Author: Bruno Perosino

A Night of Art and Music at The Benton Museum

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Bruno Perosino

Friday, April 1.
7:00PM Exclusive for museum members: a pre-concert dessert reception
7:30PM FREE Public performance
A cash-bar will be available at intermission.

RSVP is required as seats are very limited.
Email karen.sommer@uconn.edu or call 860-486-5084 to RSVP or to become a museum member to attend the pre-concert cocktail and dessert reception.

This event is free but donations are encouraged and benefit WBMA Exhibitions and Education Programs

A special concert with the University of Connecticut Chamber Orchestra and conductor Harvey Felder, featuring guest soloists Solomiya Ivakhiv (violin), Melvin Chen (piano), and Rebecca Patterson (cello). This is an exclusive preview of the concert to be performed on Saturday, April 2 in New York City. An exhibition of paintings by Katia Setzer, Movement of Very Still Things, will be on view at the performance. Details below.

The concert will feature selections from Johann Stamitz, Mannheim Symphony No. 1 in G Major;
Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto for Cello & Violin in B-flat Major; Ivan Karabyts, Six Preludes for String Orchestra; Antonin Dvorak, Serenade, op. 22, in E Major; and Felix Mendelssohn, Concerto for Violin & Piano in D Minor.

Harvey Felder is known for his deeply moving performances of the great “Classical” repertoire as well as his entertaining performances on “Pops” stages across this country. He has been characterized as having an affable and magnetic podium demeanor which helps audiences feel immediately welcomed, comfortable, and connected to his performances. Mr. Felder is Conductor Laureate of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, a position he accepted after having served as its music director for twenty years. He is also Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Connecticut. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Delaware, Grant Park, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Kansas City, National, New Jersey, North Carolina, Saint Louis, San Antonio, Spokane Symphonies, Dayton, Rochester, Orange County Philharmonics, as well as the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, Chicago Sinfonietta, Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Costa Rica, the New Japan Philharmonic, Mikkeli City Orchestra of Finland, and the Osaka Telemann Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Felder has studied conducting with Max Rudolf, Gustav Meier, Gunther Schuller, Elizabeth Green, Zdenek Macal, David Zinman, Gennady Rozdestvensky, Kurt Mazur, and Seiji Ozawa. He attended the Festival at Sandpoint, the Conductor’s Guild Summer Institute, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Felder holds degrees in music from The University of Wisconsin-Madison and The University of Michigan. He is currently Associate Professor and Director of Orchestral Studies at UConn.

Solomiya Ivakhiv has quickly earned a reputation for performing with “distinctive charm and subtle profundity” (Daily Freeman, New York) and a “crystal clear and noble sound” (Culture and Life, Ukraine). She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, CBC Glenn Gould Studio, and the Tchaikovsky Hall in Kyiv, in addition to making solo appearances with the Charleston Symphony, Henderson Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Hunan Symphony Orchestra in China. She has premiered numerous new works for violin by such composers as Eli Marshall, David Ludwig, John B. Hedges, Bohdan Kryvopust, Yevhen Stankovych, and Oleksandr Shchetynsky.

Ms. Ivakhiv has been featured at many prestigious chamber music festivals, including Tanglewood, Embassy Series, Ottawa Chamberfest, Newport Music Festival, and Prussia Cove. She has been the Artistic Director of the “Music at the Institute” (MATI) Concert Series in New York City for five years, where she also regularly appears as a performer. A dedicated educator, Ms. Ivakhiv has conducted master classes and chamber music coachings at Yale University, Columbia University, Boston Conservatory, Curtis SummerFest, Guangzhou and Hunan Conservatories in China, and regularly collaborates with high schools in outreach programs throughout the United States.

Her latest album Ukraine-Journey To Freedom with pianist Angelina Gadeliya, supported by the University of Connecticut’s School of Fine Arts Dean’s Grant and the Office of the Vice President for Research, was released on Labor Records with NAXOS of America in cooperation with the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S. (UVAN), has been featured at the top 6 new classical albums on iTunes. Dr. Solomiya Ivankhiv is Head of Strings and Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at UConn.

