DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS
Performing Arts Highlights 2014-2015
ARCHIVED CONTENT - REDIRECT
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DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS Performing Arts Highlights 2014-2015 |
 FMU Artist SeriesThursday, 25 September 2014, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence Jon Metzger Jazz Quartet
Jon Metzger, vibes
Noel Freidline, piano Ron Brendle, bass Rick Dior, drums “A star vibist” and “a flawless vibist,” as he has been trumpeted by Jazztimes and Cadence respectively, Jon Metzger has performed throughout the United States and Europe and has served as a jazz ambassador and cultural envoy in more than 20 foreign countries in the Near East, Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central America under the auspices of the US Department of State. A Musser endorsee and clinician for 26 years presenting hundreds of master classes and clinics at more than 45 prestigious US conservatories and universities and at multiple Percussive Arts Society’s International Conventions and International Association of Jazz Educators Conferences, Metzger is also the author of The Art and Language of Jazz Vibes, widely considered the definitive, most comprehensive method book for learning the instrument. He has appeared on more than 40 recordings for the VSOP, Soul Note, Jazz Karma, Summit, and Elon Improvibes labels garnering three Grammy nominations, one Cadence Top Ten Critics Pick, and being named to the Jazztimes Critics Poll and the Downbeat magazine Readers Poll in the vibes category. He remains active as a composer in both jazz and classical mediums with more than 50 published compositions to his credit. His Signature Mallet for jazz vibes is now available from Pro-Mark. A recipient of the North Carolina Miles Davis Jazz Education Service Award and 27 consecutive ASCAP Plus Awards for the use of his compositions, Metzger is the Artist in Residence, Professor of Music, and Chair of the Music Department at Elon University where he received the University Distinguished Scholar Award for 2005.
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 FMU University TheatreThursday-Saturday, 16-18 October 2014, 7:30 pm Fine Arts Theatre, Hyman Fine Arts Center Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker
Directed by Dr. Dawn Larsen The Francis Marion
University Theatre's 2014-15 season will begin with Circle Mirror
Transformation,
a play by Annie Baker and directed by Dr. Dawn Larsen. It will be
performed in the Fine Arts Theatre in Hyman Fine Arts Center October
16-18, 2014.
THE STORY: When four lost New Englanders who enroll in Marty's six-week-long community-center drama class begin to experiment with harmless games, hearts are quietly torn apart, and tiny wars of epic proportions are waged and won. A beautifully crafted diorama, a petri dish in which we see, with hilarious detail and clarity, the antic sadness of a motley quintet. "Annie Baker's play is an absolute feast. CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION is the kind of unheralded gem that sends people into the streets babbling and bright-eyed with the desire to spread the word. The play traces the lives of a handful of small-town Vermont residents who gather each week for an acting class taught at the local community center. By the play's end we seem to see to the very bottom of these souls, and feel how the artificial intimacy of the acting class has shaped their lives in substantial ways.”—NY Times. "…orchestrated with a subtlety and unfailing naturalness that make the play's small revelations disarming and unexpected. The characterizations display a miniaturist attention to detail that goes down to the bone…Baker is never blind to their weaknesses and faults, yet regards them all with a warm, empathetic eye." —Variety. "Smartly, sneakily, Baker gives us the rare theatercentric play that's not self-obsessed. [CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION] is about real people exploring their lives through tiny leaps of faith and creativity." —BackStage. "Baker develops her characters slowly through their interactions each week in class, which is the only place we see them. Naturally, their real, offstage lives gradually infiltrate the classroom, revealing insights and transformations both humorous and heartbreaking." —Associated Press. "Reverberates with seduction and sorrow…the play's final scene is devastatingly gentle." —Village Voice. RESERVATIONS: Reservations may be made by calling 843-661-1365 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. |
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Concert Band Tuesday, 21 October 2014, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence FMU Concert Band
