Anderson University » Music Department

Anderson University Students Fall into Dance

leiter — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:01:47 +0000

While most students are preparing for the next day’s classes or getting in bed, Anderson University sophomore Callie Zelibor is helping conduct a two-hour dance rehearsal for the 2009 Fall into Dance program.

This year’s program does not have a theme, but is choreographed by students who each choose which direction to take their work. “That’s what’s so exciting about Fall into Dance,” said Zelibor. “You’ll see pieces ranging from contemporary love stories to bumpin’ hip hop routines, which creates diversity of dance.” [Photo: Sophomore Callie Zelibor and senior Phillip Crawshaw prepare for the 2009 Fall into Dance program.]

Zelibor is an Elementary Education and Special Education major with minors in Spanish and dance, She is choreographing three dances with the help of a few dance peers. “It’s awesome to work with choreographers by playing a part in their vision,” said Zelibor.

She has been dancing since the age of three and is most excited about choosing the music, costumes and choreography. “I love the thought of creating a piece that might touch just one person sitting in the audience,” said Zelibor.

Zelibor’s goals include trying out for So You Think You Can Dance and touching the hearts of people around the country. But until then, she will stick to performing for AU’s dance department, touching the hearts of the AU community.

Besides Zelibor’s hectic class schedule, she is also involved in intramural football and soccer, Camarada, Lunch Buddies and has two jobs, one off campus and one on. Even though she has a lot going on Callie enjoys making time for dance. “It allows me to freely release my emotions and feelings,” said Zelibor.

Fall into Dance will be held in Reardon Auditorium on Friday, Oct. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

— Melissa Powers is a student writer for 5th Street Communications at Anderson University.

Anderson University is a private Christian university of 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students in central Indiana. Anderson continues to be recognized as a top Christian college: in 2008, U.S. News and World Report ranked Anderson University among the best colleges and universities in the Midwest for the fourth consecutive year. Established in 1917 by the Church of God, Anderson University offers more than 65 undergraduate majors and graduate programs in business, education, music, nursing, and theology.

Rainy prelude couldn’t dampen homecoming spirit

randalroy — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:18:37 +0000

Connie Graham laughed off the damp, cool weather Friday that forced a planned Anderson University homecoming cookout to seek shelter in the Decker Hall Commons breezeway.

[PHOTO: Anderson University soccer 20th anniversary celebration.]

“I’ve been here for better, been here for worse,” Graham said. She should know — it was her 38th straight year at AU homecoming.

“It’s just a great time to reconnect,” said Graham, a retired elementary school teacher, who traveled to campus with her husband, Jerry, from their Midland, Mich. home.

“This is my adopted school,” said Jerry Graham, a Church of God youth pastor.
Long-standing ties to AU and to the Church of God led many to come to homecoming events that began Thursday and continued Saturday and Sunday. So did family and friends.

Sue (Zollweg) Keil, who attended Anderson from 1976 to 1979, and her husband, Mark, warmed themselves inside Decker Hall on Friday evening. They were waiting to see their son, AU junior Nathan Keil, on stage in “Cheap Thrills,” a sketch performance show and popular homecoming fixture.

“He never even considered Anderson,” Sue Keil said. But he visited, “liked the campus, liked the community,” and chose to attend AU. This homecoming, their daughter Emily is also visiting, weighing the possibility of going to AU.

Another highlight performance of homecoming Friday evening was the School of Music’s Homecoming Concert, which featured the AU Chorale, Women’s Chorus, Men’s Choir, and Chamber Orchestra. Becky Archibald, an Anderson native and 1983 AU graduate who is an award-winning concert pianist, received the Outstanding Music Alumni Award.

[PHOTO: Jeff Wight, dean of the AU School of Music, presents the 2009 Outstanding Music Alumni Award to Becky Archibald.]

At the School of Nursing, alums checked out an entirely remodeled second floor that also includes technology that puts the school at the forefront of education.

