Latest news with #Fisk
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
HBCU gymnastics program to shut down
Fisk University's gymnastics program - the first in HBCU history - is shutting down. The Nashville, TN-based HBCU announced in an email on Friday that it will discontinue the sport. According to College Gym News, the university cited challenges with aligning gymnastics to its current athletics structure. "We are tremendously proud of the history our gymnastics team has made in just three years," said Fisk Director of Athletics Valencia Jordan. "But we look forward to focusing on our conference-affiliated teams to strengthen our impact in the HBCU Athletic Conference. Fisk is grateful for the hard work, dedication, and tenacity of its gymnasts, staff members, and coaches who made this program possible." The groundbreaking program drew national attention from the start. Fisk hired Corrine Tarver- the first Black woman to compete in gymnastics at the University of Georgia and a national champion- as head coach. Morgan Price, who turned down a chance to compete in the SEC, became the team's breakout star. She joined several other young gymnasts eager to make history on the inaugural HBCU squad. The team got off to a strong start in 2023 and improved in 2024. Price won the national championship in the all-around and defended her title in 2025. However, cracks began to appear earlier this season. Tarver, who had also served as athletics director, stepped down midseason. Fisk faced financial aid issues tied to FAFSA processing delays, which created uncertainty for many students. Last summer, Nashville's Metro Council stepped in with $500,000 in emergency funding to support the university. Price announced last month she would transfer to Arkansas for her final season. Now, the program she and her teammates helped build appears to be finished. This decision comes about a year after Talladega College - the first HBCU to announce a gymnastics program - ended its own after just one season. The post HBCU gymnastics program to shut down appeared first on HBCU Gameday. Copyright HBCU Gameday 2012-2025
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Breath of Life': Exploring the beauty and power of C.B. Fisk's majestic organs
Gloucester is most associated with fishing, of course, and, artistically, with painting (Fitz Henry Lane, John Sloan, Edward Hopper, Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis, Milton Avery, Joseph Solman) and poetry (Charles Olson, Vincent Ferrini, and don't forget T.S. Eliot's 'The Dry Salvages'). But in musical circles, thanks to Fisk, Gloucester is a world capital. The show includes models and photographs of Fisk organs that are near (Cambridge and Wellesley), far (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, and Minnesota), and quite far (Hong Kong and Japan). Opus 153, Wesley United Methodist Church, Muscatine, Iowa, 2019. Dana Sigall Advertisement As 'Breath of Life' very appealingly demonstrates, a pipe organ is about much more than the sounds it creates, regardless of how stirring or beautiful those sounds might be. Before an organ can make music, its own making variously draws on architecture, art, carpentry, acoustics, and engineering. Even when silent, it's a thing of beauty: a piece of magnificent sculpture that doubles as art installation. Fisk designates each of its organs with an opus number, the way musical composition are so designated. That seems altogether fitting. Opus 171, for example, is a continuo organ, much smaller than its more imposing brethren. That doesn't mean any less care went into its making. It's fashioned of white oak, walnut, boxwood, rosewood, curly maple, cherry, tin, and aluminum. Advertisement Opus 150, Christ Church, Philadelphia, 2018. Dana Sigall In addition to organ models and photographs, 'Breath of Life' includes drawings, decorative artwork for the organs, a pair of pipes (one the size of a chopstick, the other big enough to sit on a launching pad at a mini-Cape Canaveral), song books from the 18th and early 19th centuries, and a plaster cast of A vitrine displays a sampling of organ parts and tools used in their making. They're small wonders of elegance and utility, with names no less beautiful than the items themselves: 'languid,' 'reed tongue,' 'wooden beater and mandrel,' 'cut up knife,' 'toe cone,' 'toe hold gauge,' 'burnisher.' Opus 78, House of Hope Presbyterian Church, Saint Paul, Minn., 1979. Photo by Len Levasseur The show's wall texts are highly informative. Even so, this is the rare exhibition where visitors could forgo explanation and, simply gawking at what's on display, do so with pleasure and edification. That's how attractive the models and photographs and related materials are. In CAM Green's light-filled, white-walled exhibition space, the models look radiant. The organs are unique, like a fingerprint — or person — the design of each determined by the nature of the space it's sited in and the needs of the church or concert hall that commissioned it. Opus 110, located in Yokohama, Japan, is familiarly known as 'Lucy.' Opus 141, in Niiza, Japan, has blue lacquering. The pipes for Opus 146, in Glendale, Ohio, are arranged to form wing shapes — on wings of song, so to speak. Advertisement Opus 141, St. Paul's Chapel, Rikkyo University, Niiza, Japan, 2014. Scott Shaw The nine models are on a scale of 1:16: ¾ of an inch to 1 foot. 'They look like dollhouses to me,' a visitor was overheard to say during a recent visit. Fair enough, but lucky the dolls that get to live in such houses. 'Breath of Life' has a Fisk-selected soundtrack. It consists of organ music, of course. This is a very rare exception to the rule that music accompanying an exhibition is extremely annoying. Here it's not a distraction but an enhancement. For purists who prefer their music in person, there are organ performances in the exhibition space on Wednesdays from 1 to 1:30 p.m. A final note: The renovation of CAM's downtown campus continues, with reopening scheduled for this March. BREATH OF LIFE — C.B. FISK, DESIGNERS & BUILDERS OF PIPE ORGANS At Cape Ann Museum, CAM Green Campus, 13 Poplar St., Gloucester, through June 29. 978-283-0455, ext. 110, Mark Feeney can be reached at
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Vincent D'Onofrio reveals what he is still learning about Kingpin after 10 years
The release of Daredevil: Born Again earlier this year almost exactly matched the 10th anniversary of the original Daredevil show's premiere on Netflix. But even after a decade of playing supervillain Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, Vincent D'Onofrio is still learning things about his character 'every day.' 'As an actor, every day you go to work, something new happens,' D'Onofrio tells Gold Derby during a brief break from filming Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. 'You either fail and learn something from that, or you succeed and learn something from that. And throughout the day, both things can happen. So, yeah, I'm totally, constantly learning about Fisk and about how to execute the character. That never stops, it's continuous.' More from GoldDerby 'Difficult times,' 'screaming matches,' and 'abandonment': David Duchovny and Chris Carter rehash their drama on 'The X-Files' Emma D'Arcy takes a break from filming 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 to talk riding dragons, 'Westerosi jet lag,' and Season 2's 'momentous' moments Jason Schwartzman on the breakneck 'Mountainhead' production: 'I've never done anything like it in my life' Of course, it helps to have new material to play, and Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again put both D'Onofrio and his character in a whole new place after Fisk successfully ran for mayor of New York City. During a rare meet-up with his rival Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in the premiere episode, Fisk promised that he was done with his criminal ways and ready to be an upright politician. But D'Onofrio knew that things wouldn't go that way, even if his character didn't. 'You can't take these characters and then suddenly turn them into good people, or even less complicated people,' D'Onofrio says. 'I knew that the idea of putting him in the light and having him run for mayor was going to cause a lot of frustration and a lot of struggle for that character. As the actor, I knew that it would never work out. I even felt that putting him in those situations were some of the most difficult things to play. To put a broken person, who really belongs in the dark, in the light is an interesting choice. As the actor, I could feel the frustration of it. I didn't like it myself, but it was good to play it that way.' But despite Fisk's new office, there's also plenty of continuity in the form of his wife, Vanessa Fisk. Though Sandrine Holt was originally cast to play Vanessa during the first attempt at Daredevil: Born Again, after the show's creative revamp the role was recast with Ayelet Zurer (who had played Vanessa on the original Daredevil series), and she and D'Onofrio picked up where they left off. 'Ayelet Zurer is an amazing actress,' D'Onofrio says. 'I've known her for years now, we're very close friends, and to work with her is incredible. Vanessa helps a lot to tell Wilson Fisk's story, like it did in the comics years ago. It defines who he is as a man, not just as a villain.' Vanessa is her husband's moral compass, but not in a good way. During the time he's been absent from New York City (depicted in the Disney+ series Echo), Vanessa took control of his criminal empire, and she's the one who helps him re-embrace his Kingpin side even after becoming mayor. 'Whenever you show somebody that's supposedly a bad guy and you humanize him, it's more scary for everybody,' D'Onofrio says. 'So we did whatever we could in the first season to humanize Fisk, to make sure that people understood that he was a man who didn't consider himself to be a villain, but that the actor who plays him considers him to be broken.' Criminal mayors are not relegated solely to the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eric Adams, the real-life mayor of New York City, was indicted last year on criminal corruption charges from the FBI. 'I don't have any interest in all that,' D'Onofrio says. 'I have my own personal views about all that, but I don't connect those to the show in any way. I think other people may or may not, that's up to them, but I've been playing this character a long time now, and I'm on that track. I'm on that evolution of the character. If it's somehow, in some uncanny way, following what's going on out there in the world, then I guess that's all the better for everybody. That means it's good storytelling, and if people are getting pissed about it or happy about it, that's good storytelling.' Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again is streaming now on Disney+. Best of GoldDerby Jacob Elordi reveals personal reason for joining 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North': 'It was something important to me' Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez on how the 'Agatha All Along' cast 'became a coven' when recording 'The Ballad of the Witches' Road' Jason Schwartzman on the breakneck 'Mountainhead' production: 'I've never done anything like it in my life' Click here to read the full article.
