Spring Brings a Basket of Entertainment to Campus

The flowers are blooming on campus, and the arts are at their peak in April as Radford University's College of Visual and Performing Arts presents a full calendar of events ranging from contemporary visual art to musical masterpieces.

All events are open to the public and free except where otherwise noted.

• Spring M.F.A. show, through April 15, Radford University Art Museum at the Covington Center for Visual and Performing Arts and Gallery 205. The exhibit features the best works of graduating students in the Master of Fine Arts program: Anne Graham, Nick Milinazzo, Jonathan Murrill, Sonja Novak and Patricia Hunold.  The RU Art Museum at the Covington Center is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Gallery 205 in Porterfield Hall is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Information: (540) 831-5754.
   
• Graduate recital, Brooke Tolley, soprano, April 1, 2 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Tolley performs works by Verdi, Bernstein, Mozart, Gordon and Debussy in a recital reflecting Tolley's directed study of romantic heroines in opera.
   
• Senior recital, Paige Kenley, mezzo-soprano, April 1, 7 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Kenley performs works by Handel, Duparc, Brahms and Schubert, and arias by Rossini and Massenet. Included in the program are songs by Manuel de Falla with accompaniment by student guitarist Chris Fisher and student pianist Taylor Baldwin.
   
• Merchandising student window displays: Sur La Table, April 2-6, 210 McGuffey Hall showcases. Through the semester, students in the visual merchandising class in the Department of Interior Design & Fashion have applied visual display principles, concepts and techniques to create a series of windows to attract customer attention and promote sales. Sur La Table is a retailer specializing in kitchenware products.
   
• Salvador Dali in Virginia, April 2, 7:30 p.m., McGuffey Hall 203. Kevin Concannon, professor of art history and director of the School of Visual Arts at Virginia Tech, has curated several contemporary art exhibitions and is the author of numerous publications, including an article on the topic of his talk.
   
• Student painting show, April 3-17, RUAM Downtown Gallery. This exhibition features special projects and work from undergraduate students in painting. The gallery is upstairs at 1129 E. Main St., Radford. Hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m.
   
• Art: 21 screening, April 3-4, 6 p.m., Bondurant Auditorium in Preston Hall. Radford University Art Department hosts two advance screenings of the sixth season of the Peabody Award-winning documentary "Art in the Twenty-First Century."
   
• RU Community Chamber Orchestra concert, April 3, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Conductor Timothy L. Channell and the Radford University Community Chamber Orchestra present the final performance of the season, "Entertainment Music from 1800-1920." The concert will blend visual media with live orchestral works before the backdrop of a continually running silent film.
   
• Senior recital, Donna Thompson, soprano, April 4, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Collaborating with faculty member Erica Sipes on piano, Thompson performs works by Schubert, Strauss, Purcell, Mozart, Handel, Rorem and Puccini.
   
• Senior recital, Cristen Bralley, mezzo-soprano, April 6, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Bralley presents a religious-themed performance featuring works by Vivaldi, Bach, Gounod, Handel, Burleigh and Mendelssohn, accompanied by faculty member Erica Sipes on piano.
   
• Senior recital, Kareem McCullough, guitar, April 9, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. This program spans 300 years of music from Europe and South America, including solo works for guitar by Giuliani, Bach, Merlin and Tansman.
   
• Guest piano recital, Petronel Malan, April 10, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. A multiple Grammy nominee and gold medalist of several international piano competitions, Malan has been praised by reviewers for her talent as a creative force in classical music.
   
• Hansel and Gretel, 8 p.m. April 11 and 11 a.m. April 12, Bondurant Auditorium in Preston Hall. The RU Department of Music joins forces with the Department of Dance to present composer Engelbert Humperdinck's fairy-tale opera. The RU Opera Ensemble updates the timeless standard, adding a touch of whimsy.
   
• 2012 music therapy symposium, April 12-13, all day, Porterfield 149. This year's symposium features John Carpente, RU assistant professor of music and executive director of the Rebecca Center for Music Therapy at Molloy College. He lectures and provides hands-on opportunities for understanding the role of music therapy for clients with special needs. This year's symposium is sponsored by the RU Music Therapy Club, RU Club Programming Committee, CVPA and the Department of Music. Information: Jim Borling, director of music therapy, at jborling@radford.edu or the Department of Music, (540) 831-5177.
   
• Percussion In Motion, April 12, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center.  The Radford University Percussion Ensemble collaborates with the RU Dance and Art departments for an evening of performance art.
   
• 3rd Annual MEISA Showcase, April 14, 8 p.m. to midnight, Peters Hall gymnasium. The Music Entertainment Industry Student Association (MEISA) is an organization for students studying and working in the field of music business. The showcase features DJ Williams Projekt, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, The Golden Butter Band and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. Sponsors are MEISA, Radford After Dark and the RU Club Programming Committee.
   
