Bach to the future

Many people often ask how we select and invite artists to come to Purdue, and I’ll spend some more time writing about that during the course of the coming year. But there is a particular set of relationships in place that have opened the door for our engagement with Calmus, the five-voice a cappella ensemble from Leipzig, Germany, that I thought I’d share with you. By the way, a cappella, literally means “in the way or manner of the church,” that is, the voice without accompaniment (as in early Gregorian chant). Today this Italian expression simply refers to unaccompanied vocal music, regardless of style, as indeed there is an astonishingly diverse landscape of “voice-only” music out there. (But I digress…)

So, back to Calmus. They are the 2009 winner of the Concert Artist Guild (CAG) International Competition, held annually in NYC. Purdue Convocations has a four decade-long history of presenting competition-winning artists from CAG, so shortly after I became Director of Convocations back in `99, I agreed that we’d begin offering a Performance Prize to one of their winners. Convocations remains among a noted group of presenting organizations who do just this (and we also have a relationship with the Van Cliburn piano competition now, as well!). So, through CAG I came into contact with Calmus, but this group has a terrific history and musicality that is meritorious enough on its own to suggest that they have a worthy place on our season.

Calmus hails from Leipzig, Germany, the city famously known as the place where Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) spent the final twenty seven years of his prolific life. In fact, the original five singers of Calmus all met in the St. Thomas Boys’ Choir (where Bach served as Capellmeister). This great tradition notwithstanding, it was with the addition of a female singer in 2001 that the format for Calmus’ current success was established. Calmus clearly radiates their mastery and internalization of Bach’s influence, as they are especially skilled in his masterworks. Yet Bach had a profound musical and intellectual curiosity, and Calmus does, as well. Calmus reaches even further back to early music that predates Bach and yet they are finding inspiration by developing creative arrangements of today’s popular music, too.

So, knowing that we could bring Calmus, hear their sensitive and informed performances of an especially wide range of vocal music (including Bach) here in a community where vocal music is valued in our local Bach Chorale, the Purdue Glee Club, and so many more settings, I couldn’t resist Calmus. Singers know that, as a small ensemble with only one voice singing each part, each singer has both an important and clearly heard role within the ensemble. The skill and talent required to do this artfully is immense, and the good news is that Calmus has demonstrated that they can deliver this in spades throughout their career.

And the last bit to note here is that, thanks to our friends at the St. Thomas Aquinas Center, we’re able to host Calmus in a space where the acoustics will favor the resonant harmonies and radiance of the human voice.

Word Play (Here's to The Cos!)

I'm not going to go out on a limb here and proclaim to be an expert on rap or the beginnings of the musical use of words and wordshapes in various musical forms (say, scat singing...) or anything like that as their are plenty of experts out there in the field who cover that in depth. BUT what I can say with pure delight in advance of Bill Cosby's upcoming performance with us (Sept 24) is that, back in the day, when I'd hear "Hikky Burr" (performed with Quincy Jones), I'd find myself transported into a very hip and happy place. Between Quincy's funky blues groove and Cosby's uninhibited vocal play, it's 4 minutes of 70s bliss. It may be a long time since you've hikky-bu-bu-bumped into this, so I just felt the need to share! "Woo-Lawd! Hikky Burr!..."

Hank Jones, Consummate Jazz Pianist 1918-2010

There's been quite a lot of media coverage in the few days about extraordinary jazz pianist and superb human being, Hank Jones, with his passing on Sunday (May 16). All of us here in the Purdue Convocations family cannot but take a moment to stop and reflect on Hank and his incredible contributions to jazz, to music, and to humanity.

Purdue audiences will recall Hank Jones here in Loeb Playhouse back on March 28, 1997, as part of a killer show called the Detroit Jazz Allstars. I remember this show especially well because it was my first jazz concert here at Purdue as a newly-minted Convocations employee. The lineup featured Jones along with Marcus Belgrave (trumpet), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Frank Foster (sax), plus a rhythm section. It was clearly an evening spent in the presence of a tastemaker. As is often the case with elegant leadership (in aesthetics or otherwise), he didn't make it his businesses to steal the show with flash, but he gave everyone else the spotlight. When it was was his turn to solo, the sensibility in the room telescoped back down to minimalist perfection with Jones making each note count. It's hard to say whether each note was consciously or intuitively chosen--most likely it was both. But the effect was as if a 'sculptor of sound' shaped the world around us. He possessed a harmonic and rhythmic curiousity that evidenced his intellectual curiosity, and he could carve the most beautifully rendered, coherent, and emotionally complex phrases spontaneously. And he certainly did that night. I recall going home, digging through my jazz collection in vain hoping that I had something--anything--with Hank on it...

