University of Notre Dame - Dome Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

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The International Repertory Ballet Com- pany presented two nights of extraordinary ballet entertainment on the Washington Hall stage Friday and Saturday, February 3 and 4. The Concert and Lecture Series sponsored the performances, which included such works as Swan Lake, the Pas de Deux from Blue Bird, Americana 1861, Village Mazurka, and the ever popular Nutcracker Suite. A highlight of Friday ' s performance was the premiere of Pas de Trois, an abstract ballet choreographed by Joseph Carow, a guest star with the company. In addition to making tours throughout the country, the International Repertory Ballet troupe has frequently presented all of the bal- let in Pittsburgh Opera Company productions. On February 17, the Concert and Lecture Series presented the internationally known pianist. Grant Johannesen, in a concert staged in the Navy Drill Hall. Mr. Johannesen se- lected a program of classical and semi-classi- cal works for his appearance at Notre Dame. The young piano virtuoso, a native of Salt Lake City. Utah, made his debut in New York in 1944. Since then he has toured successfully in North and South America and in Europe. He played at the International Piano Festival in Belgium in 1949, and became the first American to win first place at the festival. During the current season he was heard again coast-to-coast by his ever-widening musical public. Mr. Johannesen also composes music. He has written music for voice, piano, and sev- eral other instruments. Several of his latest compositions were recently featured by the Piano Playhouse. Visitors

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55. ual jn- His Beatitude Maximos IV, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, received an honorary Doctor of Laws de- gree, awarded by Father Hesburgh, October 20, 1955. The ceremonies took place in Sacred Heart Church. Under the Holy Father, Maximos IV is the spiritu shepherd of approximately 150,000 Milkites of the Byzan tine Rite of the Catholic Church. The Milkites use the Arabic language in their liturgical functions. The juris- diction of Maximos IV extends to all the faithful of his church living in the lands of the old Turkish empire (as of 1894) and Egypt. Approximately 20,000 Milkites have emigrated to the United States. They are served by priests subject to the local American bishop. For the seventh straight year, the Juilliard String Quartet occupied an important posi- tion in the Notre Dame Concert and Lecture series. On January 31, the group appeared in Washington Hall and featured string quartet compositions by Mozart, Beethoven and Bar- tok. Quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School of Music, New York City, the ensemble is composed of Robert Mann and Robert Koff, violin, Raphael Hillyer, viola, and Claude Adam, cello. The Quartet has been acclaimed unique among groups of its kind because of its consistently youthful and fresh approach in chamber music interpretation. In addition to playing the traditional chamber music, the Juilliard String Quartet has brought to the fore the contemporary composers whose mas- terworks had remained inaccessible due to their immense technical difficulties and new- ness of musical language. 28

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On March 9, just a few days prior to Sir Laurence Olivier ' s television presentation of Shakespeare ' s bloody and popular historical play, Touring Players Inc. performed Richard 111 on the Washington Hall stage. For those who had the oppor- tunity to see both interpretations, the Players ' portrayal of Richard as a horribly misshapen and completely malevolent character contrasted sharply with Sir Laurence ' s relatively handsome and extremely ambitious monarch. John High, a veteran of television and the Broadway stage, played the title role in the campus presentation. The feminine leads were capably handled by Margaret and Lisbeth Blake, co-founders of the troupe. The group, which is sponsored by the American National Theatre and Academy, has also appeared on the Omnibus television program. Visitors On Monday, April 23, Andrew Foldi, basso, presented a program of operatic selections in Washington Hall. Mr. Foldi was born in Budapest, Hungary, but he received most of his vocal training in the United States. Currently, Mr. Foldi is a leading member of the new Lyric Theatre in Chicago where this past season he was seen in Madame Butterfly, Rigoletto, and the Masked Ball. In the Lyric ' s first two seasons Mr. Foldi appeared in Carmen, the Taming of the Shrew, Tosca, and Traviata. He has made four appearances with the Chicago Symphony, the most recent being in Stravinsky ' s Les Noces. He has also appeared with the Rockford Symphony, the Duluth Symphony, the Kalamazoo Symphony, and the St. Louis Symphony. Last season Mr. Foldi made his eleventh and twelfth appearances in the Grant Park Summer Series. Mr. Foldi makes Chicago his home. Between public appear- ances he lectures on the Humanities at the University of Chi- cago, and is director of the DePaul University Opera Workshop.