Events

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Begin your holiday season by going back in time to Merry Olde England to A Medieval Feast presented by the Transylvania University Madrigal Singers and the Medieval Instrumental Ensemble. Madrigal dinners will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, December 3, Friday, December 4, and Saturday, December 5 in the William T. Young Campus Center. Tickets to this popular holiday event are $20 on Thursday and $25 on Friday and Saturday. Upon entering a castle hall, guests will be seated at tables filled with bread, fruit and salads. As guests enjoy the festive surroundings and dine in royal fashion, the wassail will arrive, the court will enter and the pageantry will unfold. Guests will also partake in a wassail toast with members of the royal court. The evening’s feast will be fit for royalty and feature salads, carved roast beef, roasted vegetables, breads, desserts, coffee and teas. The performance is directed by Gary Anderson, professor of music and director of choral ensembles at Transylvania. For more information, call the fine arts office at (859) 233-8141.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—On Wednesday, November 11, members of Transylvania’s music faculty will present a concert in gratitude to all veterans and active military for their selfless service to our country. The concert, at 7:30 p.m. in Carrick Theater, is free and open to the public and will feature the world premiere of two new compositions from Transylvania faculty, Timothy Polashek’s “Micro-Coastings” for video and computer-generated sounds and Larry Barnes’ “Galway Blues” for viola and piano. The concert also features performances from professors Joanna Binford (violin and viola), Rachel Robertson Cox (soprano) and Gregory Partain (piano and composition). Partain will present his composition “Come to the Garden in Spring” for soprano and piano, and “Sonata for Violin and Piano,” from great American composer Aaron Copeland, will be performed. For more information, contact the fine arts office at (859) 233-8141.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Richard Taylor, Poet Laureate of Kentucky from 1999-2001, and current Kenan Visiting Writer at Transylvania, will sign his newest release, Rail Splitter, a collection of poems based on Lincoln’s life, Friday, November 6, from 3-5 p.m. at Transylvania’s bookstore in the Glenn Building. The event is open to the public. “We are delighted to have a former Poet Laureate of Kentucky teaching in our English and Foundations of the Liberal Arts programs,” said William F. Pollard, vice president and dean of the college. “Richard Taylor knows Kentucky and Kentucky history, but—more importantly—he knows the talent that continues to come from Kentucky writers and how to help develop that talent in his students through an appreciation for literature and the encouragement to write well.” This term, Taylor is teaching a Foundations of the Liberal Arts class and an English class, Prospectives on Literature. During winter term, he will again teach Prospectives on Literature and will also lead a fiction workshop in the writing, rhetoric and communication program. Taylor has won a variety of honors for his extensive publications in both poetry and prose. As director of Poetry in the Schools for the Kentucky Arts Commission, he served as poet-in-residence at a dozen public elementary and secondary schools across Kentucky. He has also served as a professor of English at Kentucky State University for many years. Taylor earned a B.A. in English from the University of Kentucky in 1963, an M.A.

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University Theater opens its 2009-10 season of shows with Tom Stoppard’s brilliant comedy “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” on Thursday, November 5, in the Lucille C. Little Theater at Transylvania. The play puts Shakespeare’s two hapless losers from “Hamlet,” at the vortex of an unpredictable universe, in which reality becomes make-believe and theatrical death becomes reality. Adding to the uncertainty is a cast of men and women exchanging roles on alternating performances. One night, men will present Shakespeare’s lines while women read Stoppard’s. The following night, the two gendered casts will switch roles. “In rehearsal, it has really been revealing regarding way the two genders differentiate motivations, nuances in line readings and character qualities, each with equally stimulating results,” said director and drama professor Tim Soulis. “I find the whole process quite exciting and challenging for all of us.” The comedy runs Nov. 5, 6 and 11-14 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 7 and 8 at 2 p.m. in the Lucille C. Little Theater. A post-performance colloquia on the play, the production and Stoppard’s theatricality will begin immediately following the matinees on Nov. 7 and 8. Tickets are $10 and may be reserved by calling the box office at (859) 281-3621. For more information, contact the fine arts office at (859) 233-8141.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—In 2006, Transylvania music professor Larry Barnes spent his summer composing a score for “Euphoria,” a full-length film that had already won the Gold Medal at the Houston Film Festival. In July of this year, the soundtrack for “Euphoria” was released, featuring Barnes’ score. On November 12, at 7:30 p.m., “Euphoria” will be shown at the Kentucky Theater in Lexington. Tickets are $6 for general admission, $5 for students and seniors. DVDs and CDs will be available for purchase following the film screening. Barnes will give an introduction before the screening. The feature-length documentary is an out-of-the-box art and science film that asks: In a country built for the pursuit of happiness, is it working? Is living a meaningful life the secret to a natural high? Boot starts by defining the real American Dream as emotional survival and travels across the country searching for clues and human stories to shed some light. “Filmmaker Lee Boot had heard me perform my music in Baltimore years back and he called me and asked if I would review his film with the possibility of my adding a complete musical score,” said Barnes in 2007. “I was elated. I had wanted to compose for film for years and here was a work that had already won a Gold Medal in its original form.” Barnes’ music has been featured at festivals and concert series on three continents. His music has been described by The

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