|
On Campus
- Stories
April
4, 2003 Vol. 55, No. 37
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| James K. Maxwell handles the high notes. |
Dave Berger, director
of the National Jazz Ensemble, will conduct the award-winning Drake University
Jazz Ensemble I in performing "Requiem for a Heavyweight," a piece he
composed in memory of James K. Maxwell, an internationally renowned jazz trumpeter
and father of Drake President David Maxwell.
The concert, which is free and open to the public, will start at 8 p.m. Friday,
April 18, in the Performing Arts Hall of the Harmon Fine Arts Center.
President Maxwell and Andrew Classen, director of jazz studies at Drake, invited
Berger to conduct the Drake Jazz Ensemble I in this special concert. Maxwell and
his wife, Madeleine, recently donated $25,000 to establish an endowment for the
James K. Maxwell Scholarship for Jazz Performance at Drake. The scholarship will
be awarded annually to a jazz performance student.
"The scholarship is intended to honor Jimmy Maxwell's 70-year music career
and commitment to education through teaching and mentoring hundreds of musicians,"
President Maxwell said. "It is also intended to recognize and support Drake's
jazz program and its outstanding students."
James Maxwell, who played with many of the most famous jazz bands of the swing
era and was a mainstay of radio and television studios, has been lauded as one
of the best-known specialists of all time. As lead trumpeter in bands such as
Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Woody Herman, Maxwell shaped the sound of the trumpet
section and handled high-note parts. In 1943 he joined the CBS Studio Orchestra.
He later worked with Perry Como on radio and television with the NBC Symphony
Orchestra and with the "Tonight Show" band.
Berger was a student of Maxwell's for eight years and played with him in several
different bands. "He was my mentor, my guru, my best man at my wedding and
my spiritual father," Berger said. "He was one of the most recorded
musicians of all time. He once told me that he was the only musician to record
with Al Jolson and John Lennon. Aside from his musical reputation, he was well-known
for his intelligence, wit and humanity."
A jazz composer, arranger and conductor, Berger is recognized internationally
as a leading authority on the music of Duke Ellington and the swing era. He has
written music for television, Broadway shows and films, including "The Cotton
Club" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs."
Berger composed "Requiem for a Heavyweight" after James Maxwell died
last July at age 85. The piece had its premiere last September when Berger gathered
30 former students and colleagues of Maxwell's to rehearse and perform the work
at the band shell in New York City's Central Park.
Berger, who teaches at the Juilliard School, describes "Requiem for a Heavyweight"
as a New Orleans funeral. "I tried to incorporate my deep feeling for my
old friend and to couch these feelings in music that he would like," he said.
"I could hear him play every note of the piece; each part is his part. My
only regret is that he won't be here to play it with us. Although he won't be
here in body, perhaps he will be with us in spirit, inspiring us to reach deep
inside and express the music that is in our hearts."
Berger also will conduct Drake Jazz Ensemble I in performing some of Maxwell's
favorite music, including Louis Armstrong's "Struttin' with Some Barbecue,"
Count Basie's "Jumpin' at the Woodside," Benny Goodman's "Big John's
Special" and Duke Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm."
In addition, the concert will feature music performed by Drake Jazz Ensemble I
at the recent University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Jazz Festival.
The ensemble, directed by professor Classen, won the college big band division
for the fourth time in as many appearances there. Jason Klobnak, a junior trumpet
major from Des Moines, won the outstanding soloist of the festival award and received
a scholarship to attend a jazz camp.
The Constitutional
Law Center at Drake University Law School will host its annual Constitutional
Law Symposium from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 12, in Cartwright Hall.
This year's topic, "The University of Michigan Cases: Affirmative Action
at the Crossroads?" will gather together knowledgeable and original thinkers
on the Constitution, lead counsel for those challenging the University of Michigan's
affirmative action efforts and leading law school admissions officials with hands
on experience in implementing both race-conscious and race-neutral admissions.
Presenters include Paul Brest, president, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation;
Kirk Kolbo, partner, Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, Minneapolis; Dennis Shields,
associate dean for admissions, Duke University School of Law; Cheryl Harris, professor
of law, UCLA School of Law; and Shelli Soto, director, Center for Law and Border
Studies, University of Texas at El Paso.
A roundtable discussion with the presenters and the audience will follow the presentations.
Moderating the discussion will be law professor Russell Lovell, interim director
of the Constitutional Law Center.
Registration is limited and costs $50 per person, which covers the symposium,
program materials and a continental breakfast. Scholarships will be awarded to
enable attendance by students and others for whom the registration fee would be
prohibitive. Registration forms and scholarship requests must be received by Tuesday,
April 8.
For more information contact Linda Quinn at x2988 or linda.quinn@drake.edu.
Eleanor Zeff, assistant
professor of politics and international relations, is leading a group of 16 Drake
students to Indiana on Thursday, April 10, to participate in the Midwest Model
European Union at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianpolis.
In the daily sessions, which continue through Sunday, April 13, students play
roles of government ministers from the 15 member states of the European Union.
Drake students will be representing Finland and Italy. They will be arguing for
a Common Foreign and Security Policy, for reform to the Common Agriculture Policy
and for Tax Harmonization.
