Friday, February 22, 2013 - 5
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
EVENT PREVIEW
Kerrytown to host
Marsalis quartet
Gilbert to bring NY
Philharmonic to Hill
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allet-based jazz bing tracks with percussion. In
approaching the music and pro-
former comes to ducing, there's been a sense of
consistency, but with the selection
Ann Arbor of instruments, Marsalis is look-
ing to break new ground.
By JOHN BOHN "I try to shake the form up and
Daily Arts Writer do different things with it," Mar-
salis said.
Sunday, at the Kerrytown "There's a lot that can be done
t House, Jason Marsalis on the (vibraphone) that has not
breathing fresh air into been done yet," Marsalis said.
raphones "There have not been a lot of
mallet- Jason Mar- vibraphone players in the his-
iazz with sais Vie tory of the music. We can name 10
be Quar- trumpet players or 10 saxophones
'he per- Quartet players in like 30 seconds. But you
ice will can't really do that with vibes. You
music unday might be able to get to 10, but it's
his most 7:00 p.m. not easy."
album, In Kerrytown In addition to the attention he
d of Mal- Concert House gained for his skill on the mallets,
Marsalis was also a group recipi-
ere are From $5 ent of the 2011 NEA Jazz Mas-
songs ters Award. The other musicians
ive vibes and marimba, or to receive the award were Ellis
one, glockenspiel, tubular Marsalis Jr., Branford Marsalis,
Marsalis said. "And I've Wynton Marsalis and Delfeayo
them, and I've overdubbed Marsalis. Jason Marsalis happens
hese tracks together with to come from a family of accom-
nd when I thought about it, plished musicians, New Orleans's
e just came to me. It's like famous Marsalis family. Through-
n a world of mallets." out his career, Marsalis has played
salis originally trained as and composed with his father,
ussionist, both in drums Ellis Marsalis Jr., and his three
ssical percussion. With the brothers.
of Music Update in 2009, "I was born much later," Mar-
er, he began garnering salis said. "The lastof six boys. Me
on for his skill on the vibra- and my brothers played music, but
This latest album, released by the time I was six or seven, they
comprises 14 tracks. With- were all out of the house."
h song, Marsalis explores Interestingly, Marsalis grew
ounds mallet-based instru- up in a house of soon-to-be musi-
can create. cians. His father practiced a lot
ee it as an extension, not with him, and his older brother
a break, with things that Ellis would be around for lessons.
ne," Marsalis said. "There "My older brother Ellis did
rent instrumentation and come around and we did play a
to deal with melodic solos, lot together when I was in high
re are similarities." school," Marsalis said. "So I did
oth his drum- and mallet- have support with music. I had a
recordings, Marsalis went great support system."
h a process of overdub-- In addition to his family roots,
Marsalis also acknowledges the
influence of his hometown, New
Orleans, on his music.
"(New Orleans) has made me
appreciate the history of the
music," Marsalis said. "New
Orleans has music that was born
out of the city. It's still sustained
in a way, and it made me appreci-
ate those elements as I got older.
I even use those elements when I
play more updated music."
This weekend, however, Mar-
salis is touring with his own band,
the Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet.
It includes pianist Austin John-
son, bassist Will Goble and drum-
mer David Potter. Marsalis first
met his bandmates while on a
teaching residency at Florida State
University.
"What struck me about those
guys was that they were really
serious about the music and real-
ly committed to it, and I thought
I would give them a chance,"
Marsalis said. "They're very seri-
ous about the music that we are
playing, and they've really grown
throughout the process."
Jason Marsalis will be the
third Marsalis brother to appear
at the Kerrytown Concert House.
As the youngest brother, he cer-
tainly hasn't had a head start in
making his name known or per-
forming across the country. How-
ever, he isn't concerned with that
sense of following in anybody's
footsteps.
"What it means to follow them
is something I don't worry about
because I play music on my own
terms," Marsalis said. "I have my
goals that I'm thinking about, and
I have music that I need to work
on to become a better musician.
It's not about what they've done
in the past. I believe in that music,
but I'm not worried about follow-
ing that. I'm worried about look-
ing in terms of the present and the
future in terms of a musician."
By TEHREEM SAJJAD
DailyArts Writer
With a track record of over
15,000 concerts in 430 cities, 63
countries and five continents,
New York Phil-
harmonic isN
returning to NeWYOII
Ann Arbor this Philhar-
year as part of .n
a countrywide monC
tour to deliver Saturday at
two enthrall- 8:00 p.m.
ing orchestra and Sunday
performances. at 2:00 p.m.
