February 28, 2002

Glenn Nierman, shown at right, music professor at UNL, was part of an international group that reviewed the arts curriculum for the South African government.

Professor works on arts curriculum in South Africa

By Kathe Andersen, Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts

A UNL professor has helped the nation of South Africa develop an arts education curriculum.

Glenn Nierman, Steinhart Professor and chairman of music education and interim associate director of the School of Music, has completed a review of music standards and assessment practices for the South African government. He joined colleagues from Canada, Australia, Brazil, Finland, Namibia, Japan and the United Kingdom in reviewing the arts education portion of the first educational reform package since the fall of the apartheid regime.

During apartheid, there was a wide range of quality of educational programs in schools, Nierman said. In cities, especially those with English and Dutch influence, the quality of the educational experience was much better than in rural areas, which often lacked the resources for a music program.

"In all areas of education, they are trying to formulate standards to raise the education level in general," Nierman said.

After the first democratic elections took place in South Africa in 1994, the new government began a process of reform and development in the social, political and economic sectors. The South African Qualifications Authority was founded in 1995 to establish a National Qualifications Framework in South Africa.

To start the process of restructuring music education systems, music educators were called upon at the 23rd Biennial World Conference of the International Society for Music Education held in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1998 to establish a South African Music Education Forum that would function as a representative forum for music education nationally.

The University of Pretoria's Music Department and Professor Caroline van Niekerk took the initiative to gather a group of post-graduate students to start generating unit standards based on research. With no funding available, these researchers would be able to obtain a master's or doctoral degree as compensation for their work, provided the research conformed to the standards of the university.

Graduate student Johanna Petronella Grové submitted her doctoral dissertation, Music Education Unit Standards for Southern Africa: A Model and its Application in a General Music Appraisal Programme, after three years of research. This work, representing the thinking of not only Grové, but a committee of 18 South Africans charged with the development of the standards, will be the blueprint for reform in South African music education.

"If you held up the National Music Standards in the United States and in the United Kingdom with what is being brought forward in South Africa, they would be very comparable," Nierman said.

The international support network brought in to share views, expertise and concerns included members from 15 countries, including Brazil, Finland, Japan, Kenya, United Kingdom and the United States.

Nierman, the only U.S. participant at this level, participated in the review of the music standards and assessment via a video conference in November with six colleagues from around the world.

"They were able to accommodate the model to deal with the many diverse cultures of music represented in their country," Nierman said. "That model holds promise for us, too."

The greatest challenge for South Africa, Nierman said, will be implementing these music standards.

"They do not have music specialists in their schools," he said. "The classroom teacher will have to learn how to teach to these standards. The biggest question is will they have the money and the time to train teachers to implement it?"

For example, two of the model areas included technology. "Yet some schools still don't have electricity," Nierman said. "It will take money and time to get there."

Nierman said the music standards put forward represent good thinking based on research from the United States, Canada, Australia and elsewhere.

"They were acutely aware of what is going on educationally in the world around them," he said, "and drew on those curriculum innovations to formulate their standards."

The new music curriculum, like the National Music Standards in the United States, calls for not only performing music, but creating music, improvising and understanding music notation.

The standards and assessment procedures sent forward in the Grové document will be submitted to the South African Qualifications Authority as the unit standards now required for all learning areas. Adoption and implementation should occur within two years.

'Riverdance' begins at 7:30 p.m. April 17-20 and 5 p.m. April 21 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Matinees are at 2 p.m. April 18 and 20 and 1 p.m. April 21.

Riverdance taps way to Lincoln stage

Riverdance - The Show, the original international phenomenon, comes to the Lied Center April 17-21 for eight performances.

The performance schedule for Riverdance is 7:30 p.m. April 17 through 20 and 5 p.m. April 21. Matinee performances will begin at 2 p.m. April 18 and 20, and 1 p.m on April 21.

Composed by Bill Whelan, produced by Moya Doherty and directed by John McColgan, Riverdance is a celebration of Irish music, song and dance that focuses on the evolution of Irish dance, as well as its similarities with - and influences on - other cultures.

Whelan won the 1997 Grammy Award for "Best Musical Show Album" for his original music and lyrics for Riverdance. Riverdance draws on Irish traditions and combines the richness of the music with the magic and sensuality of the dance. This unique show features an international company.

Riverdance had its world premiere at the Point Theatre in Dublin in February 1995, where it opened to wide critical acclaim. More than 12 million people have seen a live Riverdance performance, and more than 6.5 million have purchased video versions.

Riverdance - The Album, on Celtic Heartbeat/Universal Records, has sold more than 2 million CDs and is certified platinum in the United States. The album remained No. 1 on the Billboard World Music Chart for more than six months.

Tickets are $55, $50 and $39, half price for students, although the student discount will not apply to the Friday and Saturday evening performances.

A pre-performance talk will occur in the Lied's Steinhart Room 30 minutes before curtain.

Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability.

Annie Get Your Gun shoots into Lied Center

One of Broadway's most popular musicals, Annie Get Your Gun, debuts at the Lied Center in March. Performance times are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. March 9 and at 2 p.m. March 10.

Annie Get Your Gun is the fictionalized story of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Originally written by Irving Berlin and Herbert and Dorothy Fields, this 1946 musical celebrates her stormy, competitive relationship with Frank Butler, a dashing vaudeville marksman, as they tour the country as the stars of "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show." Annie Get Your Gun features some of the best known songs ever written for Broadway including There's No Business Like Show Business and Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better).

