1999 GP Symposium Celebrates Music and Dance of the Great Plains

By Linda Ratcliffe, Center for Great Plains Studies

Music and dance are synonymous with life, and they most definitely are a part of Plains life. Is there something special about the music and dance of the Great Plains? How might it reflect environment and culture? How has it changed over time? How has it influenced the national fine arts movements in both the United States and Canada, and conversely how have national music and dance trends infiltrated the Plains?

Two years ago a group of people gathered at the University of Nebraska's Center for Great Plains Studies to begin planning an event that might answer these questions - an event well beyond the normal scope of the Center's annual interdisciplinary symposium. This event would encompass not just scholarly papers, but would be a celebration of performances by well-known musicians and dancers representing the diverse cultural and ethnic populations on the Great Plains. It would reach audiences of many cultural, ethnic, and racial heritages, and it would reach into the schools to bring visionary and participatory experiences to Nebraska's youth.

The "Great Plains Music & Dance Festival and Symposium" will be held April 5-11 and is being co-chaired by Ron Bowlin, director of Kimball Hall, and Randall Snyder, professor of music, and a planning committee of knowledgable and dedicated volunteers, a collaboration of organizations eager to be part of this ambitious program, and performers willing and excited to demonstrate their craft and heritage to an audience thirsting for this opportunity

Center Director James Stubbendieck said, "This festival and 23rd annual symposium is an integral part of the mission of the Center for Great Plains Studies to explore the many different facets of life on the Great Plains. We are excited to be able to bring these performances to Lincoln."

The programs will include African-American Gospel, Kansas City-style jazz, Mexican-American Conjunto bands, Native American drum and dance groups and contemporary bands, community bands, modern composers, Czech bands, German folk music, Irish folk music, modern dance groups, contemporary opera, and traditional western bands.

The performance schedule is developing in collaboration with site organizers who are welcoming the opportunity to assist in bringing great musicians or dancers to their venues.

The Lied Center for Performing Arts is one of the collaborating institutions for the festival. Two of its 1998-99 season offerings are part of the festival. The Danny Grossman Dance Company, a Canadian modern dance group, will perform "Lynchtown" choreographed by the late Charles Weidman, a Nebraska-born modern dance master. In addition, they have been commissioned to create a new dance piece specifically for the Great Plains Music & Dance Festival, which will premiere at the Lied April 9.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock along with the Texas Playboys will demonstrate the West Texas ballad tradition on April 11 at the Lied Center.

Sponsors for the performances and the symposium include the Canadian Consulate, the Office of the Chancellor; the College of Fine & Performing Arts, the Cooper Foundation, Duncan Aviation, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Humanities Council, School at the Center Project, UNITE, and the Woods Charitable Fund.

"We have set out to celebrate the diversity and richness of music and dance on the plains," said Bowlin. "It's a celebration to raise public awareness of the diversity of our music and dance heritage in the Great Plains and to understand that music is a form of human expression, a celebration of life, whether it be at a barn dance, a symphony, a powwow, a polka, or in church."

For a complete list of performance activities, contact the center at 472-3082.

The following is a listing of performances and symposium sessions, sites, and fees.

Performance Schedule April 5

o Lincoln Community Band Concert, 7:30 p.m., Kimball Recital Hall (free)

Performance Schedule April 6

o Kansas City Legacy: Nebraska Jazz Orchestra and the Young Lions with Claude "Fiddler" Williams, 7:30 p.m., Lincoln Holiday Inn, 141 N. Ninth St., Obtain tickets from 216 No. 11th Street, Ste. 202 or at the door. Adults $12, Seniors (65+) $9, and Students $5

o Opera Excerpts, 8 p.m., Carson Theater, 301 No. 12th (free)

Performance Schedule April 7

o Indigenous and John Trudell with his band Bad Dog, 8 p.m. Nebraska Union, ($5 Students, $10 General Admission. Tickets available at Union Information Desk or at the door)

Performance Schedule April 8

o Violin recital and dedication, 8 p.m., Kimball Hall

o Colorado River Boys and Ron Nadherny Band, 8 p.m., Pla Mor Ballroom, 6600 W. O St. ($5 for Symposium Participants, $8 General Admission. Tickets available at the door or by calling Pla Mor 475-4030)

Performance Schedule April 9

o Bovee, Heil & Lamb, 7:30 p.m., 7th Street Loft, 512 S. Seventh St. Admission: $5 Symposium Participants, $8 LAFTA Members, $10 General Admisssion.

o Danny Grossman Dance Company, 8 p.m., Lied Center, 301 N. 12th St. Tickets $30 for symposium participants.

o Texas Playboys, 9 p.m., Pla Mor Ballroom, 6600 W. O St. $5 for Symposium Participants, $10 General Admission. Tickets available at the door or by calling Pla Mor 475-4030.

