Sunday, November 15, 2009
Piano Extravaganza
Eleven HSU faculty, staff and student pianists play compositions by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy and others to benefit the Guest Pianist Series, in a matinee concert on Sunday, November 15 at 2 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8, $3 students and seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Daniela Mineva, produced by HSU Department of Music.
Eleven HSU faculty, staff and student pianists play compositions by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy and others to benefit the Guest Pianist Series, in a matinee concert on Sunday, November 15 at 2 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8, $3 students and seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Daniela Mineva, produced by HSU Department of Music.
Pianists for Pianists in Benefit Concert
What do you get when eleven pianists play selections from eight composers in a single concert? A Piano Extravaganza, of course— on Sunday afternoon, November 15 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall, to benefit the HSU Guest Pianist Series.
The lineup of pianists includes HSU Music professor Daniela Mineva and staff pianist John Chernoff, as well as students Emily Loeffler, Ellen Marie, Molly Newkirk, Robert Spencer, Jonathan Webster, Joe Welnick, Melanie Kuhnel, Biranne Gill and Valerie Reed.
The program includes the first movement of Beethoven’s “Emperior” Concerto, Bach’s Tocatta in E Minor and Prelude in E Major, Mozart’s Sonata in G Major, and Debussy’s “The Little Shepherd.” The pianists will also play compositions by Brahms, Grieg, Haydn and Scarlatti, with each selection introduced by student Jonathan Webster.
Proceeds from this event will benefit the HSU Music Department Guest Pianist Series, begun by Deborah Clasquin in 2002. The series not only sponsors public performances by renowned guest artists, but master classes offered without charge to HSU students and the community.
The Piano Extravaganza to benefit the Guest Pianist Series is a matinee concert on Sunday, November 15 at 2 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8, $3 students and seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
What do you get when eleven pianists play selections from eight composers in a single concert? A Piano Extravaganza, of course— on Sunday afternoon, November 15 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall, to benefit the HSU Guest Pianist Series.
The lineup of pianists includes HSU Music professor Daniela Mineva and staff pianist John Chernoff, as well as students Emily Loeffler, Ellen Marie, Molly Newkirk, Robert Spencer, Jonathan Webster, Joe Welnick, Melanie Kuhnel, Biranne Gill and Valerie Reed.
The program includes the first movement of Beethoven’s “Emperior” Concerto, Bach’s Tocatta in E Minor and Prelude in E Major, Mozart’s Sonata in G Major, and Debussy’s “The Little Shepherd.” The pianists will also play compositions by Brahms, Grieg, Haydn and Scarlatti, with each selection introduced by student Jonathan Webster.
Proceeds from this event will benefit the HSU Music Department Guest Pianist Series, begun by Deborah Clasquin in 2002. The series not only sponsors public performances by renowned guest artists, but master classes offered without charge to HSU students and the community.
The Piano Extravaganza to benefit the Guest Pianist Series is a matinee concert on Sunday, November 15 at 2 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8, $3 students and seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
The Program
Debussy- Arabesque #1, First Etude, "The Little Shepherd" from Children corner. Bach- Toccata in E minor, Prelude in E major.
Scarlatti- Sonata in D minor.
Beethoven- Concerto # 5 " Emperor, first movement.
Brahms- Rhapsody in G minor.
Haydn- Sonata in C major, first movement; Sonata in E minor, first movement.
Mozart- Sonata in G major, first movement.
Grieg- Sonata, first movement " Nocturne"
Debussy- Arabesque #1, First Etude, "The Little Shepherd" from Children corner. Bach- Toccata in E minor, Prelude in E major.
Scarlatti- Sonata in D minor.
Beethoven- Concerto # 5 " Emperor, first movement.
Brahms- Rhapsody in G minor.
Haydn- Sonata in C major, first movement; Sonata in E minor, first movement.
Mozart- Sonata in G major, first movement.
Grieg- Sonata, first movement " Nocturne"
The Guest Pianist Series
Proceeds from this event will benefit the Music Department’s Guest Pianist Series. Dr. Deborah Clasquin started the series in 2002 and many internationally artist and pedagogues have been presented, including Leon Flesher( Peabody), Peter Takacs (Oberlin), John Perry( Colbrun School), Menahem Pressler ( Indiana University) and Rebecca Penneys ( Eastman School of Music).
