Saint Mary’s to feature new faculty, student compositions

WINONA, Minn. — New music by faculty and students of the Saint Mary’s University Music Department will be highlighted in a free public performance Saturday, April 10. The event will begin at 3 p.m. in Figliulo Recital Hall, located in the SMU Performance Center.

Featured selections will include the premiere of “Fantasia for Solo Piano” by SMU student Brian Heim, as well as the premiere of “I Miss the Moon” for jazz quartet by long-time faculty member and jazz saxophonist Dr. John Paulson.

Recently commissioned works by music faculty Dr. Patrick O’Shea and A. Eric Heukeshoven will also be performed. Heukeshoven’s “The Chief,” a work for narrator and chamber ensemble and O’Shea’s song cycle “The Dispossessed” are both based on poems by former Winona Poet Laureate James Armstrong. The two Armstrong pieces feature unusual combinations of folk and classical instruments, such as accordion and uilleann pipes with cello, flute and clarinet.

“Autumn Waves” by 2009 SMU music alumnus Jeremy Johnston will feature faculty member Dr. Janet Heukeshoven on flute, accompanied by her husband Eric on the piano.

The SMU Chamber Singers will perform A. Eric Heukeshoven’s “Pathway of Life” in memory of Ben Larson, the Luther College student who recently lost his life in the Haiti earthquake. The text for Heukeshoven’s choral work (written in 2006) was dedicated to Larson’s mother, the Rev. April Larson, former bishop of the La Crosse Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The jazz quartet will also be featured on “Nyhavn Reflections” by A. Eric Heukeshoven — a work written for the world-renown Danish jazz saxophonist Marc “Kibrick” Bernstein.

This performance is made possible by the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota School of the Arts. For more information, please contact A. Eric Heukeshoven at (507) 457-7292 or eheukesh@smumn.edu.

SMU to host High School Challenge tournaments

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University is sponsoring the final round of 2009-2010 High School Challenge — a tournament of knowledge — on Saturday, March 6, in Figliulo Recital Hall, located in the SMU Performance Center. The Consolation Championship between Cotter White and Decorah Red begins at 8:30 a.m., and the final run for the Super Challenge is scheduled to follow.

The brackets for the Super Challenge features teams from Decorah, La Crosse Logan, West Salem Black, Cotter Blue, Lewiston, Holmen Maroon, Riceville, and Eau Claire Regis Green.

Thirty-two area teams from Eastern Minnesota, Western Wisconsin and Northeast Iowa started competing in High School Challenge in the fall for a chance to participate in the Consolation and Super Challenge tournaments. Participating teams earn scholarships for their schools.

The 2009-10 season marks the 39th year of the longest running academic competition for high school students in the area. The games will be taped by Fox 25/Fox 48 and aired Sundays, March 21 through May 9, from 10 to 10:30 a.m.

For more information, contact Nicole Gerdes, High School Challenge coordinator, at (507) 457- 1761 or ngerdes@smumn.edu.

World-class saxophonist to share talents with Saint Mary’s

WINONA, Minn. — Internationally recognized jazz saxophonist Marc Bernstein will travel from his home in Denmark to Saint Mary’s University March 24-26 to give a public performance and to work with members of the SMU Concert Band, as well as additional SMU music students.

On March 27 band members will get their first look at the new music Bernstein is composing for them. Bernstein was chosen from a field of international applicants to compose this year’s Kaplan Commissioning Project.

The SMU Concert Band commissioned Bernstein’s piece through the Helen and Sam Kaplan Foundation Commissioning Project. The Helen and Sam Kaplan Foundation supports performances and activities led by Jewish artists and scholars that are designed to increase cultural and religious understanding at Saint Mary’s. His visit is funded in part through the Danish government to promote artistic-educational partnership activities in the world. Bernstein is SMU’s fifth Kaplan composer.

The SMU Concert Band will present the world premiere performance of Bernstein’s piece in September, during SMU’s Inauguration/ Family Weekend.

During his visit, Bernstein, along with local and regional musicians, will present a public recital – featuring Bernstein’s original jazz compositions – at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 25. The event, to be held at Figliulo Recital Hall, located in the SMU Performance Center, is free and open to the public.

Bernstein, born in Brooklyn, N.Y, graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1984. Inspired great saxophonists and jazz artists, Bernstein pursued a career in music. He recorded his first CD in 1985, and was a regular performer in New York City. He began playing overseas, and gained notoriety in Denmark, where he was offered a spot with Klüvers Big Band. Bernstein relocated to Copenhagen, Denmark; he left the band in 1996 to go solo, and has since released six CDs.

SMU Page, theatre season subscriptions available May 29

WINONA, Minn. — Season subscriptions to the 2007-2008 Saint Mary’s University Page Series and Department of Theatre Arts seasons go on sale Tuesday, May 29, at the Performance Center box office.

Season subscribers must choose at least three events to the Page Series and all four Department of Theatre Arts events to:

• Select the best seats in the house;
• Receive ticket exchange privileges; and
• Save 10 percent on their order.
• Returning 06-07 subscribers save 20 percent on their order.

