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Eye on UMSL: Making connections
Eye on UMSL: Making connections

Dean Shu Schiller speaks with attorney Eric Kendall Banks, a 1990 UMSL Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, during a reception last Wednesday night at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Eye on UMSL: Making connections

Dean Shu Schiller speaks with attorney Eric Kendall Banks, a 1990 UMSL Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, during a reception last Wednesday night at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Eye on UMSL: Making connections

Dean Shu Schiller speaks with attorney Eric Kendall Banks, a 1990 UMSL Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, during a reception last Wednesday night at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

MORE IN Touhill Center
Festive holiday concert to feature UMSL’s choral ensembles

Festive holiday concert to feature UMSL’s choral ensembles

Are the mild temperatures and lack of snow making it hard to get into the holiday spirit? The University of Missouri–St. Louis’s annual holiday concert could be just the cure. The Classic Holiday Concert is one of the most popular of the holiday season. The performance will be held at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 in the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL.

Ambassadors of Harmony to sing sounds of season at Touhill

Ambassadors of Harmony to sing sounds of season at Touhill

The Ambassadors of Harmony fills the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center each December with the joy and magic of the holidays in a way only achieved by a 160-voice chorus. The choral group will perform it’s annual “Sounds of the Season” concert at 8 p.m. Dec. 7, 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 8 and 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Touhill at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Soprano to perform concert of timeless works

Soprano to perform concert of timeless works

Soprano Stella Markou, director of vocal studies at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, will perform the timeless works of classical composers such as Mozart, Purcell and Debussy at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 in the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Black 47 to bring eclectic sound to Touhill

Black 47 to bring eclectic sound to Touhill

The New York City-based Irish rock band Black 47 will bring its eclectic mix of reggae, hip-hop, jazz, blues, folk and traditional Irish music to the University of Missouri–­St. Louis as part of the Celtic Festival.

Arianna String Quartet, member to perform in November

Arianna String Quartet, member to perform in November

Julia Sakharova, the newest member of the Arianna String Quartet, will give a special solo performance with ticket sales benefiting scholarship students in the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Jazz Orchestra to pay tribute to Ellington, Basie

Jazz Orchestra to pay tribute to Ellington, Basie

When speaking of jazz visionaries and musical trailblazers, Duke Ellington and Count Basie are typically mentioned in the same sentence. And while their music falls clearly into the same category, their styles were drastically different.

Halloween Jazz Combos concert at Touhill

Halloween Jazz Combos concert at Touhill

Looking for an alternative to handing candy out to ghouls and goblins this Halloween night? Join the University of Missouri–St. Louis Jazz Combos at 7:30 p.m. Oct 31 in the E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Theater at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL. The night of unforgettable jazz will take the audience from Miles Davis and John Coltrane to Weather Report.

Variety Children’s Theatre to perform ‘Annie’ at Touhill

Variety Children’s Theatre to perform ‘Annie’ at Touhill

St. Louis-area fans of “Annie” do not have to fly to New York City and fight the clogged Manhattan streets to see the beloved musical. Variety Children’s Theatre has combined resources from the entire St. Louis performing arts community, including professional actors and children of all abilities, for its production of “Annie” at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Students to stage Pulitzer winner’s ‘In the Blood’

Students to stage Pulitzer winner’s ‘In the Blood’

A new production at the University of Missouri–St. Louis will take a raw, unfiltered look into the world of poverty in the United States. “In the Blood,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, follows the story of Hester as she struggles to provide for her five fatherless children. Students with UMSL’s Department of Theatre, Dance and Media Studies will perform the play. Jacqueline Thompson, visiting assistant professor of theater at UMSL, will direct the production, which is described as a modern-day reinterpretation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter.”

Civil War symphony to be staged at Missouri History Museum, Touhill

Civil War symphony to be staged at Missouri History Museum, Touhill

Missouri was the site of more than 1,000 battles during the Civil War, trailing only Virginia and Tennessee. That staggering fact often surprises many people not familiar with the state’s pivotal role in the conflict. The 150th anniversary of Missouri’s involvement in the Civil War was the inspiration for a new composition by Barbara Harbach, professor of music at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

St. Louis Philharmonic to open season at UMSL

St. Louis Philharmonic to open season at UMSL

The St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra will open its 2012-13 at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. The orchestra will accompany Greek tenor and Sony Classical recording artist Mario Frangoulis, who will make his first St. Louis appearance by arrangement with the Horatio Alger Association. Special guests will include soprano Deborah Myers and tenor George Perris.

‘In the Mood’ for some nostalgia?

‘In the Mood’ for some nostalgia?

In the 1940s, America’s greatest generation sacrificed at home and abroad to win victory in World War II while the nation recovered from the threadbare years of the Great Depression. All the while, the nation’s soundtrack was an upbeat, hopeful mix of swing tempos and romantic ballads that promised better days ahead.

Grammy-winning eighth blackbird to perform Touhill show

Grammy-winning eighth blackbird to perform Touhill show

Chicago-based sextet eighth blackbird will migrate south for a performance of classical fusion that incorporates art, philosophy and theater at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. The ensemble’s concert, “shifted in flight,” will begin at 8 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Wind Ensemble to start season with Touhill performance

Wind Ensemble to start season with Touhill performance

The University Wind Ensemble will perform its first concert of the season at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10 in the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Area youth to ‘Get Hip’ at Touhill

Area youth to ‘Get Hip’ at Touhill

Presented by PNC Arts Alive and Jazz St. Louis, “Get Hip!” will introduce kids of all ages to the great American art form known as jazz while also teaching core values like responsibility and leadership.