Both concerts
will mark Alan Hill Auditorium
Gilbert's first, From$10
appearance in F
Michigan as
music director of the Philhar-
monic.
"What's most unique about
the New York Philharmonic is
that it's been in existence for 160
years and has a tradition of excel-
lence," said Mark Schmoockler,
one of the orchestra's violinists.
Founded in 1842, the New
York Philharmonic is the old-
est symphony orchestra in the
world. Its rich tradition includes
the works of directors Bruno
Walter, Willem Mengelberg and
Arturo Toscanini. The Philhar-
monic is recognized for yield-
ing some of the best music of its
time and is an internationally
acclair
Sinc
concer
York
placei
the Ph
ing at I
concer
season
The
ic's pi
"Moza
riage c
phony.
Symph
progra
Modes
Bald 1
"Schel
Vogler
Tchail
Pathet
med musical institution. since he took the post in 2009.
ce 1916, 16 of the 15,000 He is the first New Yorker to
-ts performed by the New be offered the highest position
Philharmonic have taken at the Philharmonic. Gilbert is
in Ann Arbor. This year, also the director of Orchestral
hilharmonic will be play- Studies at the Philharmonic
Hill Auditorium during the and holds the William Schuman
t hall's 100th anniversary chair position in Musical Stud-
1. ies at The Juilliard School. His
first of the Philharmon- recordings have received top
erformances will feature honors from The Chicago Tri-
rt's Overture," "The Mar- bune and Gramophone maga-
of Figaro," Mozart's Sym- zine.
No. 36, Linz and Brahms's Cellist Jan Vogler will also
ony No. 1. In the second be playing as part of the orches-
im, Gilbert will conduct tra. An award-winning artist,
t Mussorgsky's "Night on Vogler records for SONY Classi-
lountain," Ernest Bloch's cal. Considered a cello prodigy,
omo" with cellist Jan Vogler became the principle
as soloist and Pyotr ll'yich cello at the Staatskapelle Dres-
kovsky's Symphony No. 6, den, a German Orchestra, and
ique. was named the youngest con-
certmaster in the Orchestra's
history. Vogler also won the
Echo Klassik Award (the Ger-
man equivalent of the Grammy)
1d orchestra in 2008 for some of his record-
ings.
return to While the New York Phil-
harmonic aspires to cultivate
Ann Arbor its audience's musical zest, its
Ann Arbor visit also comprises
numerous classes that will be
taught by Philharmonic brass
n Gilbert, the Philhar- and string musicians, includ-
's newly appointed music ing Chris Lam, Joe Alessi and
or, has strived to make the Glenn Dicterow, at the Univer-
tra a token of pride for sity's School of Music, Theatre
York City and the country & Dance.
N
ar
I
Ala
monic
direct
orches
New Y
PERFORMANCE PREVIEW
'Hothouse' to explore
human interactions
By PAIGE PFLEGER
Daily Arts Writer
Hunan interactions today seem
to have been reduced to texting
and Facebook messaging. How-
ever, School of
Music, Theatre
& Dance senior The Hot-
and directing house
major Emily
Lyon hopes to Fridayat7:0O
challenge these p.m. and11:00
ideals in her p.m.,Saturday
senior thesis at7:00 p.m.
with the pre-
sentation of the Walgreen
play, "The Hot- Drama Center
house," by Har- Free
old Pinter.
"The Hot-
house" takes place in what
appears to be a mental institution
or asylum, though this is not ever
explicitly stated - a quirk that is
common in Pinter's plays. Lyon
chose to set the play in the United
States in 1984, giving it a moder-
nity the 1950s-written play did not
formerly have.
"I think the show is very appro-
priate for our time," Lyon said. "I
always try to pick pieces that will
say something to who we are now
and the audience we'll be address-
ing. 'The Hothouse' is a mockery
and a condemnation of bureaucra-
cy, more or less, and it shows us in a
time of Facebook, military drones
and systemized health care that
institutionalizing human interac-
tion is not what we do best."
The show develops a Clue-
like game of whodunit. After an
alleged murder and rape takes
place in the sanatorium, the char-
acters scramble humorously to
find the culprit, causing the play
to take on a comedic sense while
dealing with more serious themes.
"The characters themselves are
given numbers instead of names,
which ties into the distancing of
humanity," Lyon said. "It's a chess
game from there of what has hap-
pened and who is going to chal-
lenge the system, if anyone."
