OXNARD, CA - Channel Islands Harbor kicks off the holidays with its 47th annual holiday Parade of Lights noon – 8 p.m., Dec. 8, with the parade beginning at 7 p.m. This year’s theme is “Holidays in Toyland.” Everyone is invited to enjoy a full day of holiday activities and watch festively decorated boats in the parade.

Kids can play in 36 tons of snow falling at the north end of Harborview Park, off Harbor Blvd. near Marine Emporium Landing, beginning at noon. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there from noon – 4:30 p.m. There will also be holiday arts and crafts vendors starting at noon.

Santa and his reindeer will ride through the sky at 7 p.m. to mark the beginning of the parade. The parade starts in front of Peninsula Park and heads to the Main Channel, turns at Hobie Beach, loops in front of the launch ramp then heads back to Pacific Corinthian Yacht Club and repeats the route for a second run. The parade can be viewed from parks and walkways that line the route as well as from most Harbor restaurants. To view the parade from the water, contact A&M Charters at (805) 204-0977.

To participate in the parade, download an entry form from www.channelislandsharbor.org. Any size boat can register for the Parade of Lights.

Parade participants can take part in various decorating contests and compete for awards.

For more information on the Parade of Lights visit www.channelislandsharbor.org.

Channel Islands Harbor serves as a center of recreation, boating, shopping and water sports activities. The harbor is home to three yacht clubs and nine full-service marinas that provide berths for 2,150 boats. It also hosts the Ventura County Maritime Museum, located at 3900 Bluefin Circle, Oxnard, CA 93035, the museum is a cultural center dedicated to the interpretation of maritime history through interactive exhibits and educational outreach.

Ventura, CA - Community Memorial Hospital’s first-floor lobby and hallways will be decorated with an eclectic mix of art by local artists when the hospital holds its “Recycle: Eco Art” exhibit open to the public from Dec. 2 to Jan. 6.

A “Meet the Artists” reception is set for Tuesday, Dec. 4, from 5 to 7 p.m., in the hospital’s first-floor lobby. This event is open to the public.

This show is entitled “Recycle: Eco Art” and will be juried by Rhode Island artist, Tom Deininger. His artwork is in numerous public and private collections throughout the world and has won many awards in “recycled” and “found object” competitions. Deininger was named one of the top ten artists in the country working in recycled art by the Huffington Post. The show includes artworks utilizing at least 75% reused, recycled or found materials.

CMH provides a venue where patients, patient’s families and visitors all are soothed, inspired and grateful to view local art. The exhibit, a joint partnership between CMH, the Buenaventura Art Association and the Community Memorial Healthcare Foundation, is located on the first floor at Community Memorial Hospital, 147 N. Brent St. in Ventura. Any proceeds are used for future exhibits as well as to benefit local artists and the foundation’s philanthropic efforts.

Community Memorial Hospital is a member of Community Memorial Health System, a not-for-profit health system, which is comprised of Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, and eleven family-practice health centers entitled Centers for Family Health. The health system is located in Ventura County, California.
Caption: Self Portrait, Tom Deininger, artist to jury CMH art exhibit.

Camarillo, CA - The CSU Channel Islands Choir will present two holiday concerts in December. Both are open to the public and feature a selection of holiday music as well as a performance of Bach’s Cantata No. 140, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme with members of the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra.

The first concert is Monday, Dec. 3, at 8 p.m. in Malibu Hall on the CI campus. Reservations are requested at https://csuci.wufoo.com/forms/holiday-concert/. The concert is free, though donations are welcome. Limited parking is available on campus with the purchase of a $6 daily permit; follow signs to the parking permit dispensers.

The second concert will be held Saturday, Dec. 8, at 4 p.m. at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, located at 1251 Las Posas Road in Camarillo. Parking is complimentary and reservations are not needed. A $20 donation is suggested.

The CSU Channel Islands Choir has a weekly evening class offered by the University’s Performing Arts Program that unites students, faculty and community members in the joy of singing. The class is led by Professor KuanFen Liu and sponsored by the Channel Islands Choral Association (CICA).

