For many people it takes years to find their passion, but for Ferris President David Eisler; his passion came to him in the first grade.

“I came home from school one day and I told my parents I wanted to play the clarinet,” said Eisler. “There wasn’t a school band program or anything like that; it was just something I wanted to do.”

After several years and private music lessons, Eisler was finally able to join a music program that he followed through into high school, but his musical journey didn’t end there.

He arrived at the University of Michigan to pursue a degree in clarinet performance and was on his way to becoming either a clarinet performer or a college professor.

“When you pursue a career in music or in the arts there’s going to be lots of people who say, ‘Why are you pursuing this? You should be doing something else.’ But it’s your passion; it’s something you should go after,” said Eisler.

His persistance paid off once he ended with Bachelors and Doctoral degrees in clarinet performance from U of M, and his Masters in clarinet performance from Yale.

Eisler also noted that one of the challenges of being a music major is that there are not a lot of positions out there, but he feels the balance at Ferris is extraordinary.

“The program that Professor Dan Cronk does with music industry management, I think is really superbly designed so that you have a major in business that works in the music field where there are employment options,” said Eisler.

Who would have thought that the president of our university had such an extensive background in music, but according to Eisler, being a musician was the best preparation he could have had.

“It is a continual challenge and it has a lot of self-discipline,” said Eisler couldn’t agree more than Ferris State’s own Dr. Richard Scott Cohen, an associate professor and Director of Instrumental Ensembles at Ferris.

“When you’re dealing with music and you’ve been a band director like President Eisler, there is a lot of organization, interaction and management skills that you learn that are excellent preparation for a head leadership position at a university,” said Cohen.

And when you’ve got a president that experienced and passionate for music, the practical thing to do would be to invite him to play, which is exactly what Cohen did.

Eisler has been a guest lecturer, conductor, and clarinet player for the FSU West Central Concert Band and the summer community band. One of his more regular involvements is with the athletic pep band.

“If he’s in town and able to come, he will bring his clarinet and sit in for a little while,” said Cohen. “He has his own university instrument and a whole set of music.”

Faculty director of the pep band Dr. Dale E. Skornia said sometimes they don’t even notice he is there. “His goal is to sneak in and sneak out,” said Skornia. And as far as catching on to what the students are playing, “He catches on quickly and usually plays everything perfectly the first time.”

Jason Workman, a former clarinet section leader in the pep band who is now a student conductor has had a lot of interaction with Eisler.

“He is definitely a huge sports fan,” said Workman, a junior in biotechnology. “We used to talk football and basketball and he really knows his stuff. As far as music goes, he is absolutely an incredible clarinet player. The pieces we play tend to be simpler pieces than he is used to, so occasionally he’ll just free style a little.”

Another student conductor for the pep band Elizabeth Walton, said she’s had the honor of playing with him and has also been conducted by him.

“I remember at the last football game it was pouring and freezing and President Eisler was kind enough to invite the entire band to his box in the press box and offer us some shelter and some warm food,” said Walton, a mathematics education major.

But according to Cohen, Eisler has never wanted to take too much, if any, of the spotlight when he’s conducting or playing.

“For me, as the band and orchestra director, it has been a really unique and special kind of involvement,” said Cohen. “You don’t get too many university presidents who are willing or able to do that.”

Nearly everyone has gotten lost for hours on the video Web site, YouTube.com, but did you know that this site is a good place for you to show off your artistic qualities?

Connie Morcom, a professor at Ferris since January of 2000, will be discussing her channel she created on YouTube, plans on showing clips of videos students created, and discussing the influence of Nam June Paik, composer, performer, and video artist, on video as an art form.

YouTube helps artists to freely share their work of art and has been “successful with viral marketing and appeal combining video and social networking,” Morcom said.

“Nam June Paik played a pivotal role in introducing artists and audiences to the possibilities of using video for artistic expression. It’s fun to post videos and share your work with the general public,” Morcom said.

YouTube is a good learning device, as Morcom said, because we as the recorders can control what goes on the video, how it is played, “customize the functionality of players giving you control over playback video, and allows annotations to be added to the videos, but “copyright is such a huge issue for content creators; you could give your ideas away.”

Morcom’s channel helps students to share their stories and creative experiences; it changes the way people communicate.

