Newspaper Page Text
ARTHedtv
ASU presents the
Sandhills Writers’
Conference
. Acclaimed author
. Maxine Hong Kingston
: will open the 26" annual
: Sandhills Writers Con
. ference at Augusta State
: University with an 11
: a.m.presentation March
: 22" in Galloway Hall.
: The free presentation is
: Jointly sponsored with
« ASU’s Lyceum Series.
! The author of The
+ Women Warriorwill join
! nine other writers and
. editors at the two-day
~conference that will in
+ clude freereadings for the
‘public. The conference
" takes place in Galloway
‘Hall; the free evening
;programs will be held in
{ WIOO2 New Science Hall.
; Ms. Kingston also
iwrote the novels China
‘Men and Tripmaster
+Monkey: His Fake Book
{as well as the essay col
\lection, Hawaii One Sum
ymer. She won the 1977
iNational Book Critics
{Circle Award and a 1981
ijational Book Award.
't Authors Gilbert Allen
‘and Patricia Powell will
'present readings on
Thursday, March 22 at
17:30 p.m. Allen, a
;Furman University pro
fessor, authored two po
etry collections, Second
iChancesand Command.-
iments at Eleven. Powell
is a Harvard professor
and author of. thgee nov; ..
els, Me Dying Triall A~
Small Gathering of
\Bones, and The Pogada.
' TheFriday, March 23
presentation features
three writers: Robert
Bausch, Pinkie Gordon
‘Lane, and Philip Lee Wil
Spring break
activities for girls
Come chase away the nothing to do
blues at Girls Incorporated. Registration
is now being accepted for Masters Camp
April 2-6, 7:30 a.m - 5:30 p.m. for girls
currently enrolled in kindergarten
through middle school. The week long
camp will include a trip to Funsville, the
movies, skating, bowling and a trip to
CiCi’s Pizza for lunch. In the last day of
camp we will take a trip to Elijah Clark
State Park in Lincolnton, Georgia for a
picnic and a round of miniature golf. The
cost is a $35 membership fee and S6O for
the week. The cost includes all field trips,
lunch and two snacks. For additional in
formation call our canter at (706)733-
2512
Augusta Symphony features violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama in weekend concerts
The Augusta Sym
phony, under the direc
tion of Maestro Donald
Portnoy, will present
“Berlioz & A Shining
Star,” featuring violist
Nokuthula Ngwenyama
on Saturday, March 10,
12001, at 8 p.m. at the
Maxwell Performing
Arts Theatre at Augusta
State University.
Nokuthula Ngwenyama
(pronounced no-ko-too’la
en-gwen-y ma) will per-
Jform Telemann’s “Viola
Concerto in G Major.” A
7 p.m. PreView precedes
the concert, presenting
the Augusta Symphony’s
liams. Bausch is the au
thor of four novels: On
the Way Home, The Live.
of Riley Chance, Al
mighty Me, A Hole in the
FEarth,and a collection of
short stories. Laneis the
author of five volumes of
poetry, Wind Thoughts,
The Mystic Female,
Never Scream, Girlat the
Window, and Elegy for
Etheridge. Williams has
written eight novels in
scluding The True and
Authentic History o
Jenny Dorset and The
Heart of a Distant For
est.
Other presentersinthe
conference include Anne
Gallup, lyricist and
singer, whose CDs in
clude Cause and Effect,
Backbone, Courage My
Love, and Steady, Steady,
Yes, Gail Karwoski, 1996
Georgia Author of the
Year Children’s Litera
ture Award recipient,
who wrote Seaman: The
Dog Who Explored the
West with Lewis and
Clark,and The Tree that
Owns Itself and Other
Adventure Tales from
Georgia’s Past;and Judy
Long, editor of several
anthologies including
Literary New Orleans.
The conference is be
ing directed by Tony
‘Kellmap, a, professor of
‘the ASU Languages, Lit
erature, and Communi
cations Dept., who is the
author of three books of
poetry, Watercourse, The
Long Gap, and Wings of
a Stranger, as well as a
novel, The Coral Rooms.
principal violist, Carl
Purdy, who will give an
enlighteningoverview of
the selections to be per
formed. The concert in
cludes Mozart’s “Sym
phony No. 40 in G Mi
nor” and Berlioz’s
“Harold in Italy, op. 16.”
The Symphony will
also present “The Thrill
of the Orchestra” Publix
Family Concert with vio
list Ngwenyama, com
poser and narrator
Russell Peck from N.C.,
composer Robyn Flowers
(a student at University
of Georgia), and 70 mem
bers of the Augusta
Where shopping isa pleasure
. g.
