The fun and lessons of children’s stories stays with many through adulthood but oftentimes, they remain just that – childhood memories.
Butler University is exploring this genre and adding a bit of science to help people understand the happiness and even horror children’s stories can bring.
All this and more can be explored during the “Butler ArtsFest 2014: Fables, Fairy Tales and Physics.”
“A lot of diversity went into the creation of the ArtsFest. There’s diversity of music genres, age of music and new modern things and historic tales,” said Susan Zurbuchen, chair of the arts administration department at Butler University.
The festival, which has returned for its second year with the help of Ron Caltabiano, dean of the Jordan College of the Arts, features 14 days of music, dance, theater and more, featuring performances by the Blind Boys of Alabama and My Brightest Diamond, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Butler Community Arts School: Children’s Dance.
“We’re starting to focus on the things that are really important to Jordan College and to my vision of the arts at Butler, and those are things like unique presentations,” said Caltabiano in a previous interview.
Technically the festival ends April 13, however festival organizers will give arts lovers an encore weekend April 25-27 to explore more “Fables, Fairy Tales and Physics.”
This year’s lineup includes:
Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra
April 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts
Tickets: $12-$30
The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Schrott Center’s professional orchestra in residence, will present the world premiere of James Akman’s “Triptych: Musical Momentum on and works” by Strauss and Mozart. The bassoon virtuoso Martin Kuuskmann will perform Christopher Theofanidis’s Bassoon Concerto.
Jazz with Donny McCaslin
April 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts
Tickets: $7.50-$30
The great jazz saxophonist Donny McCaslin joins Butler Jazz Ensembles for a sparkling night. Best known for his incisive twists and emotionally charged solos, his startling virtuosity and distinctive voice as a composer, McCaslin has been touring the world since he was 12 years old.
Butler Community Arts School: Children’s Percussion
April 12 at 10 a.m. at Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts
Admission: Free
Community concert will feature children from the Butler Community Arts School, community partners, and students from the Butler Percussion Ensemble. Fun for the whole family.
Butler Percussion Ensemble
April 12 at 11 a.m. Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts
Admission: Free
What musical instrument defines physics better than percussion – the act of creating sound by striking, scraping, or shaking. The Butler Percussion Ensemble will perform “Critical Mass” by Matt Moore; “Music for Pieces of Wood” by Steve Reich; “She Is Asleep” by John Cage; and “Song for Queztecoatl” (“The Feathered Serpent”) by Lou Harrison.
Blind Boys of Alabama and My Brightest Diamond
April 13 at 7 p.m. at the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts
Tickets: $15-$40
Members of Blind Boys of Alabama first sang together at the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind in Talladega in the late 1930s. Nearly 75 years after they hit their first notes together, Blind Boys of Alabama are not only known for their longevity in the industry, but for the breadth of their catalog and their relevance to contemporary roots music.Since 2000, Blind Boys of Alabama have won five Grammys and four Gospel Music Awards, and have delivered their spiritual message to countless listeners.
“My Brightest Diamond” mixes elements of opera, cabaret, chamber music, and rock. It is the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden, who sings the title track to the latest offering by Blind Boys of Alabama.
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
April 25 and 26; 7:30 p.m. at the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts
Tickets: $10-$52
In a mind-bending collaboration, Edwin Outwater and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra join together to create a musical experience at the frontier of science. This innovative, multimedia mash-up of art and science will entertain, educate, and enthrall, as it explores how music – and everything – works at nature’s most fundamental level.
Cinderella
April 25 – 27; times vary
Clowes Memorial Hall
Tickets: $17-$28.50
Butler Ballet performs Cinderella, a magical three-act ballet based on the familiar fairy tale. The story comes alive in grand ballet style accompanied by the marvelous and fanciful 20th century score by Sergei Prokofiev, performed by the Butler Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Stanley DeRusha.
Butler Community Arts School: Children’s Dance
April 26 at 10 a.m. at the Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts
Admission: Free
Performance will feature children from the Butler Community Arts School, community partners, and students from the Butler Ballet.
Tickets will be available at Butler’s Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts and at butlerartsfest.com. For more information, call (317) 940-2787.
