SUNY Purchase Jazz Orchestra to Perform in Legendary NYC Venues

In April, the SUNY Purchase Jazz Orchestra (PJO) will continue its tradition of performing at two renowned jazz venues in New York City, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Lincoln Center and The Blue Note.

The PJO is a 17-piece big band comprised of exceedingly talented students from the Conservatory of Music’s jazz studies program. Performing jazz from every era—from staples like Ellington and Basie to more modern works by today’s leading composers and arrangers like McNeely, Clayton, Abene, and Schneider—the PJO always swings.

Playing these venues affords the students invaluable experience, according to Professor of Music Todd Coolman, the Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist who conducts the group. He hopes the students learn that only hard work and preparation lead to excellence.

The gigs also provide instruction not easily replicated in the classroom. “They perform for a real audience of bona fide jazz fans who are there by choice rather than coincidence. That audience is demanding and they expect excellence to be on display at venues of this reputation,” Coolman says.

Since 2009, the Purchase Jazz Orchestra has been performing at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in Lincoln Center. On Monday, April 22, the group will again appear for two shows at 7:30 and 9:30 pm, this time with special guest Steve Wilson on alto saxophone. Wilson is also a lecturer in the jazz studies program.

Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola is one of the three main performance venues located in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s home, Frederick P. Rose Hall, and produces world-class jazz performances nightly in an intimate 140-seat jazz club set against spectacular views of Central Park. Tony Bennett calls Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola “the best jazz room in the city.”

On Monday, April 29, the group will appear at the legendary Greenwich Village jazz club The Blue Note, a venue that PJO has played every year since 2008. This year, they’ll perform with renowned trumpet player Jon Faddis as a guest soloist, who is also a professor of music here. The Blue Note performances begin at 8 and 10:30 pm.

The Jazz Studies program thrives in the Conservatory of Music, School of the Arts, where students and faculty collaborate on a wide range of projects. Both undergraduate and graduate students are mentored by an accomplished professional faculty and take private lessons with some of the most renowned musicians based in New York City. The students also record on state-of-the-art equipment and perform in a variety of venues both on and off campus.

Based on prior experience, Coolman is certain the PJO performances at these venues will impress. “I was pleased by the high level of professionalism and musicality that our students displayed…but I was not surprised by it.”

Click here for information about the performances at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.
On Mondays, students with ID receive discounts on admission.

Click here for information about The Blue Note performances.

Click here for more information about SUNY Purchase.

Science in the Modern World Lecture Packs the PepsiCo Theatre at Purchase College

Michael Specter, staff writer for The New Yorker, engaged and entertained a large and diverse audience at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, February 6. Specter’s lecture, based on his book,Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Live, was the first in the Spring 2013 Science in the Modern World Lecture series, sponsored in part by The Friends of Natural & Social Sciences at Purchase College and The New York Academy of Sciences.In his lecture, Spector addressed and examined the question: Has people’s mistrust of institutions turned them against scientific and technological advances that benefit us and society at large?  Instead of being seen as a source of progress, he suggests, science is viewed by many as just another special interest group, with its own agenda to promote.  Accordingly,  there are efforts to ban genetically modified foods in a world where millions of people are at risk for malnutrition and starvation, and citizen groups protest the use of vaccines, one of the most effective public health measures ever developed.  Specter argued for a “new enlightenment,” rather than slipping back into magical thinking about the world we live in.

The lecture, was free and open to the public.

Future lectures in the Purchase College Science in the Modern World series include:

Climate Whiplash: What Happens After Global Warming?
Curt Stager
Professor, Paul Smith’s College, Research Associate for
University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute
March 6, 2013

The Science of Saving Tigers
Joe Walston
Executive Director, Wildlife Conservation
Society’s Asia Program
April 3, 2013

All lectures are at  the Purchase College Performing Arts Center

Purchase College Alum Jonathan Royse Windham ’11: Dance Magazine Pick for 2013

Jonathon Royse Windham, Photo Credit Cory Melton

Dance Magazine named Purchase College alum Jonathan Royse Windham ’11, one of “25 to Watch” in 2013.

