Tag Archives: fine arts

News & Achievements Archive

Singing Valentines

Looking for a unique way to celebrate your valentine? Send them a singing valentine with the Drake Choir. In addition to winning brownie points with that special someone, you’ll be supporting the Drake Choir’s 2016 concert tour of Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. No University funds are used for the tours, so your support is important and greatly appreciated.

Each Singing Valentine is a special delivery. Surprise them at work, at home, at a special dinner … be creative!

We deliver to the entire Des Moines metro, including West Des Moines, Clive, Johnston, Windsor Heights, and Urbandale Feb. 12–13, 2–8 p.m.

We will also deliver to Ankeny, Altoona, Waukee, and Norwalk after 5 p.m. on Feb. 12 and from 2 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 13.

Three easy ways to order:

  • Online at www.drake.edu/valentines
  • Call 515-271-3024
  • Request a form from the music department and return to the address listed

All orders must be received by Feb. 6.

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

News & Achievements Archive

Faculty accomplishments

Eric Saylor, associate professor of music, recently edited and contributed to The Sea in the British Musical Imagination, a collection of essays published by The Boydell Press. The essays are organized around three main themes: the Sea as Landscape, the Sea as Profession, and the Sea as Metaphor, covering an array of topics drawn from the 17th century to the 21st. Featuring studies of pieces by the likes of Purcell, Arne, Sullivan, Vaughan Williams, and Davies, as well as examinations of cultural touchstones such as the BBC, the Scottish fishing industry, and the Aldeburgh Festival, The Sea in the British Musical Imagination will be of interest to musicologists as well as scholars in history, British studies, cultural studies, and English literature.

Eric is a specialist in music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, focusing particularly on the life and music of Ralph Vaughan Williams.

—Submitted by Eric Saylor

Featured Events Archive

Music performances this week

The duo Van and Sean (as in Sean Buhr, guest voice professor and Drake alumnus), will perform Friday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium. The performance comes after the duo’s extensive tour promoting their new album, Simply Love, at such venues as the iconic RAINBOW ROOM at the top of Rockefeller Center in New York City; The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; and many other incredible venues throughout the United States and Canada.

Other free, open to the public fine arts events this week:

Saxophone Ensemble Concert
Tuesday, Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m.
Sheslow Auditorium

Drake Orchestra Concert
Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m.
Sheslow Auditorium

Featured Events Archive

Fine arts events this week

Drake Theatre Department presents Fiorello!
The Drake University Theatre Department is delving into the political world with its production of Fiorello! with book by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and original production presented by Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince. Brought to you by special permission from Musical Theatre International.

Fiorello! runs Thursday, Nov. 19, through Sunday, Nov. 22, in the Performing Arts Hall of the Harmon Fine Arts Center. Performances will start at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 19–21 and 2 p.m. on Nov. 22. Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are available starting Thursday, Nov. 5 at the Fine Arts Box Office. Visit the Fine Arts Box Office in the south lobby of the Fine Arts Center or call 515-271-3841 for more information. Online ticket sales will not be available for this production. For more information on the production, visit the Drake Newsroom.

Drake choirs perform
On Nov. 21 (7:30 p.m.) and Nov. 22 (3 p.m.), all four of Drake’s choirs and an orchestra of Drake faculty, students, and professional players, under the direction of Aimee Beckmann-Collier, will perform Morten Lauridsen’s radiant “Lux aeterna” and John Rutter’s delightful “Gloria” at St. Ambrose Cathedral in downtown Des Moines. Tickets are $17 for non-students and $7 for students.

Tickets are also now on sale for the annual madrigal dinners. The dinners, which are a re-creation of an Elizabethan Yuletide feast, are full of music, laughter, and beauty. Tickets go on sale today and sales end on Nov. 30. All seats are reserved and are $55 for the six-course dinner, wine, and madrigal magic.

You can purchase tickets for both events at www.drake.edu/choralperformances or call 515-271-3841.

Additional fine arts events this week

Guest recital: Chicago Symphony Orchestra bass trombonist Charles Vernon
Monday, Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m.
Sheslow Auditorium
More information available here

Faculty recital: David Crabbs, guitar
Thursday, Nov. 19
7:30 p.m.
Sheslow Auditorium

Jazz Ensemble I
Friday, Nov. 20
7:30 p.m.
Turner Jazz Center

News & Achievements Archive

Drake Wind Symphony celebrates Grammy eligibility

The Drake University Wind Symphony CD “Distant Celebrations,” which was released in December 2014, is eligible to be nominated for a Grammy Award in four categories: Album of the Year, Best Engineered Classical Album, Classical Album Producer of the Year, and Best Orchestral Performance.

