Music concerts, poetry readings and lectures highlight Fanfare's fourth week
Contact: Tonya Lowentritt
Date: October 15, 2012
HAMMOND – A World War II throw-back musical concert, readings in prose and poetry and a trio of lectures highlight the fourth week of Fanfare, Southeastern Louisiana University's annual October-long arts festival.
"Fanfare is entering its fourth week, but there is no shortage of great events to experience," said Columbia Theatre and Fanfare Interim Director C. Roy Blackwood. "Aside from the always terrific lectures and readings, everyone can anticipate a very special concert by the Victory Belles, the National WWII Museum's talented vocal trio which salutes veterans and military through song."
Fanfare's fourth week begins on Monday, Oct. 22, with a Then and Now lecture by Southeastern History and Political Science faculty member Charles Elliott. Elliott will present "Promises, Perceptions and Problems of Louisiana State in 1812" at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville at 7 p.m.
The Louisiana Connections: Fiction and Poetry Readings by English Department Faculty continue with faculty members Andree Crosby and Norman German at 12:30 p.m. in D Vickers, room 383. Crosby is cofounder of St. Tammany Writers Group, advisor for "La Literati," and author of numerous poems and essays in journals and collections. German is the author of "A Savage Wisdom," "Switch-Pitchers," and "No Other World."
The Victory Belles, the WWII vocal trio, are scheduled to perform on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Amite High School Theatre, located at 403 S. Laurel Street in Amite. In a fitting tribute to our veterans, the Amite Art Guild is donating the proceeds of the performance to the Wounded Warriors Program.
General admission is $5 and military veterans will be admitted free. Tickets are available through the Amite Arts Council.
Also during Fanfare's final week:
▪ Visiting artist lecture by Jon Swindler on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at noon in the Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery. Swindler is an artist and a member of the Printmaking and Book Arts faculty at the University of Georgia. He works in a variety of print media, including lithography, woodcut, etching, monotype and screenprint.
▪ The Italian Film "Life is Beautiful" will be shown with English subtitles on Oct. 23, at 5 p.m. in the Student Union Theatre. Guido has won the heart of the woman he loves and created a beautiful life for his young family. But then, that life is threatened by World War II, and Guido must rely on those very same strengths to save his beloved wife and son from an unthinkable fate. The free film is rated PG-13 and is approximately 116 minutes.
▪ Guest Artist Recital Series presents Theodore Kerkezos, saxophone. The free concert is scheduled on Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Pottle Music Building Auditorium.
▪ The Then and Now Lecture on Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. features Emeritus History Professor Michael Kurtz, discussing "Presidential Candidates Past and Present." Just two weeks before the 2012 election, Kurtz will discuss how candidates and political parties have conducted campaigns since the first presidential election in 1788. The free lecture will be in Pottle Music Building Auditorium.
▪ On Oct. 25 at 2 p.m., the Teaching and Learning Department will present the next installment of Forum on Milestones – Forty Miles of Courage 120 Years Later. "Performing Civil Disobedience" is scheduled at 2 p.m. in the Teacher Education Center Lecture Hall, room 1022. The session with author Mat Johnson, creative writing professor at the University of Houston; Jayetta Slawson, Southeastern associate professor of English; and Michelle Brown, assistant professor, looks at civil disobedience as a performance act in which actors fight for social change Beginning with Plessy vs. Ferguson, the conversation will expand as the panelists read and think about the topic in a variety of contexts. The presentation is free.
Fanfare tickets are on sale at the Columbia/Fanfare box office, 220 E. Thomas Street, 985-543-4371. Some tickets may be purchased online at columbiatheatre.org. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and one hour prior to Columbia performances. For a complete schedule, contact the Columbia/Fanfare office at 985-543-4366 or visit columbiatheatre.org.
