Performing Arts Series sets off with a bang

Author: By Melissa Marshall

Beginning with the Tokyo String Quartet, Middlebury College will kick off an impressive Performing Arts Series on Friday Sept. 15th at 8 p.m. in Mead Chapel. The Tokyo String Quartet, which has been one of the world's greatest chamber ensembles since it formed at the Julliard School of Music in 1969, will play Beethoven's opus 18, no. 3; Anton Webern's Five Pieces and Franz Schubert's G Major Quartet.

The quartet, which is no longer composed of only Japanese musicians, is a prime example of the emphasis that Middlebury places upon providing its students and faculty with eminent performers.

Allison Coyne Carroll, events and registry manager of The Performing Art Series, summed up the purpose of the series, "Our primary goal is to bring high quality performing artists to Middlebury to enhance the academic experience. These artists are often of international renown and offer our community the opportunity to experience an extraordinary performance not usually available in such a rural setting."

This includes prominent pianist Paul Lewis, who will be concluding the last four performances of his three-season, eight-concert exploration of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas here at Middlebury this year, starting in October.

Beethoven's masterpieces seem to be a staple of the scheduled performances this year - not only will they appear in The Tokyo String Quartet concert, but one of his Concertos will be played when The Vermont Symphony Orchestra - a part of the Made in Vermont Musical Festival - comes to campus on Sept. 22nd. The concert will also include renditions of Bartok's Romanian dances, as well as talk by Associate Professor of Music, Peter Hamlin, regarding his inspiration to use a Vermont fiddle tune as the basis for his new work.

Like all aspects of Middlebury, diversity is strongly promoted - and the Performing Art Series is no exception. Branching out from classical music, the series also includes theatrical pieces, such as A Midsummer's Night Dream, which will be performed on Monday Sept. 25th at 7:30 p.m. in Wright Theatre. This is not the classic Shakespearean comedy, however, that so many students have already witnessed in high school.

Directed by award-winning director Anne Bogart and her critically acclaimed SITI Company, this version is set in poverty striken Middle America - the set drawing inspiration from Steinbeck's classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath.

But perhaps one of the most innovative acts to come to Middlebury this semester is the Bebe Miller Company's Landing/Place. In a combination of video projection, live music by Albert Mathias and dancing, the Bebe Miller Company - a dance company stationed in New York City - explores the "variety of tensions and dislocations in the human landscape" on Tuesday Oct. 3rd at 8 p.m. in the Center for the Arts' Dance Theatre.

Still, the beating heart of the Performing Art Series seems to be the presentation of live music. This offers an exceptional opportunity to Middlebury students who can purchase tickets for only five dollars, tickets that would cost upwards of $75 in most major cities. While funding from organizations such as The Institute for Clinical Science and Art and the National Endowment for the Arts help with financing, the College carries most of the burden.

"Generally the series is funded by the college - just like any other department on campus. The revenue from ticket sales slightly offsets the costs of presenting the series, but the College views the series as an academic investment, and therefore does not require these ticket sales to underwrite the performances. This is a very rare and unique gift - it allows us the freedoms to present the performances that are most relevant, rather than those with simply the most commercial appeal," said Director of the Performing Art Series Paul Nelson. The College's strong backing of the arts also helps to achieve Nelson's goal of "presenting great music, greatly played."

The series offers students "a rich and satisfying artistic experience," said Nelson. "Music is one of the major ingredients of culture, and the live experience of this is a happy occurrence."