News Briefs (11/16/10)

Staff MU students set study abroad record Students at Miami University had the highest rate of undergraduate student participation in study abroad programs among public doctoral institutions nationwide. More than 42 percent of Miami students study abroad before graduation, according to an Open Doors report by the Institute of International Education. Those numbers reflect the 2008-09 academic year, where study abroad increased 16 percent from the previous academic year. According to the report, the total number of U.S. study abroad students did not increase that same year. Miami is the only doctoral institution in the state of Ohio in the top 40 for undergraduate study abroad participation. It has been among the top 30 for the past 15 years. Steel band concert includes diverse genres Miami University Department of Music and School of Fine Arts will host a Steel Band Concert at 8 p.m. Nov. 16 at Hall Auditorium. Chris Tanner will direct the concert titled Blow dem Horns! as the steel band partners with the professional musicians in the horn sections from the Cincinnati and Dayton areas. Music genres will include funk, ska, pop and the blues. Several solos will be performed throughout the night. Tickets are available at the Miami box office and cost $5 for students and seniors and $7 for the public. For more information, contact the Department of Music at (513) 529-3014. MU faculty member to present violin recital One of Miami University's own will take the stage at 8 p.m. Nov. 19 for a violin recital in Souers Recital Hall. Harvey Thurmer, associate professor of violin at Miami and current concertmaster for the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, will take the stage for the program, Almost No Dead White Guys, which offers a retrospective view of musical eras through the 20th century. Thurmer will be joined by Tedrin Blair Lindsey on the piano, Francis Cobb on the harp and Mary E.M. Harris on the viola. Cobb is a member of the harp studio of Gillian Benet-Sella at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. Lindsey is a pianist with the American Spiritual Ensemble and a member of the opera faculty at University of Kentucky where he works as a vocal coach and music director. The recital is free and open to the public.