YouTube can help artists promote their work, is free, and has helpful features to it, but does have flaws in which anything can be posted on there.

FSU Television and Digital Media Production major Kimberlee Licht said, “I use YouTube mostly for watching music videos and finding videos that make me laugh, but the idea of being able to put whatever you want on this Web site is appalling. I think they should censor some things because some of it has nothing to do with anything at all and is not appropriate for most age groups. It’s a good thing to have to share free video, but should be parentally controlled for videos inappropriate for some people.”

Morcom’s last word was, “YouTube is empowering video artists and content creators to tell their stories and use the medium creatively in becoming the broadcasters of tomorrow.”

This presentation is about a “new art form that combines technology and aesthetics in video to tell a story using the power of a video sharing Web site like YouTube where users can upload, view, and share clips of video,” said Morcom.

This presentation will take place in IRC 120 on Tuesday Feb. 17 at 11 a.m. This is a free event and is open to the public.

For more information about this presentation, contact Morcom at conniemorcom@ferris. edu or x2772.

Set aside Valentine’s parties for the day so you can rock and roll all night with Eisenhower Dance Ensemble’s (EDE) “The Brighter Side of Life: Dances from the Heart of Rock and Roll.”

EDE is a contemporary repertory dance company based out of Detroit, Mich. and is headed by founder and artistic director Laurie Eisenhower.

Choreographed by Eisenhower herself, the performance features music by old time rockers Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, and many more. The show takes place at Williams Auditorium and is from 8 to 10 p.m.

In an interview with soonews. ca, Eisenhower said, “Audience members will experience the best of contemporary dance and a tribute to the music of rock and roll. I’m very excited about this program and I think the audience will love it. The music is familiar and fabulous, and the dancers look terrific in the choreography.”

Eisenhower’s dance company, which has been around since 1991, has a mission to achieve the highest artistic standards and showcase the works not only of Eisenhower herself, but also of national and international choreographers and artists.

The critically acclaimed ensemble has toured all over the United States and has even had the chance to travel to Russia.

According to Dancer magazine, “Pushing the envelope of modern dance creativity and innovation to new limits, Ms. Eisenhower and Co. are clearly on the cutting edge.”

Detroiter.com writer Nicole Rupersburg also had the opportunity to see EDE at a high school performing arts center in Troy, Mich.

“I found myself utterly enthralled by what I was seeing,” said Rupersburg in the online blog. “The performances were visually breathtaking, from the witty costuming to the graceful and elegant dancers. Watching the dancers float across the stage, I rediscovered my childhood love of dance and appreciation for its beauty.”

Why lazy up on the couch while tuning into “Dancing with the Stars” when you can experience live dance to some of music’s classic rock songs?

According to Rupersburg, “Dance is an under-appreciated art form that the majority of people outside of the dance community itself have little awareness of, though it is every bit as enjoyable and entertaining to watch as any other theatre performance, opera, musical, or comedy act.”

Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for FSU faculty/staff, $16 for senior citizens and $10 for students. Call the Williams Auditorium Ticket Office at x5600 Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., or order online at ferris.edu/arts.

The EDE dance concert is sponsored by the FSU Arts and Lectures Performing Artist Series.

West Michigan’s biggest concert of 2009 rolled into town last Thursday as the Rascal Flatts trio, with opening act Jessica Simpson, performed in front of a packed Van Andel Arena.

This by far was the biggest name in music that I have attended and wasn’t exactly sure what to take from it. I’ve seen tour buses, trailers and semi trucks at venues before but never in the same mass as what I saw in Van Andel’s reserved parking lot. This was also my first concert I’ve attended at Van Andel so I wasn’t sure how the stage and surrounding area was going to be set up. After making it through the chaotic process of entering the building and finally getting to my upper bowl seats, I was impressed with the rectangle shape catwalk that went almost the entire length of the ice rink and thought about all the hours it must have taken to set up.

The arena went black and the crowd started screaming as a cartooned forest scene appeared with the sound of crickets chirping. All of a sudden a green firework went off with a loud bang and both my sister and her friend jumped out of their skins.

I started laughing at them as we witnessed the coolest entrance I’ve ever seen. The trio of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney floated down from the ceiling on a steel platform in a dense fog. The entrance alone was enough for the price I paid for my seat.

