Pilobolus began in 1971, when a witty group of Dartmouth students, untrained in dance, decided to invent dance anew. Not only did the company thrive, being named the official dance company of the last Olympics, being featured on 60 minutes, winning an Emmy, winning the Scripps American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement, but it also became a force in modern dance. Pilobolus is the only dance company named after a fungus, a fungus that, after passing through the bowels of an animal, matures in the excrement (ah, how many of us say we can do that?), and then, launches its tiny spores 8 feet in the air. Presumably, Pilobolus picked the name because of the dancers' athletic prowess, their ability to surprise (although we don't quite know how the excrement business might apply), and because other possible fungi, like ustilaginoidea and truncocolumella, couldn't jump and were hard to spell.
Turtle Island Quartet
with Mike Marshall, mandolin
Fine Arts Concert Hall
"TIQ . . . is a unified voice that truly breaks new groundauthentic and passionatea reflection of some of the most creative music-making today" - Yo-Yo Ma
The Turtles (as they call themselves) fuse the classical string quartet aesthetic (you play as an ensemble) with contemporary styles (and you improvise), combining jazz, folk, blue-grass, be-bop, funk, and R&B. They've been featured in Newsweek and People magazines, have appeared on Prairie Home Companion, All Things Considered, and Morning Edition. And two days after they last played here, they won their first of two Grammys for best crossover album (we like to think we're responsible). They'll be joined by Mike Marshall, whom we've also presented, with Bla Fleck, and with Edgar Meyer, a master of the mandolin, banjo, and guitar, and generally considered an all-around wonderful plucker (you have to pronounce that very carefully). We're pleased to welcome back Mike and the Turtles.
"Though they've only been playing together for two years, these performers have achieved the most unified sound I've ever heard from a string quartet. It's a cool, emotionally restrained sound that impresses through its sheer precision and clarity" -- San Francisco Classical Voice
That was after two years, but within a few months of Escher's inception, in 2005, it was invited to be quartet-in-residence by Pinchas Zukerman in his summer festival, then by Itzhak Perlman in his summer festival, then by David Finckel in his summer festival, and it has twice been the resident quartet at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The Escher was recently appointed visiting artists-in-residence at SUNYStony Brook, working with the permanent artists-in residence, the Emerson String Quartet, their mentors, and our old friends. Praised by the New York Times for "its polish and tonal beauty," the Escher is quartet we thought you needed to hear.
"One of the best pop-jazz vocal groups in the world" -- San Francisco Chronicle
As a contrast to the famed King's Singers from England, we are pleased to present an American group, described as combining "the smooth soul of Stevie Wonder, the percussive power of Stomp, the funk and drive of Earth, Wind, & Fire, the hip licks of Take 6, and the brass bite of the Harry Connick, Jr. Big Band . . . all created by the human voice alone." M-Pact has performed with such artists as Ray Charles, Liza Minelli, Sheryl Crow, Kenny G, Jackson Brown, Natalie Cole, and Bobby McFerrin." The group launched its career by winning both the national championship and the audience favorite award at the annual Harmony Sweeps (the national a cappella competition), whose director described M-Pact as "one of our favorite groups on the planet." By the way, M-Pact‘s bass was born in Cheyenne.
"The greatest acoustic guitar player that Brazil produced in history" -- Guinga
The great Brazilian composer-guitarist Guinga said that "after hearing [Tardelli's recording of my music], I prefer to continue being the popular composer and let him turn my ideas into reality," and with that, he gave Tardelli his custom-made guitar. His father, a semi-professional guitarist, gave Tardelli his first lessons; "I soon got my first shock," he said: "Everything I had learned in years of studying guitar, he learned in four or five days." That's when he was 10. When he started studying with a professional, he would learn the piece after playing it a few times, but at the lesson, pretend to read the music so as not to upset the teacher. We've been playing samples of Tardelli from You-Tube, and the general response is either: "I didn't know the guitar could do that," or "That's the best guitar-playing I ever heard."
Please Contact the Fine Arts Box Office for Individual or Season Tickets (307-766-6666)
Credits:
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
University of Wyoming Cultural Programs is a division of The College of Arts & Sciences, assisting the College in its broad educational mission by presenting a rich, balanced program of music, theater, and dance, featuring performances by artists of national and international distinction.
HILTON GARDEN INN Davide Cabbasi's concert and tour are supported in part with funds provided by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), the Wyoming Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
UW DEPARTMENT OF AMERICAN STUDIES DEPARTMENT
The King's Singers performance is co-sponsored by the Laramie Hilton Garden Inn & Convention Center
WYOMING PUBLIC RADIO Wyoming Public Radio is co-sponsoring all the events on our series.
FEBRUARY 23
