8A - The Michigan Daily -- Monday, November 15, 1999

Theatre
of Voices
debuts
ensemble
By Nick Falzone
Daily Arts Writer
A vocal music performance entitled
"Fragments" might suggest at first a
loosely strung series of songs, a reper-
toire with few, if any, significant
segues. Yet Theatre of Voices, a vocal
ensemble that performed in their
University Musical Society debut on
Friday evening, proved that titles can be
misleading; the group's sensational
voices seamlessly blended -a repertoire
of songs that spanned from the 12th to
the 20th Century.
In addition to incorporating both
modern and medieval songs into their
vocal selection, Theatre's repertoire
also consisted of
pieces in no less
than five different
languages. Yet the
Theatre of group's six

Ethereal musician Winston
enthralls Michigan Theater

By Shannon O'Sullivan
Daily Arts Writer
George Winston enchanted his
audience with beautiful songs
including "Linus and Lucy,"
"Pachelbel's Canon" and "Rain" last

George
Winston
Michigan Theater
Nov. 11, 1999
A

Thursday
evening at the
M i c h i g a n
Theater.
For his nearly
sold-out audi-
ence, Winston
reminisced
about former
concerts and the
fun drive up
State Street on
such a night.
The audience
laughed along
with him, as

piano and organ, inspired by blues,
rock, R&B and jazz. His current
music is two-thirds R&B and one-
third melodic music. He has seven
solo piano albums: "Autumn"(1980),
"Winter Into Spring"(1982),
"D e c e m b e r " ( 1 9 8 2 ),
"Summer"(1981), "Forest"(1994),
"Linus and Lucy-The Music of Vince
Guaraldi"(1996) and "Plains"(1999).,
Winston began the evening with an
Irish melody, followed by the famous
music of Vince Guaraldi, otherwise
known as the music of Charlie
Brown. Winston's performance was
lively and fun; he let the minds of the
audience wander and become
engaged in his music.
His quick fingers were amazing to
watch. They were constantly moving,
whether he was reaching inside the
piano to pluck a string, or if they
were flowing up and down the piano,
stroking all of the keys with delicacy.
This type of movement is especially
evident in George's jazz songs, since

his quick but flowing movements
truly define jazz.
Although the piano is George's V
claim to fame, he plays other instru-
ments as well. One of his favorites is
the slack key guitar. Slack key began
in the early 1800's and is a guitar tra-
dition of Hawaii, where one plays
with only one finger. George took
the audience to the islands with his
beautiful, exotic strokes on the slack
key guitar.
The second half of the concert
included his famous variations on
"Pachelbel's Kanon," as many in the
audience gasped with delight when
he announced that was the next
piece. It was as beautiful as ever, if
not more because it was live.
George Winston's performance was
absolutely amazing. If one would like
to see a concert, whether they are fond
of that type of music, or not, he is the
one to see. His music is so enchanting
- it engages you completely and takes
your imagination away.

Courtesy of UMS

Paul Hillier directs and performs in the Theatre of Voices.


Voices
St. Francis of Assisi
Nov. 12, 1999

singers - one
soprano, one
countertenor, two
tenors and two
baritones -- still
managed to inter-
twine their voices
effortlessly to
produce a coher-
ent flow of vocal
excellence.

Surprisingly, though, the performers'
choice not to interact with the audience
did not detract from the show at all. The
decision added, instead, to the solemn,
monastic tone that dominated the per-
formance.
When the vocalists did look up from
their scores, their eyes generally went to
their director, Paul Hillier, for a cue or
another type of musical command.
However, the performers did not look in
front of them for guidance, but rather to
their sides. Hillier not only directed the
show but performed in it as well; his
elegant baritone was a fundamental part
of the ensemble's musical success.
Hillier, as well as the other members of
the ensemble, gave a sensational per-
formance; it was a privilege to listen to
him perform.
One of the elements that made the
show such a joy to listen to was the
compositional variety of the group's
repertoire. Since many of the com-
posers wrote their pieces for a reli-
gious audience, the works contain
many of the same words, such as
"Amen" or "Alleluia." Yet these words

never seemed repetitive for each song
featured a different way for the group
to perform them.
For example, in some works, the
performers finished "Amen" quickly
yet beautifully in a traditional two-syl-
lable fashion. In other selections,
though, a Latin piece entitled,
"Venecie mundo/Michael qui stena,"
the group elongated the word, taking
each letter and savoring it tenderly.
The beauty of their voices and the cre-
ativity of the work's composer shone
through as the vocalists moved slowly
from "a" to "n," reluctant to let each
character go.
The minute attention to vocal detail,
as well as the great efforts the group
took to make each transition effortless,
made the "Theatre of Voices" concert a
wonderful event not only to see, but to
absorb as well. Although the show
marked the group's first UMS perfor-
mance, the audience's response -
bringing the vocalists back out for
bows twice after they had already
retired - is sure to coax them to Ann
Arbor again in the years to come.