SYMPOSIUM Schedule April 9

Cornhusker Hotel & Burnham Yates Conference Center, Lower Lobby, 333 S. 13th St.

12:30 ­ 2 pm, Concurrent Sessions

Session 1A ­ Arbor Room I

o Traditional Pipe Organ Building at the End of the 20th Century ­ Gene Bedient, Lincoln, Neb.

o Violin Making: 18th Century Italian Traditions on the Great Plains ­ David Wiebe, David City, Neb.

Session 1B ­ Arbor Room II

o The Omaha Gospel Complex in Historical Perspective ­ Tom Jack, Omaha, Neb.

o The History of Black Gospel Music in the Midwest ­ Pauline Smith, Omaha, Neb.

Session 1C ­ Hawthorne Room

o Creation of a Commissioned Dance - Danny Grossman, Danny Grossman Dance Company, Toronto, Canada

2:30 ­ 4 pm, Concurrent Sessions

Session 2A ­ Arbor Room I

o Contemporary Native Music ­ Panel Presentation: John Gregg, Lincoln, Neb., Eric Martin, Lincoln, Neb., Harlan McKosato, Albuquerque, N.M.

Session 2B ­ Arbor Room II

o Kansas City Jazz on the Plains: A Cinematic Survey ­ Charles Berg, University of Kansas

o Ethnicity and Music Theatre: The Collaborations of H.B. Alexander and H.P. Eames ­ Robert S. Haller, University of Nebraska

Session 2C ­ Hawthorne Room

o The Work of Charles Weidman ­ Panel Presentation: Pamela Grundy, Danny Grossman Dance Company Toronto, Canada; Lisa Fusillo, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Josephine Metal-Corbin, University of Nebraska at Omaha

6:30 - 7:30 pm, Keynote Address; Kimball Recital Hall

o "Tonight We'll Dance by the Light of the Moon . . .", Roger Welsch, Dannebrog, Neb.

Performance Schedule April 10

o Academic Music: Carolyn Bremer, University of Oklahoma; Walter Mays, University of Cincinnati; Cindy McTee, University of North Texas; Charles Hoag, University of Kansas; Randall Snyder, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 3 p.m., Kimball Recital Hall, UNL (free)

o Juan Tejeda and El Conjunto Aztlan Band, 9 p.m., Ironside Banquet Hall, 1511 Centerpark Rd. $3 Students, $5 General Admission.

o North Drums, South Drums, and Dancers. Northern Cree Drum and the Red Land Singers, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. for both Drums; 3:30 - 5 p.m. South Drum and Dancers. Scottish Rite Temple, 332 S. Centennial Mall (free).

SYMPOSIUM Schedule April 10

8 - 9:30 am, Concurrent Sessions

Session 3A ­ Arbor Room I

o American Indian Song and Dance Traditions - Panel Presentation

o Dancing At the Fair: The Anadarko, Oklahoma American Indian Exposition and the Beginnings of the Contemporary Southern Plains Powwow, 1931-1950 ­ Clyde Ellis, Elon College, N.C.

o Healing and Remembrance: The Chiricahua Mountain Spirit Dance in Oklahoma ­ Clifford P. Coppersmith, College of Eastern Utah

o Considering Hymns: Native American Christian Identity on the Southern Plains ­ Luke Lassiter, Ball State University, Muncie, Ind.

Session 3B ­ Arbor Room II

o The Musical Landscape of Sinclair Ross's "As For Me and My House" ­ Philip R. Coleman-Hull, Bethany College, Kan.

o Margaret Laurence's Silent "Album": Divining for Missing Links and Deeper Meanings ­ Wes Mantooth, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

o Dissonance and Harmony: Musical Variations in Mari Sandoz's "Old Jules" ­ Dan Holtz, Peru State College, Peru, Neb.

