The 28th annual Festival of New Music will take place at Dartmouth beginning this Saturday. The festival's inspiration came when students expressed a desire to be exposed to different types of music not necessarily found in the classroom, and will bring students, professors and composers together to celebrate experimental music.
"The festival began in part as a reaction to student requests to include more courses devoted to music composition and performance as opposed to music appreciation and analysis," festival co-director Ryan Berger '04 said.
This year the festival's theme is "Orchestras of Sameness." The theme was inspired by the Princeton Laptop Orchestra, PLOrk, which is a group of 15 Princeton University students who sit on pillows and perform using laptop computers surrounded by hemispherical speakers and control devices. They use their computer-based instruments to produce electro-acoustic music. PLOrk will travel to Dartmouth to perform at 7 p.m. on May 6 in Brace Commons.
In keeping with the theme, the festival organizers tried to invite other performers who would also combine similar instruments to create unique music.
"In the festival you will hear this idea of sameness through string quartets, violin duets and even in ensembles that bring together instruments from the farthest ends of the orchestra," coordinator Katey Blumenthal '06 said.
A heath advisory for pinkeye and whooping cough was issued yesterday by Dr. John Turco, director of the College Health Service. The outbreak of pinkeye has been identified as originating on the Dartmouth campus while the whooping cough outbreak has been seen primarily at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Symptoms of pinkeye include irritated, watery eyes, pussy discharge and light sensitivity. It is highly contagious and Turco recommended that students wash their hands frequently, refrain from sharing cups and water bottles and cough into their arms, not their hands. Even though whooping cough has not yet spread widely on this campus, Turco encouraged any students experiencing the symptoms of dry cough, fever, nasal congestion, fatigue and loss of appetite to make an appointment at Dick's House.
The Dartmouth Asian Organization is sponsoring a Korean Culture night in Collis Common Ground on Saturday May 6. The night will include two performances of "Out of place: A tale of a classic Prince and a Modern Girl." Tickets for the 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. performances will be on sale in the Thayer Dining Hall lobby Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 8-10 p.m. and on the day of the performance. The event is sponsored by several groups including the Korean Students Association and the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding.