Visitors grouped around the hospital bed of SimMan 3G. He’s a remarkably lifelike mannequin with simulated vital signs and body functions. Instructors can program SimMan to have symptoms of particular ailments, giving students a feel for real-world situations without treating someone.

“This is the only one in the state of Indiana,” said Karen Williams, dean of the AU School of Nursing. “I think it says we have a great nursing program. We’re trying to really use technology to the students’ advantage.”

That was the impression made on 2006 alum Odessa Gray, now an obstetrical nurse in Connersville. “It’s so much more convenient to have all that assessment tool in one model,” she said, noting that she believed some nursing students would choose AU because of the available technology.

The nursing school is more spacious and organized than she remembered. “It’s just amazing to me,” Gray said. “It’s an awesome addition to this university.

[PHOTO (from left): Cindy Penhorwood, Pat Griffin, Holly Renz, and Karen Roller.]

Also Friday evening, the nursing school presented the following alumni awards:

Distinguished alumna: Cindy Penhorwood of Heart to Honduras.
Service to the community: Holly Renz of Community Hospital Anderson.
Friend of nursing: Karen Roller, AU executive director of development.
Lifetime achievement: Pat Griffin, former interim dean of the School of Nursing.

– Dave Stafford is a reporter for The Herald Bulletin. Story posted with permission.

AU School of Music to honor Archibald with award

randalroy — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:00:27 +0000

Anderson University’s School of Music has selected Becky Archibald to receive the 2009 Outstanding Music Alumni Award and will honor her during its Homecoming Concert, Friday, Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m., at Park Place Church of God in Anderson, Ind. Archibald graduated from AU with honors in 1983 with a B.A. in applied music and management.

An award-winning composer and pianist, Archibald creates music that is inviting, intense, and intimate. She is a master at weaving the improvisational style of jazz with classical piano. The L.A. Jazz Scene describes her music as “thoughtful, melodic, and passionate.” The Nashville Scene defines it as having “flashes of humor but with an introspective quality drawn from the wells of Chopin and Gershwin.” Selections from The Long Ride Home and The Light at the End of the Blues made the Grammy entry list (in years 2002 and 2004) for Best Instrumental Composition. Her arrangement of “Jingle Bells” from The Christmas One made the 2006 Grammy entry list in the Arranging category. Becky’s solo piano CDs, Searching, The Long Ride Home, The Light At the End of the Blues, and The Christmas One have been played on radio stations around the country and overseas, and are often heard on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

Archibald will be performing some of her original compositions accompanied by School of Music students and faculty members. Performances by the Anderson University Wind Ensemble and the Anderson University Jazz Ensemble will also be a part of the evening’s concert.

“We are pleased to honor Becky with our 2009 Outstanding Music Alumni Award,” said Dr. Jeffrey Wright, dean of the College of the Arts. “Her artistry and musicianship are superb. She is a wonderful representative of the School of Music in the professional arena. This will be an evening of music you will not want to miss.”

The Homecoming Concert on Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Park Place Church of God is free and open to the public.

Fairy tales come to life in AU’s ‘Into the Woods’

leiter — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:46:02 +0000

Seeking comfort amid chaos and friends amid strangers, the characters of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” are a hodgepodge of fairy tale stars battling the realities of their “happy endings.”

Jack, of beanstalk fame, can’t be left in his gleeful world after killing his giant; the giant’s wife goes on a revengeful spree.

Cinderella’s prince can’t stay faithful; he gives the royal treatment to another common girl.

And Red Riding Hood, well, she just looks buff wearing a wolf skin jacket.

All meet in the woods, where they tackle their fears of being alone and lost in a world of harrowing tragedy.

So it’s easy for these overlapping plots to jumble together unless there is clear articulation by each character. In the first act of this enjoyable Anderson University production, the enthusiastic orchestra overwhelms dialogue, at least in the rehearsal I visited. Characters’ intentions and back stories are drowned out.

