WMU

The fourth annual Let’s End Campus Sexual Assault summit is coming to Western Michigan University. It will be held on Monday, September 24. Organizers say its goal is to inform and empower people who attend.

Melody Barnes says citizens in the United States have important rights and responsibilities. The co-director for policy and public affairs at the Democracy Initiative at the University of Virginia says it requires we participate and be educated about our country.

Kiri Tollaksen, a cornetto player for the Dark Horse Consort, tells Cara Lieurance about her instrument, her consort, and the special qualities of the Renaissance-era music they play, as she prepares to perform on the Bullock Performance Institute series at Western Michigan University on Wednesday, Sep 19 at 7:30 pm.  

Western Michigan University’s president says it's launched or expanded several programs to help students thrive.

The "Rob Clearfield sound" is hard to pin down. A natural improviser, he's able to create music with ideas like, "I think I'll start in D major." At the piano in WMUK's Takeda Studio, he tells Keith Hall about his musical development, which began at home with his mother, a classically-trained pianist/church organist. Another step forward came when she brought home a battered guitar, inspiring him to get the hang of popular music styles, which he then transferred back to the keyboard. Jazz became his dominant pursuit when his teacher randomly grabbed an album to play at the end of class. It was Wayne Shorter's "Witch Hunt," from Speak No Evil.

In the studio with Keith Hall, Clearfield begins with a piece he makes up on the spot. Then, he and Hall talk about his process of writing and improvising, centered around his newest collection of tunes, newly recorded on the album Wherever You're Starting From.