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KU students to present at Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol
LAWRENCE — Undergraduate researchers from the University of Kansas will join their peers from other Kansas Board of Regents public four-year universities to present their projects March 1 as part of Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol. The presenters include students from Mission, Mulvane, Overland Park and Topeka.
Chamber opera musicians explore autism in new work
LAWRENCE – The partnership between University of Kansas School of Music faculty member Roberta Gumbel and New York-based composer Susan Kander continues to blossom. The latest evidence of that will be the first workshop production of their new chamber opera, “Carry My Own Suitcase,” March 3-4 in the Robert Baustian Theatre in Murphy Hall.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Matt Downen, Center for Undergraduate Research, [email protected], @ugresearchKU
KU students to present at Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol
LAWRENCE — Undergraduate researchers from the University of Kansas Lawrence and Medical Center campuses will present their research projects March 1 as part of Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol.
KU undergraduate students will join their peers from other Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) public four-year universities in virtual poster presentations to other students, faculty, KBOR members, state lawmakers and members of the public from across the state of Kansas. The event is intended to raise awareness of the research being conducted by undergraduate students at state universities.
Presentations can be viewed online through March 8.
The presenters are listed below by name, year of study, major, mentor, and title of research project:
From KU Lawrence
1. Albert Park, a junior in molecular, cellular & developmental biology from Overland Park mentored by Heng Du, “Analysis of OSCP Degradation in Alzheimer’s Disease.”
2. Alexander Erwin, a senior in economics from Overland Park mentored by Franek Hasiuk, “Enhanced Oil Recovery in Kansas: A Continuous Time Model.”
3. Navya Singh, a junior in biochemistry from Chandigarh, India, mentored by Laird Forrest, “Synthesis of a Hyaluronic Acid-Deferoxamine Conjugate for Local Treatment of Bone Regeneration.”
4. Tessie May, a junior in chemical engineering mentored by Mark Shiflett, “Project EARTH (Environmentally Applied Research Toward Hydrofluorocarbons): Mixed Matrix Membrane.”
5. Vivian Marshall, a senior in biology from Topeka mentored by Raymond Pierotti, “The Responses of Two Budgerigars to Music and Bird Calls.”
From KU Medical Center
1. Camille Henderson, a senior in nursing from Mission mentored by Kristi Williams, “Elderspeak Within Family Caregiving: The Impact of Relationship and Gender on Elderspeak Use with Dementia Care Recipients.”
2. Hanna Mouak, a senior in nursing from Mulvane mentored by Barb Polivka, “COVID-19 and Adults with Asthma.”
3. Mallory Peterman, a senior in nursing from Overland Park mentored by Laura Klenke-Borgmann, “The Long-term Transferability of Learning via In-class Simulations to Nursing Practice: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.”
4. Sophia Schneller, a senior in nursing from Overland Park mentored by Becky Christian, “Case Study: An Adolescent with Cystic Fibrosis: Gaining Independence.”
5. Shy’Anna Tyler, a senior in nursing from Topeka mentored by Karen Weis, “Racial and Ethnic Differences for Pregnancy Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms to Birth Outcomes.”
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Contact: Rick Hellman, KU News Service, 785-864-8852, [email protected], @RickHellman
Chamber opera musicians explore autism in new work
LAWRENCE – The partnership between University of Kansas School of Music faculty member Roberta Gumbel and New York-based composer Susan Kander continues to blossom. The latest evidence of that will be the first workshop production of their new chamber opera, “Carry My Own Suitcase,” March 3-4 in the Baustian Theatre in Murphy Hall.
It is the story of Roger, an autistic young man, and his family, including Billy, Roger’s older brother/guardian, and how each of them struggles for independence.
Gumbel, associate professor of voice & opera, first worked with Kander as librettist on another chamber opera piece, “dwb (driving while black),” which was also workshopped at KU in 2018. It will soon have its fourth and fifth productions in opera companies across the country, Gumbel said.
With this new opera, Gumbel and Kander shared the lyric-writing duties, while Kander again composed the music. And this time, it’s a much bigger production, Gumbel said.
“’Dwb’ was 45 minutes and one person to move around,” Gumbel said. “This is seven people to move around, plus an orchestra of 11 people. Plus, it’s 95 minutes — double the length of ‘dwb.’ It’s really a full-length opera but done without intermission. It’s a big piece, very different.”
“Carry My Own Suitcase” features a dancer who acts out the inner mental and emotional life of the main character, Roger, onstage while an actor speaks the character’s lines in time to the music.
“The young man portraying Roger does not sing through the entire piece,” Gumbel said. “His text is scored in the music, but it’s all spoken. So he’s speaking in rhythm, on musical cues, but he doesn’t sing a note. … The dancer is a visual expression of what he cannot express verbally.”
While “dwb” had its roots in Kander wanting to explore Gumbel’s concern for her soon-to-drive teenage son, “Suitcase” is Kander’s fictional response to the real-life situation of an extended family member, Gumbel said.
“She and I get along so well,” Gumbel said, “and Susan said, ‘I really want to continue this partnership.’ So when this piece became sort of the next topic, we just jumped in.”
Gumbel said that during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, “We tried to have weekly Zoom sessions and wrote via a Google doc that was going back and forth. She’d send it in different colors, and I’d correct in other colors, and then we’d meet on Mondays at whatever time and pull it apart and put it back together until it all sort of started to make sense.”
Gumbel said Kander then “has to write the music in a way that she feels fits the story.
“There’s a parallel story going on, and that is that the older brother would also like some independence, and his world is limited, or he thinks it’s limited, by his responsibility to Roger,” Gumbel said. “He too, would like to just pack a bag and disappear sometimes.”
It’s a story to which Gumbel said the authors have tried to provide “a hopeful ending.”
Gumbel said she is anxious to see the show on its feet and that the duo would likely make revisions in response to the initial production. The local costs of the workshop are being funded in part by a National Endowment of the Arts grant to Gumbel, while Kander’s work on the project is being funded by an Opera America discovery grant devoted to the development of new works by women.
“Carry My Own Suitcase” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. March 3 and 3 p.m. March 4. Admission is free, but seating is limited, and thus reservations are strongly encouraged. To reserve seats, email [email protected] or call 785-864-3436.
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