Month: November 2014

MIDWAY, Ky.—Transylvania University’s equestrian team learned from one of eventing’s most celebrated riders on Nov. 22 and 23. Six-time Olympian Mary King—once ranked first in the world—taught a clinic at Three Day Farm, where the school’s riders train. “This will be a very educational experience for our team members to learn from one of the best eventing riders and trainers the sport has ever seen,” Transylvania equestrian coach Tanya Davis said before the event. King, who is from England’s Devon County, earned Great Britain two silver medals and a bronze in team eventing in the Olympics. She also won numerous gold medals at the World Equestrian Games and European Eventing Championships. “We are excited and lucky to have the opportunity for Mary King to come to our farm for her first clinic ever in Kentucky,” Davis said. Three Day Farm is in the heart of horse country—the rolling hills of Woodford County, just a short drive from Transylvania University in Lexington. The liberal arts school’s equestrian team has found much success in competition since starting two years ago, and Three Day Farm has attracted other world-class talent to teach Transylvania riders. This past April, sophomore Charlotte Pruet—who will participate in this weekend’s clinic—received a 45-minute dressage lesson from Jane Bartle-Wilson, one of the best trainers in the world. Pruet looked forward to the lesson. “As an athlete I’m always wanting to grow and develop into a better rider and this is an outstanding

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LEXINGTON, Ky.— Members of the Transylvania University Choir will join the Lexington Philharmonic and singers from other area colleges for a massive production of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” The concert will feature about 180 university students, professional soloists, and a children’s choir from the School for the Creative and Performing Arts on Friday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Singletary Center for the Arts. “Our students are thrilled to be taking on a musical challenge of this scale and quality,” said Karen Cooksey, conductor of the Transylvania Choir. “We treasure this unique opportunity to share the stage with a professional orchestra as well as so many other fine university students in our own backyard.” “Carmina Burana” is a powerful work with dramatic climaxes offset by intense lows; those in the audience likely will recognize the opening movement, “O Fortuna,” described by Cooksey as a classic action or apocalyptic movie showpiece. Within the work, Orff sets medieval texts in a modern way. “Through them we see some aspects of the human condition have not changed over the centuries—we still worry about what will happen to us; we still fall in love; we still drink and make merry, and so on,” Cooksey said. “It’s an incredibly rewarding sing.” The orchestra also will present Alexander Scriabin’s “Poem of Ecstasy” during the first half of the program. Scott Terrell, the Lexington Philharmonic music director and conductor, put Friday night’s offerings in context. “We

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Part of a $1.9 million National Science Foundation grant will pay for Transylvania University students to investigate microbial diversity over summer breaks at Indiana University. They will work on a project led by researchers from IU and Notre Dame to find out how dormancy contributes to the fact there are so many varieties of these tiny organisms in the world. “Microbes are the most diverse and abundant group of organisms on earth, and we don’t really understand why,” said Transylvania professor Sarah Bray, who worked with project collaborator and IU professor Jay T. Lennon during a recent sabbatical. Dormancy plays a major role in the life of microbes; in one gram of soil we can find thousands of species of them—and up to 90 percent are inactive. To help explore this factor in microbial diversity, two Transylvania students will work in Lennon’s lab each summer for five years beginning next year. Their work will be paid for by $50,000 of the larger grant from the NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity Program. Depending on their backgrounds and interests, these students could perform tasks such as molecular work; DNA sequencing; growing microbes in petri dishes; and computer modeling. The project will give Transylvania students access to the equipment of a top research university; a chance to use these particular tools is rare opportunity for any undergraduate student. And true to Transylvania’s liberal arts emphasis on multidisciplinary study, not just biology majors are expected to participate. Math and computer science

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