Windham, 26, is currently a company member with Gallim Dance, a contemporary dance company based in Brooklyn, NY.

He began dancing at age 14 in his hometown of Vail, CO. and started his professional training at State University of New York at Purchase where he has received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance. After Purchase he was with American Repertory Ballet for a season dancing works by Twyla Tharp and Graham Lusitg. While dancing with the company he spent time working with Greg Dolbashian and the DASH Ensamble.  He has also worked with The Kevin Wynn Collective, Terra Firma Dance Theatre, Ballet Boy Productions, and Adam Barruch.

In 2009 Jonathan joined Gallim Dance, and since has performed at The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Spoleto Festival USA,  White Bird Dance, Madrid en Danza (Spain), Chutzpa! Festival (Canada).  Jonathan also performed as a principal dancer in the world premiere of “El Corregidor y la Molinera” choreographed by Ramon Oller at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the Howard Gillman Opera House. He recently finished a dance for film with choreography by Alexandre Proia.

A Dance Magazine blog post by Wendy Perron included a performance by Windham on a list of Best Performances in 2012. “Jonathan Royse Windham: losing himself in a supremely eccentric, poignantly unstable sequence in Andrea Miller’s Sit, Kneel, Stand at Gallim’s Joyce season,” she wrote.

Click here for more information about the Purchase College Conservatory of Dance.

SUNY Purchase Professor George Kraemer Named a Top Leader in Westchester County for 2013

SUNY Purchase Professor George Kraemer, environmental studies and biology, was named one of Westchester County’s Top Eight Leaders in 2013 by Westchester Magazine for his ongoing effort to reduce pollutants in the Long Island Sound.

The magazine identified Kraemer as one of eight Westchesterites “who are looking at our biggest issues and, hopefully, will alter the way we live for the better.”

Dr. Kraemer and several science students have been conducting research to prove that kelp or seaweed can help clean up pollution in the Long Island Sound. “This is an extraordinary project in which we will be part of a diverse team of scientists, fishermen, companies, and students who will share the $443,600 grant to develop a process to remove nitrogen pollution from and restore ecosystem services in North American coastal waters,” said Ronnie Halperin, PhD, chair of the School of Natural and Social Sciences.

“Our participation reflects a growing recognition in the region about the excellence and activism of Purchase College’s environmental studies and other science programs.  We are thrilled to participate,” she added.

Click here to read the full Westchester Magazine article.

Click here to read more about the Long Island Sound project.

Click here to read more about SUNY Purchase School of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Purchase College Named 100 Best Values by Kiplinger’s

Purchase College has been named to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s list of 100 best values in public colleges for 2012-13. The ranking cites four-year schools that combine outstanding education with economic value.

“We are proud to be recognized for our commitment to provide a quality educational experience while considering its cost to our students. Student success is of upmost importance to our faculty and administration.” said Thomas J. Schwarz, president of Purchase College.

Kiplinger’s assesses quality according to a number of measurable standards, including the admission rate, the percentage of students who return for sophomore year, the student-faculty ratio and the four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include low sticker prices, abundant financial aid and low average debt at graduation.

“We applaud this year’s top 100 schools for their efforts to maintain academic standards while meeting the financial needs of their students,” said Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

Read more at Kiplinger’s here.

Kindie Rocker and Purchase College Alum Jason Rabinowitz ’00 Earns Grammy Nomination

Named one of the 25 Best Bands for Kids 2012 by Time Out New York Kids, the kindie rock band The Pop Ups just received a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Children’s Album for Radio Jungle, their second CD.Purchase College alum Jason Rabinowitz ’00 (studio composition) is one half of the Brooklyn-based musical duo who, “reflect the creativity percolating on the independent children’s music scene,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Jacob Stein is the other half.

