Don't miss "Free Tibet," the documentary released in conjunction
along with the three-CD set of this past year's Tibetan Freedom
Concert. This 90-minute film, about Tibet, youth activism and the
concert, features A Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, Fugees, Red
Hot Chili Peppers and Yoko Ono. There will be three screenings at 5
p.m., 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in Nat. Sci. on Sunday evening. Free.
Friday
November 14, 1997
5
IMS''Beethoven the
Contemporary' hits 'U'
Unique, nutty Squirrel
to zip into Pontiac
By Emily Lambert
:Daily Arts Writer
Earlier this year, about 40 University students
pent an entire semester studying the late great
omposer Ludwig van Beethoven. Tracing themes
through his life and music, the
lass surveyed his birth inR
Bonn, his death in 1827 and
many points in "between. TheA B
students argued over the "three C
period" interpretation of Tonight at!
Beethoven's music, and dis- Racy
cussed his family problems,
violent temper and legendary deafness. The class
#oved comprehensive. But as any survivor of the
hirlwind can tell you, a semester wasn't nearly
enough time to understand and appreciate this
man, who changed the course of music forever.
Perhaps this is one of the motivations behind the
three-year series of concerts, which opens tonight
under University Musical Society
auspices. From now
until the spring of
2000, Ann
Arborites will'
have the
'pportunity
to hear all of
Beethoven's
,p i a n o
sonatas and
string quar-
tets per-
formed by
pianist
U r s u l a
Oppens and
i h e
Am eric an
S t r i n g
Quartet. The American String Quartet plays tonigl
ee
8
kha
Scattered between the Beethoven works will be
contemporary American pieces, five of which were
written for Oppens. The goal, Oppens wrote in a state-
ment, is to draw connections between Beethoven and
modern composers. The series is titled "Beethoven the
Contemporary," and the next con-
certs are scheduled for January
EVIEW and March.
3thoven the UMS knows the value of a
ntemporary series. Audiences like to be part
and Sunday at 4 p.m. of a production, and a series has
m Auditorium - $10 box office appeal. When Garrick
Ohlsson performed all of
Chopin's solo piano works, a devoted following
attended every one of the six long concerts.
Audiences also like to learn something through
their efforts - and UMS has insured this will
happen. More than 35 educational activities are
scheduled for the nine residencies surrounding
the Beethoven concerts. Master classes, lectures,
informal question sessions
and cyberchats are
some of the events
on the calendar.
E.Educational
events began last
weekend and
continue
tonight with a
lecture titled
"Turns and
Thirds: The
Ties That
Bind" by
S t e v e n
* Whiting, asso-
ciate professor
of musicology.
Oppens will
address the
and Sunday at Rackham. audience after
Pianist Ursula Oppens will perform tonight.
her concert, and members of the American String
Quartet will do the same Sunday.
The first cyberchat, held Wednesday with
Oppens, was plagued by technical difficulties. But
those involved hope to have the problems ham-
mered out by next Tuesday, when members of the
American String Quartet will answer questions
online. Contact UMS for a complete schedule of
educational events.
Tonight, Oppens will play Beethoven's Sonatas in
B-flat Major, Op.22 and Op.106, "Hiammerklavier."
Elliot Carter's Piano Sonata will be sandwiched
between them.
Beethoven's sixth Quartet in B-flat Major from
Op.18 will precede Sunday's performance of
Giampolo Bracali's Quartet No.2. Quartet in a-minor,
Op.132 by Beethoven will round out the show.
Beethoven wrote more than piano sonatas and quar-
tets, and the series will not touch upon his symphonies
or other works. But the project is ambitious and excit-
ing nonetheless.
During Wednesday's cyberchat, UMS Executive
Director Kenneth Fischer asked Oppens what impact
she expected the series to have on her.
"I cannot imagine ever coming to the end of this
series," Oppens wrote, "that is just about to begin."
By Curtis Zimmermann
For the Daily
In the last year, the Squirrel Nut
Zippers have thrilled audiences across
the country, playing a mixture of swing,
jazz, Dixieland and country. The band's
album, "Hot" and its hit single, "He',"
have been a __
refreshing changeR
in the musical
industry, and its
style of music
embraces the old-
school tradition, clutch c
while giving it a
modern twist.
In a recent interview, guitarist Tom
Watson discussed the effects of the
group's recent success and how it still
remains true to its goals of making
great music. Watson attributed the
band's recent popularity to'being "a
matter of timing and hard work.
"We appreciate and embrace all the
diversity of it (our music). There is
Dixieland, swing, blues and country ...
it's by-and-large American music,"
Watson said. "Like the country, it tran-
scends age, race and genre."
The six-piece band was founded out-
side of Chapel Hill, N.C. in 1993, when
Jim Mathus and Katherine Whalen
started experimenting with numerous
instruments and performing at parties.
All of the founding members brought
together different styles of music and
molded them into a sound that would
become the backbone of the band.
After its lineup became secure, the
band recorded its first album, "The
Inevitable." The success of this album
was limited, but Squirrel Nut Zippers
started gaining exposure on television,
as well as having their song, "Anything
But Love," used on the film soundtrack
for "Flirting with Disaster."
The band gained incredible success
when the song "Hell,' a Calypso track
about how "In the after life / you'll be
headed for serious strife," first started
getting airplay. One of the most intrigu-
ing aspects of "Hot" is its diversity. Not
a
only does it include many different
musical and vocal styles, but many dif-
ferent instruments are used as well.
