On Saturday, February 20, The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra performed their third concert of the season, titled “A Night at the Opera.” In addition to the KSO, the performance also featured Lara Neves as mezzo-soprano.
The performance began with the overture from Franz von Suppé’s Poet and Peasant. Although von Suppé wrote several works in the course of his career, only this and one other piece–the overture from Light Cavalry–are still commonly performed. Poet and Peasant Overture is notable for the contrast created by its sudden shifts in style and tone.
After introducing himself, KSO conductor Joel Neves then moved on the next piece, Otello, Act IV by Giuseppe Verdi, with Ms. Neves singing the aria, and supertitles in the back of the stage as well as notes in the program providing an English translation for the lyrics. Dr. Neves remarked on the irony of conducting his wife in this work: based on William Shakespeare’s Othello, Act IV concerns Othello’s wife Desdemona, who knows that her husband (incorrectly) suspects her of infidelity and plans to kill her. Otello is notable because, while most great works are written before the composer turn 53, Verdi wrote Otello at the age of 74, an age which it was considered impressive simply to live to at the time. It is now often considered Verdi’s greatest masterpiece.
After a short intermission, the KSO returned to play Georges Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1 and 2. The suites contain the most popular pieces from the opera of the same name, including the very well known Les Toréadors and Habañera. The suites are often considered to be a sort of “greatest hits” collection for Bizet. Since most sets of composers’ greatest works are drawn from several different greater works, that all of Bizet’s greatest masterpieces are from the same opera shows the greatness of that opera. Indeed, Carmen has long been one of the most performed operas. Ms. Neves again sang the original French arias for two of the works: Habañera and Gypsy Song, again with program notes and supertitles providing English translations.
The KSO will return for one more performance this season. The Bernstein Beat, featuring the works of Leonard Bernstein, and will feature his daughter Jamie as narrator. It will also feature some of the most technically difficult music the KSO has worked on all season, and as such it has already begun preparing for the concert. It will be performed on April 17.

On Feb. 11, The Tech Theatre Company opened their production of David Auburn’s Proof in the McArdle Theater, directed by MTU Theater Department chair Roger Held. The play, which won the 2001 Tony award for Best Play in its original Broadway performance, was warmly received by the audience.
The Tech Theatre Company’s production starred Nicole Kangas as Catherine, a mathematical genius dealing with mental illness; Dennis Kerwin as Robert, Catherine’s recently deceased father who contributed groundbreaking theories to several branches of mathematics; Frank Sopjes as Hal, a student of Robert, and Trish Goggin as Clare, Catherine’s sister.
Proof deals with the toll of Catherine’s efforts to support her mentally ill father, Clare’s efforts to support them both, and the relationships between Hal and both Catherine and her father. In the end, the play subtlety explores the meaning of “proof” in different contexts, from mathematics to trust.
The play had been in production since the beginning of the semester, Held explained. However, he remarked that amount of time was “not long enough” and although everyone involved did a good job of getting everything together in four weeks, they would have preferred six.
The play, like most events, had been planned since last year, like most events. When asked why Proof was chosen in particular, Held explained that there were a number of reasons. One of them was that it was a small show, within the Tech Theatre Company’s ability to produce. Another thing that motivated decisions on all plays was the ability to cast the play. Held explained that they look for plays that go well with the actors they have. In this case, having an older actor to play the part of Robert was nice, because he could serve as a role model for the younger actors.
Finally, the play was chosen because it was a good piece of literature. “It’s an inherently interesting idea,” Held explained, referring to the meaning of proof in different contexts.
Proof will be shown two more times in the McArdle Theater, on February 18 and 19 at 7:30 pm. It will then travel to the Calumet Theater, where it will be shown on February 27 at 7:30 pm.

