News from Transy

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Drama professor Tim Soulis and Transylvania student actors continue to put a new spin on classic plays with their 2010-11 season opener, Euripides’ “The Bakkhai” – presented as a rock opera. In recent years, Transylvania University Theater has presented “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” with male and female cast members switching roles on alternating nights, and had two different casts, one entirely male and one entirely female, for Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” “The Bakkhai” was written by Greek playwright Euripides around 405 BCE. It’s the explosive story of the ageless clash between liberty and control featuring Dionysus, the god of wine, determined to prove to the people that he is, in fact, a god. The Transy production is the premiere of a new, rock opera version of the play. There are six songs performed by the actors who are backed by live musicians on stage. The story, characters and themes of the original play are maintained, but updated to fit a modern setting and atmosphere. The rock music helps to suggest the intoxicating and liberating nature of rebelling against convention and seeking a life free of inhibitions. Sophomore Alex Yaden has arranged the music for keyboard, bass guitar and percussion and senior Ashley Stafford has choreographed each of the songs. “The original adaptation, lyrics and music is by Khalli Anna Mossi, a retired professor in Greece and a sort of ‘muse’ to me,” said director Tim Soulis. “I met her when

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—The fall Kenan Lecture at Transylvania University will be delivered on Wednesday, October 20, by Kwame Anthony Appiah, Laurence S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University. The title of his presentation is “Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers.” His book by the same title won the 2007 Arthur Ross Award from the Council on Foreign Relations. Cosmopolitanism is the name given to Appiah’s new system of ethics, which examines competing philosophical claims of various civilizations on the one hand, and groundless moral relativism on the other. He then arrives at an ethics that celebrates our common humanity while offering practical ways of managing our differences. Appiah holds an appointment in Princeton’s University Center for Human Values and is associated with the Center for African American Studies, the programs in African studies and translation studies and the departments of comparative literature and politics. He has taught at Yale, Cornell, Duke and Harvard. He joined the faculty of Princeton in 2002. Born in London, but raised in Ghana by his African father and English mother, he earned B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy from Clare College, Cambridge University. He is the author of numerous articles and books, notably “Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race” (1996), “The Ethics of Identity” (2005), “Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers” (2006) and “Experiments in Ethics” (2008). The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be in Haggin

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—As guests from around the world arrive in Lexington for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Transylvania University will offer five concerts, four as part of the Alltech Fortnight Festival. September 27 and September 287:30 p.m., Carrick Theater, Mitchell Fine Arts Center Gregory Partain with Transylvania University artists Music professor and pianist Gregory Partain will perform solo masterworks of Beethoven and Ravel and collaborate with colleagues in ensemble music of the Baroque era. In his 23 years on the concert stage, Partain has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist throughout the United States, and has performed overseas in Poland, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Russia, Greece and Germany. Part of the Alltech Fortnight Festival. $20 at the door or pre-purchase tickets available at the Downtown Arts Center, in person or online at www.lexarts.org/participate/box-office (processing fee applies). October 4 7:30 p.m., Carrick Theater, Mitchell Fine Arts Center Transylvania Faculty Showcase Concert Faculty members will perform in a variety of solos and ensembles. Free and open to the public. October 6 7:30 p.m., Carrick Theater, Mitchell Fine Arts Center Orchid Ensemble with the Transylvania University Choir Ensemble consists of Lan Tung on the erhu/Chinese violin, Haiqiong Deng on the zheng/Chinese zither, and Jonathan Bernard on percussion. Acclaimed as “one of the brightest blossoms on the world music scene,” the ensemble tours regularly across North America. Recent venues include The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer

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