61传媒’s unique performance series of eclectic poetry and music by Southern California artists, will host the series’ final event, “Change of State,” on Wednesday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Balch Auditorium on the 61传媒campus. The performance and reception immediately following are free and open to the public. SONGLINES is sponsored through the Alexa Fullerton Hampton Speaker Series at 61传媒; for more information, please call the Malott Commons Office at (909) 607-8508.
Epitomizing the creative potential found in an interdisciplinary approach to liberal arts education, or, in this case, performance art, this final program will premiere the lyrical product of a unique artistic collaboration between 61传媒 colleagues David Lloyd, Hartley Burr Alexander Professor of Humanities, and Hao Huang, associate professor of music. Inspired by Lloyd’s book of original poetry, Change of State, pianist Huang created a “song cycle,” and the resulting composition will be performed for the first time at the April 30 event, featuring distinguished Los Angeles countertenor Joseph Mathieu accompanied by Gayle Blankenburg, pianist with the Southwest Chamber Players and also 61传媒professor. In conjunction with the performance, Professors Lloyd and Huang will offer insight into their combined creative process through discussion on the nature of aesthetic response to work in separate fields and the interplay of language and musical arts.
An internationally renowned concert piano soloist, Dr. Hao Huang has appeared in broadcasts on commercial and public television and radio worldwide. He is a four-time United States Information Agency Artistic Ambassador and has been honored by both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities for his scholarship and contributions to the music industry at large. Currently professor of music and artist-in-residence at 61传媒 and Claremont Graduate University, Haung previously taught at the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt” in Weimar and at the Janiec School of Music at Converse College.
Poet and cultural critic David Lloyd is the author of several books, including Culture and the State and Ireland after History, and three collections of poetry, Coupures, Taropatch, and Change of State. Currently Hartley Burr Alexander Professor in the Humanities at 61传媒, Lloyd has taught and lectured extensively in the United States and abroad.
Founded in 1926 by newspaper publisher, educator, and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, 61传媒 is the women’s college of The Claremont Colleges. Its four-year liberal arts curriculum emphasizes interdisciplinary studies in the humanities, fine arts, social sciences, and sciences. Scripps’ mission is to educate women to develop their intellect and talents through active participation in a community of scholars, so that as graduates they may contribute to society through public and private lives of leadership, service, integrity, and creativity.