As Winter Carnival 2010 came to a close, Feb. 6 brought comedian John Oliver to a full house at the Rozsa center. Oliver first gained fame in the United States in 2006 when he joined The Daily Show With Jon Stewart as the “Senior British Correspondant,” and also does occasional stand-up tours around the country.
Oliver opened his show by highlighting Houghton’s remoteness: “Where the [expletive] are we?” He joked about Houghton’s weather, claiming that the audience consisted of the “hardiest nerds in the country” and must be expressing disbelief at the large recent snowstorm in Maryland “while you’re doing a wheelie in the snow.” He also expressed amazement at some of Tech’s Winter Carnival traditions, trying to get audience members to explain to him just what “Ice bowling” and the “Human dogsled” were. He replied, “I want to know everything you are doing here… you seem like you could get away with anything, and by the looks of things, you are!”
As the show continued, Oliver moved on to other topics, including the annoyance of songs that play over and over in one’s head, the experience of firing a gun for the first time (Britain bans private gun ownership), the absurd things Americans sometimes do, and even a brief aside on obesity, specifically the implications of someone saying “least obese” instead of “most healthy.” Even the existence of a reporter at the event became part of the comedy, as Oliver asked to see the reporter’s notebook, then expressed indignation at poorly-written notes that seemed to take his jokes out of context and joked that the reporter worked for Fox News.
The audience was a large part of the show, and would often respond to Oliver whenever something relating to Tech was brought up. Oliver expressed frustration when audience members replied in vague generalities when he requested to know absolutely everything about Carnival. Later in the show, after a joke about world records, an audience member shouted out that Tech holds three: biggest snowball, biggest snowball fight, and most snow angels in a single event. When Oliver pressed the audience for details, they responded with widely varying figures. Various claims included that the size of the snowball was 24 meters, 24 feet, and six meters (the actual snowball was about 6.7 feet in diameter). In response, Oliver joked that the audience was a “bunch of liars.”
The nature of the audience was also an important factor: Oliver noted that some jokes that normally get lots of applause fell flat, while other, more “geeky” jokes got a much bigger response than usual.
In addition to his work on The Daily Show and his stand-up tours, John Oliver also does a weekly news satire called The Bugle. He also has a new show on Comedy Central, John Oliver’s New York Stand Up Show.

On Friday, January 22, visitors to the Rozsa Center had the opportunity to see, and in some cases experience, firsthand what hypnosis really is… and what it is not.
“Hypnosis is not silver pocketwatches, black and white tuxedoes, or black and white spiral wheels,” hypnotist Dale K. explained to the Rozsa audience. To demonstrate, he produced one such wheel from his fairly large store of props and asked the audience to stare at the center as he spun the wheel, then to look at his head, which would appear to grow or shrink. He explained that while that was a fun optical illusion, it was not in any way actual hypnosis.
For his actual demonstration of hypnosis, K. asked for a number of volunteers from the audience to come up to the stage and be hypnotized, warning potential volunteers that the demonstration would only work if they were willing to go along with it; if they volunteered to “prove” that they couldn’t be affected by hypnosis, they would almost certainly turn out to be right. He also explained that “there may be times when you feel perfectly normal, so normal you may think it’s not working. This is a big mistake, as that’s usually when it’s working the most… you do not need to understand why this will work, just that it will work.”
Once K. had begun hypnotizing the volunteers, he asked them to imagine that they were holding a large helium balloon in one hand, and a heavy weight in the other. Almost all of the volunteers reacted as if this were actually the case. Later on in the show, after some of the volunteers who weren’t successfully hypnotized returned to the audience, K. encouraged the remaining volunteers to act as if they were in increasingly humorous scenarios. One person would loudly moo whenever a bell was rung, and forget that he had done so. Another person would claim that his name was “Princess” whenever he was wearing a frilly princess hat, another one of K’s props. And all of the volunteers were acted as though a stuffed “Barney the Dinosaur” doll had told them to shut up, prompting them to all shout back, “No, you shut up.”
K. also explained what really happens during hypnosis. K. contends that the general public’s perception of hypnosis, which he describes as “sleep walking zombies that are under the complete control of an evil hypnotist,” is entirely inaccurate. Real hypnosis is about “turn[ing] your imagination on,” not mind control, he explained. “Don’t think of it as hypnosis, think of it as the power of suggestion.”
Dale K. has been a hypnotist for almost twenty years. This was his fifth at Michigan Tech.