For the Dec. 3 concert, limited parking is available on campus with the purchase of a $6 daily permit; follow signs to the parking permit dispensers. Free parking is available at the Camarillo Metrolink Station/Lewis Road parking lot in Camarillo with bus service to and from the campus. Riders should board the CI Vista Bus to the campus; the cash-only fare is $1.25 each way. Buses arrive and depart from the Camarillo Metrolink Station every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. For exact times, check the schedule at www.goventura.org.

For more information, contact Dr. KuanFen Liu at 805-278-0375 or downbeatplus@gmail.com. Visit the choir’s website at http://choir.csuci.edu or CICA’s website at http://cicachoir.org.

About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands (CI) is celebrating 10 years of education, innovation, growth and community enrichment during the 2012/2013 academic year. We salute our faculty, staff, students, alumni, supporters, and partners who continue the CI mission of a student-centered education emphasizing international and multicultural perspectives with interdisciplinary and experiential service-oriented learning.

Together, we are solving the problems of today, preparing the leaders and innovators of tomorrow, and contributing to the vitality of higher education.

CSU Channel Islands – A Decade of Distinction

California State Old Time Fiddlers District 8 will meet Sunday, November 25 from 1:30-4:30 pm at the Oak View Community Center, 18 Valley Road, Oak View. Join fiddlers for an afternoon of listening and dancing to Country Western and Bluegrass music. Bring an instrument and play along. Ron Sexton whose resume includes playing with Willie Nelson and Buck Page will host a workshop on Stage Presence from 12:15-1pm. No admission or parking charge. Refreshments available. For more information go to calfiddlers.com or call 797-6563.

Marie Antoinette, one of European history’s most infamous queens, is the subject of the newest George Stuart Historical Figures® exhibition Let’em Eat Cake, opening at the Museum of Ventura County on November 20 and running through February 24, 2013.

The exhibit of one-quarter life-size sculpture of Antoinette and other personalities from the French Revolution sheds light on her extravagant life and tragic end by the guillotine.

Accompanying monologues by historian and artist George Stuart include Queen of France on Tuesday, January 15 at 2:00 p.m., and The Mob at the Gates! on Tuesday, February 12 at 2:00 pm. in the museum’s Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Pavilion. Admission to each monologue is $15 for the general public, $10 for museum members, and includes entry to all museum exhibits. For reservations, call (805) 653-0323 x 7.

The future queen of France began life as the Austrian princess Maria Antonia, who entered into an arranged marriage with the French Dauphin in 1770. She became Queen Marie Antoinette in 1774. Apparently a doting mother to her four children, Antoinette was initially known for her simplicity, but soon had a reputation for extravagance and excess which contributed to her unpopularity with the French public. The famous words “let’em eat cake” were probably falsely attributed to her, but Antoinette’s seeming indifference to the hardships endured by her subjects was not overlooked during her trial before a Revolutionary Tribunal. She was subsequently guillotined; of her family, only a daughter survived the revolution.

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission to the exhibitions is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, members and children under 6 are free. . Paid events include free admission to galleries. The first Sundays of every month are free general admission for the public. For more museum information go to www.venturamuseum.org or call 805-653-0323.

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Monday November 26, 2012 7 - 9 pm

California ceramic artist, Kim Clarke, will be talking about her 6 week residency in Vallauris, France. She was one of several international artists chosen to create a body of work and then participate in an exhibition. Clarke will share a power point presentation and information about her work, the residency, town and local clay bodies that are used by French artists. Clarke will also talk about side trips that included the island of Sainte-Marguerite.

Kim's work can be seen at galleries in Ojai, Santa Monica, Ventura and several out of state galleries.

She splits her time between homes in Ojai and Simi Valley.

There will be a display of her work available to see and purchase.

Everyone is invited.

Refreshments, FREE

For more information, call 805-985-5038.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - California Lutheran University will observe World AIDS Day 2012 with a panel discussion, keynote speaker and candlelight vigil from 2 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29.

Visitors can listen to a panel of HIV-positive speakers from 2:15 to 3:55 p.m. Craig Web, HIV/AIDS program administrator for Ventura County Public Health,will give the keynote presentation from 4:10 to 5:10 p.m. Art and performances honoring people who are currently living with HIV/AIDS and those who have died will be presented and a candlelight vigil will be held from 5:15 to 5:45 p.m.

