Further season highlights include returns to the Mostly Mozart Festival, UW World Series at Meany Hall in Seattle, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Philadelphia and Buffalo Chamber Music Societies. This season, the Quartet features a richly satisfying array of diverse repertoire that includes both giants of the string quartet canon—Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, and Mozart—with lesser-performed works by Sibelius, Schnittke, and Jörg Widmann. The Quartet’s recent debut recording on ECM Records features works of Danish composers Hans Abrahamsen and Per Nørgård and English composer Thomas Adés and received five stars from The Guardian, praised as “an exacting program requiring grace, grit and clarity and the Danish players sound terrific... It’s a sophisticated performance.” The record-
ing debuted at #16 on the Billboard Classical Chart and continues to earn international acclaim. In addition to their commitment to highlighting Scandinavian composers, the Danish String Quartet derive great pleasure in traditional Nordic folk music. Their subsequent recording, Last Leaf, was released in September 2017 and has since been listed as one of the top classical albums of the year by NPR, WQXR, The New York Times, Boston Globe, and Spotify. In 2009 the Danish String Quartet won First Prize in the 11th London International String Quartet Competition, as well as four additional prizes from the same jury. This competition is now called the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition and the Quartet has performed at the famed hall on many occasions. The ensemble received the 2010 NORDMETALL-Ensemble Prize at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival in Germany and, in 2011, won the prestigious Carl Nielsen Prize. The Danish String Quartet received the 2016 Borletti Buitoni Trust pro-
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vided to support outstanding young artists in their international endeavors, joining a small, illustrious roster of past recipients.
ASBJØRN NØRGAARD
(b. 1984) has established himself as one of the most sought after viola players in Denmark and is the recipient of multiple accolades, including Jacob Gade’s large music grant and Sonnings Music Scholarship. First and foremost, Asbjørn Nørgaard is a vivid chamber musician and has founded The Danish String Quartet as well as Inviolata, a violaaccordion duo. With these two ensembles, he is prize winner in several national and international competitions and has recorded a plethora of cd’s, the latest being a recording of all J.S. Bach’s Viola da Gamba Sonatas. On the side of this, Asbjørn Nørgaard is an experienced orchestral player, and has led the viola sections of the Copenhagen Philharmonic and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra. Asbjørn Nørgaard has studied in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Berlin. He graduated from the
Embodying the quintessential elements of a fine chamber music ensemble, the Danish String Quartet has established a reputation for their integrated sound, impeccable intonation and judicious balance. Photo by Caroline Bittencourt
soloist scheme at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2013 performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante at the Radio Hall in Copenhagen. At the moment Asbjørn is learning to speak Portuguese and his favorite writer is Thomas Mann. He is a huge fan of encyclopedias and is always reading something about everything.
RUNE TONSGAARD SØRENSEN
(b. 1983) started playing violin at the age of 5 after a failed attempt of learning the accordion. Now he is the concert master of Copenhagen Philharmonic, teacher at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, violinist in the Danish String Quartet and a well known soloist in Denmark. In 2008 Rune was the only Danish semi finalist at the international Carl Nielsen Competition in Odense and he also received a prize for best performance of the Danish pieces in the competition. Rune has always been a curious musician. He has been playing folk music most of his life, he is educated in organ and church music and he always likes a good jam session.
FREDRIK SCHØYEN SJÖLIN
(b. 1982) has the honor of being the only Norwegian member of The Danish String Quartet. However (and this is often pointed out during rehearsals), as Norway was effectually a tributary to Denmark until 1814, Fredrik is actually sort of Danish. Fredrik grew up in Trondheim, where he had his first cello
lessons as a 6-year old at the local music school. After finishing high school, he moved to Stockholm where to study with Torlief Thedéen. In 2007 he graduated from the diploma-programme and subsequently won a place in the prestigious two-year ”intro klasssisk”-scheme, run by ”Concerts Norway”. In 1996 Frederik won Norway’s national competition for young string players, and two years later he won the second prize in ”EMCY”s international competition. He has performed as soloist with several of the Norwegian orchestras including: The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchesra and the Bergen Philharmonic.
FREDERIK ØLAND
(b. 1984) was educated by Serguei Azizian in Copenhagen and Ulf Wallin in Berlin. In 2009 at the age of 23 he won the position as concert master at Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. The same year he was also employed as a teacher of violin and chamber music at The Royal Danish Academy of Music. Frederik Øland has been awarded various Danish prizes such as grants from Jacob Gade Foundation, Victor Borge Foundation and Léonie Sonning Foundation. He has appeared several times as a soloist, most recently with his colleagues in Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. In his spare time Frederik relaxes in his apartment in the Vesterbro-borough in central Copenhagen. The Danish String Quartet has recorded for Ecm, Dacapo and Cavi-Music/Br Klassik
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Silkroad Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma Continued from pg. 35
Silkroad musicians and composers hail from more than 20 countries, drawing on a rich tapestry of traditions to create a new musical language—a uniquely engaging and accessible encounter between the foreign and the familiar that reflects our many-layered contemporary identities. As the Los Angeles Times has said, Silkroad’s “vision of international cooperation is not what we read in our daily news reports. Theirs is the better world available if we, like these extraordinary musicians, agree to make it one.” The Silkroad Ensemble has performed in more than 100 cities in over 30 countries and recorded seven albums; its 2016 release, Sing Me Home, won the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. The Music of Strangers, a documentary about the Ensemble directed by the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 and was released worldwide in 2016. For more information, visit silkroad.org. OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU | 59
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Attorneys at Law
WEST PALM BEACH • TALLAHASSEE 800.780.8607 WWW.SEARCYLAW.COM
Michael Sheridan & Judy Wilson Sheridan
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING
OPENING NIGHTS at F L O R I DA S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
FOR THE 2017–18 SEASON. Please join us again next year!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE 2018–19 SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT ON MAY 31!
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