Southeastern NEWS
Southeastern Louisiana University
Public Information Office
SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
publicinfo@selu.edu
www.selu.edu/NewsEvents
Date: 10/10/97
Contact: Christina Chapple 52k
Editors: Photos accompany release -- Please note local interest
SLU'S FANFARE CONTINUES WITH THE PLATTERS, PITTSBURGH BALLET
AND MOSCOW BOYS CHOIR
HAMMOND -- Fifties chart busters the Platters, the internationally acclaimed Pittsburgh
Ballet, the magical Moscow Boys Choir and a playful, thoughtful musical fairy tale for children
are among the star attractions of the fourth week of Fanfare, Southeastern Louisiana University's
October arts festival.
The Platter and lead singer, Monroe Powell, will conjure up the days when rock and rock
was new with hits such as "Only You," "The Great Pretender," and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."
The legendary quintet will perform at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 22, at Ponchatoula High School's
auditorium.
Since the Platters began in 1954, a lot of singers have joined and left the quintet, but the
current five are the most talented and versatile to come down the nostalgia highway. Monroe
Powell, a veteran of the Dominoes and the Ink Spots, has been lead singer for 26 years and is
supported by Wilson Williams, Kenn Johnson, Verceal Whitaker and Allen Holland.
According to Powell, audiences come to Platters concerts for nostalgic memories and "we
never disappoint them."
Tickets for the Platters are $12 general admission.
The Pittsburgh Ballet has been called one of the five best ballet companies outside New
York City. Long directed by celebrated former New York City Ballet principal dancer Patricia
Wilde, one of the world's foremost classical ballerinas, the company has been widely applauded
for its classical ballet masterpieces as well as innovative explorations of contemporary dance. The
dancers will treat Fanfare audiences to three works by the great New York City Ballet
choreographer George Ballanchine -- "Concerto Barocco," choreographed to music by J. S.
Bach; "Rubies" from the ballet "Jewels," and "Stars and Stripes."
The performance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 in Vonnie Borden Theatre and will be
preceded from 4-5:30 p.m. by a masterclass for campus and community dancers in the
Kinesiology and Health Studies Building dance studio. Tickets for the performance are $12
general admission, $10 senior citizens, SLU faculty and staff and all students. The masterclass is
free. For information on the class, call 549-2132.
Founded in 1957, the Moscow Boys Choir, which will perform at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 in
Pottle Music Building Auditorium, is among Russia's most prestigious all-boy choirs. Members
are hand-picked from more than 400 students at the choir's special school. Director Ninel
Kamburg says that her singers may have angelic voices, but they must also have to have strong
self-discipline. "There is a level of honor for these boys to be members of the choir, bu there are
no lifestyle advantages," she said. "They must work and study like everyone else."
The choir's repertoire is varied and extensive and includes works ranging from American
and Russian folk songs to works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Rachmaninoff. The
singers often participate in operatic productions and perform sacred Russian and European music
as well. Appearances throughout the world have included Poland's International Festival of Boys
Choirs and the Royal Albert Hall in London. This is the choir's third American tour.
Tickets for the Moscow Boys Choir are $8 general admission, $6 senior citizens, SLU
faculty and staff and all students.
Although the characters in Lawrence Goldberg's "Big Bad Wolf and the Enchanted
Forest" are animals and the story draws on the familiar fantasy of the Big Bad Wolf and the Three
Little Pigs, "Big Bad Wolf and the Endangered Forest" is anything but the traditional fairy tale.
In this issues-oriented production, which blends rock, jazz and other musical styles,
charming but quirky forest creatures discover that their habitat is being damaged and their lives
threatened. The group comes to realize that assuming responsibility for the environment is the
only way to save it. The wolf, the trio of pigs and a whole forest full of furry creatures put aside
their differences to work toward a common goal -- preventing the terrible dragon from destroying
their timbered homeland.
Tickets for the family musical, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in Pottle Music Building
Auditorium, are $6 general admission and $5 senior citizens, SLU faculty and staff and all
students.
Also on the Fanfare Week Four schedule:
The Music for a Sunday afternoon series continues at 3 p.m. Oct. 19 with Hammond's
First Baptist Church hosting New Orleans' Louisiana Vocal Arts Chorale. The concert is free.
Randolph Delahanty, author of numerous popular and award-winning historical and
architectural guides and director of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art at the University of New
Orleans, will speak on "Spirits, Signs, and Souls in Southern Art" at 2 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Music
Recital Hall. Delahanty's lecture is sponsored by Southeastern's chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi as
part of the national honor society's centennial celebration. The lecture is free.
Soprano Ruth Falcon, a frequent soloist with the New Orleans Opera and one of the
most prominent voice teachers in New York City, will present a masterclass for Southeastern
voice students at 4 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Music Recital Hall. The public is welcome to observe.
Charles Wadsworth is founder and for 20 years the director the Chamber Music Society
of Lincoln Center. He created the Mid-Day Chamber Music Series, highlights of both the Spoleto
Festival in Italy and Charleston, S.C.'s Spoleto/USA. At 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Pottle Music
Building Auditorium, he will continue his tradition of presenting great chamber music performed
by a committed group of virtuoso musicians. Tickets for the concert are $10 general admission,
$8 senior citizens, SLU faculty and staff and all students.
Southeastern's premier instrumental ensemble, the Chamber Winds, will present a free
concert featuring special adaptions of classical, popular and novelty music at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 in
Pottle Music Building Auditorium.
Foreign and Special Film Series will continue with "Il Postino," the Italian film
nominated for the 1995 Academy Award's Best Picture honors, at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Music
Recital Hall; and "Shine," one of this year's Best Picture nominees, at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at the
University Cinema on North Oak Street. The films are presented free.
Young violinists, violists and cellists can participate in the Southeastern String Academy
workshop featuring acclaimed music educator Mimi Zweig, director of the Indiana University
Young Violinists Program and Summer String Academy and the String Academy of Wisconsin.
The workshop is scheduled for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Pottle Music Building Auditorium. Participation
is $10.
Tickets for all Fanfare events are available at the Fanfare box office, 504-549-2323,
located at Gate 1 of the SLU University Center on University Ave. Box office hours are 10 a.m.-4
p.m. weekdays. For additional information, contact the SLU Public Information Office,
504-549-2341 or publicinfo@selu.edu. Fanfare information is also available on the World Wide
Web at
www.selu.edu/fanfare/fan97.htm.
-SLU-
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