Melvin Chen is recognized as an important artist, having received acclaim for performances throughout the United States and abroad. As a soloist and chamber musician Mr. Chen has performed at major venues in the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Weill Recital Hall, the Frick Collection, Kennedy Center, and Boston’s Jordan Hall, in addition to other appearances throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia. In recent seasons Mr. Chen’s concerts have included solo recitals at Weill Recital Hall, concerto performances with the American Symphony Orchestra, Marin Symphony, Springfield Symphony, and the Paducah Symphony, along with numerous solo and chamber music appearances internationally and in the United States. He was the pianist in Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice, which was presented by Lincoln Center and which received a special citation from the Obie awards.

Mr. Chen’s performances have been featured on radio and television stations around the globe, including KBS television and radio in Korea, NHK television in Japan, and NPR in the United States.Solo recordings include Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations on the Bridge label, praised as “a classic” by the American Record Guide, and a recording of Joan Tower’s piano music on the Naxos label. Recent recordings of the Shostakovich piano sonatas and Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice were released to critical acclaim.

An enthusiastic chamber musician, Mr. Chen has collaborated with such artists as Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, David Shifrin, Pamela Frank, and Peter Wiley; with the Shanghai, Tokyo, Miami, Penderecki, and Miro quartets; and in contemporary music collaborations with the Da Capo Chamber Players and The St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. Mr. Chen is an alumnus of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Chamber Music Society Two, where he appeared with members of the Chamber Music Society in performance and educational programs for two seasons. A performer in numerous music festivals, he has performed at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Music Mountain, Chautauqua, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Bard Music Festival, and Music from Angel Fire, among others.

Mr. Chen completed a doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University, and also holds a double master’s degree from The Juilliard School in piano and violin, where he studied with Seymour Lipkin and Glenn Dicterow, respectively. At Juilliard, he was the recipient of the U.S. Department of Education Jacob Javits Fellowship, as well as the William Petschek Piano Scholarship and the Ruth D. Rosenman Memorial Scholarship. Previously, he attended Yale University, receiving a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and physics. Upon graduation he was awarded the New Prize by the fellows of Jonathan Edwards College. During his tenure at Yale he studied with Boris Berman, Paul Kantor, and Ida Kavafian. Melvin Chen is currently Professor of Piano and Deputy Dean at Yale School of Music.

The New York Times describes Ms. Rebecca Patterson as having an “uncommonly warm and rounded tone,” and the Washington Postpraises her for “a stunning account of the movement “Praise to the Eternity of Jesus” from Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. A founding member of the award-winning ensemble Antares, Rebecca dedicated about fifteen years to chamber music, contemporary music, and teaching.

Ms. Patterson co-founded Antares while a student at Yale, and took top prizes the following year in the Fischoff, Coleman, Yellow Springs, and Carmel Chamber Music Competitions. In 2002, Antares was awarded the top prize in the Concert Artists Guild competition in New York City in recognition of its exciting and emotionally charged performances. Their last CD release in 2011, revisited two significant yet previously unrecorded works from 1978: Shadowed Narrativeby Roger Reynolds and Tashi by Peter Lieberson. This CD was featured as “Choice of the Month” in the January 2012 issue of BBC Music Magazine. Other recordings with Antares include, Eclipse with Innova Recordings, and Red River by Mason Bates with MSR Classics label.