Rabinowitz is also a founding member, frontman, and primary songwriter for The Bloodsugars, a synth-pop quartet who describe their music this way: “imagine a house designed by Paul Simon, built by Prince, and decorated by The Flaming Lips and you’ll have some idea of where The Bloodsugars live.”

The 55th annual Grammy Awards show will air on February 10.

Click here for more information about Purchase College Conservatory of Music and the School of the Arts.

SUNY Purchase Sophomore Yolandri Vargas Earns Gilman Scholarship

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program recently announced recipients of their competitive study abroad grants for spring 2013 and SUNY Purchase sophomore Yolandri Vargas was proud and grateful to be among them.

Double majoring in sociology and gender studies, Vargas will spend next semester studying Urban and Rural Sociology and Latin American Writers, among others, at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic. All of her courses will be taught in advanced Spanish.

“I hope participating as an international student in the Dominican Republic will allow me to blossom into the young woman I aspire to be, shaping my identity as a global citizen and a leader in my communities. My Spanish is bound to improve along with my understanding of the Dominican people, culture, cuisine, and opportunities available to them. This improvement and connection will allow me to strengthen my roots and further develop who I am, what I want to do, who I want to be, and where I want to go,” said Vargas.

Vargas, also a spoken-word poet, spent ten days in Germany last spring with the Hip Hop Re:Education Project. The experience was transformative, sparking a newfound passion for travel. Last summer, she volunteered in Peru with the Experiential Learning Abroad Program.

“I hope the blue in the Dominican Republic’s sky and the shine in the stars slows down time a little for me to inhale and appreciate every aspect, opportunity, and person who has helped shape the person I am today,” she added.

The Gilman Scholarship Program aims to diversify the kinds of students who study abroad and the countries and regions where they go. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in Houston, Texas.

Read more about Yolandri Vargas in the fall 2012 issue of PURCHASE Magazine feature story “Rising Sophomores, Rising Stars.”

Learn more about SUNY Purchase here.

Purchase College Bridges to Baccalaureate Students Commended

Five students from the Purchase College School of Natural and Social Sciences’ Bridges to Baccalaureate Program presented their research at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in early November; two received certificates of achievement in the social science category for their submissions. The students attend area community colleges and spent five weeks last summer in a research program at Purchase College.

During the ABRCMS meeting, held in San Jose, CA from November 7-10, Frank Guillen and Maria Janvier received certificates of achievement for their studies in The Evolution of Music: Evidence for Sexual Selection (research conducted in the laboratory of Professor Meagan Curtis) and Executive Functions and the Bilingual Advantage in Young Adults(research conducted in the laboratory of Professor Nancy Zook), respectively.  Guillen and Janvier were among 278 recognized from nearly 3,000 students who presented abstracts of their research in poster form and through oral presentations.

Karen Singer-Freeman, Associate Professor of Psychology, accompanied the group to the conference and emphasized the importance of the experience. “It opens their horizons to the opportunities that are out there for summer internships, graduate, and medical school. During the course of the meeting all of the students began to consider graduate school more seriously than they had before they went,” she said.

The Bridges to Baccalaureate Program—a community college mentoring program founded by Professor Joe Skrivanek in 2000 and funded by the National Institutes of Health—provides underrepresented minority students with the academic and scholarship support that allows them to complete a baccalaureate degree program in biology, chemistry, environmental science, math and computer science, or psychology.

Purchase College received the 2011 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM)for its Baccalaureate and Beyond Community College Mentoring Program. Professor Skrivanek accepted the award on the college’s behalf at the White House on January 27, 2011.

Singer-Freeman added, “I think [the students’ achievement] is a recognition of the effectiveness of the program. It is a testament to the work that the students and faculty are doing.”