Planned Parenthood, Ventura County Public Health, CLU’s Wellness Programs and other organizations will set up information tables.

There are currently 2,000 people known to be living with HIV or AIDS in Ventura County.

World AIDS Day, which officially falls on Dec. 1, was first observed in 1988. It started with a call by health ministers from around the world for social tolerance and greater awareness of HIV/AIDS on an international scale.

Events will be held in Rooms 101 and 102. The Swenson Center is located at the corner of Faculty Street and Pioneer Avenue on the Thousand Oaks campus.

CLU’s Center for Equality and Justice, Wellness Programs and Campus Ministry, along with the HIV/AIDS Coalition of Ventura County, are sponsoring the free events. For more information, contact Amanda Namba at 805-493-3950 or namba@callutheran.edu.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - A California Lutheran University history professor who has been photographing India for more than four decades will share his most recent photos in an upcoming exhibit.

“The Earth Where You Stand,” featuring photographs of India taken by Paul Hanson while he was on sabbatical in spring, will run from Saturday, Dec. 1, through Saturday, Jan. 26, in CLU’s Kwan Fong Gallery of Art and Culture. An opening reception will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6.

While Hanson has noticed the phenomenal changes resulting from India’s rapid rise as an economic power in the last decade in the largest cities and their satellite hubs, he has found that the impact is more marginal on the majority who live in rural areas. Daily life for most is not much different than when he first went to India. Women and children carry water from wells and rivers, dried dung cakes remain a primary cooking and heating fuel, people shop from street vendors in open markets, and religious festivals and rituals are the high points of yearly calendars.

“It is a hard life but the character and beauty of the people who must survive does, I hope, come through in the photographs,” the Moorpark resident said. “We lead very different lives but share a common humanity.”

Most of the photographs in the exhibit were taken in central and western India in the states of Rajasthan,Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Hanson first went to India as aFulbright Fellow. On the way, he bought his first camera, which led to a lifelong interest in photography. Teaching at a college and traveling around the country that year convinced him he could spend the rest of his life learning about the fascinating place. He has since traveled to more than 40 countries but always returns to India, which he considers to be the most visually stunning country in the world due to the diversity of the land and its people.

“Not only is India the most photogenic country in the world, but most of its people are also quite camera-friendly when approached with the proper respect,” he said.

Hanson, who has a doctorate in South Asian and Middle Eastern history, joined the CLU faculty in 1978. A recipient of the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence, he is known for his extensive use of images from his travels in his classes. Twice a Fulbright Scholar to India, he has researched Islamic history in South Asia, especially the relationship of religion and political legitimacy under the Mughal dynasty. He was a founding board member of the South Asian Studies Association.

Admission to the exhibit and reception is free. The Kwan Fong Gallery is located in Soiland Humanities Center on the south side of Memorial Parkway near Regent Avenue. It is open from 8a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call Michael Pearce at 805-444-7716 or visit www.callutheran.edu/kwan_fong.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks will present its annual holiday gift to the community with the free Christmas Festival Concerts slated Nov. 30 through Dec. 2.

The choral ensembles and University Symphony will perform “Let Heaven and Nature Sing” at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1, and at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, in Samuelson Chapel.

The university’s longest-running annual event will feature a narrated performance of Christmas music. The program will include delightful lesser-known carols as well as familiar favorites sung by the CLU choirs.

The University Symphony will perform Bach’s “Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 BWV 1052” featuring junior music major Gillian Sanhamel from Moorpark.

The choirs and symphony will join forces on “Joy to the World” arranged by John Rutter, and three carols arranged by David Willcocks, “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” “The First Nowell” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

Wyant Morton, chair of the CLU music department, and music professor Daniel Geeting will conduct.

Donations will be accepted.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near Campus Drive. Additional parking is available in the lots at the corner of Olsen Road and Mountclef Boulevard. This is always a popular concert so arrive early for the best seating and parking.

For more information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.

