Opera Honor
Opera has come a long way since its original inception—it seems more and more gets added to productions with each passing year. Kyong Mee Choi, an assistant professor of music composition at Roosevelt University’s College of Performing Arts, recently received a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship to work on a mini opera which will strive to add even more media and interactivity to the form. "This is going to be an accumulation of my music, language and philosophical backgrounds," Choi says. "It’s a wonderful opportunity to combine electronic music with writing, and along with those also be able to add a visual aspect to it. I want this to be interactive and collaborative with the performers as well." Choi will take a leave of absence from teaching her electro-acoustical music composition classes at Roosevelt in order to work on the opera from fall of 2009 to the spring of 2010. Choi says receiving the fellowship was unexpected. "It was a surprise," she says. "The process was so long that I actually almost forgot that I applied for it."

Prom-ises Remembered
Have you ever wanted to erase that embarrassing prom memory of awkward romantic encounters and bad dancing? We all do, including non-profit writing tutors 826CHI, who will be hosting a retro fundraising "Prom Night" this Saturday. "The point is to kind of cheese it up and have a little fun," says 826CHI co-director Amanda Bruscino. "Our event is definitely geared toward having a little silly fun—it’s retro." The event will feature raffles and a silent auction, including bids for a signed copy of 826CHI’s latest student publication, "Right in Front of Us," of which Bruscino says, "features some hard-hitting stuff in the kids’ lives—anything ranging from losing a family member to their baby brother being born." For more info, visit www.826chi.org.

(2008-05-13)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment