October 5, 2006

Briefs

Oct. 7 | New York City’s Cassatt Quartet to perform with pianist James Giles

The Cassatt Quartet, an internationally renowned string ensemble, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, with pianist James Giles, a music faculty member. In addition to their joint performance of Dohnányi’s Piano Quintet, the Cassatt Quartet will play quartets by Ravel and Beethoven. The concert will be presented at Lutkin Hall.

The all-female quartet — named for the American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt — has been performing together for more than 20 years. Individually, their training comes from prestigious music conservatories around the world, including the Juilliard School, Toho Academy of Music in Japan, Eastman School of Music, Peabody Institute and the New England Conservatory.

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Oct. 11 | Searle Center leads session on improving textbooks

A session on making textbooks less dreary and using them to promote learning will kick off a series of informal discussions with award-winning instructors about teaching and learning Oct. 11.

The discussions, led by the Searle Center of Teaching Excellence, in cooperation with Charles Deering McCormick Professors of Teachers Excellence, will allow faculty to discuss educational issues, approaches and controversies with peers and teachers who are making a difference in the classroom.

“Why Are Textbooks So Dreary?” will be facilitated by McCormick awardees Edward Muir, Clarence L. Ver Steeg Professor in the Arts and Sciences, and Barry L. Nelson, professor of industrial engineering and management sciences.

Reservations are required. To find out more, go to http://teach.northwestern.edu.

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Oct. 11 | Celebrated poet Adrienne Rich to give reading

Celebrated poet and essayist Adrienne Rich — who in 1997 refused to accept the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the United States government — will read from her work Wednesday, Oct. 11.

The reading will take place at 7:30 p.m. in 107 Harris Hall. Though free and open to the public, it will require tickets, which will be available at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. A book signing and reception will follow Rich’s reading.

Since Rich, at 21, received the Yale Younger Poets Award in 1951, she has gone on to win numerous honors for her powerful personal and socially conscious poetry. In refusing the National Medal of Arts, which the U.S. President awards to its recipients, Rich protested an erosion of federal support for the arts and what she called “hostile propaganda from the religious right and the Republican Congress” surrounding efforts to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Oct. 14 | Music faculty to take stage this fall

Vibrant voices and instruments will be part of the lineup of recitals performed by music faculty members and special guest artists this fall.

All of the faculty recitals will take place on the Evanston campus.

The fall events begin Oct. 14 with a career retrospective multimedia presentation by the legendary Sherrill Milnes. They will conclude Nov. 12 with a collaboration of music faculty and students.

The first fall faculty event will feature a man hailed as one of the greatest Verdian baritones of all time. Sherrill Milnes will present an evening of highlights and remembrances from his operatic career. Incorporating video clips with his own commentary and anecdotes, Milnes will share memories of his famous roles — from Scarpia in Puccini’s “Tosca” and Miller in Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” to Figaro in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” Milnes’ program will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. This is a ticketed event, but admission is free.

Guest tenor Anthony Dean Griffey will join faculty pianist James Giles in an evening of music by Brahms, Ravel, Barber and Previn at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in Lutkin Hall. Griffey has won popular acclaim in appearances with opera companies and symphony orchestras worldwide, and has performed leading roles in the world’s top opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera and Paris Opera. Along with Giles, Griffey will be joined by countertenor and School of Music Associate Dean René Machado in Britten’s “Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac” for alto, tenor and piano.