NIU to rededicate Duke Ellington Ballroom

When the Holmes Student Center opened in the fall of 1962 – it was called University Center then – jazz legend Duke Ellington was enjoying a thriving career that would continue to flourish until his death.

Following the enormous sales of his “Ellington at Newport” album, recorded at his orchestra’s 1956 concert there, he embarked on an amazing period of studio recordings, world tours, numerous Grammy Awards, an Academy Award nomination and further forays into scoring for the legitimate theater stage.

Yet Ellington’s lasting connection to NIU – one that has endured nearly 30 years, and is known to many alumni and campus visitors – would come in the final two months of his celebrated life.

Ellington and his orchestra played the center’s ballroom March 20, 1974. Although he made two more stage appearances before succumbing to lung cancer and pneumonia two months later, the NIU show was his final “full” concert.

In 1980, students who ran the Holmes Center Board convinced members of the governing Board of Regents to name the ballroom in his honor. Mercer Ellington, Duke’s son and successor as bandleader, attended the ceremony.

Now, with an extensive $970,000 improvement project complete and the facility reopened, NIU will rededicate the Duke Ellington Ballroom.

Paul Ellington, Duke’s grandson and Mercer’s successor as bandleader, will attend and perform at Thursday’s ceremony during the annual fall NIU Jazz Ensemble concert. The jazz ensemble performs at 8 p.m. with guest artist Dennis Mackrel, a drummer who played with the Count Basie Orchestra in the mid-1980s.

Ellington will join the jazz ensemble on “Mood Indigo,” one of his grandfather’s most famous compositions, and will play the same grand piano his grandfather used here in 1974.

“What an honor it is for NIU to have Paul Ellington come for this tribute to his grandfather. I’m looking forward to hearing his words – and his talent on the piano,” NIU President John Peters said.

“The importance of that 1974 concert is known to everyone who passes through our student center, whether they pause to read the plaque or simply note the name at the ballroom doors,” Peters added. “This rededication is a symbol of our commitment to what has made NIU, this country and, especially, our culture, great. By remembering artists such as Duke Ellington, we expose future generations to their creative work.”

Professor Ronald Carter, director of the NIU Jazz Ensemble and head of jazz studies in the NIU School of Music, said his band always plays at least one Ellington composition at each performance.

“Duke Ellington is an inspiration to jazz musicians because he broke the stereotype of the jazz musician. He was well-dressed and wrote and played many types of music without abandoning the cultural concepts of swing, feel and the blues,” said Carter, a longtime clinician with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington program.

“He has been an inspiration to me because he always wanted his music to exemplify the best of the black culture. He was very creative and artistic without diluting the heart and soul of the music,” Carter added. “His genius always allows me to keep searching for more in each composition.”

Mitch Kielb, director of Holmes Student Center, arranged for Paul Ellington’s visit after deciding the Nov. 6 jazz concert offered the most appropriate time to herald the ballroom improvements.

“I could not think of anything that would be better,” Kielb said. “We needed some way to dedicate or reopen the ballroom, and I thought, ‘Why not rededicate it in the name of Duke Ellington?’ ”

This is actually the third time NIU has dedicated the ballroom to Ellington.

A ceremony was held in 1999 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ellington’s birth, when the Campus Activities Board commissioned a work by artist Eric Blome and mounted the bronze relief outside the ballroom’s west doors.

Much of the recent rehabilitation of the ballroom involved replacing aging audio-visual systems that no longer were functional.

“There are a lot of things we do in that room that people depend on that room for, and the sound system and the acoustics were just not adequate anymore,” Kielb said. “The No. 1 problem was not being able to hear people on the stage.”

The ballroom was closed from May through October. Initial work to scrape a quarter-inch of asbestos from the ceiling was completed last December.

Upgrades were performed to the sound system, the lighting system, the control booth and the stage area, which itself now sports new lighting, curtains and acoustical treatments.

Speakers in the ceiling, which also was treated acoustically, guarantee the same quality of sound throughout the large room, and six enormous video screens eliminate any sight difficulties. Touring acts now will find the ballroom’s computerized sound and lighting systems compatible with the modern equipment they bring.

The ballroom held its first post-remodeling concert Saturday, Oct. 25, when young pop sensation Michelle Branch took the stage before 1,300 fans. Many of those, of course, were not NIU students.

“It’s the front door to the university,” Kielb said. “To many, many people, that’s their first exposure to NIU, either at orientations or open houses or job fairs or dinners, concerts, banquets or weddings. Sometimes the first and only exposure to Northern is that ballroom.”

Becky Mandolini knew the ballroom better than most.

A 1980 alumna, Mandolini served as president of the Holmes Center Board, which “programmed pretty much everything on campus except for at the field house.” She and her cohorts booked cutting-edge (and then unknown) rock acts such as the Police and the Ramones, and dared to screen “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in the ballroom.

“It was odd the bunch of us got together for Duke Ellington,” said Mandolini, a speech communications major who went on to work for Jam Productions. “It was not the music we were listening to – the Pretenders, the Psychedelic Furs, Elvis Costello.”

But Mandolini’s college boyfriend, fellow NIU alum Tim Love, had found a gig as a sound technician for a band touring in support of the Police. When the tour reached the Hammersmith Odeon in London, Love saw a bronze plaque commemorating Bing Crosby’s final performance. He told Mandolini, who’d heard rumors about Duke’s final stop.

She began to investigate, and found Ellington’s former agent, who confirmed the story.