Guillen and Janvier are finishing their associate’s degrees at Rockland and Sullivan Community Colleges respectively, and both plan to continue their studies. It’s worth noting their competition at ABRCMS largely comprised juniors, seniors, and post-baccalaureate students.

Three other students in attendance were Sarafina Alexandre and Presnel Dalmeus of Rockland Community College and Michelle Correa of Dutchess Community College. Purchase College has sent students to the conference since ABRCMS’s inception in 2001.

Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College Rebuilds Sculpture for 40 More Years

A120 Stacked Pyramid, a 1973 sculpture by artist Jackie Ferrara (American, b. 1929), has been on view in several locations at Purchase College since 1998. Constructed of 435 pressure treated wood boards stacked in a pyramid, the sculpture was in need of conservation. Pressure-treated wood in the outdoors has a life expectancy of 20 to 30 years, and this artwork had been weathering the elements for nearly 40 years, at both Storm King Art Center in Newburgh, NY and Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza in Manhattan before the artist donated it to the Neuberger Museum of Art in 1998.

Fortunately for this artwork and thanks to generous funding by an anonymous donor, the Neuberger Museum of Art is beginning to revitalize its public sculpture program. Its goal—to create a campus environment where visitors have the opportunity to experience sculpture in natural surroundings—expands the scope of the Museum’s mission to create an educational, cultural, intellectual, and collegial environment for Purchase College and the community at large.

The plan includes redesigning the overall installation and presentation, conserving and relocating sculpture presently on campus, rotating the collection, seeking new loans, acquiring new artworks, and installing rewritten and newly designed didactic labels.

Since the early 1970s, Ferrara has explored relationships between sculpture and architecture in her wood constructions, which have evolved from indoor pieces to increasingly large-scale outdoor works. “I considerStacked Pyramid one of my most significant works,” she said via email.

In collaboration with the artist, Museum staff rebuilt the sculpture with all new pressure-treated 4×6 inch boards in late October. Ferrara is extremely pleased with the final result.

Click here for information about the Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College

SUNY Purchase Art+Design Professor in the Window of the New Museum

SUNY Purchase Assistant Professor of Art+Design Rachel Owens will be in residence this weekend in the store-front window display of lower Manhattan’s New Museum.

Witness as she makes multiples based on the experience of losing her Red Hook, Brooklyn home to Hurricane Sandy and the environmental and social factors that caused the disaster. See her on December 1 and 2 as she makes plaster casts of a “meal-ready-to-eat” distributed by the National Guard and inkjet prints on paper and card stock.

Below are details of the works Owens will create for sale. Her effort is the inaugural project of EMA, Emergency Makers Action. Ten percent of the proceeds from her sales will go to the Red Hook-based non-profit, Falconworks Artists Group, a community theater organization with which she volunteers. “They will be so important in the healing process for this neighborhood,” she said via email.

Owens’ is one of a spectrum of “She’s Crafty” projects by inventive women asked to re-imagine the tiny white box window on the Bowery as a space for in-site production of unique editions to be sold at the New Museum Store. The “She’s Crafty” program reconceptualizes the classic storefront holiday window display and welcomes the public to interact with participating artists and their creative processes.

MRE, 2012
plaster cast of meal-ready-to-eat
handed out to artist by the National Guard
following Hurricane Sandy in Red Hook, Brooklyn
5.75 x 8.5 x 2 in.
edition of 50

Do Not Occupy, 2012
4 x 5.75 in.
inkjet print on paper, sold with
envelope print of woven collage
combining photo of the “do not occupy”
sticker placed on artist’s home with
image of an iceberg

Sleep Well, 2012
4 x 5.75 in.
inkjet print on card stock, sold with
envelope print of woven collage
combining photo of the artists bed and
other furniture on the curb after being
saturated by the hurricane surge with a
mattress ad from IKEA which is down
the street from the artists home and
didn’t suffer any damage

Read more about the SUNY Purchase Art + Design program here.