"The reason we got into playing 'Purple Haze' by Jimi Hendrix in the late '70s," says the Kronos Quartet's David Harrington, "is because people were saying the orchestras in the United States were gonna fold. And I got to thinking: '[Crap], I never played the 'Rite of Spring"!'" Meaning Stravinsky's riot-inducing masterpiece. "So I got a friend to make a version for Kronos. Then I thought, 'What if they want an encore; what are we gonna do?' That's how we got into playing Hendrix."
Makes perfect sense — 30 years later in our genre-blurred iPod world.
"It's an incredible time for music," says Harrington whose quartet plays two shows in College Park this weekend. "It's possible to have access to many corners of the world of music right now." Like Alim Kasimov, from Azerbaijan. Or Toumani Diabate, from Mali. "Damon Albarn's also doing a new piece for us. It feels like there's something that musicians are focusing in a new way."
THE ARTIST RHA GODDESS believes in empowering people — and be it by analyzing cultural taboos, shattering societal misconceptions or breaking down barriers, she's doing it. With an upcoming performance ("LOW: Meditations Trilogy Part 1") at the University of Maryland, the artist and playwright wants you in on the action, too.
"I think, in terms of the interactive dialogue of 'Who Got Next?', my hope is that people are looking very squarely at themselves: 'Where does this live in me?' 'What is my opportunity?' 'Where does my leadership potential lie in the midst of this?'" the Brooklyn-based performance and hip-hop artist said.
"And I think for people who walk out of 'Low,' it's also a conversation of empowerment as it relates to the issue: 'Where am I in relation to this issue?' 'Do I care?'"
Continue Reading "Power to the (Girl) People: Rha Goddess" »
LESS THAN A month ago, the sponsors of D.C.'s new EagleBank Bowl probably were dreaming of a Maryland-Navy matchup in December.
The Terrapins aren't cooperating. And head coach Ralph Friedgen couldn't be happier.
With early season games against California and Clemson, a typical Maryland team would be clawing to stay in the bowl picture, let alone fighting for the ACC title.
These Terps seem to be hardly ordinary. Following a stunning loss to Middle Tennessee, quarterback Chris Turner has led Maryland to wins over two top-25 teams.
IT WASN'T SUPPOSED to be this way for the ACC.
Three years after completing its expansion to improve its football reputation, there is only one ACC team in this week's AP top 25.
Raise your hand if you thought Wake Forest was the best team in the conference.
OK, No. 20 Wake may not be the ACC's best at year's end, but the league is a dud so far.
Continue Reading "More or Less, ACC Lags Behind in Football" »
EACH YEAR, the University of Maryland's National Orchestral Institute hosts a different group of musicians between the ages of 18 and 28 who want to hone their symphonic skills. Although the players change, the NOI's performances, held each Saturday in June, always blaze with an enthusiasm rare in an orchestral concert.
For James Ross, a professor at the university and the NOI's artistic director, cultivating this enthusiasm is just as important as making sure everyone's on beat.
"If you're not in the act of doing something that you're really committed to and enjoying, then there's no particular reason why people should ... pay a fair amount of money to sit and watch you not enjoy what you're doing," Ross says. "No rock group would survive that long with that kind of approach to what they do onstage."
Continue Reading "A Passion for Playing: National Orchestral Institute" »
IT'S TEATIME IN the 'burbs, and two dainty women in saris are throwing down. "My Lakshmi has multiple houses, in Delhi, London, Paris and Manhattan," the first says smugly. The second counters, "Yes, well, Veena has multiple ... multiple orgasms."
The victor is comedian Vijai Nathan's ultra-conservative mother, and the short film, "Chai Noon," is a glimpse of the deadpan humor Nathan turns on matters of family, sex and growing up as a good Hindu girl with a weakness for McDonald's. Nathan's new one-woman show, "McGoddess: Big Macs, Karma, & the American Dream," comes to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Saturday.
» EXPRESS: You grew up in a community where you were one of few minorities. How did that influence your early experiences with performing?