On Friday Jan. 22, the Rozsa Center will be hosting hypontist-comedian Dale K. The show is being presented by the Wadsworth Hall Student Association, and promised to be a night of hilarious comedy.
Dale K., a native of New Lenox, Ill., performs for colleges all across the country, as well as performing at corporate events. He became aware of his hypnotic capabilities at a young age, using family and friends as his test subjects.
Since this time, his work as a hypnotist-comedian has allowed him the opportunity to perform a yearly tour of over 200 cities worldwide, according to his website.
Tickets are currently on sale at the Rozsa Center and SDC box offices. Tickets cost $10. Major funding for the event was provided by Wadsworth Hall Student Association, Douglass Houghton Hall Council, McNair Student Association, and the Inter-Residence Hall Council.

On Friday November 13th, 2009 the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts hosted Michigan Tech’s Superior Wind Symphony and the Jeffers High School Band. The Jeffers High School Band, directed by Emily Raffaelli, started the show with “Black Tower,” and “Si Trocadero.” They also played familiar crowd pleasers “Danny Boy,” “Symphony in E Minor” by Dvorak, and “Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera.
Superior Wind Symphony, conducted by Nicholas Enz, played after a brief intermission. They played “Tico Tico,” “Prelude, Opus 34, No. 14,” and “Incantation and Dance.” Then renowned guitarist and Michigan Tech Alumnus Pat Valencia joined them on stage. Pat’s classical guitar playing was the feature of “Sunburst.” He then played electric guitar in “Chaos Theory.” This song featured a five minute solo from Pat. “Superior Winds should be honored to feature such skillful guitar playing. Pat Valencia is the man,” said Josh Mayo, Recording Engineer. Pat provides Suzuki Classical Guitar instruction and has a studio on the campus of Finlandia University.
Jeffers High School Band joined Superior Winds on stage to finish the night with two more songs. They played “Malaguena,” a Latin song whose melody can be heard in the “Zorro” soundtrack. The combined bands ended with the John Philip Sousa classic “Semper Fidelis,” which Emily Raffaelli conducted. The performance received a warm reception from an enthusiastic crowd, and was a great way to kick off the weekend.

Monday night at the Rozsa Center, Loung Ung connected with Michigan Tech students and local community members with an exotic humor, firsthand experience of the war stricken lands of Cambodia, and a wealth of knowledge about the ongoing landmine made genocide still occurring in her country today. Pressing the need for landmine removal both in her home country Cambodia and globally, she called on students here at Michigan Tech to invest in the needs of the world today. She encouraged the audience members to be world aware with startling factoids such as landmines causing the death of one person every twenty two minutes worldwide, and that in a period of four years, nearly one third of Cambodia’s population was killed. If you wish to learn more about Loung Ung and her cause, you can visit her website at:

The stylistic blending of music can be a risky and sophisticated one. That’s what makes musical innovators like Simon Shaheen so unique. Being one of the most inspiring and influential Arabic composers of his time, Simon Shaheen continues to evoke a sense of awe within his audience. The Philadelphia Inquirer dubs him as “A master of Arabic music.”
Shaheen will perform at the Rozsa Center of Performing Arts where he will display his extraordinary talent of blending classical Arabic with traditional Western and jazz styles. The audience will get a chance to experience the sheer beauty produced by such instruments as the Middle Eastern “oud” and the violin.
Born in Israel in 1955, Shaheen began playing the ‘oud at age 5. His father, Hikmat Shaheen, was a music teacher and a profound inspiration for his son. As Shaheen remembers, “Learning to play on the ‘oud from my father was the most powerful influence in my musical life.”
Shaheen later pursued a degree in Arabic literature and music performance whilst attending Tel Aviv University. In 1980, he immigrated to the United States and completed his studies in performance at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.
Currently, Shaheen still resides in New York City where he has organized a myriad of musical retreats and art festivals dedicated to Arabic music and culture. In addition, he created the Near Eastern Music Ensemble in 1982; placing his upmost emphasis on traditional Arabic music. Shaheen, however, has dedicated most of his involvement with the recently formed Qantara ensemble. The band brought to him the vision of intermingling traditional Arabic with Western classical, jazz, and Latin American music. “I want to create a world music exceptionally satisfying for the ear and for the soul,” states Shaheen.
Shaheen has also released a few recording debuts highlighting his work. His first and most notable release with Qantara, Blue Flame, exemplifies their experimentation with cross-cultural influence. The album garnered a considerable number of positive reviews. The Washington Post describes the debut as, “eminently cosmopolitan.”
Simon Shaheen continues to make substantial contributions to western music as he continues his quest for innovation and experimentation.
The performance will be at the Rozsa Center on Nov. 18. Tickets prices are $20 and $15 for the general public; prices for MTU students are $15 and $10. The performance are from 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. For more information contact the Rozsa Center of Performing Arts, www.rozsa.mtu.edu or call their office at (906) 487-3200.

