NNU’s annual art studio exhibit will be held through April 19 showcasing the work of four graduating seniors. The exhibit is held in the Friesen Galleries. .

The exhibit features four female art majors with a wide range of talents. Caitlin Bauder’s paintings explore personal experiences and its effects on the psyche; Ellie Ferguson presents a digital installation focusing on dreams and the subconscious; Annie Lubiens exhibits an oil painting that explores the historical context of the Annunciation; and Autumn Tustin created a video installation that is a culmination of conversation in the wake of World War II.

For more information or questions about the exhibit, contact Annie Lubiens at ahuffer@nnu.edu.

Photo caption: Painting by senior art student Annie Lubiens

Northwest Nazarene University’s Department of Music will present the original Mary Martin Broadway production of “Peter Pan” March 7, 8 and 9 in the Brandt Center’s Swayne Auditorium.

NNU chair of the music department Dr. Barry Swanson states “This is NNU’s centennial year, and we wanted to celebrate with the biggest musical production in our history. Peter Pan is certainly that. The Las Vegas firm “Flying by Foy” has installed rigging to facilitate the flying of Peter and the children; the set is the biggest and most dramatic, and the cast is outstanding.”

Peter Pan, played by Jana DeSimone (Laurie in NNU’s 2010 Oklahoma), is delightful as Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up. Peter loves to sneak into the home of the Darling family to listen to Mrs. Darling, Alexandra Jarrat of Nampa read bedtime stories. Caught in the act, he convinces the three Darling children to fly, with him to Neverland where he lives with a troop of lost boys. Big sister Wendy, Jordan Hazen of Eagle, and her brothers, Aiden and Jordan Shuck, of Nampa fly away to Neverland where they will do battle with the not-so-fierce pirates led by Captain Hook played by Boise native BJ Howard, (last year’s Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha), and befriend a strange band of Indians led by the Indian princess Tiger Lily, Jackie Presnell of Meridian.

Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. on March 7, 8 and 9. Tickets are available through the NNU Brandt Center Box Office or the NNU Department of Music. Ticket prices are $10 or $8 seniors and students; family and group rates are available upon request by calling 467-8795.

At the beginning of each school year, Kawai America Corporation provides new pianos to NNU’s Department of Music through an institutional program locally implemented by Dunkley Music. These instruments are loaned to the University free of charge; after only one year of use (to prevent deterioration), the pianos are offered to the public at bargain prices

Baby grands, grands, studios, consoles and quality digital pianos used by NNU as well as other teaching institutions in the area will be on sale. All institutional Kawai pianos carry a full ten-year warranty. These instruments were specifically selected for the institutional program and are meticulously maintained.

Also available is a selection of Steinway & Sons, Boston, Essex, Yamaha, Pearl River, Roland and other new and used pianos and remnants of institutional inventory. Special arrangements have been made through Dunkley Music for financing, delivery and warranty service.

To set up a private appointment for Friday, March 1, or for general information about the sale, contact Dr. Walden Hughes, NNU’s Department of Music, 867-7386.

Five NNU professors will display their artwork at NNU’s Friesen Galleries Feb. 4 – March 22. Artwork will include wire and cut paper sculptures by Amanda Hamilton, large clay vessels with vibrant glaze-work produced by Bill Campton, hand printed photographs of Costa Rica and Guatemala by Jamie Tucker, a glimpse into the creative process by freelance designer Mike Bartlett and original designs for books and the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries magazine by Paul Kinsman.

A reception will be held Thurs. evening, Feb. 21 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. on the upper level of the Brandt Center. The public will be able to discuss the artwork with the artists. Both events are free and open to the public. NNU’s Brandt Center is located at 707 Fern St. in Nampa.

It’s that time of year!  The 8th Annual Night of the Arts…

Workshops:  Thursday, Nov. 29, 3:30 – 5:30pm, Fine Arts Building, Wiley Learning Center

• All workshops are drop-in and don’t have official “start” times… feel free to attend any or all!

• Workshops include: Screenprinting, Clay activities, Letterpress, Drama & Film Activities, a recording project, Composing with Digital Music Tools and Jazz Jam Session.  Bring your instrument!

