UIS will host a variety of programs during the 2009 spring semester in observance of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial.
Applications are being accepted for the Lincoln Legacy High School Forum -- a statewide contest for high school juniors and seniors co-sponsored by UIS and the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Three categories of competition are: Historical Essay, Creative Expression in the Written Word, and Performance/Visual Arts; the first prize in each category is a one-year tuition scholarship to UIS. Winners will come to campus to present their work to the public in April. Entries must be postmarked by January 2, 2009. Get complete information
Jay Ungar and Molly Mason will lead a musical "Early Birthday Celebration for A. Lincoln" at 8 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, 2009, in Sangamon Auditorium. Their performance of Ungar's composition "Ashokan Farewell," heard in Ken Burns' The Civil War, earned the couple an Emmy nomination and a Grammy award. Special guests for this program are the 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment Band, directed by Todd Cranson, assistant director of co-curricular music.
In February, WUIS will broadcast a number of special programs focusing on Lincoln. More information about "Lincoln the Poet," "Lincoln the Lawmaker," and "Lincoln and Humor," including broadcast times and dates, will be available from the WUIS website.
On Saturday, February 21, faculty and students will present a readers' theater production of Ronald Gow's one-act play The Lawyer of Springfield beginning at 7 p.m. in Brookens Auditorium. A discussion session with the audience will follow the performance.
At 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 28, Wynton Marsalis will lead the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in a concert at Sangamon Auditorium. This "extraordinarily versatile" orchestra is composed of leading jazz soloists performing a repertoire that ranges from their own compositions to jazz classics.
From April 2 to 17, a juried "Lincoln Legacy" exhibit of selected artwork from the High School Forum will be on display in the VPA Access Gallery.
All three U of I campuses are hosting events in the University's Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration. Get more information.
Also see information about programs and events sponsored by the Illinois Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
