Southeastern music students to pay tribute to family’s musical heritage Two Southeastern students will pay artistic homage to their family’s musical heritage
in a free music recital. Carley Duet and Brandi Callais Brumfield, cousins from Cut
Off, will honor their Uncle Vin Bruce, a prominent Cajun musician in the 50s and 60s.
Duet, a music education major, will present her junior recital Oct. 23, at 6
p.m., in Pottle Auditorium. Accompanied by Brumfield, a graduate student in guitar
performance, the duo will present two of their uncle’s compositions arranged for voice
and guitar in collaboration with Southeastern Instructor of Guitar Patrick Kerber. “The songs ‘Dans de Claire de la Lune’ and ‘Si tum’aime’ were staples in Vin
Bruce’s repertoire typically performed in a Cajun band setting,” Kerber said. “For
this recital, the songs will be performed as art songs for soprano and classical guitar.” As a successful touring and recording artist, Bruce recorded solo albums and
worked in the studio with many prominent musicians, such as Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley
for Columbia Records in Nashville, Kerber said. Bruce’s performance career took him
to the Grand Ole Opry and the Louisiana Hayride, among other notable venues, ultimately
becoming known as the “King of Cajun Singers.” “These two excellent students are taking this unique opportunity to put the skills
they have developed as serious music students to use, developing music that they are
both personally connected to and presenting it in a sophisticated fashion,” Kerber
said. “Whether music is created for the dance hall or popular radio, good music can,
with proper skills, be developed for presentation on the concert stage. The key is
to have the skills and creative will to accomplish this successfully. I am impressed.” For more information about the concert, contact the Department of Music and Performing
Arts at 549-2184.
CAJUN MUSIC TRIBUTE - Two Southeastern students will pay artistic homage to their family’s musical heritage
in a free music recital. Carley Duet, right, and Brandi Callais Brumfield, cousins
from Cut Off, will honor their Uncle Vin Bruce, a prominent Cajun musician in the
50s and 60s in a free music recital Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. in Pottle Auditorium.
|
Southeastern art lecture features Shawn Hall The second lecture in the series “Let’s Talk Art,” sponsored jointly by Southeastern’s
Department of Visual Art + Design and Friends of Sims Library, will be held Wednesday,
Oct. 23, at 5 p.m. at the Contemporary Art Gallery on Southeastern’s campus. The lecture
is free and open to the public. Professional artist Shawn Hall will speak about her work, including a piece included
in the current Contemporary Art Gallery show “Liminal Landscapes.” “The natural environment, biology and the fact of our interconnectedness to a
world that we don’t fully understand is at the core of my current work,” said Hall.
“I locate myself implicitly within the framework of the organism[s] we are a part
of.” Hall, who has lived in New Orleans since 1997, is an abstract painter who has
developed an expanded practice that includes video, installation, environmental research
and outreach, said Sims Library Director Eric Johnson. “Shawn earned her master of fine arts degree at the Mount Royal School of Maryland
Institute College of Art as a Patricia Harris Fellow. She has a bachelor of fine arts
degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an associate of science
degree from Delta College in Michigan,” Johnson said. “Shawn received a Pollock-Krasner
Foundation grant in 2017 and has been an artist-in-residence at School 33 in Baltimore,
the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in NYC, 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica,
Calif., the Santa Fe Art Institute, and Isadore Newman High School.” Hall toured with her collaborative installation/performance “How to Build a Forest”
that premiered at the Kitchen in New York City in 2011 and continued with universities
and art spaces around the Eastern and Southern U.S. with its last showing at the Contemporary
Arts Center in New Orleans in 2015. Her work has been featured at The Ogden Museum of Southern Art and Contemporary
Arts Center in New Orleans, The Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., the Alexandria
Museum in Alexandria, La., along with galleries in New York, Dallas, Miami and Nashville.
Her work has been reviewed nationally in “Art Papers,” “New Art Examiner,” “Hyperallergic,”
“Dialogue” and “Pelican Bomb” and is included in the permanent collection of the Ogden
Museum and Linklaters Corporate collection in New York City, as well as numerous private
collections in the U.S. and Europe. For more information, contact Johnson at 549-3962.
|
Education students organize club Three Southeastern freshmen, who participated in Educators Rising while in high school
in West Baton Rouge Parish, approached Dr. Paula Calderon about creating one of the
only two Educators Rising Collegiate Chapters in Louisiana. The three students and Dr. Calderon held a planning meeting on Sept. 5. The organization’s
first informational meeting took place Sept. 16. “I’m delighted to see brand new Southeastern students take the initiative to
form an organization to promote teaching as an exciting career,” said Calderon. “Educators
Rising and its parent organization, Phi Delta Kappa International, are nationally
known and well respected teacher organizations. These students are helping to change
the rhetoric of teacher education and promote the positives of choosing teaching as
a career.” The club has increased to over a dozen students and welcomes new members weekly
as word spreads. All undergraduate and graduate students majoring in education (all
degrees, all disciplines), students considering education as a career, and students
who are advocates for children and education are welcome to join. For more information, email edrising.slu@gmail.com and check Southeastern’s calendar for upcoming meetings.