Boston Globe
26-05-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Organ designer makes art on a major scale
C.B. Fisk Pipe organ designer Charles Nazarian points out a rose window in his scale model of an organ he designed for Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe Staff.) John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Advertisement Where to find him : Age : 73 Originally from : Watertown Lives in : Gloucester, in a nineteenth-century oxen barn he converted into a house. Making a living : In addition to his work at Fisk, Nazarian is an architectural designer of period homes and president of the A selection of organ pipes lie in a drawer in the storage room at C.B. Fisk, Inc. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe Staff.) John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Studio : Opus 166's scale model fills a corner of his small, shared office at Fisk. Drawings, dowels, and sketches on foamcore cover a nearby worktable. How he started : Nazarian studied organ as an undergraduate at Trinity College. Summers, he played Harvard's organ. 'There was a day when I was practicing, and Advertisement Nazarian had observed differences between Harvard's organ and Trinity's. 'I cornered him,' Nazarian said. 'I asked him point blank, why is it that your instrument doesn't do X, Y, or Z? He gave me a very tired look and said, 'Chuck, if you think you can do better, you should come work with us.'' After a detour to law school, Nazarian apprenticed at Fisk. Organ designer Charles Nazarian presses down on the keys of the pipe organ for the Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. Each keyboard relates to roughly 1,000 pipes. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe Staff.) John Tlumacki/Globe Staff What he makes : He designs and builds scale models of organs in situ. Nazarian emphasizes the teamwork involved. It was Fisk's approach, too. 'If you could get at the time, eight or nine people, but now 20-plus people, to agree that the scale model looked good, most likely most people would think that it was a success,' he said. 'And this is the most persnickety group of artisans you can ever imagine.' Charles Nazarian examines designs atop the large roller board for the C.B. Fisk organ that will be installed in Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida. (John Tlumacki/Boston Globe Staff.) John Tlumacki/Globe Staff How he works : He starts with freehand sketches and moves to foamcore, which he can prop up inside his model of the church's interior. 'Once the direction seems to be working, I start turning the pipes and making the woodwork of the case,' Nazarian said. 'The core of what I do is trying to figure out what the instrument itself wants to be in the space,' he said. 'The goal is for the instrument to look as if it could have always been there.' Gloucester 05/21/2025 Cylindrical forms are used to form the shape of organ pipes in one of the work rooms at C.B. Fisk Inc. John Tlumacki/Boston Globe Staff John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Advice for artists : 'Find the best mentors you possibly can, follow your passion in what it is you most want to do,' Nazarian said, 'and combine those two pieces together.' Advertisement
Sydney Morning Herald
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The ‘nonsense' that became a cult game show even border security guards love
There is a line that stretches out the door at the ABC studios in Sydney's Ultimo. Young and old, they are here to see a recording of last year's surprise hit Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee. One man has flown over from Perth for the day to catch the recording, while two young women have made T-shirts bearing the show's logo. A couple of primary school kids are here with their parents, while many others are repeat visitors who have travelled hours to see the show. A show about spelling, – that's S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G – it was a surprise hit for the ABC last year, with its mix of pedantry and absolute nonsense earning it a five-star review, solid ratings and a nomination for best entertainment program at the AACTA awards. It also helped that it was hosted and created by the nicest Kiwi on TV, comedian Guy Montgomery, who made the show as a lark with friends over Zoom during COVID and then developed it into a live show and then a TV series in New Zealand. The Australian version is essentially the same – albeit with a slightly fancier set, less confusing accents – with Aaron Chen, whose offbeat humour and star turn in Kitty Flanagan's sitcom Fisk have earned him a cult following, stepping into the role of sidekick. Loading 'You hope people like it, but you've got no idea,' says Montgomery, sitting in his dressing room with Chen. 