Rozsa Center to offer holiday music, art, storytelling beginning Dec. 6

Photos courtesy Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.

HOUGHTON -- The Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts and Michigan Tech's Department of Visual and Performing Arts will host music, art and storytelling events this weekend for your holiday enjoyment.

Superior Wind Symphony presents "Wintry Mix" Dec. 6

The Superior Wind Symphony (SWS) will present a concert titled "Wintry Mix," a celebration of the music of the holiday season, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6. This music will warm hearts and uplift spirits as we settle into the dark and magic of the winter solstice, family celebrations, and Christmas. Small ensembles will play Christmas music in the Rozsa Lobby prior to the show, from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., to add to the holiday cheer of the evening.

The program includes contemporary band and jazz arrangements of traditional, classical, and folk holiday music, including Welsh, English, and Hebrew folk songs, a jazz band rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and three pieces of music in original arrangements/adaptations by Michigan Tech’s Director of Bands and SWS Band Leader Mike Christianson, including his premier arrangement of Ralph Vaughn Williams' Winter’s Willow.

Tickets for "Wintry Mix" are on sale now, $13 for adults, $5 for youth, and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee, available by phone at (906) 487-2073, online at mtu.edu/rozsa, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex, or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance. Please note the Rozsa Box Office only opens two hours prior to performances.

Hopscotch, Project Learning Lab’s End-of-Semester Student Art Exhibit, Dec. 6-10

The Rozsa Center and the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) are excited to announce "Hopscotch," their semi-annual student showcase, featuring works of art created by Michigan Tech students who are participating in Project Learning Lab. The exhibition runs Friday-Tuesday, Dec. 6 - 10, 2019. A reception will be held from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6. The reception is free and all are welcome. Project Learning Lab is an innovative arts classroom based inside of Rozsa gallery b. Work on display was created by students in Lisa Gordillo’s Contemporary Sculpture and art and design classes.  

According to Gordillo, "Students from many campus disciplines are represented, including Business, Math, Engineering, Theatre, Kinesiology, and Sound Design. Students were encouraged to work with the gallery’s architecture, to explore alternative materials, and to create large-scale installations in the space. Students studied work by contemporary artists such as Diana Al-Hadid, Ai Wei Wei, Do Ho Suh, Ann Hamilton, and Richard Serra, then spent the semester creating their own works of art."

Gallery hours are Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. and Saturday from 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Famed radio show "Selected Shorts" comes to Rozsa Stage Dec. 7

The Rozsa Center will present an evening of warmth, holiday cheer, and storytelling by the tour of Public Radio International’s hit radio show "Selected Shorts" at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec.7. "Selected Shorts," a weekly public radio broadcast, has a simple approach: Great actors read great fiction in front of a live audience. The acclaimed national radio program airs on 150 public radio stations in 29 states, attracting over 300,000 listeners each week through the live show and podcast. Featured actors include Mike Doyle, Boyd Gaines, and Kirsten Vangsness. Part of this special evening of storytelling will include a showcase reading on stage by one of the featured actors of a local writer’s "UP Winter Story." The author is the winner of the "Selected Shorts Story Contest." To enhance the holiday mood of the evening, a handbell choir will play in the Rozsa lobby prior to the show. Click here for details about the actors.

This event is made possible with funding from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Crane Group. Tickets to Selected Shorts are on sale now, Adult: $22, Youth: $10, and Michigan Tech Students at no charge with Experience Tech Fee, and are available by phone, (906) 487-2073, online at mtu.edu/rozsa, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex, or at the Rozsa Box office the night of the show. Please note the Rozsa Box Office is only open two hours before performances.

TUBACHRISTMAS is Sunday, Dec. 8, in Rozsa Lobby

TUBACHRISTMAS will fill the Rozsa Lobby with holiday music in a free concert from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8. TUBACHRISTMAS is an annual December event that occurs in honor of the first truly great tuba virtuoso, William "Bill" Bell who was born on Christmas Day. Tubists gather yearly in mass numbers around the globe to play songs of the season in performances free to the public.

TUBACHRISTMAS concerts are presented with permission from the Harvey Phillips Foundation, Inc.