Although the musical performance
was stellar, none of the singers memo-
rized any of their pieces. The vocalists
referred to their scores frequently
throughout the program and made little
eye contact with the audience, focusing
primarily on the music below their eyes.

parking had been especially grueling
that evening due to the large crowd
of concertgoers.
Winston started out playing the
wvith both
beauty
and imits
Flag To Flag
Sega
Dreamcast
It's obvious to include a huge quiver
of tracks in a racing game; strangely,
they are one of the worst omissions
from most racing games. Sega's "Flag
to Flag" has no such problems.
Tracks from Long Beach to Japan
make up the 19 races in this vast and
good looking racer. Tracks range from
satisfyingly simple tracks with few
curves to slam into to fiendish, curv-
ing tracks that epitomize the spectator
blood sport which is race car driving.
Fire and gore on the track are some of
the only things missing from the disc.
With 27 basic cars to choose from
and the ability to alter seven of the
car's attributes in Championship
mode, there is a wide range of rides
for the realistic racing liker. There is
also a wide choice of race length,
from a couple laps available in Arcade


1

007.
Daily Arts.
Later this
week...

mode to laps well into the three digit
range in the Dreamcast mode.
.Replays are effective at simulating a
televised CART race; camera move-
ment, shot switching and optical pecu-
liarities from telephoto lenses all play
a part. There is no use of in-car cam-
eras during playback, but that can at
your choosing be the view while actu-
ally driving in the game.
Advertising varies from track to
track, and semi-realistically; Detroit
has more Ford advertising than other
places. There are certain environmen-
tal failures, however; to my recollec-
tion, there are no mountains surround-
ing Detroit. Nevertheless, you can see
every last trademark placement as
clearly as if FedEx and Pepsi had
pumped a lot of money into the game.

Despite the commercialism, it feels
much better than some smeared image
meant to represent an ad that other
machines are unable to render proper-
ly.
At the same time, "Flag to Flag" is
limited by its genre; realistic racing
games tend to be very much like one
another. This game is visually
advanced and deeper than most, but
there is a limit to driving around flat
tracks over and over even when there
are a lot of them. Fans will find the
game the best ever and newcomers
will find it to be all the real life racer
they'll ever need. But if you want
new and different play, "Flag to
Flag" will disappoint for all its
beauty and depth.
- Ted Watts



Five Great Reasons
to Get a Degree
in Pharmacy From
the University of
Michigan

I Outstanding employment
opportunities. (Retail practice is
just one of many career paths
from which to choose.)
2 An average base annual salary
of $66,793 for pharmacists with
a PharmD degree - and climb-
ing FAST.
3 You'd be part of a small, yet


'7th Hleaven'
seeps of sa ppy;
sin in sweeps

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ONLY $4.75 Matinees before 6 pm,
Kids, Seniors, & Everyone all day Tuesday
$5.50 with Student ID after 6pM
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0

diverse student body.
(Only 220 PharmD stu-
dents total.)
f 4 An exceptional
alumni network. (More
than 3,000 worldwide,
with a high concentra-
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To learn more about the
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By Anika Kohon
Daily Arts Writer
With heavy moralizing, bad cine-
matography and a standard Spelling
jazz soundtrack, what could "7th
Heaven" possibly have to offer, save
absolution for skipping religious-ser-
vices?
Well, considering the standard fall
line-up saturated with violence, sex,
profanity and an abundance of MTV-
style editing, "7th Heaven" offers
families an opportunity to enjoy
clean programming worthy of dis-
cussion. Not that there is anything
wrong with the aforementioned con-
tent. Everyone has to vicariously
indulge their appetites for gratuitous
sex, infidelity and murder, but then

they can cleanse their souls without
meditating, confessing or fasting.
Enter: "7th Heaven" with it's conclu-
sion to the two-part episode, "Sin"
and "Expiation."
Last week, the Camden's oldest
daughter, Mary, was arrested for
vandalizing her high school gym,
with teammates after a lock out b
their Varsity Basketball coach (Kurt
Rambis of the L.A. Lakers). Though
Rambis is very obviously not an
actor, and his speeches are wholly
unconvincing, it is aneamusing
touch, nonetheless. Of course, this
cameo will be lost on audiences who
don't follow the NBA too closely,
and then he just looks like a bad
actor.
Mary's criminal acts are set-in a
atmosphere of smaller domesti)
problems. Simon gets suspended for
giving his buddies "the finger,"
Ruthi. tris-t

"
"

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r L

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MUSIC OF THE HEART (PG)
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BEST MAN (R)
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AMERICAN BEAUTY (R)
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THREE KINGS (R) 12:00, 2:10, 7:05
SIXTH SENSE (PG-13)
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Call attention to the
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The WB
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be one of the
guys, Lucy
serves on stu-
dent court, and
Matt experi-
ences homesick-
Presumably, th
wide age range
of the (many)
Camden chil-
dren offers
issues for view-
ers of all ages.
The writers

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