Playmakers to present ‘The Baltimore Waltz’

Fri Sep 25 2009

The Lenoir-Rhyne University Playmakers will present “The Baltimore Waltz” by Paula Vogel Sept. 30 through Oct. 4.

Winner of the Obie Award, this play is a fantasy based on the love and adventures of a brother and sister, one of whom has a fatal disease. In the opening scene, the brother is wearing pajamas, but it is his schoolteacher sister who’s diagnosed with a deadly virus that sends the two of them spinning off to Europe to find romance and a cure before the final crashing scenes where reality sets in.

Anna, an unmarried schoolteacher, is diagnosed with ATD, the fictitious “Acquired Toilet Disease,” with a high risk factor for elementary school teachers. She and her brother Carl take flight to Europe. Anna decides she wants to drown herself in the sensuality of food and sex, while Carl becomes involved in a wild espionage scheme to find a cure for his sister on the continent.

Something is not quite right with the scenario, and the largest hint is dropped when Anna shows slides of their trip to Europe where each frame looks exactly like Baltimore. This play contains adult language and themes and is not suitable for children.

The cast includes Leah Staton of Cherryville as Anna, Dustin Wellman of Statesville as Carl, and Brendan Chaney of Savannah, Ga., as the Third Man.

The play will be presented in P.E. Monroe Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 30 through Oct. 3, and at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 4. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and non-L-R students. Faculty, staff and Senior Bears may buy one ticket and receive a second ticket free. L-R students are admitted free with a student ID. This play is sponsored by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

Homecoming ’09 schedule announced

Thu Sep 24 2009

Lenoir-Rhyne alumni and friends are invited to attend Homecoming 2009, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10.

The Hanley H. Painter Bear Memorial Golf Tournament will be held Oct. 9 at the Lake Hickory Country Club-Catawba Springs Course. Tee times are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The PEF/Bears Club Gala, presented by the Law Offices of Blair “Tripp” Cody, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Lake Hickory Country Club.

Proceeds from these two events benefit Lenoir-Rhyne student-athlete scholarships through the Piedmont Educational Foundation/Bears Club. For details and ticket information, contact Andi Lawing at andi.lawing@lr.edu or 828-328-7007.

The LRU Volleyball Team will play Tusculum College at 7 p.m. Friday in the Shuford Gymnasium. The team will also play Newberry College at noon on Saturday, Oct. 10 in the gym.
The Women’s Soccer Team will play Lincoln Memorial at 5 p.m., followed by the Men’s Soccer Team vs. Lincoln Memorial at 7:30 p.m.

Friday at 7 p.m., Visiting Writer Marisha Pessl will be interviewed before a live audience by D.G. Martin of UNC-TV’s “NC Bookwatch.” This program will be broadcast at a later time. Admission to this taping is free, and tickets are not required.

On Saturday, Oct. 10, alumni are asked to register in the Cromer Center Lobby when they arrive. When they register, they will receive information so they can log into the new alumni Web site, update their records, stay in touch with their fellow Bears and learn about campus events.

The Homecoming Parade will be held along Stasavich Place at 10 a.m. Oct. 10. The Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will follow at 11 a.m. in the P.E. Monroe Auditorium. This year’s inductees include Ted W. Goins ’53, Tony McClamrock ’62, Emil W. Parker ’62 (awarded posthumously), and Toni Steed-Smith ’90. (more…)

High School Scholars information session set

Thu Sep 24 2009

Lenoir-Rhyne University will host an information session for high school juniors and their parents who are interested in next year’s High School Scholars Academy. The information session will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 15 in Room 213 of the McCrorie Center on campus.

L-R’s High School Scholars Academy is for high-achieving students who wish to earn college credit while completing their senior year of high school. The students attend classes on the L-R campus but are able to participate in extra-curricular activities at their home schools. They take high school English IV Honors plus three university classes in the fall, and AP English plus three university classes in the spring. The students are selected through a competitive application process.

The High School Scholars Academy has 30 spaces for the 2010-2011 school year. Applications will be accepted through Feb. 16, 2010. First preference for admission will be given to students enrolled in the Catawba County, Hickory Public or Newton-Conover school systems. If there are still spaces remaining on March 1, 2010, L-R will consider applicants from other school systems, private schools, and home schools.

