By Jill Yesko, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 5-14-08
Jerome Lowenthal
GREENSBORO, NC – At the close of World War I, all of Europe agreed that Paris was the place in which to down the anguish of the war years in a mélange of music, theater, dance, poetry, cabaret and abandon.
Evoking this glamorous decade, Focus on Piano Literature, UNCG's bi-annual symposium consisting of concerts and lectures, will conjure the spirit of Paris Thursday to Saturday, June 5-7, at the School of Music.
Virtuoso pianist and veteran Juilliard School faculty member Jerome Lowenthal; soprano Hope Koehler, Brazilian-born artist/flutist Tadeu Coelho; and author, jazz pianist and UNCG alumni Keith Waters will be among the 21 special guests and presenters.
“For the first time we will have lectures from faculty from art, theatre, dance, French and English,” said Andrew Willis, director of the symposium and UNCG professor of piano. “The concept of collaboration across the disciplines is marvelously exciting.”
UNCG professor of piano John Salmon, who founded the symposium 18 year ago, will deliver the lecture “Daniel Ericourt: UNCG’s Link to Paris in the 1920s” and perform some of Ericourt’s compositions at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 5.
From 1964 to 1967, Ericourt was UNCG’s first artist-in-resident at the School of Music. While at UNCG his hosted “The Ericourt Forum of Music and Arts”; a popular television show. “Ericourt lived in Paris during the 1920s, so he was UNCG’s link to that era,” said Willis.
Jean Cocteau’s farcical ballet “Le Boeuf sur le Toit” (“The Nothing Doing Bar”) will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday, June 6. To re-create Cocteau’s magical setting, artist Fritz Janschka designed a surrealistic replica of a typical 1920s Parisian bar. Period dance forms such as the Charleston, Cakewalk and the Apache will be performed by students from the UNCG departments of Dance and Theatre. “Le Boeuf’s” jazz score, written by prolific French composer Darius Milhaud, will be performed by John Salmon and Andrew Willis.
Registration for the symposium is $135 before May 22; $145 after. Student prices are $90 prior to May 22; $100 after. Separate fees are charged for the Friday banquet and Saturday luncheon.
For more information about Focus on Piano Literature visit www.uncg.edu/mus/focus.
