Rollins Faculty Showcase

Posted on by Thor

I wandered onto Rollins College and found my way to Tiedtke Concert Hall to see the Faculty Showcase. The hall wasn’t very crowded so I made my way easily to the front row to sketch. A large piano dominated the stage so I blocked it into my sketch while I waited for the performance to start. Julie Batman, soprano, was the first to sing and I quickly sketched as she performed. She sang “While Shepherds Watched” by Michael Haydn. Harriet Hope played the piano. Next up was a Sonata in F minor, Op. 120 by Johannes Brahms. Mati Braun played viola and Garn Wolf was on piano.

Much later Bobby Koelble on guitar performed Variations On a Theme of Handel by Mauro Giuliani. He gave the piece a lively driving force. I became aware of just how good the acoustics were in the hall. When my sketch was finished, I relaxed and just enjoyed the music. Bobby performed in another piece titled Days of Wine and Roses by Henry Mancini. Chuck Archard joined him on electric bass and the two performers seemed to playfully improvise off of each other. They laughed and smiled as they lost themselves in the music. When the final chord faded the audience stood and applauded. These free concerts happen throughout the year and I love to attend when I can. The Rollins students are lucky to have such a talented faculty.

Mozart

Posted on by Thor

I went to Rollins College Knowles Chapel to watch a rehearsal of Mozart’s Grand Mass in C minor. The music starts softly at first and then builds in intensity. I imagined a small ship lost at sea caught in a tempest, the waves swelling and the ship tossed about like a cork. A refrain of hope, a ray of light, wove it’s way through the music

I sat in the nose bleed section since I didn’t want the tablet’s glowing screen to distract anyone in the audience. Even the balcony became packed. This Bach Festival rehearsal was open to the public and free to attend. A couple in front of me cuddled the entire performance.

When the chorus joined in, the music became heavenly. At one point a trains whistle sounded repeatedly in the distance. Amazingly the sound fit in perfectly with the performance. The conductor, John V. Sinclair, commented on the accompaniment and the orchestra, chorus and audience laughed. This was different than most performances in that the audience was asked to remain silent. As a working rehearsal, the conductor offered notes and suggestions to the performers. By remaining silent the audience had a chance to learn more about how the conductor viewed the music. When there was a break in the rehearsal, most of the audience left. I remained and continued to play and experiment with color.

Brass Ensemble

Posted on by Thor

I have become a fan of attending the free concerts held at Rollins College’s John M. Tiedtke Concert hall. The acoustics inside the new Tiedtke Hall are fabulous. The concerts are seldom very crowded so I am able to find a seat right up front close to the performers. This Brass Ensemble was performed by students and directed by Christopher Dolske. The instruments in the ensemble consisted of 5 trumpets, 2 trombones, a bass trombone, 2 euphoniums, 3 French horns and a tuba. The music was eastern European themed with composers like Moussorsky, Gabrieli, Susato, Kabalevsky and Koetsier. I only recognized the name of one of the composers and all the music was new to me.

The concert lasted just long enough for me to finish the sketch. The music’s tone and timber influenced every line. The warm, full tones filled the hall. With the concert over, I quickly packed up my art supplies to leave. Someone stopped me in the isle and asked to see the sketch. I dug in my bag to retrieve my sketchbook. He asked me if I planned to show the sketch to the conductor. This is rather common, people seem to feel the subject must be made aware when they are included in a sketch. The conductor was already back stage and Terry was waiting for me at home so I ignored his frantic desire to share my work.

Martin Luther King Vigil

Posted on by Thor

It was 6:01pm and I sat in the balcony of the Knowles Chapel at Rollins College. At 6:01pm on April 4th 1968, Martin Luther King was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine motel. He was just 39 years old. Everyone assembled stood for a moment of silence. Muffled through the thick church walls, the sound of church bells chiming solemnly filled the air. It was a quiet contemplative moment to honor someone who helped change millions of lives. We were reminded that although we might have come far, we have not reached the promised land. Rollins students gathered before the audience and sang, Lift every Voice and Sing, which is considered the black national anthem. I honestly had never heard this song before but by the end I was singing along with them. King dreamed of a world united, where everyone was engaged not as spectators but as active citizens fighting any injustice. As Baha’u’llah said, “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.”

