Peter Sellars

The 5th Annual BURIAN LECTURE May 7, 2001 (Monday) 8:00 p.m. Lecture Recital Hall, PAC UAlbany's Uptown Campus 4:00 p.m. Seminar, HU 354 UAlbany's Uptown Campus For additional info, call 442-4200

Peter Sellars has directed more than 100 productions, large and small, across America and abroad. A graduate of Harvard University, he studied in Japan, China, and India before becoming Artistic Director of the Boston Shakespeare Company. At 26 he was made Director of the American National Theatre at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Prize Fellowship and was awarded the Erasmus Prize at the Dutch Royal Palace for contributions to European culture. Mr. Sellars has collaborated with the Wooster Group and was featured in Jean-Luc Godard's film, King Lear. He has also appeared on Bill Moyers' A World of Ideas, Miami Vice, and The Equalizer, directed a rock video for Herbie Hancock, and produced a series of radio episodes for The Museum of Contemporary Art's The Territory of Art series. Mr. Sellars is Professor of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA, recently guest directed at the Telluride Film Festival and is currently Artistic Director of the 2002 Adelaide Festival in Australia.

Sellar's first feature film, The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez, stars Joan Cusack, Peter Gallagher, Ron Vawter, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. He was Artistic Director of the 1990 and 1993 Los Angles Festivals, and a frequent guest at the Salzburg and Glyndebourne Festivals. A random sample of his extensive opera credits include Olivier Messaien's St. Francois d'Assise, Paul Hindemith's Mathis der Maler, Gyorgy Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, and, with choreogrpher Mark Morris, the premiere of John Adams and Alice Goodman's Nixon in China and Death of Klinghoffer. Recent projects include Handel's Theadora, Stravinsky's The Story of a Soldier, Jean Genet's The Screens, Peony Pavilion, composed by Tan Dun and featuring renowned Kun Opera performer Hua Wenyi, and the premier of Kaija Saariaho's opera L'Amour d'Loin.

Funded by the Jarka & Grayce Susan Burian Endowment A reception will immediately follow the evening lecture. Attendees are invited to meet Peter Sellars and Dr. Jarka Burian and Grayce Susan Burian. Both Burians are recognized by their artistic work as directors and actors.