SHSU Update for Week of February 11

• Children's Opera Features Robotic Sheep
• Biology Honor Society is Tops
• Widely Traveled Pianist to Perform
• 'A Streetcar Named Desire'
• Young Child Conference is Feb. 24
• Sills is Arts Leader
• Briefs

Children's Opera Features Robotic Sheep

The opera, written by Mozart when he was 12, will be performed in Dance Theater 101 in Academic Building 3. The opera is a presentation of the Sam Houston State University Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Carol Smith, and the university's Opera Workshop, directed by Dorothy Maddison.

"Bastien and Bastienne" is a 40-minute one-act comic opera for children with spoken dialogue. The libretto, originally written by Friedrich Wilhelm Weiskern and Johann M�ller and later revised by Johann Andreas Schachtner, is based on an operatic parody of Rousseau's "Le devin du village," ("The Soothsayer of the Village").

The plot revolves around Bastien, a shepherd, who has been fickle toward his lover, Bastienne, a shepherdess. They both seek advice from Colas the local magician, who counsels Bastienne to feign indifference in order to win her beloved back.

The cast includes SHSU students Frank Rich as Colas the Magician, Haley Dyes and Kelly Gottschall as Bastienne, and Steven Bayless as Bastien,. Also cast as two dancing nymphs are April Hoyt and Curtis Howard. Howard is also choreographer.

A robotic sheep was created especially for the pastorale by Glenn Curie and David Pike of The Robot Group of Austin. Costumes are by Ann Blackmer of the Mercantile costume shop in Huntsville, as well as the SHSU Drama Department.

Admission is $8 adults, $5 children, and free to SHSU students and employees. Call the SHSU Music Office 936.294.1360 for more information.

Biology Honor Society is Tops

The society pursues three aims through its student members: scholarship, dissemination of scientific information, and promotion of biological research.

The Bertholf Award follows the SHSU chapter winning the Texas Chapter Achievement Award at the regional meeting in April, which is symbolic of the outstanding chapter in the state of Texas.

"Members of the SHSU Beta Beta Beta Chapter worked hard throughout the past year to qualify for the Bertholf Award," said Brian Sailer, chapter adviser. "Students made 26 scientific presentations at four different regional and national meetings during 1999-2000."

Several students received awards for their presentations: Taslima Karim won an honorable mention at the Texas Academy of Sciences meeting; Matt Brain and Nathan Liles won first place awards, Richard Davis a second place award, and Anne-Marie Prouty a third place award at the regional Beta Beta Beta meeting, and Nathan Liles won a second place award at the National Beta Beta Beta meeting.

In addition, Sailer said, the Delta Tau chapter hosted the regional meeting, where they were awarded the Chapter Achievement Award as Outstanding Chapter in Texas.

To raise money to pay for travel, the students conducted two book auctions along with numerous bake sales and garage sales. In addition, the students performed service to the university and the community this past year, offering free tutoring to biology students, cleaning up a section of FM 2821, and helping out at the Gibbs Elementary fall and spring festivals.

The Bertholf award was established in 1961 by Lloyd M. Bertholf, the third president of Beta Beta Beta and president of Illinois Wesleyan University. The selection committee bases the award on member activity in conducting and publishing research, participation in district and national conventions and other scientific meetings, chapter programming and activities, and orderly record keeping and communication with the national office.

Membership in Beta Beta Beta is open to students pursuing a major or minor in biology. For more information on membership, or for information on activities, contact Sailer at 396.294.1549.

Widely Traveled Pianist to Perform

Gurt, who has won awards and appeared in concert in South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong, Turkey and the United States, will perform works by Haydn, Elliot Carter, Brahms and Gounod/Gurt and Duka/Gurt.

Gurt, who is also the head of the piano department at the Sewanee Summer Music Center, has served as piano chair of the Louisiana Music Teachers Association and has taught at two summer music seminars held at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School.

In 1982 he won First Prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and he was also a prize winner in international competitions held in Pretoria, South Africa, and Sydney, Australia. He has performed as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Capetown Symphony, and the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, South Africa.

