September 2004
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IN THIS ISSUE

  • Guest Editorial
  • Quick Takes
  • Alumni and Development News
  • Departmental Notes
  • Performance Notes

Guest Editorial

For this online issue of Illuminating we asked Beth Mahoney, '70, co-chair (with Ann O'Rourke '86,) of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts Advisory Board, to share some thoughts about her experiences as a UMass Amherst alumna who has maintained her connections to the College and the UMass Amherst community.
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QUICK TAKES

Bruce MacCombie, CHFA Associate Dean and Professor of Music, as well as an alumnus, ( Bachelor of Arts 1967, Master of Music 1968, Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts 1986) was in Bath, England in July for the world premiere of his "Tango Amoroso," commissioned by the International Guitar Festival for the Appassionata Trio, one of England's most acclaimed guitar trios. Also in July another of MacCombie's works, "Chelsea Tango" for orchestra, was recorded on a new CD featuring the Singapore Symphony, conducted by Lan Shui. It appears on the BIS label (#1192) and is distributed in the U.S. by Qualiton Imports LTD.

Ken Kitchell, professor of Classics, and Irven Resnick, professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, recently published Albert the Great: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography (1900-2000) of the life and works of Albertus Magnus. This volume is a companion piece to an earlier publication, Albertus Magnus on Animals: A Medieval Summa Zoologica.

Professor Rex Wallace, Chair of Classics, has received a grant from the Etruscan Foundation to continue work on Etruscan Texts Project, an online database of Etruscan inscriptions with historical and linguistic commentary.

ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT NEWS

DANCE ALUMNA RETURNS TO UMASS AMHERST

It was almost three years ago that an alumna of the Dance Department at UMass Amherst decided that it was high time for all dance alumni to reconnect with each other and their alma mater... read more

Also in the world of Dance: You are invited to attend the September 11th Mass Motion Dance Company performance at the Tsai Performance Center in Boston, preceded by a reception.  Mass Motion is a company of UMass Amherst alumni!  To attend the reception contact Rochelle Rice at IFIHNYC@PRODIGY.NET .  Tickets to the concert can be purchased by calling 1-888-93DANCE.

RACE, LAW, AND CIVIL RIGHTS: Fifty Years of Brown v. Board of Education programs to begin September 14.

We hope you will take the opportunity to attend one or more of this program of events inaugurating the Feinberg Family Distinguished Lectureship, Sept 14 - December 7, 2004, and made possible by the generosity of Kenneth R. Feinberg (BA ’67) and his family and friends, and coordinated by the Department of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in collaboration with The College of Humanities and Fine Arts and the Departments of Afro-American Studies, Women’s Studies, Legal Studies, Center for Public Policy and Administration, The Political Economy Research Institute and Sport Management.

The Department of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is pleased to inaugurate the Feinberg Family Distinguished Lectureship during Fall 2004 with a semester-long, campus-wide series of events marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Throughout the fall semester of 2004, the Department will present three inaugural lectures and a series of related events that will examine the impact of the Supreme Court's momentous decision declaring racial segregation in public schools unlawful, and overturning the doctrine of 'separate but equal'.

Three nationally prominent Feinberg lecturers will speak on race in America since Brown. These include Duke University History professor Charles Payne, former U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, and Columbia Law Professor and Nation columnist Patricia Williams. Arts events include the voice of Horace Boyer, the photographs of Julius Lester, and the drama of Calvin Levels and Alice Childress. Distinguished panelists including Charles Ogletree, John Bracey, and Michael Thelwell will also lead community discussions on race in the United States in the aftermath of Brown. All events are free and open to the public for schedules and information please see http://www.umass.edu/history/feinberg.html

departmental notes

FANFARE, the magazine of the Department of Music and Dance, is in the mail to alums and friends of the department, and available to read in PDF format at Fanfare We recommend it highly; it's full of alumni and departmental news and information including on page seven, the schedule for this year's Tuesdays in Bezanson, the series of faculty concerts created around various intriguing topics using interesting combinations of instruments. This fabulous series began in 2003 and promises to be as exciting, entertaining and thought-provoking in year two as it was in its debut year.

While you look through Fanfare, be sure to read the articles on some of the department's outstanding faculty members, including one on page eight about David Sporney's Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Jazz Educators.

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF EXCHANGE PROGRAMS IN GERMANY

The 40th Anniversary of the exchange agreement between the University of Massachusetts and the nine research universities of the German state of Baden-Württemberg took place during the week of June 28 – July 2. A UMass delegation, with representation from the President's Office and the campuses at Amherst, Boston, and Dartmouth attended the celebration...read more


PERFORMANCE NOTES

CELEBRATE THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF MULTIBAND POPS!
It was 30 years ago that several Music & Dance Department faculty members, among them John Jenkins, and several students, among them Senator Stan Rosenberg, created the first Multiband Pops Concert... read more

 

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The e-Illuminating award for the most attention-grabbing press release title certainly goes to the following:
DIVERSION FOR TWO (OTHER THAN SEX)

It refers to a concert in which UMass Amherst Professors Eric Berlin, trumpet, and Eduardo Leandro, percussion, will perform on September 10 at 8 pm in Bezanson Recital Hall. They call the program Drums & Bugles.  Their choice of music is eclectic, interesting and comprehensible.  For example, Diversion for two (other than sex) by Donald Erb, makes use of non-traditional sounds for the trumpet.  During the course of the piece, the score requires Berlin to remove the mouth piece, reverse the mouth piece, make kissing sounds, depress the valves only half way and use a variety of mutes.   Leandro’s part calls for playing five timpani at the same time when the usual approach involves two or three timpani.  Vibraphones, chimes, a glockenspiel, snare drums and slide whistles are also part of Diversion. We invite you to attend what sounds as if it will be a thoroughly entertaining evening!

Tickets--$5 for students, elders and children under 18, and $10 for the general public--are available at the Fine Arts Center Box Office, 413-545-2511.  Eric Berlin:majesty@majesticbrass.com & Eduardo Leandro: e.leandro@comcast.net

 

Illuminating is a publication of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. Please send your news, comments and ideas to e-illuminating