Pianist to bring tango sound to Touhill stage

Pianist to bring tango sound to Touhill stage

Pianist Polly Ferman has performed Latin American music on some of the most prestigious stages in the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall. At 8 p.m. Oct. 6 she will bring her international repertoire to the E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Theater at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Doors will open at 7:10 p.m. for a pre-show discussion. Tickets are $10-$20.

Improv company channels bard through comedy

Improv company channels bard through comedy

No two productions by The Improvised Shakespeare Company are exactly alike. For example, they performed their on-the-spot original production of “The Cupboard of Lost Dreams; or, the Taming of Lady Macbeth” on a spring swing through Des Moines, Iowa. The audience suggested the faux production that night. And the company cobbled together on the fly its hilarious improvisational take on fake Shakespeare.

Bryan Adams to perform ‘Bare Bones’ set at Touhill

Bryan Adams to perform ‘Bare Bones’ set at Touhill

Canadian rocker Bryan Adams has sold more than 65 million records, toured six continents and achieved No. 1 status in more than 40 countries over the course of his 35-year career. And with hits like “Cuts Like a Knife,” “Summer of ’69,” “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started” and “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” he’s considered one of the most successful songwriters of the last three decades.

Be Inspired: Faculty, staff giving campaign starts now

Be Inspired: Faculty, staff giving campaign starts now

Scattered around the campus at the University of Missouri–St. Louis you’ll find more than 350 employees who give back a piece of their paycheck to the university. Why? Lots of reasons, but running through all of their stories is a passion for the work they do.

MADCO dancers get personal in ‘Outburst’

MADCO dancers get personal in ‘Outburst’

MADCO’s 36th season opener is being heralded as a “choreographic coming out” of the amazing artists behind the dance company in residence at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Arianna String Quartet, member to perform in November

New member joins Arianna String Quartet for 2012-13 concert season

Audiences taking in the Arianna String Quartet this fall will notice a new face among the group. There’s a new member. Internationally acclaimed performer Julia Sakharova has joined the quartet as a second violinist, replacing violinist David Gillham.

Hip-hop violinist goes from LA streets to Touhill stage

Hip-hop violinist goes from LA streets to Touhill stage

Josh Vietti is not your typical classically trained violinist. That has less to do with his preferred laidback stage attire (usually including a baseball cap and T-shirt) than his sound. The hip-hop violinist is making a name for himself as a genre-defying artist less likely to play Tchaikovsky than Kanye or “Kashmir.”

Top dancers to tap at Touhill

Top dancers to tap at Touhill

As dance styles go, tap won’t be confused for contemporary. But it certainly isn’t dead yet. Need proof? Exhibit A: The St. Louis Tap Festival, now in its 21st year.

Tedeschi Trucks Band to play bluesy Touhill show

Tedeschi Trucks Band to play bluesy Touhill show

While Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have been spouses for more than a decade, their musical marriage is just two years old. But they’ve packed in plenty of accolades in that time as leaders of the 11-piece Tedeschi Trucks Band including a Grammy Award for Best Blues Album for TTB’s debut “Revelator.”

Big Muddy Dance Company to jazz up Touhill stage

Big Muddy Dance Company to jazz up Touhill stage

The art form of jazz has roots that run deep in many American cities, including St. Louis. The Big Muddy Dance Company taps into the city’s jazz heritage for its performances. The downtown St. Louis-based company will next present its eclectic repertoire of new and classic dance works at the University of Missouri–St. Louis

Celebrated choral groups to converge at Touhill

Celebrated choral groups to converge at Touhill

Many of the world’s best a cappella voices will fill the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall during a pair of performance June 23 at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Touhill makes St. Louis ‘Hot List’

Touhill makes St. Louis ‘Hot List’

The University of Missouri–St. Louis has snagged a ranking in a St. Louis magazine that puts out an annual “Hot List” of the 100 things to love about St. Louis.

Dance festival to spring up again at Touhill

Dance festival to spring up again at Touhill

Dance lovers, name a place you can see the world-renowned shape-shifters Pilobolus for only $10. And what if that $10 also got you access to live performances by nine other renowned dance companies? That’s exactly what you get for the first night of the 5th Annual Emerson Spring to Dance Festival at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Spoken-word ballet to make debut at Touhill

Spoken-word ballet to make debut at Touhill

The world premiere of “A Life Unhappening” will meld choreography with the written word for a spoken-word ballet performance exploring the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on three generations of one woman’s family. The St. Louis Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association has teamed up with writer and producer Adam E. Stone for the performance, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. May 11 at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

National entertainer envisions change

National entertainer envisions change

Tom Sullivan has been blind since shortly after birth. But that hasn’t stopped him from gaining national recognition as an award-winning actor, singer, author, producer, humanitarian and inspirational speaker.

Arianna String Quartet mentors high school chamber groups

Arianna String Quartet mentors high school chamber groups

The Arianna String Quartet is taking a hands-on approach to fostering music education in the area. The Arianna, composed of four associate professors of music at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, is the university’s resident quartet.

Grammy winner headlines 2012 Jazz Festival

Grammy winner headlines 2012 Jazz Festival

As a sideman with more than 20 years experience, bassist Christian McBride is no stranger to winning Grammy Awards. But never has he basked in Grammy glory as a bandleader – at least not until the most recent awards were handed out.