BGSU weekend concerts to showcase dance

Dancers perform at the Wolfe Center Theatre, Bowling Green State University.

It's time for Perpetual Motion at Bowling Green State University's Wolfe Center for the Arts as student, faculty, and guest professional dancers perform in 8 p.m. concerts Friday and Saturday in Donnell Theatre.

Set to music from Kurt Elling and Ella Fitzgerald to the Squirrel Nut Zippers, original choreography will be performed by student dance majors as well as faculty Deborah Tell, Colleen Murphy, and Kristi Faulkner.

Joining the excitement will be guest artists Tammy Starr and Jane Weiner. Weiner, a 1985 BGSU alumna, worked with the Doug Elkins Dance Company and is president and CEO of Hope Stone Dance Company, Houston, a rising contemporary company. Her choreography has been performed by Houston Ballet II and other Texas companies.

Also in the showcase will be choreography by BGSU dance majors Tim Barker and Tony Deberry, and a duet by dance students Mandi Ross and Meghan Soltis.

Tickets are $10 at the door. Sponsor of the event is the BGSU School of Human Movement, Sport, and Leisure Studies.

Starting at noon Friday, BGSU's 55th annual band reading clinic will play new music in a series of concerts through Sunday in Moore Musical Arts Center. Guest clarinetist Julian Bliss will perform. For specific times and places for his appearances, call 419-372-2186.

The BGSU Wind Symphony under the baton of Emily Freeman Brown will perform at 3 p.m. Saturday in Kobacker Hall, a prelude to the final reading session.

Bliss, the internationally renowned British clarinetist, also will lead a clinic at 10 a.m. Friday in Springfield High School, 1470 S. McCord Rd.

Bliss began studying music at age 4; by 8 he had been invited to perform for Prince Charles, and by 12, he had earned an artist diploma from Indiana University. Now 23, Bliss performs with major orchestras and has just released a recording based on the music of Benny Goodman.

The Springfield event is sponsored by Rettig Music and will be held in Tombaugh Auditorium.

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Organist Joan McConnell will give a recital titled Baroque and Beyond at 3 p.m. Jan. 27 in Trinity United Church of Christ, 131 E. Perry St., Tiffin. On the program for this free public performance will be works by Bach, Buxtehude, Sweelinck, and D'Aquin. Also planned will be Homage a Buxtehude, a 20th century work by Czech composer Petr Eben,

The program also includes A Trinity Suite, a work for organ, trumpet, soprano, baritone, and chorus by Heidelberg University composer Doug McConnell. Joining organist McConnell, also a Heidelberg faculty member, will be trumpet Thaddeus Archer, soprano Carol Dusdieker, and baritone Greg Ramsdell, and the University-Community Chorus, conducted by Paul Mayhew.

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The Trinity Performing Arts Series will present its resident SonoNovo Chamber Ensemble in a concert of chamber music for keyboard and strings at 7 p.m. Jan. 25 in the church sanctuary, 316 Adams St. Joining pianist Wayne Anthony will be violinist Cecilia Johnson and cellist James Anderson. Tickets are $12-$15 at the door.

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The University Musical Society at the University of Michigan will present the Martha Graham Dance Company in 8 p.m. performances Jan. 25 and 26 in the Power Center,121 Fletcher St., Ann Arbor. Tickets are $22 to $54 at www.ums.org or 734-764-2538.

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Auditions for the Toledo Ballet production of Giselle April 19 and 20 at the Valentine Theatre are set for 4:15 to 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Westfield Franklin Park Mall studio. Dancers at Intermediate II and Advanced levels are invited to try out for solo and corps positions. Men and women may audition for character and company parts. Audition fee is $15. Choreography will be by Jules Perrot and Jean Carolli, adapted by Soili Arvola. Information: 419-471-0049.

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Toledo native Dennis Russell Davies will conduct the world premiere of the new Philip Glass opera, The Perfect American, on Tuesday in Madrid's Teatro Real, Spain. The opera is based on the life of Walt Disney and is the fifth operatic premiere to be conducted by Davies.

The work was commissioned to honor Glass' 75th birthday and is based on Peter Stephan Jungk's fictionalized account of the final months of Disney's life. Davies will conduct all eight performances of the work in Madrid.

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Deadline is Jan. 31 for applications for the summer intensive to be run by the English National Ballet School at Ballet Theatre of Toledo. Information and forms are available at www.ballettheateroftoledo.org.

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David DiChiera, the visionary musician and impresario who brought opera to Detorit, has been named the 2013 Kresge Eminent Artist. The award recognizes DiChiera's contributions as founder and music and general director of the Michigan Opera Theatre.

The honor, which carries a $50,000 award, also cites DiChiera's groundbreaking work in composition and education.

He moved to the Detroit area in 1962 and within a decade had fostered the creation of the Michigan Opera Theatre.

Not only has DiChiera produced a season of operas each year ever since 1971, he has commissioned original operas -- most notably Margaret Garner by Richard Danielpour -- and premiered operas from international composers. In 2007, DiChiera directed the premiere of his own original opera, Cyrano, to rave reviews.

Information for News of Music should be sent to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of the event.