Ms. Patterson received her B.M. from the Eastman School of Music and her M.M. from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Paul Katz and Aldo Parisot, respectively. While at Eastman she was winner of the Gibbs Chamber Orchestra Concerto competition, as well as the recipient of the full-merit Lois Smith Rogers Scholarship. At Yale she was a recipient of the Ender Scholarship, which goes to a cellist with excellent promise. She currently lives in New Haven, CT, and was appointed principal cello with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra as of the 2012-13 season. Rebecca is an instructor of Cello at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

The University of Connecticut Chamber Orchestra are made up of student musicians from the University of Connecticut Symphony Orchestra led and conducted by Director of Orchestral Studies Harvey Felder. Repertoire includes works from the standard classical, romantic, and contemporary orchestral literature. The Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra also collaborate with other ensembles in the department, including the Festival Chorus and the Opera Program.

Katia Setzer was born in 1988 in South Orange, NJ. She received her BA from Colby College (Waterville, ME) in 2010 with a degree in both Art and English. In 2013, she earned her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia, PA. She exhibits regularly in both group and solo shows, most recently at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery (Philadelphia, PA), Studio Montclair (Newark, NJ), and the Ukrainian Institute of America (New York, NY). Additionally, she was selected by the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute as their ‘2015 Visual Artist’.

She has provided the program cover for the Grammy award-winning Emerson String Quartet’s ongoing concert series at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Her painting Transfiguration (After Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night) was selected by Sony Classical for the CD cover of the Emerson Quartet’s album, “Journeys” (released 5/20/13). She currently lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.

Death and the Maiden by Katia Setzer — Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden) – Katia Setzer, 2015.

Abstract Series: II by Katia Setzer — Abstract Series: II – Katia Setzer, 2012

Exploring Masculinity Through Art

Posted on February 17, 2016October 18, 2018 by Bruno Perosino

By Kenneth Best for UConn Today

From the first Olympic Games in ancient Greece, when images of muscular male athletes were painted on urns, to the images of gods and heroes created in Western art in succeeding centuries, the ideal of masculinity was characterized by the muscular male nude figure. In fact, the male nude was a more frequent figure in art than the female nude for hundreds of years, until the early 19th century, when Victorian morality influenced art and culture.

Toward the end of the 1800s, the advent of “physical culture” (the Victorian version of physical fitness) and the intense realism of the new medium of photography revived interest in the male nude in art that later moved to abstract representations of the male body in painting and sculpture.

“Stark Imagery: The Male Nude in Art,” on display at the William Benton Museum of Art through March 13, traces the history of the male body as depicted in drawings, paintings, sculpture, and photography from the 16th century black-and-white chalk drawings of Alessandro Allori, to the late 20th-century photography of Roger L. Crossgrove, emeritus professor of art in the School of Fine Arts, and the early 21st-century paintings of Benjamin Degen.

Sherry Buckberrough, chair of the Department of Art History at the University of Hartford, who wrote much of the exhibition text, says the early 20th-century interest in body-building and sports helped to revive art focused on the nude male body.

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Interactive Exhibit Prompts Dialogue on Race

Posted on February 17, 2016October 18, 2018 by Bruno Perosino

By Kenneth Best for UConn Today

With 82 percent of adults aged 18-29 using Facebook and a doubling of Pinterest and Instagram usage since 2012 according to the Pew Research Center, it is not surprising that Millennial college students want to share information using a variety of media, including art in a museum.

This is reflected in the interactive exhibition at the William Benton Museum of Art “IN-DIFFERENCE: Reflections on Race,” which was designed by students in the School of Fine Arts as a collaborative classroom response to the 2015- 2016 UConn Reads theme of “Race in America.” The exhibit continues through March 13.

Last fall, students in the departments of Art and Art History and Digital Media and Design created the exhibition taking inspiration from “The Race Card Project,” which was developed by journalist Michele Norris, a former NPR news reporter and host of “All Things Considered.”

“The Race Card Project” asks people to think about the word race and distill their thoughts, experiences, or observations about race into just six words. For the Benton exhibition, students in graphic design and digital media classes used typography, color, and motion to visually communicate their six-word designs projected on a screen.

