Cuarteto Latinamericano Strings to Offer Passionate Mix for Valentine’s Concert

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The award-winning string ensemble Cuarteto Latinoamericano will offer a Valentine’s treat for music lovers as the 60th annual Washington College Concert Series continues Tuesday, February 14 at 8 p.m. in Decker Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts.

Formed in Mexico in 1982, the acclaimed Cuarteto consists of the three Bitrán brothers—violinists Saúl and Arón and cellist Alvaro—along with violist Javier Montiel. The group is known around the world as the leading proponent of Latin American music for string quartet. At Washington College, they will mix that music with beloved pieces from European and American composers Mozart, Barber and Gershwin.

The program will include “Four for Tango” by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla, and pieces from Brazilian composers Francisco Mignone (Barcarola, Minuetto, Tres Canciones Españolas) and Heitor Villa-Lobos (String Quartet No. 5) plus George Gershwin’s Lullaby, Samuel Barber’s Adagio from Quartet Opus 11, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in C minor K. 546.

Tickets at $15 for adults and $5 for students (Washington College students free with ID) will be available at the door. There is no reserved seating.

The Washington Post praised Cuarteto Latinamericano as “matchless in tonal magnitude, tuneful fluency and concentrated teamwork.” The group has toured extensively around the world and been featured with many orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, the Dallas Symphony and the Símón Bolívar Orchestra of Venezuela.

The four musicians also have collaborated with many other artists, including cellist Janos Starker, pianists Santiago Rodriguez, Cyprien Katsaris and Rudolph Buchbinder, tenor Ramon Vargas, and guitarists Narciso Yepes, Sharon Isbin, David Tanenbaum and Manuel Barrueco. They recorded two CDs with Barrueco and have commissioned guitar quintets from American composers Miguel del Aguila, Michael Daugherty and Gabriela Lena Frank. For more on the quartet: http://www.cuartetolatinoamericano.com/en/

To purchase tickets in advance or learn more about the Washington College Concert Series, please call 410-778-7839, email director Kate Bennett at kbennett2@washcoll.edu, or visit http://news.washcoll.edu/concertseries.php.

Prize Winning Violinist and Pianist Next Up As Free Noon Concerts Continue in Hotchkiss

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The Washington College Music Department continues its free lunchtime concert series, “12 at Hotchkiss,” on Friday, February 3 with the violin and piano duo of Lydia Chernicoff and
 Ronaldo Rolim. The program will include Sonata in G minor by Debussy, Six Romanian Dances by Bartók, and Sonata in E-flat Major by Strauss.

Lydia Chernicoff received her B.A. in violin performance at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where she was concertmaster of both the Concert and Symphony Orchestras. She is now pursuing a master’s degree at the Institute. Chernicoff began her violin studies at the age of 8 and has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors. She has played professionally with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and the New England Conservatory’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.

A native of Brazil, pianist Ronaldo Rolim has been praised for his interpretive power, brilliant virtuosity and rich sonorous palette. He began his musical studies at 4 and was later admitted as a full scholarship student at the Magda Tagliaferro School in São Paulo. After winning major national competitions in Brazil, he came to the United States and eventually studied with Benjamin Pasternack at the Peabody Institute, where he earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree and received the Pauline Favin Memorial Award in Piano. In 2011, he was accepted into the prestigious Artist Diploma program at the Peabody Institute.

Ronaldo is active as a solo and chamber musician in his native Brazil and abroad, having performed in such venues as London’s Steinway Hall and Théâtre de Vevey in Switzerland. He formed Trio Appassionata with Peabody colleagues Lydia Chernicoff and cellist Andrea Casarrubios in 2007. The Trio has performed at Carnegie Hall and recently concluded a residency with Chamber Music Sedona, in Arizona.

Launched last fall, the 12@Hotchkiss series features internationally acclaimed musicians from the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. It invites students, staff, faculty and the general public to experience live classical music at noon on the first Friday of each month. All concerts are held in Hotchkiss Recital Hall in the Gibson Center for the Arts, on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue.

For more information and a schedule of upcoming concerts, visit http://music.washcoll.edu/12hotchkiss.php or contact concert series director Grace Eun Hae Kim at 410-778-6457 or gkim2@washcoll.edu.

Acclaimed Biographer Ron Chernow Featured Guest of College Convocation February 24

CHESTERTOWN, MD—One of America’s most celebrated and influential historians, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow, will be the honored guest at the 2012 George Washington’s Birthday Convocation at Washington College on Friday, February 24. Chernow will receive an honorary doctorate and deliver remarks based on his most recent book, Washington: A Life, a biography of the nation’s first president (and Washington College’s founding patron) that earned Chernow the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in Biography.

The special Convocation will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Decker Theatre, inside the Gibson Center for the Arts on the Washington College campus, 300 Washington Avenue. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception in the Underwood Lobby of the Gibson Center.

Ron Chernow has won countless awards for bringing important figures from American history to vivid life on the nonfiction page. His first book, The House of Morgan, won a National Book Award in 1990, and the Modern Library Board selected it as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century.

