January 28, 2008
VISIT HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE SPRING 2008 CULTURAL AFFAIRS SERIES.
WHERE: Temple University Ambler, 580 Meetinghouse Road, Learning Center Auditorium
WHEN: Tuesday, February 5, Noon to 2 p.m.
 The daughter of real “American Gangster” Frank Lucas. A celebration of Black History Month with dance and drum. The youngest woman ever elected to Congress. A series of lectures exploring planning and the environment.
Temple University Ambler’s Spring 2008 Cultural Affairs Series will offer an eclectic mix of performances and lectures that are sure to entertain and educate as the campus honors African-American and women’s history, supports its mission as Temple’s “green campus,” and reaffirms its decades-long connection with the arts. All Cultural Affairs Series programs are free and open to the public.
“In Fall 2007, we offered our first Cultural Affairs Series, a collection of programs that was accomplished through the dedication and support of the Ambler Campus Dean’s Office, the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture, the Department of Community and Regional Planning, the Office of Student Life, and the Boyer College of Music and Dance,” said Linda Lowe, Director of Development and Alumni Affairs. “It was a wonderful combination performances and guest speakers celebrating Latino heritage, our core programs, and the unique talents of Temple’s students.”
For spring 2008, Lowe said, the campus wanted to “build on our successes and offer more opportunities for visitors and our students, faculty, and alumni to enjoy everything that Ambler, and the University as a whole, has to offer.”
The Spring 2008 Cultural Affairs Series begins with a “Tuesdays at Noon” concert by the Boyer College of Music and Dance on Tuesday, February 5, from Noon to 1 p.m., in the Learning Center Auditorium.
 For “Jazz at Ambler,” renowned saxophonist and Boyer faculty member Dick Oatts will lead a senior ensemble in selections from the jazz repertoire. Performers will include Michelle Ortega, vocals; Larry Mack, trumpet; Joe McDonough, trombone; Chris Coyle, bass; Jon Coyle, piano; Dan Hanrahan, guitar; Jon Katz, alto sax; and Adam Pfannenstiel, drums — Pfannenstiel was the 2006-07 winner of the Mellon Jazz Scholarship.
Boyer’s award-winning jazz studies program recently performed at the Kimmel Center with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Students have been featured in Downbeat magazine and recognized by Mellon Bank New York in support of scholarships. The jazz band, under the direction of Professor Terell Stafford, will tour Amsterdam in May as part of the Hague Jazz Festival. This program has been made possible through the support of the University General Activities Fund (GAF).
“All of us at Boyer are delighted to be able to offer these concerts at Temple Ambler,” said Robert T. Stroker, Dean of the Boyer College of Music and Dance. “We hope to continue to offer performances at Ambler that highlight our outstanding faculty and students.”
Wednesday, February 6, will highlight a Black History Month Kick-Off performance by the Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble. The program will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Learning Center Auditorium.
The Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble is considered one of the best and most exciting African dance and drum ensembles in the United States. They have won national and international championships for their performing arts programs. Their performances are a visual and aural celebration of African culture that includes everything from “Pasha the Stilt Walker,” dancers, and acrobats to singers, drummers, and “ground masquerades.” All of the members of the troupe are practicing martial artists.
“We all should honor, respect and appreciate the culture from which African Americans of this country originate,” states the ensemble in describing its goals. “The Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble presents to you family values and the beauty of African culture.”
 On Tuesday, February 19, Francine Lucas-Sinclair will present “My Father: The American Gangster.” Lucas-Sinclair is the daughter of the real “American Gangster,” Frank Lucas — portrayed by Denzel Washington in the critically acclaimed 2007 film, which has been nominated for three Academy Awards. The program will be held at 7:30 p.m., in the Learning Center Auditorium.
While the movie did not show the child who was present at the arrest of her father, she witnessed everything. Lucas-Sinclair later founded an organization — The Yellow Brick Roads — to help and support children of incarcerated parents. Her story has been told on radio, television, and in Glamour Magazine. At Ambler, she will share her story of the loneliness, isolation, and embarrassment suffered by these forgotten children.
Today, her Yellow Brick Roads non-profit organization (YBR), takes a hands-on approach to addressing the day-to-day needs of the children of incarcerated parents, "while providing the necessary tools so that they are able to face their parent or parent's incarceration."
“At YBR we will strive to provide a place where these children know that they are not alone, and where they can come to the realization that no matter how difficult their current circumstances may be, if they follow the right path, their life can be whatever they want it to be,” said Lucas-Sinclair. “This organization will be international, since we plan to have a chapter in every major city in the United States, and eventually chapters in several foreign countries.”
On Wednesday, February 20, John D. Landis, a professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, will present “To Be or Not to Be Los Angeles: Metropolitan Vision Planning along the Pacific Coast,” at 7:30 p.m., in the Learning Center Auditorium.
