Ensemble
to perform at
convention
By Barb Churchill
Assignment Reporter
For most people, a bus trip that
begins at 4:15 a.m. would be an
undesirable opportunity.
For the University of Nebraska
Lincoln Wind Ensemble, it’s an
honor.
The Wind Ensemble has been
chosen to play at the Music
Educators National Convention in
Phoenix today and Friday, and they
will leave for the airport in the wee
hours of this morning.
Wind Ensemble conductor John
H. “Jay” Kloecker, associate profes
sor of music and director of bands at
UNL, said this trip is meaningful
because of the length of time it has
been since the Wind Ensemble
played at the national convention.
“It’s been over 10 years since we
last were cho
-
I *m shocked
and flattered -
very honored.
Its quite a
show of faith in
our group ”
Jay Kloecker
UNL bands director
sen to play at
the national
MENU,”
Kloecher said.
“It was before
my time at
UNL."
Although it
has been a
long time
since the UNL
Wind
Ensemble has
played at the
national con
vention, the
Wind
Ensemble has
been no stranger to performing at the
regional and local versions of the
MENC conventions, Kloecker said.
Just last year, the UNL Wind
Ensemble performed at the regional
version of the MENC in Peoria, 111.,
Kloecker said.
Kloecker estimated between 40
and 50 bands around the country
auditioned to play for the 1998
MENC convention. Only eight or
nine bands were chosen to play, and
the UNL Wind Ensemble was the
only band this year chosen to play
twice. Bands were chosen during a
blind taped audition, and tapes had to
be submitted for the 1998 convention
by March of last year, Kloecker said.
“I'm shocked and flattered - very
honored.” Kloecker said. "It’s quite a
show of faith in our group. (Being
chosen to play twice) means we
made quite an impression on the
selection committee.”
The last group invited to play two
performances was the famed
Eastman Conservatory Wind
Ensemble of Rochester, New York,
Kloecker said.
The Thursday concert features
four diff icult wind band pieces.
The Wind Ensemble is playing
the Vivo movement from Philip
Sparks’ “Music for a Festival,” David
Gillingham’s “Apocalyptic Dreams,”
Scott McAllister’s “Dylan’s Door”
and Frank Ticheli’s “Blue Shades.”
“Dylan's Dreams" is a world pre
miere and refers to the music of Bob
Dylan, not to Dylan Thomas the
poet, Kloecker said.
Kloecker is especially pleased
with the playing of Scott Anderson,
an assistant professor of trombone
who is also a featured soloist.
“He’s fabulous. Scott is one of the
real rising stars in the trombone
world, and it's been a lot of fun to put
(“Dylan's Door") together,"
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r.--&-Smk.---.. Sr '
Dawn Dietrich/DN
VALENTINE COVERLY, played by Ryan Johnston, examines his turtle during a Wednesday night rehearsal of “Arcadia.” The Tom Stoppard
play will open tonight at Howell Theatre at 8.
Play links love, art, science
By Cliff Hicks
Staff Reporter
It’s a love story about mathematics, art,
history, literature, research, life, death, sex
and gardening.
That’s how director Shirley Mason
describes Tom Stoppard’s recent play
“Arcadia.” The University of Nebraska
Lincoln’s theatre department will premiere its
production of “Arcadia” Friday night.
Stoppard is best known for his play
“Rosencranz & Guildenstem Are Dead” but
received wide-spread praise for “Arcadia”
when it opened in London in 1993. Many crit
ics have hailed “Arcadia” as Stoppard’s best
play to date.
“Arcadia” takes place in two time periods.
The play opens with a scene of a 13-year-old
girl getting a lesson from her tutor. The tutor
gives her a 200-year-old equation to solve.
And even though the tutor believes the equa
tion cannot be solved the girl does so using a
law of thermodynamics — a law that had yet to
be developed. Through this she gains an
understanding of fractal theory. The year is
1809.
The second portion of the play takes place
much later as a group of modem researchers
try to understand the period in which the pre
vious events took place almost 200 years ago.
Part mystery, part philosophy, “Arcadia”
spans not only a good length of time, but a var
ied collection of ideas. The mathematics ele
ment is woven quite thoroughly into the play.
According to Mason, Stoppard claims the
inclusion of new mathematics, especially
chaos theory, is purely incidental. However,
she says, these theories form a key part of the
structure of the play.
The play's cast includes Amy Rouffer,
Steven Shields, Jude Hickey, Amy Jaifer,
Cathy Dudley and Ryan Johnston.
Mason described “Arcadia” as a “wonder
ful play - very rich, very funny, very moving;
people who are discussing their ideas are pas
sionately involved with the development of
those ideas.”
Stoppard’s plays are renowned for their
sharp dialogue and “Arcadia” is no exception,
covering a wide range of interests and experi
ences. Where else do chaos theory and gar
dening go hand in hand?
“Arcadia” runs Friday and Saturday, as
well as April 22-25. There will be a special
student preview tonight. All showings are at 8
p.m. in the Howell Theatre on the first floor of
the Temple Building. Tickets are $6.
* h e Maestro
Concert to present Indian culture
Courtesy Photo
PUNDIT SHIVKUMAR SHARMA, one of the world’s pre
mier performers of classical Indian music, will play
at Westbrook Music Hall Saturday evening. The event
is sponsored and organized by Raag, a UNL student
organization.
By Jason Hardy
Senior Reporter
This weekend Lincoln will get a taste
of Indian music and culture.
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, one of the
world's most famous musicians of classi
cal Indian music, will perform the ancient
songs of his culture at Westbrook Music
Hall Saturday.
The songs, or ragas, are performed on
a santoor, the oldest known stringed
instrument in India. The santoor is a 60
string instrument shaped to sit on the
musician’s lap and is played with many
different techniques.
Sharma is famous for having devel
oped a revolutionary playing technique
known as hammering. This technique
enabled Sharma to create music that some
have described as the most interesting
development in Indian music in the past
20 years.
Dipanjan Nag, a member of Raag, a
University of Nebraska-Lincoln student
organization promoting the culture and
music of India, said that Sharma, or
Maestro as he’s called, went hand-in-hand
with classical Indian music.
“Basically he is the best, and we call
the people who are the leading musicians
‘maestros,’” Nag said. “He has trans
formed this instrument into a solo per
forming instrument. He is basically syn
onymous with the instrument.”
He said classical Indian music, like
what Sharma played, was very emotional
and spiritual.
“Indian classical music fs different
from any other type of music because it
gives you a very strong sense of time of
the day and transforms your mood based
on the time of day and a seasonal feeling,”
Nag said. “You can feel yourself drift
away with the mood.”
Piyush Srivastav, also a member of
Raag, agreed with Nag about classical
Indian music.
“It’s very relaxing." Srivastav said.
“Basically you close your eyes and listen
to it and get lost in the music.”
Nag said the music was totally instru
mental, and Sharma’s performance would
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