Singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson is the headliner for a trio of concerts Saturday night.

Upcoming Events

From staff reports

Natalie Stovall

Charlottesville band Sparky's Flaw

Ben Lee

Students in the opera workshop pose for a publicity photo for the upcoming production of “Trial by Jury.”

Free Concerts, Activities at SBC This Weekend
Country artist Natalie Stovall, Matt Nathanson, others to perform

Natalie Stovall — a Nashville native who has performed on the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Nashville Now,” “Crook and Chase” and at the Grand Ole Opry — will be at Sweet Briar College Friday, April 18 for a free concert.

Her performance, which begins at 3:30 p.m. in the Upper Quad, is part of “Spring Fling 2008: Where the Stars Come to Play,” a two-day event hosted by the College’s Campus Events Organization. All events are free and open to the public.

CEO president Tess Drahman ’08 saw Stovall perform in September at the National Association for Campus Activities convention in South Carolina. “She’s kind of accessible country,” Drahman said, adding, “Anybody can enjoy it, even if you’re not a country fan. … She’s a really good fiddler and she has a beautiful voice.”

In addition to Stovall’s concert, the following activities will be offered from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. April 18 in the Upper Quad: laser tag, water slides, a climbing wall, water balloon toss, volleyball and tie-dying.

Oh, and there’s human bowling, too. “You sit on a scooter and we roll you into a bunch of pins,” event organizer Margaret Barnes ’08 explained.

The festivities will resume at 9 p.m. Saturday, April 19, with casino games and a trio of concerts in Prothro Dining Room. Snacks will be provided, and with the exception of a cash bar, all activities are free.

Charlottesville band Sparky’s Flaw will play first, followed by Australian singer-songwriter Ben Lee, and headliner Matt Nathanson, who recently performed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Throughout the night, participants also can make personalized metal street signs, have their pictures taken and superimposed on scenes from Las Vegas, Hollywood and other locales, and play Dance Dance Revolution.

Casino games, including blackjack, roulette, poker and Texas hold’em, will be played in the Prothro atrium. No money will exchange hands. Instead, players will win tickets that can be entered into drawings for prizes ranging from digital cameras to TiVos to iPod accessories.

Event organizers expect about 300 people, including many from the surrounding community and other colleges. “This is probably the biggest event Sweet Briar has had in a long time,” Drahman said a few weeks prior to the event. “And we’re not stressed at all. We’re fine!”

For more information on Spring Fling, contact the CEO office at Ext. 6729 or e-mail ceo@sbc.edu .

Sweet Briar Chamber Orchestra Presents Spring Concert on April 22

Conductor Joe Nigro and the Sweet Briar College Chamber Orchestra will present its Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22 in Memorial Chapel.

Nigro directs the chamber orchestra, which includes SBC students and local musicians. Area listeners might know Nigro from his performances as a violist with the Roanoke Symphony, the James Piano Quartet and the Wintergreen Music Festival.

Admission to the performance is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact nross@sbc.edu or call Ext. 6121.

James Piano Quartet Performs April 24

The James Piano Quartet, artists-in-residence at Sweet Briar College, will perform at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 24 in Memorial Chapel. Admission is free.

The concert will include compositions by Paul Hindemith, Robert Schumann and Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev.

The James Quartet consists of Nick Ross on piano, Jana Ross on violin, Joe Nigro on viola and Wes Baldwin on cello.

For more information, contact Nick Ross at nross@sbc.edu or Ext. 6121.

Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Trial by Jury’ at Sweet Briar April 25 and 26

This month, Sweet Briar College’s opera workshop and musical theater techniques classes will join forces for a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Trial by Jury.” The comic opera is part of an evening of entertainment that also will include songs performed by students in the College’s musical theater class.

The event will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26 in Murchison Lane Auditorium at Babcock Fine Arts Center. Admission is free.

“Musical Theatre Showcase” will open the program, with students singing songs from “The King and I,” “Chicago,” “Annie Get Your Gun” and “A Chorus Line,” among other shows. “Trial by Jury” will follow.

“This has to be the first time in American history that the theater and music departments get along!” opera instructor Marcia Jones Thom joked.

On a more serious note, music department chair Nick Ross said the College’s music and theater departments have a “history of good collaborations,” including the “Soldier’s Tale” project two years ago and the Bachelor of Fine Arts program “where collaboration between the departments is essential.”

Loretta Wittman, who teaches the musical theater class, said, although many college’s have music and theater programs that “act as very separate entities … we are collaborating for the benefit of our students.

“All but two of my students are in opera workshop and even those two will probably be walk-on parts in ‘Trial by Jury.’ This made the crossover between the two projects very important. Marcia and I feel that the collaboration makes for both a stronger theater and music department.”

Wittman describes the musical theater class as one that “helps students develop the ability to choose vocal material [and] to study the material from an acting, vocal and movement prospective in order to prepare it for a musical theatre performance.

“The Musical Theatre Showcase allows students to share the work of their semester with an audience.”

“Trial by Jury” is one of 14 comic operas written by the Victorian-era team of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. The 45-minute opera tells the story of a jilted bride who sues her ex-fiancé. “[It] is a hilarious comedy and typical of the style of Gilbert and Sullivan,” Thom said.

In addition to 15 Sweet Briar students, the all-female cast includes two Randolph College students, Catherine McCord, daughter of SBC music professor Rebecca McCord, and Yelena Billias, daughter of accompanist Anna Billias.

Because “Trial by Jury” is set in a court of law, Thom and Sweet Briar’s career services director Wayne Stark thought it appropriate to add a legal component, particularly for Sweet Briar’s pre-law students.

Prior to the Saturday performance, at 6:30 p.m., there will be a “meet and greet” in the Murchison Lane lobby with local law professionals and alumna who are working in the legal profession.

“This mix and mingle and exciting theatrical show and operetta will be a great time for the local legal community, pre-law students, alumnae and others who enjoy fun performances to get together for some networking and fun,” Stark said.

Stark and retired judge and visiting professor of government Larry Janow and Stark will co-host the event.

For more information on the production, contact Thom at mthom@sbc.edu or Ext. 6221.

Students Perform April 28 and 29

Sweet Briar College music students will perform at 4 p.m. on Monday, April 28 in the annual Spring Student Recital. Held in Memorial Chapel, the event will feature vocal and instrumental performances by students taking lessons from the College’s music faculty.

At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, Sweet Briar’s concert choir will perform in Memorial Chapel under the direction of Frank Archer.

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact assistant professor of music Nick Ross at nross@sbc.edu or Ext. 6121.