• 4pm and 5pm   Department Tours led by Current Students, Fine Arts Building, Wiley Learning Center

• 4:30- 7pm  Art Sale w/ Live Music, Brandt Center Lobby  Take a break and do some Christmas shopping at the Arts & Crafts sale. There will be items to buy as well as a spinning/fiber arts demo and jazz music.

• 7pm-8:30  Night of the Arts performance & dessert, Swayne Auditorium, Brandt Center.  Special performances by reader’s theatre, live jazz and the Annual Student Art Exhibit with Juror’s prizes.Juror: Courtney Gilbert, Sun Valley Center for the Arts

We hope you can join us in celebrating the arts and our talented students!  All events free and open to the public.

–Amanda Hamilton

As part of its centennial celebration, Northwest Nazarene University will feature a gala concert at NNU’s Brandt Center, Saturday, November 10 at 7:30 p.m. Titled “Centennial Radio Hour & Gospel Sing,” the concert will feature a 1940’s radio-show format with toe-tapping gospel music.

The University has sent music groups to churches across the Northwest for student recruitment and ministry for nearly 100 years. The concert will honor these groups and feature reunited ensembles from every decade since the 1950s. Nearly 100 alumni of the traveling groups will join the current Crusader Choir to form a 150-voice gospel choir that will be accompanied by a ten-piece alumni band.

NNU President Dr. David Alexander, assisted by David Bauer from Phoenix, Arz., will serve as the radio host along with a radio show cast that will perform humorous sketches. Ensembles from six decades will sing songs of their eras, and the choir will sing medleys of gospel songs and choruses from these eras. Direction is by Dr. Barry Swanson, chair of NNU’s department of music. Alumnus Eric Adamson (Nampa) will conduct the band.

Swanson said the music will feature everything from gospel classics like “I’ll Fly Away” and southern gospel quartets to more recent contemporary Christian songs reflecting the 90s and current era. “It is going to be a very entertaining evening to remember.”

Tickets can be purchased online at nnu.edu/homecoming or at the door. Prices are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and $4 for children.

A tribute to life’s small blessings, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama is set in the New England town of Grover’s Corners in the early 20th century. Without scenery or props, the unconventional drama draws attention to the play’s themes and characters. The audience follows the love story and seemingly everyday life of George and Emily, only to be reminded of their own mortality and inter-connectedness.

The character of Emily Webb is played by freshman Jordan Hazen (Greenleaf, Idaho). George Gibbs is played by freshman Ryan McClees (Meridian, Idaho). Other performers include Aubrielle Holly (Nampa, Idaho), Autumn Tustin (Kandern, Germany), Alexandra Jarratt (Nampa, Idaho) and Josh Friesen (Billings, Mont.).

The performances is held at the NNU Little Theatre. Tickets are $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and $5 for students and can be pre-ordered by calling 208.467.8795 or online at www.nnu.edu/homecoming. Tickets will also be available at the door.

The play is directed by Rick Strader.

NNU’s Friesen Art Galleries are pleased to host the original illustrations from former art professor Jonathan Bouw’s latest work “The Boy, the Kite & the Wind.” Authored by Al Andrews, the book received the 2012 Gelett Burgess Children’s Honor Book Award for outstanding contribution to children’s literature. Bouw’s original illustrations will be on exhibit thru Nov. 14.

Bouw will give an “art talk” Wednesday, September 19 at 3 p.m., with a reception to follow from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Friesen South Gallery. Books will be available for purchase at the event. All profits from “The Boy, the Kite and the Wind” will go to charities that aid those in need such as Compassion International, World Vision, The Red Cross, Restore International, Blood Water Mission and Thistle Farms. Both events are free and open to the public.

Grammy Award-winning songwriter and author Gloria Gaither said, “In a world in which kids are so bombarded with the material and the immediate, this treasure is a great way to encourage them [children] to see below the surface and to invest their choices in things that cannot always be seen.”

The Friesen Art Galleries are located inside the Brandt Center and are open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. or by appointment. Visit www.theboythekiteandthewind.com for more information.

