londay - June 2, 1997
Lifestyles
exas Music Festival swings into Aggieland
Vi
The eighth annual event showcases orchestral and chamber music
rH
By Rhonda Reinhart
The Battalion
I here is more to summer entertainment than
basketball tournaments and box office block
busters.
The Texas Music Festival, a month of orchestral and
chamber music performances, will be held throughout
the month of June. The College Station chamber con
certs will be performed at 7:30 p.m. at Rudder Theater
on the first four Mondays. An orchestra will perform on
Saturday June 7.
Werner Rose, Texas A&M music coordinator and pi
anist forThe Western Arts Trio, said the Festival enhances
summer life on campus.
“When I came here in 1988, there was nothing going on
musically during the summertime,” Rose said. “That’s
when we got involved with the Lyric Art Festival, which was
organized by the director of the University of Houston
School of Music. This program evolved into the Texas Mu
sic Festival in 1990, and this is our eighth annual Festival.”
He said the music scheduled to be performed includes
classic masterpieces and interesting 20th century pieces.
Festival participants are advanced students and
young professionals.
“These are not high school students,” Rose said.
"They must be graduate students or studying for
'fess
their doctorates.”
Alan Austin, general manager of the Festival, said the
competition for Festival applicants is stiff.
“We get applications from all over
the world,” he said. “There are about
100 accepted, and those numbers are
staying about the same each year, but
the Festival grows every year in its high
level of incredible performers. It takes
time to establish a name, and more and
more people are starting to know who
we are.”
He said a pre-formed trio from Ger
many is the Festival’s most recent suc
cess story.
“The St. Petersberg Quartet was a
guest at the trio’s performance at last
year’s Festival,” Austin said. “They
were so impressed by the group’s per
formance that they called their man
ager. This trio came to the Festival as
students and left with a manager.”
The Festival staff includes guest * f
artists and conductors, including
members of the Houston Symphony
and the University of Houston School of Music faculty.
The chamber concerts are performed by the faculty,
e arts always
for themselves. ”
J Werner Rose
s A&M music coordinatjor
professional musicians who are members of quartets, trios
and other small groups, Rose said.
He said people want to see excellence, and they will.
“The arts always speak for them
selves,” Rose said. “These concerts
will leave a high-quality impression
" " because of high-quality music and
—~ : - ipsr-V 1 high-quality performers.”
Kass Prince, executive director for
the arts council of the Brazos Valley
and one of the Festival’s donors, said
Festival organizers had to go through
a competitive grant process to re
ceive funding.
“Not all applicants get funds,” she
said. “A peer panel review system
made up of citizens of the communi
ty decides which programs receive
funding, and it is based on the pro
ject’s merit.”
After each concert, audiences are
invited to meet the artists at recep-
77 ~ ~ tions in Rudder Exhibit Hall.
“I invite everyone to come,”
Rose said. “We’ve worked hard,
and it does our hearts good to know that people are
enjoying the music.”
iving with new 'roommates' requires a few minor adjustments
| bout a month ago, I moved off campus
[I into a house with two of my friends. I have
Lmyown room, I don’t pay rent, and occa-
pllymy roommates cook my dinner
po my laundry.
hounds like the perfect living arrange-
i!,but for some reason, people cringe
tnltellthem I live with my parents.
Sjustseemed unneccessary to pay for
■campus housing when my parents
«l\ved six stoplights away from cam-
bincelwas seven years old.
Don’tget me wrong; I’m not always con-
tedlmade the right choice. There are
advantages of living at home,
tee’s family time. Throughout the
nyearsl lived in a dorm, no room-
itcevermade me stay home on a Saturday
|ilto watch Gone With The Wind. And par-
lalways think it is enticing to say they’re
jgpopcorn.
fj ’fcal scenario:
Lifestyles Editor
Me: “Mom, I’m being crowned Miss America
this evening, then I’m going out to dinner with
Leonardo DiCaprio.”
Mom: “But, honey, I made popcorn.”
. And the stuff they call popcorn just
isn’t. It is butter-free, salt-free, fat-free,
taste-free packing foam in a bowl.
Then there’s the phone. Not that I
ever get any interesting phone calls, but
if I did, it might be a little embarrassing
to have my father answer the phone. I
have this recurring nightmare that he’s
going to tell my friends not to call after
my bedtime. And I wouldn’t put it past
him. He’s a little unusual. A little back
ground on my dad: he drives a yellow
jeep he calls “the chick magnet.”
I’m also a little afraid of being grounded. Every
memory I have of high school includes having my
phone and radio taken away because of my alge
bra grades.
When I was in high school, I had to clean the
April Towery
junior journalism major
house with Mom every Saturday. When I moved
back home, she reminded me of this tradition.
And there’s nothing I’d rather do than wake up at
6 a.m. to the smell of Soft Scrub.
So far, my parents have been relaxed about
my comings and goings. I tell them where I’m
going, they get the names, numbers, addresses,
shoe sizes and blood types of every person I will
come into contact with, and everyone’s happy. If
I tell them I’m going to a party, my mother likes
to call in advance and make sure the parents will
be home.
Another problem arises when friends come
over to my house. Every picture taken since my
birth hangs somewhere in the house for all to see.
Also, my parents enjoy talking with my friends. A
little too much, perhaps.
Recently, my former roommate and her hus
band stopped by on their way out for the
evening. My mother decided she needed to take
them in the backyard, show them the garden
and make them sit down and eat some strawber
ries. She invited them to stay and watch a movie,
but they declined. Even the popcorn wasn’t con
vincing enough.
My parents are usually easy to talk to and are,
for the most part, enjoyable individuals. But
there’s a time when they’re not — when the Astros
are playing. My parents become zombies when
their favorite baseball team is on TV. This is the
only time our television is not permanently set on
Country Music Television. They wear matching T-
shirts and stay glued to the TV like two-year-olds.
I could tell them that I was nine months pregnant
and had been smoking crack in the bathroom,
and I can promise they wouldn’t bat an eye if a
game was on.
But there are plenty of advantages of living
with my parents. I can’t complain about home-
cooked meals, free room and board, help with
changing a flat tire, occasional gas money and the
chance to spend time with the people who know
me best.
And let’s not forget about the popcorn.
VIDEO
AMNESTY!
AT YOI It
Cental
2412 Texas Ave., College Station
All outstanding late
fees foe video rentals
jjprior to April 22, 1997
| will be waved when the
videos are returned.
FAMILY CENTER VIDEO
OPEN
Monday thru Thursday
i; 00 a.m. -12:00 midnight.
Friday & Saturday
9:00 a.m. -1:00 a.m.
Phone 409-696-2849
v i
roqe
Welcome Back
Ags!
Large
2 Topping Pizza
$
7.99
Offer good thru 6/8/97
Tips are appreciated.
College Station
764-PAPA (7272)
1100 Harvey Rd.
Bryan
268-PAPA (7272)
3414 East 29th St.
Open Sun.-Thur. til Midnite ,
Friday & Saturday til 1 a.m.