Thursday, March 15, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The best guitar by far

The 2007 Tennessee Guitar Festival, which consists of five consecutive nights of guitar concerts by top-notch guitar virtuosos, will be held at 8 o’clock each evening beginning TOMORROW NIGHT in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music building. In addition to the nightly concerts, the festival—which is the largest of its kind in the state—will feature three master classes that will conclude March 21. All concerts and master classes are free and open to the public in Hinton Music Hall. Opening night will feature Dr. William Yelverton, professor of music, who will perform on both lute and guitar, along with duos with flutist Deanna Hahn, assistant professor of music. Professor Roger Hudson will round out the program, performing on both guitar and Middle Eastern oud with percussionist David Pruett.

For more information, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~yelverto/guitfest.html.

Flora and fauna from the Feds

On your next trip to our nation’s capital, check out the U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory. Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, found it to be especially impressive. One of the areas he enjoyed was the “Nature’s Barcodes” exhibit. “I learned that biochemists and botanists have teamed up in a project that will eventually produce a hand-held device that can ‘read’ the genetic fingerprint of any plant from a tropic island nest—no phones, no lights, no motor cars—and instantly identify the exact species,” MacDougall says. “First, however, they must catalogue all of the genetic information for this botanical library. Knowing how tedious such tasks are, they’ll be here for a long, long time.”

Contact MacDougall at 615-898-5265.
pmacdoug@mtsu.edu

Get into the swim of things

The works of Kenda North are on display through April 19 in a photography exhibit titled “Urban Pools” at MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery. This exhibit is comprised of color Iris prints ranging in sizes up to 33” x 47”. The images were photographed underwater with a Nikonos 35mm camera. The original color negatives have been scanned and worked through Photoshop. North will give a slide show/lecture on her work at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 2, in Room 221 of the Learning Resources Center. A reception will follow in the gallery. Baldwin Photographic Gallery is located in the center. The gallery will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Exhibitions and lectures are free and open to the public. This exhibit is co-sponsored by the National Women’s History Month Committee.

Contact Tom Jimison at 615-898-2085.
tjimison@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

FREEDOM ON DISPLAY--"Free at Last! Emancipation and Reconstruction in Tennessee," an exhibit created by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area (TCWNHA), will travel throughout middle Tennessee this spring and summer. The two-panel exhibit, which is on display now through March 30 at the Roy Bailey African-American History Center in Lebanon, emphasizes the significance of emancipation as a result of the Civil War, says Antoinette van Zelm, historian for the TCWNHA. "Freedom for former slaves was a key outcome of the Civil War, and it was the slaves themselves who made it happen," van Zelm said. "They took advantage of the presence of the occupying Union army to break down the bonds of slavery." For a complete list of tour stops, contact Laura Holder, manager of the TCWNHA, at 615-898-2947 or via e-mail at lholder@mtsu.edu.

BRICK BY BRICK--Each and every brick to be laid in the MTSU Veterans Memorial will represent the support of an entire community for the enlightenment and inspiration of future generations. The bricks may be reserved by all those who wish to honor a veteran or active-duty service member or merely acknowledge their support for the construction of a permanent on-campus memorial to MTSU faculty, students, staff and administrators who perished while serving their country. The bricks will be integrated into the overall memorial design. All proceeds will help to pay for the memorial, which will be an outdoor classroom that includes a wall with the names of the military personnel. To purhcase a brick with a memorial message, send a tax-deductible check of $150 payable to “MTSU Foundation—Veterans Memorial,” to P.O. Box 109, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Credit cards also are accepted. Address any questions about brick purchases or donations to Robyn Kilpatrick at 615-898-5223 or rkilpatr@mtsu.edu.