"Landscape Iowa" Symphony Concert March 2 Posted on Mar 05, 2013 by Scott Cawelti Have to say, last Saturday's Symphony Concert in Cedar Falls was special. Jason Weinberger, conductor, CEO, and creative mind behind the innovative programming that drives this excellent Waterloo-Cedar Falls Iowa regional symphony, wanted to offer an evening that celebrates the Midwest. It's our land of real seasons, after all, where the summer really is a summer and the winter, seriously now, a winter. And the springs and autumns offer glories beyond description, where the land comes to life explosively, and then locks up tight seven months later with hard freezes, and stays tight and brutally cold for months. Contrasts. And beauty. Long-time Midwestern photographer Bill Witt has captured the Midwest's beauty in hundreds of images, many of them published in "Enchanted by Prairie" (University of Iowa, 2009). Jason Weinberger's idea was to capture the beauty of the Midwest using Witt's photography, as well as symphonic music by well-known composers who celebrated the Midwest, Anton Dvorak and Aaron Copland, and a newly commissioned piece by Jon Chennette, "Rural Symphony." Jason also wanted language, bless his heart, and asked me to narrate several pieces that also celebrate the Midwest. So Bill Witt, Jason Weinberger, and I met and worked up the program for last Saturday's symphony concert Cedar Falls. It began with James Hearst's 1966 poem, "Landscape Iowa,"-- No one who lives here Knows how to tell the stranger What it’s like, the land I mean, Farms all gently rolling, Squared off by roads and fences, Creased by streams, stubbled with groves, A land not known by mountain’s height Or tides of either ocean, A land in its working clothes, Sweaty with dew, thick-skinned loam, A match for the men who work it, Breathes dust and pollen, wears furrows And meadows, endures drought and flood. Muscles swell and bulge in horizons Of corn, lakes of purple alfalfa, A land drunk on spring promises, Half crazed with growth—I can no more Tell the secrets of its dark depths Than I can count the banners in a Farmer’s eye at spring planting. Hearst's poem captures the feel of Iowa perfectly for me--"a land in its working clothes." The poem that stopped me in my tracks, though, was "Becoming Prairie in Dickinson County," written by John Peterson, and published in Michael Carey's book Voices on the Landscape: Contemporary Iowa Poets. (Loess Hillls Books, 1996) It's about a man who chooses to become a plot of prairie land, and "in my mind" this makes him completely happy. Here's how it ends: For now in my mind I have given up my job, my house, And all my enemies have forgotten me, Now that I have gone to prairie. My wife still visits; She sees my transformation is complete. I have grown resilient, shabby, responsive to the faintest heartbeat pulsing on these ragged hills. She will finally know why, Will finally see me as lovely, And she will know that only now may I truly disappear from happiness. This was Jon Chennet's inspiration for his "Rural Symphony," and I can see why. I read it before the last Chennet's last movement, the one he says was inspired by "Becoming Prairie." It was a splendid evening, I thought; the orchestra played a challenging concert with skill and precision, and the images and poetry blended seamlessly. Here's George Day's review that appeared in today's Courier: It was a snow-weary crowd that attended the March concert of the Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra concert last Saturday night. Their spirits soon soared, however, as they watched and heard the perfectly splendid show that unfolded before them. Jason Weinberger, artistic director, designed and directed a far from ordinary concert. This one consisted of music and images and words that reflect the atmosphere of rural America, its charm and its beauty. The words by several writers were narrated by Scott Cawelti and the images were photographs of the Iowa landscape taken by Bill Witt. The pictures appeared on a huge screen above the Orchestra and they quickly attracted everyone's awed attention. Three pieces were on the program. The first featured a new composition by Jonathan Chennette entitled "Rural Symphony." It is a commissioned work designed to reflect through music "the rural life and rural landscape” of Iowa "at the turn of the century." There were three movements entitled: Row Crops and Livestock, Milking Time, and Becoming Prairie. I am not sure if the music of the first and final movements evoked mental images of row crops, livestock, or the prairie. But the Milking Time section had some percussive sounds that may well have been those of a milking parlor. Overall, though the Chenette piece aided by Witt's stunning beautiful photographs and Cawelti’s poetic readings did conjure up a sense of a peaceful country atmosphere. Surely the music of the Rural Symphony must owe more than a small degree of its sounds or moods of nature to the work of Aaron Copland, the acknowledged master of what might be called "American landscape music". It was Copland's music we heard next: "The Tender Land, Suite." Originally composed as an opera with the setting designated as a midwestern farm in the spring at high school graduation time, the Suite is an orchestral concert version of the opera, and a perfect choice for this program. The music is very much in Copland's distinctive idiom: flowing harmonies, smooth and dream-like rhythms, and joyful tonal effects. It is optimistic in mood and on this occasion splendidly performed by the ensemble under Weinberger's sensitive direction. The final work on the program was Antonin Dvorak's Suite in A, sometimes called the "American Suite." For this, the WCFSO was