This season, we are fortunate to host concerts and master classes by Yuja Wang, Anton Nel ( Concert Pianist/ Piano Professor at University of Autstin, TX) and Caleb Harris ( Pianist/ Vocal Coach/ Conductor at University of Colorado at Greeley.)
All of the master classes are free to HSU students and the community. These classes have been made possible through generous donations from the public.
--Daniela Mineva
Proceeds from this event will benefit the Music Department’s Guest Pianist Series. Dr. Deborah Clasquin started the series in 2002 and many internationally artist and pedagogues have been presented, including Leon Flesher( Peabody), Peter Takacs (Oberlin), John Perry( Colbrun School), Menahem Pressler ( Indiana University) and Rebecca Penneys ( Eastman School of Music).
This season, we are fortunate to host concerts and master classes by Yuja Wang, Anton Nel ( Concert Pianist/ Piano Professor at University of Autstin, TX) and Caleb Harris ( Pianist/ Vocal Coach/ Conductor at University of Colorado at Greeley.)
All of the master classes are free to HSU students and the community. These classes have been made possible through generous donations from the public.
--Daniela Mineva
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Composers Concert
New works in a variety of styles by HSU musical composition students and faculty on Saturday November 14 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by J. Brian Post, produced by HSU Department of Music.
New works in a variety of styles by HSU musical composition students and faculty on Saturday November 14 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by J. Brian Post, produced by HSU Department of Music.
Music Guaranteed Fresh at Composers Concert
Composing music alone in a room is only part of the process that HSU composition students experience—they also hear their compositions performed in public. That public in turn gets to hear something completely new.
Describing the works to be presented for the first time in Fulkerson Hall on November 14, composition professor J. Brian Post said, “These works will contain influences from American folk music, jazz, rock and roll, film scores and European Art music from Vivaldi's time to the present.”
Composers experimenting with new and more established compositional techniques and instrumentation include James Puzey, Adolpho Acuna and John Garritano.
The Composers Concert, featuring new compositions by faculty as well as students, takes the Fulkerson Recital Hall stage on Saturday November 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Composing music alone in a room is only part of the process that HSU composition students experience—they also hear their compositions performed in public. That public in turn gets to hear something completely new.
Describing the works to be presented for the first time in Fulkerson Hall on November 14, composition professor J. Brian Post said, “These works will contain influences from American folk music, jazz, rock and roll, film scores and European Art music from Vivaldi's time to the present.”
Composers experimenting with new and more established compositional techniques and instrumentation include James Puzey, Adolpho Acuna and John Garritano.
The Composers Concert, featuring new compositions by faculty as well as students, takes the Fulkerson Recital Hall stage on Saturday November 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Jazz Combos
HSU Jazz Combos play swing, Latin, bop, funk, early and modern jazz on Friday, November 13 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Shao Way Wu, produced by HSU Department of Music.
HSU Jazz Combos play swing, Latin, bop, funk, early and modern jazz on Friday, November 13 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Shao Way Wu, produced by HSU Department of Music.
From Samba to “Superfly”: Jazz Combos in Concert
“The program is diverse and true to the mercurial nature of jazz,” said Shao Way Wu, director of this year’s Jazz Combos. Five small ensembles will perform tunes in a range of styles, including swing, Latin, hard bop, funk and both early and modern jazz, as well as original compositions.
For example, The Peanut Gallery Quartet (led by guitarist Clayton Bennet) will play the bop classic “Airegin” by Sonny Rollins, and The Austin Power Trio (led by guitarist Colin Gaddie) will offer “La Samba” by Ray Obiedo.
Led by drummer Brett Huska, The Slippery Society will do a set of New Orleans style early jazz. The Bird Like Quintet, a co-op band with two horns, performs the bluesy “Cornbread” by Lee Morgan, and the funk combo Watermelonperson plays the 70s hit, “Superfly.”
The HSU Jazz Combos perform on Friday, November 13 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
“The program is diverse and true to the mercurial nature of jazz,” said Shao Way Wu, director of this year’s Jazz Combos. Five small ensembles will perform tunes in a range of styles, including swing, Latin, hard bop, funk and both early and modern jazz, as well as original compositions.
For example, The Peanut Gallery Quartet (led by guitarist Clayton Bennet) will play the bop classic “Airegin” by Sonny Rollins, and The Austin Power Trio (led by guitarist Colin Gaddie) will offer “La Samba” by Ray Obiedo.
