6 8 - Friday, January 19, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com CONCERT PREVIEW Show marks 30 years POETRY PREVIEW Poet's road trip to stop at the Power Center By CATHERINE SMYKA Daily Arts Writer Though it may seem the only place to find both a uilleann pipe-playing rock band and a musical number by the cast of UMS's "The Pajama Game" in the same room would be an airport lobby (or maybe the Diag), the Music School has prepared a single show featuring these and 20 other diverse groups. More than 300 students, headed by Music School Prof. Paul Rardin, offer the Univer- sity community what he calls a "one-hour musical Collage postcard from the School Saturday at of Music, Theater and 8p.m. Dance." In its yearly per- At Hill Auditorium formance, the Collage Concert, which will play $15-d$25, $9 Saturday at Hill Audito- with student ID rium, incorporates all the disciplines of the Music School into a melodious collection. The Collage Concert was founded in 1976 by then-Music School orchestra director Gus- tav Meier. It's a musical collaboration of every creative element Music School students could offer, stringing performers back-to-back in an exhausting two-act production. While one group is still moving off the stage, a different part of it lights up, allowing the show to swiv- el rightfromthe SymphonyBand's last note to a solo pianist's opening chord. "This is short-attention span theater for those who love music," Rardin said. "If you don't like something, in three minutes some- thing else will be coming very quickly." A panel of judges builds the annual Col- lage Concert package, starting with the usual larger ensembles - Symphony Band, Cham- ber Choir, University Choir, Jazz Ensemble From there, everything else is up to students' imagination. Students sent in recordings of their best work, from four cellos playing a Britney Spears song to a Bach solo piano piece, hoping to earn a coveted spot in the show. Starting just last year, theater and dance groups were also welcomed into the Collage family. "They enhance what we've already been doing," Rardin said. "We are all about variety and diversity in this show." According to Rardin, the show features contrasts of big and small, serious and fun and Western and non-Western music and groups. "It absolutely doesn't compare to any other show. That's like comparing apples to Beethoven," Rardin said. "There's no applause in between numbers and we connect piece to piece with lighting." The concert's founding father, Gustav Gustav Meiler, a tormer Music School orchestra director, will he a guest conductor on Saturday. Meier, will be guest conducting the orches- tra. "We would like to honor him and his idea," Rardin said. "We're allowing applause when he comes on." Since its beginning 30 years ago, the Col- lage Concert hasn't changed its format. According to Rardin, the idea isto "stick with the formula and change the music." "To think about the abilities of the stu- dents next to you in the hall, that's amazing," Rardin said. "This concert really helps you to embrace the diverse interests and talents of the school." BY ABIGAIL B. COLODNER Daily Arts Writer The roadtrip thatleads to self-under- standing is a popular American myth. For poet, teacher and native. New the 51st Yorker Sekou Sun- (dream) diata, the decision s to get on the road was provoked by Saturday at events that gave 8 p.m. him a stunningly $14-$34 strong feeling of At the Power national identity Center and prompted a road trip to try making sense of this feeling. Sundiata's two-year-long tour of residencies at universities around the nation resulted in a work called "the 51st (dream) state," which he brings to the Power Center at 8 p. m. Saturday. In conversations with a range of Ameri- cans, the poet gathered a sense of how the nation has changed since Sept. 11. Instrumental music, singers, dance and Sundiata's own poetry communi- cate what he discovered. In a public Brown Bag lecture at the Institute for the Humanities Tuesday, he described walking out of his down- town New York office to the World Trade Center site. The moment felt surreal, bringing him a sense of true "Americanness." In his travels, Sundiata engaged thosehemetinconversations aboutthe current state of America. The personal accounts he heard fueled this piece, which looks critically at what he called "the estrangement between Ameri- can civic ideals and American civic practice." A sense of shared emotions after Sept. 11 suggested to the poet the "dream state" or "common ground" as he put it, which is the piece's title. "Serious critique that's beyond com- plaining is deep caring. I wanted to get at the language of that," Sundiata said during the lecture. As part of his residency with the University, Sundiata will also lead workshops in today's day-long public conference on the role of arts in the community at the Michigan League. a. I 4 4 q 4