December - Wingspan

24Wingspana&eDecember 6, 2010wingspan.lccc.wy.eduHoliday Gala to deck cityBy Jamille SmithCo-A&E EditorChristmas is celebrated around the world by many cultures andethnic backgrounds, which shows a melting pot of diversity thisworld has to offer.The Laramie County Community College’s annual Holiday Galawill convey this idea in its upcoming free performance Friday, Dec.10, at the Cheyenne Civic Center at 7 p.m.The concert will feature an assortment of musical selections fromdifferent parts of the world such as France, Nigeria, Germany andthe Americas.“We want to convey the celebration of the season and all of itsmany aspects,” LCCC choral music director Nancy Cornish said.The Jazz Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Collegiate Chorale and theKantorei Singers will each contribute to the concert.The variety of songs—“Sleigh ride,” “The Sussex Mummers,”“Christmas Carol,” “Russian Christmas Music” and “On This Day”—will be performed by the Wind Symphony.The Jazz Ensemble will perform “Miss Missouri,” “Hot Chocolate”“And the Angles sing.”“Little Drummer Boy,” “African Noel” and “A Christmas Blessing”will be performed by the Collegiate Chorale.The Kantorei singers will perform pieces such as “LuxAurumque,” “For Him All Stars Have Shone” and “Noel.”Cornish said, “We want to also convey all of the season’s manyaspects, from the secular parts of Christmas to the sacred parts ofChristmas, which shows the whole meaning of Christmas.”By Jeff FrerichOpinion EditorMixed media artworkby Eric Lee willbe on display beginningWednesday, Feb.2, in the Esther andJohn Clay Fine ArtsGallery at LaramieCounty CommunityCollege.A 7 p.m. receptionwill open the showthat will continueuntil Feb. 22. The titleof the show is “Closeto Interpretation.”Lee said the reasonfor the title was hisimages were not an“exacting likeness” ofhis subjects. Instead,Lee said he hoped tocapture the feelingof subjects and giveviewers a sense thatthey “had been therebefore.”Lee uses many differenttypes of paintsand styles to create hisart. Lee’s art is mixedmedia, which meansit involves mixingdifferent concepts,including makingcollages and paintingover the elements ofa collage. Lee usesnewspaper clippingsand parts of old sheetmusic to create hiscollages. After Leecreates a collage,he paints over thepasted elements. Leealso does paintings;however, his “canvas”ranges from wood todrink coasters fromlocal restaurants.The subject matterof Lee’s workranges from boats, hisfavorite, to architecture,landscapes andeven weather and theseasons. Lee said hegets inspiration fromall over. His favoriteplace for paintingideas is docks inMaine that hold manylittle rowboats. Leealso said he finds inspirationfrom drivingon Wyoming highwaysand bridges, views ofWyoming from the airChoir to CarnegieGroup to performat concert hall for second timeBy Emily SmithPhoto EditorLaramie CountyCommunityCollege’s choirhas been asked to singat Carnegie Hall inNew York City—an opportunityof a lifetime.Previously, Dr.Karl Jenkins and Dr.Jonathan Griffin recordedthe choir’s performanceof Jenkins’“Stabat Mater.”Jenkins and Griffinlater invited the choirto sing in the UnitedStates premiere ofJenkins’ new “Gloria.”“We very happilyaccepted the invitation,”said choir directorNancy Cornish.and trains.Lee moved toCheyenne when hewas 4 years old andhas been creatingart since he was inelementary school.Lee said he was goodat most subjects inschool, except math,but he really enjoyedart class. The practiceof creating art stuckwith him from thenon. Now, in additionto making hisown art, Lee teachesart at Central HighSchool in Cheyenne.The teacher positionallows him to learnmore about his art.“As the saying goes,‘the one doing thelearning is the oneteaching the lesson,’”Lee said.He gave an exampleof how one day“We are very excitedto perform somethingby one of our favoritecontemporarycomposers. To singin Carnegie Hall is agreat opportunity. Theacoustics are amazing,and the people whocome pay up to $95 tohear you sing.”The choir leavesfor New York Jan. 14and will participate inrehearsals from Jan.15–17. The concertwill be on the eveningof the 17. During therehearsals and concert,LCCC’s choir willbe joined by Englishchurch choirs Jenkinsdirects. Griffith willdirect the choir, alongwith a full orchestra.during class he mixedyellow and violetpaint, and the resultingwarm-gray colorgot him “hooked oncolor mixing.”Another advantageLee said he foundin teaching art wasthe ability to travel.During his nine yearsat Central, Lee hastaken students tovarious places, withthe most notable tripto Italy.Lee said he wasstill creating mostof the artwork thatwill be on display atLCCC. Lee plans tofill three of the fourgallery walls with newart. On the fourth wallLee plans to displaythree or four pieces ofwork that is alreadyfinished.The students havebeen raising money tooffset the costs of thetrip. “They have raisedmoney through bakesales, garage sales anda quilt raffle,” Cornishsaid.The choir will alsohave some free timeand will be able to goto a Broadway musicalperformance andan opera. “This is avaluable experience,”Cornish said. “It motivatesthem to learndifficult literatureand do it well. Theygrow so much fromexperiences like this.Whenever we get aninvitation to performthere, we take themup on it.”The choir previouslyperformed atCarnegie Hall fouryears ago and atLincoln Center twoyears ago.The choir has ashort amount of timeto learn the music.They have the weekbefore winter breaks,and even final examweek will be used forpractice.“Since they willnot have school andother activities overbreak, they can devotetheir time to learningmusic,” Cornish said.“I am really proud ofthe students for takingon such an undertakingthat is challengingto them.”Artist attempts to lure audience into familiar worldLocal mixed media artist learns from teachingEric LeeCourtesy‘LAPart3’This piece by Eric Lee as well as otherwork by the artist will be on displayin the Esther and John Clay Fine ArtsGallery at LCCC from Feb. 2–22, witha reception at 7 p.m. Feb. 2.