Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State's 2005-06 performing arts season launches Sept. 22 with an appearance by guitar virtuoso Jesse Cook, followed by a diverse lineup that features the Delta blues, a theatrical classic, melodic percussion, and chamber music.
Providing public entertainment programs throughout the academic year, the university's long-running Lyceum Series is available to patrons in a season ticket package, as well as through individual event tickets. MSU students are admitted free with campus identification.
All Lyceum performances begin at 7:30 p.m.
During his performance in the Colvard Union ballroom, guitarist Cook will display his repertoire of rumba, flamenco and Moorish rhythms. Both music critics and fans have praised his "jaw-dropping technique and passionate riffs."
The Lyceum series continues Nov. 15 in the Colvard Union ballroom with blues singer Ruby Wilson and her Beale Street Big Band. The Memphis, Tenn.-based performer appears regularly at the B.B. King Blues Café and has been featured with King, Ray Charles and Robert Goulet, among others. In addition to the White House, she has displayed the range of her soulful voice before audiences throughout Europe and Asia.
A Feb. 7 appearance by the National Players will feature the age-old dramatic tale "Dracula." Based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name, the NP performance in the McComas Hall theater highlights a tale of power and twisted passion that has become a classic of the genre.
The Ahn Trio, a Korean sister chamber ensemble, will appear Feb. 28, also in McComas Hall theater. The widely acclaimed group includes Maria on cello, Lucia on piano and Angella on violin. Playing both standard classic piano pieces and modern works, the women have been hailed by the Washington Post for their "impressive techniques" and balance of "unanimity and individuality in a spirit that is at the heart of chamber music."
The 2005-06 series concludes March 29, with Phonk! by Scrap Arts Music. Performing in the Colvard ballroom, Scrap Arts Music has been described as a cross between Blue Man Group and Stomp. The four men and a woman take larger-than-life instruments developed from scrap metal and other pieces and craft unusual and unique music. The troupe--including Gregory Kozak, Richard Burrows, Christa Mercey, Malcolm Shoolbraid, and Simon Thomsen--has been nominated for the "Best Live Performance" by the West Coast Music Awards.
As a complement to the annual Lyceum Series, the MSU Lyceum Faculty Chamber Series includes six performances by MSU artists. They include:
--Sheri Falcone, clarinet and saxophone, Sept. 29, McComas Hall theater at 7:30 p.m.;
--Robert Damm, percussion, Oct. 30, Bettersworth Auditorium of Giles Hall at 3 p.m.;
--Roseangela Sebba, piano, Nov. 21, McComas Hall theater, 7:30 p.m.;
--Lana Johns and Jackie Edwards-Henry, flute and piano, Feb. 9, McComas Hall theater, 7:30 p.m.,
--Michael Huff, trumpet concertos and sonatas, March 6, Bettersworth Auditorium of Giles Hall, 7:30 p.m.; and
--Richard Human, trombone, April 6, Bettersworth Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
General admission season tickets, including the faculty chamber series, are $50. Purchases may be made at the door or by sending a check and stamped, self-addressed envelope to Lyceum Series Season Tickets, P.O. Box HY, Mississippi State, MS 39762.
For MSU faculty/staff and general-public senior citizens, a $40 special discount season ticket is available from the Humphrey Coliseum manager's office. Individual tickets in this group are available only at the door.
Also, while all seats are general admission, priority may be given to season-ticket holders.
For more information on the 2005-06 Lyceum Series, telephone (662) 325-4201 or visit www.msstate.edu/dept/lyceum.