Session 3C ­ Hawthorne Room

o Ethnicity and Regionalism: The Dynamics of Polka in the Heartland ­ Richard March, Wisconsin Arts Board, Madison, Wis.

o The Dutch Hop ­ Tim Kloberdanz, North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D.

9:45 - 11:15 am, Concurrent Sessions

Session 4A ­ Arbor Room I

o A Rock-bottom American Song: The Unsung Verses of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" ­ Lisa Knopp, Lincoln, Neb.

o Chanting and Aria: Gertrude Bonnin and the Sun Dance Opera ­ P. Jane Hafen, University of Nevada-Las Vegas

o Jesse Ed Davis: Plains Musician ­ Akim D. Reinhardt, University of Nebraska

Session 4B ­ Arbor Room II

o Willa Cather and Musical Translations ­ Panel Presentation: Tyler White, University of Nebraska; Susan Rosowski, University of Nebraska; David Breckbill, Doane College

Session 4C ­ Hawthorne Room

o Shaking the Bars on All the Canary Cages: Community Bands in Nebraska and Alberta ­ Francis W. Kaye, University of Nebraska

o Traditional Dance Tunes and Songs ­ Bob Bovee, Spring Grove, Minn.; Gail Heil, Spring Grove, Minn.; and Dwight "Red" Lamb, Onawa, Iowa

11:30 am -1 pm, Concurrent Sessions

Session 5A ­ Arbor Room I

o Tejano Music ­ Panel Presentation: Rose Cobos, Scottsbluff, Neb.; Ramon Hernandez, Omaha, Neb.; Juan Tejeda, San Antonio, Texas

Session 5B ­ Arbor Room II

o This Week at the Opera House: Popular Entertainment at Great Plains Opera Houses, 1887-1917 ­ Layne Ehlers, Bethany College, W. Va.

o More Sweetness Than Light? Literary Criticism and Lakota Social Song Poetry, R. D. Theisz, Black Hills State University, S.D.

Session 5C ­ Hawthorne Room

o The Panhandle Mystery ­ Why Lubbock? ­ John Conquest, Austin, Texas

o Ranch Dance Fiddle Tunes of the Texas Panhandle ­ Lanny Fiel, Lubbock, Texas

1 - 3 p.m., Luncheon ­ Lancaster Room

o West Texas Music ­ Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore

Performance Schedule April 11

o Texas Playboys with Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock, 2 p.m., Lied Center, 301 N. 12th St. Tickets $21 for Symposium Participants.

o Gospel Celebration, 5 p.m., St. Paul United Methodist Church, 1144 M St. (free).

o Contraband, 7 p.m., Auld Rec Center, 3140 Sumner St. $5 Cover Charge.

Registration: Advance registration fee for the symposium is $60. All breaks, Friday evening reception and the Saturday luncheon are included in this fee. All fees are payable in U.S. funds. Students receive complimentary registration to the symposium sessions (luncheon not included). A valid student ID is required on-site registration only. Contact the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska, 1213 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0314. Phone: 402/472-3082. Fax: 402/472-0463. Email: cgps@unlinfo.unl.edu. Webpage: http://www.unl.edu/plains/1 999symp.htm.

Celebrate an Old-Fashioned Holiday with the Silver Cornet Band

It's a real old-fashioned holiday when Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band takes to the Lied Center stage for an 8 p.m. concert Dec. 22. It's like setting your pocket watch back 100 years and enjoying the ride.

Since 1978, The Silver Cornet Band has revived an American musical tradition, bringing to life a vanished era wiped out by 20th Century "progress." The show is a re-creation of an actual small-town band and the town of Lynchburg, Tenn., seems to come to call, complete with gazebos and front-porch rocking chairs. Homespun humor and period costumes will take you home for the holidays with a performance of "Hometown Christmas." "Perfesser" Marcus Arnold narrates this charming performance of nearly two dozen Christmas carols and other holiday favorites.