Led by drummer Brett Huska, The Slippery Society will do a set of New Orleans style early jazz. The Bird Like Quintet, a co-op band with two horns, performs the bluesy “Cornbread” by Lee Morgan, and the funk combo Watermelonperson plays the 70s hit, “Superfly.”
The HSU Jazz Combos perform on Friday, November 13 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Humboldt Bay Brass Band
Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays a Veterans Day tribute, classics by Handel and Rossini, and an interactive world premiere in its only HSU concert of the year on Saturday November 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Gil Cline. An HSU Department of Music Production.
Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays a Veterans Day tribute, classics by Handel and Rossini, and an interactive world premiere in its only HSU concert of the year on Saturday November 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Gil Cline. An HSU Department of Music Production.
This low E-flat rotary valve trumpet is seen in the 1880 Weaverville Cornet Band in the hands of Richard Holman, who later moved to the Matole region.The instrument spent many years with his Ferndale relatives, and last year was passed via three local musicians to Dr. Gilbert Cline, who continues to research bands and musicians of the region.
Many Moods of the Humboldt Bay Brass Band
From a contemporary Veterans Day tribute and works by classical composers Handel, Holst and Rossini, to a show-piece for tubas and an interactive premiere, the Humboldt Bay Brass Band performs its only HSU concert of the year on Saturday, November 7.
The Veterans Day tribute is a recent American composition called “Images,” which commemorates the World War II battles on Iwo Jima. Humboldt Bay Brass Band director and HSU Music professor Gilbert Cline describes it as “ an intense, impressive composition.”
The evening’s program includes Handel’s rousing “Hallelujah Chorus,” Rossini’s famous “Tancredi Overture” and “A Moorside Suite” by Gustav Holst, composer of “The Planets.” Another familiar tune, “Scarborough Fair," will feature a baritone horn solo by Phil Sams.
The audience will get its chance to participate in the world premiere of an interactive work, appropriately titled “Reciprocity.” It includes Gil Cline’s invention, “The Helicopter Doppler Trumpet.”
The Band will also premiere its version of “Them Basses,” by 20th century American composer Getty Herschel Huffine. “It’s one of the only pieces of music ever written in which the basses—the tubas—carry the melody from start to finish,” Cline said.
The Humboldt Bay Brass Band is a British-style brass band, comprised of 24 brass players and three percussionists. Members include HSU students and alumni, as well as community players from a wide area ranging from the Eel River Valley to northern Humboldt and southern Oregon. They include players for such other local ensembles as the Humboldt and Eureka symphonies, the Marching Lumberjacks, the Crabgrass Band, Bandemonium, and the Mel Bay Hotel Biscuit Band.
Most villages and towns in Great Britain have a brass band of this type, and many compete for national honors, often playing some of the selections the Humboldt Bay Brass Band performs in this concert.
Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays its only HSU concert of the year on Saturday November 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Times-Standard Northern Lights, Humboldt State Now, North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye.
From a contemporary Veterans Day tribute and works by classical composers Handel, Holst and Rossini, to a show-piece for tubas and an interactive premiere, the Humboldt Bay Brass Band performs its only HSU concert of the year on Saturday, November 7.
The Veterans Day tribute is a recent American composition called “Images,” which commemorates the World War II battles on Iwo Jima. Humboldt Bay Brass Band director and HSU Music professor Gilbert Cline describes it as “ an intense, impressive composition.”
The evening’s program includes Handel’s rousing “Hallelujah Chorus,” Rossini’s famous “Tancredi Overture” and “A Moorside Suite” by Gustav Holst, composer of “The Planets.” Another familiar tune, “Scarborough Fair," will feature a baritone horn solo by Phil Sams.
The audience will get its chance to participate in the world premiere of an interactive work, appropriately titled “Reciprocity.” It includes Gil Cline’s invention, “The Helicopter Doppler Trumpet.”
The Band will also premiere its version of “Them Basses,” by 20th century American composer Getty Herschel Huffine. “It’s one of the only pieces of music ever written in which the basses—the tubas—carry the melody from start to finish,” Cline said.
The Humboldt Bay Brass Band is a British-style brass band, comprised of 24 brass players and three percussionists. Members include HSU students and alumni, as well as community players from a wide area ranging from the Eel River Valley to northern Humboldt and southern Oregon. They include players for such other local ensembles as the Humboldt and Eureka symphonies, the Marching Lumberjacks, the Crabgrass Band, Bandemonium, and the Mel Bay Hotel Biscuit Band.