A Musical Journey Through the Solar System Kelly Jokisch, conductor The fall concert for the FMU Concert Band, A Musical Journey through the Solar System will feature selections from Holst’s “The Planets” and accompanying visuals from the FMU Honors Astronomy Class. FMU’s band director, Kelly Jokisch, has put together a concert which will connect music and visual graphics. The idea came out of a love of one piece from Gustav Holst’s Suite. Jokisch said “Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity” was one of the first pieces she heard a professional orchestra perform while she was in middle school. “It wasn't just the brass fanfare passages that captivated me as a trumpet player, but also the lush, beautiful hymn.” The 67-member concert band is composed of a combination of FMU student and community musicians. For the fall concert, the band has teamed up with FMU Physics & Astronomy Assistant Professor, Dr. Ginger Bryngelson. Bryngelson is currently teaching an honors special topics course in astronomy. In this course, students explore the diversity of the universe, and how scientists have come to understand it. Her students are developing presentations on various planets. These same students are then preparing visuals which will accompany the band’s performance. Some of the images you will see in their displays may be some they have taken themselves. Bryngelson states, “Though their majors are very different, these students are all very enthusiastic about astronomy, and it has been great to see their different takes on the assignment. They've each brought some unique ideas to the table.” FMU Honors was created some thirty years ago to attract, retain and reward the area's highest-achieving students. It is now a community of about 200 motivated, creative and inquisitive students collaborating with some of our best faculty to create an enhanced undergraduate experience. FMU Honors offers a specialized curriculum consisting of seminar-style symposia and special topics courses, social and co-curricular activities, community living and study abroad opportunities. It continues to reflect FMU’s commitment to personalized instruction, a low faculty-to-student ratio and civic involvement. “The Musical Journey through the Solar System is precisely the sort of thing an Honors director would hope for,” said Director of FMU Honors, Dr. Jon Tuttle, “It integrates disciplines--astronomy, music, visual arts--that most people would assume are incompatible. The whole notion behind FMU Honors special topics courses is just this sort of thing: to teach beyond the normal or predictable curriculum, to engage both hemispheres, to make learning different.” Ken Hudson, Lighting Supervisor at the FMU Performing Arts Center, is already working behind the scenes to bring the visual pieces together on stage. “With a project like this we combine the technologies of scientific exploration and theatrical production with the artistry of musical production to share the natural beauty of our cosmic neighborhood,” said Hudson. The FMU Fall Band Concert promises to be a unique audio and visual experience in an outstanding facility. “Ginger Bryngelson and Kelly Jokisch are extraordinarily creative colleagues and generous with their expertise,” said Tuttle, “and I’m very excited to see and hear what they and their students have done.” Tickets for the Fall FMU Band Concert are free to all middle and high school students who show an ID and those younger. All remaining tickets are $5 each and may be purchased at the door the night of the concert. Tickets may also be purchased in advance by calling the FMU Performing Arts Center Box Office (843-661-4444) or visiting the Box Office Monday through Friday from 12-5 p.m. The Box Office is also open 90 minutes before any Presenting Series event, Florence Symphony Orchestra concert, or Department of Fine Arts performance. The first 100 tickets are free to FMU students who present valid FMU ID's at the Box Office. For this concert, Tickets are not available online. |
  Concert Band Rehearsal,
October 2014
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 FMU Artist SeriesThursday, 23 October 2014, 7:30 pm Kassab Recital Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center Zodiac Trio
Kliment Krylovskiy, clarinet
Vanessa Mollard, violin Riko Higuma, piano The Zodiac Trio enjoys an international concert schedule that spans three continents and presents an eclectic repertoire that mixes contemporary with the traditional. In its relatively short history - the ensemble formed in 2006 at Manhattan School of Music, before becoming the first American group and the only ensemble with a wind instrument to enter the esteemed Ysaÿe Quartet Chamber Music program at the Paris Superior Conservatory - the Zodiac Trio has managed to achieve a level of recognition on the international chamber music stage, rarely bestowed upon an ensemble of such untraditional instrumentation. Amongst its many engagements over the past six years, the Zodiac Trio has performed at such leading venues as Ottawa Chamberfest, Festival Radio France Montpellier, International Colmar Festival, the Oriental Performing Arts Center in Shanghai, National Performing Arts Center in Beijing, Izumi Hall in Japan, Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, Tishman Auditorium and Merkin Concert Hall in New York, UCLA Clark Library in CA; has been broadcast by France 3 Television, Beijing’s CCTV News, Canada’s CBC Radio and Television, NBC, New York’s WXQR (including an hour-long in-studio feature on the Young Artist Showcase), had performances broadcast live on WFMT, featured on WGBH’s “Live from Frasier” in Boston, and has recorded multiple times for Radio France in Paris. In the summer of 2013, the Zodiac Trio succesfully launched the Zodiac International Music Academy & Festival in the South of France, which was attended by over thirty conservatory-level students and presented eight faculty and students concerts during the duration of two weeks.
