Larissa Szporluk reads at Rackham Ampitheatre. Szporluk is te author of "Dark Sky Question," winner of the 1997 Barnard New Women Poet's Prize. 5 p.m. (be Litrigmi 1Mg Tomorrow in Daily Arts: * Check out a review of the new ABC film version of "Annie." Tuesday November 9, 1999 d 5 Trio 0O records conCert 'it Kerry By John Uhl Daily Arts Writer Sting once sang of "the sacred geometry of chance" in reference to a gambling addict who found meaning in the probabilities of the random. ,night, when the performance of an international trio (German pianist Georg Graewe, Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger and American percussionist Gerry Hemingway are on their first tour in several years), is recorded at Kerrytown Concert House, a similar anticipation of unexpected outcomes will play a pivotal role in shaping the group's performance. "The music you're hearing in the trio is entirely impro- v i s e d " 4 Hemingway said in a recent inter- Graewe, Rejseger view. "There's no and Hemingway written music Kerrytown Concert House whatsoever in this Tonight at 8 ensemble; there never has been." Not only does the force of Jchance guide the music that the trio produces, but it has helped config- ure the group itself Originally a quartet, an absent musician forced the ensemble to reimag- ine itself for a performance date. "We did it as a trio and something just clicked," said Hemingway. "Sometimes that's how groups find themselves, through a series of happenstances." I ikewise, as the trio's performance is to be professionally recorded, the possi- bility of the event becoming a complete, produced compact disc is uncertain. "it depends;' said Hemingway, "Maybe wve'll have a terrible night, just play awful, the recording will have a buzz all Instrumental ensemble performs baroque 'Arthur' By Jennifer Gates For the Daily When the lights dim tomorrow night at Hill Auditorium, Les Arts Florissants promises not only to send its audience back in time to the medieval time period through its subject, but to the Baroque time peri- od through its presentation of Henry Purcell's "King Arthur." Les Arts Florissants is a vocal and instrumental ensemble based out of France that specializes in 17th and 18th Century music. The group does its own research in order to recreate historically accurate productions. They perform all over the world and Courtesy of Graewe-Reijseger-Hemingway Ernst Reijseger and Gerry Hemingway will perform at Kerrytown Concert House. the way through it; there's anything that could happen." Graewe is a little more optimistic. "I'm excited," he said from a Vancouver hotel. "That's about it." Indeed. Graewe seems to place less stock in the power fortune holds over the ensemble. When asked about the trio's creation, he answered, "Well, I just called 'em up. I had seen them play with other people and I thought they would fit perfectly well with what I wanted... after one or two minutes (of playing), it was happening." Even the completely impromptu music the group creates carries a sense of predictablility to Graewe. The pianist, who has composed works for solo piano, chamber ensembles and symphonic orchestras, feels that improvisation is simply the art of composing sponta- neously. "Improvisation is a discipline of composition, he said. "There's no pre- arranged structure, but basically it's all about structure." This balance between organization and complete freedom of expression is at the heart of improvisation. At first, the music of this trio can sound dissonant or even aimless. But a serious listen will reveal dynamic contrasts and themes emerging over the course of many min- utes of abstract sonic experimentation. Moreover, there are specific moments when the group sounds as if it is thinking in unison: Reijseger's slide from pointilistic cello plucks to a walking bassline compliments Graewe's piano phrase shift like socks on linoleum; the group often simultaneously executes abrupt stops and starts. "I'm involved in looking at music in a certain kind of way, through the eyes of a composer," said Hemingway, who, like Graewe, writes for numerous contexts. "When I look at this music and I look at the results, I'm envious. It's very hard to fashion something like this, as a com- poser, that's so organic." Aside from years of musical train- ing, practice and performance, the sophistication of the trio's work is per- haps most possible because of some- thing Hemingway mentioned about the improvising world. "You could maybe generalize that the Europeans have some stance that is uniquely theirs, that differs, to some degree, from the Brooklyn crowd and the New York crowd," he said, "but all these things feed each other ultimately, because we're all interracting and playing with each other all the time." There exists a level of familiarity between almost all improvising musi- cians that can allow these three, who've not played together in years, to produce some beautiful music. L~es Arts Florissants Hill Auditorium Wednesday at 8 p.m. \y y have won many awards, includ- ing an "early o p e r a" Gramophone Award in 1995 for Purcell's "King Arthur." The musical e n s e m b I e arrives in Ann Arbor celebrat- ing their 30th anniversary. W i l l i a m Christie estab- lished Les Arts Florissants in Paris in 1979. Christie grew up in Buffalo, New York studying the piano, organ and harpsichord. Upon graduation from Harvard and Yale he left for France and worked with an experi- mental music group. After he established Les Arts Florissants, Christie became the first American professor at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris, directing their early music program. It was not until 22 years after his arrival in France that he became a French citizen, awarded the prestigious French Legion d'Honneur in 1993. Recently in 1997, Christie was William Christie directs Les Arts Floriss awarded the "Prix Grand Siecle Laurent Perrier" for his services to French music. While Les Arts Florissants' prima- ry interest is in