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Benton, Bruce, Yale Host Black History Month Exhibits

Posted on February 17, 2016October 18, 2018 by Bruno Perosino

By Susan Dunne for CTNOW

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the U.S. government’s official recognition of February as Black History Month. Galleries and museums throughout the state often dedicate the month to exhibits with African-American themes. This year, several art spaces have exhibits focusing on the black experience in America.

The 2015-2016 UConn Reads book selection is “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander.

In connection with this reading project, Mary Banas, a graphic-design professor, approached her students to discuss issues of race, buts he experienced some resistance. “Everybody feels uncomfortable talking about these things,” she said.

She framed her project in an artistic way, however. She asked her students to give her six words, give or take a few, to describe how they feel about race, and to design those words in an aesthetically complementary way. The result is “In/Difference: Reflections On Race,” a video installation at the William Benton Museum of Art on the Storrs campus.

Some responses came from the students’ experiences. An African-American man wrote, “No, I’m Not Here On A Scholarship,” and wound the words into a circle, to suggest they are repeated in a continuous loop. Others were just as confrontational: “But Where Are You Really From?,” “Exotic? I Am Not A Delicacy,” “Get It Straight: We’re Not All Mexican,” “What Shade Of Black Am I?,” “Being Singled Out Is Painful.”

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‘The Male Nude in Art’ at UConn Benton

Posted on February 17, 2016November 19, 2021 by Bruno Perosino

By Susan Dunne for the Hartford Courant

In centuries before the 19th, female and male nudes were common in art. Then public tastes shifted. To this day, female nudes are commonly seen, but male ones are hard to find in galleries, unless the show is about homoeroticism.

A new exhibit at the Benton Museum at UConn Storrs is having none of that. “Stark Imagery” has a few naked women scattered here and there, but is primarily a celebration of the nude male body.

Roger Crossgrove — who was head of the university’s Studio Arts Department from 1968 to 1988 and who taught at Pratt Institute when Robert Mapplethorpe was a student there — contributed many items to the exhibit. The show is divided into themes including athletes and body builders, formal compositions, the aging male body and fetishism.

The photos showing aging men are the most charming, as they focus on imperfections: flab, wrinkles, gray hair, men keeping it together against the odds. Those artworks hang in an alcove in the gallery facing the fetishism segment, which is quite the opposite: images of men who are young, toned and in-your-face about what they want from themselves and others.

Many photographs in the section on athleticism were taken for “physique” magazines from the ’50s, which celebrated perfect male beauty and were a staple of the gay underground. Exceptions are Crossgrove works; a lovely shot of Lance Armstrong, naked on a bicycle, by Annie Liebovitz; and a series of small photos by Eadweard Muybridge, the 19th-century photographer who pioneered studies of human motion

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The Benton: Inspiring the future with classics

Posted on February 17, 2016October 18, 2018 by Bruno Perosino

By Brett Steinberg for the Daily Campus

The Benton Museum’s permanent classical art collection showcases works that dates back hundreds of years, and yet many students connect the ancient art to modern.

“It’s sort of a portal back in time. To see what some people look like, or how people are portrayed. This is history,” said Gregory Bicknell, an eighth-semester mechanical engineering major and gallery attendant at the Benton.

Although many of the pieces are older, they hold ideas and aesthetic inspirations that have greatly influenced contemporary art. As you walk through the exhibits, the paintings become more current, as a sign that art progresses with the times it’s created in.

Krystina Jackson, an eighth-semester psychology major, compared the new and old ways of capturing a moment. “Our social media is their art,” said Jackson, viewing the paintings as a relic that freezes time of a bygone era.

“We just take it and move on,” said Miranda Tarpey, an eighth-semester marketing major, talking about how we take easy pictures on our phones compared to physically painting every single detail on the canvas to truly capture the moment.

“Think of the importance we now put on photography and what goes on in the TV. Those paintings are sort of that equivalent of back then, but in a different way,” said Jean Nihoul, adjunct professor in the art history department and assistant curator and academic project coordinator at the Benton.

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