In Brief: March 20

Noted Caravaggio expert to speak

The School of Art will welcome Dr. Roberta Lapucci, expert art conservator of Caravaggio, tomorrow (March 21) to give two presentations and work with BGSU art students.

One of only a handful of conservators who work on the paintings of the Baroque master Caravaggio, Lapucci comes to BGSU from Florence, Italy, where she is the Chief Art Conservator at BGSU’s study abroad institution Studio Arts Center International (SACI), in Florence.

Her first talk, “Caravaggio and Optics (or, Caravaggio Photographer),” will begin at 12:30 p.m. in 204 Fine Arts Center. The lecture should last about 45 minutes, with a brief question-and-answer period afterward. It is free and open to the public.

Lapucci will focus on Caravaggio's "photographic" techniques. She argues that aspects of his artistic process, recently discovered through technical analysis, suggest that he was familiar with an early form of the camera obscura and was experimenting with phosphorescent pigments made from fireflies and other luminous insects. She has collaborated with painter David Hockney and others to publish a brief book on "Caravaggio and Optics," and has also published extensively on other aspects of Caravaggio's work.

At 3:30 p.m. in 1024 Fine Arts Center, she will give a 40-minute presentation of the art conservation projects that she and BGSU and other SACI students have performed in conjunction with the Beni e Culturali of Florence. Anyone interested in art conservation and/or the SACI program will be especially interested in this presentation.

For more information, contact Dr. Allie Terry-Fritsch at alterry@bgsu.edu.

Percussion/piano quartet Yarn/Wire to play in Bryan

Yarn/Wire, a quartet of two pianists and two percussionists, will perform at 8 p.m. March 24 in Bryan Recital Hall at the Moore Musical Arts Center. The concert is free and open to the public, and features works by Luciano Berio, Aaron Helgeson, Alex Mincek, Eric Wubbels and Phillip Scheussler. The performance is part of the Music at the Forefront concert series sponsored by BGSU’s MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music.

As a quartet, percussionists Ian Antonio and Russell Greenberg and pianists Laura Barger and Ning Yu are noted for their “spellbinding virtuosity” and “restlessly curious” programming, according to Time Out NY. The ensemble is admired for the energy and precision it brings to performances of today's most adventurous music. Founded in 2005, Yarn/Wire has rapidly expanded the repertoire for its exciting instrumentation, and the results of commissioning and collaborative initiatives point toward the emergence of a new and lasting body of work that is "spare and strange and very, very new," said Time Out.

Recent season highlights include appearances on the River to River Festival, Miller Theatre’s Composer Portraits, Festival of New American Music, and at La MaMa; performance and educational residencies at Princeton, Stanford, UC Santa Cruz, and ISSUE Project Room, and a recording residency at EMPAC in Troy, N.Y. Yarn/Wire’s performances can be heard on Carrier Records and upcoming releases from the Wergo and Populist labels.

Music at the Forefront is an annual concert series featuring performances by accomplished and innovative performers of contemporary music. For more information, contact Kurt Doles at the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music at 419-372-2685 or at kdoles@bgsu.edu.