Most villages and towns in Great Britain have a brass band of this type, and many compete for national honors, often playing some of the selections the Humboldt Bay Brass Band performs in this concert.
Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays its only HSU concert of the year on Saturday November 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Times-Standard Northern Lights, Humboldt State Now, North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye.
Humboldt Bay Brass Band: Background and Personnel
For those new to HBBB, the band is comprised of some 30 HSU students, HSU alumni, and Humboldt County community members ranging from the Eel River Valley to the north Humboldt Bay region, and even to southern Oregon. Members include: Cornets - Joe Severdia, Branden Lewis, Tom Cover, Frederic Belanger, Stephanie Douglass, John Ferreira, Melissa Gussin, William Zoller, Clara Navarro, and Joyce Carter. Horns - Gary Ross, Matthew Morgan, Anwyn Halliday, Kate Williams, Phil Sams, and Toshi Noguchi. Trombones - George Epperson, Talon Nansel, and Kearney Vander Sal. Euphoniums: George Ritscher and Bill Evans. Tubas/Basses: Wilson Bowles, Elizabeth Cruz, Jerry Carter, Damien Adams, Ryan Egan. Percussion: Grace Kerr, Jessica Bishop, Jackie Robertson, and Adara Friley.
These musicians are part of a larger web of local activity which includes the Humboldt Symphony, the Eureka Symphony, and diverse ensembles extending to Bandemonium, the Mel Bay Hotel Biscuit Band, the Marching Lumberjacks, and the Crabgrass Band.
For those new to HBBB, the band is comprised of some 30 HSU students, HSU alumni, and Humboldt County community members ranging from the Eel River Valley to the north Humboldt Bay region, and even to southern Oregon. Members include: Cornets - Joe Severdia, Branden Lewis, Tom Cover, Frederic Belanger, Stephanie Douglass, John Ferreira, Melissa Gussin, William Zoller, Clara Navarro, and Joyce Carter. Horns - Gary Ross, Matthew Morgan, Anwyn Halliday, Kate Williams, Phil Sams, and Toshi Noguchi. Trombones - George Epperson, Talon Nansel, and Kearney Vander Sal. Euphoniums: George Ritscher and Bill Evans. Tubas/Basses: Wilson Bowles, Elizabeth Cruz, Jerry Carter, Damien Adams, Ryan Egan. Percussion: Grace Kerr, Jessica Bishop, Jackie Robertson, and Adara Friley.
These musicians are part of a larger web of local activity which includes the Humboldt Symphony, the Eureka Symphony, and diverse ensembles extending to Bandemonium, the Mel Bay Hotel Biscuit Band, the Marching Lumberjacks, and the Crabgrass Band.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
CITY OF ANGELS
Hollywood comes to Humboldt in the acclaimed musical comedy CITY OF ANGELS, October 22-24, 29-31 at 7:30 PM, November 1 at 2 PM, in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. It’s sexy, witty—and definitely PG13. Tickets: $15/$10, students/seniors $10/$8 from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928). HSU Theatre, Film & Dance and Music Department co-production. Directed by Rae Robison, musical direction by Elisabeth Harrington.
Previews at Humboldt State Now and Times-Standard Northern Lights.
Hollywood comes to Humboldt in the acclaimed musical comedy CITY OF ANGELS, October 22-24, 29-31 at 7:30 PM, November 1 at 2 PM, in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. It’s sexy, witty—and definitely PG13. Tickets: $15/$10, students/seniors $10/$8 from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928). HSU Theatre, Film & Dance and Music Department co-production. Directed by Rae Robison, musical direction by Elisabeth Harrington.
Previews at Humboldt State Now and Times-Standard Northern Lights.
Hear the City Angels Sing at HSU
From October 22 to November 1, the HSU Music Department joins the Theatre, Film & Dance Department in presenting the musical comedy City of Angels on the Van Duzer Theatre stage. Known for its wit and stage sparkle, this satirical clash of Hollywood romance and reality depends at least as much on its sophisticated music. You don’t win the Tony for Best Musical without quality music, and City of Angels is particularly innovative.
The show’s composer, the legendary Cy Coleman, won the Tony for Best Score. With his background in classical and jazz, and a number of pop standards to his credit (including “Hey, Look Me Over” and “Witchcraft”), Coleman wrote what some believe is the first jazz score for a Broadway show: City of Angels.
