November 1, 1996



Steve Turre Shells Out Mellow New Sounds at Lied


By Peggy Strain
News & Information

For most people, conch shells are nautical prizes to be ferreted from the sand on a distant beach vacation. But jazz performer Steve Turre (shown at right) will bring his soothing yet swinging choir of the seashells and their mysterious, primeval sounds to the Lied Center for Performing Arts at 8 p.m. Nov. 15.

If you're tired of the same old music, Steve Turre and Sanctified Shells offer a jazz adventure with a crunchy granola, Whole Earth aura. The 12-member ensemble provides an exotic, other-worldly and ancient sound that is completely new to today's audiences. His musical innovation deftly blends Latin jazz, hard bop, a variety of exotic folk music and the uncommon grace of a seashell choir.

The sound is oddly pleasing and has been described as a cross between humming and a trombone, mysterious or fiery on command. The warm sound has a full resonance and envelops you wherever you are in the room and seems to come from the bottom of the sea and yet the beginning of time.

"The first time I blew into the shell, it made me tingle. I realized I had to get one," said the pony-tailed Turre, whose "day job" is as one of the cats in the hats in the band on Saturday Night Live. Shells were used in ancient times as ritual music and Turre's mother brought him his first when she returned from a Hawaiian vacation. He now has about 30 shells and each has a different pitch and tone and mainly are used for orchestral coloring to lend a spiritual vibe to his music.

Turre's nifty shell game ensemble features six trombonists who double on shells, an African-American percussionist, Latin percussionist, saxophone, trumpet, bass and piano.

While in Lincoln, the band will present a lecture and demonstration to high school and college music students in Lincoln, working with Lincoln Southeast High School students at their school at 1 p.m. Nov. 15 and later that afternoon at the UNL School of Music, says Gail McNair, director of outreach programs for the Lied Center.

Tickets for Steve Turre and Sanctified Shells are $24, $20 and $16. Students with valid identification at UNL, Wesleyan University and Doane College and youth 18 and under may purchase half price tickets. The Lied Center box office is open for walk-in sales weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 90 minutes before the performance. Phone orders may be placed by calling 472-4747 or 1 -800-432-3231.

David E. Sharp, UNL jazz studies director, will offer a 15-minute pre-performance talk in the Lied Center's Steinhart Room 55 minutes and 35 minutes before the 8 p.m. performance.

"Emily Dickinson" by David Routon, Graphite and Crayon

Evening of Music, Emily Dickinson Nov. 24

"A Musical Evening of Emily Dickinson" will be presented at 8 p.m. Nov. 24 in Kimball Recital Hall. Admission is free.

Introduced by Chancellor James Moeser, the gala concert will feature solo songs on texts by Dickinson and a premiere work for soprano and chamber ensemble by UNL composer Randall Snyder titled A Route of Evanescence. Snyder has set letters and poems by Dickinson as texts for this work. Finally, the gala concert will end with choral works for women's chorus on Dickinson texts. The UNL Chorale, under the direction of Carolee Curtright, will present these works.

The gala concert will be supplemented by the screening of Magic Prison, a short art film about Dickinson incorporating an original musical score by composer Ezra Laderman, at 6:45 p.m. in 119 Westbrook Music Building.

Following the film there will be an opportunity to view articles from the Lowenberg Collection in the Music Library, located in the basement of Westbrook. Additionally, five sets of sketches by UNL artist David Routon will be displayed in the basement of Kimball Recital Hall. These sketches are based upon existing photos of Emily Dickinson and her intimate circle of family and friends.

This event is jointly sponsored by the UNL School of Music and Friends of Love Library in commemoration of The Lowenberg Collection of Emily Dickinson Materials, which was donated to the UNL Libraries by Cliffs Charitable Foundation.

Two's Good Company With Rajeckas & Intraub

Satirists Rajeckas & Intraub aren't easily pigeonholed, but have been likened to Laurel and Hardy fast forwarded to the '90s. They evoke laughter with mime and movement and will bring their own special brand of sophisticated humor to the Johnny Carson Theater at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, at 8 p.m. Nov. 21, 22 and 23.

Rajeckas & Intraub draw heavily on mime in their work, which is funny, insightful and often poignant. They are minimalists, performing on a bare stage with just their own dialogue and monologue and an occasional soundtrack. Sometimes reminiscent of Woody Allen, they are exuberant, even when the subject matter is serious. Theirs has been dubbed "movement theater," and what they do best is provoke audiences to consider familiar topics in new ways with humor that bites.

For example, there has been Intraub's character of a shark-like mechanic who manipulates a polite car owner into spending more than necessary, reeling him in with guilt as if he were a fish. Or his enactment of a cartoonish dialogue between a couple who debate "trying it one more time" before they admit "it's over." Another past skit, "Brotherly Love," depicts the complexity and pain of sibling relationships.

The two discovered they worked well together in drama class at the State University of New York at Stony Brook where both were psychology majors. "Amazingly enough, this is how we support ourselves," quips Intraub.

