FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2005

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE ARTS EVENTS

Here's a list of upcoming arts and entertainment events at Drake University. We will send an updated list each week. These events are subject to change. For updated information, please visit www.drake.edu/newsevents/calendar/.

VISUAL ARTS

BFA Exhibition -- Works by Drake students Erik Ebeling, John Fischler, Besty Holmes, Mark Kapfer, TJ McKenzie, Derek Pruden will be on display in the Anderson Gallery and Weeks Gallery in the Harmon Fine Arts Center, 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue, from March 31 through April 11. The opening reception will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 1. Admission is free. Call 271-1994.

"Carbon" -- The fourth annual "Carbon" exhibition at Drake University will open on Friday, April 1, showcasing cross-disciplinary works by 15 visual artists and 15 students from fields such as advertising, business, chemistry, education and pharmacy and physics. The opening reception will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. April 1 on the second floor of Cline Hall of Pharmacy and Science, 2802 Forest Ave. The exhibition will continue through April 20. The exhibition can be viewed Monday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 271-3831.

MUSIC

Guest Recital -- Drake University will host a recorder and accordion concert by David Bellugi and Ivano Battiston, world-renowned musicians and faculty members at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, Italy. The performance, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 25th Street and University Avenue. The program will encompass a variety of musical styles, including Eastern European dances, Bach's Sonata in D major and an improvisation session. Bellugi and Battiston have performed concerts in the United States, Canada, Australia and throughout Europe. Admission is free. Call 271-1989 or send an e-mail message to eric.saylor@drake.edu.

Guest Recital -- Saxophonist Debra Richtmeyer, professor of saxophone at the Univeristy of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will perform John Cheetham's "Concerto Agrariana" for alto saxophone with the Drake Wind Symphony at 8 p.m. Friday, April 8, in the Performing Arts Hall, Harmon Fine Arts Center. The concert also will feature James Romain, professor of saxophone at Drake, and other guest artists. Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for students. Call the Drake Fine Arts Box Office at 271-3841.

Guest Artist -- Jazz saxophonist Dick Oatts, who teaches at the Manhattan School of Music, will perform with the Drake University Jazz Ensemble I at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 9, in the Performing Arts Hall, Harmon Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students. Call the Drake Fine Arts Box Office at 271-3841.

Relays Concert -- Tickets are on sale now for the 2005 Drake Relays Concert featuring Jason Mraz. The concert will start at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in the Drake Knapp Center, 2601 Forest Ave. Tickets cost $22 for the general public and $16 for Drake students. Mraz is noted for his mellow, coffee shop style of guitar and vocals. His first album, "Waiting for My Rocket to Come," included the hit "The Remedy," which held top positions on the Radio & Records Adult Contemporary airplay chart and the Top 40 charts throughout the summer of 2003. He has since released a second album, "Tonight, Not Again: Jason Mraz Live at the Eagles Ballroom." To purchase tickets, individuals must go to the Drake Student Life Center, Olmsted Center, 29th Street and University Avenue, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. or visit www.drakesab.tickets.musictoday.com. To purchase tickets by phone or for more information, call (800) 594-8499.

"A Table Before Me" -- Claudia Stevens will give her one-woman performance as pianist/singer/actor in a musical drama she created to convey the terror and turmoil experienced by her mother's family during the Nazi takeover of Austria in 1938. The performance will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, in the Performing Arts Hall in the Harmon Fine Arts Center. To her own accompaniment of period music, Stevens enacts the roles of Nazi bureaucrats and of her increasingly desperate, harried grandfather, as he struggles to comply with crippling taxes, legal restrictions and violence against the Jewish community of Vienna. She creates an atmosphere of increasing brutality and grotesqueness, as members of the Sinai family are stripped of property, dignity and life in prelude to the “Final Solution.” The Drake Women’s Studies Program and the Humanities Center sponsor the event. Admission is free. Call 271-3563.

Drake Jazz I -- Under the direction of Andrew Classen, the concert will be held on Friday, April 15, in the Performing Arts Hall, Harmon Fine Arts Center. The performance will begin at 8 p.m.

Drake Concert Band -- The concert band will perform at 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 17, in the Performing Arts Hall, Harmon Fine Arts Center. Conductor Sean Flanigan will lead the band. Admission is free.

Drake Symphony Orchestra -- The symphony orchestra, conducted by John Canarina, will perform on Saturday, April 23, on the Jordan Stage, Sheslow Auditorium, Old Main. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. Admission is free.
Drake Wind Symphony -- The wind symphony will perform on Tuesday, April 26, at 8 p.m. The concert, which will be conducted by Robert Meunier, will be held on Jordan Stage, Sheslow Auditorium, Old Main. Admission is free.
Drake Jazz II -- Under the direction of James Romain, the concert will be held on Thursday, April 28, on the Jordan State, Sheslow Auditorium, Old Main. The performance will begin at 8 p.m. Admission is free.