This is the sixth time a Drake Wind Symphony CD has received Grammy Nomination Eligibility Status.

—Submitted by Robert Meunier, Professor of Percussion/Director of Bands

Featured Events Archive

“Are we Global Yet?”

The Anderson Gallery will open a major new exhibition this month titled “Are We Global Yet? The Art and Politics of Public Space (including the virtual),” curated by professor Lenore Metrick-Chen and students from her curatorial capstone seminar.

The exhibition, which runs Friday, Nov. 13, through Feb. 12, 2016, brings together historical maps, student collaborations with homeless individuals in the community, and contemporary artwork from more than 15 artists to ask the question, “Are we global yet?” An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on November 13; in addition, the Anderson Gallery will host a free public symposium titled “Ethics of New Media” on Sunday, Nov. 15. In January, an augmented reality layer will add yet another dimension to the gallery. Learn more about the exhibit and events in the Drake Newsroom.

Featured Events Archive

Fine arts events week of Oct. 26

Princeton University faculty pianist Francine Kay will perform the opening concert of the third season of Drake University’s Keys to Excellence Piano Series, which raises awareness of Drake’s fundraising efforts for the purpose of purchasing 70 brand new Yamaha pianos for the music department.

Kay’s performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, in Sheslow Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.
Noted for innately original and artistic interpretations, Canadian pianist Francine Kay has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, North America, and Asia, and at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, Salle Gaveau, The National Gallery, Roy Thomson Hall, The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, and Bargemusic. Her performances have been broadcast on NPR, the BBC, WFMT, Radio France, and the CBC.

Learn more about Kay and the Keys to Excellence Piano Series here.

More fine arts events this week:
Faculty recital, Sarah Plum, violin
7:30–9 p.m.
Sheslow Auditorium

Student Theatre Production Showcase
Oct. 30–31, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 1, 2 p.m.
Studio 55
Get tickets here

Featured Events Archive

Fine Arts events week of Oct. 5

Blood Wedding
Drake University’s Theatre Department kicks off its 2015-2016 season with Blood Wedding, by Frederico García Lorca, Oct. 8-11. This 20th century theatre classic, set in 1930s Spain, examines the consequences of repressed desires and the breakdown of societal and familial norms. Learn more about the production here.

Blood Wedding runs in the Studio Theatre of the Harmon Fine Arts Center. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, through Saturday, Oct. 10, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are available either at the Fine Arts Box Office or online. Call 515-271-3841 for more information.

“Path to Beauty”
On Oct. 11, enjoy a free choral concert, “Path to Beauty,” at 3 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium. The performance features Drake’s auditioned choral ensembles: Drake Choir and Chamber Choir (conducted by Aimee Beckmann-Collier) and Drake Chorale (conducted by Linda Vanderpool).

The concert will include music by contemporary American composers (including Elaine McDonald Hagenberg, a Drake alumna), as well as pieces by Handel, Bruckner, and Josquin des Prez.
—Submitted by Aimee Beckman Collier

Additional fine arts events this week:

Wednesday Oct. 7
3 p.m.
Guest Recital and Clinic, Resonant Projection, trombone quartet
Sheslow Auditorium

Wednesday, Oct. 7
7 p.m.
Combo Night
Patty and Fred Turner Jazz Center

Saturday, Oct. 10
7:30 p.m.
Guest Recital, Jose Barrientos, saxophone
Sheslow Auditorium

Sunday, Oct. 11
7:30 p.m.
Drake Orchestra Concert, Christian Schrock, conductor
Sheslow Auditorium

Featured Events Archive

A Conversation with Damon Davis, artist, activist, storyteller

Enjoy this free, open to the public event in Fine Arts Center, Room 336 on Sept. 30 at 4:30 p.m. This lecture is being held in conjunction with events surrounding the upcoming exhibit, “Creating Public Space: The Art and Politics of The Here and Now (including the virtual),” which will open Nov. 13 at the Anderson Gallery.

—Submitted by Lenore Metrick-Chen, Associate Professor of Art History