Ohio Wesleyan University Announces 2014-2015 Performing Arts Series
Choreographer and comedian Claire Porter will kick off Ohio Wesleyan University’s 2014-2015 Performing Arts Series on Aug. 30 with ‘Prepositions and a Piano: A Celebration of Music as Dance.’ Tickets are available now. (Photo courtesy of Claire Porter)
DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University’s 2014-2015 Performing Arts Series will kick off Aug. 30 with choreographer and comedian Claire Porter performing “Prepositions and a Piano: A Celebration of Music as Dance.”
This year’s series of visiting professional artists also will showcase West Africa’s Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir, central Ohio’s A Portable Theatre, and two classical music performances. Tickets for the annual Ohio Wesleyan Performing Arts Series are on sale now.
In “Prepositions and a Piano,” Porter melds music, dance, language, and humor in five vignettes. The New York Times describes her show as “[h]ilarious realism,” proclaiming Porter to be “one of the wittiest in the business (of comedic movement.)”
She will be joined by soprano Marla Berg and composer Mary Ellen Childs for one vignette, “Falling for Prepositions.” The OWU performance will be held at 8 p.m. Aug. 30 on the Main Stage inside Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave., Delaware.
Porter holds a master’s degree in dance from The Ohio State University and is a Laban Movement analyst, meaning she studies the basic principles of movement structure and purpose. She has taught dance at a number of colleges including Case Western Reserve University, Connecticut College, and Teachers College, Columbia University. Learn more at www.cportables.com.
Berg, who earned her master’s degree in music at the Cleveland Institute of Music, is an associate professor of voice and director of the opera program at Kent State University. Childs studied at Lawrence University and focuses on compositions that blend music, dance and theater.
Tickets for “Prepositions and a Piano” and other Performing Arts Series events (unless otherwise noted) are $20 for general admission and $5 for senior citizens and non-Ohio Wesleyan students with a valid school ID. Admission is free for Ohio Wesleyan students and employees with a valid OWU ID. For tickets, visit pas.owu.edu, call (740) 368-3629, or email paseries@owu.edu. Learn more at pas.owu.edu.
Additional upcoming events for Ohio Wesleyan’s 2014-2015 Performing Arts Series include:
8 p.m. Sept. 14 – All-Beethoven Concert featuring Peter Takács and Robert deMaine. The New York Times hails Takács, a professor of piano at Oberlin University, as “a marvelous pianist,” and deMaine, principal cellist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as “an artist who makes one hang on every note.” The concert will be held in Jemison Auditorium inside Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware.
8 p.m. Sept. 20 – The Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir – a symbol of peace, hope, humanity, and brotherhood throughout West Africa – performing traditional Senegalese music, percussion, and dance. As part of its first North American tour, the choir’s 15 singers and four drummers will interpret gospel spirituals, traditional African tunes, Catholic liturgy, and indigenous Muslim songs to reflect the harmony among Senegal’s major cultures. The concert will be held in Gray Chapel inside University Hall, 61. S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Learn more at www.cami.com/?webid=2331.
8 p.m. Jan. 24, 2015 – A Portable Theater performing “Tales from the Grave.” The show features four actors in a crowd-pleasing performance set in old-time-radio style. Based in central Ohio, A Portable Theatre works to provide professional theatre in communities statewide. “Tales from the Grave” will be performed in OWU’s Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Learn more at www.aportabletheatre.com.
7:30 p.m. May 2, 2015 – The Central Ohio Symphony performing the U.S. premiere of “The Great Animal Orchestra,” inspired by Bernie Krause, a musician, acoustician, and sound environmentalist who uses sound to document human activity on the environment. The concert, led by conductor Jaime Morales-Matos, will be held in Gray Chapel inside University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. Reserved-seat tickets are $25 and $20 for senior citizens. Tickets are $6 for non-Ohio Wesleyan students. To order, call the Central Ohio Symphony at (740) 362-1799 or visit www.centralohiosymphony.org. A limited supply of free tickets is available to Ohio Wesleyan students and employees with a valid OWU ID. For university tickets, email owutickets@centralohiosymphony.org.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private, coed university offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, minors, and concentrations, and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world practice. OWU’s 1,850 students represent 42 states and 37 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.