Professor Landis’ expertise is in housing, urban economics, GIS, project development, and sustainable urban development. As one of many research projects, Professor Landis developed the California Urban Futures series of urban growth models. He is currently engaged in a National Science Foundation-funded project to model, forecast, and develop alternative spatial scenarios of U.S. population and employment patterns and their impacts on travel demand, habitat loss, and water use through 2050.
 Elizabeth Holtzman will share a candid conversation about the role of women in politics on Wednesday, March 19, part of Temple University Ambler’s celebration of Women’s History Month. The program will begin at 7:30 p.m., in the Learning Center Auditorium.
Holtzman knows a little bit about the role of women in politics. While her opponent, a 50-year incumbent, compared the likelihood of her winning as “a toothpick’s chance of toppling the Washington Monument” she succeeded in becoming the youngest women ever elected to Congress in 1972.
Holtzman, author of Who Said it Would be Easy: One Woman's Life in the Political Arena and The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens, spent more than two decades in a variety of roles in public office before returning to private law practice.
Beginning even before this first electoral victory, Holtzman’s extraordinary political career has often linked her with the defining moments of the last several decades, from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, to the Watergate scandal – she was a member of the House Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach President Richard Nixon in 1974, to the fight for women's rights, to the campaign for a government “free of the undue influence of wealthy special interest groups.”
On Wednesday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m., in the Learning Center Auditorium, Gary Koller, President of Koller and Associates and former assistant director for horticulture at the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, will present “Native Trees Anchor the Site.”
Selecting suitably sized natives as framework trees, Koller, a designer and horticulturist who is a Temple University Ambler alum, will share how to choose and position native trees “to create subtle patterns that underpin the lighter layers of scrubs and perennials.” Koller has been a contributor to Arnoldia, Fine Gardening, and American Nurseryman. He is also a recipient of the Julie Morris Award and Gold Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
 The Boyer College of Music and Dance “Tuesday’s at Noon” concert series continues Tuesday, April 1, with “Sound Prints: Boyer Student Composers at Ambler.” The program will be held from Noon to 1:30 p.m., in the Learning Center Auditorium. This event is co-sponsored by the General Activities Fund and the Boyer College of Music and Dance.
“For many years Temple Ambler was home to the Temple University Music Festival and Institute. We may no longer have the amphitheater, but we do boast a new 300-seat auditorium/theater that provides an excellent venue for musical performances. The auditorium provides new opportunities to offer cultural, educational, and entertaining events for our students and the surrounding community,” said Temple University Ambler Dean Dr. James W. Hilty. “We are very excited that Temple Ambler’s connection to refined musical tastes continues this year thanks to the renowned Boyer College of Music and Dance. This concert series certainly highlights some of the best that Boyer’s Composition Department has to offer.”
Ambler’s “green” lecture series continues Wednesday, April 9, with Temple University Ambler Landscape Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey. Carey will present “How Green is Your Garden? Simple and Effective Tips for a Healthy Planet,” at 7:30 p.m. in the Learning Center Auditorium.
 “The environment has finally made it into the nightly news. Stories about global warming, carbon footprints, and the fragility of the environment appear daily,” Carey said. “I would like to share easy, workable tips that you can use to be an environmentally friendly gardener.”
Capping off the Spring 2008 Cultural Affairs Series will be a solo harpsichord recital by Dr. Joyce Lindorff of the Boyer College of Music and Dance. The program will be held from Noon to 1:00 p.m., in the Learning Center Auditorium.
Boyer faculty member Joyce Lindorff trained at Sarah Lawrence College (B.A.), the University of Southern California (M.M.), and the Juilliard School (D.M.A. and M.M.). She was introduced to 20th-century harpsichord repertory by Leonard Stein of the Schoenberg Institute in Los Angeles. Since then she has never looked back, and several notable composers have written pieces for her. She was awarded a Fulbright Professorship in Taiwan to teach harpsichord and baroque chamber music at the National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan.
According to Dr. Hilty, the Temple University Ambler Cultural Affairs Series “is intended to enrich the range and depth of the cultural experiences of Temple students and, at the same time, open our doors to our neighbors in the surrounding communities.”
“Our goal is to connect Temple Ambler more directly to the community by sharing our cultural and educational resources,” he said. “In this way we hope to contribute to the intellectual and cultural dialogue, to foster a larger sense of mutual interest, and to enliven and enrich our daily lives.”
For more information on the Boyer College of Music and Dance programs, visit www.temple.edu/boyer or contact Jason Horst at jason.horst@temple.edu or 215-204-8391.
For more information on the Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble performance and Francine Lucas-Sinclair’s lecture, call the Office of Student Life at 267-468-8425.
For more information on lectures by John D. Landis, Elizabeth Holtzman, Gary Koller, and Jenny Rose Carey, contact 267-468-8420 or jennifer.mull@temple.edu.
CONTACT: James Duffy, 267-468-8108, duffyj@temple.edu, release available by e-mail
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