Friday, December 9, 2016



The semester draws to a hectic conclusion, and Thursday night provided a special respite from the term's busy burdens.

I attended the 4:30 presentation of the PSC Christmas Choral Concert that featured the Women's Choir, Prestige Show Choir, and the Concert Chorale. 


Three stellar performances in the Band Room in Fine Arts. 

I uploaded a series of photographs on Flickr from the late-afternoon's fanfare and fun.


In addition, please enjoy the following recordings.

Women's Choir performs, Magnificat




Prestige Show Choir performs Mary, Did You Know?




Concert Chorale performs Glow.



Thursday, December 1, 2016

Andrea Hariston and Pan Morigan Return to PSC


Andrea Hariston and Pan Morigan will offer at least three presentations on their return trip to Peru State College.

For a look at what the two accomplished the last time around, check out the blog page devoted to their exciting 2011 autumn visit.

Sponsored by Peru State College, The Creative Writing Series, and Alpha Chi Honor Society, on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 6 and 7, Andrea and Pan will give a total of three presentations.

Andrea is an accomplished and internationally-recognized dramatist and the author of Mindscape, the award-winning Redwood and Wildflower, and her most recent novel, Will Do Magic for Small Change.  She also penned Lonely Stardust: Two Plays, a Speech, and Eight Essays

She also serves as Artistic Directory of Chrysalis Theater and the Louise Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor of Theatre and Afro-American Studies at Smith College. For more information about her numerous awards, read more on Andrea's homepage.

Pan Morigan is an awarding-winning musician, song writer, producer, and vocalist. She also serves as the Music Director for Chrysalis Theater.

Take the time to listen to selections from her CD Blue.

Tuesday at 12:30 in the Fine Arts Recital Hall: Pan will accompany Andrea's dramatic reading from the first two chapters of Andrea's highly-praised new novel: Will Do Magic for Small Change.

Wednesday at 11:00 in the Fine Arts Recital Hall:  Pan will accompany Andrea's dramatic reading.

Wednesday at 2:00 in the Fine Arts Recital Hall: Pan will showcase her voice and musical talents.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the performances. And on Tuesday and Wednesday, feel free to join us for lunch in the student cafeteria.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Peru Prestige



This year, I could not find the time to make more than one visit to the Show Choir Festival that brings annually many, many schools for the two-day gathering.

But at 11:30 on Tuesday, I rushed over to the
theater to see the Peru Prestige open their "season" at the festival where they performed four times over two days.


They looked and sounded great, and I look forward to taking photograhps and video at their next presentation.

Enjoy the photographs and the video.



Peru Prestige Part One, Opening Number:



Peru Prestige Part Two, Closing Number:









Hall of Fame Dinner and Game



Once again, I enjoyed both the Hall of Fame Dinner and the Hall of Fame Game. And given the number of tags and shares on Facebook for both events, other did as well.

I posted photographs for one and all to enjoy of the Hall of Fame Dinner and the Hall of Fame Game.

I will eventually list all the winners, from a great Volleyball Team to a tremendous Volleyball Player, a baseball player and two people connected with football.


Alas, one of these days I will actually remember to keep my program!















 

Friday, November 4, 2016

College 101 to Lincoln Field Trip








My College 101 (History and English) joined with Kelli Petersen's class (Music and Art) for a trip to Lincoln on Tuesday, November 1.
Ken Meints helped out by driving a car filled with students--somehow we all managed to squeeze into the three vehicles.

For our first stop, we visited the Sheldon Art Museum on the UNL campus. An enthusiastic and most friendly guide took us, a large crowd of around 25, through two of the visiting exhibitions, Ron Jude's Lago,  and Uncommon Likeness: Identity in Flux
I especially enjoyed the following painting about cultural appropriation that offers some serious humor, Enrique Chagoya's Le Cannibale Moderniste:



After an excellent lunch--I chose roast beef and brie cheese--we recovered from poor directions and eventually found the Nebraska Museum of History operated by the Nebraska Historical Society.


There, Ken Meints talked with students about Ponka Indian culture, including art, stories, and music, setting the stage for Joe Starita.

My class reads Starita's I Am A Man: Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice, and Joe talked with the audience about this book and his latest effort that first hit the stands on  Tuesday, A Warrior of the People: How Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America's First Indian Doctor.


A seasoned journalist, Joe Starita is an endowed chair in Journalism at UNL.  A few years ago, some students in my College 101 class, as part of their final projects, created a web page devoted to Joe.
After his talk, Joe Starita autographed books and talked with students.  He will visit the campus to talk about his book sometime this spring.
I posted photographs from the trip and, using my camera (I left my video camera in the van and so apologize for the less-than-stellar quality.), I recorded a couple segments from Starita's energetic and informative presentation.