In 1892, Mr. Jack Daniel decided his hometown of Lynchburg, Tenn., needed a band. So he hustled up some instruments and gave them to the barber, the banker, the smithy and even distillery workers. Daniel waited for the music to occur and soon enough, Lynchburg had a band, just like the 15,000 other small-town bands at the turn of the century. This band's amateur players tootled tubas and cornets at political rallies and summer concerts in the bandshell for more than 20 years before band concerts fell from favor as the new-fangled radio became the rage.

Writer-director Dave Fulmer began research in 1972 to re-create the band, after he became intrigued by a faded photograph of the original band in front of a Lynchburg saloon. A year and half later, after scrounging up period instruments, the band was reborn, playing orchestrations by Greig McRitchie.

With many national tours, several recordings and a couple of PBS performances under their belts, Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band is sure to make your 1998 holidays memorable.

Pre-performance entertainment will be provided by the North Bend Community Band.

Tickets for the performance are $26, $22 and $18. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Doane College students and youth 18 and younger with proper identification can purchase tickets for half-price.

Call the Lied Box Office at 472-4747 or toll free, (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability. Box Office hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. On performance weekdays, the Box Office is open from 11 a.m. through the first intermission. For evening performances on weekends, the Box Office opens at 3 p.m.

Holiday Programming on Nebraska Public Radio

A festive mix of traditional and contemporary holiday programs comes to the Nebraska Public Radio Network during the month of December.

The celebration begins at 8:45 p.m. Dec. 14 with "The Chanukkah Story," a musical documentary joyously celebrating triumph over repression. From Ladino songs of the Spanish Jews and Yiddish melodies of Eastern Europe to Israeli tunes, Jews and non-Jews alike will revel in this inspiring story of a miracle.

Tune in for a Winter Solstice special when "Christmas Revels: A Celebration of the Winter Solstice 1998," airs at 8:45 p.m. Dec. 22. Listeners hear English Medieval and Renaissance carols along with Appalachian carols, African-American gospels and Shaker songs.

A grand holiday tradition continues when the "Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" airs at 9 a.m. Dec. 24. The BBC, Minnesota Public Radio and Public Radio International present this world-famous Christmas Eve service from King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England. The transatlantic live broadcast is now entering its 16th year.

Also at 12:10 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. Dec. 24, NPRN host Lora Black encores her popular readings of Willa Cather's "My Antonia Christmas" and Bess Streeter Aldrich's "Stars Across the Track."

Christmas Day programming will begin at 9 a.m. with "Home for the Holidays," an encore broadcast of the Eaken Piano Trio performing instrumental arrangements of favorite carols and featuring prominent Americans who share their memories of holidays past.

At 12:10 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., NPRN host Lora Black will read holiday stories from Nebraska authors Bess Streeter Aldrich and Mari Sandoz.

The Nebraska Public Radio Network broadcasts on the following frequencies: Alliance/91.1 FM; Bassett/90.3 FM; Chadron/91.9 FM; Columbus/90.3 FM; Falls City/91.7 FM; Harrison/89.5 FM; Hastings/Grand Island/89.1 FM; Lexington/88.7 FM; Lincoln/90.9 FM; Max/93.3 FM; McCook/92.7 FM; Merriman/91.5 FM; Norfolk/89.3 FM and North Platte/91.7 FM.

Orchestras Perform Music of Nielsen, Bach, Mozart, Ravel

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Tyler White, will present their final performance of the fall semester at 8 p.m. Dec. 12 in Kimball Recital Hall. The Symphony Orchestra will present one of the most dramatic showpieces of the early 20th century symphonic repertoire: Carl Nielsen's monumental Symphony No. 4, The Inextinguishable. Composed in 1914-16 as a response to the horrors of World War I, The Inextinguishable is a heroic affirmation of the power of life over forces of violence and death.

The Chamber Orchestra will be joined by university faculty soloists, William McMullen, oboe, and David C. Neely, violin, in a performance of J.S. Bach's Double Concerto in C minor. The Chamber Orchestra will also perform Maurice Ravel's renowned Pavane for a Dead Princess and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's youthful Divertimento No. 1 in E-flat. The Mozart Divertimento, written when its composer was 15 years old, will be conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Orchestras' graduate associate conductor, Benjamin Welden Carlisle.

