 |
|
| ‘Basement’
combines funk and jazz tonight |
Kevin
Delury
Entertainment Beat Writer |
Special to The Appalachian
|
With a tremendous
number of tickets already sold, Denise R. Ringler, director of Marketing
and Public Relations for the Office of Cultural Affairs at Appalachian
State University, is pleasantly surprised at the projected outcome
of Keb’ Mo’s performance on Friday in Farthing Auditorium.
Furthermore, she is even more excited about the prospects of next
year’s performances. “We’re always looking at the
next year,” said Ringler. “While [the 2002-2003] program
is going on … we’re just starting to convene the committee
sometime later in October to think about [the 2003-2004 program].”
Deciding which acts to invite for the year rests in the hands of
the Cultural Affairs Advisory Committee.
Comprised of representatives from the faculty
who express interest, the committee works with Student Government
Association to identify which performing acts students would enjoy
seeing in the coming year. |
This committee is responsible
for bringing blues legend Keb’ Mo’ to Boone. The concert
is the first of 10 in the Performing Arts Series, a collection of
different artistic performances, ranging from musicians to theater
and beyond.
Students can also look forward to seeing The London City Opera’s
performance of “Madame Butterfly,” The Eroica Trio, Rennie
Harris Puremovement, and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra featuring
Wynton Marsalis.
“What we ask each of the members of this committee to do is
to talk with their college,” said Ringler. “We ask the
students to go out and talk to groups of students, to get ideas,
to keep their ears to the ground. We ask the faculty to do the same,
and then the idea is that we have all these different ideas. Then
our staff starts researching them.”
Since signing on with the Office of Cultural Affairs in 1994, Ringler
has noticed a steady increase in student involvement with the arts.
In part, she believes the added interest is due to the support ASU
provides for the Performing Arts Series.
“We’ve just been really lucky … because we have a
chancellor who really supports the arts and believes in the arts,”
said Ringler. “We’ve actually got a higher participation
among students in the series than any of the other UNC campuses.
“I think participation for any given show is about one-half
to as many as two-thirds of the people in the audience are students.
That’s exactly what we want to do.”
Ringler seems to have succeeded this academic year, bringing in
a diverse array of programs that would normally not be available
to college students, given their limited budgets.
“What we really hope to do is to offer students at a really
low, affordable, ticket price, artists that they may not have the
ability to see again for many years, and to open new doors.
“Going to a performance is a wonderful thing. It’s a unique
thing. There’s a lot of chemistry when you go to see a live
performance that you can’t get from even the best performances
on television,” she said.
Keb’ Mo’ will kick off the 2002-03 Performing Arts Series
on Friday at 8 p.m. Admission for students is $8. Tickets can be
purchased either at the Farthing Auditorium Box Office, or at 262-4046. |
|
 |
 |