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 FMU Department of Fine ArtsWednesday, 5 November 2014 Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence FMU Guitar Studio Recital
Daniel Hull, director The
Guitar Studio Recital provides an opportunity for students enrolled in
the Music 190: Guitar Ensemble to perform works written expressly for
or adapted for multiple guitars.
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 FMU Department of Fine ArtsFriday, 14 November 2014 Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence FMU Percussion Ensemble
Shane Reeves, director The percussion ensemble performs music
written expressly for percussion. The works performed by the ensemble
utilize a variety of percussion instruments and encompass a multitude
of musical styles including classic works for percussion ensemble,
world music, transcriptions, and contemporary percussion music.
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Department of Fine Arts Tuesday, 18 November 2014, 7:30 pm Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center Cut Time
Show Choir
Sue Butler Orr, director Francis Marion’s show choir, CUT TIME is an audition-only group which combines singing and choreography. This group performs throughout the region for schools and service organizations. In the fall of 1996 they traveled to Lake City and Charleston, singing in 5 high schools. In October of 1997 they sang at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café in the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando. In 1998 they traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, in Washington, D.C. and in Vienna, Austria. In April of 2002, they returned to Disney World and Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. Spring of 2003 included a performance cruise to the Bahamas. |
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Department of Fine Arts Thursday, 20 November 2014, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence FMU Music Industry Ensemble
Brandon Goff, director The Music Industry Ensemble is a chamber ensemble devoted to the development of individual performance and improvisation skills through the staging of music for small groups representing a variety of classic and modern jazz, pop, rock and soul styles. The M.I.E. provides a workshop in which students also learn arranging, microphone technique and scheduling, sound reinforcement and lighting design. Please contact Dr. Brandon Goff bgoff@fmarion.edu for additional information about participating in the M.I. Ensemble. RESERVATIONS: Reservations may be made by calling the FMU Performing Arts Center at 843-661-4444 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. The first 100 tickets for each Mainstage performance are free to FMU students (you must show your FMU ID at the Box Office to receive a ticket); all remaining tickets are $5 each. |
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Department of Fine Arts Sunday, 23 November 2014, 4:00 pm Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center Francis
Marion University Concert Choir
Sue Butler Orr, director Open to all university students, the University Concert Choir has an average enrollment of between 35 and 45 students. This group has sung in numerous area churches and has also performed with the Florence Symphony Orchestra. They have performed such major choral works as the “Polovetzian Dance and Chorus” of Alexander Borodin, the “Schicksalslied” of Johannes Brahms, and the Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Recently their concerts have included selections accompanied by the newly formed Francis Marion string ensemble. |
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Department of Fine Arts Monday, 24 November 2014, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence University
String Ensemble
Terry Roberts, director Open to all university students and faculty interested in learning and performing chamber music, the University String Ensemble members meet for weekly rehearsals during Fall and Spring academic semesters, giving public recitals and accompanying other campus ensembles. RESERVATIONS: Reservations may be made by calling the FMU Performing Arts Center at 843-661-4444 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. The first 100 tickets for each Mainstage performance are free to FMU students (you must show your FMU ID at the Box Office to receive a ticket); all remaining tickets are $5 each. |
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Concert Band Concert Tuesday, 10 February 2015, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence FMU Concert Band
Kelly Jokisch, conductor The Francis Marion University Concert Band will be performing its winter concert of the 2014-2015 season at the FMU Performing Arts Center in downtown Florence. This concert will include just under an hour (no intermission) of a wonderful variety of classic wind band music. The Francis Marion University Concert Band is a 62 member band which includes FMU students as well as community members from Florence, Lake City, Darlington, Dillon, Hartsville, Columbia, Marion and surrounding areas. Community members include professional area music educators, band directors, choir directors, ministers of music, and FMU music faculty members. Due to the quality of the local talent of the band members, the group has been tagged the "Who's Who of the Florence Instrumental Music Scene." Membership is open to all FMU students and area residents who are experienced concert band instrumentalists. Performances include traditional concert band music as well as popular and show music. The program began as a way to give students of FMU a chance to perform music, earn academic credit for performance in the ensemble, and to become involved with other students in campus life. Beginning in the spring of 2002, the FMU Concert Band rehearsals were scheduled on Tuesday evenings and adult musicians from the region were invited to participate. The band continues to rehearse every Tuesday evening, and performs three concerts each year - in the fall, winter and spring. Kelly Jokisch, a Francis Marion Instructor of Music and member of the Florence Symphony Orchestra, has been director of the FMU Concert Band since October, 2010. We are always seeking additional participants; if you play a band instrument or know someone looking for a place to play, please contact us. Information can be found at Music - Instrumental Program or email Kelly Jokisch at kjokisch@fmarion.edu. RESERVATIONS: All middle and high school students who show an ID and those younger are free. All remaining tickets are $5 each and may be purchased at the door the night of the concert. Tickets may also be purchased in advance by calling the FMU Performing Arts Center at 843-661-4444 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. The Box Office is also open 90 minutes before any Presenting Series event, Florence Symphony Orchestra concert, or Department of Fine Arts performance. The first 100 tickets are free to FMU students who present valid FMU ID's at the Box Office. For this concert, Tickets are not available online. |
 FMU Concert Band
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 FMU
University TheatreWednesday - Sunday, 18-22 February 2015, 7:30 pm Wednesday-Friday, 2:00 & 7:30 pm Saturday, 3:00 pm Sunday Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence The
Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
Directed by Keith Best The Francis Marion
University Theatre's 2014-2015 season's winter production will be The Fantasticks, a musical by Tom
Jones and Harvey Schmidt.
