USD Magazine Spring 2006

[ g r a n d e u r ]

REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENTS April’s Kyoto Laureate Symposium will highlight prestigious awards

Students got inventive with costumes at the celebration of the opening of the new Plaza de San Diego in the heart of campus last fall. From Toreros to Oompah-Loompahs, from The Incredibles to The Immaculata, imaginations ran wild.

T he recipients of the high- est private award in Japan, the Kyoto Prize, will again be celebrated at USD during a symposium to be held in mid- April, which culminates in an on-campus presentation on April 20 by one of the most renowned early music conductors in the world, Maestro Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The 21st Annual Kyoto Prizes were presented in Kyoto, Japan, in November 2005. USD President Mary E. Lyons traveled to Japan with Monsignor Daniel Dillabough and School of Business Administration professor Ellen Cook to take part in the prize ceremony as guests of Kazuo Inamori, founder of the nonprofit Inamori Foundation, sponsor of the awards. This year’s honorees are: advanced technolo- gy laureate George H. Heilmeier; basic sciences laureate Simon A. Levin; and Harnoncourt, the arts and philosophy laureate. As sponsor of Maestro Harnoncourt —an Austrian con- ductor who is being honored for both his creativity as a conductor and performer and as a proponent of “historically informed”perform- ances of early European music— USD expects a large turnout when he appears on campus. Dr. Angela Yeung, director of the music program, says that Harnoncourt is a pioneer. “He’s devoted his life to rediscovering the music that composers like Mozart and Bach had in mind,” she says. Upon her return from Kyoto, Professor Cook raved about seeing by Julene Snyder

a workshop there presented by Maestro Harnoncourt. “The interaction between him and the musicians was amazing,” she said. “He described a Mozart piece as a love story, and told the violas to play each note as if it were a kiss.” Harnoncourt will give an address titled “Beauty and Practice,” followed by a demon- stration rehearsal which will allow the audience to hear his instructions to the orchestra, made up of both the USD Symphony and the Tijuana Youth

STYRIARTE/SCHIFFER

Maestro Nikolaus Harnoncourt

PHOTOS BY BROCK SCOTT

Orchestra. The free event will take place in USD’s Shiley Theatre on April 20 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. In advance of this special per- formance, USD will present a series of baroque music concerts to educate listeners. To learn more about these performances, call (619) 260-4171.

“I have no idea. Maybe I’ll go shopping. No, I’ll probably save it.” — Elizabeth King ‘08 “I’m going to give it to my church. We just moved, and we need money, man.” —Marco Contreras ‘07

“Probably food and rent.”

—Damien Rutten ‘06

“I have lots of bills. I’m pretty much living on the bare minimum, so this helps a lot. It’s nice; I can relax a little more. I’ll try to save some. It’s definitely a generous thing for the donor to do.” — Viviane Pourazary, first-year law student

Go to www.kyotoprize.org for tickets and information.

“I’mgoing to pay parking tickets.” — Kenny Stivers ’08

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