The Brigham Young University School of Music will host 'An Evening of Percussion' Friday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall. The event will feature performances by the Percussion Ensemble and Panoramic Steel directed by Ron Brough and Gamelan Bintang Wahyu directed by Jeremy Grimshaw.

The Brigham Young University School of Music will present a collection of jazz concerts April 10-13. Tickets for the concerts are available at the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 422-4322 or at byuarts.com/tickets, unless otherwise noted. Jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon will perform with Synthesis under the direction of Ray Smith Wednesday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall. Wycliffe is an award-winning musician who has held the Jazz Journalists Association’s title of “Trombonist of the Year” seven times in the last decade. Wycliffe serves on the faculty of the Jazz Arts Program at the Manhattan School of Music. Directed by Allen Matthews, Jazz Voices will perform Thursday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall. They will present a diverse set of jazz standards including “Blues Walk” by Clifford Brown; hymn arrangements such as “Come, Come Ye Saints;” and new arrangements of hit songs from ABBA, Paul Simon and Jason Mraz. Trombone artist Wycliffe Gordon will return to the BYU stage withJazz Legacy Dixieland Band, Thursday, April 11, at 9:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall to present an evening of New Orleans jazz. Under the direction of Steve Call, they will play tunes by Louis Armstrong, W. C. Handy, Duke Ellington and others. This performance is free and no tickets are required. The Jazz Lab Band, a student ensemble, will perform Saturday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall. Admission to the event is free. For more information on Gordon Wycliffe, visit wycliffegordon.com. For more information about the concerts, contact Ken Crossley at (801) 422-9348 or ken_crossley@byu.edu.

Right in line with its “see the good in the world” tag line, BYUtv will debut its original weekly series Granite Flats on April 7. It’s the network’s first scripted series, and has been a massive undertaking. It’s the next big thing for BYUtv and marks a change of course as the station focuses less on BYU internally and more on reaching out to, and meeting the needs of, a national audience. With Granite Flats, BYUtv is trying to fill a decade-long void of this kind of programming – the type of show that the whole family can sit around the TV and enjoy together. “There has been a large empty space where primetime family-oriented television used to be,” said Derek Marquis, executive producer of Granite Flats and managing director of BYUtv. “Our extensive market research, done all over the country, indicates that there’s a significant audience hungry for a dramatic series that families can watch together without concern about inappropriate subject matter.” Set in 1962 America West at the height of the Cold War, the show is a suspenseful period drama with a twist of science fiction. “We’ve focused on every tiny detail of the set and performance to keep it all true to the era, from wardrobe and accessories to colloquial language and ambient sounds,” said executive producer and director Scott Swofford. Granite Flats tells the story of a recently widowed single mom, Beth Milligan, and her 12 year old son Arthur. The two move from California to the rural town of Granite Flats, Colorado to start a new life after the untimely and mysterious death of their Air Force pilot husband and father. From the moment of their arrival at the military base where Beth will be employed as a hospital nurse and Arthur will get a post-tragedy restart on life, the wholesome community is quickly revealed to be much more complex than at first glance. While Swofford brings years of experience and Hollywood connections to the production, the origins of the show come from a BYU student film project. Granite Flats is based on Heaven Under a Table, a screenplay written by BYU media arts student James Shores. Shores went on to work closely with BYUtv in the development of Granite Flats, expanding the concept of the film into a drama series. He and Swofford are listed as co-creators of the series. “This show is as complex as any Hollywood drama in terms of crew size, cast and support services, art department and logistical support,” Swofford said. “It’s not just an extreme undertaking by BYU Broadcasting standards, but by the standard of television in general.” Hour-long episodes will air weekly on Sunday nights at 6 p.m. MST. About BYUtv: Currently, BYUtv is available in High Definition and is carried to more than 51 million homes on Dish Network, DirecTV and over 800 cable systems in every state via cable and satellite. All content is additionally available via Internet streaming at byutv.org. The non-commercial station’s reach is unprecedented at any university in the world. BYUtv offers approximately 1,000 hours of original programming annually (500 hours of sports and 500 hours of content). Source: BYU News

Largest U.S. Collegiate Men's Choir Supports LDS Missionaries Through Song

The Brigham Young University Department of Dance presents the annual “Ballroom in Concert” with the BYU Ballroom Dance Company Friday and Saturday, April 12-13, at 7:30 p.m. in the Marriott Center, including a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday.

BYU Fine Arts and Entertainment Calendar for April—May 2013

The Brigham Young University School of Music will present the Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Kory Katseanes in a performance of Igor Stravinky's landmark 'The Rite of Spring' Thursday, April 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall.