SUPER MARKETS
Jazz artists reflect on the state of the art
By Dr. John Bradley
Special to the Augusta
Focus
At the 28" annual In
ternational Association of
Jazz Educators (IAJE)
conferencedan.lo-13,Dr.
John Bradley, Ph.D., di
rector of the CSRA Jazz
Band in Augusta, inter
viewed a series of musi
cians and educators con
.cerning various topics re
lated to the jazz idiom.
The conference is con
,sidered an annual Mecca
for jazz enthusiasts and
featured performances
and seminars including
George Duke, Quincy
Jones, Joshua Redman,
Michael Brecker, Steve
Khan, Dave Valentin,
Frank Foster and
Augusta’s own Wycliffe
Gordon. A special tribute
to Randy Weston, Jackie
McLean and John Lewis
was hosted by Billy Tay
lor. Then-president Bill
Clinton also wrote a let
ter of commendation for
the event.
Following are excerpts
from Dr. Bradley’s inter
viewstaken from the four
day affair. The conference
washeld at the Hilton Ho
tel in downtown Manhat
tan, New York.
Do you feel BET on
Jazz is a significant
medium for jazz?
Leon Ndugu
Chancler, drummer,
composer, professor,
University of Southern
California;
“Any medium that’s
availablenow, in thestate
of the music today, is im
portant. You've got BET
and public broadcasting.
That'’s it. You have to ap
plaud the effort. Only
problem, BET on Jazz is
not available in all areas.
Even in L.A., where I'm
at, it’s not available.”
Dr. Wendell Logan,
Oberlin College Con-
Ft. Discovery’s 2001 Masters Gala features Kenny G and Friends
The National Science Center’s Fort Discovery will present a 2001 Masters Gala featuring Kenny G and Friends on Friday,
April 6, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. at Fort Discovery. The world renowned instrumentalist will then head over
to the Bell Auditorium for a 9 p.m. concert. Gala Sponsor and Patron packages available. Call 706-821-0648 for details.
General admission concert-only tickets are S4O per person and available through Ticket Master. For more info, call 821-0200/
800-325-5445 or visit the web site at www.nationalsciencecenter.org/gala.
Suzuki Strings on Sun
day, March 11, at 3 p.m.
at the Maxwell Perform
ing Arts Theatre.
Tickets are still avail
able, priced at $35, S2B
and sls, and may be or
dered by calling the Sym
phony office (826-4705)
with a Visa/MasterCard/
Discover credit card. The
Symphony box office, lo
cated atthe Sacred Heart
Cultural Center, is open
Monday through Friday,
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or, fax
your ticket request to the
Symphony at
706.826.4735. Foracom
pletereview of Symphony
Ndugu Chancler
servatory of Music,
Oberlin, Ohio;
“I think it can be a le
gitimate vehicle. Butisit?
As I see it, it’s very com
mercial and because it’s
one of the few vehicles. It
does leave something to
be desired. I think it can
be legitimate, but at
present, I don’t think it
is.”
Michael Hutchinson,
Director, Instrumental
Music, Savannah Arts
Academy, Savannah, Ga,;
“I think BET'is trying
to convince the general
public that BET is pro
moting jazz. The young
black musicians that are
performingjazz aredoing
a good job. Yet, I'm con
cerned the young musi
cians also seem to want
money more than themu
sic.”
Lamar Smith, Ph.D.,
Albany State Univer
sity, Albany, Ga.;
BETdoes play arole in
getting jazz out to an au
diencethat would not have
the opportunity of listen
ing to jazz music. Since
it’s a licensed and public
medium which by all
means, from a practical
point of view, is perhaps
the major sources for
broadcastingjazz;beit Af
rican- American or other
wise.”
What'’s your take on
the PBS jazz series by
Ken Burns?
concerts, go online at
www.augustasymphony.org.
In the formative years
of a very promising ca
reer, violist Nokuthula
Ngwenyama (Thula), is
drawing great attention
to a seldom-heard solo
instrument with numer
ous acclaimed perfor
mances. The Washing
ton Postreviewed her as
“performing musicbeau
tifully, with dazzling
techniquein the virtuoso
fast movementsand deep
expressiveness in the
slow movements.” Not
only did she receive a
1996-97 Fulbright Grant,
T
_W"“—-
B
Lo & !
‘ "l
A
Michael Hutchinson
Ndugu Chancler ...
“My question is: Where
was Ken Burns before
this? There have been
many jazz historians that
haven’t been able to put
together such a package.
