Music, lectures and a film festival highlight Fanfare's fourth week
Monday, October 14, 2019
by: Tonya Lowentritt
Photo credit: Marlon James
POET TO VISIT SOUTHEASTERN - Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar, author of “Calling a Wolf a Wolf,” a confessional
collection of poetry that follows a path through addiction to recovery, will visit
Southeastern for the Common Read Program on Oct. 21 as part of Fanfare, the university’s
annual fall arts. During Akbar’s visit to campus, he will take part in three events
in the Student Union Ballroom. All events are free and open to the public.
HAMMOND – Music concerts, poetry, lectures, and a film festival highlight the
fourth week of Fanfare, Southeastern Louisiana University’s annual fall arts festival.
The week begins on Monday, Oct. 21, with the Common Read program. Common Read
provides students and community members the opportunity to read selected works and
then meet their contemporary authors.
This year Southeastern students are reading “Calling a Wolf a Wolf,” a confessional
collection of poetry written by Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar. The poetry collection
is a personal narrative that follows a path through addiction to recovery.
During Akbar’s visit to campus, he will take part in three events in the Student
Union Ballroom. The program includes student presentations from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.,
a question and answer session with the author from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and a reading,
reception and book signing from 6:30 to 8 p.m. All events are free and open to the
public.
The next segment of the free Fanfare lecture series “Your Best 10 Minutes,” the
series that brings in four professors to speak about anything they choose, is also
scheduled Oct. 21. Featuring Southeastern’s Claire Procopio of Communication
and Media Studies Department, Sherri Craig of the English Department, Erin Horzelski
of the Biological Sciences Department, and Carol Madere of the Communication and Media
Studies Department, the event is set at 1 p.m. in Pottle Auditorium.
On Oct. 23 at 1 p.m., Joe Burns of the Communication and Media Studies Department
will present the next Then and Now Lecture “The Summer of Love. Woodstock to Altamont.
50 Years On.” Co-sponsored by the Department of Communication and Media Studies, the
lecture will offer a different look at two of the most iconic music events in history.
“The year 1969 was 50 years ago, yet the memories of August through December
loom large. Woodstock was a brilliant success in retrospect. It represents peace and
love, as well as the technological achievements in sound that allowed a quarter of
a million people to hear the music,” said Burns. “But if Woodstock opened the Summer
of Love, Altamont closed it with violence. The story is well known, but new research
suggests it was not exactly what we thought.”
Also on Oct. 23, Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts will present An Evening
with Clarence Gilyard, Jr., at 7:30 p.m. in the downtown Hammond theatre.
The star of “Die Hard,” “Top Gun,” “Matlock,” and “Walker, Texas Ranger” will
share his life experiences as a film, television and stage actor.
Tickets are $10 adults and $5 for students and are available at the Columbia/Fanfare
box office, 220 E. Thomas Street, 985-543-4371. The box office is open Monday through
Friday from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. and one hour prior to Columbia performances.
A $40 VIP ticket package is also offered for this event and includes a post-show
meet and greet with Gilyard.
On Thursday, Oct. 24, Southeastern’s own Jack Bedell will lead “Poetry and Art:
An Ekphrastic Writing Workshop.” Scheduled from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., the free workshop
will be held in the Contemporary Art Gallery.
Also on Oct. 24, “Wild and Scenic Film Festival” is scheduled from 6-9 p.m. at
Southeastern’s Student Union Annex, located at 303 Union Ave. A bonus film is available
at 5:30 p.m. featuring the “Manchac Swamps: Then and Now.”
Sponsored by Citizens Climate Education, Sierra Club Delta Chapter, Louisiana
Growers and Rittwood Farms, the Hammond film festival is kicking off its inaugural
year and features award-winning short films focused on adventure, advocacy and education.
Tickets are $18 and are available at Eventbrite.com: Hammond Wild and Scenic.
Southeastern students are admitted free with university I.D. on a first come, first
served basis. After the allotment of free student tickets has been exhausted, tickets
are $10 for Southeastern students at the door.
The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra will open up its Columbia Theatre season
on Oct. 25 with a concert titled “Romantic German Masters.” Scheduled at 7:30 p.m.,
the concert program opens with a serenade of wind instruments and features Brahms’
“Variations on a Theme by Haydn.” Guest conductor for the concert is Gemma New, and
featured cellist is Lynn Harrell.
General admission tickets are $37 and $20 and are available at lpomusic.com.
The week culminates with a free performance by the U.S. Army Field Jazz Ambassadors:
The Greatest Generation Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. in the Columbia Theatre. The U.S. Army’s
premier big band, the Jazz Ambassadors is a 19-member ensemble that formed in 1969.
The band has received great acclaim, both at home and abroad, performing America’s
original art form, jazz.
For a complete Fanfare schedule, contact the Columbia/Fanfare office at 985-543-4366
or visit columbiatheatre.org.