Hilary Heideman Mauler and Tiffany Winkel Delgado knew ever since they were little girls that they wanted to come to BYU and study piano performace.

The Brigham Young University School of Music is offering a selection of end-of-the- semester concerts this week. Tickets for these events are available the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 422-4322 or at byuarts.com/tickets. The Symphony Orchestra will present a concert Tuesday, April 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall. Under the direction of conductor Christian Smith, the orchestra will present “Eine kleine Nachtmusic' (K. 525) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, ballet music from “Faust” by Charles Gounod, the Capriccio Italien, op. 45 by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky and the world premiere of “Shadow Etchings” by Michael Wahlquist Let by conductor Kirt Saville, the Symphonic Band will perform Wednesday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall. Highlights from the program include “American Fanfare” by James Sephenson, “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Jacques Offenbach, “Variations on a Tango” by Kyle Kindred” and “Monkey Business” by David Lovrien. Conducted by Jean Applonie, the BYU Women’s Chorus will perform Friday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall. In addition to performing music from William Matthias, Maurice Durufle and Tarik O’Regan, they will sing a selection of hymns, a medley of Beatles music and original music from David Zabriskie commissioned by the BYU Women’s Chorus. For more information, contact Ken Crossley at (801) 422-9348 or ken_crossley@byu.edu.

The Utah Press Association has recognized The Universe with 22 awards in its annual Better Newspapers Contest. The competition is structured so newspapers compete against similarly sized papers. The Universe claimed first place in the categories of Best General News Story for “ Local farmers will survive dry weather ” by Kristian Ekenes; Best Feature Story, for “Provo’s future temple evokes memories of tabernacle’s past,” by Spencer Ngatuvai; Best Sports Story for “ Utah fans help make MUSS of BYU offense ” by Daniel Lewis; Best Sports Page with “The concussion discussion” designed by Brad Davis; and Best Staff Produced Ad for “Don’t get caught in the gap” designed by James Gardner. Online, universe.byu.edu was Utah’s only student news website recognized in the competition, claiming second place behind The Park Record in Park City. The Universe also took second place in the categories of Best General News Story for “Orrin Hatch and Dan Liljenquist debate across the generation gap” by Casey Adams; Best Editorial for “In the midst of adversity: Finding strength when trials weigh us down” by Katie Harmer; Best Sports Story “Freshman running back ‘Baby J’ is excelling in first year at BYU” by Taylor Street; Best Sports Photograph for a picture of the BYU women’s soccer team celebrating a win, by Sarah Hill; Best Staff Produced Ad for “Don’t slip up” by Brett Bertola; and Best Use of Ad Color for “Don’t get caught in the gap.” The Universe took third-place awards in the categories of Best Breaking News Story for “Students react to missionary age change” by Crystal Myler, Sara Michael and Shawn Fielding; Best News Coverage throughout 2012; Best News Series for stories on BYU’s massive computer-systems crash, by Kate Bennion and Miriam Shumway; Best Feature Series for stories on Mitt Romney’s BYU years, by Katie Clark; Best Editor’s/Feature Column for “Balancing feminism: Why feminism isn’t an either-or option” by Katie Harmer; Best Front Page featuring the London Olympics designed by James Gardner; Best Staff Produced ROP Ad Campaign for Ninth East Dental designed by Brad Davis; and Best Special Section for The Universe’s Bridal Guide. Winners of the 2013 contest, with entries drawn from editions published in 2012, were announced Saturday at the Utah Press Association convention in Sandy. The Universe is BYU’s student laboratory news organization and is one of the anchors of the Communications Department. Journalism faculty coordinate coursework with the operations of the newsroom. Student reporters majoring in journalism and public relations number from 20 to 40, depending on the time of year, with another 10 to 20 journalism students bringing special-project coursework to the newsroom. The Universe operates a complete business model with revenue from advertising sales in its print, web and mobile editions supporting the bulk of its operations. More than 40 students, most of them in roles supporting their academic pursuits, fill positions as section and online editors, photographers, artists, designers, ad sales representatives, computer programmers and accounting and office staff. The print edition was published each weekday as The Daily Universe until this past April when the Communications Department initiated sweeping changes in the staffing and publication structure, moving the print edition from daily to weekly and boosting The Universe’s emphasis on its digital products. Since then, The Universe has updated its online archive and launched a new website; made several interactive upgrades to its mobile app, available on both the iPhone and Android platforms; boosted interactivity with its readers with projects like the 500-photo gallery A Day in the Life of BYU and #Ygram; and increased its presence on all major social media platforms. Source: The Universe

The Brigham Young University School of Music is offering a pair of free concerts this week:

The Brigham Young University Singers and Concert Choir will present a program of 'Good Friday Easter Reflections' Friday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center.