Some performances rise above the din, thanks to the determination of the actors. Matthew Hougland, as Jack, fills his role with tender little moments as a simpleton. Meaghan Sands, as the childless Baker’s wife, fully involves the audience by playing off her own wifely practicality with an all-knowing grin. With an inviting soprano, her performance is as rich as the layers of her aprons. As princes, Joe De Winkle and Seth Rodden, harmonize like true chums for the show-stopping “Agony.” And don’t overlook the sad, trudging walk of Jack’s cow, played moo-vingly by Audrey Brinkley.

By the second act, the band plays softer and sweeter, giving characters the space to reflect on their plights.

The standout is Deborah Mae Fights, taking on the role played on Broadway by Bernadette Peters as the witch. Confident and beguiling, Fights makes a spellbinding transition from hag to beauty. She enlivens the show with a sparkling stage presence and an assured vocal.

The orchestra, led by David Duncan, really connects in the second half, notably with a sparkling flute intro rolling into soothing fullness on “No One is Alone.”

The set is well used with characters rushing across a sundial of a stage; the woods are stark poles, nicely lit in hazy hues (though you’ll want to sit in the center or right sections to see the final act by Jack and the Baker). More of the focus may be on the costumes by Patty Daehn whose intricate patterns define the story’s depth.

Happiness is fragile, a simple lesson from “Into the Woods.” But Anderson University theater students admirably provide a lasting joy that not only takes us into the woods but gives us lasting lessons to take back out into life.

“Into the Woods”

When: 7:30 p.m. today,; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, and 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 11.

Where: Byrum Hall, Anderson University

Admission: $12 for adults: $10 for seniors and military, $5 for students.

Director: Laurel Goetzinger
Music Director: David Duncan
Choreographer: Matthew Farmer.

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by James Lapine.

—Scott L. Miley is a reporter for The Herald Bulletin. Photo credits: Don Knight. Story republished with permission.

Pianist Randall Frieling rejoins the ASO for season opener

leiter — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:15:02 +0000

Pianist Randall Frieling knows a lot about the piece he will play at the Anderson Symphony Orchestra’s 2009-10 season opener Saturday night.

A music professor at Anderson University for 23 years, Frieling has naturally studied his craft backward and forward.

His deeper knowledge of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto, however, proves the old adage: It’s not what you know, but who you know.

“Percy Grainger was a pianist of note that Grieg really liked,” Frieling said last week. “Grieg was going to be the conductor, and Grainger was going to be the piano soloist. They were going to tour with an orchestra in 1907, but Grieg died.

“He and Grieg had worked before on ‘Concerto for a Summer,’ and Percy Grainger was my teacher’s teacher. So I studied this as it was handed down to me.”

While all of that sounds inordinately impressive, Frieling quickly sticks a pin in it.

“Not to say that I’ve got the only way to play it,” said Frieling, 47. “But I heard a lot of things from Percy Grainger, who of course got them from Grieg, through my teacher. It’s all (a game of) Telephone, but it’s still kind of fun.”

The Grieg, he said, is a familiar work that many don’t know by name.

“It’s a piece that I think people will recognize, especially the opening chords, because a lot of them have heard it on ‘Hooked on Classics,’” he said. “They’ll know the opening chords and go, ‘Oh, yeah,’ but they won’t know the whole concerto.”

Third meeting

Richard Sowers, ASO’s musical director and conductor, said he will enjoy sharing the stage with Frieling once more.

“This is the third time I’ve worked with Randy,” Sowers said. “He’s just a really fine pianist. The audience is in for a real treat. He plays this piece so beautifully.”

The concert also features Dvorak’s “In Nature’s Realm” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, The Pastoral.

“All of the pieces have to do with nature in some way or other,” Sowers said. “The Grieg, of course, captures Norwegian scenes with mountains and fjords and that kind of stuff.”