The Fantasticks, by Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt, is the world's longest running musical - running for over 52 years in Manhattan and entrancing generations of audiences the world over. The Fantasticks is a funny and romantic musical about a boy, a girl, two fathers and a wall. The narrator, El Gallo, originally played by Jerry Orbach, asks the audience to use their imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. The boy and the girl fall in love, grow apart, and finally find their way back to each other after realizing the truth in El Gallo's words that "without a hurt, the heart is hollow". The famous score, which includes the classics Try To Remember, They Were You and Soon It's Gonna Rain, is as timeless as the story itself. RESERVATIONS: Reservations may be made by calling the FMU Performing Arts Center at 843-661-4444 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. The first 100 tickets for each Mainstage performance are free to FMU students (you must show your FMU ID at the Box Office to receive a ticket); all remaining tickets are $5 each. |
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Lecture Series, Department of Fine Arts, College of Liberal Arts Sunday - Saturday, 22-28 February 2015, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence South Carolina Chamber Music Festival
Dr. Paolo André Gualdi, artistic director and coordinator The South Carolina Chamber Music Festival will host a series of chamber recitals to showcase the artists participating in workshops and masterclasses taking place throughout the week. Sunday 22, 5:00 pm Art Trail Gallery, Florence SC // $10 admission fee Duo Recital - Music by Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak, Elgar, et al Sinisa Ciric, violin (Serbia) Paolo André Gualdi, piano (Italy) Monday 23, 6:00 pm FMU Performing Arts Center - black box // free admission Lecture recital - Forgotten Russian Piano Music: Sonatas of Anatoly Aleksandrov Irina Pevzner, piano (Ukraine/Latvia) Tuesday 24, 7:30 pm FMU Performing Arts Center - black box // $5 admission fee Faculty extravaganza - music by Grieg, Bizet, Ewazen, et al with guests Terris Roberts, violin (USA) and Joseph van Hassel, percussions (USA) Sumire Worman, piano (Japan) Terry Roberts, horn (USA) Shane Reeves, percussions (USA) Paolo André Gualdi, piano (Italy) Wednesday 25, 6:00 pm FMU Recording Studio // free admission Workshop: jazz impro Ricardo Ochoa, jazz violin (Venezuela) Thursday 26, 7:00 pm Bean Market National Museum, Lake City, SC // free admission Piano Trios - music by Haydn, Rachmaninov and Brahms Qiao Solomon, violin (China) Dusan Vukajlovic, cello (Serbia) Paolo André Gualdi, piano (Italy) Friday 27, 7:30 pm FMU Performing Arts Center - black box // $5 admission fee Gipsy Swing Concert Velvet Caravan (Venezuela, Slovenia and USA) Saturday 28, 11:00 am FMU Recording Studio // by invitation only Recording Session with the Balkan Quartet (World premiere of a piece by Dr. Brandon Goff) Saturday 28, 7:30 pm FMU Performing Arts Center - black box // $5 admission fee Music of Eastern Europe Balkan Quartet (Serbia and Bulgaria) |
 
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 FMU Artist Series / Burns Memorial RecitalWednesday, 25 March, 2015, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence Richter Uzur Duo
Brad Richter, guitar and Viktor Uzur, cello Viktor Uzur and Brad Richter met in 2005 when Brad was commissioned by Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where Viktor is cello professor, to write a concert length chamber piece (Navigating Lake Bonneville). The piece prominently featured cello and guitar and as it developed so too did a close friendship and a deep mutual respect that became the foundation for this collaboration. Viktor and Brad are each classical musicians of the highest caliber with successful international solo careers and intensive training from two of the world’s most lauded musical institutions: The Moscow Conservatory and The Royal College of Music respectively. Their musical interests and abilities, however, are far from limited to classical music. In their teens and twenties, while developing into classical virtuosi, they cut their teeth in rock bands – Viktor as an electric guitarist and Brad as a guitarist and singer. They also delved into folk and world music but eventually put those interests aside as they pursued their classical concert careers. The Richter Uzur Duo may be unique in the way in which they combine classical, rock and folk music and themes into truly original new compositions as well as in the way in which they collaborate. Because they live almost 1,000 miles apart they do a great deal of composing over phone and internet and write parts separately, combining and re-developing them while on concert tours together. It is rare that two successful classical composers come together to co-write music of such distinction. The fun and friendship Viktor and Brad share in this partnership are obvious on stage and in their music.
