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UNL trombonist advances
to solo competition finals
By Jason Hardy
Staff writer
At a time when many students at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln are gearing up
for a summer break, one student is gearing up
for one of the biggest challenges of his college
career.
Andy Strain, a senior music major, has
Advanced to the semifinal round of the 2000
Tilden Trombone Solo Competition in New
York City, which is being held this May.
For Strain, the Tilden contest, while being
incredibly competitive, offers many opportuni
ties.
“It’s nice to be able to get out of your own
little world here in Lincoln,” he said, “and to
know that I can maybe compet| ome
folks from around the country.”
The Tilden is one of the j
brass solo competitions in the^
and Scott Anderson, assistant professor of
trombone, said he was incredibly p®o*dof
student. » \~ Ssm
“This is really a very high level of compete
tion,” he said. “We have students who wm com
petitions at the national leveled we have.a lot
of regional winners, but for someone to do
something of this magnitude at this level is fair
ly rare.”
Anderson recruited and has taught Strain
for the past four years but said the credit for
Strain’s accomplishment belongs solely to
Strain.
(c\-r , . r “It’s won
You do It tor derful, but one
g of my mentors
yourself, and gave me some
very sage
when you get advice,” he
^ ^ said. “You
recognition never take too
0 much credit for
its weird.” accomplish
ments or too
trombone soloist
“Obviously, Andy has done the work, this is
::a |foung man who’s practiced five hours a day
for as long as I’ve known him.
“I feel gratified, but he’s the one who
deserves the credit for doing die work”
Strain
said he was proud his work has
paid off but said that success isn’t
the main driving force behind his
music.
“Obviously I do it for myself, but to
know that my hard work has paid off really
keeps me going,” he said. “You do it for your
self, and when you get recognition it’s weird. I
don’t necessarily enjoy all of the attention, but
it’s nice deep down inside to know that you’re
being recognized for your efforts.”
After the Tilden competition, Strain will be
one of three trombonists to attend the 2000
Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax, Nova
Scotia. He said he was looking forward to being
exposed to the international music scene.
“The nice thiiq; is that I’ll be traveling
and playing for all professional musi
cians,” he said. “They’ll know my name,
who I am and where I’m from. If noth
ing else, I’ll be getgjp$jny name into
^iheopea # 1 - ,
' ^This will definite^ help. If T car
some contacts with stfine oftKefhig boys up
theifeit wift ctefihitely be an advantage.”
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animation
••• '*W -
■ Strong characters and
complex cartoons create
intelligent Japanese film.
ByJoshKrauter
Senior editor
“Princess Mononoke” is an ani
mated film.
And, like most anyng(^g|s, it
has its share of goofiirerss. Tfiere’s
some sappy dialogue, a larger-than
life musical score that provides all
emotional cues and ah'eXjfected'
happy ending.
None of these distractions,^how
ever, get in the way of this great film,
full of complex characters, thrilling
action and incredibly detailed anima
tion. “Mononoke,” which is now
showing at the Mary Riepma Ross
Theater, is such a visually stunning
film that it would have been worth
watching even if the story were hol
low and trite.
The film opens with an attack
from a gigantic beast who resembles a
cross between an anteater, a giant spi
der, a bundle of worms and a wander
ing carpet. It’s actually a giant boar
that has been possessed by a demon,
which is basically a coat o? w^jja&g
black serpents covering ’its hide*. The
sight of this creature twisting ana
winding out of i|i£ibf$st i^a won-’
drous feat of anithatioriT H
Prince Ashitaka |thevoic£qfBiIjy
Crudup) kills the hoar, ^ut itsjjwnoit
lashes out at his&rm before jt dies.
The demon leaves a nasty purple scar
on Ashitaka’s arm. This scar ismally a
curse that makes the arm violent when
Ashitaka is mad, which leads to many
scenes of the prince fighting his own
> arm, a 1$ Bruce Campbell in “Evil
DeadH.”
The village wise woman sends
Ashitaka on a journey to find out why
the boar was possessed and how to lift
the curse. So far, this sounds like little
more than junior high sword-and-sor
cery, and so far, it is.
Once Ashitaka reaches his desti
nation, however, “Mononoke” really
begins to astonish. Perhaps the most
revolutionary thing about this film is
its honest approach to the characters
and their motivations. For an epic car
toon with many battles, conflicts and
deaths, it’s heartening and surprising
that there are no stereotypical good
guys and bad guys.
Every character, human and ani
mal, has good and bad qualities and
cues lejiers and prostitutes from their,
'jobs^kt the iron works. She’s also a
p^wer^hungry lover of “progress”
who wants to Mil die animals and pave
over the forest in the name of industry.
The animals are fiercely protec
tive of their forest and are led by
Princess Mononoke (Claire Danes), a
human girl who was raised by wolves
after being abandoned by her parents.
The animals are probably the most
sympathetic characters, but they can
be violent and petty, too. In fact, view
ers will probably sympathize with dif
ferent characters based on their own
ideologies and experiences. The film
allows viewers to do that.
This conflict is the basis for most
of the film, but there are also fights
between animals and wars between
humans. Nothing is black and white.
But the most striking thing in
“Mononoke” is, of course, the anima
tion. It is marked by rich, vivid colors
and an excruciating attention to detail.
Even minor scenes, like one in which
an elk shakes water off its back, cap
tures a fluidity of movement rare in
animated film.
The forest and the animals within
it are beautifully rendered. Giant
wolves that are simultaneously fierce
and gentle, apes with glowing red
eyes, tree spirits that turn their ghostly
heads sideways and shake them like
baby rattles and a forest god who
changes shape twice a day all popu
late the forest.
The film is Japanese and already
saw wide release in Japan a few years
ago (though it has been dubbed with a
batch of Hollywood stars), and the
look of the film is a combination of
Japanese anime and Disney’s lush
ness, without its assembly line feel.
The New York Post called
“Mononoke” the “Star Wars” of ani
mation, but it deserves respect as a
bona fide film, not just an animated
one. The action sequences are more
exciting than anything live-action
Hollywood’s thrown at us in years,
including last summer’s disappointing
“Star Wars - Episode I.”
“Princess Mononoke” is an intel
ligent film with well-developed char
acters that Aso stuns as pure entertain
ment.