UPDATE: Peter Frank's Tea and Talk scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, at The William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art at California Lutheran University has been rescheduled. It will now be held in conjunction with a piano recital in the gallery from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15. The event had to be rescheduled because it was announced this week that CLU will host its NCAA Division III Championship football playoff game against North Central (Ill.) at noon Saturday in William Rolland Stadium.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Art critic and curator Peter Frank will be featured in a free Tea andTalk from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, in conjunction with the exhibit “Resonating Images: 1900-1950” at The William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art at California Lutheran University.

Frank is a curator for the Riverside Art Museum who has organized shows for institutions throughout the world. The most notable among them was “19 Artists – Emergent Americans,” the 1981 Exxon National Exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

He is the associate editor of Fabrik magazine and a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post. Born in 1950 in New York, he wrote art criticism for The Village Voice and The SoHo before moving in 1988 to Los Angeles, where he was an art critic for Angeleno magazine and LA Weekly. He is a former editor of Visions Art Quarterly. He co-wrote the 1987 book “New, Used & Improved,” an overview of the New York art scene. He has written many monographs and catalogs for exhibitions. His cycle of poems, “The Travelogues,” was issued in 1982.

Frank has taught CONTINUED »

The Ventura County Rose Society will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, Nevember 15, 2012, at the Ventura County Office of Education Conference Center at 5100 Adolfo Rd., Camarillo.

The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for advice from Consulting Rosarians and refreshments, and our speaker presentation will begin at 7:30 pm.

The VCRS meeting will feature Walt and Diana Kilmer presenting a program featuring their visits to rose gardens in Europe and New Zealand. The Kilmers are active horticultural judges in the U.S. and in Europe. They participate in the Rose Hills International Rose Tries in Whittier, and they both were honored as Outstanding Consulting Rosarians by the ARS Pacific Southwest District. This lecture should be very informative and interesting.

Visitors are always welcome. For more information contact: Janet Sklar at 818-337-9970 or Dawn-Marie Johnson at 805-523-9003. Our website is www.venturarose.org

Camarillo, CA - The CSU Channel Islands (CI) Art Program is pleased to announce its next exhibition, “Michael Todd – Sculptural Works,” which runs Nov. 8 through Dec. 14 in the Art Gallery at Napa Hall on the CI campus. The exhibition kicks off with a free public reception on Thursday, Nov. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Todd is internationally known for his metal, wood and clay sculptures that invoke Japanese Zen traditions, Chinese calligraphy, tribal African art, and abstract expressionism. His work can be found in many public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

A native of Nebraska, Todd earned a B.F.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1959 and an M.A. from UCLA in 1961. He received Woodrow Wilson and Fulbright Fellowships and has held teaching positions at Bennington College, UCLA, University of California, San Diego, California Institute of the Arts, Otis College of Art and Design, and the University of California, Irvine.

Todd’s early sculptures were wooden geometric constructions that were included in the Whitney Museum’s Annuals of 1964, 1966, 1967 and 1970 and LACMA’s landmark exhibition, “American Sculpture of the Sixties.”

After moving from New York to San Diego in 1968, Todd shifted from wood to metal and began to develop his own mature artistic vocabulary. Inspired by Zen concepts and calligraphy and the freedom of expression in California of the late 60s, he used discarded shapes found in steel scrap yards to explore the cosmos and composition in space. The enso, a Zen circle motif, figures prominently in Todd’s work.

Todd maintained his studio in New York City until 1976, when he moved with his wife and daughter to Los Angeles. In the 1980s, Todd shifted his focus to bronze, creating the components of his sculptures by pouring molten metal into a bed of sand. The 1990s found him immersed in drawing and painting. In 2003, he began his great love affair with clay, bringing sculpture and painting together.

The Art Gallery at Napa Hall is located on Ventura Street on the CI campus. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For additional information, visit http://art.csuci.edu/gallery, or contact the Art Department at 805-437-8570 or art@csuci.edu.

Limited parking is available on campus with the purchase of a $6 daily permit; follow signs to the parking permit dispensers. Free parking is available at the Camarillo Metrolink Station/Lewis Road with bus service to and from the campus. Riders should board the CI Vista Bus to the campus; the cash-only fare is $1.25 each way. Buses arrive and depart from the Camarillo Metrolink Station every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. For exact times, check the schedule at www.goventura.org.

For more information on the artist, visit http://michaeltoddsculpture.com.

