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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 1992)
Chumbley dreams up music in spare time Lied’s director composing opera, children’s songs By Stacey McKenzie Senior Reporter When he’s not at work as the ex ecutive and artistic director of the Lied Center for Performing Arts, Robert Chumblcy can be found dream ing up musical theater at his piano, at his desk, or somewhere in between. He hasn’t had much time to do anything else. Late this summer, the composer was commissioned by the Boston based Radiance Foundation, which supports programs for abused chil dren, to create a series of songs for children based on the poetry of Ruth Krauss. “I had to write these songs real quick,” Chumbley said, “because the concert’s Friday night.” “Three Little Daydreams,” for so prano, mezzo-soprano, piano and per cussion instruments, will premiere Friday at Boston’s Tsai Performing Arts Center. Katherine Ciesinski of the Metro politan Opera and her sister, Kristine Ciesinski of the Covent Garden Opera in London, will perform the songs. On Saturday, the performance will be repeated on National Public Radio. Besides composing the songs for children, Chumblcy has been work ing on another project. Two weeks ago, he was notified that he would receive a second gram from the Opera America New Works/ Development funds for his ongoing work on the contemporary opera, “Ordinary People.” The opera will be based on the novel by Judith Guest and the Acad emy Award-winning movie directed by Robert Red ford. “This story appealed to me so much because it takes ordinary people and rcafly makes them heroes,”Chumblcy said. “1 get tired of making herocsout of people who arc already heroic.” The first grant for the opera, awarded to Chumblcy about 1 1/2 years ago, was for $21 ,(XX). The sec ond grant was for $5,(XX). The grant is a help financially, he said, but more than anything, it is prestigious and attention-getting. The Piedmont Opera Theatre of Winslon-Salem, N.C., nominated Chumbley to compose the opera’s music. “Ordinary People” is scheduled to premiere in September of 1994. Chumbley’s work will be completed about one year before the premiere. A libretto for the opera is being written by Dugg McDonough. For now, the composing is non stop, Chumbley said. “It’s taken since I woke up this morning,” he said. “It lakes all of my weekends, my evenings and vacation time. Writing an opera is a huge un dertaking for a composer.” Jazz concert to feature guest From Staff Reports The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra will present “Classic Jazz from the Masters — Duke Ellington and More” at 7:30 p.m. today in Omaha and Tuesday in Lincoln. These presentations arc the sec ond concerts in the orchestra’s 17th anniversary season and will feature guest artist Chris Varga on the vi braphone Varga has attended the the Bcrklcc College of Music, where he studied with Victor Mendoza, and the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Selections from the program include: “C Jam Blues” by Duke Ellington and arranged by Dave Wolpc, “The Jitterbug Walt/” by Fats Waller and arranged by Kenny Berger, and “Barriers” by Varga. Tonight’s concert will be per formed at Omaha’s Crown Hall. The Lincoln concert will be per formed at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center, 141 N. 9th St. Single admission tickets at the door arc S6 for students, S10 for senior citizens and S12 for adults. Education First! Week begins From Staff Reports National Education First! Week begins today and will run through Dec. 6, as declared by the U.S. Congress. During the week, the Los Ange les-based organization, Education First!, and the four major networks — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — will use programm mg and media to promote public awareness about education. In total, more than 140 hours of I programming, nearly twice last year’seffort, will bring educational information into living rooms na tionwide this week. This marks the second year of the organization’s 10-year drive to make education the nation’s num ber-one priority. Education First! was founded in 1988 by Lynda Guber and Carole Iscnbucrg, two former New York school teachers who became tele vision and motion-picture produc ers. Costner, Houston make magic on screen in romantic thriller “The Bodyguard” By Anne Steyer Staff Reporter_ After 15 years, “The Bodyguard” (Edgcwood 3) is no worse for the wear. Lawrence Kasdan penned the story line for the romantic thriller for actor Steve McQueen, but it languished on the shelf of some Hollywood store room after McQueen’s death. That is, until last year, when it was put back into production, this time with Kevin Costner in the title role and singer Whitney Houston as the woman in need of his talents. Kasdan updated the script to the ’90s by making Frank Farmer (Costner) a former Secret Service agent who retired from presidential -1 -- safeguarding after President Reagan was shot. The type of threats to singcr/ac trcss Rachel Marron (Houston) have been updated loo, now including not only threatening letters, but also ex ploding Barbie dolls. Farmer agrees to protect Marron reluctantly, just as she is reluctant to hire him. Unaware of all the threats to her life, she secs Farmer as an unwcl :omc and unneeded accessory to her already busy life. Not surprisingly, he becomes much more than an acces sory. The core of the movie is the ro mance between the leads, but there is also plenty of action and suspense as Farmer tries to protect Marron from Jcath threats and w ould-be assassins. The plot, while a familiar story, has enough twists and jumps to make it fresh and thrilling — and it ends on an unconventional note. Costner, always the Gary Cooper guy-ncxt-door, handles all the com plexities of Farmer well. OK, he has a bad haircut; but beyond that, he docs a fine job of capturing the persona of a man on the edge who lives life in the face of danger. Houston, surprisingly, docs a cred ible job as Matron. Granted, the part cannot be much of a stretch for her, but she has an undeniable chemistry with the camera and with Costner. Having her sing a number of times during the film doesn’t hurl either. As screenwriter, Kasdan once again uses the same deft touch that has so successfully blended serious themes with a stroke of comedy in his other films: “Silverado,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,”“Thc Big ChilT'and “Grand Canyon” among them. The tension, both romantic and otherwise, coupled with solid acting and realistic dialogue, makes “The Bodyguard" an exciting and highly entertaining movie. On Our Entire Collection Of HERFF JONES College Ring Styles Our entire collection of Herff Jones College Ring styles are now on sale! Stop by the Herff Jones display and our sales represen tative will be happy to assist you with your selection. November 30 CoMayRi^ December 1 Why is this man smiling? 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