Arts And Entertainment

Comprised of some of the best wind instrument players from North Coast communities, the North Coast Wind Ensemble directed by HSU professor Kenneth Ayoob emphasizes the music of popular dance in its Fulkerson Recital Hall concert on Saturday, June 11.

Fresh from playing Rhapsody in Blue with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and being named the University of Southern California Thorton School of Music’s outstanding graduate of 2011, North Coast favorite son Ryan MacEvoy McCullough returns to HSU for a solo piano concert on Friday, May 27.

HSU University Singers and the Humboldt Chorale perform choral classics from settings for Latin Masses to famous opera and musical choruses in their shared spring concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Sunday night, May 8.

HSU Symphonic Band, conducted by Kenneth Ayoob, shares its spring concert with the Eureka High School Symphonic Band, conducted by Gwen Gastineau-Ayoob. After separate sets, the two ensembles combine for the 80-instrument finale, in Fulkerson Recital Hall on Saturday, May 7.

Humboldt Symphony’s spring concert features two of Vivaldi’s “ The Four Seasons,” Mozart’s Overture to “The Magic Flute” and Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony—“some of the most popular classical pieces for orchestra ever written,” said Humboldt Symphony conductor and HSU Music professor Paul Cummings.

The AM Jazz Band of HSU runs the jazz standard gamut from the tune that launched the Swing Era to a jazz fusion classic, in concert at the Fulkerson Recital Hall on Thursday, May 5.

The theme of “Revolution” will herald in the 44th annual Humboldt International Film Festival, taking place May 1-7. It is the world’s oldest student-run film festival, with independent and alternative short film submissions from the local community and around the world. All events are free to HSU students and $5 for non-students.

In their annual spring concert the HSU Madrigal Singers mix the modern and the ancient, and the Mad River Transit Singers accent improvisations and variety with tunes from Duke Ellington and Stevie Wonder to Jimmy Van Heusen. Their voices share the Fulkerson Recital Hall stage on Sunday night, May 1.

HSU Jazz Orchestra takes original tunes and arrangements to their spring showcase on Friday, April 29 in a new venue: the Depot on the first floor of University Center.

The Revolution of Film making is here. The non-profit Humboldt Film Festival invites you to join the REVOLUTION on May 1st through the 7th at the John Van Duzer Theater on The Humboldt State University Campus. This years judges are Al Hayes, Kevin Kearney, and Jessica Mae Stover.

Humboldt State University’s Native American Arts Gallery presents four free events to celebrate Native American visual and performing arts in conjunction with "Sing Me Your Story, Dance Me Home: Art and Poetry from Native California," an exhibit in the new HSU gallery through Friday, April 29, 2011.

“This is a special event for the guitar program at HSU,” said Music professor Nicholas Lambson. “We haven’t held a special concert like this in my five years here. All ticket sales go towards bringing guest guitar artists to Humboldt.”

Both a hero’s journey and a love story, “The Magic Flute” is one of the most beloved operas of all time. Plus it features some of the best—and last—music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ever wrote.

The theme of the HSU spring dance concert for two weekends beginning April 14 is the essence of the dancers’ action: the struggle of muscles with the insistent tug of the planet, transformed into grace and expression.

The absence of the Calypso Band and the different venue aren’t cramping the style of the HSU Percussion Ensemble and the World Percussion Group for their spring concert in Fulkerson Hall on Saturday, April 16. Instead they have more time to shine.

Humboldt State University’s Reese Bullen Gallery presents the 2011 Annual Juried Student Exhibition. A wide variety of student-created artwork, including drawings, paintings, photography, jewelry, printmaking, graphic design, ceramics and sculpture will be on exhibit. A series of prizes and scholarships acknowledging the achievements and creativity of Humboldt State University’s art students will be presented at an awards ceremony on Thursday, April 14 at 5 p.m., followed immediately by an opening reception in the gallery until 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Pianist Fang Zhang brings an international reputation and a unique program that includes European classics, American popular music and a Chinese piano work to HSU’s Fulkerson Recital Hall on Saturday, April 9. He also holds a free Master Class on April 8.

Whether or not you can name the style, you know the music. Guitarist and HSU professor Nicholas Lambson performs a concert of contemporary music at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Friday, April 8, that mostly exemplifies the style called minimalism. “It’s probably the most accessible 20th century style,” Lambson said. With African and electronic music influences, “it’s familiar to audiences, partly because so much modern pop music is so similar.”

One of the most perennially popular shows of the year at HSU is happening a little earlier than usual, due to scheduling demands for Gist Hall Theatre: the 13th Annual HSU 10 Minute Play Festival opens for two weekends on April 7.

“Venetians and Dragons,” the Humboldt Bay Brass Band (HBBB) concert on April 2 in Fulkerson Recital Hall, features music ranging from some of the oldest known works for brass to the premiere of an original composition combining elements of classical and jazz by HSU professor and HBBB director Dr. Gilbert Cline. And of course, dragons.

Humboldt State University First Street Gallery is pleased to announce Seascapes: Paintings and Watercolors by Jim McVicker and Steve Porter. Produced and curated by the students in the Museum and Gallery Practices Program at Humboldt State University, the exhibition will run from March 31st through May 15th.

Humboldt State University’s First Street Gallery presents The HSU Printmakers Exhibition. Produced by the students in the Museum and Gallery Practices Program at Humboldt State University and curated by HSU Art Professor Sarah Whorf, the exhibition will run from March 31st through May 15th.

As a pianist, she has been hailed as “a star among stars” and performed in major concert halls on four continents, including appearances with the world’s great orchestras. As a teacher, she has presented master classes in Europe, People's Republic of China and throughout the United States. On March 26 in Fulkerson Recital Hall, Pamela Mia Paul will perform a solo concert that includes works by Brahms and Debussy, and an American premiere. She will also teach a master class at HSU on March 25.

“What better way to explore the nature of death than through its expression in music?” asks North Coast pianist Nancy Correll. Her answer is this carefully selected program presented by the North Coast ensemble known as PianoVoce on March 12 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Among the award-winners announced at the conclusion of the Region 7 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival at Humboldt State University were two current HSU students and one HSU alum.