The Page Series will offer 10 music, dance and family theatre events from September 2007 through April 2008. Dance concerts feature a best-of program from MOMIX, swing and jazz dance with Koresh Dance Co., and Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre in “Carmen.” Music concerts feature the guitar-driven Mediterranean sound of Pavlo; Madrigaia, an eight-woman ensemble that sings music from around the world (in 13 languages); the American-Japanese fusion of San Jose Taiko; and two SMU voice faculty members in concert. Family theatre includes two Theatreworks USA productions, “Charlotte’s Web” and “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” and the giant puppet theatre company Theatre Sans Fil in the children’s opera “Hansel and Gretel.”

The Department of Theatre Arts offers classic and contemporary drama with “Art” by Yasmina Reza, “Yerma” by Federico Garcia Lorca, “Iphigenia at Aulis” by Euripides, and “When You Comin’ Back Red Ryder?” by Mark Medoff.

Also on sale are tickets to pre-show dinners, which will be available prior to each Page Series event.

Season subscriptions will be on sale through June 29. Orders can be made online at www.pagetheatre.org, in person, or by calling the Performance Center box office at (507) 457-1715 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

2007-2008 School of the Arts Event Calendar

Page Series

Sept. 14, Pavlo, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
Oct. 5, Charlotte’s Web, 6:30 p.m., Page Theatre
Oct. 10, MOMIX Remix, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
Oct. 19, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, 6:30 p.m., Page Theatre
Nov. 17, Koresh Dance Co., 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
Jan. 24, Saint Petersburg Dance Theatre, Carmen, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
Feb. 7, Theatre Sans Fil, Hansel and Gretel, 6:30 p.m., Page Theatre
Feb. 20, Madrigaia, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
March 10, San Jose Taiko, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
April 5, Faculty Vocal Concert: Mowry & O’Shea, 7:30 p.m., Figliulo Recital Hall
April 6, Faculty Vocal Concert: Mowry & O’Shea, 3 p.m., Figliulo Recital Hall

Department of Theatre Arts

Sept. 28, 29 & Oct. 1, Art, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
Sept. 30, Art, 3 p.m., Page Theatre
Nov. 9, 10, & 12, Yerma, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
Nov. 11, Yerma, 3 p.m., Page Theatre
Feb. 28-29, March 1 & 3, When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?, 7:30 p.m., Academy
Theatre, Valencia Arts Center
March 2, When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?, 3 p.m., Academy Theatre, Valencia Arts Center
April 18, 19 & 21, Iphigenia at Aulis, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
April 20, Iphigenia at Aulis, 3 p.m., Page Theatre

Department of Music

Sept. 28, Jazz Ensemble & Combo, 6 p.m., Figliulo Recital Hall
Sept. 29, Concert Band & SMU Choirs, 2 p.m., Page Theatre
Nov. 18, Concert Band, 3 p.m., Saint Cecilia Theatre
Dec. 1, SMU Choirs, Lessons & Carols, 7:30 p.m., Chapel of Saint Mary of the Angels
Dec. 7, Jazz Ensemble & Combo and Batucada Nossa Senhora, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
March 30, Concert Band, 3 p.m., Page Theatre
April 25, Jazz Ensemble & Combo, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
April 26, SMU Choirs, 7:30 p.m., Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
April 30, Batucada Nossa Senhora, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre

Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts

May 16, Dance Repertory Company, 7:30 p.m., Page Theatre
May 17, Dance Repertory Company, 3 p.m., Page Theatre

Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries

“Images of Nature” Carol Faber
“Interstices” Monta May
Aug. 22-Oct. 5

“Encaustic Portraits” Michal Sagar
Francisca de Beurges Rosenthal: Audio Installation
Oct. 14-Nov. 10 (reception: Oct. 21)

Undergraduate Art Show
Nov. 15-Dec. 14

“Ignes Fatui” Art Faculty Show
Jan. 16-Feb. 17

“Tempus Fugit” Group Photo Show
Feb. 28-March 29

Senior Art Show
April 12-May 10

LaSalle Woodwind Quintet to perform May 5

LaSalle Woodwind Quintet members include, clockwise from top, Jen Welch, bassoon; Tammy Bartz, horn; Layla Lunde, oboe; Sylva Hanson, clarinet; and Janet Heukeshoven, flute. The quintet is posing around one of the Blue Heron statues, located at Saint Mary’s University, which features tickets to a LaSalle Woodwind Quintet performance as part of its arts theme. The group’s next concert is May 5.

WINONA, Minn. — The LaSalle Woodwind Quintet, an ensemble comprised of professional artists who teach in the music department of Saint Mary's University, will perform 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 5, in Figliulo Recital Hall, located in the Performance Center. The performance is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow the recital.

Quintet members include: Janet Heukeshoven, flute; Layla Lunde, oboe; Sylva Hanson, clarinet; Tammy Bartz, horn; and Jen Welch, bassoon.

The performance will feature Mozart’s “Partita in Bb,” Malcolm Arnold’s “Three Shanties for Wind Quintet,” three traditional spirituals for wind quintet, and Debussy’s “Girl with the Flaxen Hair,” featuring Lunde on the English horn.

The LaSalle Woodwind Quintet debuted in fall of 2003 and has since performed regionally in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

For more information, contact Dr. Heukeshoven at jheukesh@smumn.edu or (507) 457-1675.