'Mamma Roma' Coming to Ross Theater

In its first time ever U.S. theatrical release, Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1962 masterpiece Mamma Roma will be showing for two days only, Nov. 9-10, at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater. The film will be shown at 7 and 9 p.m. each day. For more information call 2-5353.

Video Highlights New Lentz Center Exhibit

The Lentz Center for Asian Culture will open its autumn exhibit with a special feature -- a video highlighting the collection, captured in vivid color and detail by ETV photographer John Beck. The video will premiere at 2 p.m. Nov. 12.

In addition to highlighting and discussing specific objects, most of which will be on exhibit, the video is designed to share the goals of the late Donald and Velma Lentz. The Lentzes became deeply interested in Asia during 10 study trips.

The Lentzes were both musicians and began their collection with musical instruments. In honor of their contributions to music at the University of Nebraska, the video will begin and end with a musical instrument valued for its physical beauty and elaborate decoration as well as its function in producing the unique sounds of its particular culture.

The video and the exhibit also include works of art from many parts of Asia that were given by other donors. A gilded bronze Buddha from Thailand, four Chinese ceramics which span in time from the fourth millennium B.C. to the 18th century, Japanese prints and a gold-embroidered robe will grace the video and the exhibition, as will delicately carved ivories.

The exhibition will feature additional highlights such as Tibetan chorten (reliquary), a prayer rug, and recent gifts of Chinese ceramics, woodcarving and bamboo not yet shown to the public.

The Lentz Center will be closed Oct. 31-Nov. 4 for the installation of the new exhibit.

The Lentz Center for Asian Culture is located in 329 Morrill Hall.

Late 20th Century Abstraction Focus of Sheldon Exhibit

The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery will presentCritiques of Pure Abstraction, a traveling exhibition organized and circulated by Independent Curators Incorporated (ICI), New York. The exhibition opens at the Sheldon Gallery Nov. 8 and continues through Jan. 7.

Critiques of Pure Abstraction features paintings, photographs, and sculpture by 20 contemporary artists. In this exhibition guest curator Mark Rosenthal, curator of 20th century art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., examines late 20th-century abstraction and the critical attitude of two generations of artists toward abstraction and its tenets.

The artists in the exhibition practice abstraction but have distanced themselves from previous forms that they regard as irrelevant and empty. Unwilling to accept the canons of abstraction on faith, they deliberately confront and question its attitudes, visual attributes, conventions and totems. With irony, wit and irreverence, they manipulate and parody abstraction's practices and style to better reflect the world and sometimes to impart social meaning to abstract painting.

The continued commitment to abstraction by the artists in this exhibition demonstrates that it remains a viable, if debated, option in the face of competing styles and movements, and an appropriate vehicle for the expression of a contemporary outlook some 85 years after its birth.

Artists represented in the exhibition are Richard Artschwager, John Baldessari, Jonathan Borofsky, Daniel Buren, Jasper Johns, Bruce Nauman and Nam June Paik (early proponents of a critical approach to abstraction), as well as Ross Bleckner, Peter Halley, Mary Heilmann, Rachel Lachowicz, Jonathan Lasker, Annette Lemieux, Sherrie Levine, Allan McCollum, Mark Milloff, David Reed, David Row, Andres Serrano and Rosemarie Trockel.

A 10-minute video narrated by Rosenthal will serve as an introduction to the exhibition. Also, a full color catalogue with an essay by Rosenthal accompanies the exhibition.

In addition to Philip Morris Companies Inc., the exhibition is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Foundation-To-Life, Inc., with additional support form the ICI International Associates. Local support for Critiques of Pure Abstraction is provided by the Nebraska Art Association. Additional support is provided by the Nebraska Arts Council.

Barnes Concert Nov. 5 Features Barber Music

The UNL School of Music will present pianist Paul Barnes in a lecture and recital titled "Samuel Barber -- The Complete Solo Piano Music" at 8 p.m. Nov. 5 in Kimball Recital Hall. Admission is free.

This provocative recital presents the theme of the "dance of history," a process where the composer and performer reveal the spiritual and intellectual richness of the musical past by recreating that past for contemporary audiences.

As a creative example of this historical dance, the solo piano repertoire of Samuel Barber is explored. Interpreting the musical worlds of Chopin, Beethoven and American folk music, Barber creatively explores the musical past to create a unique but accessible musical language for the 20th century.

Pianist Paul Barnes is co-chair of the piano department at the UNL School of Music. Barnes also performs a lecture and recital, Liszt and the Cross: Music as Sacrament in the B Minor Sonata , and will be featured at the 1996 MTNA National Convention in Kansas City.

Inter-Collegiate Choral Festival Celebrates 10th Year

Six Nebraska collegiate choirs will sing separately and together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Nebraska Inter-Collegiate Choral Festival at 5 p.m. Nov. 4 in O'Donnell Auditorium on the Nebraska Wesleyan campus. The festival's guest conductor-clinician is Simon Carrington, founding member of the internationally acclaimed King's Singers and newly appointed professor of music and artist-in-residence at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Admission is free and the public is cordially invited.

Co-founded by professors James Hejduk and Carolee Curtright of UNL in 1986, the UNL and Nebraska Wesleyan choirs have formed the foundation of this annual event. While exposing Nebraska collegiate singers to such renowned choral pedagogues as Dale Warland, Rene Clausen, Don Moses, William Hatcher, and Constantina Tsolainou, the biggest advantage has been to the singers who rarely get the chance to hear each others' choirs. The concert is an opportunity for choral aficionados hear many fine college choirs for free.

Participating in the anniversary concert will be the UNL University Singers, the UNL Chorale, the Nebraska Wesleyan University Choir, the Doane College Choir, the UNO Concert Choir and the chorus from McCook Community College. In past years, regular participants have included the Hastings College Choir, the Wayne State Concert Choir, the UNK Choraliers and the Dana College Choral. Other choirs have included those of Union College, Grace University and Creighton University.

On Nov. 4, Simon Carrington will work with each individual choir throughout the day on selections of their choice as well as rehearse with the massed choirs. The 5 p.m. concert will feature each choir in a 15-minute mini-concert and Carrington will conclude the festival conducting the massed choirs in Insanae et vanae curae by Franz Josef Haydn.

Clinton/Narboni Duo to Compete in Competition

The UNL School of Music has announced that The Clinton/Narboni Duo (UNL faculty pianists Mark Clinton and Nicole Narboni) will be among ten duo teams competing in the Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition in Miami, Fla. from Dec. 16-22, 1995.

They were selected from 30 applicants who participated in live screening auditions in Paris, New York and Chicago during September. Over 194 application inquiries were received by the Dranoff competition from 35 countries and 29 states. For the final rounds in Miami, the Clinton/Narboni Duo will perform two recitals of music for two pianos, a recital for piano four-hands, and two concertos with orchestra. The first prize winner will receive $10,000 and concerts arranged by the Murray Dranoff Foundation during upcoming seasons.

For questions regarding these Scarlet pages, contact:
dtaurins@unlinfo.unl.edu
(402) 472-8518, Fax: (402) 472-7825