I called Don Seybold, former Assoc. Dir. of Convocations, who was the founder of the jazz programming here at Convocations, and is all around instigator of jazz for the good of humanity, to check in on his thoughts about Hank. He told me this story from the Detroit Jazz Allstars night:

As was my tradition, I would introduce the band, and I remember very clearly what I said about Hank because right after the show, he came back and told me how much he appreciated what I said, which was: "When you listen to Hank play, it's not so much that he's playing the keys, but more that he's lifting them up and drawing the music up and out of the piano." He'd had lots of introductions in his career, but apparently that one really meant a lot to him, which is, of course, why I remember that exchange with him to this day. He was the consummate elegant and eloquent gentleman.

(Of course, jazz fans in the area also know that Don Seybold also has a terrific jazz radio show, Inside Jazz, on Sunday nights on WBAA-AM 920, 9p-midnight. He's told me that he will do a Hank Jones tribute show later in the summer, so tune in to his broadcasts for details.)

The Jones legacy is strong here at Purdue. Hank's late brother, drummer Elvin Jones, played at Purdue in 1993. And this season, a band created in 1966 by their brother, the multitalented composer, arranger, and bandleader Thad Jones, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra holds sway this coming January 2011.

Thanks, Hank. We'll miss you. And we'll try our darnedest to incorporate refinement, thoughtful understatement, and subtlety into a world that needs it.

Jazz radio update: Don Seybold will host a Hank Jones tribute program on Inside Jazz on Sunday, August 1, 2010, on WBAA-AM 920, 9p-midnight. Be sure to tune in!

Chaconne Klaverenga honored by Indiana House of Representatives

Local audiences were undoubtedly thrilled to have the opportunity to hear local guitar prodigy Chaconne Klaverenga on our season this past year (March 2010). And it's clear that in short order, we'll drop the "local guitar prodigy" label in exchange for increasingly greater accomplishments as her career continues to unfold.

On Wednesday, however, another honor came from an unexpected place. Her father sent this to me:

"Today Chaconne was surprised by State Representative Sheila Klinker with a framed certificate stating (quote) "now, therefore, be it resolved that the Indiana House of Representatives does hereby congratulate and honor Chaconne Klaverenga celebrating her many accomplishments in the world of classical guitar with best wishes for future success and many thanks for her contributions to the Indiana art community" from the State of Indiana, Indiana General Assembly. We thought you might want to share in our excitement! It was a total surprise."

And, for once, here's a political issue with which we can all have unanimous, bipartisan agreement! Congrats, Chaconne, on this nice accolade (not to mention, an incredible diplomatic accomplishment).

Additional thanks certainly go to Rep. Sheila Klinker for her efforts on this, along with her stalwart belief in the role that arts & culture play in making our community.

(In photo above, L-R: Julia Klaverenga, Rep. Sheila Klinker, Chaconne, Jim Klaverenga. photo provided by Jim Klaverenga)

Godot Production Update: What the Waters Left Behind

We are eagerly anticipating the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s (CTH) upcoming tour of Waiting for Godot, a much-celebrated production that sets the Samuel Beckett masterpiece in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans. Originally, as produced by CTH in 2006 under the direction of Christopher McElroen and designed by Troy Hourie, the set was comprised of a house flooded up to its eaves leaving only the sodden roof and the top of a tree to be seen on a stage filled with water. Subsequently, the production was transferred to New Orleans in 2007 to be performed in situ, on a patch of ground in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, a place that had been virtually scrubbed bare by Katrina's wrath. Technically speaking, this latter setting is nearly a verbatim match of the staging directions offered by Beckett in the script:

A country road. A tree.

Evening.

