Calendar
ON CAMPUS
His unit was portrayed in the film “Silence of the Lambs,” and now retired FBI profiler and hostage negotiator Clinton Van Zandt comes to ECU’s Wright Auditorium on Feb. 21 as part of the Voyages of Discovery Series. His talk is titled “Psychological Profiling: Solving Famous Unsolved Cases.” Van Zandt led the FBI’s internationally respected Behavioral Science Unit. He has been the primary hostage negotiator for national and international kidnap and hostage situations, has testified before the Senate and has made more appearances than any other FBI agent (3,000+) on national and international TV. He’s also a former U.S. Army counterintelligence agent and a Vietnam War veteran.
Harvard physicist Lisa Randall will talk about the most fundamental questions about the nature of matter, space and the universe when she presents “Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs” April 4 at Wright Auditorium. She’s an acclaimed Harvard University physicist and author of the book “Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs.” Her research into extra dimensions of space, particle physics and cosmology has made her one of the most important and cited theoretical physicists today. Time magazine named her one of its “100 Most Influential People.”
ON STAGE
S. RUDOLPH ALEXANDER PERFORMING ARTS SERIES
The New York-based sextet Mélange will select the first piece on their program, but after that, it’s up to the audience to determine the playlist. Using a randomizer app, they’ll call on audience members to select the next piece from a menu of 40 works. Pairing Baroque and Gershwin? Just like the shuffle feature on your iPod, anything can happen.
Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. in Wright Auditorium.
Four amazing and diverse guitarists will perform as International Guitar Night, America’s premiere traveling guitar festival. Italy’s YouTube sensation Luca Stricagnoli presents beautifully arranged heavy-metal songs using ample percussive techniques and a threenecked guitar. Turkey’s Cenk Erdogan is a master of the fretless guitar. Flamenco master Samuelito and French swing sensation Antoine Boyer perform duets inspired by their respective traditions. Expect a program of solos and duets.
Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. in Wright Auditorium.
Latin American charm, and their very own sound, M5 concerts are unique musical-theatrical experiences.
Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. in Wright Auditorium.
Lucky Plush Production’s newest dance-theater work, “Rooming House,” begins with an intimate conversation among friends recalling stories of people who’ve taken actions with potentially devastating costs. When the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is mentioned, varied interpretations and contemporary associations propel the group into a physically and psychologically complex An exciting mix of cutting-edge choreography from ECU faculty presented alongside the works of exceptional student choreographers make up this season’s Contemporary Dance Concerts. Performances are Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. game of whodunit. Playful and personal, “Rooming House” offers a lively blueprint for pursuing the question: What makes a person do something that could have shattering and irreparable consequences?
March 14 at. 8 p.m. in Wright Auditorium.
Finally, in September, Tropical Storm Michael shut down the opening attraction of the S. Rudolph Alexander Performing Arts Series, With unforgettable songs and a deeply moving story, “If/Then” is a fascinating and ambitious new musical. It simultaneously follows one woman’s two possible life paths. Romantic and touching, it paints a portrait of the lives we lead as well as the lives that we might have led. Parental advisory. a witty musical improv called “Broadway’s Next Hit Musical.” So if you’ve been feeling some kind of way about missing the hilarity — feel not — this performance has been rescheduled for July 12.
An exciting mix of cutting-edge choreography from ECU faculty presented alongside the works of exceptional student choreographers make up this season’s Contemporary Dance Concerts. Performances are Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Feb. 10 at 4 p.m
With unforgettable songs and a deeply moving story, “If/Then” is a fascinating and ambitious new musical. It simultaneously follows one woman’s two possible life paths. Romantic and touching, it paints a portrait of the lives we lead as well as the lives that we might have led. Parental advisory.
Dance that’s as diverse as it is entertaining, Spring Dance 2019 is March 19-24. Featuring choreography from renowned guest artists and original works by ECU faculty, dance students always provide a show that’s second to none. The diverse range from classical ballet to bold contemporary to hot jazz and explosive tap provide a production that is wide-ranging and engaging.
FAMILY FARE
Witness the hopeless humiliation of Jackie Robinson, a star player who was showered with adulation on the field but became a secondhand citizen when he walked off the diamond. Meet Robinson’s compatriots fighting the same battles between the end zones, inside the ring and around the track. “Jackie Robinson: A Game Apart” is a powerful lesson of courage through dedication, perseverance and leadership. Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in Wright Auditorium.
Climb aboard as Mrs. Frizzle leads her class on a trek around the planets in “The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System.” A new musical adaptation of the book series published by Scholastic. March 1 at 7 p.m. in Wright Auditorium.
MUSIC FESTIVALS
ECU’s Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival presents two concert residencies at A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall in spring semester: Chamber Music Monuments featuring Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Quintet in A Major for Clarinet and Strings, and Johannes Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet in B Minor on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 8 at 8 p.m.; and the Thrilling Season Finale featuring Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major and Edward Elgar’s Quintet in A Minor for Piano and String Quartet on March 28 at 7 p.m. and March 29 at 8 p.m. Ticketed.
Chamber Music Monuments is reprised Feb. 10 at 3 p.m., and the season finale is reprised March 31 at 3 p.m. at Hayes Barton United Methodist Church in Raleigh. Ticketed.
Four Seasons Features will present Israeli virtuoso violinist Miram Fried and the complete Sonatas and Partitas by Bach on March 15 at 7:30 p.m. in A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall. Four Seasons Features presents leading musicians in solo settings with an emphasis on special projects. Ticketed.
One of North Carolina’s premier classical music events, the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival presents guest artists from throughout the world. For tickets to any events or for more information, visit fourseasons.ecu.edu or call 252-328-6019.