• Annual NRV Jazz Festival, April 13-14, all day, including the RU Concert Jazz Ensemble and Jazztet in concert, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. The RU Concert Jazz Ensemble and Jazztet, directed by Christopher White, performs with Los Angeles percussionist, composer, clinician and educator Undugu Chancler, who recorded with Frank Sinatra, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, John Lee Hooker, Kenny Rogers and Michael Jackson, and co-wrote songs for Santana, George Duke and the Dazz Band.
   
• Senior performance project, Adam Taylor, April 13-14, 7 p.m., Pridemore Playhouse. Lighting design student Adam Taylor explores the convergence of sound, movement and light in a multisensory spectacle.
   
• Unquiet, honors capstone project, Bussy Gower, April 15, 5 p.m., Pridemore Playhouse. Honoring the leading women of Vaudeville, the senior acting student portrays young Ellie Stephens, who must overcome her timid disposition to break into the Vaudeville of the early 20th century. Gower tells Stephens' story in song and dance.
   
• RU Choral Concert Spring Oratorio, April 16, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Conducted by Director of Choral Activities David Castonguay, the RU Choral Union presents a concert featuring the combined university choirs, student soloists and a festival orchestra. The RU Madrigal Singers perform several selections ahead of their upcoming concert tour of Russia, sponsored by the Russian Ministry of Culture, the U.S. State Department and the Radford University Arts Society.
   
• Student choreography showcase, April 16-17, 7:30 p.m., Albig Studio Theatre, Peters Hall B112. Student choreographers present their works in an intimate space so guests can see dance performances and offer feedback to the artists.
   
• RU Jazz Band II and Combo concert, April 17, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Under the direction of Christopher White, the Jazz Band II and Lab Combo perform works from both new and standard repertoire in the jazz idiom. The program includes big band works from the Maynard Ferguson, Duke Ellington and Count Basie libraries; contemporary works by Matt Harris and Tom Davis; original works; and pieces from the Great American Songbook.
   
• Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band concert, April 18, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Under the direction of Wayne Gallops and graduate conducting assistant Lindsay Bill, the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band perform varied works, including the world premiere of Michael Burritt’s "Thunderstruck" with the composer as guest soloist and Leonard Bernstein’s "Symphonic Dances from West Side Story."
   
• 11th Annual International Guitar Festival, April 20-22, Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Radford After Dark and the RU International Guitar Festival present "Music and Poetry of the Americas." The seven internationally known guitarists on the program include Naumburg Prize winner Jorge Caballero in a complete performance of "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky. The concert includes a multimedia presentation, seven concerts, a youth and community guitar orchestra and open classes.
   
  
• Spring B.F.A. show, April 20-May 5, RU Art Museum at the Covington Center  and RUAM Downtown Gallery. Graduating students in RU's Bachelor of Fine Arts program exhibit their best works, with each location hosting a free opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on April 20.
   
• RU Guitar Ensemble concert April 24, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Plugging into the theme "Rockin' with Guitar," the concert pays tribute to how the instrument has shaped several genres of music, including how pioneer American rock-jazz guitarists Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa influenced American classical composers and the strong influence of guitar in European music. The concert features small mixed groups of guitarists in combination with singers, percussionists, strings and winds.
   
• Student graphic design show, April 24-May 5, Gallery 205 in Porterfield Hall. A selection of images that illustrate the depth and breadth of the RU graphic design program. Gallery 205 is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Information: (540) 831-5754.
   
• RU Chamber Winds concert, April 25, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. The group presents various works composed for mixed wind ensembles.
   
• "Making a Scene," projects of the advanced directing class, April 25-28, 7 p.m., Hawes Studio Theatre. Advanced directing students present four evenings of one-act plays. Featuring three plays each night, the program includes both zany and thought-provoking works. Tickets are available the week of the series at the Porterfield Hall box office. Admission is free, but seating is limited.
   
• 2012 Gala Concert, 2011 IBLA International Grand Prize Winners, April 26, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. The IBLA Grand Prize International Music Competition has been one of the world’s cultural treasures for more than 20 years. This event on the Radford campus features pianists Anna Tsybuleva of Russia and Chimed-Ochir Yesunkhand of Mongolia; cellist Ana Topalovic of Serbia; soprano vocalist Paloma Chiner of Spain; violinists Boris Borgolotta of France, Laia Monserrat of Spain, Magdalena Langman of Poland and Mana Shiraishi of Japan with accompanist Martin Karlicek of the Czech Republic and violist Dana Zemtsov of the Netherlands.
   
• Graduate recital, Nathan Forrest, trumpet, April 28, 6 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Forrest performs works for solo trumpet and piano by composers from Bach to Hindemith with piano accompaniment by RU faculty member Erica Sipes. He is joined in the second half of his performance by the Red and Black Brass Quintet.
   
• Graduate recital, Korey Hines, trumpet, April 28, 8 p.m., Performance Hall in the Covington Center. Hines performs works for solo trumpet and piano from Haydn to Bozza with piano accompaniment by RU faculty member Erica Sipes. He is joined in the second half of his performance by the RU Jazz Combo.