Press Coverage Highlights, Fall 2013

This fall the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center was filled with music, dance, theatre and important ideas in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

Read selected highlights of the semester's press coverage from newspapers like The Washington Post, public radio stations such as WAMU-FM and student news outlets like The Diamondback. See what the critics said about the fall’s performances from the UMD School of Music, the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and the Clarice Smith Center Visiting Artist Program – and let us know if you agree with them!

New arts director from California known for innovation
Virginia Terhune, The Gazette

Martin Wollesen

Martin Wollesen photo by Mike Ciesielski
 

Martin Wollesen plans to bring the same inventiveness to his new job as executive director of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park that he did to his previous job in California.

– VIRGINIA TERHUNE, The Gazette, August 22, 2013

 

Margaret Jenkins reworks her past in inventive ‘Times Bones’
Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post

Margaret Jenkins Dance Company

Margaret Jenkins Dance Company photo by M K DuBose
 

Suffice it to say that the awesome task of deboning and rebuilding was beautifully realized. “Times Bones” points to a circular, enduring notion of time — time that is defied by the body.

– SARAH KAUFMAN, The Washington Post, September 16, 2013

 

Jazz Composer Christian McBride's "The Movement Revisited"
Tom Hall, WYPR-FM

Civil War to Civil Rights Symposium

Civil War to Civil Rights symposium photo by Alison Harbaugh
 

“The role of music in this piece is to describe what we hope to achieve. It’s the full dimensional example of acting, spoken word and music – all different methods of artistic expression coming together.”

– CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE, in an interview with TOM HALL, WYPR-FM, September 3, 2013

 

Orchestras embrace multimedia concerts
Anne Midgette, The Washington Post

Photo by Stan Barouh

Petrushka photo by Stan Barouh
 

Multimedia presentations…are an important tool for orchestras to make use of as they move into the 21st century. “I can’t imagine a new hall not considering the possibility of theatrical elements,” says James Ross, who heads U-Md.’s orchestras and has spearheaded their experimental approach.

– ANNE MIDGETTE, The Washington Post, September 27, 2013

 

Curtain rises on "The Matchmaker" at Clarice Smith Center
Will C. Franklin, The Gazette

The Matchmaker

The Matchmaker photo by Lauren Burns
 

“Dolly is a force of nature,” [Riley] Bartlebaugh said. “She’s a woman who manages things, and that’s a direct quote from the play. She’s someone that finds great joy in helping other people to live their lives and have the courage to be silly and seize the joy that they see before them.”

– WILL C. FRANKLIN, The Gazette, October 8, 2013

 

Mavis Staples @ Univ. of Maryland
Sriram Gopal, DCist

Mavis Staples

Mavis Staples photo courtesy of Clarice Smith Center
 

”I won’t stop. As long as I can sing and have my voice I will keep on,“ Staples declared, almost in defiance of her 74 years. ”I just had my knee replaced and my other knee is being done in December, so I will be like the bionic woman, just going and going.”

– SRIRAM GOPAL, DCist, November 7, 2013

 

Two critics face off over "War Requiem" as performed by the BSO with Marin Alsop
Anne Midgette and Greg Sandow, The Washington Post

UMD Chamber Singers

UMD Chamber Singers photo by Alison Harbaugh
 

Hushed choral sections were gorgeous, for which I’d credit the wonderful University of Maryland Concert Choir (and its director, Edward Maclary).

– GREG SANDOW, The Washington Post, November 17, 2013

 

Chinese opera looks to the West
Kelly Chung Dawson, China Daily

NACTA delegates

Photo by Jared Schaubert
 

Shadowing professors and attending various educational activities, the visitors have had a chance to participate in the processes that contribute to a Western production.

– KelLY CHUNG DAWSON, ChinaDaily, November 14, 2013

 

Kennedy Center's Michael Kaiser to leave contract early, take arts institute to U-Md.
Katherine Boyle, The Washington Post

Michael Kaiser

Michael Kaiser photo courtesy of the Kennedy Center
 

“Maryland has a wonderful performing arts center, a master’s in nonprofit management and a lot of expertise,” Kaiser said. “So much of what we do is educational — and the confluence of missions is very strong. We can grow bigger at a larger institution.”

– KATHERINE BOYLE, The Washington Post, November 20, 2013

 

Washington's booming theater scene is second only to New York
Beena Raghavendran, The Diamondback

Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp photo by Matthew Murphy

Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp photo by Matthew Murphy
 

Misha Kachman, a professor of set and costume design at this university and a member of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, said theater in New York tends to play it safer than theater in Washington, which is working to “challenge the audiences, as opposed to cater to their tastes.”

– BEENA RAGHAVENDRAN, The Diamondback, November 21, 2013

 

Inescapable Melodies: The Legacy of Video Game Music
Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU

Gamer Symphony Orchestra

Photo courtesy of Gamer Symphony Orchestra
 

“Anyone can appreciate good music. It doesn’t matter what the point of origin is. We take the best music we can find from video games and audiences love it.”

– JOEL GUTTMAN, President, Gamer Symphony Orchestra, on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU, November 14, 2013