The Four Composers

Photo of the Week

Photo op! Four illustrious composers from the OSU School of Music -- (l-r) Marc Ainger, Donald Harris, Thomas Wells and (seated) Jan Radzynski -- get ready for the 2008 Contemporary Music Festival Jan 30 to Feb 3. Compositions by each of the four faculty members will be featured together -- for the first time -- in the festival concert scheduled for 8 pm Wednesday, Jan 30 in Weigel Auditorium. The festival, a collaboration with the Columbus Symphony, will welcome acclaimed composer Osvaldo Golijov to town and will include concerts on campus and downtown. For complete details and ticket information, go to the festival website. Photo by Kevin Fitzsimons for an OnCampus article about the Contemporary Music Festival.

Notable News

Great news! The OSU Department of Design is ranked third nationwide in undergraduate industrial design programs, and 10th in the graduate program category. The rankings come from the 2008 design “scorecard” posted by DesignIntelligence. Ohio State trails number-one ranked Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, Cal) and the University of Cincinnati. Last time rankings were compiled, the undergraduate industrial design program at Ohio State was not ranked in the top 10; the graduate program was ranked number 7. It is the ninth time rankings have been issued, based upon annual surveys of 270 professional firms and organizations that hire design graduates. In terms of the recruitment of its graduates Ohio State was highly ranked this year in all four regions of the US. In the DesignIntelligence report, several subcategories lead to the overall assessment of preparedness of graduates. OSU was ranked 5th in the research and analysis category, 3rd in the materials, processes and engineering-related issues category and 3rd in the academic balance category.

The School of Music presents the premiere peformance of the percussion group Sympatico in a faculty and guest artist concert at 8 pm Tuesday, Jan 22, in Weigel Auditorium. The group (above, l-r) includes Chris Norton (Belmont University), Susan Powell and Joe Krygier (OSU), Scott Herring (University of South Carolina) and Kris Keeton (Virginia Commonwealth University). They will perform a variety of percussion works, from an African-based mallet ensemble piece and a bombastic drumming selection to a work for five sets of ‘ching’ cymbals. Tickets at the door; call 292-0789 for information.

Reharsals with OSU dancers and vocalists continue for The Magic Flute (below). Mozart's opera, directed by Peter Kozma, will be presented Jan 25-27 in Thurber Theatre, Drake Performance Center. Music director is Marshall Haddock for the production, which involves 12 principal vocalists, a chorus of 20, an orchestra of 40, eight dancers and nearly 90 members of the Men's Glee Club. For tickets, call 292-2295.

Art alumnus Michael Stickrod, who earned his undergraduate degree at Ohio State in sculpture, will be part of an international group exhibition called Technically Sweet at Participant Inc in New York City. Based on an unrealized screenplay, the Copenhagen-based curators for the show have invited artists to "finish" the film with works in a variety of mediums. The show opens Jan 20 and continues until March 2. Stickrod currently works in the video archives at Yale University.

Music alum Rob Kerr has won the district and regional auditions of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He is now a national semi-finalist and will sing in New York in February.