Lawrence
Today magazine, Spring 2007
Six large ensembles, eight chamber groups, a solo guitarist, and six
hands playing a single grand piano brought forth music from all corners of
the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center when the Conservatory
of Music presented
its first-ever Kaleidoscope Concert on October 21.
A showcase for most of the university’s 365 music majors, as well as
young musicians from the Lawrence Academy of Music, the
75-minute, non-stop concert featured 16 different student groups performing “in
the round,” utilizing the
main stage, orchestra pit, eight side balconies, main floor, and upper balcony
of the Performing Arts Center. In addition, there were art displays in the
lobby by Lawrence student artists and schoolchildren participating in the ArtsBridge America program.
Fred Sturm ’73, the Kimberly-Clark Professor of Music and director
of jazz and improvisational music, explained the motive behind the music
and the
method:
“So many folks attending our musical performances have expressed interest
in a ‘sampler’ program featuring multiple facets of the Conservatory’s
offerings. Kaleidoscope is a public platform on which most of our musical
groups can strut their stuff in a single performance.
“The Conservatory has grown dramatically over the past two decades,” Sturm
said, “and we offer hundreds of public concerts and recitals each year.
It’s impossible for anyone, even those of us working here, to attend
all of them. The Kaleidoscope concert was designed to present a broad mix
of Conservatory offerings in one concert.”
The evening concluded with Dean of the Conservatory Robert
Thayer conducting
the full Kaleidoscope cast (pictured, above) in “Make Our Garden Grow,” the
finale from Leonard Bernstein’s Candide.
The Kaleidoscope concert was sponsored by The Boldt Company.