The current national tour of Annie Get Your Gun is an offshoot of the Broadway revival, which won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival and the 2000 Grammy for best cast recording.

Bonnie Estes stars as Annie Oakley, and Stephen Valahovic portrays Frank Butler. Joey McKneely directs and choreographs the show.

The original Broadway production of Annie Get Your Gun starred Ethel Merman as Annie and was produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein, who were then beginning their careers. Famed composer Jerome Kern was originally hired to write the music, but his sudden death in 1945 led the producers to another legendary name: Irving Berlin.

Mary Martin, Ginger Rogers and Debbie Reynolds have all brought Annie Oakley to life and the current Broadway version has starred actresses such as Bernadette Peters and Reba McEntire.

Alisa Belflower, a senior lecturer with the UNL School of Music, will deliver the pre-performance talk in the Lied's Steinhart Room 30 minutes before curtain.

Tickets are $48, $44, and $38, half price for students. Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for tickets.

Grammy nominee Carter brings her music to Lied

Grammy nominee Regina Carter and her quintet will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 13 in the Lied Center.

Carter, a native of Detroit, Mich., made history on Dec. 30 when she became the first non-classical and first African-American to be chosen to play Niccolo Paganini's famed Guarneri violin in Genoa, Italy. The selection process requires the approval of the communal government, the Mayor of Genoa, the Paganini Commission, the violin's caretakers, and the Italian Cultural Ministry.

Carter has been featured in "O" Magazine, on NPR's "Morning Edition," and CBS' "60 Minutes II." She was also selected as "Best Violinist" in the 2001 Jazz Readers' Poll. Her current Grammy nomination is for "Fragile" on the album Freefall in the Best Jazz Instrumental solo category.

As a child, Carter's musical studies focused on classical music, but by high school, jazz became her passion. As her career has taken off, Carter has been chosen to accompany Wynton Marsalis, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Tanya Tucker and Lauryn Hill. Carter's own sound can be described as a mix of classic soul and smooth jazz.

Tom Larson, instructor with the UNL School of Music, will deliver a pre-performance talk in the Lied's Steinhart Room 30 minutes before curtain.

Tickets are $32, $28, and $22, half price for students. For tickets, call 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231.

Great Plains prints poetry

The Center for Great Plains Studies has published a new chapbook of poems portraying images of bison and the prairie. Bison Poems: Of Bison and the Great Plains originated from a juried reading at the center's April 2000 conference on bison.

Thomas Franti, associate professor of biological systems engineering at UNL, organized the reading and edited the chapbook. Franti, a published poet, said, "There is a very real pull that the prairie and bison have on our imagination. So what better topics to capture the imagination of poets?"

Charles Fort moderated the reading and provided three poems to the publication. Fort holds an endowed chair in poetry at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He has won national awards for his writings from the Poetry Society of America, Writer's Voice, and the Randall Jarrell Poetry Prize.

Eleven other writers have poems in the collection. They are Don Welch, University of Nebraska at Kearney; Mary Lee Johns, Marilyn Dorf and Twyla Hansen of Lincoln; Greg Kosmicki of Omaha; R.F. McEwen, Chadron State College; Ginny Odenbach, McCook; Terry Lee Schifferns, Central Community College-Grand Island; J.V. Brummels, Winside; Robert King, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley; and Richard Todd, Amarillo, Texas.

Bison Poems is available for $10 plus shipping costs from the Center for Great Plains Studies. Call 472-3082 or e-mail cgps@unl.edu.

Print group sponsors sale

The Lincoln Print Group will hold a print sale in the Richards Hall Conference Room (Room 120). The sale will be 5 to 8 p.m. March 7; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 8, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 9.

The sale is a chance to buy colorful, hand-printed woodcuts, etchings, lithographs, monoprints and screenprints from UNL undergraduates, graduate students and printmaking faculty. Buy directly from the artists at affordable prices (most prints are under $75).

This sale supports the Lincoln Print Group, a UNL organization that supports printmaking events, student travel and visiting artists.

Studio Art Exhibition March 4-16

The UNL Department of Art and Art History Annual Undergraduate Studio Art Exhibition opens March 4 in the Eisentrager·Howard Gallery in Richards Hall and closes March 16. A variety of media will be shown, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, ceramics, printmaking, graphic design, illustration and mixed media.

An opening reception will be from 5-7 p.m. March 4. Awards will be presented at the reception. UNL alum Judith Burton is the juror for this competitive juried exhibition.

Holloway, Gann in faculty recitals March 3

The School of Music will present two faculty recitals on March 3 at Kimball Recital Hall.

The first features Peggy A. Holloway, soprano, at 3 p.m. The second features Becky Gann, saxophone, at 7:30 p.m.

Holloway's performance is titled Fairest Isles: A Celebration of the Music of the British Isles. The repertoire will include Fairest Isle by Henry Purcell, How beautiful are the feet of them from Messiah by G.F. Handel, The Salley Gardens (Irish) arranged by Benjamin Britten, and others. Joining Holloway will be Michael Cotton, piano, Michael Cochran, tenor, Paul Roberts, violin, as well as Alexis Berggren, Anne Chittenden, Kelli Fehringer, Amy Groathouse and Jennifer Krecklow.

Gann will be joined by Anthony Falcone, marimba, Beth Winterfeldt, piano, and Ron Gann, tenor saxophone, for an evening of music that will include selections from Song Book for Alto Saxophone and Marimba (1998) by David Maslanka, Sonata (1939) by Paul Creston, and The Miltmore Waltzes (2001) by Randall Snyder.

Both events are free and open to the public.