Each of his subsequent books has met with similarly lavish praise and accolades, starting with The Warburgs, a portrait of an influential German-Jewish banking family published in 1993, and followed by The Death of the Banker, a 1997 collection of essays; Titan, his best-selling 1998 biography of John D. Rockefeller; and the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton, winner of the first George Washington Book Prize, which is presented by Washington College, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and Mount Vernon to the year’s best nonfiction book written about the Founding Era.

In October 2010, The Penguin Press published Mr. Chernow’s long-awaited biography of George Washington. The 904-page tome racked up an impressive list of awards and honors that culminated with the Pulitzer. Writing in The New York Review of Books, Gordon Wood praised the work as “the best, most comprehensive, and most balanced single-volume biography of Washington ever written.” In March 2011, the New-York Historical Society gave the book the coveted American History Book Prize, endowing Mr. Chernow with the honorary title of American Historian Laureate.

A frequent contributor to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Chernow is a familiar figure on national radio and television shows and has appeared in numerous documentaries. He recently served as president of PEN American Center, the country’s preeminent organization of authors. An honors graduate of Yale and Cambridge, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.

The Birthday Convocation is also the time when the College recognizes the special contributions of an alumnus, a community member and outstanding employees. This year, public relations executive Kevin O’Keefe ’74, president of the Baltimore office of Weber Shandwick, will receive the Alumni Service Award in recognition of the time and expertise he has shared with his alma mater through the years. Educator Molly Judge, head of Chestertown’s Radcliffe Creek School, which serves children with learning differences and has collaborated with the College on special projects related to teacher training, will receive the President’s Medal.

In addition, President Mitchell Reiss will present Distinguished Service Awards to four College employees—Director of Creative Services Diane Landskroener ’76 M’81, Director of Communications Marcia Landskroener M’02, Health Services nurse Carol Thornton, and Business Management professor Terry Scout—to recognize their long and exemplary service to the College.

On Saturday evening, February 25, the College will host its annual George Washington’s Birthday Ball, a formal affair that further celebrates the life of the Father of the Country. In 1781, General Washington gave his name and 50 guineas to the founding of the College at Chester, now Washington College. He also served on the first Board of Visitors and Governors and, in 1789, three months after becoming President of the United States of America, accepted an honorary degree from the College.

For more information on Convocation and Birthday Ball, please visit http://www.washcoll.edu/birthdayball/.

Photo credit: Nina Subin

College Hosts Orioles Legend Rick Dempsey In Conversation with former Governor Hughes

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Rick Dempsey, the Most Valuable Player of the 1983 World Series and a former star catcher for the Baltimore Orioles, will speak at Washington College on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at an event moderated by former Maryland Governor and Easton Yankees pitcher Harry Hughes. "A Conversation with Rick Dempsey" will begin at 1 p.m. inside Decker Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts, on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue.

Presented by the Washington College baseball team, the talk will be followed by light refreshments and the silent auction of a selection of autographed items. Admission is free and open to the public, though donations to the Washington College baseball team will be accepted.

Dempsey played 24 seasons of Major League Baseball with six teams, including 11 and one-half with the Orioles. He is tied for eighth in MLB history in seasons played and is one of only three catchers to play in four different decades. He played on three World Series teams and won two championships, including 1983 when he was named the World Series MVP in the Orioles' five-game series win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Now in his fourth year as a member of the Orioles' broadcast team, Dempsey has been teaming with Jim Hunter for 4 years hosting the "O's Xtra" pre- and post-game shows on MASN. Dempsey also serves as an analyst on a selection of game broadcasts. Prior to joining the team's broadcast operations, Dempsey spent five years on the Orioles' coaching staff.

Before his career in politics, Governor Hughes played minor league baseball in the Eastern Shore Baseball League, starring as a pitcher for the Easton Yankees. The Easton native began his political career representing Caroline County in the Maryland House of Delegates. He later served as a member of the Maryland Senate representing Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, and Talbot Counties and as Secretary of Transportation for the state before being elected governor, an office he held from 1979 to 1987.

A staunch advocate for the Chesapeake Bay, Hughes signed the Chesapeake Bay Agreement into law during his governorship. After leaving office, he served as a member of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting public awareness, restoration, and protection of the resources of the Chesapeake Bay.

Dempsey is the latest in a series of high-profile former Major Leaguers who have given talks at the College in the last decade. The Washington College baseball team has also presented talks by Hall of Famers Tom Seaver and Brooks Robinson and former Oriole center fielder Paul Blair.

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Kohl Gallery to Display Rare Egyptian Funerary Objects through Dec. 2

CHESTERTOWN—The Kohl Gallery at Washington College has extended the run of its special exhibition, “For Now and Forever: Funerary Artifacts from Ancient Egypt,” through December 2, 2011. The 33 items in the show date from the 3rd century CE to the 3rd millennium BCE and include funerary and votive objects in bronze, wood, stone and faience. Except for one object loaned by the Johns Hopkins University Archaeological Museum, all the objects come from a private collection in Baltimore whose owners wish to remain anonymous.

“This is such a unique opportunity for the campus and the region to have access to these beautiful, ancient objects, many of them never before shown in public,” says acting gallery director Patrice DiQuinzio, Associate Provost for Academic Services. “We are so grateful to their owners for allowing us to display them longer.”