THE DAVID MARSHALL AND CATHERINE KOGER BURNS MEMORIAL RECITAL SERIES
David Marshall Burns, Jr., and Catherine Koger
Burns, natives of Charleston, South Carolina, were married and moved to
Florence in 1933 where they became actively involved in civic
activities and the arts. The Bums Recital Series was established in 1989
by Catherine Burns in memory of her husband and, upon her death in
1995, the Series was renamed the David Marshall and Catherine Koger
Burns Memorial Recital Series.Mr. Burns was a graduate of the Medical University School of Pharmacy, with a post-graduate degree in pharmaceutical chemistry. Mr. Burns was chief pharmacist at Roper Hospital in Charleston until 1933 when he became Medical Service Representative for Eli Lilly and Company, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, and moved to Florence. He was a member of the South Carolina Pharmaceutical Association as well as the Traveling Men's Organization. He served on the Board of Health of Florence and was Chairman of the Salvation Army Board. He was a member of the Board of Stewards of Central Methodist Church. He was volunteer instructor of pharmacology at McLeod's Nursing School and was twice chosen by the nurses as outstanding teacher. Mr. Burns was a member of the Society for Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Singing in America, Inc., an organization dedicated to the support of a hospital in Kansas which treats children with speech and hearing defects. He was a member of The Graduates, a Quartet which performed at various affairs including Art's Alive at Francis Marion University. He was honored by the local chapter in 1973 and again in 1984 when he was chosen Barbershopper of the Year. His hobby was antique clock collecting and repair. His collection of about 250 clocks went to a museum in North Carolina. After his retirement from Eli Lilly, Mr. Bums worked part-time at Dixon's Drug Store on Dargan Street. Catherine Koger Bums was a graduate of Memminger High School in Charleston and later earned degrees in Music and English at Coker College in Hartsville. A talented actress, she later took post graduate work at the University of North Carolina and studied drama at the Bennett School, Millbrook, New York. After a brief attempt to make a New York career in the theater, Mrs. Bums returned to South Carolina and taught piano in Midland, South Carolina, under the supervision of her cousin, Nell Mellichamp. Soon thereafter in 1933, she was married to David Marshall Burns of Charleston. In Florence, Mrs. Burns continued to perform as a regular with the Florence Little Theatre and played several leading roles in radio dramas produced by WIS, Columbia, and WCSC, Charleston. As a frequent reader at her Sorosis Literary Club, Mrs. Burns became regionally recognized as an interpreter of the poetry of Dubose Heywood, Harvey Alien, and others. For many years Mrs. Burns performed dramatic readings and narrations at Christmas and Easter Holidays at Central United Methodist Church and Timrod Park. Probably, however, the most satisfaction she ever derived from the use of her talents was when she was "The Story Lady" and read classic stories to the children at the Florence Public Library. This cherished activity was resumed in her adopted hometown of Tallahassee, Florida, where she lived until her death in March 1995. This recital series is a tribute to David and Catherine Burns and their valuable contributions to the enhancement of the arts in the Pee Dee. |
 FMU Artist SeriesThursday, 26 March 2015, 7:30 pm Kassab Recital Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center Mike Keneally, guitar
Mike Keneally obviously doesn't like to be labeled -- he's a bandleader and bandmember, a rock and jazz fusion player, and also an outstanding guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist, and percussionist. Taking up keyboards at age five, Keneally's life changed when he moved from New York to California in 1970 and heard Frank Zappa for the first time at age ten. Woodshedding for the next 15 years as a self-taught guitarist, Keneally formed a band called Drop Control in his hometown of San Diego in 1985 and became one of the city's musical heroes. Keneally auditioned for Zappa's band in 1987 as a "stunt guitar" replacement for Steve