For more information about the High School Scholars Academy at Lenoir-Rhyne University, please contact Mary Ann Gosnell at 828-328-7300 or maryann.gosnell@lr.edu.

Marisha Pessl is next Visiting Writer

Thu Sep 24 2009

Lenoir-Rhyne Visiting Writer Marisha Pessl will be interviewed by D.G. Martin, host of UNC-TV’s “N.C. Bookwatch” program at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9.

The event will take place in the university’s P.E. Monroe Auditorium, located at 775 Sixth St. N.E., Hickory.

This will be the first time “N.C. Bookwatch” has been taped outside the UNC-TV studios in Research Triangle Park. This taping, before a live audience, is free and open to the public. Reserve seating is available for patrons of the Visiting Writers Series. All other seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Pessl made her literary debut with the novel “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” in 2006. The New York Times named her novel as one of the Notable Books of the Year and an Editor’s Choice, while Time magazine listed the work as one of Publishing’s Next Page Turners. Pessl’s novel was also a nominee for a Quill Award, General Fiction category, and the Borders Original Voices Award, 2006.

“Special Topics in Calamity Physics” is about a precocious adolescent, Blue van Meer, and her widowed father, Gareth, a brilliant, charismatic professor. The two travel from college to college, driven by forces only revealed to Blue by the death of Hannah, a popular teacher at her school. The book is filled with literary references as well as illustrations by the author. The story also includes a murder mystery. For more “clues” about this novel, and a look at Pessl’s drawings, go to http://www.calamityphysics.com/main.htm.

Pessl was born in Clarkston, Mich., to Klaus, an Austrian engineer for General Motors, and Anne, an American homemaker. Pessl’s parents divorced when she was 3, and she moved to Asheville, N.C., with her mother and sister. (more…)

Jasper String Quartet to perform at LRU

Thu Sep 24 2009

The Lenoir-Rhyne Friends of Music Concert Series, in conjunction with the Western Piedmont Symphony Chamber Classics, will host a concert by the Jasper String Quartet.

The concert will take place at 8 p.m. Oct. 10 in P.E. Monroe Auditorium, located at 775 Sixth St. NE. Tickets for the concert will be $20 each at the door.

The Jasper String Quartet is one of the finalists for the string quartet-in-residence position most recently held by the La Catrina String Quartet. With their departure this past summer, the Western Piedmont Symphony is holding residencies with the finalists for the position to gauge their performance and community involvement.

In support of chamber music in the Catawba Valley, the Lenoir-Rhyne Friends of Music and Western Piedmont Symphony Friends of the Quartet agreed to collaborate and celebrate the excellence of both of these annual concert series.

The Jaspers are winners of the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2008 Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Grand Prize at the 2008 Coleman Competition, First Prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs 2008, and the Silver Medal at the 2008 and 2009 Fischoff Chamber Music Competitions. They are currently the graduate quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music, studying with the Tokyo String Quartet. (more…)

Church Musician-in-Residence

Mon Sep 21 2009

The Sacred Music Program of Lenoir-Rhyne University will host Dr. Larry Stratemeyer as its fall church musician-in-residence on Oct. 5-7.

Stratemeyer, music director at The Cathedral Church of St. Patrick in Charlotte, will interact with students in classes, speak of his music ministry in a convocation, rehearse the university’s choirs, teach private organ lessons, and play and conduct for a chapel service.

The public is invited to a convocation given by Stratemeyer on Monday, Oct. 5, at 9:20-10:10 a.m. in the Recital Hall of the Mauney Music Building. His topic will be, “The Vocation of a Roman Catholic Cathedral Musician.” He will share insights of his work at St. Patrick’s and speak of the joys and tensions of music ministry in a cathedral setting post-Vatican II.

From 10:20 to 11:10 a.m. Oct. 5, Stratemeyer will speak to the History of Sacred Music class and engage students in a workshop.  The public is also invited to this presentation.

The culmination of Stratemeyer’s residency at Lenoir-Rhyne will be his leadership of chapel on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 9:20-10:10 a.m., in the Recital Hall of the Mauney Music Building. Stratemeyer will lead sung Morning Prayer Service from the Roman Rite, with psalms, canticle, hymn, and anthems by the Chapel Choir.