NEW CLUB FORMED - Pictured, from left, are freshmen education majors Mignonne Leachman, Braxton Michel,
Dean of the College of Education Paula Calderon, and Macie Husband.
|
|
Columbia Theatre to host fundraiser Southeastern’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts is receiving support from
a noted film and television actor to help raise funds for the downtown Hammond theatre. The theatre will host “An Evening with Clarence Gilyard, Jr,” a one-night only
fundraiser for the Columbia Theatre on October 23 at 7:30 p.m. The star of “Die Hard,”
“Top Gun,” “Matlock,” and “Walker, Texas Ranger” is a visiting lecturer and guest
director at Southeastern this fall. Gilyard will speak about his career as a television,
film and stage actor. “Clarence is an incredibly talented artist who is generous and candid about his
journey and life as an artist and educator,” said Artistic Director of Columbia Theatre
James Winter. “This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come and speak with
a man who has worked alongside the likes of Tom Cruise, Alan Rickman, Andy Griffith,
Tony Scott, Chuck Norris and Bruce Willis.” Tickets are $10 adults and $5 students and are available at the Columbia Theatre
Box Office at 220 East Thomas Street in Hammond, which is open 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday-Friday,
online at columbiatheatre.org, or by phone at 985-543-4371. A special VIP ticket is
also available for $40 and includes a meet and greet with Gilyard at the conclusion
of the event. For more information about the event, contact the Columbia Theatre at 543-4366
or visit https://www.facebook.com/events/522038161697533/.
|
Southeastern receives funding for post-secondary inclusive education alliance Southeastern has been awarded funding to create and grow an alliance of universities
and colleges across the state that will provide inclusive education opportunities
for students with developmental disabilities such as its Lions Connected program.
Created by Associate Professor of Education and Director of Lions Connected Gerlinde
Beckers, Louisiana Post-Secondary Inclusive Education was awarded $40,000 from the
Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council. “Southeastern has had successful experience through Lions Connected, our inclusive
post-secondary educational program for individuals with disabilities; therefore, applying
to create the Post-Secondary Inclusive Education Alliance just seemed natural,” Beckers
said. “I’m delighted that Southeastern was chosen and continues to be a leader in the
post-secondary education of students with disabilities,” said Dean of the College
of Education Paula Calderon. The purpose of the LA-PIE Alliance is to expand the outcomes and opportunities
for individuals with developmental disabilities through participation in traditional
inclusive post-secondary college experiences at Louisiana universities and colleges.
Beckers said LA-PIE will expand opportunities through the establishment of an alliance
comprised of institutes of higher education and other appropriate entities associated
with implementing or developing inclusive post-secondary education programs for individuals
with developmental disabilities. “Southeastern will coordinate the alliance through the provision of mentoring
and technical assistance, hosting training events, and developing resources designed
to build the capacity of inclusive opportunities available at post-secondary educational
institutions throughout Louisiana,” she explained. For more information on LA-PIE, contact Beckers at gerlinde.beckers@southeastern.edu.
ADVOCATING FOR LA-PIE - Emma Beckers, Southeastern special education major and Lions Connected mentor,
left, and Lions Connected student Christopher Ballard advocate for Inclusive Post-Secondary
Education at the 2019 Governor’s Office of Disabilities Affair Conference. The Louisiana
Developmental Disabilities Council recently awarded funding to Southeastern to create
the Louisiana Post-Secondary Inclusive Education Alliance.
|
Columbia Theatre to present free concert by US Army Field Band Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts will present a concert by the United States
Army Field Band Jazz Ambassadors Sunday, Oct. 27. Scheduled at 3 p.m. in the downtown
Hammond theatre, the free concert is sponsored by the Hammond Daily Star and Columbia
Theatre. As an official ensemble of the “Musical Ambassadors of the Army,” the Field Band
has a longtime commitment to music education. The group’s performance schedule and
outreach activities include hundreds of visits to VA and civilian care centers, clinics
and public schools around the nation. From Boston to Baghdad, Tampa to Toronto, the Army Field Band has been entertaining
audiences of all ages for more than six decades. As the premier touring musical representative
for the U.S. Army, this internationally-acclaimed organization travels thousands of
miles each year presenting a variety of music to enthusiastic audiences throughout
the nation and abroad. Through these concerts, the Field Band fosters support of the American people
for members of the armed forces and supports diplomatic efforts around the world.
The group’s repertoire spans genres and eras dating back to the Renaissance. Although the concert is free, a ticket is required for entry. Tickets can be
picked up at the Columbia Theatre box office or at the Hammond Daily Star. For more
information, contact the Columbia Theatre at 543-4371.
|
|