Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008 - (Page 13)

ARTS & CULTURE artists in residence STUDENTS WILL MARCH TO At the annual Milwaukee Irish Fest in August 2001, Silagh White enrolled in a bodhran class taught by Stephen Matier of the group Different Drums of Ireland. Between the class itself and ensuing conversations during the festival on topics ranging from culture to politics to relationships, White became fast friends with Matier and the rest of the band. Less than three weeks later, in the days after the 911 terrorist attacks, White reached out to her new friends for advice about how they had lived with violence in Northern Ireland. “I was on the phone with them in a matter of days to find some answers to how to live with this fear,” White recalls. “We’ve stayed friends since, staying in touch for life milestones and to visit whenever I could catch DIFFERENT DRUMS them at another performance.” That special bond continued after White came to Lehigh in Stephen Matier (above) of Different Drums of Ireland plays guitar at the home of ArtsLehigh. (inset photo) Roy Arbuckle (center), Deloris 2005 as the ﬁrst administrative di- O’Hare (near piano), and Matier (foreground). rector of ArtsLehigh. As a result, met with the band last month and were given the members of Different Drums of Ireland their ﬁrst few lessons on the Heartbeat piece. have traveled from Northern Ireland to South The children are now practicing regularly with Bethlehem to serve as Lehigh’s artists-in-resilocal drum circle leader Moe Jerant to prepare dence during the current fall semester. In adthem to appear on the Zoellner Arts Center’s dition to performing at the Celtic Classic in stage Jan. 22 as part of the Different Drums of Bethlehem in September, the band members are working with a group of 12- and 13-yearIreland show. old south Bethlehem students at Broughal “These students wouldn’t normally interMiddle School and Holy Infancy School, as act with each other on a social level,” White well as some Lehigh students—all with zero says. “Through the common language of music, musical background—to teach them a piece they will come together on stage with worldcalled Heartbeat. renowned artists in a life-transforming event.” The schoolchildren and Lehigh students —Bill Doherty PHOTOS BY JOHN KISH IV music TAKING THE HARD WAY TO ZOELLNER Indeed, Hunter, who headlines at Zoellner Arts Center’s Baker Hall on Jan. 16, was a decade ahead of the current retro-soul revival with his 1996 release, Believe What I Say. With no support from his record label at the time, Hunter wound up back where he started as a 20-year-old aspiring musician in 1982—busking on the streets. But Hunter says he never gave up hope. “I had emergency measures, like going to do laboring jobs through an agency,” he says. “But it always felt pretty temporary to me. Because, really, apart from lifting things, With understated wit, British soul sensation James Hunter refers to himself as “an overnight success that’s taken 20 years to happen.” there’s nothing else I’m really good at. It’s either this or manual labor. And when people see us play, it resembles manual Hunter comes to the Baker Hall stage Jan. 16th. labor anyway.” Hunter, who toured and recorded with Van Hunter has followed up his breakout 2006 Morrison as a backup singer in the mid ’90s, smash, the Grammy-nominated People Gonna Talk, with his latest release, The Hard Way, is a hardworking and energetic front man, and which dominated the blues charts through his always-in-the-pocket band plays with the most of the summer. sweat and passion that come with working to“Not bad for somebody who’s not a blues gether through good times and lean for almost act,” he jokes.—Jack Croft two decades. fall 2008 13

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008

Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Cover Story: The Dalai Lama at Lehigh Heart of a Champion Around the World in 80 Years Fighting for Children wth Autism Keepers of the Flame From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News The Last Word

Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008

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