Vai, and was hired as a guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist. The multi-instrumentalist would appear on some classic Zappa albums like Broadway the Hard Way and The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life, but little did he know that his lineup would be Zappa's final touring band. Between 1988 and 1991, Keneally performed with Drop Control and Zappa's son Dweezil's band Z, toyed with studio-musician status, and moved to Los Angeles. After working on the Grammy-winning tribute album Zappa's Universe, Keneally started a solo career with his 1992 debut album, Hat. Quirky and hard to categorize (with Zappa trademarks like classical undertones, stuttering, jazz-like rhythms, and humorous lyrics), the debut was a big hit with critics. But the next year would claim both Keneally's father and Zappa, leading to the moody yet brilliant 1994 CD Boil That Dust Speck. Ranging from intense rock ("Skunk") to ballads ("Blameless [The Floating Face]") to Keneally's closing percussion tribute saga to Zappa, "The Old Boat Guy," the disc showcased every facet of his array of talents. Leaving Z in 1996 and naming his solo touring band Beer for Dolphins, Keneally released the riotous double CD Half Alive in Hollywood, featuring one disc of live-in-a-studio originals and one of live stage performances (including covers of Jimi Hendrix's "Power to Love" and Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song"). He also formed a band called the Mistakes, with Henry Kaiser, Andy West (Dixie Dregs), and Prairie Prince (the Tubes), who released a self-titled album. The same year, Keneally joined fellow Zappa alumnus Steve Vai's band, playing on the G3 Tour over the next year with Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Playing classical piano-like keyboard lines, percussion, and intricate harmonized guitar lines with rock virtuoso Vai, Keneally helped the band steal the G3 show often (as evidenced by the G3: Live in Concert CD). Between releases by Beer for Dolphins (1997's Sluggo!; 2000's Dancing) and solo albums (1999's Nonkertompf, on which he played all of the instruments), Keneally also found time to record two CDs with Vai, 1999's The Ultra Zone and 2001's Alive in an Ultra World. In 2001, Keneally got a new acoustic guitar, which led to the release of the largely acoustic-based and mellow Wooden Smoke, which showed yet another side of Keneally's musical personality. For another interesting detour, in 2002, Keneally was approached by Co de Kloet, commissioning director for Holland's NPS Radio, and was commissioned to write music for electric guitar and orchestra. The resulting music and live performances with the renowned Metropole Orchestra were such a success that de Kloet started the NPS Output label to release The Universe Will Provide in 2004, just a month after Keneally turned around and delivered his hardest-rocking album to date, Dog, with the newly christened Mike Keneally Band. Just a few months after that came Piano Reductions, Vol. 1, an album of Vai songs played solo on piano that was actually recorded in 1999 at Steve's request. As if he weren't busy enough, around the same time he got involved with Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith's Yo Miles! project, appearing on both Sky Garden and Upriver. The Mike Keneally Band hit the road in 2005, playing across the U.S., with Guitar Therapy Live appearing as the tour document in 2006. That same year, Keneally acquired the rights to his early catalog on Immune with plans to re-release it in deluxe editions in 2007 on Exowax (each of Keneally's Exowax recordings has been available as a limited-edition package with lots of bonus material). With his wide-ranging talents and ability to be creative in almost any musical situation, Keneally is the leading progressive rock genius of the post-Zappa era. Artist Biography by Sean Westergaard www.allmusic.com
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| FMU Department of Fine Arts Tuesday, 7 April 2015 Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence FMU Guitar Studio Recital
Daniel Hull, director The
Guitar Studio Recital provides an opportunity for students enrolled in
the Music 190: Guitar Ensemble to perform works written expressly for
or adapted for multiple guitars.