The catwalk lit up with neon colors as the band mingled with the crowds throughout the evening playing their chart topping number one hits. One of the best parts of the evening was when DeMarcus walked around the catwalk while the others took a break as he spoke about how hot the girls of Michigan are. With his comic jokes and prancing around while holding up a mini skirt, he made the whole crowd laugh.

After what seemed to be a short, yet long song-studded time, the band left the stage to a black arena once again. This time the crowd was even louder as I even took part in the activities to get them back out on stage. The trio re-entered the main stage after a cartooned Guitar Hero character took his turn playing rock songs as the crowd kept screaming. With another loud bang, LeVox introduced the rest of the group’s members which were entirely from Michigan. As confetti got shot out of cannons and balloons fell from the ceiling, Rascal Flatts ended their show.

Listening to these guys live compared to my iTunes is so much different because they brought a ton of energy to the stage. They put on the best show I have ever seen because of their skills, their interaction with the crowd and the entire setting in which the night took place. I know the ticket prices are steep but it’ll definitely be worth it to see them live again.

Starting the evening off for the country stars and walking out onto a dark stage dead on at 8 p.m. was Jessica Simpson. She performed a few of her hits before becoming teary eyed and apologizing because she said she was a bit under the weather. After talking about walking off stage she sucked it up and finished her performance as her fans cheered her on.

After the concert, I was listening to B-93 as I drove home and listened to fans call in and rip her apart for her performance. I wasn’t there to see her but I thought she performed pretty well for being under the weather. She maneuvered her way around the stage and out onto her portion of the catwalk while mingling with fans. She even took a little time to speak about her boyfriend Tony Romo. Overall, I think she performed well enough and long enough to not get ripped apart for as bad as she did.

After 10 years of hard work and service to Ferris, Williams Auditorium manager Michael Terry will be leaving the university.

Terry started at Ferris back in August of 1999 as the manager of Williams Auditorium.

Terry has been responsible for many things at Williams including meeting with groups to plan facility support, overseeing the ticket office, ushers and stagehands, providing cost estimates and billing users, overseeing theatre systems and equipment, and acts as an arts presenter.

Some of the variety of users of the auditorium includes student groups, FSU departments, and community, as Terry said.

Equipment he’s had to watch over includes lights, sound, and the fly system.

Terry also said as an arts presenter he brought large productions in and negotiated contracts, did grant writing, marketing, event staffing and program assessment.

Terry loved what he did, loved the variety of tasks and people he met and who were involved, but the job did require a lot of technical and interpersonal skills.

“It’s always exciting to be involved in a live event, but despite the best laid-out plans, there is always an element of risk that something unplanned will happen,” Terry said.

Some unplanned things did happen to Terry during his 10 years here at Ferris.

“Squonk Opera required additional lighting beyond what Williams had available. An outside light contractor was hired to supplement our system. The technician with light company was having difficulty tying his system into ours and decided to change the address code on DMX interface box with our dimmer rack. As a result of changing the DMX address, he disabled our lighting system completely. Unfortunately he didn’t bother to write down the original address code; I spent the next 12 hours testing each of the 512 possible address codes. I did finally find the right code about 4 a.m.”

He said that occurrence was one he would like to forget.

Not only were there some bad moments, but some memorable moments too, as Terry recalls.

“There’s nothing more exciting for me than having an audience and artist connect, both appreciating the moment that each find themselves in, intellect, and senses fully engaged in that moment,” Terry said.

He will remember shows like the “Corky Seigel Chamber Blues Band,” the “Sqounk Opera,” and the “Jump Rhythm Jazz Project.”

Student Activities Assistant Teresa Fogel recalls working with Mike Terry as a fun and easy job. "Having a show at Williams always made my job easier because he was an expert in his field. He understood our tech riders, he knew what his venue could provide and what needed to be contracted out; he knew the auditorium inside and out. He's going to be hard to replace. I'm going to miss him."

As Terry is soon heading to become the director of The Whiting Auditorium in Flint, he would like to thank everyone at Ferris and especially the “students who helped put on the events at Williams. Williams could not have operated without all the helped I received. I’ve had great experiences working with Ferris students. The future is bright if they are representative of their generation.”