MUSIC AND POLITICS HIGHLIGHT FANFARE’S FOURTH WEEK
      HAMMOND -- Musical artistry and side-splitting politics will be hallmarks of the fourth week of Fanfare, Southeastern Louisiana University’s October festival of the arts, humanities and sciences.
      During week four, two Southeastern Louisiana University ensembles, the Wind Symphony and the Chamber Orchestra, will be joined by stellar guest soloists on the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts stage. And the popular Capitol Steps –  “the only group in Washington that attempts to be funnier than Congress” –  will return for a fifth Fanfare visit.
      On Monday, October 20, three award-winning musicians will join the Southeastern Chamber Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. at the Columbia Theatre. Director Yakov Voldman has titled the free concert “Strings of Stars.” “Stars” is an accurate description of the guests musicians, violists Nora Romanoff-Schwarzberg, and violinists Georgy Valtchev and Valentin Nicolaescu, who is a Southeastern student.
      Nicolaescu, who will perform the first movement of Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto in E Minor,” is an international student from Chisinau, Moldova. Last May he was the winner of the 
Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. Before coming to Southeastern, Nicoleascu performed with the state symphony in Moldova. He is a recipient of the Department of Music and Dramatic Arts’ Ralph R. Pottle Award, presented to the department’s most outstanding freshman.
      Romanoff-Schwarzberg, who has played the violin since age five and added the viola to her repertoire two years ago, has been invited to many important festivals in the Ukraine, Moldova, France and Croatia. Last summer, she was a finalists in the International String Competition Upbeat in Hvar, Croatia. She will perform Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante” for violin and viola.
      Valtchev, who will perform works by Schubert and Mozart, is among the most prominent Bulgarian musicians of his generation. His awards include first prize in the 1999 Ducrest International Competition in Lafayette and the Special Prize of the 1998 Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in Switzerland. He has appeared as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. 
      The Capitol Steps, who'll take to the Columbia stage at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 21, do not exactly "sing the praises" of national politics, but the popular political satire comedy troupe is definitely "in tune" with the foibles of public figures and governmental institutions. The Capitol Steps’ witty -- and sometimes audacious -- musical revue raises both eyebrows -- and the roof. 
      The Capitol Steps are a bipartisan group of remarkably gifted former and current Congressional staffers who have been skewering the Beltway scene and beyond since 1981. Their act constantly evolves and changes in response to the political climate of the day. 
      A huge hit at previous Fanfares and a national favorite through programs such as their annual specials of National Public Radio, the Capitol Steps put new words to popular songs to skewer politicians in a program that takes a laughter and music-filled look at Washington shenanigans. Everyone in the cast is a consummate performer who can just put on a wig and conjure up the famous and infamous. Digging into headlines and hot topics to create new lyrics for familiar tunes, the Capitol steps skewers everyone, left, right or center.
      Tickets for Capitol Steps are $22 for adults; $20 for senior citizens, and Southeastern faculty, staff and alumni;$18 for groups; and $15 all students.
      On the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts stage, Southeastern Director of Bands Glen J. Hemberger will conduct the acclaimed Southeastern Wind Symphony in a 7:30 p.m., Friday, October 24 concert featuring the music of Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss, and Eric Whitacre's “Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!” Admission is free. 
      Joining the Wind Symphony will be renowned horn virtuoso Eric Ruske. Named associate principal horn of the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 20, Ruske's impressive solo career began when he won the 1986 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, First Prize in the 1987 American Horn Competition, and the highest prize in the 1988 Concours International d'Interprétation Musicale in Reims, France. 
     Ruske’s performances as a soloist include appearances with the Baltimore Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Shanghai Radio Broadcast Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic, and a tour with the Israel Chamber Orchestra throughout Israel. His recitals have been presented in venues such as the Louvre in Paris, the 92nd Street Y in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and Dukes Hall in London.
      Ruske will perform Richard Strauss' “Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major,” and present the world premiere of the “Concertino for Horn and Wind Symphony” by American composer Richard Prior. Commissioned by the Southeastern chapters of Delta Omicron Music Fraternity and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the Concertino is a showcase for the French horn and the impressive capabilities of a large wind symphony. Jonny Ramsey, international president of Delta Omicron, and Darhyl Ramsey, immediate past national president of Phi Mu Alpha, will attend the premiere.
      Also on the program will be Gustav Mahler's “Um Mitternacht.” Composed in 1902, it is Mahler's only work for winds and voice.  Featured as soloist will be mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas, an undergraduate vocal performance major from Mandeville.
      The Wind Symphony will also present Eric Whitacre's captivating work for band, “Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!” Rounding out the program will be the “Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare” by Richard Strauss, and music of Henry Purcell, Percy Grainger, and Philip Sparke.
