by Brady Toone

by Brady Toone

The Brigham Young University School of Music will host the Indiana University Violin Virtuosi Saturday, March 7, at 1 p.m. in the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni Center. Admission is free and the public is welcome.

A new adaptation of the French neo-classical masterpiece “Bérénice” by Jean Racine will have its first performances at Brigham Young University, playing nightly in the Margetts Arena Theatre, Harris Fine Arts Center, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, through Saturday, March 21, except Sundays and Mondays, with a matinee performance Saturday, March 14, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15, or $11 with BYU or student ID, and can be purchased online at www.byuarts.com, by phone at (801) 422-4322 or in person at the Harris Fine Arts Center Ticket Office. Tickets for preview performances March 4-5 and the 2 p.m. matinee performance March 14 are $8. Due to seating and stage configuration, latecomers will not be admitted. A panel discussion with the directors, playwright and production staff will take place Saturday, March 14, in the Margetts Arena Theatre after the matinee performance. Attendees also can meet the cast after the show March 5, 12 and 19. Antiochus, who is in love with the beautiful Palestinian queen Bérénice, decides to flee Rome rather than face her marriage to his friend Titus, who will be ruler of Rome after the death of his father, Vespasian. But, faced with the public outcry over his marriage to a foreigner, Titus struggles with the choice between his duty to Rome and his love for Bérénice. Creator Matthew Greene reconceived the original “Bérénice” from the perspective of Racine, portraying the conflict and controversy surrounding the creation of the original play by bringing Racine and his contemporaries into the action, said co-director Kym Mellen. “We were fascinated with Racine’s private life, which frequently intersected with his art in spectacular ways,” said co-director Megan Sanborn Jones. The adaptation includes original “Bérénice” characters Titus, played by Gene Ledbetter; Bérénice, played by Stephani Cleghorn; Antiochus, played by Kristopher Paries; Arbaces, played by Ashley McWhorter; and Phenice, played by Sarah-Lucy Hill. New characters include Jean Racine himself, played by Matthew Greene; the infamous Cardinal Richelieu, played by Patrick Newman; and Racine’s mistress Therese du Parc, played by BreAnne E. Folkman. Production staff members are dramaturg Sarah Amundsen, stage manager Richie Uminski, scenic designer Dick Merkling, costume designer Mary Farahnakian, makeup and hair designer Melanie Kowallis, lighting designer Christina Tibbetts and sound designer Sarah Nusson. Source: BYU News

More than 20 years ago, Brigham Young University Theatre Ballet paired two of the world’s timeless love stories, “Romeo and Juliet” and “West Side Story,” for a series of concerts that still rank as the ensemble’s all-time audience favorite.

The annual William Primrose Memorial Concert will feature violist Donald Maurice and pianist Richard Mapp of the New Zealand School of Music Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall.

Not long ago, BYU’s Museum of Art acquired a painting for their “Beholding Salvation” exhibition that depicts shepherds admiring the new-born Christ. There’s just one problem — it’s not completely certain who painted the scene in “Adoration of the Shepherds.” Enter BYU undergrad Caroline Larson, an art history major and recipient of an ORCA grant to investigate the top suspect, French Baroque painter Eustache Le Sueur. The Louvre, which holds 40 of Le Sueur’s known works, is where Larson will spend two months studying the Parisian’s artistry. She will also compare those techniques to those of Le Sueur’s contemporaries to see if elements of “Adoration of the Shepherds” reflect his distinctive style. “We are eager to establish a more complete provenance for this painting,” said Dawn Pheysey, curator of religious art at the Museum of Art. “We look forward to seeing Caroline’s research and are certainly willing to assist her in any way that we can.” Museum visitors can see the painting for themselves; it hangs next to the museum’s signature piece, Carl Heinrich Bloch’s “Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda.” Source: BYU News

The Brigham Young University Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Kory Katseanes will join forces with BYU’s top student musicians in the annual “Evening of Concertos” Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center.

Scott Holden, Brigham Young University School of Music faculty artist and chair of piano and organ studies, will appear in recital Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center.

The combined audition choirs of Brigham Young University will join forces for a concert directed by Craig Jessop, head of the Music Department at Utah State University, Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Provo Tabernacle, 100 S. University Ave.

Visitors to the BYU Museum of Art’s newest photography exhibition will find themselves surrounded by a familiar make-believe world created from buttons, dice, marbles, rubber frogs, toy robots and other whimsical items.

Just back from a 10-day performance tour in Arizona, Brigham Young University’s Living Legends will perform “Seasons,” their signature display of Polynesian, Latin American and Native American music and dance, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center.