The concert will feature a wide variety of music reflecting the choir’s variation of venues. Traditional choral literature will include “If  You Love Me Keep My Commandments” by Thomas Tallis and “Clap Your Hands,” a Psalm 47 text setting by Rene Clausen.  Music of Celtic heritage will include the Irish hymn and tune “Be Thou My Vision” arranged by John Lanier, an acapella setting of the prayer “Christ be in My Head” by Philip Stopford, and “A Gaelic Blessing,” by John Rutter.  The program will also include an entertaining choral setting of the William Tell Overture, a rhythmic tango entitled “Otono Porteno,”and the South African freedom song “Tshotsholoza.”  A variety of gospel and contemporary Christian songs and spirituals will round out the program.
 
According to Dr. Barry Swanson, director of the choir and chairman of the NNU Music Department, the choir will spend half of the tour in Ireland and half in England.  Flying into Dublin, they will hold concerts at the Christ Church Cathedral, Church of the Nazarene and Holy Rosary Catholic Church, as well as several shopping centers, nursing homes and hospitals.
 
Traveling to Northern Ireland, the group will spend four days in the Belfast area where they will perform three concerts and spend a day in a community service project in the Belfast suburb of Bangor.  While in Belfast they will tour the newly opened Titanic Experience museum, located in the docklands area where the Titanic was built.
 
Concerts in England will include a cathedral concert at York Minster, churches in Bolton and Sheffield, and a shared concert with the Earls Barton Community Choir in the village’s 500-year-old village church, celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Three days as tourists in London will cap the tour.
 
Swanson stated that this will be the 17th European choir tour since Dr. Marvin Bloomquist directed his first tour to England and Germany in 1971. 
 
The send-off concert is the final concert of the year for the choir.  A $5 donation is requested at the door or through NNU’s Department of Music, 467-8413.

A reception with the designers was also held Tuesday, April 24. The show will be on display April 25 to May 5, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Friesen Art Galleries are located on the upper-level of the Brandt Center, 707 Fern St., Nampa.

Northwest Nazarene University’s Department of Music will present the Broadway hit “Man of LaMancha” March 8, 9 and 10 in the Brandt Center’s Swayne Auditorium.

NNU music professor Dr. Barry Swanson, who is also producer and music director, states “This will be the first time that ‘Man of LaMancha’ has been performed at NNU. This musical may not be as well-known as some, but it is still full of incredible music with a powerful story.”

The principal song, “The Impossible Dream,” has achieved international popularity. The play-within-a-play depicts poet/playwright Cervantes who invents the story of the mad knight Don Quixote to stall for time as he awaits the trial for the Spanish Inquisition. It is a story of hope, transformation and vision.

Two Nampa natives have been cast in lead roles. BJ Howard is cast as Cervantes/Don Quixote, while Devon Ellis will portray his faithful servant and sidekick Sancho Panza. The female lead role, Aldonza, is played by Jackie Presnell, a junior from Meridian, Idaho.

Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. March 8, 9 and 10. Tickets are available through the Nampa Civic Center box office (nampaciviccenter.com 468-5555) the NNU Department of Music or NNU bookstore. Call 467-8413 for more information.

Northwest Nazarene University will hold a faculty recital on Saturday, February 4 at the Swayne Auditorium in the NNU Brandt Center featuring the University’s own Dr. Judy Marlett, mezzo soprano. Marlett is in her 16th year on faculty in the Department of Music.

Marlett will be joined by two former students, Ms. Amelia Cilley, soprano, and Ms. Rebecca Nelson, accompanying pianist. Ms. Cilley received her bachelor of arts in vocal performance from NNU in 1998 and presently owns an interior design studio. Ms. Nelson, who will be accompanying the two vocalists, received her bachelor of arts in piano from NNU in 1988 and is currently a piano adjunct professor for NNU’s Department of Music.

The recital will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Brandt Center, located at 707 Fern Street in Nampa. The concert is free of charge and open to the public.

Students are invited to come for some or all of the day’s activities. The Office of Admission will offer application information, campus tours and lunch for those interested. Register online here.

Link to: love.nnu.edu/night-of-the-arts/

Northwest Nazarene University’s premier women’s choir “Bella Voce” will host an Italian opera dinner Friday, January 20 at 6 p.m. at College Church of the Nazarene. This fundraiser will assist the group in paying for tours and in supplementing students who cannot afford choir performance attire.

A special exhibit titled “The Artful Life of Mary Shaffer” will be on display in the Freisen Galleries January 12 – November 16, and an exhibition reception will be held Tuesday, January 17, from 4:30-6:30 p.m.