He will also speak about the day’s observance, that being the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, which celebrates the historical victory of a Christian naval fleet over a Turkish fleet on Oct. 7, 1571, and in recognition of the rosary in the piety of Catholics since the 12th century. Several pieces by the Spanish renaissance composer, Victoria, will be sung within the liturgy. For more information, please call (828) 328-7149.

Sacred Music Program plans evening prayer services

Mon Sep 21 2009

The Sacred Music Program of Lenoir-Rhyne University will sponsor two choral evening prayer services this fall and two more in the spring semester.

The first service will be on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 4 p.m., at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Hickory. The A Cappella Choir of Lenoir-Rhyne University, Paul D. Weber, director, will lead a service of hymns and anthems celebrating the Reformation, including Rheinberger’s “Abendlied” and Weber’s new hymn, “All Who Love and Serve Your City.”

The second will be on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., at Beth Eden Lutheran Church, Newton. The Chapel Choir and College Singers of Lenoir-Rhyne University, Paul D. Weber, director, will lead Evening Prayer for All Saints’ Day.

This service will feature Michael Haydn’s “Timete Dominum,” Weber’s “Blessed,” the “Nunc dimittis” of Edmund Rubbra, and “Blessed Are the Dead” by William Beckstrand. (more…)

Dr. John Cheek releases new CD

Tue Sep 15 2009

Dr. John Cheek, associate dean for faculty development and professor of music at Lenoir-Rhyne University, has released a new CD titled “The 99 Beautiful Names of God.”

The composer is J. Mark Scearce, director of the music department at N.C. State University. The title refers to the names by which Muslims regard God. Scearce composed the music to help a pianist friend, ill from cancer, by giving her a set of small pieces that she could play to bring her back to her instrument and through it, back to health.

Cheek, who performs the music on the CD, commented that this music for solo piano “aims to heal and give the listener some soul time: intimate, respectful ruminations on the Godhead or visions of Almighty Power.” The CD is available from Albany Records or on amazon.com.

Scearce is the recipient of five advanced degrees in music, philosophy and religion, including the doctorate in composition from Indiana University. He has won six international music competitions. His wide-ranging interests have led him to compose works inspired by contemporary issues and concerns. He is the recipient of the 2009 International Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Music Composition.

Cheek is a Fulbright Scholar and long-time advocate for new music. He joined the faculty at Lenoir-Rhyne University in fall 1998. A native of Little Rock, Ark., he made his professional debut with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra at age 13. Cheek has been a top prize-winner in a number of important national and international music competitions sponsored by the National Society of Arts and Letters and the American Music Scholarship Association. (more…)

Dr. Tony Santo to exhibit his photos

Tue Sep 15 2009

Dr. Tony Santo, assistant professor of health and exercise science at Lenoir-Rhyne University, will exhibit his fine-art photography at the university’s Visual Art Center Oct. 8-23.

The exhibit will feature poster-size prints of photos taken at national parks and other locations in the deserts of the American Southwest. The LRU art center is located at 643 ½ Eight Ave. NE, Hickory. A reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 8. The exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.

Santo uses large-format film that captures high-resolution detail and intense colors. He seeks unique lighting that communicates his vision of the natural landscape.

The exhibit will include photos from some of the following locations: Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Las Vegas, Zion National Park, Capital Reef Park and Arches National Park. Examples of his photography may be seen at www.tonysantophotography.com.

LRU groups to perform at National Cathedral

Fri Sep 11 2009

Three Lenoir-Rhyne University music groups will perform at a festival service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., as part of their fall tour Oct. 22-25.

The groups taking part in this tour include the Lenoir-Rhyne University A Cappella Choir and College Singers, Paul D. Weber, director, and the Lenoir-Rhyne University Brass Ensemble, Christopher Nigrelli, conductor. The A Cappella Choir received an invitation from the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to participate in a Lutheran Reformation service at the National Cathedral at on Sunday, Oct. 25, 4 p.m., with the choral and brass prelude beginning at 3:30 p.m.

The tour will also include concerts at Epiphany Lutheran Church, Richmond, Va., on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m.; at the Cathedral of St. Matthew The Apostle in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m.; at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Warrenton, Va., on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. The LRU groups will also perform as part of a worship service at Luther Place Memorial Church in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m. (more…)