“I love the concerto, and the last movement is really fun and dance-like,” Frieling added. “It sort of keeps that two-step going. It’s a toe-tapper.

“Grieg was so attached to nature that you just sort of hear an overlapping of lots of bird calls, especially in the second movement. You know, it’s grand and majestic.”

A Chicago native, Frieling earned his doctorate at Ball State University. He has performed throughout the United States and Europe as a soloist and accompanist, with a long list of credits.

Frieling spends his free time as music director and organist at Central Christian Church and pianist for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Indianapolis.

He’s glad to be back on stage with Sowers and the ASO.

“Last time I played with them, I did ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and the Gottschalk ‘Grand Tarantelle,’” Frieling said. “It was just a blast.

“It’s an excellent orchestra. I’ve played with other orchestras, but this one is very, very fine.”

‘In Nature’s Realm’

What: Season-opening concert by the Anderson Symphony Orchestra

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19

Where: Paramount Theatre, 1124 Meridian Plaza, Anderson

Program:

“In Nature’s Realm,” Antonin Dvorak
Piano Concerto, Edvard Grieg
Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”), Ludwig van Beethoven

Tickets: $18-$25, with student and senior discounts available

Information: 644-2111, (888) 644-9490 or online at www.andersonsymphony.org.

—Rodney Richey is a reporter for The Herald Bulletin. Photo credits: John P. Cleary. Story republished with permission.

Sidewalk Prophets visit AU’s WQME 98.7 FM

leiter — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:00:02 +0000

Members of Sidewalk Prophets (www.sidewalkprophets.com) recently visited WQME 98.7 FM and morning show host Matt Rust to talk about their Christian industry debut on Aug. 25 with the release of These Simple Truths. Sidewalk Prophets started garnering attention at Anderson University where frontmen, main songwriters, and AU alums Dave Frey and Ben McDonald met. The band has already shared the stage with gospel acts like Michael W. Smith, MercyMe, Jeremy Camp, and Audio Adrenaline before they signed with Music City label Fervent Records.

At Anderson University, the band won a campus recording competition through the university’s Orangehaus Music record label and attracted the attention of music industry executives. Sidewalk Prophets relocated to Nashville where they were joined by band members Cal Joslin and Justin Nace.

Produced by Ian Eskelin, These Simple Truths focuses on our identity in Christ and in loving others. The first album single from These Simple Truths, “The Words I Would Say,” is has been playing on the radio sice June 19. For more information on Sidewalk Prophets, visit www.sidewalkprophets.com.

The band has been hitting the road hard for the past 3 years playing 125+ shows a year worldwide. They’ve been making thousands of friends and fans in the process. Along the way the band has achieved some longtime goals of playing with bands they looked up to as teenagers. The band has had the honor of sharing the stage with acts like Jeremy Camp, Audio Adrenaline, Stellar Kart, Building 429, and Ginny Owens as well as many others.

Listen to the WQME interview with Sidewalk Prophets:

Orangehaus Records provides an environment where students are developed and empowered to gain experience in the recording industry. Anderson University students influence every aspect of Orangehaus Records, such as developing, promoting, marketing and booking student musicians. Although Orangehaus Records provides students the experience of working with an actual record label, the process is viewed as an academic experience. Orangehaus Records is one of only a few professional record labels affiliated with a university in the United States.

WQME 98.7 is Madison County’s only commercial FM station. The broadcasting facility is owned and operated by Anderson University and is the only station in the County with emergency generators at both the studio and transmitter site.

AU ranked as top school by U.S. News and World Report

leiter — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:00:27 +0000

U.S. News and World Report has again ranked Anderson University among the best universities in the Midwest offering master’s level degree programs. Institutions in this category offer a full range of both undergraduate and master’s level degree programs. The magazine’s 2010 guide to “America’s Best Colleges” marks the sixth consecutive year that Anderson University has been listed among the best in its class.

