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(04/10/09 12:00am)
The famed American composer Aaron Copland once wrote of being "overwhelmed" by theater, sometimes to the point of resentment. Clearly, he was writing of the great tragedies, loves and disputes that have been born on stages across the centuries. Lovett College's currently running drama, The Visitors, would not overwhelm Copland, but it has a well-constructed story, a strong cast and unique staging, which all compensate for its few narrative and thespian weaknesses.The Visitors follows a wealthy Manhattan couple who relocate to the Caribbean because of the husband Barry's (Lovett senior Nathan Bledsoe) heart condition. Once there, they are visited by aging rock star Azure Ray (Lovett junior Viren Desai), who tries to start a charity with Barry as the spokesperson, among other shenanigans.
(11/21/08 12:00am)
Able to win over even the least easily amused of viewers, Wiess Tabletop's production of Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore's Drop Dead is a hilarious, mischevious romp.True, the plot is not the best in the world, and the set is deliberately silly. But this joyfully self-deprecating play is guaranteed to make just about anyone laugh. Director Danny Shanaberger, a Wiess College sophomore, and producers Roque Sanchez, a Wiess senior, and Jacob Pflug, a Wiess sophomore, deserve praise for picking a show well-suited for college theater.
(10/10/08 12:00am)
Monday saw the initiation of this fall's President's Lecture Series. Graced by the presence of the renowned Lebanese-French organist and composer Naji Hakim, the Rice community, especially the Shepherd School of Music, was abuzz with anticipation for the rare appearance of a musician on the academic platform. Hakim is most famous for having succeeded Olivier Messiaen, one of the most important composers of the 20th century, as organist at Paris' Église de la Sainte-Trinité. He has won many awards for his playing and compositions, so I was excited for his lecture, although I did not know what to expect considering no one in the composition department had ever heard of him.Composers are not usually given the chance to address the public. It is hard to intimately discuss music in front of an audience who has little understanding of the musical lexicon. It may be for this reason that Hakim's lecture was bland. His improvisations were very safe, almost stunningly simple to an experienced listener like my friend Tema Watstein, a Lovett College junior and violin performance major.
(10/03/08 12:00am)
Tonight marks the opening of the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Larry Rachleff. The concert features an intriguing program that not only offers exciting music for the audience, but also tells the story of a very unique genre of classical music.This weekend's program is an excellent opportunity for students at Rice to hear great music played at a high level and with a clear narrative. It is a chance to discover how music grows through time, and how no piece, whether written in the 16th century or just this summer by a Rice student, is isolated in time.
(09/05/08 12:00am)
At 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, the Rice Chorale will perform Gabriel Fauré's Requiem in the Edythe Bates Grand Organ Recital Hall in Alice Pratt Brown Hall (the Shepherd School of Music Building).This is the sixth year Tom Jaber has led Rice University's only choral group in a memorial concert honoring those who died in the infamous terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The first of these concerts, in 2002, was part of a worldwide event that coordinated the performance of Mozart's famous Requiem at the exact time of the first aircraft's impact into World Trade Center towers. In years since, the Chorale has presented requiem settings by Brahms, Rutter and Durufle, among others.
