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Fun, laughs and hidden talents
April 05, 2007
A common garden hose can play a masterful rendition of Mozart when placed in the capable hands of music professor Kathleen Farner.
Never heard of a garden hose being used as a musical instrument? You’ll find this and other musical satire at the newly revived concert, “Music You Hate to Love,” presented by the music department on Sunday, April 15 at 3 p.m. in Lagerquist Concert Hall.
Originally dreamed up and presented in Chris Knutzen Hall in October 1978, the light-hearted concert was an annual tradition for 20 years. In its first few years, the concert raised more than $10,000 for the Music Scholarship Fund.
The concert displays the lesser-known talents of the music department faculty in a tone far less serious than the usual campus concert.
“It helps the university community see the music department in a slightly different way,” said Richard Farner, associate professor of music. “It shows a different side of the department. You can have an awful lot of fun with classical music.”
Past performances have featured such gems as music department chair Dave Robbins playing “Nola” on the marimba while also doing a tasteful soft-shoe routine, and former PLU president, the late William Rieke, wailing on a tin trumpet as former head football coach Frosty Westering kept the beat on a toy drum.
The tradition was popular and packed Eastvold Auditorium. The last concert concluded the annual Washington State Music Teachers Association conference held at PLU in June 1998.
The concert returns this year with a full cast of new music faculty eager to join in the fun, Farner said. New performers include professors Jeffrey Bell-Hanson, LeeAnne Campos, Amy Grinsteiner, David Joyner, Zachary Lyman, Ed Powell, Paul Tegels and Diana Walker.
Farner didn’t give too many details away, but did mention that professors Richard Nance and David Joyner will be performing German art songs with a “cowboy twist, ” while the piano faculty’s performance includes two pianos and eight hands. Additionally, a group known collectively as “I Solisti di Spanaway” will perform “P.D.Q. Bach,” an extended joke written by musical satirist Peter Schickele.
Admission to the concert is free for students, faculty and staff with their PLU ID. General admission is $8, admission for senior citizens is $5, and admission for PLU alumni and guests of PLU community members is $3. All proceeds from the concert will benefit the Music Scholarship Fund.
To learn more, contact the music department at ext. 7602 or music@plu.edu.
Originally dreamed up and presented in Chris Knutzen Hall in October 1978, the light-hearted concert was an annual tradition for 20 years. In its first few years, the concert raised more than $10,000 for the Music Scholarship Fund.
The concert displays the lesser-known talents of the music department faculty in a tone far less serious than the usual campus concert.
“It helps the university community see the music department in a slightly different way,” said Richard Farner, associate professor of music. “It shows a different side of the department. You can have an awful lot of fun with classical music.”
Past performances have featured such gems as music department chair Dave Robbins playing “Nola” on the marimba while also doing a tasteful soft-shoe routine, and former PLU president, the late William Rieke, wailing on a tin trumpet as former head football coach Frosty Westering kept the beat on a toy drum.
The tradition was popular and packed Eastvold Auditorium. The last concert concluded the annual Washington State Music Teachers Association conference held at PLU in June 1998.
The concert returns this year with a full cast of new music faculty eager to join in the fun, Farner said. New performers include professors Jeffrey Bell-Hanson, LeeAnne Campos, Amy Grinsteiner, David Joyner, Zachary Lyman, Ed Powell, Paul Tegels and Diana Walker.
Farner didn’t give too many details away, but did mention that professors Richard Nance and David Joyner will be performing German art songs with a “cowboy twist, ” while the piano faculty’s performance includes two pianos and eight hands. Additionally, a group known collectively as “I Solisti di Spanaway” will perform “P.D.Q. Bach,” an extended joke written by musical satirist Peter Schickele.
Admission to the concert is free for students, faculty and staff with their PLU ID. General admission is $8, admission for senior citizens is $5, and admission for PLU alumni and guests of PLU community members is $3. All proceeds from the concert will benefit the Music Scholarship Fund.
To learn more, contact the music department at ext. 7602 or music@plu.edu.