By CLARENCE TANG
The beginning of the Fall Semester also brings the beginning of a new season at the Harris Fine Arts Center, and Saturday at 10 a.m., the HFAC will begin selling tickets to all its theater, dance, and music productions for the entire 1999-2000 season.
“A lot of variety, a lot of international (groups) coming this year, the Utah Symphony’s got a great season going — it’s a good season,” said Paul Duerden, box office ticket manager for the HFAC.
Some of the top picks for this semester are:
World of Dance: A showcase of some of the most polished dance teams on campus — Theatre Ballet, Dancers’ Company, the Cougarettes, and the Folk Dance Ensemble — World of Dance is an annual production, which, as the 1999-2000 performance guide notes, combines “humor, skill, energy and spirit.”
Jazz Showcase: For those who love jazz, BYU offers the Jazz Showcase, featuring big band numbers by Synthesis, the vocal acrobatics of Syncopation and the swing music of the Jazz Legacy Dixieland Band.
Choral Showcase: Featuring the BYU Singers, Concert Choir, Men’s Chorus and Women’s Chorus; Choral Showcase provides a prime opportunity to see and hear BYU’s very own award-winning choral groups in action. Professional, polished and yes, fun, these choral groups perform everything from medieval motets to American spirituals.
Panoramic Steel and Percussion Ensemble: This performance “always sells out fast … because it sounds really Caribbean and exotic and people like that a lot,” said 21-year-old Scott Homer, a percussion performance major from Salt Lake City.
Men’s Chorus and Women’s Chorus: Without fail, the Men’s Chorus and Women’s Chorus sell out their performances early each semester on the strength of their talent and their reputation for humor and fun.
School for Scandal: A production put on by the Department of Theatre and Media Arts, School for Scandal is set in fashionable London during the time of the American Revolution. Written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, this comic masterpiece promises to sparkle with scintillating wit and first-rate student performances.
Celebration of Christmas: “Filled with carols, madrigals and hymns,” according to the 1999-2000 Performance Guide, this combined performance of BYU’s audition choirs and the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra celebrate the wonder and warmth of the Christmas season.
The Nutcracker: Christmas couldn’t be complete without The Nutcracker, choreographed by Lev Ivanov and set to the Russian composer Peter Illiych Tchaikovsky’s music. Presented by the Utah Regional Ballet, this well-beloved classic is looked forward to by first-timers and balletomanes alike.
Besides homegrown talent, the HFAC will also be opening its doors to a number of professional touring groups and artists from all over the country. Among the performers will be the Utah Symphony, The Mystical Arts of Tibet, Shanahy, the New York Chamber Soloists, Shiraishi Kayoko, Joshua Kane and the Belarussian Wind Octet.
If you want to purchase tickets for popular upcoming performances, you need to get them early. But beware — “Last year, when tickets went on sale for the ‘World of Dance,’ the lines were two hours long,” said Jessica Jensen, 18, a sophomore majoring in Early Childhood Education who has worked at the ticket office since last Winter Semester.
“If you’re looking for tickets for the Winter Semester or the performances around Christmas, I’d suggest waiting a bit until the lines die down. Saturday will be crazy,” Jensen said.
Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling the ticket office at 378-4322.