      The first Week Four guest will be harpist Rachel Van Voorhees, also a Fanfare favorite. Trained at Julliard and Yale, Van Voorhees is the principal harpist of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the world-famous Windsor Court Hotel. She also has performed with a wide rage of Louisiana's finest classical, jazz, pop, gospel, R&B, Cajun and rock musicians. On Sunday, October 19, she will present the “Music for a Sunday Afternoon” recital at Ponchatoula’s First United Methodist Church, 200 E. Pine St. The 3 p.m. concert is free and will be followed by a reception.
      At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, October 21, Southeastern English professor Norman German will read one of his latest short stories, “Sportsfishing with Cameron,” in the Pottle Music Building Auditorium. The event is free. German’s story about a man who fishes in the New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas and learns a lesson about catch-and-release appears in the October issue of “Salt Water Sportsman.” It will also be included in an anthology of stories about Louisiana by LSU Press.
      German has been a member of the English faculty since 1988 and is a winner of the university’s prestigious President’s Award for Excellence in Artistic Activity. His writings include “Switch-Pitchers,” a recently completed baseball novel, and “No Other World,” a fictionalized account of the life of Marie Thereze, the ex-slave who became a slave owner and founded Melrose Plantation, near Natchitoches, which won the 1991 Deep South Writers Prize. 
      Another Southeastern faculty member will be Fanfare’s guest at 1 p.m., Wednesday, October 22, in the Pottle Music Building Auditorium. Philosophy professor Jeffrey Bell will continue the Fanfare “Then and Now” lecture series, sponsored by the Department of History and Political Science, with his talk on “Zen Spoke Zarathustra: Nietzsche and Eastern Thought.”
      The famous 19th Century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche had a lifelong interest in Eastern philosophy, particularly Buddhism, Bell said. As part of his general critique of Western thought, Nietzsche turned towards the East to find an alterative philosophy of life. Bell said his lecture will explore Nietzsche’s call to live aesthetically, incorporating key aspects of Eastern thought.
      At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, October 22, in the Music Recital Hall the Foreign Film Fest
continues with the Spanish comedy “Tortilla Soup.” Hector Elizondo plays Martin, a widowed chef who is losing both his sense of taste and control over his three daughters. When a pushy, nosy, but sexy widow named Hortensia, played by Raquel Welch, comes along, the troublesome subcurrents in the family start to surface. Meanwhile the three sisters have romances, eat amazing-looking food, and break plates in the kitchen. The free film will be shown with subtitles.
      Another international artists -- dancer, choreographer Nicole Caccivio -- will present a 
unique Fanfare concert at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, October 23 at Vonnie Borden Theatre. A freelance choreographer, dancer, and teacher Caccivio lives in Berlin and works throughout the world on dance commissions from universities, companies and private organizations. Her fresh and innovative modern dances incorporate unique and interesting partnering and weight sharing techniques. 
      In addition to her concert, Caccivio will also offer an intense series of free master classes, scheduled for the Kinesiology and Health Studies Building dance studio. Southeastern and community dancers are invited to learn by experiencing and participating in Caccivio’s working process. Some may have the opportunity join in her performance on October 23.
      The master classes are scheduled from 1-2:30 p.m., October 13; 2-3:15 p.m., October 14 ; 1-2:30 p.m., October 15; 2-3:15 p.m., October 16; and 10 a.m.-noon, October 18. Tickets for Caccivio’s concert are $4 for adults and $2 for senior citizens and Southeastern faculty, staff and alumni. Southeastern students are admitted free.
      The city of Hammond and Fanfare will partner for “Art and All That Jazz” from 5-7 p.m., Friday, October 24. Historic downtown Hammond will keep its doors open late to present art created by regional artists of all kinds. Look for balloons marking the participating businesses and enjoy the stroll, the stories and the eateries while perusing the artwork. 
      Two community events close out Fanfare’s fourth week on Saturday, October 25. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the city of Ponchatoula’s will stage it’s second “Great Invitational Quilt Expo.” Hundreds of colorful quilts will decorate buildings of  historic downtown Ponchatoula creating a festive feast for the eyes as Louisiana’s Antique City celebrates the beautiful, practical art of quilting. The day-long quilting celebration includes activities for children, a quilter-merchant’s mall, antique shopping, food, and the raffle of a special quilt made by the Southern Samplers. Speakers and demonstrations begin at 9 a.m. at the Fleur de Lis, 111 N. Sixth St.
      At 10:30 a.m., “Miss Karen” Plauche, children’s services coordinator for the Tangipahoa Parish Library system, will present a free program of Halloween fun for children at the Hammond branch of the Tangipahoa Parish Library, 314 E. Thomas.
      For a Fanfare brochure and ticket order form or for additional information about Fanfare events, contact Fanfare, 985-543-4366 or fanfare_ctpa@selu.edu. Fanfare information is also available online under the “2003 Season” link at www.selu.edu/fanfare. 
      Fanfare tickets are available at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts box office, 220 East Thomas St., Hammond, 985-543-4371. Box office hours are noon to 5 p.m., weekdays. The box office is open until performance time for events at the Columbia Theatre. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.ti cketweb.com.