Lincoln Park director to speak at U2 conference
The Review,
September 13, 2009
By: Jen Matsick
The managing director of Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center (LPPAC) will be spending the first weekend in October in North Carolina.
Stephen Catanzarite will be in Durham Oct. 2-4 for the first-ever academic conference on Irish rock band U2, titled "U2: The Hype and The Feedback." The conference will be held at the campus of North Carolina Central University.
"Among the threads which have served to weave the tapestry that is my conservative consciousness is, I believe, my fondness for the music of U2," Catanzarite states in the speech he's prepared for the conference.
Catanzarite maintains that the music of U2 holds a conservative voice which expresses a spiritual and humanistic outlook.
Drawing upon the thought of late social and literary critic Russell Kirk, Catanzarite stated in a speech outline that the conservative mindset includes the following: belief in an enduring moral order; adherence to custom, convention, and continuity; attention to the principle of variety; awareness of the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions; and an understanding that permanence and change must be reconciled in a vigorous society.
Catanzarite's appearance at the conference stems from a book he wrote which analyzes the spiritual themes found in U2's seventh album, "Achtung Baby."
"One of the conference organizers liked my book; she got in touch with me and suggested I propose giving a talk," he said.
The album was released in November 1991 and marked a significant change in musical style for the band. "Achtung Baby" sold more than 18 million copies worldwide and won a Grammy for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal." It was also nominated for Album of the Year.
Catanzarite stated that he chose "Achtung Baby" over other U2 albums because he believes that the album is the band's masterpiece.
"I worked on it (the book) on and off over the course of about a year," he said.
The book, titled "U2's Achtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall," was published as part of Continuum's "33 1/3" series, a group of small volumes that critique various pop music albums.
Catanzarite stated that the idea to write a book about "Achtung Baby" came from close friend and colleague, Dan LeRoy.
"(He) wrote one of the most popular books in the '33 1/3' series, the one about the Beastie Boys' 'Paul's Boutique,'" Catanzarite said. "He told me they were interested in doing a book on a U2 album and I told him my ideas for one on 'Achtung Baby.'"
From there, LeRoy encouraged Catanzarite to present his ideas to Continuum, and the company accepted Catanzarite's proposal.
Catanzarite stated that he is grateful for the support he receives from his colleagues at LPPAC.
"They don't necessarily share my point of view or agree with what I write or have to say, but they are always supportive of me and my ambitions, and I am grateful for that," he said.
Catanzarite has served as Managing Director at LPPAC since 2004 and was also the first Dean of Arts of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School.
In addition to playing a role in the acquisition of funding for the creation of Lincoln Park's facility and leading the development of the charter school's arts curriculum, Catanzarite has forged partnerships with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Steinway and Sons, and Carnegie Mellon University, his alma mater.
Catanzarite is the creator behind "Dances with Mancini," a dance and multimedia show which features the music of Henry Mancini, which premiered in 2008. He also created "Ballet du Bond," a similar dance and multimedia production featuring composer John Barry's music for the classic James Bond films. "Ballet du Bond" premiered in March 2009.
Catanzarite is also in the process of commissioning a work for steel pan and orchestra to mark the 175th birthday of Andrew Carnegie.
(c) The Review, 2009.
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