“These artifacts reveal how the ancient Egyptians prepared for their journey to the afterlife,” says exhibition curator Fatma Ismail, a lecturer in the Department of Art and Art History. “And they illustrate how a fundamental human concern, the nature of life and death, connects us all.”

To view a video tour of the exhibit with comments from Ismail and exhibition designer Alex Castro, click here or visit http://kohlgallery.washcoll.edu/.

The Kohl Gallery is located in the Gibson Center for the Arts on the Washington College campus, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown. Gallery hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays 1 to 5 p.m., Fridays noon to 6 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays noon to 5 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday.

Duo Orfeo Brings Innovative Guitar Music to Washington College Friday, November 11

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Innovative guitar pair Duo Orfeo will perform Friday, November 11 at 8 p.m. in Hotchkiss Recital Hall, Gibson Center for the Arts, as part of the 60th season of the Washington College Concert Series. Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for youth 18 and under, or $50 for a season ticket that includes all four remaining concerts, and can be purchased at the door. Washington College students are admitted free with a valid ID.

Joseph Ricker and Jamie Balmer met in 2001 as students of guitarist Phillip de Fremery, a pupil of Andrés Segovia, and formed Duo Orfeo six years later. They use both classical and electric guitars to explore a diverse body of music, from traditional western compositions to their own bold arrangements. The pair has recorded two albums, The Grace Sessions, a 2005 recording that includes music of Bach, Brahms, Boccherini and Albéniz; and Duo Orfeo, featuring music of Federico Mompou, Eric Satie, Frédéric Chopin, Radamés Gnattali, and Francesco Da Milano.

In April of this year, Duo Orfeo participated in the critically acclaimed “Machines” project, a live performance art collaboration with pianist Oni Buchanan, trombone quartet The Guidonian Hand, and kinetic sculptor Arthur Ganson. “Machines” featured the world premiere of Duo Orfeo’s arrangements of the music of Arvo Pärt for electric guitar duo. For more: http://www.duoorfeo.com/.

To purchase tickets in advance or for more information, please call 410-778-7839 or email concert series director Kate Bennett at kbennett2@washcoll.edu. Details on the remaining concerts in the series can be found at http://news.washcoll.edu/concertseries.php.

Washington College Hosts IBM Executives for Talks to Mark 100th Anniversary of “Big Blue”

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Washington College welcomes three IBM executives to campus Wednesday, Nov. 2 to mark the 100th anniversary of a company that has transformed the business world and remained vital through a century’s worth of technological and social challenges. This event, entitled “IBM at 100: An American Icon's Global Impact on Business and Corporate Citizenship” will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Decker Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts.

The moderator will be Norris Commodore ’73, a graduate of Washington College and member of its Board of Visitors and Governors who is Director for Worldwide Contracts and Negotiations at IBM. He will introduce two IBM colleagues as speakers: Catherine Lasser, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Global Distribution Sector of IBM Sales and Distribution; and Sally Scott Marietta, Program Manager for Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs. Lasser and Marietta will paint a picture of IBM that includes both technology and corporate social responsibility.

IBM, often called “Big Blue,” ranks 18th on the 2011 Fortune 500 list and is first on Fortune’s list of Information Technology Services firms. As a recent article in USA Today points out, “IBM has consistently bet on the introduction of new technology, from time clocks, butcher scales and coffee grinders; to punch-card machines and typewriters; to tape storage, mainframes and personal computers; to acquiring the consulting arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers; and, now, to smart social media.”

Catherine C. Lasser joined IBM in 1978 and has held both technical and leadership positions during her career. In her current role, she links the company’s technical expertise with consumer needs to get real-world solutions into the market quickly. She holds a BA in mathematics and computer science from SUNY Binghamton and an MBA in Finance from Iona College.

Sally Scott Marietta directs IBM’s community engagement and corporate citizenship in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Prior to joining IBM, she was Executive Director of the Maryland Economic Development Commission and, before that, vice president of The Greater Washington Board of Trade. She serves on the boards of several major grant-making groups and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education. She also is active in the Roundtable’s Tapping America’s Potential Coalition and its Business Coalition for Student Achievement.

The evening with IBM is sponsored by the Business Management Department, the Mathematics and Computer Science Department, the Global Perspectives: Research and Writing Program, the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, the Sigma Beta Delta Business Honor Society, and Washington College Students in Free Enterprise (WC SIFE). It is free and open to the public.

"Sex, Lies, and the Founders," Final Beeman Talk Traces Media's Evolving Coverage of POTUS

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Acclaimed historian Richard Beeman delivers the final lecture in his “Inventing a Nation” series on Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 pm in Decker Theatre of the Gibson Center for the Arts at Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue. In a talk titled “Sex, Lies, and the Founders: The American Presidency, Democracy, and the Media, ” Beeman will discuss how the democratization of American presidential politics and the development of an aggressive news media has eroded the barrier between a president’s public life and his private affairs.

The talk is sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center at Washington College, where Beeman is a Senior Fellow, and is free and open to the public. For more: http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu/