Dr. William Banfield, Music Department, announces that the Mobile (Ala.) Symphony will premiere his “Structures: Concerto for Violin, Viola, Cello and Flute” on Saturday, Oct. 11. The work is the culmination of a three-year commission celebrating the recent opening of the Mobile Museum of Art and the city’s 300th anniversary. Later in the week, Banfield and his trio will present lectures and performances at the University of Southern Alabama and at Spring Hall College and Bishop State Community College. Scarecrow Press, a division of Rowman & Littlefield Press, will co-sponsor a signing/reading at local bookstores to support the recent publication of Banfield’s book, Musical Landscapes in Color.
Bill Heiman, vice president for development at the St. John Vianney Seminary, was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Sept. 27. In addition to his development responsibilities, Heiman will serve the SJV community as apostolic outreach director.
Dr. Ray MacKenzie, English Department, reports that his book, François Mauriac: God and Mammon and What Was Lost, was published this month by Sheed & Ward, a division of Roman & Littlefield. The book is a translation of Mauriac’s 1929 essay, “God and Mammon,” concerning his theory of the Catholic novel, and of his 1930 novel, What Was Lost, which attempts to put the theory into practice. MacKenzie also has included an extensive biographical and critical introduction and notes.
Dr. Pamela Nice, Faculty Development, reports that her documentary, “Letters From Cairo,” was featured at the international meeting of Pioneers of Change Sept. 5-13 in Cairo, Egypt. It was decided at the meeting to develop discussion circles focusing on the documentary for upcoming meetings in Egypt, as well as at several locations in the United States. One is the Berkana Institute in Spokane, Wash., which will use the film in police officer training in that city. Pioneers of Change is a global learning community of young professionals, committed to transforming unjust systems within and among cultures and nations.