They're filling small theaters around the country with their cutting-edge humor and astute skits concocted by the two and sometimes collaborator Jonathan Wolken.

"One thing I can tell you is that at the end, you'll be sorry that it's over and wish there were more," wrote one critic. He echoed the belief of reviewers that Rajeckas and Intraub seldom outlast their welcome with audiences around the country.

Tickets for Rajeckas and Intraub are $14 with half price tickets available for those under 18 and under and UNL, Doane and Wesleyan students with valid identification. The Lied Center box office is open 60 minutes before the performances and weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for walk-in sales. Phone orders may be placed by calling 472-4747 or 1 -800-432-3231.

Rajeckas & Intraub will be appearing as part of the Lied Center's ongoing New Voices series. New Voices programs are designed to incorporate meaningful outreach experiences, targeted toward audience members aged 12 to 21. During their visit to Nebraska, Rajeckas & Intraub will be performing outreach education activities in Omaha and in Lincoln at two high schools and on the UNL campus.



She Can Act, Too

Former Blondie lead singer Deborah Harry (shown at left) makes an appearance in Heavy, opening at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater on Nov. 7. The film stars Liv Tyler as a stunning young woman, who, plunked down among a group of ordinary people, changes their lives.

In James Mangold's Heavy, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Direction at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, the life changed is that of Victor (Pruitt Taylor Vince), a big, shy guy who works in a dingy diner run by his mother, played by Shelley Winters.

Heavy is showing Nov. 7 through 10 and on Nov. 14 through 16. Check the Scarlet calendar for show times.





Guest Pianist to Perform at Westbrook Nov. 7

The School of Music at the will present guest artist Sergio de los Cobos, piano, at 5 p.m. Nov. 7 in 119 Westbrook Music Building. Admission is free.

For his program, de los Cobos has selected Beethoven's Sonata in F Major, Debussy's Images, Albeniz's Iberia: Book I, and Liszt's Rhapsodie espagnole.

Sergio de los Cobos was born of a Russian mother and a Spanish father in Geneva, Switzerland, where he began his musical studies.

His career as a soloist has taken him across the United States and Europe where he has appeared with American orchestras such as the Houston Symphony and the Santa Fe Symphony; while in Europe he has performed with the Spanish Radio-Television Symphony, the Marchigiana Philharmonic of Italy, and the Zurich Symphony Orchestra. Prior years took him to Paris, where he made his debut in 1981, and to London where he performed a solo program at the South Bank Centre in 1987. His first major appearance was in 1979, when he received the coveted invitation to perform a recital at the prestigious Palais de Nations, the European headquarters for the United Nations.

Additionally, de los Cobos has enjoyed performing in summer festivals, the most widely known being the Aspen Music Festival and the Bergen International Music Festival (Norway).

In addition to his activities as a soloist, de los Cobos is also interested in chamber music. He coordinates the Chamber Music Program at the Verbier Music Festival in Switzerland. He has had a long standing collaboration with other instrumentalists with whom he performs regularly. His interest in a varied repertoire has led him to take part in different projects, from recording Mozart's E-flat Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, to his membership with the Ionos Quartet, a two piano/percussion ensemble.

Sacred Arts of Tibet Exhibit Opens at Lentz Center

Buddhist monks from the Sera Je Monastery in India will create a sand mandala as part of the "Sacred Arts of Tibet" exhibit at the Lentz Center for Asian Culture at UNL.

The Mandala of Hayagriva is a sand painting from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, representing the sacred realm of a deity and serving as a spiritual art form and meditation aid.

Opening ceremonies for the creation of the mandala will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Lentz Center, 329 Morrill Hall, 14th and U streets on the UNL city campus. The monks will work on the mandala during the open hours of the Lentz Center for seven days, performing chants and ritual activities that are part of the mandala's creation.

Barbara Banks, Lentz Center curator, said visitors will be able to watch this unique presentation. After it is finished, the mandala will be destroyed Nov. 9 in another spiritual ceremony.
In addition to the mandala, 50 Tibetan art objects from the Lentz Center's permanent collection will be on display through March 2, including Tibetan Buddhist ritual objects, bronze statues, musical instruments, jewelry and paintings on cloth.

The Lentz Center is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays from 1:30-4 p.m. There is no admission fee to the Lentz Center or the University of Nebraska State Museum in Morrill Hall, but a donation of $1 is suggested for visitors over the age of 2. Parking is available near the museum.

Poet McFerren to Give Reading Nov. 7

Martha McFerren will give a reading at 7 p.m. Nov. 7 in the English Department Lounge, 228 Andrews Hall.

Martha McFerren is the author of four books of poetry: Women in Cars, Contours For Ritual, Get Me Out of Here!, and Delusions Of A Popular Mind. Her poems have appeared in Georgia Review, Kansas Quarterly, The Literary Review, Missouri Review, Poetry Northwest, Southern Review, and many other journals.

Her awards include Fellowships from the NEA and the Louisiana State Arts Council and the Marianne Moore Prize.

The reading is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the UNL Department of English, Women's Studies Program and Faculty Convocations Committee. For more information call 472-0993.

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