“He said it was true. He had walked on stage another place or two but was never able to play another concert. He was too ill,” Mandolini remembered. “He put me in touch with Mercer. Mercer was thrilled. It was not our idea to bring the orchestra. It was Mercer’s. He said, ‘You do that – you dedicate that ballroom to my dad – and I will bring the band out at cost. We’ll come out and put on a show.’ ”

Mandolini approached the Board of Regents and received permission to name the ballroom.

“I always felt the ballroom was waiting for its name,” she said. “It seemed very appropriate. It is a ballroom, and when you think of Duke Ellington’s music, that’s where you always picture it.”

Now a stay-at-home mom, Mandolini said she finds the events of 1980 “more gratifying” as the years go by, and still feels a rush of pride whenever someone mentions attending a concert or event at the “Duke Ellington Ballroom.”

But her delight could not match Mercer Ellington’s.

“Mercer sent me Christmas cards at my parents’ home every year until he passed away. He was thrilled. He was just really excited about it,” she said. “I’m incredibly proud of it.”

Eight-character passwords to be enforced Nov. 10

In an effort to improve security, ITS will begin enforcing an eight-character password for login authentication to NIU’s network, including Windows, Novell, Unix, NT and MVS systems. It is recommended passwords be an alphanumeric combination of eight characters.

Please see the ITS documentation about creating secure passwords and learn how to change your password online by using WebFoyer.

NIU instructor presents one-woman show Nov. 5

NIU writing composition instructor Loren Hecht will perform a one-woman show of story, monologue and music at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, at the DeKalb Area Women’s Center.

“Light & Dark,” presented by Power Solo Performances, begins with the piece, “Mamie’s Grocery,” a hair-raising, uplifting and timeless tale of rediscovery and a look back at childhood.

Hecht’s second piece, “The Journey,” is a dramatic monologue about the trauma of watching a loved one die. A moving tribute to her younger brother, David, “The Journey” is the story of Hecht’s family as they deal with the tragedy surrounding them. The ticking of the clock throughout the performance serves as a metaphor for the progressive countdown not only to David’s death, but for each of us.

Admission is $5 for NIU students and faculty, as well as DeKalb Area Women’s Center members, and $8 for general admission. The DeKalb Area Women’s Center is located at 1021 State Street in DeKalb. Parking is available one-half block south of the building off of the Eleventh Street alley. The handicapped accessible lift can be reached from the alley north of the building.

For more information, contact Anna Marie Coveny at (815) 758-1351.

Missionary to speak Nov. 6 on Israeli occupation

The Rev. Sandra Olewine, a Methodist missionary fresh from years of service in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, on “Living Under Military Occupation – What Americans Need to Know about the Israeli Occupation.”

Olewine’s address will take place at First United Methodist Church, on the corner of 4th and Oak streets in DeKalb. A potluck begins at 6 p.m.

Sponsored by DeKalb Interfaith Network and the Northern Coalition for Peace & Justice, Olewine will bring fresh stories about the people and families in the midst of conflict, as well as her recommendations regarding the road to peace.

During Olewine’s years in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, she served as a liaison between the people of various faiths in the area, hosted visiting delegations seeking to understand more about the situation and sent gripping reports home of what she saw and experienced on both sides of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

The public is invited. There is no charge, but a freewill offering will be taken. For more information, call Sondra King at (815) 758-8702.

Borders to help scholarships for NIU Community School of the Arts

Shoppers at the DeKalb Borders store this weekend – Friday, Nov. 7 through Monday, Nov. 10 – who present an NIU Community School of the Arts voucher at the cash register will help its scholarship programs.

Borders generously returns 15 percent of the money shoppers (with vouchers) spend at the store during those days to the Community School of the Arts. Since the scholarship programs began in 1993, more than 300 scholarships were awarded to young students for the study of music, art or theater.

Students will perform at the store between 2 and 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8.

Some teachers in the program, meanwhile, will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, in the Recital Hall of the NIU Music Building. There is a fee to help raise funds for the scholarship programs.

For more information, or to obtain vouchers, call 753-1450.

Caregivers support group holds biweekly meetings

A caregivers support group led by Ellen Parham, a professor in the School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences in the NIU College of Health and Human Sciences, meets biweekly at Family Service Agency of DeKalb, 14 Health Services Drive.

The group, sponsored by the Northwestern Area Agency on Aging and Family Service Agency of DeKalb, is for caregivers of frail elderly and is free. It meets from 7 to 8:30 p.m. every first and third Monday night. No prior registration is required.

For more information, call (815) 758-8616.

NIU Student Mediation Services
provides help resolving conflicts

The Student Mediation Services Office provides NIU students with free mediation services to assist in resolving personal disputes and conflicts.

Mediation helps students develop important life skills such as anger management, dispute resolution, and effective communication skills. Mediation is a confidential process in which an impartial third party facilitates communication between people to promote reconciliation, settlement, or an understanding between parties. Mediation is voluntary, confidential, empowering, and a win-win opportunity.

The Student Mediation Services Office has mediators available to assist with such situations as dispute between members of organizations, roommate problems, minor harassment, noise and disruptive behavior, ethnic and lifestyle tensions, minor incidents of violence, and relationship problems. The process facilitates communication and all services are confidential.

The Student Mediation Services Office encourages referrals from all NIU departments, faculty and staff, and accepts self-referrals from students.

The Student Mediation Services Office is located in Grant Hall, Tower A, on the second floor. To learn more about mediation services provided, or to provide a referral for the mediation program, please contact Heather Wier, mediation coordinator, at 753-4799 or via e-mail at hwier@niu.edu.

11-3-03