Tag Archives: fine arts

Featured Events Archive

Fine Arts events: Week of Sept. 19

Drake Choir performs with Des Moines Symphony
The Drake Choir, the University’s select touring ensemble, will perform Beethoven’s electrifying Ninth Symphony with the Des Moines Symphony, under the direction of Maestro Joseph Giunta, on Sept. 24 (7:30 p.m.) and 25 (2:30 p.m.) at the Civic Center. The choir, which comprises 70 singers who are students in every college and school of the University, has frequently collaborated with the Des Moines Symphony and is honored to do so once again. Twelve Drake Choir alumni will also join the ensemble for these performances. A number of Drake music faculty are members of the Symphony, which was founded as the Drake University-Des Moines Symphony more than 75 years ago. Tickets for the performance can be obtained at the Symphony’s website, dmsymphony.org

Thomas Splitt in concert
Thomas Splitt, a pianist and composer who earned high acclaim for his fresh, improvisational style during the 1980s and 1990s will make his proud return to the concert stage for the first time in more than 15 years thanks in part to the efforts of Drake students. He will kick off a series of concerts on Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Harmon Fine Arts Center’s Performing Arts Hall; the performance is free and open to the public. To learn more about Splitt’s connection to Drake, visit the Drake Newsroom.

Featured Events Archive

Artist Michael Burton to give free lecture

Please join the students in Lenswork and the Department of Art and Design in welcoming artist and educator Michael Burton to campus on April 14 and 15. Burton will be giving a public lecture on his art practice, specifically how he creates animations for commercial art projects and his own studio research on April 14 at 5 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center, Room 336. For more information about Michael and to see examples of his animations, www.michaelburtonart.com/

 —Emily Newman

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“Finding Happiness” art exhibit

A new art exhibit at Drake University features the diverse works of more than 20 adults with intellectual disabilities. The result of a partnership between the Drake University Department of Art and Design and Mosaic of Central Iowa, “Finding Happiness” is open to the public now through April 7 in the Weeks Art Gallery of the Harmon Fine Arts Center.

Senior Katelyn Canepa, a psychology major with a minor in studio drawing, created the project after working with Mosaic at a group home teaching art skills to an adult with an intellectual disability. Mosaic is a non-profit organization that serves adults with intellectual disabilities throughout central Iowa. Read more about this unique exhibit in the Drake Newsroom.

Featured Events Archive

Science rules at Drake on April 14

Hundreds of Des Moines-area high school and college students will dive into science through a series of fun and educational activities that culminate in a free lecture by Bill Nye the Science Guy at Drake on Thursday, April 14.

The series of activities, all of which are free and open to the public, include the Drake University Conference on Undergraduate Research in the Sciences (DUCURS), featuring a keynote speech by an expert in baseball statistics; an interactive STEM festival for K-8 youth; and an art gallery inspired by the sciences. Nye’s evening lecture is the 36th installment in the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series.

  • 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. DUCURS; Olmsted Center
  • 4:30–6:30 p.m. Drake/Metro Area STEM Fesival; Bell Center
  • 7 p.m. Bucksbaum Lecture—An Evening with Bill Nye the Science Guy; Knapp Center
  • All day: “Planet(s)” art exhibit; Weeks Gallery

For more information, visit the Drake Newsroom.

Featured Events Archive

Viva Viola!

Enjoy a free performance in Sheslow Auditorium, March 23, at 7:30 p.m., featuring chamber and solo works for viola inspired by traditional songs and dances from Europe. Works will include pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and his son, W.F. Bach. Faculty member Diane Phoenix-Neal performs with guests Claudia Anderson, flute (Grinnell College); Deborah Dakin, viola (Augustana College); and Ian Moschenross, piano (Monmouth College).

—Diane Phoenix-Neal

Featured Events Archive

Guest recital: Slipstream, saxophone ensemble

Slipstream will perform in Sheslow Auditorium at Drake University on March 21 at 7:30 p.m. as part of a six-stop Midwest tour in support of the release of its debut EP, Northland. All ages welcome, no cover charge. Slipstream is a contemporary chamber group based in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Inspired by Louis Andriessen’s “Hout,” Slipstream is dedicated to expanding the possibilities of its unique instrumentation (saxophone, guitar, piano, and percussion) through commissioning, collaboration, and improvisation. Since the fall of 2014, Slipstream has collaborated with more than ten composers, including award-winning composers John Mayrose and David Werfelmann, to create more than a dozen new works for the ensemble. Recently, Slipstream was invited by eighth blackbird to participate in open master classes at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art as part of the Grammy award-winning ensemble’s residency at the museum.

