NEWS RELEASE

News Bureau . Schofield Hall 201 . Eau Claire, WI 54702
phone: (715) 836-4741
fax: (715) 836-2900

EAU CLAIRE - The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, called "the best jazz band in the land," by the San Francisco Examiner, will open the Artists Series season at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a performance Thursday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Zorn Arena.

Providing a link between the present day and the heyday of traditional New Orleans music, Preservation Hall Jazz Band performs New Orleans jazz at its purest, playing Dixieland tunes, Southern spirituals and vintage pop songs. This group of the jazz industry's most elite musicians, ranging in age from 31 to 88, recently made appearances at Carnegie Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, and Wolf Trap, where they were presented with the Wolf Trap Medal for Excellence in the Performing Arts. The group has been touring for more than 25 years.

According to bassist and manager Benjamin Jaffe, the audience can expect "a slice of New Orleans, a snapshot of what we do every day of our life in this city, the songs, the humidity and heat - and red beans and rice."

The concert is the first of eight Artists Series presentations this season. Details about other events on the series follow:

• Kuniko Yamamoto, "Magical Mask, Mime and Music of Japan"; Thursday, Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m., Schofield Auditorium. Combining pantomime, original music, handcrafted masks, origami, and stylized movements, Japanese storyteller KunikoYamamoto adds a touch of magic to bring to life traditional folktales from her home country.
• Tubalate, an Octubafest from Britain; Monday, Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m., Gantner Concert Hall of the Haas Fine Arts Center. Touring the United States under the auspices of Boosey & Hawkes, Tubalate is one of Britain's leading professional brass ensembles. The euphonium/tuba quartet is known for its sparkling, energetic performances of familiar music as well as exciting, newly commissioned pieces.
• Kurt Ollmann, baritone, in recital with Jeffry Peterson, piano; Thursday, Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m., Gantner Concert Hall of the Haas Fine Arts Center. Lyric baritone Kurt Ollmann - heard regularly with opera companies, orchestras, chamber music groups and on many recordings - is known for having been one of Leonard Bernstein's favored singers.
• Turtle Island String Quartet, "Solstice Celebration: The Festival of Lights"; Monday, Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m., Gantner Concert Hall of the Haas Fine Arts Center. With this joyous voyage through world holiday music, the Turtle Island String Quartet will explore the timeless music that has been an integral part of winter holiday celebrations for centuries. The ensemble fuses the classical quartet aesthetic with 20th-century American popular styles, devising a performance practice that honors both.
• The Princely Players, "On the Road to Glory"; Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m., Schofield Auditorium. The enslavement and liberation of African-Americans from the 18th to the 20th century are brought to life through chants, spirituals, work songs and civil rights marches. The Princely Players have been heard on the Smithsonian's "Wade in the Water" series and the Time-Life Civil War recordings.
• The Acting Company, "Richard III"; Monday, March 8, 7:30 p.m., Zorn Arena. Presented under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Arts' Shakespeare in American Communities program, "Richard III" completes the historical and spellbinding tale of England's bloody War of the Roses, the triumphs and failures of kings. "The Acting Company endures as the major touring classical theater in the United States," wrote The New York Times.
• Ragamala Music and Dance Theater, "From Temple to Theater"; Tuesday, April 27, 7:30 p.m., Zorn Arena. Blending the East and West in unique and innovative ways, Ragamala illustrates the journey of Bharatanatyam, the ancient classical dance style in which the company's work is rooted, from the Hindu Temples of South India 2,000 years ago to the theaters of the 21st century.

"The past few years of programming from the Artists Series has, in my mind, progressed from a collection of sometimes interesting individual events to a true season," says Dean Kallenbach, Wisconsin Public Radio's Eau Claire area regional manager. "The events that first spark my interest and attendance are so good; it makes me want to try the events that I might not otherwise have tried. When I do so, I'm rarely disappointed."

Season subscription information is available at the University Service Center, (715) 836-3727. A range of subscription packages is available, offering discounts of 10 to 20 percent. Tickets for individual Artists Series events are $15 for the public, $13 for those 62 and older and UW System or Chippewa Valley Technical College faculty and staff, and $5 for those 17 and younger and UW System or CVTC students.

Patrons may also charge their tickets to MasterCard or Visa when they order by phone. Call (715) 836-3727 - or, outside the immediate Eau Claire area, call toll-free (800) 949-UWEC. A $3 handling fee will be added to all telephone charge orders.

Funded by the students of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the Artists Series is supported in part by grants from the Heartland Arts Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts Shakespeare in American Communities national theater touring initiative, with promotional support from Wisconsin Public Radio. Park Inn and Suites Eau Claire is the exclusive accommodations partner for the Artists Series. The program is administered by the Activities and Programs office.
-30-
JS/NW

Judy Berthiaume, Director
UW-Eau Claire News Bureau
Schofield 201
(715) 836-4741
newsbur@uwec.edu

Updated: August 15, 2003