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NEWS RELEASE
Communications and Marketing Office
600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900
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For more information, contact:
Phone: 386-226-6157
Fax: 386-226-6158
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Contact: Mary Van Buren
Phone: 386-226-6525
Embry-Riddle’s Arts & Letters Series to Feature
China Expert, Persian Music, Spanish Opera, Jazz, Black History, Shakespeare
 Daytona Beach, Fla., Sept. 6, 2005 -- Noted historian Noel Pugach will speak on the shifting relations between superpowers China and the United States on Thursday, Sept. 15, as the first event in the 2005-2006 Arts & Letters Series at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
In his lecture titled “The Limits of American Influence on China: Then and Now,” Pugach will use major issues and events ranging from the 20th century to our own time as case studies in analyzing the factors that have aided or frustrated the exercise of American power over China’s internal and foreign policies.
Pugach is a history professor at the University of New Mexico and the author of two books on Chinese-American relations: Open Door Diplomat: Paul Reinsch in Action and Same Bed, Different Dreams: A History of the Chinese American Bank of Commerce.
Other events in the Arts & Letters Series, with more to be added, include the following:
 Members of Orlando Opera will present Zarzuela! on Oct. 21. The music, dance, and romance of Spanish culture will come alive in excerpts from several zarzuelas, a popular form of operetta infused with the language of love. Zarzuelas were written from the 17th century through the first half of the 20th century, with the later decades of the 19th century encompassing the golden age of the art form. Zarzuelas display an exotic mix of genres in which witty, pithy lyrics are matched with music of dazzling diversity. In Orlando Opera’s bilingual Spanish and English performance, colorful Spanish charm is combined with the comedic grace of Viennese operetta and the power of Italian grand opera.
 SAFA Music Band will perform at Embry-Riddle on Nov. 7. The 10-man group has traveled the world to much acclaim, playing traditional Persian music on traditional instruments and providing through an interpreter their own singular insight into the fascinating historical and spiritual roots of their music. The Arts & Letters Committee is especially pleased that these in-demand musicians have accepted the invitation to travel to this country, and specifically to this campus, and look forward to the cultural enrichment they’ll bring to the university and to the Daytona Beach community in general.
 Shenandoah Shakespeare Express will stage William Shakespeare’s plays Much Ado About Nothing on Feb. 15 and Richard III on Feb. 16. In the romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing, young lovers Hero and Claudio, soon to wed, conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles Benedick and Beatrice to wed as well. The history Richard III chronicles the dramatic end of England’s greatest power struggle, the Wars of the Roses, as Richard of Gloucester plots to kill everyone who stands before him in line for the throne. Richard III was Shakespeare’s first “smash hit” and Much Ado About Nothing is considered his finest comedy.
Shenandoah Shakespeare Express is known for its audience-friendly approach to theater, emphasizing the playwright’s language and the actors’ expressiveness and versatility; for example, some of the actors play musical instruments during the performance. This is Shakespeare “unplugged,” with no intermissions, no special lighting effects, and no set changes.
 Maxine Maxwell will present her one-woman show, “Echoes of the Past and Voices of Hope: Celebrating African-American Women,” on March 2. Her dramatic performance weaves in and out of the last 150 years of history to explore the turning points in the lives of African-American women of strength and courage, including the first African-American female aviator, Bessie Coleman; antislavery activist Sojourner Truth; the founder of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman; journalist Ida B. Wells, who crusaded for racial and gender equality; world champion runner Wilma Rudolph; and Elizabeth Eckford, who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. Each character comes alive with concise narrative background and subtle costume pieces. The event is co-sponsored by Embry-Riddle’s Office of Diversity Advancement.
Maxwell tours the nation with “Echoes of the Past.” She has led theater workshops and has been a producer, a solo artist, and a member of performing ensembles in the New York City area. She has appeared in “Funnyhouse of a Negro” and “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.”
 The Lisa Kelly and J.B. Scott Jazz 5tet, which has played at Embry-Riddle previously to enthusiastic crowds, will make a return visit on April 12 to perform timeless music with energetic swing. Kelly sings and her husband Scott plays the trumpet, accompanied by instrumentalists. Kelly is known for her deeply personal approach to every lyric, while Scott’s versatile style handles everything from ballads to bepop. The two met in 1997 through the jazz program at the University of North Florida and now perform throughout the United States and internationally. They frequently conduct clinics and concerts for high school, college, and professional-level students and serve as judges for solo to ensemble contests. The group will sell its CDs at the Embry-Riddle event.
All events begin at 7 p.m. and will be held in Embry-Riddle’s Miller Instructional Center auditorium, with the exception of Noel Pugach’s lecture, which is scheduled for Room A-109 in the Academic Complex. Embry-Riddle is located at 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd. in Daytona Beach. Admission is free but donations are greatly appreciated. For more information, call (386) 226-6668 or go to http://www.erau.edu/arts.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates more than 30,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Extended Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, and through distance learning.
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