Wednesday, April 29 at 8 p.m.
Rosch Recital Hall,
Free and open to the public
The SUNY Fredonia School of Music will present the Improv. Collective spring performance on Wednesday, April 29, at 8 p.m. in Rosch Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
The Improv. Collective is a community of musicians that benefits from the courage of the performance major, skill of the music educator, creativity of the composition major, technology of the sound recording major, nurturing of the music therapist and most of all, from the "beginner's mind" of the non-major. For us there are no wrong notes for we believe, as tribal people do, "If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance."
The group is led by Dr. David Rudge, with special guests Ann Park-Rose, pianist/composer; Terry Beck, guest dancer; Elaine Gardner, guest dancer; and members of the Dance Improv. class at SUNY Fredonia.
Dr. David Rudge, is the Director of the Improv. Collective, a free- improvisation performing ensemble. As an improvising musician, he has studied and/or performed with Paul Winter, Paul Horn, Walter Thompson, Arthur Hull, Don Campbell; and has conducted for David Darling and Jon-Luc Ponty. For many years Dr. Rudge has been closely involved with Music for People, an international organization founded by David Darling, that promotes self-expression through music and improvisation.
Ann Park-Rose, began piano studies at age 5. She began improvising and composing at a very early age - two skills which she pursued through her early training, achieving a degree a composition and piano from Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. Ann has appeared with the Canadian Chamber ensemble, and on CBC television and radio. The winner of numerous competitions and awards, her music has been performed and recorded by a number of artists.
Terry Beck has performed world-wide with his Philadelphia based Dance/Theatre company, Terry Beck Troupe. He has garnered numerous awards for dance and choreography including The Edinburgh Festival's Critics Award for Dance. He also won an Emmy for his short film, If the Walls Could Talk. Outside of his performance career, he is a noted Acupuncture Practitioner, T'ai Chi instructor and Adjunct Faculty member for the SUNY Fredonia Dance Program this semester.
Elaine Gardner has been called one of Western New York’s dance “treasures.” She founded Pick of the Crop Dance in Los Angeles in 1980, and in 1982 re-estaablished the company in Buffalo. Since then, she has created over ninety works for that company, many of them incorporating original music.Gardner has taught contemporary dance, ballet, choreography and improvisation since 1986 at Nichols School in Buffalo.
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