Striking a New Note
Change amid continuity at A Note to You
By Daniel Penrice
Like an old standard played in a surprising new key, one of Northeastern's
most enduring musical offerings will soon start sounding different. This
fall, Virginia Eskin-a well-known concert pianist who lectures in the music
department-is taking over as host of the public radio show A Note to You
and promising her listeners a fresh and exciting listening experience.
One of public radio's longest-running classical music programs, A Note
to You was created by the late Roland Nadeau, the founder of the university's
music department and one of Northeastern's most visible ambassadors for
the arts. As host of the show from its premiere in 1963 until his death
last year, Nadeau brought both erudition and a distinctly professorial
style to teaching a radio audience about music.
Eskin, a frequent and popular guest on her predecessor's program, now
wants to give A Note to You a more contemporary sound. "Roland was
a lecturer," she observes. "But the style nowadays, in the classroom
and on radio, is more interactive." In addition to engaging in more
give-and-take with guests, Eskin wants to attract new listeners by expanding
the show's repertoire and picking up the tempo.
One of Eskin's plans is to bring a more global perspective to A Note
to You, which has always focused on the Western classical tradition. "I
would like to make juxtapositions-never forgetting that classical music
is the fulcrum of this show-and branch out to listen to different harmonies
and rhythms," Eskin says. "So I might say, for example, 'Let's
analyze what these Bulgarian throat singers are singing. Are they singing
in overtones?' "
Even within the Western tradition, Eskin will focus on more than just
classical music. The four new programs that she and A Note to You's new
producer, Alan McLellan, have prepared for this fall include segments on
ragtime and Dixieland jazz.
The installment on ragtime illustrates another of Eskin's major interests:
showcasing music by unknown or neglected composers. After paying due deference
to Scott Joplin, she goes on to explore rags composed by female contemporaries
of Joplin, his protégé Joseph Lamb, and living composers.
Eskin seems to take particular delight in revealing that women of Joplin's
era wrote ragtime: "This was saloon music," she points out, "and
these women were supposed to be in the salon."
That sociological spin is characteristic of Eskin's approach. She enjoys
bringing a wide variety of disciplines to explaining music, using physics,
for example, to talk about medieval melodies: "In the Middle Ages,"
she explains, "the language of music is nothing but math, and it's
very tied to alchemy and the stars-they're really trying to get a grip
on meaning and matter."
Besides broadening A Note to You's range of reference, Eskin also wants
to quicken its pace. In an era when people listen to the radio in the midst
of busy, distraction-filled lives, she feels a mandate to be lively and
entertaining. "If a listener learns something along the way,"
she says, "so much the better."
A Note to You, now carried by twenty-nine public-radio stations around
the country, is produced by Northeastern in conjunction with WGBH Radio
in Boston. The show's studio, along with offices for Eskin and McLellan
(who comes to N.U. from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), is in Ryder
Hall. In the Boston area, A Note to You can be heard on WGBH (89.7 FM)
on Sundays from 6 to 7 a.m. The first four all-new segments will be broadcast
on November 8, 15, and 29, and December 27; updated programs from the show's
archives will air on the other remaining Sundays of 1998. The show's first
all-new season begins January 3, 1999.
CALENDAR
THEATER
Sweeney Todd, N.U. Theatre Department, November 1214 and 1821,
Studio Theater, 8 p.m. Directed by Del Lewis. $15, $12. 373-2247.
ART
"Recreation and Remediation: A Plan for San Francisco's Mission
Bay," an exhibit with Richard Sommer, associate professor at Harvard
Graduate School of Design, through November 20, Ryder Hall lobby, 7 a.m.
to 11 p.m. 373-2083.
MUSIC
"The Music of Jewish People: A Multiethnic Approach," November
19, Curry Student Center Ballroom, noon. 373-2440.
Dale Clark: Artist-in-Residence, December 3, Curry Center Ballroom,
noon. 373-2440.
Choral Society Fall Concert, December 5, St. Ann University Parish,
68 St. Stephen Street, 8 p.m. 373-2440.
Concert Band Fall Concert, December 6, Blackman Auditorium, 7 p.m. $5;
$3 for students. 373-2440.
Chorus Open Sing of Handel's Messiah, December 7, Curry Center, noon.
373-2440.
Orchestra Fall Concert, December 8, Curry Center Ballroom, 7:30 p.m.
373-2440.
Jazz Ensemble, December 10, Studio Theatre, 150 Curry Student Center,
8 p.m. 373-2440.
Second Annual Jazz Mini-Festival, December 10, Curry Student Center
Ballroom, noon. 373-2440.
LECTURES
"The Men of Brewster Place," by Gloria Naylor, author of The
Women of Brewster Place, November 5, Blackman Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. $10,
$7.50, and $5. 373-2247.
U.S. Representative John Lewis of Georgia, November 8, Raytheon Amphitheater,
Egan Research Center,
7 p.m. Lewis will receive the 1998 Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment
Award for his dedication to equal rights. A Ford Hall Forum lecture. 373-5800.
Carol Browner, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
November 11, Boston Center for Adult Education, 5 Commonwealth Avenue,
noon. A Ford Hall Forum lecture. 373-5800.
"Post-Industrial Promises," by Ellen Dunham-Jones, associate
professor of architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, November
12, Classroom Building, 5:30 p.m. 373-2083.
"Santiago Calatrava: The Poetry of Structure and Matter,"
by Enrico Sicignano, professor, School of Engineering, University of Salerno,
Italy, November 19, Classroom Building, 5:30 p.m. 373-2083.
"The Culture of Censorship," by Wendy Kaminer, author, social
critic, and public policy fellow at Radcliffe College, November 19, Old
South Meeting House, 7 p.m. A Ford Hall Forum lecture. 373-5800.
"A Picture Is Not an Argument," by Leonard Peikoff, national
syndicated radio talk-show host, November 22, Blackman Auditorium, 7 p.m.
A Ford Hall Forum lecture. 373-5800.
"Obstacles to Chinese Women's Human Rights in Economic Transition,"
by Yuefen Xu, attorney for the All China Women's Federation, December 2,
Frost Lounge, 3 p.m. 373-4984.
CONFERENCES
International Conference on Hate Crimes, November 6, Raytheon Amphitheater,
Egan Research Center.373-3983.
ETC.
1998 Sport in Society Annual Banquet and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony,
November 10, World Trade Center, Boston, 5:30 p.m. 373-3159.
African-American Institute Thirtieth Anniversary Finale and Kwaanza
Celebration, December 4, African-American Institute, 5 p.m. 373-3143.
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