Arts & Culture

It's Hallowe'en Time in the Bluegrass

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 27, 2009) - The dark clouds race across the sky as the ancient face of the moon casts an eerie glow on the earth below. Silhouetted against the evening sky are bare skeletal trees whose branches rattle dryly in the shadowy breeze. Witches cackle, ghostly apparitions moan, bats flap and fly, a faint sulphurous odor emanates from a bubbling cauldron, your heartbeat starts trilling faster and louder, the hoot of an owl rends the sky, what is that panting sound just behind you? The door creeeeeaks slowly open and........Trick or Treat. The public is invited to "Hallowe'en in the Bluegrass," a free concert celebrating the holiday's traditions presented as part of "Appalachia in the Bluegrass." It all unfolds at the stroke of high noon on the eve of Hallowe’en, Oct. 30, at the Niles Gallery, located in the University of Kentucky's Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center.

Since humans have so little control over the flow of life and death (despite remarkable medical efforts with bionic bodies, gene splicing and organ transplants) it is only natural that we would want to exert some control over this uncontrollable process. Perhaps one way of at least creating an illusion of control is through the manipulation of symbols. By controlling the symbols we gain an ability to control the substance behind the symbols. Our depictions of ghosts, skeletons and graveyards represent our frail efforts to harness the power behind the symbols. Lifting the sheet on the ghost costume, drawing a happy face on Caspar, are our attempts to defrock the horror of the unknown and unknowable face of the death and life mystery.

Hallowe’en is the festival dedicated to the negotiation of life and death through playful rituals of social inversion. Participants in this concert will explore both the dark and the playful through performance, from Daniel Arnold’s rendition of “The Banshee” to Tedrin Blair Lindsay’s recitation of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Bells,” from an audience sing along of “Monster Mash” led by guest musician Rick Sipe to Schubert’s “Erl King” sung by Dennis Bender, an assistant professor of voice. Deborah Thompson, a geography doctoral candidate, will share a hilariously chilling song “The Crack” and Russell Henderson, associate professor of acting and voice in the UK Department of Theatre, will eerily recite Edward Gorey’s “The Insect God.” The spectre of Ron Pen has been known to haunt the Niles Gallery on this holiday as well.

The "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" concert series, presented by UK's John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, showcases a diverse selection of traditional musical expression. This series focuses on the many faces of indigenous American folk music, celebrating its roots in old-time music. All "Appalachia in the Bluegrass" concerts take place in the gallery of the Niles Center in the Little Fine Arts Library on UK's central campus. Niles Gallery concerts are scheduled on Fridays at noon and are free and open to the public.
 
The John Jacob Niles Center for American Music is a collaborative research and performance center of the UK College of Fine Arts, UK School of Music and UK Libraries.
 
For more information on "Hallowe’en in the Bluegrass," contact Ron Pen, director of the Niles Center, by phone at (859) 257-8183 or e-mail to Ron.Pen@uky.edu.