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Architect James Cathcart to lecture
James Cathcart, the 2005 John and Magda McHale Fellow at the School of Architecture and Planning, is an architect, artist, designer and planner of national and international museums, public institutions and events. He is known as well for his exhibition design and intriguing interactive installations.
Cathcart will present a free public lecture at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in 301 Crosby, South Campus.
He will spend his fall residency term teaching in the school's Graduate Program in Architecture, and his work will be exhibited in the school's James Dyett Gallery, Hayes Hall, South Campus, Monday through Dec. 2. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Cathcart is a member of Ralph Applebaum Associates, the largest interpretive museum design firm in the world. While best-known by the public for his work on the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., his projects are widely published and have been exhibited in museums and galleries across the United States.
He has spent time at UB as a visiting critic, and for more than 15 years has collaborated with Frank Fantauzzi, UB associate professor of architecture, and Toronto architect Terence van Elslander in creating innovative installations and other art works relative to the "act" of building.
Their projects have included the installation of portable toilets in the facade of New York's Storefront for Art and Architecture, the arresting and beautiful "giant solid" and "giant void" constructed from 4,600 shipping palettes and exhibited at Buffalo's Big Orbit Gallery, and Slump (Building Code), in which 20,000 discarded shoes were used as building material.
"Our work dissects the projection of space and reveals the root relations of building," they write. "We work in specific situation and material. Our work is performative. The process of doing, the social, empirical, conceptual framework of the project, is the meaning of our work."
Cathcart, like Fantauzzi and Van Elslander, is an alumnus of both the Cranbrook Academy of Art and the Capp Street Project, a nationally recognized artist-in-residence program dedicated to the production of site-specific installations.
Cathcart received a fellowship in architecture from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Emerging New York Young Sculptor Fellowship from the Greenwall Foundation. He has lectured and exhibited at numerous venues nationally and internationally, including the Storefront for Art and Architecture, the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco and the Industriemuseum in Dortmund, Germany.
Gobbetti Hoffman to return to Carnegie Hall
Flutist Cheryl Gobbetti Hoffman, adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Music, College of Arts and Sciences, will return to Carnegie Hall later this month for a recital with her ensemble, Cheryl Gobbetti Hoffman & Friends.
The group will perform in Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall at 2 p.m. on Nov. 12. The "friends" include Cheryl Priebe Bishkoff on oboe and Jacob Greenberg on piano.
Hoffman previously performed in Weill Recital Hall in 2002 as part of MidAmerica Productions' Solo and Chamber Music Series.
Gobbetti Hoffman, a former member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, directs Plosion, UB's flute ensemble, and for the past two years has organized Pantasmagoria, a festival devoted solely to the flute. She also founded Who-o-o-osh, a flute advocacy group.
Bishkoff is in her 11th season as principal oboe of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and also serves as principal oboe of the New Hampshire Symphony, the Pennsylvania Sinfonia, and the Ocean State Chamber Orchestra.
Greenberg, an assistant professor of music at UB, will perform concerts this season at Vassar College and SUNY Purchase, and with baritone Alexander Hurd at Merkin Hall, in addition to the Weill hall appearance. He also will record with trumpeter Jon Nelson and will appear and record with ICE.
He and Gobbetti Hoffman are members of HEARD, the new UB faculty chamber ensemble.
Contemporary ensemble to perform
The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) will perform the first concert of the annual Slee/Visiting Artist Series at 8 p.m. Nov. 18 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.
There will be a pre-concert talk by the artists at 7:15 p.m.
Ensemble members, who include pianist Jacob Greenberg, UB assistant professor of music, also will present a Composers Workshop Concert at noon on Nov. 17 in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus. The session, which will be free of charge and open to the public, will feature complete run-throughs of pieces composed by four UB students, as well as a discussion and critique of these works in progress.
The ensemble will conclude its stay at UB with a master class at 10 a.m. Nov. 19 in Baird Recital Hall. The class also will be free and open to the public.
A uniquely structured chamber group, ICE is made up of dynamic, young performers and composers whose aim is to create, perform and advance contemporary music. The ensemble redefines classical music using innovative programming, multimedia collaborations and performances in non-traditional venues to bring together new work and new listeners.
The program for the Nov. 18 concert will include works by Anton Webern, Kaija Saariaho, Oliver Knussen, Magnus Lindberg and others. Soprano Tony Arnold, UB assistant professor of music, will join the ensemble for the performance.
Tickets are $12 for the general public and $9 for UB faculty/staff/alumni, senior citizens and WNED membership cardholders, and $5 for students. Tickets are available at the Slee box office weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at the Center for the Arts box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and at all Ticketmaster outlets, including Ticketmaster.com.
Law classroom named for Hodgson Russ
The UB Law School dedicated the Hodgson Russ LLP Classroom—106 O'Brian Hall, North Campus—with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held last week.
The Law School named the classroom in honor of Buffalo's largest law firm because of its generous $125,000 gift during the "Campaign for UB" and the many years of support the school has received from the firm.
Hodgson Russ gifts have supported the Buffalo Public Interest Law Program, the Professor William R. Greiner Scholarship Fund, the Intellectual Property Program and the Research and Writing Program, and also helped underwrite various Law Alumni Association events.
In addition to providing financial support, Hodgson Russ attorneys have volunteered countless hours of service to the school, including the Law School Dean's Advisory Council, Annual Appeal, Law Student Mentoring Program, Law Alumni Association Board, Moot Court and career fairs. Each year the firm provides space and telephones for the Law School's phonathon, a volunteer, fund-raising drive that raises $50,000 to $100,000 annually.
Albom to speak
Author and columnist Mitch Albom will speak at 8 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
Albom is the author of eight books, including "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." "Tuesdays with Morrie" is now the best-selling memoir of all time, with nearly 10 million copies sold worldwide.
Albom also is a nationally acclaimed newspaper columnist for the Detroit Free Press, nationally syndicated radio host for ABC and flagship station WJR-AM in Detroit, and television commentator who regularly appears on ESPN's "Sports Reporters."
"The Five People You Meet in Heaven," Albom's first novel, was released in September 2003 and spent more than a year on The New York Times bestsellers list. A touching story about the meaning and interconnectedness of our lives, the novel received outstanding reviews across the country. With a screenplay by Albom, the novel was adapted into an ABC movie.
The "Tuesdays with Morrie" story has been featured in many national publications, including People magazine, Redbook, Life magazine and TV Guide. Oprah Winfrey produced a major television movie for ABC based on the story that earned four Emmy Awards in 2000. With playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, Albom adapted the book into a drama, which opened off-Broadway in late 2002. The play currently is being performed in regional theaters throughout North America.
Albom has been named top sports columnist in the nation by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE)—the highest honor in his field—13 times. He has also placed in the top 5 in the APSE feature-writing category five times in the past seven years.
During his storied career, Albom has received more than 100 writing awards from AP, UPI, Headliners Club, National Sportswriters and Broadcasters Associations and others.
A book signing will follow the presentation.
Tickets for Mitch Albom are $29 and are available at the CFA box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations, including ticketmaster.com.