He has made solo appearances in Alice Tully Hall in New York, Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles, Orchestra Hall in Detroit, City Hall in Hong Kong, the Victorian Arts Center in Melbourne, Australia, Baxter Hall in Capetown, South Africa, and the Attaturk Cultural Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

He has collaborated with the T'kacs String Quartet and recently performed at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Queensland. He has recorded on the Naxos, Centaur, and Redwood labels.

Gurt's program will include the last Haydn Sonata (in E flat), the last piano pieces of Brahms (op.119), a sonata by Elliot Carter, and two virtuosos by Gurt on themes by Gounod and Dukas ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice").

The concert is part of a series of guest pianist concerts sponsored by the Huntsville Arts Commission. Admission is free.

'A Streetcar Named Desire'

Performances are at 8 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Feb. 24.

"A Streetcar Named Desire" won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1947. It is the story of Blanche DuBois, an aging southern aristocrat, and her struggle to maintain the beauty of her illusions in an increasingly violent world.

Blanche (Sofia Gomez) arrives for an unannounced extended stay with her sister Stella (Leanne Hill) and her working-class husband Stanley (Ben Cole). The heat of the New Orleans summer, the close living quarters, and the clash of cultures as personified by Blanche and Stanley move the story to a brutal end.

The production is directed by theatre faculty member Penelope Hasekoester. Other cast members include sophomore theatre majors Audie Morris, Joel McDonald, and Julie Linnard, and senior theatre majors Bill Giffen and Jay Breaux.

The ensemble includes Kandice Harris, Haley Dyes, Jennifer Guillams, Jason Barker, Connor Bartley, Dave Ervin, Star Hinson,Jamie Hogue, Kimberly McCullough, Chris Munoz and Jeremy Rodriguez.

Sophomore theatre major DJ McHenry is stage manager and senior theatre major Becca Fleming is assistant director. Set and lights were designed by theatre faculty member Jerry Hooker, costumes by theatre faculty member Kristina Hanssen, and sound by sophomore theatre major Juan Felix.

The production is recommended for mature audiences. For reservations and information, call the University Theatre Center Box Office at 936.294.1339.

Young Child Conference is Feb. 24

The event is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Teacher Education Center, with exhibits from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the departments of Language, Literacy, and Special Populations and Curriculum and Instruction, the conference is open to all current teachers, administrators, directors, teaching assistants, aides, and family members who are concerned with children age three through third grade.

SHSU elementary education majors or anyone interested in a professional development opportunity are encouraged to attend.

Concurrent sessions will focus on story telling, circle time, developmentally appropriate reading and writing, the building of concepts in math, social studies, and science, Attention Deficit with Hyper-activity Disorder (ADHD), art and music, avenues for special education assistance, as well as classroom management and bilingual education.

Advance conference registration, which includes a continental breakfast and conference packet, is $30 or $20 for pre-service teachers and Future Teachers of America members. At-the-door registration is an additional $5.

For more information, please contact Joan Prouty, department of Curriculum and Instruction, at 936.294.1240.

Sills Is Arts Leader

Sills, who will appear at Sam Houston State University Feb. 21 as this spring's Distinguished Lecturer Series guest, is called the leading spokesperson for the arts in America today.

Her presentation scheduled for 8 p.m. in the Killinger Auditorium of the Beto Criminal Justice Center is entitled "A Conversation With Beverly Sills."

She has been honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Grammy Award, and Europe's Edison Award, qualifications that make her among most prestigious of Sam Houston State University's distinguished lecturers since the program's inception in 1980.

Some of the most recognizable names have been Ashley Montagu, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Zbigniew Brzezinski, John Kenneth Galbraith, George Gallup Jr., Larry McMurtry, Liz Carpenter, Lech Walesa, and former president George Bush.

"We hope that Sam Houston State employees, students, and area residents will do themselves a favor and participate in this outstanding program," said Frank Fair, who chairs the Distinguished Lecturer Committee.

"We don't want anyone to regret, years from now, that they missed a chance to hear a talk from one of the truly great musical artists of our time. Her nickname 'Bubbles' says it all. Her effervescent personality has delighted audiences for years."

In addition to hearing Sills' speech, guests will have the opportunity to obtain a Sills autograph from 7:15 to 7:45 p.m., and attend a reception in her honor following her presentation.

Briefs

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SHSU Media Contacts: Frank Krystyniak, Julia May
Feb.11, 2001
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