Harper College notes
Auditions: Auditions for Harper's summer production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in Room L109, Building L. All are welcome to try their hand at the Edward Albee script.
Performances will be held at 8 p.m. July 22-24 and 28-30. The play tells the story of George, a college professor, and his wife Martha, and what ensues when the couple -- who have anything but an idyllic marriage -- invite another young couple over for a nightcap.
Comedy at Harper: Harper College's new Laugh Shack Comedy Series concludes at 8 p.m. Friday with Vidur Kapur in Room A238 of the Student Center Lounge, Building A, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine.
Kapur's comedy is based on the social commentary of a one-man culture clash -- he's a gay, Indian immigrant raised in a conservative middle-class family.
Selected as top comic for NBC's "Stand Up for Diversity Initiative," Kapur was featured at the 2007 New York Comedy Festival and has appeared on NBC's Last Comic Standing and MTV World.
Individual show tickets for the Laugh Shack Comedy Series cost $10 in advance or $12 at the door for general admission and Harper faculty, staff and senior citizens. Tickets cost $5 in advance and $7 at the door for Harper students with valid ID.
For tickets and information call (847) 925-6100, or visit harpercollege.edu.
Constructing art: Where others see aluminum chunks, wire mesh and dowel rods, Harper assistant professor Jason Peot sees inspiration. For years, Peot has been shaping basic materials like those into complex and innovative art.
This month, his work is on display at NavtaSchulz Gallery, 1039 W. Lake St., Chicago. The exhibit, "Lineal," includes about eight pieces -- one of them so large it takes up an entire room -- and represents about 1,000 hours of work.
Peot's trademark is his inclusion of light. His structures work with and play off of brightness and shadows, making them part of the art. He says he enjoys treating light like a material, and he also likes leaving all his materials fairly raw.
"I like materials that have a connection to just regular life," Peot says. "So when you see a material, you recognize it, and you relate to it on some level. But it's taken so out-of-context and reformatted that you see it in a whole different way."
Peot has taught art at Harper for 10 years and has exhibited his work all around the world. His creations are included in collections at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Elmhurst Art Museum. He also was commissioned to create a permanent, large-scale piece for McCormick Place's West Expansion.
The NavtaSchulz exhibit runs through May 10, with viewing hours from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
Spring premiere: Harper musicians will offer audiences a world premiere performance at the annual Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. May 15 in the Performing Arts Center.
The Wind Symphony and Chamber Winds will give the first public performance of "Three Appetizers for Concert Band," a three-movement piece composed by J. Stanley Ryberg, Harper Professor of Music Emeritus.
Ryberg began teaching at the College in the 1970s and retired as a professor three decades later, in 2002. He began writing music as part of his early retirement project.
Works by Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Sousa, as well as excerpts from Mozart's "The Magic Flute" also are on the concert's menu. Tickets cost $10 for general admission, with discounts for seniors and students.
For tickets or information, call (847) 925-6100 or visit harpercollege.edu/boxoffice.
Harper Speakers Bureau: Provided as a community service, the Harper College Speakers Bureau provides access to local experts on a variety of subjects.
Speakers are available free to community organizations such as chambers of commerce, libraries, service organizations and other civic groups.
Experts cover a diverse array of topics including art, astronomy, career training, cultural trends, ecology, entrepreneurship, estate planning, exercise, small business development, math and science.
For more information about booking a speaker, call (847) 925-6701 or visit harpercollege.edu.
Child Learning Center: The Harper Child Learning Center's preschool program offers a curriculum to form a broad base of knowledge children can use as they advance into the primary grades.
The learning center also strives to create a preschool environment that treats children as individuals and invites parents to visit so they may share in their children's activities.
More information about choosing a preschool is available in a podcast on the Child Learning Center site at harpercollege.edu. Parents also may sign up for a free visit by calling (847) 925-6262.
Campus spa: The Therapeutic Massage Clinic at Harper is staffed by students in the program and offers clients a one-hour Swedish massage for $35, $30 for seniors 65 and older. Peaceful, private massage rooms available. For information or to schedule an appointment, call (847) 925-6000, ext. 2805.