News & Events 01/2003

AMHERST, Mass.-Amy Ziering Kofman, a 1984 graduate of Amherst College, will present "Derrida" (2002), the acclaimed film about the influential French deconstructionist that she produced and co-directed with Kirby Dick, on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 7:30 in Stirn Auditorium at Amherst. The film and a talk with the filmmaker to follow are free and open to the public.

Amy Ziering Kofman, an English major at Amherst, studied with Derrida as a graduate student in comparative literature at Yale University. She also produced the documentary "Taylor's Campaign" (1998), a film about homelessness in Santa Monica. Kirby Dick is a documentary filmmaker whose works include "Chain Camera" (2001) and "Sick: The Life and Times of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist" (1997).

Elvis Mitchell in The New York Times wrote of "Derrida," "The directors know that Mr. Derrida must be introduced to neophytes, who will not have a firm grasp of deconstruction until they see how it is woven into the fabric of the film." "Derrida" was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and winner of the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

The Amherst College showing is sponsored by the English Department and the University of Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival.

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AMHERST, Mass. - The annual Interfaith Service commemorating the life and works of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King will be held in Johnson Chapel at Amherst College at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2. The featured speaker will be The Very Reverend Nathan Baxter, Dean of Washington National Cathedral.

Baxter, a graduate of Lancaster Theological Seminary, has also studied at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Warren Deem Management Institute at Columbia University Executive Center. He holds three honorary doctorates and is an honorary alumnus of Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass.

Baxter is a fellow of the College of Preachers, a Charles E. Merrill Fellow at Harvard University Divinity School, a lecturer in the Medina Seminar for State and Federal Judges at Princeton University, and preacher in the Chautauqua Institute series and the Plymouth Pulpit Series.

A noted preacher on faith and national issues, Baxter has been a guest on national programs such as Protestant Hour, Tony Brown's Journal, Both Sides with Jesse Jackson, The O'Reilly Factor, Good Morning America and the Brian Lamb Show on C-SPAN. President Clinton chose Baxter to write and deliver the prayer for the nation at the White House millennium celebration, televised internationally. He also officiated at the Inaugural Prayer Service for President George W. Bush. His publications include Holding on to Faith in Polarized Times and Visions for the Millennium.

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AMHERST, Mass. - In the next concert in the Music at Amherst series, the Osiris Trio will perform Trio, Op. 1, No. 3 of Beethoven, Frank Martin's Trio on Irish Folk Tunes and the Piano Trio No.2 in C by Brahms, on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 8 p.m. in Buckley Recital Hall at Amherst College. With this performance, Music at Amherst begins a mini-festival of Brahms: the artists in the remaining concerts in this year's series will play music of the German composer.

The trio, composed of Ellen Corver, Peter Brunt and Larissa Groeneveld, has been playing together since 1988. Following a successful premiere at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, they have performed in Iceland, Denmark, Eronia, Germany, France, England and South Africa, among other places. In 1988 they made their American debut in Carnegie Hall. The trio's extensive repertoire includes work ranging from Haydn's compositions to the work of contemporary composers. The New York Times said their work possessed "'edgy brilliance' largeness in every musical dimension of color, dynamic range and expression."

Admission to the concert is $21, senior citizens $18, and students $5. Tickets may be reserved by calling 413/542-2195 on weekday mornings. The Amherst College Concert Office has a Website at http://www.amherst.edu/~concerts/.

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