About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands (CI) is celebrating 10 years of education, innovation, growth and community enrichment during the 2012/2013 academic year. We salute our faculty, staff, students, alumni, supporters, and partners who continue the CI mission of a student-centered education emphasizing international and multicultural perspectives with interdisciplinary and experiential service-oriented learning.

Together, we are solving the problems of today, preparing the leaders and innovators of tomorrow, and contributing to the vitality of higher education.

CSU Channel Islands – A Decade of Distinction

“Art About Agriculture” is an agricultural themed art exhibit presented by the Ag Art Alliance which will be held November 10, 2012 through March 17, 2013 at the Santa Paula Art Museum, 117 N. 10th Street, in historic downtown Santa Paula. The purpose of the exhibit is to promote Art About Agriculture by exploring all of the facets of agriculture from workers to water, machinery to soil, and to the food that goes on our plates.

Part of the exhibit will also be on display at the Museum of Ventura County Agriculture Museum, located within walking distance of the Santa Paula Art Museum at 926 Railroad Avenue in Santa Paula. For more information about the Agriculture Museum, please call (805) 525-3100. Be sure to visit both museums to see the entire show.

An opening reception for the exhibit will be held on Saturday, November 10 from 4 to 6 pm at both the Santa Paula Art Museum and the Agriculture Museum. Admission to the Art Museum reception is $10 for museum members and $15 for non-members. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served and reservations are recommended. There is no charge for admission to the Agriculture Museum reception and no refreshments.

Art About Agriculture features art by over 50 artists working in both two and three dimensional media who create art that in some way draws its inspiration from our agricultural heritage and/or contemporary agriculture. That inspiration includes, but is not limited to, depictions of rural life and landscape, farm animals and products, and art that in a more abstract way deals with issues and ideas related to agriculture. All work in the exhibit will be for sale.

The Ag Art Alliance was formed in 2007 by Gail Pidduck and John Nichols to promote a greater appreciation of the place of agriculture in our lives by revealing the many facets of agriculture through the eyes of artists.

Also currently on exhibit at the Santa Paula Art Museum is the 19th De Colores Art Show, celebrating Latino art and culture, and selections from the famous Santa Paula Art Collection. The Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and Sunday from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Admission: Adults $4, Seniors $3 and members and students are free.

PR Photos Attached: “Orchards” by Victor Schiro, oil on canvas, 18”x 21”
and “Frost Blanket on Mandarins” by John Krist, photograph, 16”x 20”

WHAT: Ag Art Alliance Fifth Annual Exhibit “Art About Agriculture”

WHERE: Santa Paula Art Museum, 117 N. 10th St., Santa Paula, CA and Museum of Ventura County Agriculture Museum, 926 Railroad Ave., Santa Paula, CA

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, November 10 from 4 to 6 pm at both the Santa Paula Art Museum, cost is $10 for museum members and $15 for non-members, and the Agriculture Museum, free admission.

EXHIBIT DATES: November 10, 2012 through March 17, 2013

The Buenaventura Art Association has announced that dry pasta, aka “macaroni” is the jumping off point and required primary ingredient for all works eligible to participate in its Fifth Annual Holiday Ornament Design Competition, this year playfully named “Call it Macaroni”. Non-cash prizes of assorted gift baskets and certificates will be awarded in youth and adult categories. To qualify for the youth category entrants must be 14 years or younger.

The main rule for the competition is that ornaments must include dry pasta as the primary material. Creative interpretation and craftiness take off from there with paint, glitter or other additional materials at the artist’s discretion. Ornaments must be “hangable” and include some kind of string or hook with which to hang it. All ornaments entered in competition will be offered for sale and the artist must agree to donate their entry for this purpose. All proceeds will go to the Ventura Education Partnership’s Arts Collaborative. The Collaborative raises funds for projects and events both during and after school which keep Ventura’s youth engaged in the visual and performing arts.