joined by selected members of the Northern Iowa Youth Orchestra. Like the others on the program the piece is could easily be seen as a hymn to the natural beauties of Iowa landscape. Certainly it is typical Dvorak in its shape and sound, its lively dance-like tunes and bold crescendos as well. There may well be, as has been suggested, some Native American rhythms in the finale (Allegro) movement. Again we were treated to some of Bill Witt's drop dead beautiful pictures of Iowa at its best.And some of Iowa's best writing and speaking, too, courtesy of James Hearst's poetry expertly delivered by Scott Cawelti. This concert was a perfect antidote for the winter blues as could easily be sensed in the mood of the audience as they filed out into the frigid March night. Go comment! Posted in Arts Language & Writing Reviews Cedar Valley Chronicles {{Title}} Remove Change Death Politics Christmas Education Conservatives/Liberals Crime Movies Humor Mysteries Graduation Aging & Birthdays Predictions alcohol Arts Health Romance/Love Hot Button Issues Battle of Sexes Reviews Travel Censorship Political Limericks satire Cedar Valley Chronicles Satire Meth Reviews Aging and Birthdays Religiosity Language & Writing Nostalgia Personalities Death Holidays Done An Open Letter to Dr. William Ruud, UNI’s 10th President Posted on Feb 17, 2013 by Scott Cawelti This was published in this morning's Courier, and offers an overview of the challenges that UNI's recently hired President faces. Dear Dr. Ruud: Welcome to UNI, Cedar Falls, Cedar Valley, State of Iowa, and the Upper Midwest. Since you’re from North Dakota, welcome home. Nice not to have to explain why we stay here, since you already understand. As you’re probably aware, many observers believe that UNI needs a Savior as much as a President. From Day One, “Save Us” will be the unspoken message from UNI’s conflicted and conflicting constituents—faculty, students, parents, alumni, taxpayers, fellow administrators, Regents. All of them embody disparate wants and needs, and your job amounts to finding ways to satisfy most of them most of the time. That’s a Savior’s task on a Presidential salary. Higher education faces unprecedented changes, top to bottom, and most academics react to real change like cold water on a hot griddle. I speak from experience, having served in UNI trenches for four decades. I knew and observed Maucker, Kamerick, Curris, Koob, and Allen from a variety of faculty perspectives. Though none were drinking buddies, I spoke with them in dozens of venues over the years, observing what they did and didn’t do for UNI. So for what it’s worth: *On top of ongoing budget issues, no previous UNI President has faced both falling enrollment and potential AAUP censure. If censure actually comes to pass, and if enrollment continues to drop, UNI will likely be declared officially in decline. No president wants to preside over a university in decline, so—save us. *Many faculty would also love to be saved from further disruptions, meaning pressures for campus-wide online education, faddish interactive teaching strategies, endless outcomes assessments, imposed technology, and so on. If you support too many changes too soon, you risk losing faculty confidence. Yet if you don’t support major changes, you risk obsolescence. You will succeed only if you find the right balance. *Major conflicts still exist on campus, rocks and hard places against which many an administrator has been flattened or crushed. Faculty governance, for example, at UNI involves both a Faculty Senate and a Union. Which group holds real power? Depends. Good luck. *Too much taxpayer and tuition money gets spent on unsupportable activities, as most faculty will insist. Can you cut administrative costs? Athletics? If you want to raise faculty morale quickly, cut both. Deeply. *Forget about pleasing everyone, and sometimes, anyone. If you please faculty, your Board of Regents supporters will give you hell. If you please the Board of Regents, the faculty will fume, gripe, and sue. If you please students, both the Board of Regents and Faculty will sharpen their knives. If you please everyone, you’ve probably done essentially nothing. If you want to be loved, remember you have Fuzzy. (Writer’s Note: Fuzzy is Dr. Ruud’s cockapoo.) Case in point: The Lab School. When Ben Allen closed it, he was only doing what every UNI President before him had sought for years. It was inefficient, insufficient, and ultimately unworthy of the university’s support. Many if not most faculty wanted it closed but feared speaking out. A few die-hard supporters thought closing it was the equivalent of UNI committing suicide. They said so, loudly and publically for months, creating a verbal civil war. Was there any way to avoid such rancor? Faculty claim they weren’t properly consulted, but the administration considered “consulting” as little more than a delaying tactic, and endless swamp of meetings. Still, Allen needed to be more straight-up, clear, and lay out alternatives from the beginning for everyone concerned. Too much seemed below the board. Dr. Ruud, you have a reputation for being above board, transparent, and straightforward. Everyone’s hopes it’s true. *UNI still offers a superb undergraduate education, thanks to the quality of both faculty and students. If you maintain that without faltering, you will be a good president. If you enhance it, you will be a great president. If you transform UNI into a university that embodies positive change while offering viable and effective new approaches embraced by faculty and students alike, you will be taken as a Presidential Savior. That would be a miracle. Go for it. Sincerely, Scott Cawelti, Emeritus Faculty and UNI Supporter Go comment!