Pianists Ganz and Babcock to Perform
St. Mary's College of Maryland's musician-in-residence Brian Ganz will join music faculty member Beverly Babcock in a performance of Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. in the college’s Auerbach Auditorium of St. Mary's Hall (18952 E. Fisher Road, St. Mary's City, MD 20686). The program is free and open to the public. For more information contact musicdepartment (at) smcm.edu
"Chopin's first piano concerto is one of his most beautiful works," Ganz said. "The first movement is achingly mournful, and the second movement tender and reflective, but all the sadness is swept away in the sparkling joy of the finale." Ganz will also play several solo works of Chopin, including the two Waltzes, Op. 69, and the masterful Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52. "The two waltzes are among Chopin's most beloved works, and it may well be the greatest work Chopin composed," he said.
PBS’ Gwen Ifill to Deliver 2014 Commencement Address to St. Mary’s College Graduates
St. Mary’s College of Maryland announced that PBS news anchor and best-selling author, Gwen Ifill, will be the 2014 Commencement keynote speaker. The Commencement ceremony will be held on the college’s Townhouse Green on Saturday, May 17, starting at 10 a.m.
Gwen Ifill is moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" and co-anchor and managing editor for PBS’ “NewsHour.” The best-selling author of "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama,” she also moderated the vice presidential debates during the presidential elections in 2004 and 2008.
Ifill has covered seven presidential campaigns. During the 2008 campaign season, she won the George Foster Peabody Award after bringing “Washington Week” to live audiences around the country as part of a 10-city tour.
Ifill joined both “Washington Week” and the “NewsHour” in 1999, interviewing newsmakers and reporting on issues ranging from foreign affairs to politics. Before joining PBS, she spent five years at NBC News as chief congressional and political correspondent. Ifill joined NBC News from The New York Times, where she covered the White House and politics. She also covered national and local affairs for The Washington Post, the Baltimore Evening Sun and the Boston Herald American.
A native of New York City and a graduate of Simmons College in Boston, Ifill has received more than 20 honorary doctorates. She has also been honored for her work by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Harvard's Joan Shorenstein Center, The National Association of Black Journalists, Ohio University, and was included in Ebony Magazine's list of 150 Most Influential African Americans.
Ifill also serves on the board of the News Literacy Project, on the advisory board of the Committee to Protect Journalists and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Arbor Day Foundation Honors St. Mary’s College with 2013 Tree Campus USA® Recognition
St. Mary’s College of Maryland has been honored with 2013 Tree Campus USA® recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.
Tree Campus USA is a national program created in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation and sponsored by Toyota to honor colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. St. Mary’s College achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA’s core standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project.
“Students are eager to volunteer in their communities and become better stewards of the environment,” said John Rosenow, founder and chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Participating in Tree Campus USA sets a fine example for other colleges and universities, while helping to create a healthier planet for us all.”
The Arbor Day Foundation is a million member nonprofit conservation and education organization with the mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. The Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota have helped campuses throughout the country plant thousands of trees, and Tree Campus USA colleges and universities invested over $26 million in campus forest management last year.
Margaret Mead Award-Winner Frances Norwood to hold Public Lecture at St. Mary’s College, Feb 24
As part of its Visiting Scholars Program, St. Mary’s College of Maryland will host medical anthropologist and Margaret Mead award-winner, Dr. Frances Norwood, on Feb. 24. Norwood will give a public lecture, "Naturalizing End of Life: Intersections of Nature and Culture through Euthanasia and Other End-of-Life Policies," starting at 4:45 p.m. in Cole Cinema, Campus Center (18952 E. Fisher Road, St. Mary's City, MD 20686). The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Bill Roberts at wcroberts (at) smcm.edu.