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An Offbeat Method to Learn Drama

Terry John Converse, right, during an acting session in India. Photo by The New Indian Express.
Terry John Converse, right, during an acting session in India. Photo by The New Indian Express.

A group of theatre students in Thycaud, India, sat in the sweltering summer heat, under a huge tree, and threw sharp words at each other as part of a drama workshop. The day’s guest was Terry John Converse, WSU emeritus professor of theatre, who specializes in acting with “neutral mask.”

Converse arrived in the city after journeying through Kolkata, Darjeeling, Varanasi, Jaipur, and many other places in India. Last year, he was in Kochi at Lokadharmi Centre for Theatre Training, Research and Performance for a Fulbright program on learning the mass acting technique.

“There is a step-by-step process for teaching acting in a group. Everyone gets involved in it,” said Converse. Now 68, he has a 30-year-academic experience in theatre, which he finds “helps to keep him young.”

Read more about it in The New Indian Express

March 25, 28: Pullman native returns for vocal concert

Kristofer Barber
Kristofer Barber

An international performer who got his childhood start in Pullman’s Summer Palace and WSU’s opera program will return to share his talent and experience in a concert and master class in late March.

“Coming back to share what I’ve learned and how I’ve grown is very meaningful,” said Kristofer Barber, a singing actor based in Amsterdam who has performed more than 35 roles in the United States and Europe.

He will conduct a free, public master class 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, in Kimbrough Hall B42 and a free, public voice recital at 8 p.m. Friday, March 28, in Bryan Hall. In concert, he will perform works by Handel, Beethoven, Peterson-Berger, Hahn and Hoiby.

“The songs I’ve selected are a very personal reflection of my own musical journey,” Barber said.

Find out more about his journey and events in Pullman

WSU jazz studies earns honors at Hampton jazz festival

Michado Mijiga
Michado Mijiga

The WSU jazz studies program in the School of Music was recognized at the recent 2014 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho.

WSU saxophonist Michado Mijiga was selected from soloists on the festival’s College Day to perform at Hamp’s Club that evening. He also competed and was chosen as a featured soloist with the Lionel Hampton Youth Jazz Orchestra in the final evening’s concert.

The WSU Jazz Big Band, under the direction of Greg Yasinitsky, professor and director of the school, was selected to present an invited performance during the evening Young Artists Concert.

Read more and watch the video.

Yasinitsky inducted into state music educators hall of fame

Greg Yasinitsky
Greg Yasinitsky

Greg Yasinitsky, Regents professor and director of the WSU School of Music, recently was inducted into the Washington Music Educators Hall of Fame, part of the national organization. The honor recognizes exceptional support, inspiration and contribution to the growth and development of music education, both public and private, in the state.

Yasinitsky is also recipient of a 2014 ASCAP-Plus Award for composition from the American Association of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and an arts excellence award from the WSU Student Entertainment Board.

More musical achievements for Yasinitsky

Biology and physics students contribute to Elwha insect research

Last spring, entomology professor Richard Zack brought to Washington State University hundreds of thousands of insect specimens collected before removal of the 100-year-old Elwha dam in the Olympic National Park. He is leading a project to sort, identify and curate the insects and create a database to provide insight into how the Elwha Valley ecosystem might change in the next several decades. Changes in insects will play a key role in how the new ecosystem develops.

But where do you start when you have hundreds of thousands of bugs to organize? With the beetles, said WSU biology student Laura Hamada, who plans to pursue insect taxonomy. She and fellow student Noah Austin, a WSU double major in physics and music, work in a lab in the entomology department where they sort, prepare and identify the aquatic bugs, caddisflies, mayflies, stoneflies, true flies and beetles. Eventually, most of these specimens will be sent to specialists for specific identification.

Read the full story and watch a video about understanding the Elwha ecosystem