UAB Briefs: Emerge Fest, a new music season, weight study
In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.
The Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center and the neighboring Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts will present Emerge Fest Sept. 13-14.
UAB researchers will try to determine where daily weighing helps middle-aged people drop unwanted pounds.
And the Department of Music will offer about 30 concerts this year, most of them free.
Know people, places and programs on the UAB campus that deserve a mention? Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
ARTISTS EMERGING
The Alys Stephens Center and the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at UAB will present Emerge Fest, a two-day event featuring visual and performing artists in several venues, on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13-14.
The weekend starts with a free, outdoor season kickoff party featuring Tank and the Bangas Friday at 7 p.m. on Engel Plaza at the ASC.
Emerge will feature the Alabama Ballet, as well as jazz, pop and classical music and visual art exhibitions.
Admission to the festival is free, expect for a closing concert by Birmingham alt-rock band Brook & The Bluff on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Jemison Concert Hall. Tickets to the concert are $10.
Food trucks and cash bars will be available.
Call 975-2787 or go to alysstephens.org for a complete festival schedule or to get tickets.
STEP ON THE SCALE
Two UAB researchers recently received a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to determine if daily self-weighing helps middle-aged adults lose or manage their weight, according to UAB Media Relations.
The researchers are Kevin Fontaine, a professor and chair of the Department of Health Behavior in the School of Public Health, and Gareth Dutton, a professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine.
They will study 400 obese, middle-aged UAB primary care patients over a 24-month period.
In the study, one group will be asked to weigh themselves each day. A second group — the control group — will only be given printed weight loss materials.
Daily weigh-ins with a digital scale have been shown to be effective with college students, Fontaine said in a UAB news release.
When people have daily feedback on their weight, it may make them more conscious of their diet and activity, according to Fontaine.
“We will test whether daily self-weighing promotes greater weight control compared to the control group. We will also look at the association between frequency of weighing and weight, to see whether those who weigh most often do better controlling their weight,” he said.
A MUSICAL YEAR
The UAB Department of Music has announced its new season of about 30 top-quality musical performances by students, faculty and guest artists for the 2019-2020 academic year.
Most performances take place in the Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall and Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.
Almost all of the concerts are free, and the proceeds from ticketed events help support the music department.
The student ensembles at UAB — featuring music majors and students from other disciplines — include the Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Jazz Ensemble, Gospel Choir and Percussion Ensemble. Faculty groups include the brass and jazz quintets.
Early season highlights include the department’s Choral Festival at Jemison Concert Hall on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. The UAB Concert Choir and Chamber Singers join with select high school singers from throughout the state as well as professional orchestral players for the world premiere of Michael John Trotta’s “Magnificat,” co-commissioned by the department. Brian Kittredge will direct.
For a complete schedule, go to uab.edu/cas/music.