Report of the Committee for Public Events, 1999-2000

The members of the Committee for Public Events in 1999-2000 were M. Cavanagh, A. Civettini ’01, L. Czechowski (first semester), G. Dentel, M. Kennedy ’00, D. Smith (chair), A. Vishevsky (second semester), and D. Whisler ’00.

The Committee presented five events during the year: Jane Comfort and Company in Roberts Theatre on October 30; The New York Philomusica with Robert Levin, piano, in Herrick Chapel on November 13; The Drummers of West Africa in Roberts Theatre on February 2; Nnenna Frelon, jazz singer, in Herrick Chapel on April 13; and Nicholas Daniel, oboe and Julius Drake, piano, in Sebring-Lewis Hall on April 20. The last-mentioned event was the Committee’s inaugural one in Sebring-Lewis Hall, and the Committee felt especially pleased to begin there its own program of events with a recital of such exceptionally high quality. The Jane Comfort Company and Mr. Drake also gave master classes for students in dance and piano respectively. These classes appear to have been much appreciated by those students who took advantage of them.

The Committee was also happy to collaborate with the Department of Music in presenting the Waverly Consort in Herrick Chapel on March 4 and with A. Diaz de Leon for the Department of Spanish in presenting Guillermo Gomez-Peña, performance artist, in Flanagan Arena Theatre on April 7.

The Committee much appreciates the assistance and co-operation it received during the year from support staff in the Bucksbaum Center and Herrick Chapel. We could not do our work without them. Ms. Dentel again lent her negotiating expertise in our efforts to maximize the quality of our program of events within our budgetary limits. Last year my predecessor, Ms. Czechowski, reported that “we will be experimenting with new procedures for handling the events on campus, taking advantage of the expertise of the Offices of Special Services and Public Relations.” This experiment has certainly justified itself and it will be continued this year.

In 2000-2001 the Committee will present the following program of events:

The Lark Quartet, with Eugene Gaub, piano, on Saturday, September 16—Family Weekend—in Sebring-Lewis Hall. The Lark Quartet will perform Aaron Jay Kernis’s Second String Quartet, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in music for 1998, a work commissioned by the Lark Quartet. We are also pleased that our own colleague, Mr. Gaub, will joining the Quartet in performing Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet. The Committee appreciates the moral and material support offered by the Department of Music in our presenting this concert.

Amy Johnson ’85, soprano, and Joshua Greene, piano, in Sebring-Lewis Hall on Friday, November 3. Ms. Johnson will also give a master class for students in voice during her visit to Grinnell.

Orpheus (formerly known as Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) in Herrick Chapel on Wednesday, December 6.

The Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble in Roberts Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 6 and 7.

The Peabody Trio, with Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano, in Sebring Lewis Hall on Tuesday, March 6. The program will include chamber works by Mozart and Schubert, and Ms. Bryn-Julson with the Trio will perform Dimitri Shostakovich’s Romantic Suite.

The Committee is also happy to support the Department of Music in presenting a recital by James Dunham, viola, and Nobuko Amemiya, piano, in Sebring-Lewis Hall on Saturday, November 11.

I conclude by expressing the Committee’s thanks for a significant increase in our budget for the coming year. Without this increase we should surely not have been able to present the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble on successive evenings and an orchestra as eminent as Orpheus. We hope that this program of events commends itself to the College and the wider community.

Respectfully submitted,

D. A. Smith