[text continues after photos]
From October 22 to November 1, the HSU Music Department joins the Theatre, Film & Dance Department in presenting the musical comedy City of Angels on the Van Duzer Theatre stage. Known for its wit and stage sparkle, this satirical clash of Hollywood romance and reality depends at least as much on its sophisticated music. You don’t win the Tony for Best Musical without quality music, and City of Angels is particularly innovative.
The show’s composer, the legendary Cy Coleman, won the Tony for Best Score. With his background in classical and jazz, and a number of pop standards to his credit (including “Hey, Look Me Over” and “Witchcraft”), Coleman wrote what some believe is the first jazz score for a Broadway show: City of Angels.
[text continues after photos]
City of Angels is about a novelist in 1940s Hollywood struggling with his first screenplay, which comes alive on stage as he dreams up the scenes. The movie he’s writing is a hard-boiled detective story, with lots of action, romance, heartbreak, betrayal and snappy dialogue.
The music is integrated into the action in some unique ways. “Chris Hatcher plays Stein, the writer, and he has some very funny stream-of-conscious songs, very intricate musically,” said musical director Elisabeth Harrington.
Musical director Elisabeth Harrington lists some of the styles this show employs: “Big Band, jazzy, movie soundtrack, super-fast patter songs, and the usual musical theatre mix: the big numbers, the ballad, the love duet, the arguing about love song with tons of double entendre.”
Harrington will be in the orchestra pit for the show, conducting a twelve piece ensemble, with horns, reeds, keyboards, bass and percussion.
Harrington will be in the orchestra pit for the show, conducting a twelve piece ensemble, with horns, reeds, keyboards, bass and percussion.
There’s also a vocal group onstage, although it’s now more Andrew Sisters than the Modernaires. “Instead of a quartet we’ve written it for a quintet—and all women. So the vocal sound is a little different, but, Harrington adds, “they all wear flashy dresses.”
From the performers’ point of view, Harrington said, “it’s a tough score. A lot of key changes, diminished chords, and the band and the singers have to really listen to each other. It’s challenging, but everybody’s working hard.”
From the performers’ point of view, Harrington said, “it’s a tough score. A lot of key changes, diminished chords, and the band and the singers have to really listen to each other. It’s challenging, but everybody’s working hard.”
The writer Stine's alter ego is the fantasy detective Stone, played by Ethan Heintz. But the pairings of other characters from the fantasy and real Hollywood are often played by the same actors, notably Jamie Banister, Brandy Rose and Kelly Whitaker.
Another unusual musical element is the use of themes, deliberately reminiscent of Hollywood movie soundtracks. “Some of the characters have their own little themes repeated throughout the show, and there’s a ‘kiss theme’," said Harrington. "It’s all part of the fun of remembering these great old Hollywood films.”
The story also involves some serious issues about integrity and the price of fame, which get resolved in the best musical comedy tradition when the fantasy Hollywood and the real Hollywood meet. Resolved, of course, in a song.
City of Angels Band
Clarinet, Saxophone: Michelle Marenberg, Vanessa Thomas
Flute/Piccolo: Caitlin Denning
Trumpet: Ari Davie, Brian Gill
Trombone: Bryan Vittori, Kaeden Williams
Bass: Tyler Machado
Percussion: Brett Huska, Nev Mattinson
Piano: John Chernoff
Synthesizer: Jonathan Webster
Conductor: Elisabeth Harrington
Clarinet, Saxophone: Michelle Marenberg, Vanessa Thomas
Flute/Piccolo: Caitlin Denning
Trumpet: Ari Davie, Brian Gill
Trombone: Bryan Vittori, Kaeden Williams
Bass: Tyler Machado
Percussion: Brett Huska, Nev Mattinson
Piano: John Chernoff
Synthesizer: Jonathan Webster
Conductor: Elisabeth Harrington
CITY OF ANGELS plays Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays October 22-24, 29-31 at 7:30 PM, with a 2 PM matinee on Sunday November 1, in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. It’s sexy, witty—and definitely PG13. Tickets: $15/$10, students/seniors $10/$8 from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928). HSU Theatre, Film & Dance and Music Department co-production.
For more information and photos go to HSU Stage.
See also Humboldt State Now.
For more information and photos go to HSU Stage.
See also Humboldt State Now.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Symphonic Band & Jazz Orchestra
HSU Symphonic Band plays a Shaker dance, a poignant elegy and a tribute to cartoon chases, followed by the Jazz Orchestra playing Duke Ellington, Wayne Shorter and Dave Holland in their joint concert on Saturday, October 17 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. An HSU Department of Music Production. Symphonic Band conducted by Kenneth Ayoob. Jazz Orchestra directed by Shao Way Wu.
