Feb. 26, 2017
Music and Words Confront War, March 1
War and its impact on the human experience is the focus of “Music & Words Confront War,” a multifaceted event that will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, in the CWU McIntyre Recital Hall.
Music and Words is one in a series of Big Read events, centered around Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried. The multimedia event comprised of live music, dance, spoken word, and visuals will accompany an audio-visual show that deals with the experience of people in war—either as soldiers or civilian victims.
“It gives me chills,” said Gerard Hogan, CWU professor of library services and the Big Read organizer.
Hogan explained that the show is a very interesting mix of moving material.
The musical composition, “I Was Like Wow,” by Jacob TV and an audio-visual accompaniment will be the focal point of the evening. CWU professor of trombone John Neurohr will play the score as multi-media images of words and quotes from Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are projected behind him.
“It was a way to tie in the Vietnam experience along with more recent American military events,” said Hogan.
Excerpts from The Things They Carried will be read and dramatized. A moving dance will also be performed as a tribute to a piece in O’Brien’s book, where a traumatized Vietnamese girl dances in her village that had just been destroyed.
Performances will feature CWU faculty and students from various departments including theatre arts, music, dance, and English.
This event is part of the 2017 Big Read. Event sponsors include Brooks Library, CWU English department, Theatre Arts department, Lion Rock Visiting Writers Series, the Center for Leadership and Community Engagement, and the CWU Veterans Center.
“NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest."
“El proyecto NEA Big Read es una iniciativa del National Endowment for the Arts (el Fondo Nacional para las Artes de Estados Unidos) en cooperación con Arts Midwest.”
Media contact: Dawn Alford, public affairs coordinator, 509-963-1484, dawn.alford@cwu.edu.
--February 26, 2017