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CLASSICAL NOTES

Faculty soloists from the University of Michigan and
Michigan State University join the U-M's Chamber
Choir, University Choir and University Symphony
Orchestra 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, in Ann Arbor's
Hill Auditorium in a performance of Felix
Mendelssohn's Elijah. Professor Theodore Morrison,
whose wife, Annie Rose, serves as cantor at Ann
Arbor's Temple Beth Emeth, conducts the oratorio.
The U-M performance will be preceded by a 6:30-
7:30 p.m. discussion by Professor Ralph Williams in
the U-M Alumni Association, across the square from
Hill Auditorium. Williams, who teaches a popular
course on Bible literature, will speak of the power
and the significance of the figure of the prophet
Elijah in Jewish and Christian scriptures.
Composer Mendelssohn, a grandson of famed
Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, died at age
38. Like many of his era seeking to further their
careers, he was a convert to Christianity. "I imagined
Elijah as a real prophet
through and through, the
kind we could really do
with today," he wrote in
1846, when the oratorio,
his last composition, pre-
miered.
Admission to both the
concert and pre-concert
discussion is free and
open to the public. No
tickets are required.
Danish composer Carl
Nielsen's Symphony No. 4,
dubbed "The
Inextinguisliable," cele-
Peter Serkin
brates the urge for life to
continue even in the face
of destructive forces. That sentiment in one surely
shared by Jewish News staffers, who labor to put out
our weekly edition in the face of a devastating fire
suffered almost three weeks ago.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra performs
Nielsen's symphony, under the baton of guest conduc-
tor Osmo Vanska, 1:30 and 8 p.m. Friday and 8:30
p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22-23, at Orchestra Hall. Also
featured in the concert are Mozart's Symphony No. 35
(the "Haffner") and a landmark 20th-century work,
Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.
Schoenberg, most associated with such musical
developments as atonality and serial composition,
also converted to Christianity as a young man. But
when he fled the Nazis in the mid-'30s, settling in
Los Angeles, he formally returned to Judaism.
A note found among his papers after his death
gives the scenario for this concerto's four move-
ments: "Life was so easy. /Suddenly hatred broke

out. /A grave situation arose. /But life
goes on.
Performing the concerto will be
American pianist Peter Serkin, whose
last appearance with the DSO was in
1986. His grandfather was
violinist/composer Adolf Busch and his
father was famed Jewish pianist Rudolf
Serkin.
Tickets for the DSO concerts are $20-
$54. (313) 576-5111.

miere of the film 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17.
Admission is free and doors open at 6:30
p.m. The screening will be followed at 8:30
p.m. by a question-and-answer session with
Behar and at 9 p.m. by a reception with
Cuban and Jewish delicacies. For more infor-
mation, call (734) 764-7274 or visit
wi,vw.ruthbehar.com .

GAIL. NI NI EIZNIAN
;Iris c:7 Entertainment

Editor

P op/Ro cKIJAzz

Seventeen magazine once called Jonathan
Richman the coolest guy you've never noticed."
With a pop sensibility eschewing the usual rock
standards of sex and drugs, Richman has released
more than a dozen albums during the past 30 years.
As a member of the Modern Lovers during the
early '70s, he was
a forerunner to
onathan Richman
the punk rock
movement. In
the mid-'70s,
when punk rock
became popular,
he switched
gears, writing
songs about
things like
Martians, lonely
dinosaurs and
Gumby, and cut-
ting down on the
electricity and
decibels. "[Rock
`n' roll is] a deli-
care thing he said at the time. "It's a matter of feel-
ing, best rendered at low volume."
In recent years — perhaps due to his role as the
strolling troubadour/narrator in the Farrelly
Brothers' There's Something About Mary — Richman
has become something of a cult favorite. He takes
the stage at Ferndale's Magic Bag Friday, Feb. 22.
Doors are at 8 p.m. S10 advance. (248) 544-3030.

THE BIG SCREEN

Ruth Behar is an anthropology professor at the
University of Michigan. She also is a filmmaker,
having completed Adio Kerida (Good-bye Dear
Love), a poetic documentary about her fellow
Sephardic Jews with roots in Cuba and their search
for their Jewish, Cuban and Latino identities.
The Michigan Theater presents the Ann Arbor pre-

FAMILY FUN

Children ages 4-11 and their families will
enjoy a musical introduction to heroic charac-
ters from the worlds of ballet, opera and film
at the next Detroit News Young People's Concert, taking
place 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at Orchestra Hall.
Featured works include the "Bacchanale" from the
Camille Saint-Saen opera Samson Dalila,
"Buckeroo Holiday" from Aaron Copland's ballet
Rodeo and the "March" from John Williams' Raiders
of the Lost Ark.
An hour prior to the concert, children can experi-
ence direct interaction with musical instruments,
guided by DSO volunteers. $8-$25. (313) 576-5111.

THE ART SCENE

Detroit's Swords Into Plowshares Gallery presents
Afghanistan: A Different Perspective, an exhibit of
photos taken by Afghan refugees in a Pakistani camp
with point and shoot cameras, through Feb. 28. At a
reception and dialogue scheduled for 7:30-9:30 p.m.
this evening, participants will have the opportunity
to view the photos and engage in a discussion about
the Afghan refugee crisis and the potential for using
photography as a means to give voice to those who
typically go unheard. (313) 963-7575.
Selected works by College of Creative Studies
fiber faculty Mollie Fletcher, Susan Aaron-Taylor
and Susan Moran are on display in "Fiber X 3,"
running through March 9 at Au Courant Design
Studio/Gallery in Ferndale. (248) 546-3770.

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

Novelist Robert Shapiro, author of the prize-win-
ning The Here and Now, signs copies of his latest
book, Inspired Sleep, a satiric portrait of contempo-
rary America, 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at Ann
Arbor's Shaman Drum Bookshop, 315 S. State.
(734) 662-7407.
Photojournalist Deborah Copaken Kogan reads
from and signs copies of her memoir, Shutterbabe:
Adventures in Love and War, a no-holds-barred
account of time spent in hot spots from Afghanistan
to Zimbabwe, 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb 21, at Borders,
612 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor. (734) 662-7407.

FYI: For Arts and Entertainment related events that you wish to have considered for Out & About, please send the item, with a detailed description of the event, times, dates, place, ticket prices and publishable phone number,
Notice must be received at least three
to: Gail Zimmerman, JN Out & About, The Jewish News, 30301 Northwestern Hwy., Farmington Hills, MI 48334; fax us at (248) 354-6069; or e-mail to gzimmerman@thejewishnews.com
weeks before the scheduled event. Photos are appreciated but cannot be returned. All events and dates listed in the Out & About column are subject to change.

2/15

2002

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