Mary B. Martin brings ‘on demand’ to spring 2013 season

Cable companies and channels may have adopted the

phrase “on demand” as their own, but Mary B. Martin

School of the Arts at East Tennessee State University

is just as responsive to educational and entertainment

requests—

and the result is live, rather than pre-recorded.

The program’s eclectic spring 2013 season is very

much a product of responding to the ideas, interests

and needs of differing local and campus entities and

audiences, says Mary B. Martin School of the Arts Director

Anita DeAngelis. This spring’s supply to that demand

includes two instrumental and one vocal musical

experience, a myriad of art perspectives, the second and

third parts of a three-part storytelling series and four

unique independent films.

“Things are pretty fluid in our operations and decisions

to schedule events, but with everything we do, the

quality keeps increasing,” DeAngelis says. “The way we

interact with campus and community groups keeps improving

all the time. Those are some of the things we

will see this semester. Two of the performing arts events

this spring came about because of community interactions,

while a number of other events are in response to

local interest or specific requests.”

The first event in 2013, a concert by violinist Brian

Lewis, is a collaboration with Academy of Strings in

Johnson City and co-directors Tim and Kim Barrett,

who have attended symposia by the artist/educator.

Lewis will perform at First Presbyterian Church in

Johnson City at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1 with ETSU

Music Professor and pianist Chih-Long Hu. On Saturday,

Feb. 2, Lewis will hold master classes and talks

starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m, also at First

Presbyterian, 105 S. Boone St.

“There are a lot of fine violinists on the concert stage

today,” says reports the Topeka Capital-Journal, “but

few can match Lewis for an honest virtuosity that supremely

serves the music.”

The events with Lewis are also tailored to serve the

campus community, DeAngelis says. “One of the other

reasons why we pursue strings concerts,” she says, “is

that our music department at ETSU is bolstering its

strings offerings and improving its strings program. We

want to supplement those efforts whenever we can.”

As the result of a special request from a campus office,

the Fisk Jubilee Singers have been scheduled for a

Tuesday, March 26 concert in ETSU’s Martha Street

Culp Auditorium, at 7:30 p.m. The original Jubilee

Singers introduced “slave songs” to the world in 1871

and were instrumental in preserving the American musical

tradition known today as Negro spirituals. Since

then, they have sung for kings and queens in Europe,

been featured on PBS, gone on a sacred journey to

Ghana in 2007 and raised money for their beloved Fisk

University, Nashville.

Another community partnership has resulted from

the Fisk event. Jubilee Singers Director Paul Kwami

has agreed to come to the area several times before the

concert to work with the Madrigal Singers at David

Crockett High School, preparing the Madrigal Singers

for a special performance during the March 26 concert.

Enhancing school experiences is one of the missions

integral to the way funding was established for the

Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, says DeAngelis,

who proposed the concept of the school to benefactor

James C. Martin. “At a time when funding for education

is diminishing somewhat — yet we know how important

it is — it is wonderful to have someone in our community

say, ‘It is important for me to see these kinds of

activities in our schools.’ ”

Although not a response to a specific request, guitarist

Frank Vignola will not only perform, but he also

will work with local students and enthusiasts in master

classes. The guitar virtuoso, who has worked with

legends such as Madonna, Ringo Starr and Les Paul,

will be in concert Thursday, Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m. in Culp

Auditorium with fellow guitarist Glenn Tosto.

Vignola, deemed by The New York Times as “one ofthe brightest ... stars of the guitar” and

author of 18 guitar instruction books,

will stop in Tennessee in the midst of a

world tour — ranging from Switzerland

and Sweden to California and Kentucky.

Mary B. Martin School’s three-part

storytelling series in 2012-13 evolved