Planetarium Space Film Fest Dec. 12

In connection with the Star Station One project, Mueller Planetarium will present a Space Film Festival Dec. 12. The one-day event will feature films concerning space exploration - both documentaries and dramatizations. The films will be shown in Ralph Mueller Planetarium via laserdisk and DVD video. Admission to all films is free (donations of $2 are suggested for Morrill Hall visitors over the age of 2). The International Space Station model will be on display in the planetarium lobby.

The schedule is:

• 9:35 a.m., International Space Station: A New Star Dawns (17 min.)
• 10 a.m., From the Earth to the Moon: Le Voyage dans la Lune (Apollo 17) (54 min.)
• 11 a.m., Apollo 13 (140 min.)
• 1:25 p.m., International Space Station: Go for Launch (11 min.)
• 3 p.m., For All Mankind, Apollo program in the words of the astronauts (79 min.)

There is one laser show on the public schedule of the Planetarium Saturday. "Christmas Laser Fantasy," featuring the music of Mannheim Steamroller, is not part of the film festival and there is a charge for admission.

Star Station One is an informal public education program focused on the International Space Station created and managed by the Bishop Museum of Honolulu, Space Center Houston and the Boeing Co. Activities will include space station models, live demonstrations, supporting educational materials and workshops and training. The University of Nebraska State Museum, through its NASA Educator Resource Center and the Ralph Mueller Planetarium, is one of 61 museums, science centers and planetariums across the country who are partners in this multi-year program.

For more information, contact Jack Dunn, planetarium coordinator, at 472-2641.

Welsch Hosts Lawyer Woody Bradford

Learn about the legal scene in Nebraska when Omaha lawyer Woody Bradford, president of the Nebraska Bar Association, appears at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 18 on Roger Welsch & on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network.

Welsch comments, "Have you heard any good lawyer jokes lately? You can bet my guest this week has heard them all. As president of the Nebraska Bar Association, which regulates Nebraska lawyers, Woody Bradford knows that many aren't held in the highest esteem. We'll talk to Bradford to see if they're getting a bum rap and hear about what lawyers in our state are doing to change the image of the legal profession."

First-Plymouth's Lied Organ Celebration to Air on Nebraska ETV

Nebraska Showcase will feature the 6,500-pipe Lied Organ in Lincoln's First-Plymouth Congregational Church in a Lied Organ Celebration, at 9 p.m. Dec. 18 on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network. In addition to its beauty, the new Lied Organ, with four manual pipes and 110 rank pipes is special because of its versatility. Pipes as long as 28 feet and as narrow as 3/8-inch in diameter provide a range of tones. This magnificent organ was built at a cost of $2.1 million, a large portion of which was underwritten by the Lied Foundation.

The concert features Abendmusik's artistic director and First-Plymouth's music director Jack Levick, conducting the Abendmusik Chorus, the Westminster Choir, the Nebraska Wesleyan University Choir, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, soloists and guest organist Todd Wilson.

Wilson is director of music and organist at The Church of the Covenant, a Presbyterian church in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is in charge of a program of choirs and a concert series. He is also head of the Organ Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Pieces included in the program were selected to show the Lied Organ in concert with choir and orchestra.

Ice Fishing Featured on Outdoor Nebraska Dec. 17

Experience the exhilaration of a frosty and calm winter day at Pelican Lake when Outdoor Nebraska airs at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17. The outdoor news magazine series on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network repeats on at 8 a.m. Dec. 19.

Several ice anglers prove why this Sandhills lake is one of the best for bluegill. Outdoor Nebraska also takes viewers along for a family reunion that takes place annually at a deer camp. For the Winkler clan of North Platte the motto is "the family that hunts together stays together."

In the "Wilderness Workshop" segment, outdoor expert Dick Turpin will show viewers how to turn an empty coffee mug upside down to sharpen a pocket or field knife - assuming the mug doesn't get refilled.

In the "Nature Walk" segment, Geoff Talmon passes along some tips for outdoor preparedness - things that should be done before you leave the house and items that should accompany you at all times in the woods.

And this week's "Nebraskaland Moment" features videography of one of Nebraska's grandest cascades: the thunderous Snake River Falls southwest of Valentine.