LAWRENCE, June 2, 2008—The Lied Center of Kansas celebrated the official unveiling of two Bur Oak trees, planted to commemorate the 2009 Lied-commissioned show, Tree of Life – Origins and Evolution at a May 19 reception.
Tree of Life is a unique and distinct evening of music, dance and theatre next April 24-25. It is the culmination of a two-year collaboration of the Creative Campus Project involving several academic departments at KU and a number of resident and touring artists including the commissioned involvement of two-time Grammy Award-winner David Balakrishnan, founder of the Turtle Island String Quartet. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Tickets for the individual Lied Center series events, including Tree of Life, go on sale on June 16 at lied.ku.edu or by calling 785-864-2787.
“The Lied Center is delighted to be presenting Tree of Life next spring,” said Lied Center Executive Director, Tim Van Leer. “We’re also thrilled to have planted these oak trees. It’s a great way to celebrate this exciting show next year and at the same time, give an important gift for generations to come.”
Also present at the unveiling were Doug Wendel, Lied Center associate director; Scott Weiss, KU Music & Dance director; Mark Reaney, KU Theatre & Film professor; Matt Jacobson, KU Theatre & Film associate professor; Karen Hagen; Bob Hagen, KU Applied RemoteSensing research associate; Delores Ringer, KU Theatre & Film associate professor; Victor Bailey, KU History distinguished professor/director; Janice Lariviere, KU Chemistry project coordinator; Muriel Cohan, KU Music & Dance associate professor; David Balakrishnan, Turtle Island String Quartet founder; Karen Christilles, Lied Center associate director; Dennis Christilles, KU Theatre & Film associate professor; Carol Ann Carter, KU Art professor; Patrick Suzeau, KU Music & Dance associate professor; Jeanette Blackmar, Lied Center grant writer; and Anthea Scouffas, Lied Center director of education (see photo attached and advisory below; high resolution available upon request).
“Almost every culture, no matter how distant and different, has some version of the ‘tree of life’ story that helps to explain the origin and existence of a group of people,” said Lied Center Associate Director, Karen Christilles. “The Tree of Life performance will explore these perceived dissimilarities while bridging the supposed unrelated departments of science, humanities and performing arts. Besides that, it’s an incredible evening of entertainment conceived and created by the KU artists, David Balakrishnan and inspired by the KU community.”
The two saplings were planted on Arbor Day, April 25 – the annual observance of tree awareness and care, exactly one year, to the day, before the final performance of Tree of Life.
The Bur Oak, a slow-growing, long-lived impressive tree, has the largest leaves and acorns of all the oaks.
Admission Information: Tickets are available for Lied Series events at the following locations: Lied Center Ticket Office (785-864-2787 voice or 785-864-2777/TDD); the University Theatre Ticket Office–Murphy Hall (785-864-3982); SUA Office–Kansas Union (785-864-SHOW); and online at http://www.lied.ku.edu. All seats are reserved. Tickets are discounted for KU, Haskell and students/children (0–18 years of age). Other discounts may apply; please contact the ticket office for details. All orders may be made using MasterCard, VISA, American Express and Discover.