Songs like "Put Lid On It" and
"Twilight" showcase the band's ability to
play swing music, while songs like "(got
My Own Thing Now" have a Dixieland
melody. Katherine
Whalens' haunting
EV I E W voice, which is a
Squirrel Nut mix of both Patsy
Zippers Cline's and Billie
Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Holiday's voices, is
rgo's, Pontiac - $17 also showcased on
the album.
Watson, although excited about the
popularity of "Hell," discussed the
dilemma that the band faces. "Its been
wild," he said. "But we're not a single-
oriented band. There's so much diversi-
ty on our record it's almost perverse for
us to have one song played over and
over. Through that kind of exposure,
we've gained a lot of fans who would
not have normally run across us."
With its success, the band has been
touring the United States and Canada
practically non-stop for the last year.
"We've made some great records, but
there's something about our live show
that's irreplaceable.
"We really never play a song the
same way twice," Watson added.
"We're always changing stuff up
because we came from a school of play-
ing jazz where improvisation was
incredibly important."
Although still touring in promotion
of "Hot,' the band has also recorded a
third album, which is due out this
spring. In the years to come, the
Squirrel Nut Zippers plan to keep tour-
ing and recording more albums. Even
though their sound is such a deviation
from what is considered popular
Watson said that "we're going to con-
tinue to improve and diversify. We're
not an anomaly and we plan to keep
going."
So if you're in the mood, check out
the Squirrel Nut Zippers this Sunday in
Pontiac.
ght
Women's Glee Club to bring melodies to Hill
By Anitha Chalam
aily Arts Writer
You can't beat free when it comes to
cost, and what can you get for nothing,
you wonder? An evening of musical bliss,
at the Women's Glee Club Fall Concert.
Join them, tomor-
row evening as they
perform their annual P1
fall concert at Hill
Auditorium.
For those unfa-
liliar with the
,group, the Women's
:Glee Club was orig-
inally founded in 1893, and was an
active musical group on campus for
many years. But, due to the World Wars
and the lack of a faculty conductor, the
Glee Club suffered a decline in member-
ship and was absent from campus for
several decades.
The organization was re-established
1976 and since its renewal, it has
ourished and has maintained the
Michigan tradition of musical excel-
lence. The 75 women, currently under
the direction of Dr. Theodore Morrison,
come together from every field of study
at the University to share their love of
music. Current members' courses of
study range from Aerospace
Engineering to Women's Studies, and
everything in between; the members
*el that this diversity enhances the
xperience of the Glee Club as an
ensemble. The bond between the
'women as a group is strong indeed; they
are highly supportive of one another,
and all consider themselves lucky and
honored to be a member of this group.
Though active again on campus for
-the past 20 years, popularity of the
Women's Glee Club has burgeoned in
Xecent times. Since 1994, the club has
eld its annual Fall Concert at Hill
' uditorium, to the delight of group and
audience members alike. In addition,
the Glee Club now also hosts the annu-
SPRING BREAK
±1..
No
F.
al Women's Vocal Arts Day, a program
designed for Michigan high-school stu-
dents interested in singing.
In addition to singing on campus, the
Women's Glee Club has ventured out
into the world to spread its melodic mes-
sage. In past years,
the group has
E V I E W toured a number of
?men's Glee cities in the
Club Midwest as well as
on the East Coast
Tomorrow night at 8 _ the most recent
illI Auditorium - Free
_____________ tour being one to
Cornell University
in late October, where the women per-
formed in a three-way concert with the
Cornell Women's Chorus and the
Harvard Women's Glee Club. Another
big opportunity for the Women's Glee
Club was the invitation to sing at the
Inaugural celebration of University pres-
ident, Lee Bollinger, earlier this year.
Leading the Women's Glee Club to
success after success is conductor
Theodore Morrison, a musician well-
known as both a conductor and as a com-
poser. Now in his eighth year at the
University of Michigan School of Music,
he is co-director of an extensive choral
program comprised of 10 ensembles, as
well as a member of the Faculty Council
of Graduate Studies. Previously,
Professor Morrison taught at the Peabody
Conservatory of Music at John Hopkins
University and at Smith College. He is the
founder and was music director of the
Baltimore Choral Arts Society for 16 sea-
sons, during which he frequently conduct-
ed the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
The 1994-95 season was his first as con-
ductor of the University of Michigan
Women's Glee Club.
Dr. Morrison and the Women's Glee
Club hopes to charm audience mem-
bers tomorrow with 14 pieces, ranging
from African-American spirituals to
Chinese poetry set to music. A number
of works are based on poetry or text,
actually, with pieces adapted from the
writings of Lewis Carroll ("Beautiful
Soup," from "Alice in Wonderland"),
e.e. cummings ("As Freedom is a
Breakfast Food") and Mary Swenson
("I will be Earth" and "Love is a Rain of
Diamonds"). A highlighted piece of the
evening's performance is "Laudes
Atque," the work performed at
President Bollinger's inauguration. In
addition, the liarmonettes. a 10-mem-
ber a cappella subset of the group, will
be performing a few numbers.
While the Women's Glee Club tends
to be overshadowed by its male coun-
terpart, the members work equally hard
and deserve to showcase their talent as
well. The concert, with its great array of
musical genres, promises to be a treat.
Squirrel Nut Zippers brings its tunes to Clutch Cargo's this Sunday evening.
Attention Senior History
Concentrators
Colloquium sign-Up for Winter Term 1998 is
Monday, November 17, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in
1014 Tisch Hall.
No preference given to early arrivals.
W*' WAN !YWg'F4'M
I