The show, taking place in Wal-
green Drama Center's Studio One,
is unusual because it is not often
that the University puts on Pinter
plays. Pinter is known for a few
trademarks, one being the Pinter
pause, which places emphasis on
the words and gives actors time to
reflect on them. Because of Pint-
er's quirks, his plays can some-
times be a challenge.
"For the theater majors, this is
definitely a different experience
and a different type of theater
overall," Lyon said. "One chal-
lenge we've been having is that in
finding whatthis institution is like
and dealing with how intention-
ally vague Pinter can be, it has to
go against a lot of actors instincts
to create a very tense and funny
show."
The cast has had a great deal of
bonding time on and off stage by
researching the show through dif-
ferent kinds of games. They have
played a game of Assassin (which
is still on-going), Clue and even
an English tea time. Lyon believes
the small cast has really made her
senior thesis special.
"The cast is amazing, and I was
extremely fortunate to get one of
the strongest casts that I could
have possibly put together," Lyon
said. "They are certainly seven
heavy hitters. They challenge me
and they inspire me, and it's been
really wonderful."
Lyon's senior
thesis puts
modern twist on
Pinter's play.
Lyon focuses her energy in try-
ing to convey a certain aesthetic,
and with her last act as an under-
graduate, she hopes "The Hot-
house" will continue to display it.
"I focus in on trying to tell the
best story, and making sure that
every single moment is interesting
and alive," she said. "I love color-
ful characters and what draws
me to theater is thorough under-
standing and pinpointing of genu-
ine humanity. Often, what we find
funny about theater is seeing our-
selves in it."
"Runaway love."
Taylor too swift with romances
By LENA FINKEL songs p
Daily Arts Writer tragedi
And
Taylor Swift is officially dating
Conor Kennedy. No, she's dating
Harry Styles. No, she's dating
John Mayer, or maybe Bradley
Cooper - OK, that last one only
applies to Jennifer Lawrence. But
it's no secret that Taylor Swift has
had her fair share of romances;
she's jumped around from guy to
guy, only staying single for about
five minutes.
Swift prides herself on being
a good role model for young girls
and has even made a career out
of it, but what does this say about
the example she sets for her fans?
Swift only dated her last boy-
friend, Harry Styles of One Direc-
tion, for about two months, and
yet she had already planned to
buy a house in the United King-
dom, down the road from Styles.
Though she claimed the location
was merely a coincidence, when
the two split, she immediately
stopped looking. So, coincidence?
Probably not.
You'll notice, of course, that
Styles never looked to buy a house
near Swift in the United States.
Not to mention that Swift has
become infamous for writing
much h
with al
partyin
on the 1
sound i
that ha
J
J
t
iost-breakup, detailing the her boyfriend to call. Whether
es of her love life. or not her songs accurately por-
yes, writing songs is a tray her personality is beside the
healthier way of dealing point. Swift could be the stron-
breakup than, say, drugs or gest girl in the world, but her
ig. But Swift's songs harp music says otherwise. Her song
breakup, making each one about Jonas is not a fluke - she's
like a devastating tornado written similarly worded songs
s torn rightthrough her. about Taylor Lautner and John
Mayer and reportedly has five
songs about Harry soon to come.
S W Taylor, What is she really saying to teen-
iayio age girls with lyrics like these?
ohn Jake That it's OK to let every breakup
> > tear you apart?
1i onor and Maybe it's not fair to psychoan-
alyze her love life. But when she
H arry makes it public, when she makes
it into a career and when her
audience is a bunch of13-year-old
girls, then Swift better be careful
song about ex-boyfriend what she's telling them.
ias, "Forever and Always," Taylor, maybe you should take
ics such as, "Baby, what a cue from Beyonce's anthem
ed? Please tell me. ... Was "Run the World (Girls)"; you're a
line? Did I say something multi-Grammy-winning, plati-
o honest?" and "I stare num album-recording artist.
phone and he still hasn't You've been nominated for a
And then you feel so low, Golden Globe, for Best Original
't feel nothin' at all." Song and have sold over 26-mil-
e lyrics are not empoWer- lion albums and 75-million digital
y scream, "I am drowning downloads worldwide. You don't
t my man." Swift sounds need a man, and when you start
c, like she has fallen to to believe that, maybe your fans
waiting by the phone for will, too.
One
Joe Jon
has lyr
happen
I out of
way to
at the
called /
you can
Thes
ing; the
withou
patheti
pieces
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