Kristen Lee, violin, and Kwan Yi, piano, join the NewMusic Initiative in A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall on Jan. 25. Lee is a recipient of the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant as well as a top prizewinner of the 2012 Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists’ 2010 National Auditions. Yi has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center and the Kennedy Center.
Hailed as “superb” by the Boston Globe and “nothing short of fabulous” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer, bass clarinet and marimba duo Transient Canvas performs in Fletcher on Feb. 21. Since 2011, the duo has commissioned more than 75 works by emerging and well-established composers from all over the United States.
NewMusic Initiative’s Frequencies, an ensemble created and directed entirely by students, is Feb. 26.
ECU Opera Theater joins the NewMusic Initiative on March 22 and March 23 to perform the world premiere of Melinda Wagner’s “Tell It Slant,” a new work featuring ECU student vocal soloists, choir and instrumentalists under the baton of William Staub. Celebrated as an “…eloquent, poetic voice in contemporary music…” by the “American Record Guide,” Wagner’s esteemed catalog of works embodies music of exceptional beauty, power and intelligence.
“The Machine is Neither,” an interactive electroacoustic collaboration formed in 2013 between Emma Hospelhorn, flutes and gestural control, and Ben Sutherland, composer and designer/programmer, brings a set of software and hardware tools including live input from microphone and an Xbox Kinect game controller to McGinnis Theatre on March 23 and Fletcher Recital Hall on March 25. “The Machine is Neither” will create a new work to be danced by students from the ECU School of Theatre and Dance. This newly commissioned work incorporates motion capture hardware and software as well as other applications in designing the relationship between sound and gesture. The McGinnis Theatre performance is ticketed; the Fletcher performance is free.
Premiere Performances is presented March 26 and April 16. ECU School of Music performers focus their talents on the music of ECU composers in these first-ever public world-premiere performances.
All North Carolina NewMusic Initiative concerts are at 7:30 p.m., and admission is free. More information is at music.ecu.edu/nc-newmusic-initiative.
The ECU Billy Taylor Jazz Festival presents ECU Jazz Ensemble “B” in Fletcher Recital Hall on April 10 at 8 p.m., the Friends of Jazz “TomtheJazzman” Scholarship Benefit Concert at The Martinsborough in Uptown Greenville on April 11 at 7 p.m. and the Billy Taylor Jazz Festival Gala featuring ECU Jazz Ensemble “A” and special guests in Wright Auditorium on April 13 at 8 p.m.
OPERA
ECU Opera Theater and directors John Kramar and Daniel Shirley present Claudio Monteverdi’s “The Coronation of Poppea” at the historic Turnage Theatre in Washington with performances March 29 at 7:30 p.m. and March 30 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Based on historical events in the court of Roman emperor Nero, the opera is sung in English.
ORCHESTRA
The ECU Symphony Orchestra, Jorge Richter, conductor, is in concert three times in spring semester. Concerts are Feb. 9, featuring the winning soloist of the 2018-2019 ECU School of Music Concerto Competition and the world premiere of Travis Alford’s “Apophenia” and Prokofiev’s Suite from “Romeo and Juliet;” March 16 when the orchestra partners with the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival for a performance of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” Overture, Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor with guest artists Miriam Fried and Hye-Jin Kim, and Mozart’s Symphony No. 35 “Haffner;” and April 6, featuring a performance of the winning composition of the NewMusic annual orchestral composition competition and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with guest soloist Nicole Franklin.
BANDS AND ENSEMBLES
The Percussion Ensemble performs at Fletcher Music Center with the mallets and sticks, timpani and tom toms, and cymbals and gongs in Room B110 on Jan. 31 and April 11.
Feb. 1 brings the ECU Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble “A” to the Wright Auditorium stage; the ECU Concert and Symphonic Bands perform in Wright on Feb. 12; and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Concert Band and Symphonic Band perform together for Bandorama on April 18, also in Wright Auditorium. All three concerts are at 7:30 p.m. School of Music piano students perform in the Keyboard Chamber Recital on April 15, and classical guitarists perform together when the ECU Guitar Ensemble concertizes April 17. Both concerts are in Fletcher Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m.
CHOIRS
The ECU Collegiate Choir performs April 8 and the ECU University Chorale and Concert Choir harmonize April 23 in A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. Free.
FACULTY RECITALS
Faculty artists Jami Rhodes, mezzo-soprano, and Eric Stellrecht, piano, perform Dominick Argento’s Pulitzer Prize-winning cycle “From The Diary of Virginia Woolf” and works by Purcell, Rorem and Sondheim on Jan. 28; the ECU Coastal Winds Quintet — Christine Gustafson, flute, Bo Newsome, oboe, Douglas Moore- Monroe, clarinet, Christopher Ulffers, bassoon, and Mary Burroughs, horn — perform Feb. 27.
GUEST ARTISTS
Guest artist Seth Horner, tuba, is in concert Feb. 10 at 3 p.m., and guest pianist Henry Kramer performs Feb. 14.
EXHIBITS
The Wellington B. Gray Gallery in the Jenkins Fine Arts Center presents “The Greenhill Metals Exhibition: Beyond Ornament & ECU Metals” on view in the School of Art and Design galleries from Jan. 11 to Feb. 22. “The Material Topics Symposium” will take place Jan. 19 and 20. Additionally, two associated exhibitions will take place during Beyond Ornament. “Cadavre Exquis” will explore the role of collaboration in jewelry design, while “ECU Metals” will showcase work by both teachers and students from the School of Art and Design graduate metals program.
Other upcoming Gray Gallery exhibitions include the “MFA Spring Thesis Exhibition” from March 11 to 29 and the “BFA Spring Senior Exhibition” from April 5 to 26.