CYA will host Yale graduate Lori Laitman (BA 1975, Master of Music 1976) for party food and libations at the home of Allison Westfahl Wagner ’01 on Saturday evening, April 30th, 6:30-9:30 pm. Lori is the composer of The Scarlet Letter, a new opera to receive its world premier at opera Colorado in early May. A noted composer of music for voice, Lori is the composer of operas, choral works, and over 250 songs. Her music is widely performed, internationally and throughout the United states to critical acclaim. The Journal of Singing wrote, “It is difficult to think of anyone before the public today who equals her exceptional gifts for embracing a poetic text and giving it new and deeper life through music,” and Fanfare Magazine calls her “one of the most talented and intriguing of living composers.

We are privileged to be able to spend time with Lori, as she helps prepare Opera Colorado for The Scarlet Letter. We thank Allison for welcoming us into her central Denver home with her new baby grand piano, which will be available to Lori to play. May Day weekend is a lovely time of year in Colorado with people emerging after winter, and we can celebrate spring’s and music’s new beginnings at a delightful evening with one of the most noted composers in America today.

$20 fee/person to cover refreshment and expenses. Email CYA president Stephanie Grilli with inquiries and to RSVP: steph@artscribe.net. She will provide payment instructions and location details. Attendance is limited to 40. So sign on soon to partake of this festive alumni get-together and night-on-the-town.

In conjunction with Lori’s appearance, CYA members and guests can receive a discount on tickets to The Scarlet Letter for the Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday performances (May 10-15). For tickets, go to the Opera Colorado site and enter the discount code “CYASCARLET” when you order your tickets. Attendance at the soirée and the opera are not contingent upon each other. Thanks to Jay Mead ’76 for his involvement and support and for arranging the CYA discount.

At a very special event, Dean Jonathan Holloway, Edmund S. Morgan Professor of African American Studies, History, and American Studies, will meet with Colorado Yale Association members at the Clyfford Still Museum on Tuesday March 8. The reception begins at 6:00, with Holloway addressing attendees about recent and future developments at Yale at 6:45. This will be followed by a brief Q&A, with the Yale College dean available for informal discussion for the rest of the event.

Our use of the Clyfford Still Museum has been made possible by deputy director Joan Prusse (MA ’83, M.Phil ’83, J.D. ’89). Attendees have access to the gallery spaces and can opt to take a tour. Appetizers and wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverage will be served. Given the opportunity in combination with the dean’s visit, this reception is a free event. It will be limited to 100 attendees. RSVP required. This promises to be a great evening to share with fellow Yale alums.

RSVP: Stephanie Grilli, president, Colorado Yale Association, steph@artscribe.net

Donations and sponsorships are welcome

In its feature on Peace Corps volunteers over 50, USA Today wrote, “While other couples their age enjoy the perks of retirement in the USA, the Fulfords live in a two-room, tin-roofed hut on a rural homestead with no running water.” The homestead where Mark Fulford ’70 and his wife Katherine lived for two years was in Swaziland, one of the few absolute monarchies left on the planet.

With Mozambique to the east and South Africa to the north, south, and west, it is a land of stunning beauty but one in which its people suffer from the world’s highest incidence of HIV infection. The sole mission of the Peace Corps there is AIDS prevention. Yet the Fulfords experience is a much richer one than that outlined in a guidebook or Peace Corps manual, and Mark’s thoughtful chronicle is available at sanibonanifromswaziland.blogspot.com. Welcoming CYA members into their home, they hope other Peace Corps veterans will attend and share their experiences as well, but the gathering offers insight into a people, a place, and current developments in southern Africa. You are asked to bring an appetizer…something light to eat…and or a beverage (wine, beer, soda, etc.).

Sunday, January 31, 5-7:00 pm
740 Franklin Street, Denver

RSVP: steph@artscribe.net

Michael Totten ’72 has been a warrior for alternative energy and sustainability for four decades. During that time, he served as Executive Director of President Carter’s Clearinghouse for Community Energy Efficiency and, as Senior Advisor to Congresswoman Claudine Schneider, authored the landmark Global Warming Prevention Act of 1989.

In the 90s, Totten pioneered the use of digital interactive media and the Internet for promoting ecologically sustainable economic development, while also co-leading the World Bank’s first financed large-scale energy-efficiency project in Mexico. He has been Conservation International’s Chief Advisor on green and clean technologies and policies and currently is Senior Energy Advisor for the Green Sports Alliance. Clients of his consulting services include the WWF, the National Hockey League, and Pearl Jam, and he was recently a Senior Fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute. Totten is lead co-author of the book A Climate for Life, Meeting the Global Challenge, and interdisciplinary perspective on preventing catastrophic climate change and human-triggered species extinction and on ending poverty while greening robust economic growth. Totten has offered more than 1500 presentations, seminars , and workshops as well as produced scores of publications. With emphasis on solutions, his talk “Prosperity and Well-Being through Pursuit of a Zero-Emissions Energy Economy” will draw upon his in-progress web-accessible book on prosperously phasing out emissions.

Thursday, January 28, 6-8:00 pm

Alliance Building, 1536 Wynkoop Street, Denver

Beverages available at Marley Coffee/Bar; snacks provided

Fee: $5

Make ckecks payable to Colorado Yale Association, P.O.Box 911, Denver, CO 80201

Pay online with PayPal

[neo-button link=”https://www.paypal.com”]Tickets[/neo-button]

RSVP: steph@artscribe.net