There’s never enough
time to recognize every
one and someone will be
omitted. Important people
from each era; of equal
importance. Positively,
this exposes people to the
music. It’s hard to do 20,
50,100yearsofan artform
in 19 segments. You can’t
doit.”
Wendell Logan ...
“It’s basically for the
novice. Very commercial,
and that’s fine. If the re
‘mainder of the series is
like the first twoepisodes,
there’snothingnew about
it. It’sinformation for the
novice. That’s good in a
public arena for the lay
person’s access. I don’t
think there’ll ever be a
definitivestory ofjazz. All
the truth will never be
divulged about the musi
cian and by musicians. To
really understand, one
must takethat and gofur
therintermsofresearch.”
Michael Hutchinson
“Ithoughtitwasagreat
venture—especiallyifthe
story is told by lots of
people. Then, maybe the
truth will come out.”
Lamar Smith ...
“This is a great idea.
Ms. Ngwenyama wasalso
the recipient of the cov
eted Avery Fisher Career
Grant in 1997. She has
performed with numer
ous orchestras through
out the U.S. and Europe,
as well as performing in
recital at prestigious
chamber music series
around the U.S. and fes
tivals around the world.
This concert is spon
sored by The Cleon
Mauldin Foundationand
Doctors Hospital. Media
sponsors include Action
26 News and The Au
gusta Focus.
The March 11 Family
l§
Dr. Wendell Logan
Ken Burns is the right
person to promote such
project. A key figure such
as this can bringabout an
important entity, high
light the statusofjazzand
the direction of the
artform. Hopefully, this
will solidify forward
progress of the artform,;
emphasizing expanding
communicating and
strengtheningthe overall
process.”
Is hip-hop and rap a
legitimate artformlike
be-bop?
Ndugu Chancler ...
“Ithink allartformsare
legitimate. Yes. Hip hop
address a certain mind
set of today’s generation,;
the mind-set that goes
against the grain of the
norm. So, for them, it’s
valid and creative based
onthenew technology. In
hip-hop, you don’t need
musicians playing to
gether. It’s about mass
production of things or
ganized by a few key indi
viduals; by somethingthat
may already exist. Bebop
was based on old show
tunes that were re
adapted melodically,
rhythmically. Hip-hop is
the same way. Re-adapt
ingmusiccreated 20years
ago and performed in a
different manipulation
with a different subject
matter. Some of it’s posi
tive, some negative.”
Wendell Logan ...
Concert promisesto bea
memorable experience
for all ages. The thrills
offered by the orchestra
aremany: the excitement
of hearing the world’s
largest, and most varied,
traditional group of mu
sicians onstage, the col
orful contrasts in sound
of the different sections
of instruments (strings,
woodwinds, brass, per
cussion), and the tremen
dousrange of expression
possible — from humor to
inspiration.
The program includes:
“The Star Spangled Ban
ner,” Beethoven’s
1B
MARCH 8, 2001
f?‘r"'.. rL
¢ ST !.!
t
e ;
i‘x- e ‘fi’
Vi .: 5
Lamar Smith
“If you don’t have a
propereducational system
topromotethehistoryand
performing of the music,
students will look for al
ternatives. They’ll find
ways to be creative. Cer
tainly, it’s a legitimate
artform, but I have prob
lems with some of the
images and language
that’s used. The kids are
using what they have to
be as creative as possible.
Everything starts with
educationand asanation,
we haven’t done all we
could havedone. Jazz pro
grams are found in the
suburbs. The white kids.
Black kids aren’t getting
the opportunity (to expe
rience jazz).”
Michael Hutchinson
“Yes, hip-hop is the
music of the young much
like the young musi¢ians
that created be-bop. I
think it (hip-hop) is an
artform, too.”
Lamar Smith ...
“Whetheronelikesitor
not, hip-hop and rap mu
sic is a creative expres
sion. Whether one wants
to consider it art or not, is
left up to the individual
who is listening. Music is
inthe ear of the beholder.
There is a place for many
forms of human expres
sion. The key is societal
acceptance and if this ex
pression is worthy of its
being ... it will stand the
test of time.”
“Prometheus Overture,”
Robyn Flowers’
“Lullaby” ( a premier of
the University of
Georgia’sstudent of com
position); “Masquerade
Suite” by Khachaturian,
six short selections fea
turing the Augusta
SuzukiStrings;amovement
of Bach’s “Viola Concerto”
performed by Miss
Ngwenyamaandtheorches
tra; “Lord of the Dance” by
Hardiman/Moore, “Thrillof
the Orchestra” narrated by
composer Russell Peck, and
closing out the program,
Sousa’s “King Cotton
March.” .