Drake Opera Theatre -- The Drake Opera Theatre presents an evening of Menotti: “Amelia Goes to the Ball” and “The Telephone.” The performance will be held on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, in the Performing Arts Hall, Harmon Fine Arts Center. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. on both evenings. Tickets cost $12 for adults and $6 for seniors, students and those with a Drake ID. Tickets may be purchased at the Drake Fine Arts Box Office.

LITERARY EVENTS

Drake Writers and Critics Series -- Stephen Cope, who has published poems, essays and reviews in publication such as XCP: Cross-Cultural Poetics, Mirage: A Period(ical), Shark and The Germ, will read from his work at 8 p.m. Monday, April 4, in the Honors Lounge of Medbury Hall, 1317 28th St. Cope served as guest editor of The Review of Contemporary Fiction's special issue on the work of David Antin in 2001. He is now editing the collected prose and selected papers of George Oppen for the University of California Press. He teaches creative writing and American Literature at Drake, where he is visiting assistant professor of English. Admission is free. Call 271-2880.

Drake Writers and Critics Series -- Michelle Herman, author of the novel "Missing," which was awarded the Harold U. Ribalow Prize for "Best Jewish Fiction," will read from her work at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in the Cowles Library Reading Room, 28th Street and University Avenue. "Missing" was selected as one of the 25 Best Books of the Year by the literary supplement of The Village Voice. Her other works include the novella "Dog" and her first non-fiction book, "The Middle of Everything: Memoirs of Motherhood." She has received a major teaching award from Ohio State University, where she has taught since 1988. Admission is free. Call 271-2880.

Authors Visiting in Des Moines -- The 2005 AviD series presents “An Evening with Elizabeth Berg” on Wednesday, April 20. Berg is a best-selling writer who will visit the Drake campus to discuss her newest book “The Year of Pleasures.” Her presentation will begin at 7 p.m. and be held in Sheslow Auditorium, Old Main. The event, which is sponsored by the Des Moines Public Library Foundation, is free and open to the public.

Drake Writers and Critics Series -- April 21: Peggy Orenstein, author of "Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Kids, Love and Life in a Half-Changed World" and the best-selling "SchoolGirls: Young Women, Self- Esteem and the Confidence Gap," will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 21, in the Cowles Library Reading Room. She has published articles and editorials in publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker and Salon. She is working on a memoir, "Waiting for Daisy: Some Lessons on Love, Loss and Making a Baby." Admission is free. Call 271-2880.

Drake Writers and Critics Series -- April 26: Nathaniel MacKey, who has written numerous books of poetry, including "Whatsaid Serif" and "Eroding Witness," which was selected for the National Poetry Series, will read from his work at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, in the Cowles Library Reading Room. He also is the author of "Discrepant Engagement: Dissonance, Cross-Culturality and Experimental Writing" and editor of Hambone magazine. He teaches at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Admission is free. Call 271-2880.

EVENTS TO IMPROVE YOUR MIND

Religious Resources for Respect and Responsibility: An Inter-religious Dialogue -- On Monday, April 4, the Department of Philosophy and Religion will host the last of three inter-religious dialogues. The topic for the evening’s discussion will be Sikhism, Bahai and Zen Buddhism. The discussion will begin at 7 p.m. and be held in Bulldog Theater, Olmsted Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Bucksbaum Lecture -- Tim Russert, managing editor and moderator of "Meet the Press," will discuss "Washington From the Inside Out" as part of the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series at Drake University at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, in the Drake Knapp Center, 2601 Forest Ave. After the lecture, Russert will attend a reception and book signing. All of the events are free and open to the public. Call 271-3994.

"Constitutionalism and the War on Terror" -- Nationally renowned scholars and attorneys will discuss the Supreme Court's enemy combatant cases as well as the new constitutions of Iraq, Afghanistan and Russia during a symposium from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 9, sponsored by the Drake Constitutional Law Center. Speakers will include Frank Dunham, the federal defender who has represented enemy combatants Yaser Hamdi and Zacarias Moussaoui. The symposium, which is open to the public, will be held in Cartwright Hall, 27th Street and Carpenter Avenue. Registration is $30 for adults and free for students. Advance registration is required by Monday, April 4. Call 271-2988.

Live! At the Drake Library -- Jon Bowermaster, a 1976 Drake journalism graduate who has made a life out of adventures such as dog sledding in Antarctica and kayaking the wild rivers of Chile and China, will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, in the Reading Room of Cowles Library, 28th Street and University Avenue. Bowermaster's presentation is titled "Alone Against the Sea and Other True Adventures: 15 Years on the Road for National Geographic." The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be available online via streaming video through the Cowles Library Web site at http://www.lib.drake.edu. Call 271-3994.

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