Several speakers mentioned that King was a man with many doubts. When he first demonstrated for human rights he was just 28 years old. He felt he had to step up. It was work that needed and if he didn’t do it, who would? It was precisely his self doubt and human frailty that made his accomplishments so astounding. The key note speaker, Nadine Smith, pointed to the continuing struggle to fight for the rights of gay lesbian and trans-gender members of our society today. She spoke about an incident when she was a student when several gay men were beaten by military personal at a public event. She in the back of her mind thought, that is terrible, but these things happen. The military claimed the men were behaving inappropriately in a way that threatened family values. Family’s who saw the beatings however stood up and stated that the only objectionable actions were on the part of the officers. At the public demonstration that followed Nadine saw straight and gay people arm in arm with their voices united in song. That moment changed her life. She suddenly realized she could no longer accept injustice as a fact of life. She needed to take action.

Maya Angelou said, “”When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” The message of giving back as a concerned and active citizen was returned to again and again. In fact an individuals constant striving to improve the world does make a difference. The shooting in Tuscon Arizona helped people realize they should speak with some level of civility. Yet what politician ever mentions love? Martin Luther King did believe and speak of loving one another. Soon everyone in the chapel was singing, “We shall Overcome.” The last time I had heard this song was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. being sung by people who had just been made citizens of the United States. My heart filled with hope and joy then, as it did in this gorgeous chapel.

As Reverend Patrick Powers read Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” speech, everyone exited the church where they were given candles for a silent vigil. Soon I was the only person left inside listening to Kings resounding words. The moment felt important. Perhaps someday the dream will be made real.

Jules Feiffer at Rollins College

Posted on by Thor

Jules Feiffer, now eighty one years old, is one of America’s finest cartoonists. He has just published an autobiography titled “Backing Into Forward“. He came to the Bush Auditorium at Rollins College to talk about “My Life and Funny Times.” Former poet laureate Billy Collins introduced Jules to the large audience assembled. Billy said that Jules was a simple man to understand in his mind. He felt that the defining moment in Jules life came when Jules’ mother gave away his dog.
Jules spoke about his childhood in the outer borough of New York as a skinny Jewish boy who had only one dream; to be a great cartoonist. His mother designed clothing and she would get just three dollars for each design. Since his father was often out of work, his mom was often the family breadwinner. She put all her hopes in her son.
Jules then showed us a slide show which offered a glimpse at the great cartoonists of the past that he admired. He showed the work of Winsor McCay who created a strip called Little Nemo in Slumberland. He showed us the early Popeye cartoons and felt Popeye was the first superhero who could solve any problem with a good fist fight. In 1937 Superman changed everything. The early Superman comics weren’t always the best drawn, but they were very expressive. He felt that Superman was a Jewish boy’s wish fulfillment dream of gaining superpowers to finally win Louis Lane’s attention. Jules worked for Will Eisner for a while helping draw “The Spirit“. The Spirit had a strong feeling of the seediness of the city with high contrast shadows.
Jules tends to like to draw kids. He feels adults over time find ways to disguise how they feel, whereas kids give it all away, their every gesture displays how they are feeling. One of the sketches from his slide show is a funny cartoon he did during the Obama campaign. After JFK was assassinated, Jules became fascinated with theater. He wrote a play called “Little Murders” which was about the breakup of his first marriage. He claims that “Little Murders is the first play to say “sh!t” on the stage. The character of the mother is based on his own mother and he had to talk her out of going to see the production. Jules later went on to write the screenplay for Popeye. This allowed him to bring to life one of his childhood heroes. He wasn’t entirely happy with how the director treated his script, but he still loved the experience. Jules said that his feelings of self pity are what made him famous.
He then showed us a series of watercolor sketches that celebrate dance. He explained that he works hard to make the work look and feel spontaneous. He said this series was all about engaging in fantasies about allowing the line to dance on the paper. I was floored by his creative genius and his whole spontaneous an fluid body of work.

