Guggenheim awarded to UA assistant professor

Craig Walsh, an assistant professor of music at the UA, was awarded a one-year fellowship this week to support his work composing music.

The award is an estimated $35,000.

UA Professor Daniel Asia understands why Walsh was chosen.

ãHe is one of the best young composers in America, of both acoustic and electro-acoustic music,ä Asia said.

ãHis music is fresh, innovative and exciting, and weâre delighted to have him on the faculty.ä

The award is due, at least in part, to a project Walsh worked at frantically for three weeks straight to complete.

ãI knew all year I was going to write it, but I had no time,ä Walsh said. ãI did it in three weeks.ä

Walsh, an alumnus of the Mannes College of Music in New York and Brandies University in Boston, will now have more time to focus on his passion.

The Guggenheim fellowship will allow him to cut his hours in half and work on new projects, such as a commission from the Boston womenâs piano trio, Triple Helix.

Not your average rug on display this weekend

On Saturday, June 29 the public is invited to view an oversized Navajo rug considered among the largest ever woven by an individual.

Ason Yellowhairâs rug measures 160 feet by 118 feet and depicts green cornstalks with white flowers as well as black and white birds.

Her design is done using a traditional Navajo tapestry technique.

For this and other accomplishments in weaving, Arizona State Museum will award Yellowhair a Lifetime Achievement Award on the same day.

In addition, aspiring weavers are invited to bring in textile objects from their own collections to a workshop offered by ASMâs world-renowned conservator Nancy Odegaard.

Workshop participants will learn museum-caliber display and care methods and museum professionals will be on hand to answer questions. The event takes place between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the museum and is $25 per person. Call 626-8381 for more details.

The King remains king in the kingdom

For the second straight week, Elvis Presley tops the United Kingdomâs popular music singles sales chart 25 years after his death.

The single has beat out Beatles-biters Oasis for the top spot. Presleyâs track is a remix of ãA Little Less Conversationä done by DJ JLX.

The song now takes the Kingâs tally of No. 1 singles in the country to 19, which is two ahead of the Beatles, with whom he had been previously tied with for 17 years.

The song first exploded in popularity after its use in a Nike soccer advertisement in Europe featuring some of the planetâs best players as well as its inclusion on the ãOceanâs Elevenä soundtrack earlier in the year.

Dutch DJ Junkie XL, who remixed the track, was forced to change his name to JXL on the singleâs sleeve because the Presley estate objected to the drug reference in his name.

The original Elvis track first appeared in one of Elvisâ 1960s movies and as the B-side to his 1968 single, ãAlmost in Love.ä