» NATHAN:: I grew up in Gaithersburg and Potomac. My school was mostly white and mostly Jewish. I really wanted to fit in, so I tried out for all the plays and musicals. I got my first break in the fourth grade, when I was cast as Martin Luther King. Later, in a musical about oral hygiene, I was cast as tooth decay.
» EXPRESS: How has the reaction to your acts been from the Indian community?
» NATHAN: When I started out [in 1996], I wanted to get Indians to come see me, but it was really hard. ... Other Indians couldn't conceive of an Indian girl doing this. I'd say I was going to have a show and they'd be, like, "Oh, are you going to dance? You're just going to talk?"
Now there are more Indian comedians. Vidur Kapur, who is Indian and gay — I've done shows with him. And then there's Russell Peters. He's been doing stand-up for about 18 years.
HAS IT REALLY come to this for the Maryland Terrapins?
Though men's basketball coach Gary Williams has been criticized for the swoon since winning the national championship, no one could dispute he brought the program back to respectability the right way.
There's been no hint of scandal, criminal activity or blatant cheating.
But in mid-April came the under-the-radar announcement that Williams had given a scholarship to Tyree Evans.
Once a top-flight prospect out of Richmond, Evans will be a 23-year-old junior who has been convicted of three crimes and who spent time in jail for drugs last year.
Continue Reading "Swengali: Will Terps' Risk be Rewarded?" »
CHOREOGRAPHER SUSAN MARSHALL designed this 90-minute ballet, "Sawdust Palace," to be performed inside a Spiegeltent, which is a large mirrored tent popular in turn-of-the-century Belgian carnivals.
It may surprise you that the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center doesn't just have a Spiegeltent lying around. However, this series of short pieces inspired by vaudeville and cabaret is performed in the round, as a concession to its origins. It performs Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with a Saturday matinee at 3 p.m.
»Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive, College Park; 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; $7-$35; (301) 405-2787. (College Park).
Photo by Rosalie O'Connor/The Washington Post
BRENDA FRESE CAN'T REALLY EXPLAIN IT. The girls just like a good fight.
The coach and her No. 1-seeded Maryland Terrapins advanced to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 this week, but they kept things interesting throughout the opening rounds, played out on their home court in College Park.
On Tuesday against No. 8-seed Nebraska, the Terrapins built a 15-point first-half lead and watched it dwindle to a single point at halftime.
After the intermission, they built a 12-point lead but watched the Cornhuskers trim it to four points before the Terrapins finally pulled away.
"I think sometimes — I hate to say this — we may get bored or we lose focus with what we're doing," Frese said. "Sometimes with young people you lose that focus and intensity."
It wasn't Frese' first big dance; she understood that and set the bar low for her team. National champions in 2006, the Terps were ousted in the second round a year ago. And despite the fact that they were now a No. 1 seed and playing at home, Frese stressed to her team the effort it would require to advance past the opening rounds and travel to Spokane, Wash., where they will face fourth-seeded Vanderbilt on Saturday.
"We wanted to get out of College Park," said junior Marissa Coleman. "That's all we've been talking about is getting out of College Park."
BRENDA FRESE SPENT PLENTY OF ANXIOUS MOMENTS in her basement this season. Pregnant with twins, it became her refuge.
When she was too far along to travel with her Maryland Terrapins to road games, the coach huddled in front of the television there and watched. She celebrated when they won, vented when they lost.
But on Monday, back in that basement, she had plenty of company. Not just her twins — Markus and Tyler arrived early but healthy — but the entire Terrapins team gathered in Frese's basement and watched as it was announced that Maryland (30-3) had earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
"It's really special," she said. "The fact of how many games that I watched on TV of our team when they were on the road, to really come full circle, to be back in it and be a part of it, to really enjoy this moment with them, it's truly special."
This March, the only madness Frese was anticipating being a part of was the birth of her children, who were due on March 11. They were born, however, on Feb. 17, hours before her team defeated Duke on the road.
The coach rejoined the team in time for the final game of the regular season. She'll be on the sideline when they open the tournament against 16th-seed Coppin State at Comcast Center on Sunday.It's a relief for the players, too.
Addison Road