Entries must be brought in to the Buenaventura Art Association’s Harbor Village Gallery, 1591 Spinnaker Dr., Entrance #3, Ventura Harbor Village, between Monday, November 26 and Sunday, December 9 during open gallery hours, every day except Tuesdays, from 12 to 5 pm. The Ventura Education Partnership will also be putting collection boxes in some of Ventura’s elementary and middle schools for ornament submissions as well, but the competition is open to youth and adults throughout all Ventura County cities. A festive awards reception will be held Saturday, December 15 from 5 – 6:30pm at the gallery, right before the start of the Parade of Lights. Debbie Golden, Ventura Board of Education member and Cecile Faulconer, Vice President of the Ventura County Potters Guild will judge the entries and select awards for the youth and adult categories respectively.

For more information, call the Harbor Village Gallery at 805-644-2750 or visit www.harborvillagegallery.com or www.buenaventuragallery.org

About the Buenaventura Art Association
Buenaventura Art Association (BAA) is a non-profit, foundational arts organization in Ventura – a 58-year-old institution devoted to sustaining Ventura County’s cultural and artistic resources by developing visual artists in all stages of their careers. BAA was started in 1954 by a group of Ventura community, civic and business leaders who recognized the importance of the arts in all communities and wanted to encourage and foster Ventura’s cultural growth. BAA runs two galleries – the Buenaventura Gallery in downtown Ventura at 700 E. Santa Clara St., and the Harbor Village Gallery, 1591 Spinnaker Dr., in the Ventura Harbor Village. BAA also collaborates with Community Memorial Hospital to exhibit art in its ground floor public corridors.

More about the Annual Ornament Competition
A new primary design element is chosen each year for the annual competition. In previous years ornaments have started with egg cartons, 3” Styrofoam balls, small paper boxes, or plastic water bottles. BAA donates all proceeds from the sales of the ornaments to a fellow non-profit organization each year.

Caroline Heldman

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - An expert in American political campaigns will discuss how race, class and gender affected voter decisions in the 2012 presidential election at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12, at California Lutheran University.

Caroline Heldman, chair of the politics department at Occidental College, will present “Deciding Factors: Race, Class and Gender in the 2012 Presidential Election” in Samuelson Chapel.

Heldman was the co-editor of the 2007 book “Rethinking Madam President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House?” Published in the top journals in her field, her work has been highlighted in The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report and Ms. magazine.She is also a political commentator for MSNBC, Fox Business News and Al Jazeera English.

Before coming to Occidental, Heldman taught at Whittier College, Fairfield University and Rutgers University. She also has been a congressional staffer, campaign manager andpolitical activist.

She has also worked as a political reviewer for the Associated Press, a reporter for KPFK Los Angeles and the general manager for Bio-Energy Systems. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Washington State University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey.

Heldman drove to New Orleans tohelp rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005 and has returned many times since. She works in a leadership position with Common Ground Relief, a New Orleans organization helping people and communities victimized by hurricanes. She co-founded the New Orleans Women’s Shelter, the Lower Ninth Ward Living Museum and Critical Response, a group that provides volunteers for high-risk rescue efforts during disasters.

LU’s Artists and Speakers Committee is sponsoring the free event. The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near Campus Road on the Thousand Oaks campus. For more information, contact Adina Nack at nack@callutheran.edu or 805-493-3438.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The California Lutheran University wind and jazz ensembles will perform a free two-part concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16, in Samuelson Chapel.

The University Wind Ensemble will open with a variety of compositions featuring traditional favorites as well as exciting works by contemporary composers. Conducted by Director of Bands Michael D. Hart, the ensemble will open with Dmitri Shostakovich’s lively “Dance I” from his Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra and the film “The Gadfly.” An arrangement of Morten Lauridsen’s popular choral work “O Magnum Mysterium” will follow and the first half will close with Eric Whitacre’s imaginativethree-movement work “Ghost Train.”

The 20-piece Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Peter Woodford, will close the concert with “Swing, Swing, Swing,” an eclectic mix of new and old jazz standards.

Hart also conducts the Chamber Winds Ensemble and the CLU Pep Band, teaches music theory and ear-training courses, and provides lessons to all trombone, euphonium and tuba students. A native of Minnesota, he holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Concordia College in Minnesota and a master’s degree in music from The University of Iowa, where he is completing his doctorate. Prior to his appointment at CLU, he was a faculty member at Iowa Wesleyan College and a band director in the Minnesota public schools.