Poet Patricia Smith at Rollins

Posted on by Thor

Patricia Smith, four time winner of the National Poetry Slam, gave a talk at Bush Auditorium at Rollins college. She began her reading with the poem Building Nicole’s Mama. Listen to the audio clip on the link. Patricia stressed the any aspiring poet or anyone who loves poetry should spend as much time as possible listening to the authors of the poems reading their own words. It offers a chance to hear firsthand the authors intent and meaning in tone and pacing. The child’s hunger to recover from loss is primal and hit me in the gut waiting to recover my breath.
All of her poetry hit with the same force. She read several poems about Hurricane Katrina in which she personified the storm and then in another poem she gave voices to the 34 nursing home residents who were left to die in Saint Bernard’s Parish in New Orleans. The poem had 34 stanzas which bought to light each residents thoughts and hopes as the storm approached.
In a question and answer session afterward Patricia stressed the importance of getting at the truth. She said authors should not write around issues or conflicts but be honest with themselves facing the truth head on. She stressed that you don’t want to get to the end of your life and realize that you had not taken every chance to be completely honest in your writing.
Can a sketch ever have the emotional impact of poetry like Patricia’s? I am not sure but it is certainly something to aspire towards.

7 Challenges Writers Workshop.

Posted on by Thor

Phil Deaver and Lezlie Laws hosted a writers workshop at Rollins College. The focus for the day was to address the seven challenges that face writers. There is a different energy that is felt when you work in a room full of creative people. I feel it when I sketch.
Lezlie discussed reasons she has found to avoid writing. She pointed out that she had manifested hurricanes just to keep from sitting down and facing a blank page. What she usually does however is find busy work. She knows now that if she ends up straightening up in the garage, that she should be writing. She pointed out that when a writer is not writing, they are abandoning themselves.
Phil pointed out that he sits down to write even when he has nothing to write about. If writing were easy, then everyone would be doing it. He feels that the important thing is to turn on the spigot. The first sentences he writes are often useless but if he persists they will begin to work. Once the ideas begin to form, the writer can feel a wave of happiness. Phil said that a writer should try to work longer than they usually do, to write even when the ideas are not ready and fully formed. He pointed out that the struggle adds character to the final “sketch” or narrative. Writing is often like wandering into a dark cave without a flashlight. What you don’t know will come to you. The artist needs to be open, not digging or forcing ideas into existence.
A quote was offered and I paraphrase, I treat writing like a rehearsal, I attempt to try out everything. I reject nothing. Lezlie and Phil had the students do a word association game that forced their brain to remain in the left brain mode, allowing for free association and creative thought. From a random list of words generated by the students they then assembled a paragraph and the results were surprising and strikingly visual.
Phil said that authors need to stay at the work table, if they do then everything would come to bear. If the author keeps pushing , then inspiration would come. It comes only when the author is wrestling the muse. The writer has to write about conflict. The story must deal with tensions exploring a dynamic arc. Revelations only come out of that conflict. The author must set the trap then spring it. Many authors promote an illusion by writing around the conflict. Many people are artful dodgers. A writer should not be afraid of failure, a writer should be afraid of not doing anything.

Confessions of a critic

Posted on by Thor


Wall Street Journal theater critic Terry Teachout gave a talk on what he feels a theater critics roll is in society. He told a story of how he met a critic once over a drink and when he asked his fellow critic what he was up to next, the critic perked up and said with glee that he was about to pan a play. He explained that to many critics go into a production with a review already set in there mind. He feels that to many critics are not competent enough to right reviews. The first 15 minutes of any play always have the audiences full attention. At that 15 minute mark the play ether continues to grab the audience or they are lost. He always goes into a play wanting to write a good review.
Terry confessed that his first love was music, but at a painful point in his life he had to admit that he did not have a creative spirit. He found he was a better writer than a musician. Therefor he always approaches a theater review with a bit of reverence, respecting the very act of putting on a show. He explained that theater is as vibrant as ever, but in these uncertain economic times it is important that people go to the shows. The very future of theater depends on it.