“We are pleased to be listed among the top schools in our category,” said Dr. James L. Edwards, president of Anderson University. “Universities that are achieving their mission especially in these very challenging times deserve this recognition and we are proud to be among them. When a student finds the right college of quality that is an excellent fit in terms of culture, programs and degrees, and overall mission, the future opens in such powerful ways, and for that student, the selected school is the best in the nation. We intend to be such a school for so many.”

The 2010 America’s Best Colleges package provides the most thorough examination of how more than 1,400 accredited four-year schools compare on a set of 15 widely accepted indicators of excellence. Among the many factors weighed in determining the rankings, the key measures of quality are: peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, and graduation rate performance (National Universities and Liberal Art Colleges).

Over the past 26 years, the U.S. News college rankings, which groups schools based on categories created by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, has grown to be the most comprehensive research tool for students and parents considering higher education opportunities. The America’s Best Colleges ranking package, which includes extensive editorial content and multimedia resources, has helped families navigate the difficult decisions involved throughout the college process, from college admission and selection to financing options.

The exclusive rankings, which include more than 1,400 schools nationwide, are available today at www.usnews.com/colleges, will also be published in the September issue of the U.S.News & World Report magazine, on newsstands starting August 20.

Princeton Review selects AU as one of the best colleges in the Midwest

leiter — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:36:02 +0000

Anderson University is one of the best colleges and universities in the Midwest according to The Princeton Review. Posted July 27, 2009, the education services company selected the school as one of 158 institutions it profiles in its “Best in the Midwest” section of its Web site feature 2010 Best Colleges: Region by Region.

“We chose Anderson University and the other terrific schools we recommend as our ‘regional best’ colleges primarily for their excellent academic programs,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s Vice President of Publishing. “We also work to have our roster of ‘regional best’ colleges feature a range of institutions by size, selectivity, character and locale. We choose the schools based on institutional data we collect from several hundred schools in each region, our visits to schools over the years, and the opinions of independent and high school-based college advisors whose recommendations we invite. We also take into account what each school’s customers – their students – report to us about their campus experiences at them on our 80-question student survey.”

The 158 colleges The Princeton Review chose for this year’s “Best in the Midwest” designations are located in twelve states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Princeton Review also designated 218 colleges in the Northeast, 123 in the West, and 141 in the Southeast as best in their locales on the company’s 2010 Best Colleges: Region by Region section on its Web site. The 640 colleges named “regional best(s)” represent only about 25% (one out of four) of the nation’s 2,500 four-year colleges.

The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in its 2010 Best Colleges Region by Region Web site section. The Princeton Review survey for this project asks students to rate their own schools on several issues — from the accessibility of their professors to quality of the campus food — and answer questions about themselves, their fellow students, and their campus life.

The Princeton Review is known for its tutoring and classroom test preparation courses, books, and college and graduate school admission services. Its corporate headquarters is in Framingham, MA, and editorial offices are in New York City. It is not affiliated with Princeton University and it is not a magazine.

OrangeHaus and AU sponsor Music Business Camp

David Hynds — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:37:47 +0000

OrangeHaus Records will host the second annual OrangeHaus Music Business Camp at Anderson University, July 6 – 11. The camp is designed to instruct teenagers from across the country on the various facets of the music business industry.

The event will offer insight into three specific career options in music business: artists, music marketers and producers/engineers. Classes for artists will focus on performance and appearance. Music marketing classes will concentrates on advertising and merchandising. Classes for producers and engineers will teach students about technological advancements in music.

In addition to their concentrated classes, all three groups will come together for meals and to share a few common classes, such as Music Business 101. Evenings will offer campers relaxing free time and student jam sessions. At night OrangeHaus artists such as Dave Elwert and Leah Ashton will entertain and educate campers.

