News Releases

Lander University students rehearse for the Keyboard Festival Ensemble Recital scheduled for Thursday, March 17, at 8 p.m., in the Abney Cultural Center Auditorium. From left, are: Kevin Baggett of Greenwood, Matt Miller of Greenwood, Joseph Chabek of Anderson and Kelly Hammond of Greenwood.

Mason's BonesThe public is invited to a closing reception for the "Mason's Bones" exhibit, featuring work by Lander University assistant professors of art Doug McAbee and Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart, at Lander's Monsanto Gallery, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 10.

While sharing their talent with Greenwood-Lander Performing Arts patrons was the primary focus of a Feb. 10 visit by members of the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, the group's founder and director, Misha Rachlevsky, passed along some musical knowledge to area strings students in the form of a master class on the Lander University stage.

Trumpet virtuoso Dr. David Champouillon will be the featured performer when the Lander University Wind Ensemble takes the stage for its first performance of the semester on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

Four Lander University seniors will bring their directing talent to the Josephine B. Abney Cultural Center Greenroom Theatre during the university's annual Student-Directed One-Act Plays. Pictured, from left, are: Ashley Ulmer of Covington, Ga., Dustin Kelly of Enoree, Rachel Perry of Saluda and Madison Bull of Columbia.

Lander University assistant professor of music Dr. Robert Kelley, left, and associate professor of music Dr. Chuck Neufeld, right, will play leading roles in Lander's "Valentine's Collage Concert," coming to the Josephine B. Abney Cultural Center Auditorium on Friday, Feb. 11.

Lander University's Department of Art is presenting a diverse collection of student photography at Meridian in Uptown Greenwood through Jan. 31. Titled "Project 403," the exhibit features work by six students from Jon Holloway's advanced photography class.

Last November music students competed for a spot in Lander University's annual Student Honors Recital. Of those students, 10 were selected to perform in the upcoming recital Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 8 p.m. in Lander's Josephine B. Abney Cultural Center Auditorium.

Lander University students are playing leading roles in promoting and running the United Way's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Visual arts major Ellen Herring of Aiken designed the program's logo, poster and brochure. Business students Adam Cartee of Anderson and Doug Corn of Piedmont will serve as preparers and site coordinators.

To call the second performance of the season by Lander University's Wind Ensemble a holiday show would be a bit of an oversimplification. The Dec. 2 event will include favorites like Alfred Reed's arrangement of "Greensleeves" and a collage of traditional carols arranged by Jay Bocook, but it will also feature such diverse and musically challenging selections as "Toccata," by Italian composer Girolamo Frescobaldi; the "Russian Sailors' Dance," by Soviet composer Reinhold Gliere; and "In the Hall of the Mountain King," by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

It will be the Kelley McCravy Robertson show Sunday, Nov. 21, at 3 p.m., when Lander University's senior piano recital is slated to begin. Robertson, a music education major from Hodges, will play a challenging assortment of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin and Brahms, then join Dr. Anthony Lenti, professor emeritus of music, in a concerto by Kabalevsky.

The Lander Dance Company will grace the Josephine B. Abney Cultural Center stage for their first concert of the 2010-11 Fine Arts Performance season Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 16-17, at 8 p.m. Under the direction of 1990 Lander graduate and adjunct instructor of dance Joey Giles, the Lander Dance Company is working hard to prepare for their exciting season debut.

A new line of hats has been spotted on the campus of Lander University. Fedoras they're not. They'd look more at home in a Mardi Gras parade than on the head of Indiana Jones. Created by students in assistant professor of art Doug McAbee's "Design and Sculpture" class, the hats were made not from traditional materials like felt, but from sheets of cardboard, bent into new shapes, joined with Elmer's glue or duct tape and finished with eye-catching colors.

A chance meeting in May between a group of Lander University students and a survivor of the Invasion of Normandy recently resulted in the appearance of a new tree on Lander's front lawn. The students were in France with the "Battlefields/Battlefilms" tour led by Dr. Jean Paquette, professor emeritus of history, and Dr. Misty Jameson, assistant professor of English and film studies.

Mixing corn syrup, chocolate syrup, Coffee Mate, corn starch and a little water creates a tasty chocolate drink that anyone can enjoy. Add in the red food coloring, and what was a delightful dessert beverage takes on an amazing likeness to the elixir that satisfies the thirst of most vampires: Blood. The recipe is also guaranteed to wash out of the whitest of Victorian-era shirt collars.

What's green, made of steel and named after a 90-year-old woman? Hint: "She" won first place in the sculpture division at the 37th annual juried exhibit at Carolina Gallery in Spartanburg. Give up? It's "Lucille," a creation of Spartanburg native and newly hired Lander University assistant professor of art Doug McAbee.

Since 2003, Lander University's Department of Music has been featuring a young pianist each year as part of its Emerging Keyboard Artist Recital. Initiated by Drs. Anthony and Marianne Lenti, Lander professors emeritus of music, the recital has showcased performers such as Denis Plutalov of Russia, Thomas Chiron of France, Paul Gillies of the United States, Hsin'I Huang of Taiwan and Yoana Kyurkchieva of Bulgaria.

In September, 55 social studies teachers from the Lakelands area received a sneak preview of what they can look forward to as participants in the new Teaching American History in the Lakelands program, which is being funded by a $991,000 grant from the Federal Government. Open to 3rd-, 4th-, 5th-, 8th- and 11th-grade social studies teachers in Greenwood, Laurens, Abbeville and McCormick County school districts, the program's goal is to provide teachers with extensive knowledge of various periods in American History, while also providing guidance in teaching methods and lesson planning.

The Josephine B. Abney Cultural Center Auditorium will come to life at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 12, when Lander University's Wind Ensemble takes the stage for its first concert of the season. It will be the 10th such concert for principal trumpet player Gregg Hinton, a junior music education major from Laurens, who also plays with Lander's Brass Ensemble and pep band.

Lander University was among the schools across the country chosen to participate in a conference call with U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday, an event that gave student journalists an opportunity to question to him. Mistie Hart of Laurens, a senior mass communication major and editor of the student newspaper, The Forum, sat by the phone waiting for her chance to pose a question to Obama. The president took questions from students at four schools but time ran out on the conference call before Hart had a chance to speak with him.