Every week does not appear as full as every other on the Telitha Lindquist Arts and Humanities calendar, yet a closer look at all arts and entertainment events available through Weber State University reveals there is often more than enough to take in during any given week or weekend.
Music
WSU’s Bonneville Chamber Music Festival continues in water, fire and finale on March 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Allred Theater, with a matinee on March 22 at 1:30. Each concert in the series has a name theme, intended to be visually as well as audibly stimulating. The theme on March 22 is “Water and Fire,” and for March 23 it is “Eclectic Finale,” the latter being a synthesis concert of the series, which began on March 16 with “Lively Mix” and March 18 with ”Northern Lights.” The initial concert in the series was free, thanks to the RAMP program, but the others will cost $6 per person, $5 for students. According to Viktor Uzur, Bonneville Chamber Music Festival founder and artistic director, this was done in order to make the concerts accessible to more people. Children 8 years and older are welcome.Visiting performing artists in the series include Sunny Lee on violin, Mikhail Bereznicky on viola, Brad Richter on guitar, Marcos Machado on bass, Mark Henderson as the conductor, Uzur on cello, and the WSU Chamber Choir.
More information about the festival, is available at its website, www.weber.edu/bcmf.
Bobby McFerrin’s “Spirit You All” concert on March 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Peery’s Egyptian Theater is sponsored by WSU Cultural Affairs. McFerrin is best-known for his single “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” but, according to the L.A. Times, his greatest gift as a performer is his ability to “transform a concert hall into a playground, a village center, a joyous space.” McFerrin’s own roots include a father who was the first contracted black operatic performer at the Metropolitan Opera. McFerrin’s own style, according to WSU Cultural Affairs, promises “an evening of virtuosic musicianship, community spirit and pure fun.” Diane Stern, coordinator and artistic director of Cultural Affairs selected McFerrin because “he fit so well into the playful concept” she wanted to highlight this season. Stern is already putting finishing touches on lining up next season.
Live productions and performances
“The Comedy of Oedipus” will run March 22-23, 26-30. Though many think this is a play about or a variation of the Greek play “Oedipus Rex” (“Oedipus the King”) by Sophocles, this play, while featuring some original music, only boasts a few familiar characters like Oedipus to tell a new tale of how beasts in unique disguise show up in life. Written by an Egyptian playwright, Ali Salim, the play bridges both ancient and modern Egypt as its setting, with director Jennifer Kokai incorporating the technology and social media used today, like Facebook and Twitter, into the production. Kokai said the show is unlike anything previously seen at WSU and that students “might as well take advantage of that.” WSU’s premiere production of “The Comedy of Oedipus” starts on Friday.“Die Zuberflote (The Magic Flute)” will waft through the air starting March 28-30 in WSU’s Austad Auditorium at 7:30 pm., with a 2 p.m. matinee on March 30. The opera production singing is directed by Karen Brookens, with the live orchestra directed by Michael Palumbo. Tickets are available through the Browning Center’s box office, at 801-626-7000 or at www.weberstatetickets.com.
Lectures
“The Iconography of the Sphinx: From the Pharaohs and the Greeks to Freud and the Oedipus Complex,” a slide lecture by Angelika Pagel, will be March 25 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 143 of the Kimball Visual Arts Center. This lecture is presented in conjunction with the WSU theater production of “The Comedy of Oedipus.” The lecture is free and open to the public.
Pagel, a WSU professor of art history, will explore cultural symbols and art objects reflected in the play, giving the audience more visual references to understand the humor and commentary in the play, including the Sphinx, architecture in ancient Thebes, and caricatures of these and similar images throughout history.
Dickinson one of the finalists.
“Weber Reads: Emily Lives!” involves reader’s theater as the last of the Weber Reads series, and will run March 26-30 at 12:30 p.m. in the Hetzel-Hoellein Room of the Stewart Library. It is presented as a part of the Weber Reads 2013 program, which focused on the poetry by Emily Dickinson this year. This last event in the series features a play as reader’s theater called “Toward Eternity,” written by WSU students Andrew Balls, Kyle Poppitz and Lauren Paskett, which concerns a competition for Heaven’s Poet Laureate. Shakespeare is no longer eligible, having served his allowed number of terms. The current finalists for his replacement are Walt Whitman and Dickinson. A poetry read-off ensues.
The event is free and open to the public. It is suitable for all ages.
Exhibits
“Material Wealth V: Things That Continue to Happen,” March 1-28, features WSU Department of Visual Arts student sculptures in the Shepherd Union Gallery. Regular gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1-9 p.m. on Sundays.
“Topographies: Recording Place & Mapping Surface,” by Ismini Samanidou, will run until April 12. Details available in the Arts Department, Kimball Arts building.