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Department of Fine Arts Thursday, 9 April 2015, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence FMU Percussion Ensemble
Shane Reeves, director The percussion ensemble performs music
written expressly for percussion. The works performed by the ensemble
utilize a variety of percussion instruments and encompass a multitude
of musical styles including classic works for percussion ensemble,
world music, transcriptions, and contemporary percussion music.
RESERVATIONS: Reservations may be made by calling the FMU Performing Arts Center at 843-661-4444 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. The first 100 tickets for each Mainstage performance are free to FMU students (you must show your FMU ID at the Box Office to receive a ticket); all remaining tickets are $5 each. |
 FMU Department of Fine ArtsTuesday, 14 April 2015, 7:30 pm Chapman Auditorium, McNair Science Building Sackbut Strategy Concert
Trombone Ensemble of the Army Ground Forces Band The Army Ground
Forces Band
provides world-class music in support of the U.S. Army Forces Command,
headquartered at Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C. It serves as the
musical ambassador of the American Combat Soldier to the American
people, instilling pride in our troops and promoting a spirit of
patriotism and support for our nation’s military through the
performance of music at the local, regional and national levels.
Soldiers assigned to the Army Ground Forces Band have passed highly selective auditions and are among the finest musicians in the United States Army Band Program. The majority of the band's members have studied music at leading universities and conservatories in the United States and abroad. As one of the Army's three major bands with a national touring mission, the band gives concerts around the country and it holds free clinics and master classes for colleges, high school and middle school students. In addition to the ceremonial and concert bands, musicians break up into smaller ensembles performing a wide variety of musical styles. |
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University TheatreThursday-Saturday, 16-18 April, 7:30 pm Fine Arts Theatre, Hyman Fine Arts Center 'night, Mother
by Marsha Norman
Directed by Glen Gourley The Francis Marion University Theatre's 2014-15
season's final production will be Marsha Norman's 1983 Pulitzer Prize
winning play, 'night, Mother, directed by professor Glen
Gourley. It will be performed in the Fine Arts Theater in Hyman
Fine Arts Center on campus.
This eloquent, enthralling and ultimately shattering play explores the final hour in the life of Jessie, a young woman who has decided that life is no longer worth living. "…honest, uncompromising, lucid, penetrating, well-written, dramatic, and…unmanipulatively moving…" —NY Magazine. "It is sparse and concise, introspective and penetrating, powerful and uncompromising, intense and intelligent, warm and theatrical. It is THE American tragedy." —New England Entertainment Digest. "Something I hadn't seen in a long time happened at 'NIGHT, MOTHER: The audience still sat applauding after the house lights came up, as if waiting for the cast to come round and join them." —Village Voice. "…a shattering evening…" —NY Times. RESERVATIONS: Reservations may be made by calling 843-661-1365 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. |
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Department of Fine Arts Thursday, 16 April 2015, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence, 7:30 pm FMU Music Industry Ensemble Concert
Brandon Goff, director The Music Industry Ensemble is a chamber ensemble devoted to the development of individual performance and improvisation skills through the staging of music for small groups representing a variety of classic and modern jazz, pop, rock and soul styles. The M.I.E. provides a workshop in which students also learn arranging, microphone technique and scheduling, sound reinforcement and lighting design. Please contact Dr. Brandon Goff bgoff@fmarion.edu for additional information about participating in the M.I. Ensemble. RESERVATIONS: Reservations may be made by calling the FMU Performing Arts Center at 843-661-4444 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. The first 100 tickets for each Mainstage performance are free to FMU students (you must show your FMU ID at the Box Office to receive a ticket); all remaining tickets are $5 each. |
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Department of Fine Arts Sunday, 19 April 2015, 4:00 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence University
String Ensemble
Terry Roberts, director Open to all university students and faculty interested in learning and performing chamber music, the University String Ensemble members meet for weekly rehearsals during Fall and Spring academic semesters, giving public recitals and accompanying other campus ensembles. RESERVATIONS: Reservations may be made by calling the FMU Performing Arts Center at 843-661-4444 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. The first 100 tickets for each Mainstage performance are free to FMU students (you must show your FMU ID at the Box Office to receive a ticket); all remaining tickets are $5 each. |
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FMU
Concert Band Concert Tuesday, 21 April 2015, 7:30 pm Performing Arts Center, Downtown Florence FMU
Concert Band