On Saturday, Oct. 24, the Rozsa Center welcomed country music singer Crystal Shawanda. Shawanda, an Ojibwe native of Canada, impressed the crowd with her distinctive style.
During the concert, Shawanda performed several songs from her album, Dawn of a New Day, whose title is the approximate English meaning of her last name. Among the songs she performed were her first Top 20 single, “You Can Let Go,” as well as “Try” and “I Need a Man.” She also performed a few original songs to be released on her next studio album, such as “Love Enough for the Both of Us” and “Someone Who Loves You,” the latter of which she described as a song about “When you love someone who takes you for granted.” Mixed in with Shawanda’s own work were a few covers of artists such as Chris Isaac, Aretha Franklin and Johnny Cash. She told the audience, “We like to mix it up so you don’t know what to expect from us.”
For Shawanda, her music reflects her own experiences. When she was growing up, she had a lot of exposure to country music, as expected. However, as she told the audience, “I had older brothers, and they exposed me to a lot of different styles of music.” Shawanda lists among her influences such diverse people and groups as Johnny Cash and AC/DC, and it shows in her music, which varies from close to straight country to heavily hybrid. “Everyone on this stage has a little bit of influence from everywhere, and we believe if it speaks to your heart, it can’t be that bad.”
The concert was well received by the audience. One member of the audience, Ben Roskoskey, told the Lode, “I really enjoyed how she did some of her old music, some of her new music… I liked the variety.” He added that he liked the fact that the concert was only an hour and a half long, appreciating that it did not drag out. Overall, most of the audience seemed satisfied with the concert.

Deep in the depths of the Rozsa gallery, there lie photographs which tell a story of dance. “The Dancer Within” is a collection of 48 color and black-and-white photographs by Rose Eichenbaum that come from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The exhibition will travel throughout North America through 2010. Eichenbaum wrote the book titled, “The Dancer Within – Intimate Conversations with Great Dancers (2008)” and includes the same pictures that are in the gallery as well as interviews with the subjects of the photos. Eichenbaum holds a Bachelors degree in Ethnic Arts/Dance and a Master’s in dance from UCLA. Eichenbaum has received awards for her photography including The Sydney Taylor Book Award for her photography in the book “The Number on my Grandmothers Arm.”
The photographs are followed by captions of small quotes from the dancers/choreographers who were interviewed. Under a picture of Anna Sokolow (a well known dancer and choreographer) she is quoted saying, “Creativity cannot be described. It can only be shown.” Ann Reinking (American actor, dancer, and choreographer) is quoted, “Art is not science. There are no laws, no absolute patterns, and no formulas. The only sure thing about creativity and individual expression are that they are purely human.” The art of dance is portrayed through the photographs as a great manifestation of the spirits of many individuals.
The exhibit will be open in the Rozsa Gallery (down the stairs) until November 22nd. It is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. The exhibit will also be open two hours before evening events at the Rozsa. For more information contact the Rozsa Center at www.rozsa.mtu.edu or (906) 487 -3200.