Traveling Abroad to Learn the Music of London
Pictured are (left-right): Andy Thomas '03, Jane Cary, Mike Bridge '03, Dan Saltino '04, Dan Moar '04, Sue Maguire '03, Matt Norman '03, Dan Sheron '04, Bik Quen Ng '03, Kristin Prem '03, Marisa Kossakowski '03, Melissa Polec '03, Jeanne Gephart '03

Jane Cary is pulling double duty this semester. In addition to teaching fine arts music here at Canisius, she is the seminar leader for twelve Canisius students studying at the University of North London.

Jane recently returned from a week in London, where she helped her students begin their studies which includes exploring the music of London. The renaissance music in England (madrigals and instrumental music), Handle (Messiah, Water Music Suite) and English music of the 19th and 20th centuries are among the topics.

Jane says touring the homes of famous composers and taking in the London theatre were the highlights of the trip. You can learn more by reading Jane's London journal below.

The Canisius College Study Abroad Program is coordinated by Esther Northman, director of International Student Programs.

London Journal
by Jane Cary

I met twelve Canisius students at the Buffalo International Airport on Friday, January 18 to begin our trip to London. We arrived at 8:15 a.m. London time on Saturday, and were met at the airport by Chris Rolfe from the University of North London. The first order of business was for the students to get settled in their flats and me in the hotel.

On Sunday, January 19, Chris guided us on a walking tour that included several points of musical interest. We visited the house where Mozart lived in 1764 at the age of eight when his father was ill; the place where Chopin gave his first public London performance in 1845; and a walk through Green Park where Handle directed the performance of the Royal Fireworks Suite. We ended the afternoon by attending a song service at Westminster Cathedral, hearing the men and boys cathedral choir.

Mozart's residence		Chopin's residence

Our evening activities featured a great variety of concerts, theater, and workshops. Monday we saw the play "Stones in His Pockets", compliments of Ken Sroka, at the Duke of York's Theatre. Wonderful acting!

Tuesday the students and I took part in a "gamelan" workshop at the Royal Festival Hall. (Gamelan is a type of orchestra found in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia that is basically percussion instruments such as gongs, drums, chimes, and marimba-type instruments.) Playing these instruments was fun for everyone, regardless of musical background; all students were able to make music as an ensemble. After the workshop we attended a concert of Mozart and Brahms at Queen Elizabeth Hall presented by the London Mozart Players. The concert was outstanding and we were in good company as it was also attended by "TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex" sitting three rows in front of us!

Andy Thomas at the gamelan workshop

Wednesday was a change of pace with a performance of "My Fair Lady" at the Theatre Royal Drury. We had already walked through Covent Garden (the marketplace and the Royal Opera House), so the students had a better understanding of the setting in the beginning of "My Fair Lady."

Thursday evening we attended a concert celebrating the 400th anniversary of the English composer William Lawes. It was an interesting combination of instruments featuring harp, violin, theorbo, guitar, and bass viol. Emma Kirkby, well known for her interpretation of early English songs, was the soprano soloist.

Other group activities included looking at early instruments at the Victoria and Albert Museum and a trip to Westminster Abbey. Shopping was a must during free time as well as general exploring of London. On my own I had a chance to walk through the house where Handle lived in London close to 50 years and where he composed Messiah.

As you can see, the week was packed full of musical activities and a lot of walking. London is a fabulous city, and Chris Rolfe from the University of North London did a wonderful job in making arrangements for the concerts, and being a great host.

Congrats to the Following 2002 MLK Award Recipients:

Elizabeth Bocchino '02		Dr. Ellen Conley		Patty Grasso

Dr. Kenneth Sroka		Dr. E. Roger Stephenson

Patty Grasso, secretary for public relations, who received the MLK Staff Award; Dr. Ellen Conley, vice president of student affairs, who received the MLK Administrator Award; Dr. Kenneth Sroka, professor of English, and Dr. E. Roger Stephenson, professor of English, who are co-recipients of the MLK Faculty Award; and Elizabeth Bocchino '02 who received the MLK Student Award.

Recipients were selected based upon their proven qualities that foster equality, fairness, human/civil rights and justice. They will be recognized during the Spring Honors Convocation in April.

MLK Poetry Contest Winners
The following are the winning poems from the MLK Poetry Contest for faculty, administration and staff. Judges for this year's contest were Celeste Lawson, executive director of the Buffalo and Erie County Arts Council; Dr. Joseph Lovering, professor emeritus of English; and Dr. LaVerne Seales-Saley, assistant professor of modern languages.

First Place (Prize - $200.00)

Conversion
by Dr. Michael Gent, professor of management marketing

September '58 I played junior high football
In suburban Birmingham.  I sweated through daily drills,
Awkward and slow; I dressed but seldom played, never started.

My friend Tom Carver's father was on the White Citizens Council.
Tommy and I discussed the news of the day like two old men
Sitting on the steps of some white-columned county courthouse;
We whooped it up when up in Harlem a black woman stabbed
Martin Luther King.

Segregation was still the order of things-separate washrooms
And drinking fountains, separate seating on buses and
In movie theaters, separate jobs, separate schools,
Separate neighborhoods-separate but not equal.

I wanted things to stay the same while I grew up, I wanted them
To wait.  That was before Bull Connor, the horses and the dogs,
The Church bombing, before the "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

Martin Luther King wrote "Why Can't We Wait" in 1964,
And that summer I couldn't sleep-I sweated through
The nightly drills: the comfortable White prejudices
Running up against the old insufferable Black injustices.
Finally in late July I slept; I no longer wanted them
To wait.  It was a start.

Second Place (Prize - $100.00)

No More Redeemers
by Dr. Jerome Neuner, associate vice president of academic affairs

When I took it upon myself to save mankind,
I did not abhor the Virgin's womb,
But gave my Son to a woman
So He would be both human and divine.
And so a woman was the co-redeemer of them all,
Enough to solve the differences, I thought.

But how the tribes and races war!
How could they have become so many?
No more redeemers for them.  This time
They will have to save themselves.
I'll send some who have a special fire,
They will all come to bloody ends, no doubt.

I‚m good at making saints and prophets.
That‚s the most I'll do this time around.
They will have to sort it out with what they have:
A few holy books, a few good examples,
A few heroes and heroines to show them how.
No more resurrections, there'll only be that one.

I hope they can go forward, more and more.
I do still love them as I did before.

Third Place (Prize - $50.00)

Help Wanted 
by Maureen Hidy, payroll technician for the Controllers Office

Spiritually motivated,
Courageous individual
Needed to bring hope and healing
To a wounded nation.

Position has been vacant
Since April 4, 1968.

Duties include:
Ability to motivate large groups of people to action,
Using forgiveness and non-violence as a means to reconcile.

Ability to follow his conscience despite
Political agenda or personal cost.

Ability to stand up and be counted,
As a citizen of the Brotherhood of Man,
Encouraging others to do the same.

Compassion, Courage, Conscience,
Service, Dignity, and Love,
Required.
Search within,
And apply.

Because even as hatred has changed its name,
From Racist to Terrorist,
It still remains,
An evil uncontained.