That’s it. That’s all he wrote. Yet, in either case, the Katrina-informed setting adds a haunting resonance to the script. Who are Vladimir and Estragon waiting for? Is it Godot? Or is it the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)?

Estragon: You’re sure it was this evening?
Vladimir: What?
Estragon: That we were to wait.
Vladimir: He said Saturday. (Pause.) I think.
Estragon: You think.
Vladimir: I must have made a note of it (He fumbles in his pockets, bursting with miscellaneous rubbish.)
Estragon: (very insidious.) But what Saturday? And is it Saturday? Is it not rather Sunday? (Pause.) Or Monday? (Pause.) Or Friday?

In any case, and as often happens in the world of theatre, it has become necessary to revise the production design for the tour. But in this instance, however, it’s not going to lead to an artistic compromise given that CTH’s production thrived in both “waterlogged” and “water receded” settings. Either way, Katrina's insult and injury remain. While I share with many of you the thrill of navigating the technical considerations involved in filling a stage with water, I’m also keeping my eye on the principal objective: a compelling Godot that is perhaps as relevant as ever. Production designer Troy Hourie took the Lower 9th Ward concept, and transformed it into a ‘what the waters left behind’ stage set that makes palpably real the reason for Didi and Gogo’s persistent desperation and impatient wait. Flotsam and jetsam litter Beckett’s country road, and the lone tree is constructed of this same debris, evidence of the human desire to go on, to make something good with what one has available, to survive, even in the face of desperation. Even though they are daunted, this is Didi and Gogo’s unspoken hope. And it is ours.

Above is Troy Hourie’s exciting model for the stage set that we’ll have here at Purdue. Also, here are links to the preview and review from CTH’s November 2007 staging of Godot in Lower 9th Ward from the Times-Picayune (New Orleans):

Preview:
http://blog.nola.com/davidcuthbert/2007/11/for_new_orleanians_waiting_for.html

Review:
file:///S:/administration/Graphic%20design/0910/Shows/Theatre%20of%20Harlem/GodotArticle.pdf design\0910\Shows\Theatre of Harlem\GodotArticle.pdf

24/7 (Theatre infusion in Edinburgh)

How about 24 shows in 7 days?! That was me at the end of August (23-29)! I was a delegate at the British Council Showcase 2009 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and man-oh-man, this was an amazing infusion of theatre. I popped across the Atlantic to scout out performances that could possibly be brought to Purdue, and I'm incredibly pleased to say that there are some likely candidates amongst the bunch. In the coming months, I'll be working out the details to see what we can make happen, but suffice it to say, the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a theatre lovers dream. Ok, truth be told, it can also be quite maddening. There are over 250 venues and literally thousands (I kid you not) performances from which to choose. The great part for me is that the British Council produces a "best of" showcase that really does do a great job of winnowing down the massive array of choices and thanks to being one of their international delegates, I had a remarkable slate of theatre filling my daily calendar.

Through these visits to Edinburgh over the years, I've come to know the work and aesthetics of a good number of both established and emerging theatre companies, collectives, and individual artists. I also have the great fortune of meeting theatre producers and presenters from around the globe since this is truly the Mother of All Festivals, ergo a magnet for those of us who do this work.

One of the destinations that deserves a distinct callout is the Traverse Theatre. This is unquestionably the home of new writing for the theatre in Scotland and serves as an important platform for Scottish authors (including David Greig who is one of the important names you should know). Check this place out at: http://www.traverse.co.uk/

Edinburgh is a magical city. Even when it rains. And it always does. Of course, when you're in the theatre for hours and hours each day, the weather is largely irrelevant. Nonetheless, what is always staggering for me to contemplate is that there are tens of thousands of people who are taking vacations to go to a city for a week TO SEE THEATRE! I've always known people who have done this, but to experience it on this massive scale simply makes me giddy. Let's import just a little bit more of THAT here to the States, ok?! ...And just in case you want to know what the secret formula is to see between 4-6 shows a day, it's spelled: e-s-p-r-e-s-s-o.

Great photo moment (but a poor photo on my part): a man riding a "piano-bike" stops to serenade a group of us on the sidewalk briefly before riding down a very steep hill on cobblestones. This is the multitasking strategy of the future: earn money, practice your instrument, and get a workout all at once.