'Once you put something out in the world, it's not really yours to have opinions on any more. It's up to everyone else. And then the first time, actually, I came back to Australia after it had come out, I was doing a show in Adelaide, and the border security guard was like, 'Oh my gosh, I love your show, it's so funny.' And I was like, 'This is the best welcome to Australia I've ever had, it's so nice.' I mean, it hasn't happened since…' For Chen, the appeal lies in the simple joy of gameplay. 'Guy is extremely funny and I love the format,' says Chen. 'I've competed in the live version of this and the Zoom version, and it was both very fun and also really funny, but really simple. I appreciate honest gameplay, games that actually work as games.' Chen also wanted to join the show – 'I had compromising photos,' jokes Montgomery – because it gave stand-up comedians an opportunity on TV in something that's not another news-of-the-week panel show. 'For a long time, Australian television hasn't put on TV shows that are made by comedians,' he says. 'Especially stand-up comedians that are already funny and fully formed, and just like, let them do their own thing. And this felt like a beautiful opportunity.' The pair is dressed for that evening's recording: Montgomery in his green blazer and wide brown '70s tie and Chen in his trademark mint green suit and ruffled shirt. They are filming two episodes a day, over two weeks, with a rotating line-up of contestants, including carry-over champ Tom Walker, newbies Hannah Gadsby, Rove McManus and Julia Zemiro, as well as one contestant who sets the record for the longest winning streak. On paper, the show's format is remarkably simple – a spelling bee, where contestants are asked to spell words of varying degrees of difficulty. For example, for the first round, words are chosen out of three containers – The Coward's Cup (easy, one point), the Person's Purse (medium, two points) and the Bucket of Bravery (difficult, three points) – and the joy comes in seeing contestants who are either completely stumped or supremely confident in their spelling abilities. It's a dream come true for word nerds. For everyone else, it's a waking nightmare. Of the two shows I see being filmed, a couple of contestants are like rabbits in the headlights, unable to comprehend the question or what they are being asked to spell. At one point, someone in the audience feels so sorry for them that they yell out the answer. 'Spelling is nonsense,' says Montgomery. 'It's a universal access point. We can all relate to it. We all understand it and do it. But it's not a marker of actual intelligence or brightness, or what you contribute to the world. Ultimately, it's something we can all measure ourselves on, but the outcome has no relevance to the world or your life. But people who are good spellers, it's probably a harder show for them to do because then they feel as though they do have something to lose.' Loading He name-checks Kiwi comedian Abby Howells, who will appear on season two, as someone who embodied the life-or-death drama of the series. 'She came on the New Zealand version and she's like, 'Oh, I'm a brilliant speller. I love this. I've got a PhD,'' he recalls. 'And then she just had an absolutely appalling episode. It's amazing self-contained storytelling. A whole episode of someone coming out and being like, 'I'm gonna do this' and then just slowly, everything falling away from them. I love that.' So what makes a good contestant? 'It's just anyone who will just play the game as it comes to them,' says Montgomery. 'You want people to interrogate the internal logic and be openly annoyed towards me. Anyone who just feels the confidence to come out and play it exactly as they see it.' What about Chen – whose role as game assistant involves him acting out games for the contestants, such as cooking a dish that the contestants must spell – what does he think makes a good contestant? 'I think the love of spelling makes a beautiful contestant,' he deadpans. 'If they can spell nice, that's one of my favourite types of contestants.' Adds Montgomery: 'Aaron is a good speller. Joseph Moore, who I do the bulk of the writing on the show with, he and I were running words because people always pillage the Bucket of Bravery. It's the one that everyone goes for, as much as you try to guide them away from it, people want to have a go. And we were having to source and write material for more words, and we were running them on Aaron, and Aaron's a gun speller. He was getting a lot of them right.' Chen then chimes in with a challenge for me: 'Spell inchoate.' 'I-N-C-H [insert nervous pause here] O-A-T-E.' Asks Montgomery: 'How did that feel? You can obviously choose if you put this in the story.' I got it right, so of course I have put it in! But it did feel weird. Spelling out loud is not something anyone does often outside primary school, and one of the fun things about the show is seeing how contestants approach it: some write out the word with their fingers in the air, others whisper. 'You can ask for a definition and stuff like that,' says Chen. 'Do you want the definition for inchoate?' Go on… 'It means, 'Not fully formed, like Guy's opinions on immigration …'' I think that's spelt B-O-O-M T-I-S-H.