Woodford has been playing guitar professionally since 1969. For 19 years, he played with The Doc Severinsen NBC Tonight Show Band on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” He has accompanied a diverse array of musical artists whose styles range from jazz to classical to rock to pop to country. His eclectic career encompasses recordings, television shows, commercials, motion pictures, theatrical productions and concerts. He also works as a fretted instrumentalist for various orchestras in the Los Angeles area.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road off of Campus Drive on the Thousand Oaks campus. Additional parking is available at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

Donations will be accepted. Formore information, call the Music Department at 805-493-3306 or visit http://www.callutheran.edu.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The founder and longtime director of Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. will speak at California Lutheran University on Sunday, Nov. 11.

James Koenig will present “Scandinavian Film Festival L.A.: An Inside Look” at 3:30 p.m. in the Roth Nelson Room. He will discuss the history of the festival and the films now emerging from Scandinavian producers.

Since founding the festival 14 years ago, Koenig has been a frequent guest of film festivals in Scandinavia and has served on a number of festival juries. His interest in Nordic films began as a teenager when he first encountered the films of Ingmar Bergman and he became a frequent traveler to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland and Finland.

Best known as a professional singer, Koenig has appeared in operas, concerts andrecitals around the United States, including in Carnegie Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and at venues in Scandinavia, Italy and Germany. Finnairsponsored his first recitals in Finland. Several of the recitals were fundraisers for Finlandia University, which awarded him its Finlandia Award. The Finnish government decorated him as a Knight of the Order of the Finnish Lion by for his work for Finnish music and culture.

Koenig grew up in Middle America as the youngest of five in a Lutheran clergy family and he has maintained an interest and involvement in church music. He has been a frequent guest conductor and clinician and has led workshops on liturgy and music. For seven years, he served as artist-in-residence director of music for the Episcopal Cathedral Center of Los Angeles. His choral works and liturgical pieces have been performed around the United States and in Europe.

He maintains a private vocal studio in Los Angeles and teaches in Italy in thesummer. He also is an arts advocate, writer, director, commentator and nonprofit leader. He founded Urban Arts Atelier, a training and mentoring program for classical singers, and has been a presenter for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Upbeat Live pre-concert lecture series. He has written journalistic pieces for Odyssey Classical Music Publications in the United Kingdom and various publications in the United States.

The Roth Nelson Room is located on Mountclef Boulevard near Memorial Parkway on the Thousand Oaks campus.

TheScandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation and CLU’s Communication Department are sponsoring the free presentation. For more information, contact Mary Hekhuis at 805-497-1057.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Areté Vocal Ensemble will open its fourth season at California Lutheran University with a concert of British music by The Beatles and a 20th century composer known for his choral works.

“The British Are Coming!” will be performed at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, in Samuelson Chapel. This is the first of two concerts commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the English composer Benjamin Britten and the 50th anniversary of the formation of The Beatles.

The program will include Beatles favorites “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “In My Life,” “Something,” “Let It Be,” “I’ll Follow the Sun” and the Medley Mash-Up. Popular songs by Britten will include “A Shepherd’s Carol,” “A Charm of Lullabies,” op. 41, “The Last Rose of Summer,” “Rejoice in the Lamb,” op. 30, and “Cabaret Songs.”

Areté is an innovative professional ensemble of vocal artists based at CLU. Music director and conductor Wyant Morton created the ensemble with the goal of performing the widest possible vocal and choral repertoire, including works from essentially all periods of music. Special attention is given to contemporary, experimental, improvisatory, “cross-over” and ethnic music.

The ensemble, which takes its name from the Greek word meaning striving for excellence, focuses on performing the new, the unknown and the unconventional with energy, passion, expertise and virtuosity. Through the combined power of words and music, an uncompromising attention to musical detail and a passion for live performance, Areté offers audiences a joyful, moving, educational and soul-nurturing experience.

Wyant Morton is director of choral and vocal activities, chair of the music department and a professor of music atCLU. He also maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator appearing throughout the United States and Canada.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near the corner of Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks. Additional parking is available at the corner of Olsen Road and Mountclef Boulevard.

Tickets purchased in advance are $15. Tickets purchased at the door are $20 and $10 for students with ID. Children under 12 are free. For information or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.aretevocalensemble.org.

