KU anniversaries

Just as everyone on campus has gotten used to saying “sesquicentennial” for the city of Lawrence’s 150th anniversary this year, there are more notable anniversaries to celebrate on the Hill:

Happy 100th, KU Symphony orchestra

The KU Symphony Orchestra will celebrate its 100th anniversary as a performing ensemble with special concerts and guest performances with renowned musicians and KU music faculty. The festivities began with a special gala concert Oct 12 that featured a guest performance by Stanislav loudenitch, the 2001 Gold Medal Winner of the Van Cliburn Competition.

The orchestra is one of the outstanding collegiate orchestras in the country, presenting at least eight performances each year. It performs well-known works from the standard repertory for orchestra as well as less familiar literature, from the baroque to the contemporary. In addition to a diverse repertoire from all periods and styles, the KUSO gives performances of works by KU student composers, and has initiated a department-wide concerto competition in the fall, with winners appearing at a KUSO concert in the spring.

Performance majors are given the highest quality preparation for a professional career in orchestral playing. The orchestra serves as a teaching tool for all music majors as they acquire a familiarity with the orchestral repertoire.

Enrollment is about 80 students each semester. Several concerts are performed each season in the magnificent setting of the nationally renowned 2,000-seat Lied Center of Kansas, acknowledged as one of the premier concert halls in the United States. The orchestra also performs in KU Opera productions as well as in University Theatre productions, and collaborates with KU's Division of Choral Music in the presentation of large scale choral and orchestral works and the annual Holiday Vespers concerts.

For ticket information and more on the KUSO 100th anniversary season, visit www.ku.edu/~sfa/mad/KUSO_anniv.html

Happy 50th, Theatre for Young People

Children’s theatre at KU began in 1954 when the University Players, a student group, produced Rumpelstiltskin and Huckleberry Finn.  Nat Eek, director of the Experimental Theatre (1955-58), and graduate student Sally Six Hersh then submitted a formal proposal to Allen Crafton, Speech and Drama Department chairman, to introduce children’s theatre and creative drama into the degree program.  In 1960, the University Children’s Theatre program expanded with annual tours to perform for all Kansas City, Kan. elementary students and to the Kansas City Music Hall

As demand on students’ time away from classes increased, KU instituted a paid touring company of student actors and gave it the official name of KU Theatre for Young People in 1967. In 1978, KU became a nationally recognized Winifred Ward School for its graduate program. In 1989, KU’s Ph.D. emphasis in children’s theatre was named the top in the nation by the Association for Communication Administration.

Today, in addition to two annual productions for grades 1-3 (spring) and 4-6 (fall) on the Crafton-Preyer stage, post-performance drama workshops are now offered to area schools in lieu of touring shows, and local elementary students may enroll in after-school drama classes each semester. For more information, visit http://kutheatre.com/TYPGeneralInfo.html

To share your memories of TYP, visit http://kutheatre.com/TYPmemories.html.

Happy 40th, Juniper Gardens Children’s Program

Juniper Gardens Children’s Program began in 1964 when citizens from the northeast Kansas City, Kan. community joined with KU faculty to address child development concerns in a low-income community. The goal was to develop effective procedures to improve the developmental experiences and academic and social achievements of children. The project has grown over the years from a small, community-based research project housed in the basement of a liquor store to an environment that includes multiple community sites, projects, and investigators.

Together, the community and the University have designed programs to intervene and improve the caregiving and education received by children on a local, state, and national level. The specific projects addressed by JGCP’s investigators change over the years. However, most of the projects fall in one of the following major areas: educational research, early childhood research, parent and family support projects, technology research, and student and postdoctoral training. In 1996 JGCP was given the Research Award of the International Council for Exceptional Children in recognition of its outstanding research.

Happy 30 th, Public Management Center

The University’s Public Management Center celebrated its 30th anniversary Nov. 4 with a reception and dedication of its renovated facilities. The center, 715 W. 10th St. in Topeka, began in 1974 as the Capitol Center to provide education for state employees. It offers night and weekend courses toward a master’s degree in public administration and certified public manager and executive development programs. Faculty from KU’s top-ranked public administration program teach the classes with support from the Division of Continuing Education.

Happy 20th, Project on the History of Black Writing

The Project on the History of Black Writing at KU is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Maryemma Graham, founder and director of the Project on the History of Black Writing, joined KU's faculty as a professor of English in 1996, bringing the Project to KU from Northeastern University in Boston. Graham founded the project while at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, in 1984, when it was titled the Afro-American Novel Project.

At KU, the project, with funds provided by Microsoft and the Kansas Endowment Association, completed the first full phase of its digital project. The full texts of seventy-five African American novels written and published between 1853 and 1919 are now available through Encarta Africana: Library of Black America. For more information, visit http://www.ku.edu/~phbw/index.htm