UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Performing and Fine Arts

“The Adding Machine” Opens Feb. 24

comedydramaThe performing and fine arts department will present Elmer Rice’s The Adding Machine from February 24 to 28, at 7:30 p.m. (2 p.m. Sunday) in Mago Hunt Center Theater. A hapless cog in the clockwork of modern business discovers he is about to be replaced by an adding machine. He snaps. Written in 1923, The Adding Machine is a comic yet searing look at technology and its effect on human relationships.

For tickets call the Hunt Center box office at x7287. For information contact performing and fine arts at x7228 or pfa@up.edu.

“HMS Pinafore” Set to Sail June 12-28

pinaforMock’s Crest Productions will continue performances of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore” on June 12-14, 19-21, and 25-28. Show times are 7:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Dinner and brunch will be served on the lawn in front of the Mago Hunt Center prior to each show. Tickets are available at the Mago Hunt box office; orders can be placed by phone at 503-943-7287.

This is Mock’s Crest 25th year and what better way to celebrate than with Gilbert & Sullivan’s first major success in the world of comic operetta? “HMS Pinafore” was first produced in London in 1878 and had been staged twice previously by Mock’s Crest. Production staff includes Larry Larsen (faculty producer, set and light designer),
Tracey Edson (music director and conductor),
Bruce Hostetler (stage director), Sue Bonde (costume designer),
Jessica Wallenfels (choreographer),
Jennifer Hammontree (production stage manager), and
Nate Bartos (technical director).

For more information contact performing and fine arts at 7228 or pfa@up.edu.

UP Orchestra Concert, “American Voices,” April 21

orchestra1The University of Portland Orchestra will present “American Voices” on Tuesday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m., in Buckley Center Auditorium. The concert is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Highlighting works of American composers and performers, the concert will feature Aaron Copland’s stirring Lincoln Portrait, with narration by All Classical’s Edmund Stone.  Also on the program will be the premiere of Prometheus, composed by University of Portland senior Dana Coppernoll-Houston, and arias by the 2014 Student Concerto/Aria contest winner, Amelia Segler.

For more information contact David De Lyser, performing and fine arts, at 7382 or delyser@up.edu.

Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters,” April 10-17

hThe performing and fine arts department will present Anton Chekhov’s play, Three Sisters, from April 10-12 and 15-17, at 7:30 p.m. (2 p.m. Sunday), in Mago Hunt Center Theater. The Prozorovs, a middle-class Russian family stuck in a small provincial town, long for the bright lights of the big city, Moscow. But fortunes are changing everywhere in the years before the political and social turmoil that will sweep aside their way of life.

Tickets are available through the Hunt Center box office at 7287. For more information, contact performing and fine arts at 7228 or pfa@up.edu.

Women of the Bible Concert, Feb. 28

U of PThe Garaventa Center will present “Women of the Bible,” a concert highlighting the holy, courageous, and remarkable women in the Bible, on Saturday, February 28, at 7:30 p.m., in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. The concert will feature world premieres of music by Cynthia Gerdes and David DeLyser, composed for sopranos Nicole Hanig (pictured) and Rebecca Hays. Questions may be directed to Garaventa Center co-director Karen Eifler at eifler@up.edu.

Jane Aukshunas Paintings On Display, Jan. 5 to Feb. 5

Remote BeautyThe University of Portland will display oil pastel paintings by Jane Aukshunas from Jan. 5 – Feb. 5, 2015 in Buckley Center Gallery. The showing, free and open to the public, will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Aukshunas searches out scenic places in the Pacific Northwest and uses oil pastels to capture the colors.

For more information contact Pat Bognar, performing and fine arts, at bognar@up.edu.

PFA Presents “Heart & Home,” Oct. 31-Nov. 2

U of PPerforming and fine arts will present an opera and music theater workshop showcase, featuring student performances, in a program entitled “Heart & Home” on Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1, both starting at 7:30 p.m., in Mago Hunt recital hall. The showcase is free and open to all. Saturday’s performance includes a reception starting at 6:30 p.m., provided by the Garaventa Center.

Featured performances will include staged scenes from Bernstein’s Candide and On the Town, Sondheim’s A Little Night Music and Company, and Jake Heggie’s operatic adaptation of Dead Man Walking as well as songs from Wicked, The Wiz, and both the operatic and music theater adaptations of Little Women. For more information contact Nicole Hanig, performing and fine arts, at 7228 or hanign@up.edu.

UP Wind Symphony Invited to 2015 Oregon Music Education Conference

symphonyThe University Wind Symphony has been invited to perform at the 2015 Oregon Music Education Association conference in Eugene, Ore., in January 2015, according to Patrick Murphy, performing and fine arts. The wind symphony was selected through a blind audition process, and this will be the first time a UP instrumental ensemble has ever performed at a professional conference. They will perform at the Hult Center’s Soreng Theater on January 16 or 17, and the concert will be free and open to the public.

The Wind Symphony consists of 55 members representing every school on campus. This year’s ensemble boasts 17 freshmen, and is conducted by  Murphy. Undergraduate conducting associates for 2014-15 are seniors Brian Carter and David Yee.

The wind symphony’s next on-campus concert will be its Slavic Concert on the afternoon of December 6, featuring the American premiere of Boris Kozhevnikov’s “First Symphony” and junior mathematics major and oboist Janna Riley performing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Variations on a Theme of Glinka.” Two hundred  tickets are being given to the Portland/Vancou­ver Russian community, so please call the PFA office at 7228 or pfa@up.edu to reserve seats.

Choral Arts Ensemble Concerts, Oct. 18-19

University of Portland, upThe Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland, formerly directed by the late Roger O. Doyle and now under the artistic direction of David De Lyser, performing and fine arts, is presenting two concerts featuring the music of internationally-renowned composer Ola Gjeilo, with the composer himself at the piano. “Luminous Night of the Soul; The Music of Ola Gjeilo,” will be presented on Saturday, October 18 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 19 at 3 p.m. at Saint Philip Neri Parish, 2408 SE 16th Ave., in Portland. De Lyser describes Gjeilo’s work as “choral music that is symphonic, cinematic and immediately accessible.” Also joining the ensemble will be local trumpeter Thomas Barber.

Tickets are available at the Choral Arts Ensemble website at http://www.caeportland.com/. For more information contact De Lyser at 7382 or delyser@up.edu.

University Singers, Women’s Chorale Concert, Oct. 4

1aSingers150The University Singers and Women’s Chorale will open their new concert season on Saturday, October 4, at 3 p.m., in Buckley Center Auditorium. The concert is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. The University welcomes Kathryn Briggs as the new director of the Women’s Chorale with this all-choral program featuring American music, including works by Stephen Paulus, Portland’s own Joan Szymko, and honorary University of Portland alumnus Aaron Copland. For more information contact performing and fine arts at 7228 or pfa@up.edu.