The Moorpark College Drama and Veterans Clubs are pleased to announce FREE tickets for Moorpark area Veterans and a guest for the Friday, November 2, 2012, 8 p.m. performance of the Moorpark College Theatre Arts Department’s fall production of Neil Simon’s “Biloxi Blues.” This hilarious and poignant Broadway hit will run through November 4 at the Moorpark College Performing Arts Center, 7075 Campus Road, Moorpark.

The fun begins as the audience is transported back to the days of “Rosie the Riveter,” basic training and “Victory Gardens” in Neil Simon’s heart-warming “Biloxi Blues,” the second of Simon's semi-autobiographical trilogy. This thoughtful comedy centers on the experiences of a young army recruit during World War II, Eugene Morris Jerome. At basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi, Eugene is determined to use his army experiences to help his writing career and keeps detailed and humorous memoirs about his experiences. Eugene and five other assorted enlisted men suffer under a hard-nosed drill sergeant, confront the terrible army food served up in the mess hall, and join together to tease Eugene about his inexperience with women. Throughout, Eugene makes insightful and whimsical observations on lessons learned about authority, danger, sex, assimilation, bigotry, homosexuality, and love. John Loprieno, Theatre Arts Department Chair, will direct the production. “Saamon Legosi, or as we know him, ‘Lego,’ was a Theatre Arts student two years ago before he was redeployed to the Middle East,” said Loprieno. “When he approached me about doing an event with the Veterans Club, this seemed like a natural. Lego’s enthusiasm and dedication is contagious, and his desire to serve on all levels is inspirational. We’re very excited about this special performance for returning Veterans and their families.”

Two hundred seats are reserved for this special performance of “Biloxi Blues” at 8 p.m. on November 2. Seats are available on a first come, first served basis. Interested Veterans and a guest may call the Moorpark College Box Office at (805) 378-1485 to reserve seats. Proceeds from the snack bar for this performance will be donated to the Veterans Club. “Biloxi Blues” runs October 25-27 and November 1-3 at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees on October 28 and November 4. Tickets range from $8 (students) to $15 (adults), with senior and group discounts available. For more information, visit MoorparkCollege.edu/PAC.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The first Conejo Valley Film Festival, featuring Hollywood productions that were shot locally, will be held from 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturday, Nov. 10, at California Lutheran University.

The cultural and educational event will offer screenings of five films in which the Conejo Valley plays a role, often in disguise. The festival will provide an opportunity for a wide range of audiences to sit together and view vintage Hollywood movies, sharing the experience of seeing local hillsides and namesake oaks. Each film will be introduced with stories about the role of the Conejo Valley in the filmmaking process.

“Doctor Dolittle,” which will appeal to children and families, will open the festival at 10 a.m. Shooting on the film began in England and the West Indies, where the crew encountered terrible weather and had trouble getting animals. The production went threetimes over budget and was forced to resume in accessible locales of the Conejo Valley with animals from Jungleland.

“The Adventures of Robin Hood” will be shown as the matinee feature at 1 p.m. Errol Flynn played the swashbuckling character of mythic proportions, galloping through forests of oak trees and an undeveloped Lake Sherwood in the movie that gave the area its name.

“Wuthering Heights,” a story of passionate and doomed love, will be shown at 4 p.m. Wildwood appeared as the Scottish Moors, with purple dust applied to tumbleweeds to make themlook like heather, in this film starring Laurence Olivier and released in Hollywood's greatest year, 1939.

“Spartacus,” which will start at 7 p.m., is the quintessential epic featuring some of the most well-known actors of all time in armor, sandals and robes. The heart of ancient Rome was recreated in the hills of the Conejo Valley. The film is historically significant as it marked the end of the Hollywood blacklist.

“Sleeper,” which will be shown at 10:30 p.m., was made in 1973 when Baby Boomers were coming of age and Woody Allen was in his prime. This movie shows his vision of the future of the world.

Co-sponsor CLU will show all the films in the Preus-Brandt Forum, which is located south of Olsen Road between Campus Drive and Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus.

Prices range from $5 to $10 per movie. Tickets and more information are available at http://www.conejovalleyfilmfestival.com.