"A Few of Our Favorite Things" Kelly Jokisch, conductor The Francis Marion University Concert Band will be performing its final concert of the 2014-2015 season at the FMU Performing Arts Center in downtown Florence. THe program is entitled “A Few of Our Favorite Things.” The selections are all favorite pieces chosen by members of the group. The 65-member concert band, directed by Kelly Jokisch, is composed of a combination of FMU student and community musicians. The concert will also feature band students from Mullins High School who participate in the Marine Corps JROTC Military Instrumental Ensemble under Senior Marine Instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Chuck DePreker, USMC Retired. The Francis Marion University Concert Band is composed of FMU students as well as community members from Florence, Lake City, Darlington, Dillon, Hartsville, Columbia, Marion and surrounding areas. Community members include professional area music educators, band directors, choir directors, ministers of music, and FMU music faculty members. Due to the quality of the local talent of the band members, the group has been tagged the "Who's Who of the Florence Instrumental Music Scene." Membership is open to all FMU students and area residents who are experienced concert band instrumentalists. Performances include traditional concert band music as well as popular and show music. The program began as a way to give students of FMU a chance to perform music, earn academic credit for performance in the ensemble, and to become involved with other students in campus life. Beginning in the spring of 2002, the FMU Concert Band rehearsals were scheduled on Tuesday evenings and adult musicians from the region were invited to participate. The band continues to rehearse every Tuesday evening, and performs three concerts each year - in the fall, winter and spring. Kelly Jokisch, a Francis Marion Instructor of Music and member of the Florence Symphony Orchestra, has been director of the FMU Concert Band since October, 2010. We are always seeking additional participants; if you play a band instrument or know someone looking for a place to play, please contact us. Information can be found at Music - Instrumental Program or email Kelly Jokisch at kjokisch@fmarion.edu. RESERVATIONS: All middle and high school students who show an ID and those younger are free. All remaining tickets are $5 each and may be purchased at the door the night of the concert. Tickets may also be purchased in advance by calling the FMU Performing Arts Center at 843-661-4444 between 12:00 and 5:00 pm. The Box Office is also open 90 minutes before any Presenting Series event, Florence Symphony Orchestra concert, or Department of Fine Arts performance. The first 100 tickets are free to FMU students who present valid FMU ID's at the Box Office. For this concert, Tickets are not available online. |
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 FMU Artist SeriesWednesday, 22 April 2015, 7:30 pm Kassab Recital Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center Andrew Drannon, piano
Andrew Drannon is a composer from Memphis, TN. He just moved to Charleston a few months ago after teaching music technology and composition at Rhodes College in Memphis from 2010-2014. He plays many different musical roles, including music directing for theatre, serving as an organist and performing as a collaborative pianist with instrumentalists, vocalists, choirs, and chamber ensembles. His research for the past year has involved integrating spiritual practices into composition, songwriting and performance, developing a theoretical system based on emotion, vibration, channelling, and meditation. In 2015 he founded Ankh Music (ankhmusic.com), an artist consortium and record label dedicated to using new forms of music to enhance people's lives, to blending diverse musical styles and genres in the service of storytelling, and finding new ways to express inner truth. He performs widely as a touring artist, performing both solo concerts and as a founding member of Ensemble Roar. Currently he teaches freelance composition, songwriting, and piano lessons, helping students refine their creative workflow and use music to tell stories. In September he will join NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program in New York. |
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Department of Fine Arts Thursday, 23 April 2015, 7:30 pm Kassab Hall, Hyman Fine Arts Center University
Concert Choir
Cut Time Show Choir Sue Butler Orr, director Open to all university students, the University Concert Choir has an average enrollment of between 35 and 45 students. This group has sung in numerous area churches and has also performed with the Florence Symphony Orchestra. They have performed such major choral works as the “Polovetzian Dance and Chorus” of Alexander Borodin, the “Schicksalslied” of Johannes Brahms, and the Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Recently their concerts have included selections accompanied by the newly formed Francis Marion string ensemble. Francis Marion’s show choir, CUT TIME is an audition-only group which combines singing and choreography. This group performs throughout the region for schools and service organizations. In the fall of 1996 they traveled to Lake City and Charleston, singing in 5 high schools. In October of 1997 they sang at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café in the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Orlando. In 1998 they traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, in Washington, D.C. and in Vienna, Austria. In April of 2002, they returned to Disney World and Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. Spring of 2003 included a performance cruise to the Bahamas. |
Spring 2013 Concert Choir
on YouTube
Cut Time Show Choir |
