Anita Gaul presentation March 21 and 27

History Professor Anita Gaul will give a presentation, “The Women of Southwest Minnesota and the Great War,” on March 21 and 27.

The Wednesday, March 21, presentation will be at 12:30 p.m. in the William Whipple Gallery in the McFarland Library on campus.

The Tuesday, March 27, presentation will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Marshall-Lyon County Library at 201 C Street in Marshall.

The presentations are part of a series of events surrounding the “Remembering the Great War: World War I Commemoration” theme.

Following both presentations, she will be signing copies of her new book, “The Women of Southwest Minnesota and the Great War,” published by the Society for the Study of Local and Regional History. Books will be available for purchase at the presentations.

The event is sponsored by the SMSU History Club, the Marshall-Lyon County Library and the Society for the Study of Local and Regional History.

Both presentations are free and open to the public.

Rieppel recital in memory of late wife Alvarado is tonight

Dr. Daniel Rieppel, director of the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra, will give a solo piano recital, “Trauermusik,” in commemoration of his late wife Julieta Alvarado, at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Campus Religious Center at Southwest Minnesota State University.

He will also perform the recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 26, at Antonello Hall at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis.

Alvarado was a music instructor at SMSU and an award-winning harpsichordist. She died from cancer on May 2, 2017.

The recital will include music of Bach, Haydn, Garay and Liszt. It will also mark the Minnesota/World Premiere of “Julieta’s Sarabande,” by the German composer Maritz Eggert.

“It’s music for mourning,” said Rieppel of the selections. “One of the pieces Julieta and I learned together, her on harpsichord and me on piano. We argued the merits of playing it on piano or harpsichord; it was very good-natured, and is a very special piece.

“Eggert is a German composer I went to school with, and it’s a commissioned piece,” he added. “It’s written for both piano and harpsichord, and I will be playing both at the same time.”

Both recitals are free and open to the public.

Telling Women’s Stories winners will read March 28

The winners of the 10th annual Telling Women’s Stories Contest will read from their entries from noon-12:50 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, in the William Whipple Gallery, located in the SMSU McFarland Library at Southwest Minnesota State University.

This year’s winners are:

• First place: Emily Errico, a senior communication arts & literature/secondary education and professional writing & communication double major from Vancouver, Wash.;

• Second place: Danielle Crowell, a senior literature/creative writing and teachers of English as a second language double major from Marshall;

• Third place: McKenzie Swanson, a junior English major from Balaton.

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

It is sponsored by the Women’s Studies Committee.

Domestic Violence Action Day March 28

Southwest Minnesota State University will be the site of a Domestic Violence Action Day event from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, in Bellows Academic 102/202 on campus.

The event is titled “We Believe: Minnesotans Rally Against Domestic Violence.” The SMSU event is one of seven concurrent rallies around the state. The program will include a number of local speakers as well as a reading of the Minnesota Femicide Report.

The public is invited to attend this free event.

The rally is sponsored by Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, Women’s Rural Advocacy Program, the SMSU Women’s Studies Committee and SMSU Feminist Club.

International Food Festival April 7 at SMSU

The 28th annual Southwest Minnesota State University International Food Festival will be from 5-8 p.m. Saturday, April 7, in the Student Center upper level.

SMSU has 198 international students representing 27 countries. Food from the home countries of some of the students will be featured at the festival.

Tickets will be sold in advance only and are $8 for adults (age 12 and older), $4 for children (age 6-11) and free for children 5 and younger.

Tickets can be purchased at the International Student Services Office, SC 237, or by calling 507-537-6445.

Peacock Presentation April 9 at SMSU

A presentation by Dr. Thomas Peacock, “To Be Free: Using Writing to Tell Stories About Trying to Get Along in a World That Seems Obsessed With Doing the Opposite,” will be from 7-8:30 p.m. on Monday, April 9, in Charter Hall 201 at Southwest Minnesota State University.

Peacock lives with his wife, Betsy, in Duluth, and Red Cliff, Wis. He is a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. He is co-publisher of Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing.

Peacock will release two books this year — an illustrated children’s book, “The Forever Sky,” and “Beginnings: The Homeward Journey of Donovan Manypenny.” He is the author of several other books.

‘Musical Forest’ is Southwest Minnesota Orchestra’s Children’s Concert on April 10

The Southwest Minnesota Orchestra will present “The Musical Forest,” its annual children’s concert, on Tuesday, April 10, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., at the Schwan Community Center for the Performing Arts at Marshall High School.

The story, music and art for the concert are by Dr. Christopher Kaufman.

“He’s one of my oldest friends,” said Dr. Daniel Rieppel, music director of the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra. “He’s a freelance composer in New York City. He teaches more mature composers (about children’s music) and does these children’s concert with his daughter, Sofia.”

Sofia Rose Kaufman will play the part of Squiggle in the play

The concert will also feature the winner of the annual Student Concerto Competition, Jared Campbell, a Paynesville High School student.

“Christopher has a way of teaching music to young people in a way that’s very approachable,” said Rieppel. “It’s a children’s fantasy with serious and beautiful music composed to it. There will be a teaching component to it.”

The concerts are for third- and fourth-graders from schools across southwest Minnesota. The 10 a.m. concert is full. There will be some seats available to the general public at the 1 p.m. performance.

Tickets are $1 for children and chaperones, and $12 for adults.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

For further seating information, call Kris at 507-865-4477.

Men As Peacemakers presentation April 10 at SMSU

Men As Peacemakers (MAP) will present “BEST Party Model: Be Equal, Safe and Trustworthy” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, in the Conference Center Ballroom at Southwest Minnesota State University.

This sexual assault awareness event provides “a suite of resources (that can help) shape campus environments and empower students for gender equity and the prevention of violence against women.”

The event is sponsored by the SMSU Justice Administration Program and Feminist Club.

Founded in 1996, Men as Peacemakers is based in Duluth. It was formed as a result of several murders of females in that city in the 1990s. Today, MAP is acknowledged as a key resource for communities in Minnesota for developing and implementing innovative, educational, service-driven and supportive strategies that prevent violence against women and children.

The event is free and open to the public.

The year 1968 examined at presentations

“1968: A Year That Shaped a Generation” will be presented twice on Wednesday, April 11.

The first presentation is at 12:30 p.m. in the William Whipple Gallery, located in the McFarland Library, BA 291, at Southwest Minnesota State University. The second will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Marshall-Lyon County Library.

Four SMSU faculty members will take a look at 1968 from different perspectives. They are:

• Jose Losada-Montero, Spanish professor, “Western European Student Movements”

• Anthony Amato, social science professor, “The Prague Spring”

• Jeff Kolnick, history professor, “The United States in Vietnam”

• Tom Williford, history professor, “Che Guevara”

Both presentations are free and open to the public.