We were totally honored to have David Leddy, the creator of Susurrus, here on our home turf in Ann Arbor for a few days in September.   You might recall he did a little blogging while he was here.

If you’ve seen Susurrus, and you’re still thinking, “but what does it all mean?’  You’re in luck.  While David was here, we captured a Q & A session with him in the Matthaei Botanical Gardens (he was interviewed by UMS Director of Programming Michael Kondziolka).  The interview is in 4 parts on YouTube (I’m embedding the first two parts here).  It’s a fantastic interview, but unfortunately the audio gets a little sketchy in places (so bear with us if you can — this is the first time we’ve done something like this on the UMS Lobby!).

As an added bonus, our friends at EncoreMichigan had the chance to interview David for their podcast, and you can listen to that here

If haven’t had the chance yet to experience Susurrus, it runs through Sunday, October 3, at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

Many members of the UMS staff keep a watchful eye on local and national media for news about artists on our season, pressing arts issues, and more. Each week, we pull together a list of interesting stories  and share them with you.  Welcome to UMS’s Arts Round-up, a weekly collection of arts news, including national issues, artist updates, local shout-outs, and a link or two just for fun. If you come across something interesting in your own reading, please feel free to share!

Arts Issues

• So many galas, so little time:  a look at season-opening celebrations across the country.

Artist Updates

• Pianist Glenn Gould:  Nut or Genius? A fresh look through a new documentary.
• NPR talks with Patti LuPone about life on Broadway and her new memoir
• A reflective Riccardo Muti starts his tenure with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

UMS News

• Don Calamia reviews opening theater production, Susurrus, for Encore Michigan

Local Shout-Outs

• A salute to Lois Beznos by both Crain’s Detroit and Musical America as she steps down as President of the Chamber Music Society of Detroit
• Rolling Stone recognizes Encore Recordings as one of the best

Just For Fun

• Guess there can be only one Graceland:  the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas is closing

I used to think that Ann Arbor was a person. I first came across her in the form of Ann Arbor publishing house when I was a student. I thought she must be the founder like André Deutsch or somesuch. But nay nay, dear reader. So here I am, all these years later, sitting in the sun on State Street outside Espresso Royale. I’m somewhat fascinated by the shop down the street called ‘All About Blue’. Where I come from if a shop had that name then the clothing it sold would almost certainly be transparent and/or crotchless. Speaking of home, I’m reading online about a grenade siege (yes, really) a couple of minutes walk from my house in Glasgow, Scotland. What’s happening to the world? Not only has Ann abandoned me in her human form, I may not have a home to go back to!

I’m here in Ann Arbor to present my show Susurrus in the Matthaei Botanical Gardens. It’s a piece where the audience wear headphones and listen to the play on an MP3 player as they follow a map which directs them to stop at eight different stations around the gardens. They listen to a series of auditory snippets, like a radio tuning in and out of wavelengths, which eventually coalesce into a narrative about the disintegrating family of an opera singer who performed in the original production of Benjamin Britten’s opera of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The piece is always presented outside in a botanical garden and has been shown all around the world. Each time we present somewhere new I spend a day in the garden carefully plotting a special route for the audience to follow. The gardens at the Matthaei are particularly special and I’m thrilled with how the piece works there. This is the perfect time of year too. UMS has done such a great job in presenting the piece very carefully and making sure that audiences get a great experience. We’ve had a lot of fun over the last couple of days tramping around the garden, hammering stakes into the ground for the wayfinding signage. They are a great team.

When I arrived in town late in the afternoon on Labor Day, I was blinded by all the yellow and blue clothing. I’d never seen so many Greek letters on t-shirts outside of Athens. With so many scantily-clad students wandering the streets looking tall and tan and young and lovely I felt like I’d accidentally wandered onto the set of a slasher movie. I even overheard classic slasher movie dialogue. In the street a girl said ‘Simon’s hot’ to which her friend replied ‘he’s not hot, he’s like hot!’

I’ve been having a great time trying out all the Ann Arbor restaurants and getting recommendations for the best local coffee. I travel a lot (a LOT) for my work and I always find the best locally roasted coffee and take some home as a gift for my partner. The trendy kids sent me to Comet and to Lab, but I feel that these shops are all mouth and no trousers, as they say. For me Espresso Royale’s actual coffee was better even though the place is a bit of a sub-Starbucks dump.

There. I have made my pronouncement. The trash-heap has spoken! Now I shall leave and be on my way to the next in my long-line of international coffee emporia. Tomorrow I move on to Sao Paulo, then to Brasilia, Santiago and Rio de Janeiro where I will be staying in the Hotel Ipanema Plaza. I’ll keep an eye out for said girl from Ipanema. I’m told she’s tall and tan and young and lovely. I’ll be sure to give her Ann’s best regards.

To read more from David Leddy about his time in Ann Arbor, and see pictures from his trip visit his blog.

Many members of the UMS staff keep a watchful eye on local and national media for news about artists on our season, pressing arts issues, and more. Each week, we pull together a list of interesting stories  and share them with you.  Welcome to UMS’s Arts Round-up, a weekly collection of arts news, including national issues, artist updates, local shout-outs, and a link or two just for fun. If you come across something interesting in your own reading, please feel free to share!

Arts Issues

• The play’s the thing:  tackling children’s theater

Artist Updates

• And the winner is…The Kennedy Center announces its 2010 honorees
• Former Boston Symphony Orchestra onductor Seiji Ozawa on life and work after cancer
• Answering questions about the origins of the universe:  a look at choreographer Liz Lerman’s new work
• Leonard Slatkin extends contract as guest conductor with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

UMS News

• Ann Arbor.com previews UMS’s opening production, Susurrus
• And the first review is in!

Local Shout-Outs

• Michigan State steps up with new music program for Detroit students
• U-M faculty member Evan Chambers and the University Symphony Orchestra celebrate the release of The Old Burying Ground