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March 21, 2008

More Information:
For Media Only: Helene Snihur (585-274-1057, hsnihur@esm.rochester.edu)

Warren and Patricia Benson Forum on Creativity Features Artist Arthur Ganson, Eastman Composers

Warren Benson was Professor of Composition at Eastman School of Music.

The Department of Composition at the Eastman School of Music will present the first Warren and Patricia Benson Forum on Creativity on Monday, April 7. The event, which is free and open to the public, starts at 8 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall and features a panel discussion with sculptor Arthur Ganson and a concert of works inspired by Ganson’s kinetic art that were written by Eastman students and faculty.

Ganson, a self-described cross between a mechanical engineer and a choreographer, is artist-in-residence at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He creates contraptions composed of a range of materials from delicate wire to welded steel and concrete. Most are viewer-activated or driven by electric motors. All are driven by a wry sense of humor or a probing philosophical concept.

Besides Ganson, the panel will include Allen Topolski, chair of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Rochester, Associate Professor of Composition Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, and Susan Dodge-Peters Daiss, director of education at the Memorial Art Gallery. Their discussion will be followed by a concert of works for piano duo by Sanchez-Gutierrez and 10 student composers, all inspired by Ganson’s whimsical moving sculptures. Short films of the sculptures will be displayed during the performances.

The student composers whose works will be performed are Andrew Allen, Jennifer Bellor, Andrew Colella, Paul Coleman, Henry Henderson, Chad Latta, Feng-Hsu Lee, John Liberatore, Hiroyuki Sakurai, and Symeon Waseen. Students who will be performing the works are Pornphan Banternghansa, Hae Jeun Yeun, Jung Sun Kang, Marcus Macauley, Stephanie Titus, and Symeon Waseen.

The Warren and Patricia Benson Forum on Creativity, an annual event whose aim is to encourage an open discussion on the nature of creativity across artistic disciplines, is made possible by a generous gift from Warren and Patricia Benson. Mr. Benson was professor of composition at Eastman from 1967 to 1993 and was appointed Professor Emeritus in 1994. He died in 2005 at the age of 81.

For further information, contact Sanchez-Gutierrez at 585-274-1555 or csanchez-gutierrez@esm.rochester.edu

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Calendar Listing

April 7
8 p.m.
Warren and Patricia Benson Forum on Creativity. Panel discussion and concert of works written and performed by Eastman students and faculty, and inspired by the kinetic sculpture of Arthur Ganson.
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
Free and open to the public

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