On Thursday and Friday, students will audition for actual studio recording sessions, held at ProDigital SoundStudios in downtown Anderson. “It’s a little gem in Anderson that not a lot of people know about,” said Mark Murray, co-founder of the camp and Professor of Music at AU. Due to the large influx of prospective campers, teams will be created to give each participant equal time.

“The purpose of the camp is the same as OrangeHaus, but on a high school level,” explained Becky Chappell, camp director and Professor of Music at AU. “Our goal is to teach and empower independent artists.”

Last year was the inaugural year for the Orange Music Business Camp. It was “a tremendous success,” according to Chappell, and registration has nearly doubled since last year.

Special guest instructors include award-winning music industry professionals Charlie Peacock, James Hodgin and Richie Biggs, who have worked alongside artists such as Bela Fleck, Casting Crowns, Jon McLaughlin, Switchfoot, Taylor Swift and Thousand Foot Krutch.

The cost of the camp is $625, which includes housing in Martin Hall, meals in the Olt Student Center and tuition. The camp is also funded in part by the Glenn Falls Grant.

For more information, check out www.musicbusinesscamp.com.

—John Tapley is a senior at Anderson University majoring in Mass Communications.

Anderson University is a private Christian university of 2,750 undergraduate and graduate students in central Indiana. Anderson continues to be recognized as a top Christian college: in 2008, U.S. News and World Report ranked Anderson University among the best colleges and universities in the Midwest for the fourth consecutive year. Established in 1917 by the Church of God, Anderson University offers more than 65 undergraduate majors and graduate programs in business, education, music, nursing and theology.

Anderson University graduates largest class in history

leiter — Sun, 10 May 2009 20:45:15 +0000

Wearing the traditional black caps and gowns, the 2009 class of Anderson University graduates lined up on the school’s campus Saturday, eager to receive their diplomas, but somewhat anxious about their job prospects amid a shaky economy.

“I’m looking, but …,” said 37-year-old Dawn Vetor, of Madison County, her voice trailing off. “I have some prospects, but nothing fluid.”

Angela Shelton, 30, Anderson, a former paraeducator at East Side Middle School, was a little more upbeat.

“I’m optimistic,” said Shelton, her silver braces shined as she flashed a bright grin. “I’m looking for a job.”

Both women, graduating with bachelor’s degrees in organizational leadership, were among the 700 students going through Anderson University’s 91st commencement.

Like Shelton, many graduates were hopeful of their future job prospects, despite not yet having offers.

“I’m trying to be optimistic,” said Jon Weber, 22, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. “It’s rough.”

Weber, who received a degree in marketing, said he’s had five interviews and applied at 15 to 20 companies. But he’s received no offers.

Emily Wasonga seemed nonplused at her job prospects. The 21-year-old native of Kenya earned degrees in international education and communications on Saturday. She said she had no concrete career plans, but emphasized the university’s aim of instilling a sense of Christian service in its students. She said she wants to work in a humanitarian field.

“If it’s a matter of making money,” Wasonga said, “there are a lot of ways to make money.”

Commencement speaker Carl H. Caldwell touched on the unsettling nature of the times.

“To say you graduate in an uncertain time is an understatement,” he said. “If you’re not worried about this, I guarantee your parents are.”

But Caldwell said there’s a lack of certainty at all times — including when he graduated from Anderson University in 1966 during the Cold War.

“Every graduating class has had to face problems,” he said.

Caldwell, the school’s vice president of academic affairs, retired at the end of the school year. He had been with Anderson University since 1996. He earned his master’s degree in history from Ohio University and his doctorate in history from Indiana University.

Next year, Caldwell and his wife, Carolyn, an accounting professor at AU, will move to the Middle East, where they will teach at American University of Iraq in Sulaimani.

But Caldwell’s speech offered a reassuring tone.

“Seeing you before me, I feel very proud of our future,” he said.

For a full gallery of photos, visit The Herald Bulletin site.

—Shawn McGrath is a reporter for The Herald Bulletin. Photo credits: Don Knight. Story republished with permission.