French composers, they do works from other nations as well. For example, their performance tomorrow will be a historic recon- struction of the English composer Henry Purcell's 1691 "semi-opera," "King Arthur." As Purcell aged, he became very fond of these "semi- operas;" or multi-media collabora- tions between composer, playwright, producer, choreographer, actors, Courtesy of ICM Artists ants. singers, scene painters and machio- ists. Les Arts Florissants' performance of "King Arthur" will be semi-staged as it would have been seen in 1691 in London's Dorset Garden. It will involve 18 instrumentalists, nine vocalists, three dancers, and two actors. University Professor of, Music Ellwood Derr will give a free pre-concert lecture at 7pm in the League's Vandenberg Room. For more information call UMS at 764-2538. Tickets are priced at $14, $20, $30 and $40. MTV'sxsHeadtrip' is a sorry exercise in mindless futility Read the Daily online! wwvw.michigandaity.com By Peter Cunniffe For the Daily In a turn of events surprising to no one, yet another new cartoon has debuted this fall. Producers these days seem to be increasingly enamored of the potential for cartoons to attract audiences. The like-minded programmers at MTV m to think that throwing the staple stars of their channel into these cartoons as well is an even * 41 |$ better idea. And why not, though < i dreadful, MTV's Celebrity Death Match is a hit and it seems like a gen- Headtrip uinely good idea to base more TV shows on the heckling of the laughable No Stars gaggle of stars currently popular with MTV MTV's audience. Mon.-Fri. at 9 p.m. Unfortunately, what MTV has given us is "Head Trip;' possibly the worst show in the sorry history of failed MTV television shows. There is no real point or direction to this show, each is merely a series of unrelated scenes that are, without exception, incredibly unentertaining. "Head Trip's" basic component, cutouts of celebrity's heads saying witty things, is even stupider than it sounds. The photograph heads on badly animated bodies evoke South Park's rendition of Saddam Hussein, but unlike Saddam, "Head Trip's" characters don't have anything even remotely funny to say. "Head Trip" serves up such wretch inducing scenes as Ricky Martin trying to convince someone how loco he is because he runs with scissors, the revelation that Brittany Spears is a robot and Puff Daddy does really bad standup comedy. Its like they wanted this show to be funny, but just in case anyone portrayed might be offended, they limited the edginess of "Head Trip's" humor to the occasional use of the word "bitch". "Head Trip" isn't all poorly written cartoon high jinks though. There are also music videos with what MTV terms "funny comments" but which are better characterized as the most unimaginative, insipid jokes ever written. It's like 8eavis and Butthead, only much more stupid. Doesn't sound possible? Just try to imagine people with squeaky voices spending three minutes commenting on the dancing in a Sugar Ray video. One would think anyone could come up with amusing things to say about Brandy and Monica's fun-to-deride video for "The Boy is Mine," but "Head Trip" fails even at this seemingly simple task. There is no break from "Head Trip's" proclivity to being annoying and unwatchable throughout its unbear- ably long half-hour. MTV, defying all expectations, has managed to sink even lower in the quality of its program- ming. They'd be better off just putting on more Backstreet Boys videos than leaving the horrendously bad "Head Trip" on the air any longer REGISTRAR'S BULLETIN BOARD Register using TOUCH-TONE on campus: 8-1881 Local off campus: 998-1881 Long Distance off campus: 1-(734) 998-1881 You cannot register before your appointment time. Students having a FINANCIAL HOLD will not be permitted to register until it is removed. Appointment Times are available on Wolverine Access and via E-mail. You can register and drop/add anytime after your appointment time. 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Collection kicks wit hX' poetry Generation X Poetry: In Our Own Words Edited by Marlow Peerse Weaver W Enterprises We are Generation X. Each one of us is a member of generation labeled by two crossing lines. Yet we are not one and the same. Each one of us has a voice and. something valid to say. Such is what Marlow Peerse Weaver set out to are the poems included in the collection. The subjects of the poems range from what it feels like to be locked in this gen- eration, to sex, drugs and death. There is no central theme to the book, which serves to produce an all-encompassing collection to which people of all genera- tions can relate. Perhaps not surprisingly, two of the 180 featured poets in the book are University of Michigan students; no other university or college can boast such an achievement. Weaver expresses her intent of the book. She writes, "This book is an aspect remains constant: the ring of hon- esty throughout. While the poems encompass moods of joy, anger and sar- casm, the human quality is ever present. The book is particularly poignant for precisely this reason. Generation Xers are not merely automatons, feeling emo- tions dictated by another, more insipid generation. Rather, the collection proves that those who comprise this generation are as extremely individualistic as the label is conformist. If nothing else, the collection conveys the- ever present, ever growing rift between the generation Xers and the To register through TOUCH-TONE, be sure to have the following items before calling: * Touch-Tone telephone " An appointment start time " Time Schedule of Winter Courses. Web Site (hottp:lwww umich.edu/-regoff/timesched/) - Student Number (social security number) " Personal security number (to be established the first time you access Touch-Tone for the term) - Completed election worksheet, with alternatives (use Wolverine Access to obtain information on open sections and waitlists. 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