Writers, Thinkers, Historians, Filmmakers, Dancers and Musicians Convene with Milton Students and Faculty Campus Visitors, Fall/Winter 2002 James Carroll Endowment for Religious Understanding As the inaugural speaker of the Academy’s Endowment for Religious Understanding series, acclaimed author and columnist James Carroll spoke to students about the relevance of religious self-criticism. (See article on page 61.) John Edgar Wideman The Bingham Lecture The Bingham Lecture brought novelist, scholar and professor John Edgar Wideman to Milton as artist-in-residence. Mr. Wideman addressed students in assembly and worked with them in creative writing and English classrooms, and at Common Ground, the student group working to cultivate the diverse School community. John Wideman is the only writer awarded the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice – once in 1984 for his novel, Sent for You Yesterday, and again in 1990 for Philadelphia Fire – and is well known for his intricate literary style in novels about the experiences of black men in contemporary urban America. Touré Touré ’89, an accomplished journalist and writer of fiction, visited English classes and Grade 4 in October. Touré was in Boston to read from his collection of short stories, The Portable Promised Land (Little, Brown) at The Boston Globe Book Festival, held at the Boston Public Library. Touré’s work has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The Village Voice, among other magazines. He was among the writ-
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ers published in the Best American Essays 1999 and Best American Sports Writing 2001. (See article, pages 32–35.) John S. Friedman Plank Lecturer John Friedman, an independent film producer, director and writer co-produced and directed, Stealing the Fire, a video documentary about Karl-Heinz Schaab, Saddam Hussein’s top nuclear spy. John Friedman writes on a wide range of cultural and political subjects for The New York Times, The Washington Journalism Review, The Village Voice, Commentary, and Mother Jones. In 1994, Mr. Friedman founded the Documentary Center at Columbia University. Kelley Peters Acclaimed hip-hop dancer Kelly Peters brought his unique hybrid of hip-hop and break dancing to campus this fall to teach a high-energy master dance class. Kelly has been a professional hip-hop and break dancer for 18 years. His résumé includes performances with Herbie Hancock, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis and an appearance on the “Killing Me Softly” music video with the Fugee’s. Kelly is a street-trained dancer who has been influenced by Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly, Gregory Hines, the Nicolas Brothers and West Side Story. Paul Taylor This fall, Taylor 2, a company of six dancers who bring many of acclaimed choreographer Paul Taylor’s masterworks to smaller venues around the world, taught the “Taylor” style to Milton students. Students involved in intermediate and advanced modern dance worked with the professional dancers.
Collage New Music The Melissa Dilworth ’61 Gold Visiting Artist Over 31 years, Collage New Music (an ensemble) has presented over 80 world premieres and more than 200 Boston premieres of works by the great composers of the 20th century. During their visit to Milton, Collage worked with students in the chamber orchestra and performed two student-composed pieces. Tod Machover The Melissa Dilworth ’61 Gold Visiting Artist Tod Machover’s music is highly regarded for breaking traditional artistic and cultural boundaries. Machover is also noted for inventing new technology for music, especially his hyperinstruments that use smart computers to augment musical expression and creativity. Milton students experienced Tod’s unique sound during a master class and performance of “Toward the Center,” a piece he wrote for acoustical, hyper-electronic instruments and computer-generated sounds. Machover’s music has been performed and commissioned by many of the world’s most prestigious arts institutions, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Centre Pompidou, the London Sinfonietta, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Ensemble InterContemporain (Paris), the Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt) and the Tokyo String Quartet.
Sinikithemba A choir from Durban, South Africa, whose members are all HIV-positive, Sinikithemba performed in a packed Straus Library. Sinikithemba performed throughout the East Coast to raise funds for Church World Services’ HIV/AIDS programs in Africa. The event was made possible by Milton parent Dr. Bruce Walker of Harvard Medical School, and co-sponsored by the Harvard University Medical School Division of AIDS and the international humanitarian aid agency, Church World Service. Professor Frank Wu Hong Kong Speaker A Chinese-American professor of law at Howard University, Frank Wu spoke to Milton students in January about race and identity. In his book, Yellow: Race in America beyond Black and White, Mr. Wu brings to light the stereotypes, discrimination, interethnic conflicts and legislative hurdles that face Asian and Asian-American people in the United States. Professor Wu’s commentary has been distributed by The New York Times Syndicate “New America” News Service and by Knight Ridder Tribune Wire Services “Progressive Media Project;” his op-ed pieces have appeared in papers such as The Washington Post, The L.A. Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Legal Times and National Law Journal. Professor Wu has testified against legislation that would abolish affirmative action before the United States House of Representatives, Judiciary Committee, Constitution SubCommittee. He also appeared as a witness before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.