Featured Events Archive

Pre-tour choir performance

The Drake Choir and Chamber Choir will perform a pre-tour concert on Tuesday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium before embarking on a tour to Minnesota, March 9–13, with evening concerts in Winona, Collegeville, and St. Louis Park. The choirs’ tour repertoire includes music by contemporary American composers, works by Handel and Bruckner, as well as a particularly enticing piece by Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds, with whom the ensembles will work when they tour Latvia, Estonia, and Finland in May. There is no charge for the evening concerts but a freewill offering will be taken.

—Submitted by Aimee Beckmann-Collier, the Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor of Conducting

Featured Events Archive

Art and chemistry

What: Art and Chemistry, by Mark Vitha, Department of Chemistry, and Maura Lyons, Department of Art and Design
When: Friday, Feb. 26, 12–12:50 p.m.
Where: Harvey Ingham 134

From the minute an artist completes a painting, the materials such as the paint, varnish, and substrate on which it is painted begin changing. Some of these changes are slow enough to be imperceptible even after hundreds of years. Other changes, however, are significant and alter the way we see the painting, even after just a few decades. By combining knowledge of art history and chemical analysis techniques, it is possible to assess the changes that have occurred in a painting. With this knowledge, restoration projects are undertaken to try to restore the painting to its original ‘look’, or conservation methods are applied to try to decrease the rate of degradation. In some examples, technological approaches are used to reproduce how the painting would have looked in its original state, while preserving the work in its present state.

In this presentation, we will describe case studies in which art historical and chemical analyses were combined to gain a better understanding of the current state of paintings by Christen Købke, Mark Rothko, and Vincent van Gogh. We will also demonstrate that art historical questions have motivated research into new areas of chemistry, and conversely, chemical analyses have motivated new art historical investigations.

—John Gitua, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Director of DUSCI

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Don’t miss the first Drake Theatre shows of the semester

The Drake University Theatre Department is starting the spring semester off strong with a repertory showcase featuring two student-directed shows. The showcase begins Thursday, Feb. 25, in the Studio Theater of Harmon Fine Arts Center.

[title of show], the first in the showcase, is playing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, and Saturday, Feb. 27, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28.

Fuddy Meers is playing at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, and at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28. Learn more about the shows in the Drake Newsroom.

Featured Events Archive

Department of Music’s alumni weekend offers 3 performances

Patty’s Place Presents: Jason Klobnak and Friends on Saturday, Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m., at the Patty and Fred Turner Jazz Center 
Come hear Jason Klobnak, FA’04, and fellow Drake music alumnus and faculty Mark Grimm, drums, perform originals written by Jason. They will be joined by local musicians Tanner Taylor, piano, and Eric Kreiger, bass. Cost is $20 for general admission. For tickets and more information, click here.


Drake Choir Benefit Concert on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Sheslow Auditorium 
Come support the Drake Choir’s fundraising efforts for their 2016 tour to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland and enjoy the multi-talented members of the choir as they individually and collectively sing jazz, Broadway tunes, popular music, opera, and choral music. You’ll also hear 70 Drake Choir alumni from 1990 through 2015 join the present members to sing the choir’s signature pieces.

Cost is $25 for general admission, and $5 for Drake students. For tickets and more information, visit www.drake.edu/choralperformances


Alumni Recital Series presents: David Crabbs, guitar on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 4:30 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium 
We are honored to have alumnus and faculty member David Crabbs, FA’03, be the first of our music alumni to perform a full recital for this series. David will have fellow faculty members Patricia Silva, double bass, and Christian Schrock, cello, perform with him, along with alumnus Reuben Kebede, violin, and local musicians Ben Hagen, piano, and Norman Sue, bandoneon. They will be performing works by Boccherini, Pujol, and Piazzolla.

The Alumni Recital Series concerts have free admission, and no ticket is required. A reception will follow the performance.

—Submitted by Alina Grimm, Fine Arts Coordinator