Larry Berk Words & Music

The Words and Music Series, begun in 2008, is sponsored by Ulster Community College Foundation, Inc., and is dedicated to the late Larry Berk, Dean of Library and Information Services, who initiated cultural events that have brought renowned writers, artists, and musicians to the college and the community. This series focuses on the multi-disciplinary blending of music and the spoken word.

 


2011 Words and Music Guest

An Evening of Harp and Sung Poetry with Julia Haines

7:00 p.m., September 22, 2011
Vanderlyn Hall Student Lounge


Her visionary ecological rant, "Let's Enjoy Global Warming While It's Fun," has been a favorite podcast of Penn Futures for the past few years. The Words and Music Series is sponsored by the Ulster Community College Foundation, Inc. and is dedicated to Larry Berk.

For more information about Julia Haines, visit the following sites:
Julia Haines Website
The Night Owl Show, Julia & Sue at the Reservoir, Woodstock,1982 (video)

Julia Haines

 


2010 Words & Music Guest

An Evening with Jules Shear


7:00 p.m., October 7, 2010
Vanderlyn Hall Student Lounge

Shear is an influential American singer, songwriter and guitarist who as the guest artist for the Words and Music Series will conduct a musical workshop and perform an original new song-cycle called "The Surreal Housewives of Woodstock." 

Shear has recorded close to 20 albums and conceived and hosted the first 13 episodes of the MTV series "Unplugged". His songs have found commercial success through other artists including Cyndi Lauper. The Words and Music Series is sponsored by the Ulster Community College Foundation, Inc. and is dedicated to Larry Berk.
 

Jules Shear

 


2009 Words & Music Guest

Peter Rogen & Rumi Night of Poetry, Music & Whirling Dance

The Words and Music Series, sponsored by the Ulster Community College Foundation, Inc., and dedicated to the late Larry Berk, Dean of Library and Information Services, who initiated cultural events that have brought renowned writers, artists, and musicians to the College and the community, presents Rumi Night of Poetry, Music & Whirling Dance as the fall 2009 offering.  

Rumi Night of Poetry, Music and Whirling Dance
7:00 p.m., October 24, 2009

Vanderlyn Hall Student Lounge

Come join us for a fascinating dramatic/musical presentation of the 13th century Persian poet, Jalaluddin Rumi. Enjoy Rumi¹s mystical poetry and "teaching stories" with Amir Vahab reading in Farsi and Peter Rogen in English.

Musicians Amir and Arsalaan accompany on original Persian and Turkish instruments highlighted by the whirling dervish dances.

Rumi


2008 Words & Music Guests

Mikhail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine

Comedy and Music with Mikhail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine
Vanderlyn Hall Student Lounge, SUNY Ulster

7:30 p.m., September 13, 2008

The polymorphously oxymoronic poet and plagiarist Mikhail Horowitz and the gastronomically anachronistic guitarist Gilles Malkine will perform a 24-kazoo salute to academia, unauthorized and unforgivable versions of great works of literature, and their usual panoply of folk-song parodies and political squibs. They’ll be aided and abetted by Harvey Kaiser on reeds, Charlie Kniceley on bass, and several guests who, understandably wish to remain anonymous.

Mikhail Horowitz, comedian, satirist, and poet, and Gilles Malkine, guitarist and comic sidekick will perform spoofs of great literature, musical parodies, and satiric commentary on contemporary society and politics on Saturday, September 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Vanderlyn Hall, Student Lounge (second floor) on the Stone Ridge campus of SUNY Ulster. They’ll be accompanied by Harvey Kaiser on reeds, Charlie Kniceley on bass and other guest artists. The free performance is the first event in the Words and Music Series, sponsored by the Ulster Community College Foundation, Inc., and is dedicated to the late Larry Berk, Dean of Library and Information Services, who initiated cultural events that have brought renowned writers, artists, and musicians to the college and the community.

Horowitz and Malkine

Mikhail Horowitz describes the duo’s upcoming performance at SUNY Ulster as “neo-vaudeville: poetry, acoustic music—blues, jazz, country, roots music-- parodies of folk tunes and political and social satire.” The entire second half of the show will be one long performance piece entitled “ Conspicuous Christopher Columbus Consumption ,” his take on the origins and lunacy of current-day consumerism. He calls it a combination of guerilla theater, slapstick, singing, and even a slide show.

Horowitz and Malkine have been performing together in the Hudson Valley since 1989 and have a large and enthusiastic following. In addition to performing his own work as an actor and musician, Mikhail Horowitz is a poet, playwright, and journalist. His published poetry books include
Big League Poets , The Opus of Everything in Nothing Flat , and his newest, Rafting Into the Afterlife . He has also produced a CD of jazz fables, The Blues of the Birth . Horowitz and Malkine have collaborated on two CDs: Live, Jive, & Over 45 and Poor, On Tour, and Over 54 . Horowitz is a member of Actors & Writers, a playwriting and performing group based in Olivebridge and is also an editor in the Publications Office of Bard College. Gilles Malkine is a musician and composer who has recorded with John Sebastian, Billy Faier, and his mother, renowned Breton folksinger, Sonia Malkine and performed with Tim Hardin at the original Woodstock Festival in 1969, as well as many other musicians.

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