Abstract Painter Opens Art Gallery Season

The multi-faceted, abstract constructionist work of Princeton-based artist Peter Stroud will open Rider University Art Gallery’s 2007-2008 season.

Stroud’s exhibition – “Paintings: 1970 to 2007” – will run Thursday, September 20 through Sunday, October 21. An opening reception will take place on September 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the gallery, located on the top floor of the Bart Luedeke Center on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus. On Thursday, September 27 at 7 p.m., Stroud will give a public talk in the gallery. These events are free and open to the public.

Noted for his works in the traditions of both constructivism and color-field painting, Stroud, a native of London, received his degrees from The London University Teacher Training College, The Hammersmith and The Central Schools of Art.

Launching his art career in the late ’50s and early ’60s, Stroud has participated in numerous group and one-person exhibitions such as The Institute of Contemporary Art in London, the Galerie Muller, Stuttgart, Galerie Creuze in Paris, Kunsthalle in Basel, Switzerland, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In 1965, he was selected by William C. Seitz to participate in the groundbreaking exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art entitled The Responsive Eye.

As an educator, Stroud was chair of the art department at Bennington College in Vermont from 1965 to 1966, where he taught with Tony Smith, Isaac Witkin, Ad Reinhardt and Clement Greenburg. In 1979, he was named chair of the art department at Douglass College at Rutgers University. From 1984 to 1987, he served as director of the graduate program in the visual arts department at Rutgers and from 1985 to 1993, he was professor of art at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call 609-895-5588.

Margaret Cusack in Recital on September 16

Works by French composers will be performed by soprano Margaret Cusack and pianist J.J. Penna on Sunday, September 16, at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the Westminster campus. Included in the repertoire will be the song cycles Les Nuits d’Été by Hector Berlioz and Poème de l’amour et de la mer by Ernest Chausson. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors and are available by calling the Westminster box office at 609-921-2663. Students, faculty and staff receive two free tickets with a valid Rider ID.

Westminster Conservatory at Nassau Recital on September 20

The first Westminster Conservatory at Nassau series recital will be on Thursday, September 20 at 12:15 p.m. in the Niles Chapel of Nassau Presbyterian Church at 61 Nassau Street in Princeton. The program is a piano duo by Conservatory teachers Esma Pasic-Filipovic and Larisa Korkina. This half-hour lunchtime recital is free and open to the public.

Rider University Art Exhibit of New Jersey artist Peter Stroud’s Paintings, from September 20 to October 21

The Rider University Art Gallery will present an exhibit entitled Paintings: 1970 to 2007 by Peter Stroud from Thursday, September 20 to Sunday, October 21. The opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. An artist’s talk will be held on Thursday, September 27 at 7 p.m. The Art Gallery is located in the Bart Luedeke Center on the Lawrenceville campus and admission is free. The exhibit will focus on both the abstract constructivist images and pure abstract color-field images created by this important New Jersey artist and educator.

Faith Esham in Recital on September 23

Faith Esham, soprano, and Paul Cohen, saxophone, will present a recital on Sunday, September 23, at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the Westminster campus. They will be performing Lori Laitman’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly, six songs for voice and saxophone based on poems written by children in the Terezin Concentration Camp in then Czechoslovakia, and Francis Poulenc’s La Courte Paille (The Short Straw). Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors and are available by calling the Westminster box office at 609-921-2663. Students, faculty and staff receive two free tickets with a valid Rider ID.

Ken Cowan in Recital on September 26

Organist Ken Cowan and violinist Lisa Shihoten will be performing works by Vierne and Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1 arranged by Ken Cowan; works for violin and organ by Tommaso Antonio Vitali (Chaconne in G minor) and Naji Hakim (Caprice); and works for organ, violin and voice by Sigfrid Karg-Elert (Fugue, Canzona and Epilog, op. 85, No. 3) on Wednesday, September 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the Westminster campus. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors and are available by calling the Westminster box office at 609-921-2663. Students, faculty and staff receive two free tickets with a valid Rider ID.

Fuma Sacra to Perform on Friday, September 28

Fuma Sacra, conducted by Andrew Megill, will present a concert on Friday, September 28, at 8 p.m. in Bristol Chapel. Please check the Web site for additional information. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors and are available by calling the Westminster box office at 609-921-2663. Students, faculty and staff receive one free ticket with a valid Rider ID.

Westminster Conservatory Kaleidoscope Chamber Series Concert on September 30

Westminster Conservatory’s Kaleidoscope Chamber Series presents its first concert of the season on Sunday, September 30, at 3 p.m. in Gill Memorial Chapel on the Lawrenceville campus. The recital is entitled Acoustic Mélange and will be presented by Jill Crawford, flute, Kenneth Ellison, clarinet, Marjorie Selden, viola, and Donald Dolan, piano. They will be performing music of Clarke, Uhl, Reinecke and Arnold. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors and are available by calling the Westminster box office at 609-921-2663. Students, faculty and staff receive one free ticket with a valid Rider ID.