Approximately 10 Midwest colleges and universities will be participating in the
Midwest Model European Union, and each school prepares proposals to discuss in
the various committees during the sessions. Drake students will have lots of interaction
with the students from the other schools, Zeff said.
Prizes will be awarded for Best Agriculture Minister, etc. The awards are voted
on by the students in each group, and Drake has won several prizes over the past
few years.
Zeff has written a paper titled "Negotiating in the European Council: Using
a Model European Union Format For Individual Classes" that has been accepted
for publication in the August issue of International Studies Perspectives Journal.
Donald F. Davidson,
PH'50, will receive the Lawrence C. and Delores M. Weaver Medal of Honor on Thursday,
April 10, in recognition of his distinguished career as a pharmacist and as an
executive with Abbott Laboratories's Hospital Products Division.
The medal will be presented when Davidson gives a lecture at 3 p.m. April 10 in
Levitt Hall in Old Main. Davidson serves on the Drake Board of Trustees and the
National Advisory Board of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
A group of business,
community and academic leaders will participate in a panel discussion on "Doing
Business Across Cultures" at Drake on Wednesday, April 9. The panel discussion
will start at 7:30 p.m. in Parents Hall South in Olmsted Center.
Panelists will explore the challenges that face business firms as they deal with
cultural differences when trading and investing abroad. The discussion also will
examine the impact that American firms have on other cultures when they do business
internationally. "The panelists bring a wealth of experience in international
business and intercultural relations to these questions," said David Skidmore,
director of Drake's Center for Global Citizenship, which is sponsoring the event.
The panelists will be Chris Nelson, president, Kemin Industries; Drake alumnus
Rich Cusac, chairman and CEO, Impact Investors Inc.; William Niebur, vice president
for product development, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.; Michelle Soria, president,
Iowa Council for International Understanding; Eric Shimp, director, International
Strategic Business Practice, Hunton and Williams; Birgit Wassmuth, professor of
journalism at Drake; and Rex Welling, visiting assistant professor of management
at Drake.
The panel discussion will follow a Dedication Dinner to celebrate the establishment
of Drake's new Center for Global Citizenship. At the dinner, Drake President David
Maxwell will present a Global Citizenship Award to Rolland W. Nelson, founder
and chairman of Kemin Industries, and his wife, Mary, Kemin's worldwide vice president
of administration. The Nelsons played a key role in the establishment of the Center
for Global Citizenship through their gift of $225,000 in support of the center.
Presidential historian and author Michael Beschloss will discuss "Democracy in a Time of Crisis" during the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture on April 15. It will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Drake Knapp Center. Beschloss is the author of seven books, including The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945, which President George W. Bush has been reading. As part of National Library Week, the Drake Libraries are asking the Drake community to read a selection of The Conquerors. The selection was chosen by Beschloss and highlights some of Roosevelt's difficult decisions during World War II. An informal discussion about this selection will be held in the Cowles Library Reading Room from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on April 15. The excerpt is available at http://ereserves.lib.drake.edu.
The Drake Symphony
Orchestra, conducted by John Canarina, will perform its annual Young Artists Concert
at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium.
Six outstanding student musicians will be featured: conductor Christopher Huls,
horn player Kimberly Seiberling, cellist Megan Petersen, baritone Thomas McCargar,
saxophonist Matthew Gunsaulus and soprano Shauna Peyton.
The program will include music by Sibelius, Mozart, Fauré, Gounod, Villa-Lobos,
Catalani, Johann Strauss, and Massenet. Admission is free.
Graham Foust, poet
and visiting assistant professor of English at Drake University, will give a reading
from his forthcoming book at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 10, in the Medbury Honors
Lounge.
The event, which is a part of the Drake Writers and Critics Series, is free and
open to the public.
Foust is the author of three chapbooks: Endless Surgery, Three from
Scissors and 6. Later this year, Flood Editions will publish his first
full-length collection, As in Every Deafness.
Drake Opera Theatre
will present two one-act operas - "The Night Bell," by Gaetano Donizetti,
and "The Impresario," by W.A. Mozart - at 8 p.m. Friday, April 11, and
Saturday, April 12, in the Performing Arts Hall of the Harmon Fine Arts Center.
In "The Night Bell," the wedding celebration of Don Annibale Pistacchio
and the young Serafina is under way. Then Enrico, Serafina's former suitor, enters
the scene and vows to seek revenge against Serafina's new husband by preventing
him from joining her on their wedding night.
In "The Impresario," a vociferous argument breaks out between two sopranos,
and Mr. Cash, the Impresario, intervenes to calm them.
The performances are directed by Ann Cravero, who most recently directed Britten's
"The Little Sweep" with the City Opera Company of the Quad Cities, and
produced and directed the one-act opera "Fortune's Favories" at the
University of Iowa. Daniel Gast, visiting assistant professor of voice at Drake,
is the conductor/vocal coach.
The production, which costs $6 for students or $12 for adults, is made possible
by a gift from the Friends of Drake Arts. Tickets are available at the Drake Fine
Arts Box Office at x3841.