HSU Symphonic Band plays a Shaker dance, a poignant elegy and a tribute to cartoon chases, followed by the Jazz Orchestra playing Duke Ellington, Wayne Shorter and Dave Holland in their joint concert on Saturday, October 17 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. An HSU Department of Music Production. Symphonic Band conducted by Kenneth Ayoob. Jazz Orchestra directed by Shao Way Wu.
What’s Up, Doc? Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra Concert
The HSU Symphonic Band begins the new school year with a short but eclectic program, featuring “Cartoon” by composer Paul Hart, a tribute to the classic cartoon scores of the golden age of Warner Brothers: the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, Tweety and Sylvester, in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.
“One can hear the cat chase the mouse, the anvil fall from the sky, and the rousing overture under the opening credits,” said Symphonic Band conductor Kenneth Ayoob.
In contrast, the Symphonic Band also plays “Elegy” by John Barnes Chance, “one of the most poignant and expressive works in the band literature.” “Chorale and Shaker Dance” by John Zdechlik is based on the classic Shaker tune, “Simple Gifts.”
For the concert’s second half, the HSU Jazz Orchestra takes over, performing “Razor’s Edge” by Dave Holland, the classic “Caravan” by Duke Ellington, and “Yes or No” by Wayne Shorter. This year the Jazz Orchestra is directed by noted bassist Shao Way Wu, now teaching at HSU.
The Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra perform their joint concert on Saturday, October 17 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: HSU Now, Arcata Eye.
The HSU Symphonic Band begins the new school year with a short but eclectic program, featuring “Cartoon” by composer Paul Hart, a tribute to the classic cartoon scores of the golden age of Warner Brothers: the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, Tweety and Sylvester, in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.
“One can hear the cat chase the mouse, the anvil fall from the sky, and the rousing overture under the opening credits,” said Symphonic Band conductor Kenneth Ayoob.
In contrast, the Symphonic Band also plays “Elegy” by John Barnes Chance, “one of the most poignant and expressive works in the band literature.” “Chorale and Shaker Dance” by John Zdechlik is based on the classic Shaker tune, “Simple Gifts.”
For the concert’s second half, the HSU Jazz Orchestra takes over, performing “Razor’s Edge” by Dave Holland, the classic “Caravan” by Duke Ellington, and “Yes or No” by Wayne Shorter. This year the Jazz Orchestra is directed by noted bassist Shao Way Wu, now teaching at HSU.
The Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra perform their joint concert on Saturday, October 17 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: HSU Now, Arcata Eye.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Daniela Mineva and Bin Huang
Internationally acclaimed violinist Bin Huang joins piano virtuoso (and new HSU faculty member) Daniela Mineva in sonatas by Debussy, Ravel, Messiaen and Franck, on Friday, October 16 at 8 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Faculty Artist Series concert.
Internationally acclaimed violinist Bin Huang joins piano virtuoso (and new HSU faculty member) Daniela Mineva in sonatas by Debussy, Ravel, Messiaen and Franck, on Friday, October 16 at 8 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Faculty Artist Series concert.
International Concert Stars Combine at HSU
Renowned concert pianist and new HSU Music faculty member Daniela Mineva makes her Humboldt County debut, hosting a rising star of international standing, violinist Bin Huang.
“We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful artist perform here,” Mineva said of Bin Huang. The opportunity for Bin Huang and Mineva to perform together made this event possible.
Bin Huang comes to Humboldt during her U.S. tour, after concerts in Italy and in the “Ten Most Celebrated Violinists” series in China. She has appeared at Lincoln Center in New York, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Russia, Opera City in Tokyo and China’s National Grand Theater. The Baltimore Sun called her “a talent that leaves a listener flabbergasted.”
Since winning her first international violin competition at the age of 14, Bin Huang has added many other prestigious prizes, and has performed with such top ranked ensembles as the Julliard String Quartet, the Guarneri String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio, as well as major symphony orchestras in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Last year in Canada, she performed the world premiere of Robert Gauldin’s violin concerto, which is dedicated to her.
Her partner in this concert, pianist Daniela Mineva has won numerous international competitions and played major venues in the U.S. and Europe. The New York Times called her a “vibrant and expressive performer who could steal the show in every concert.”
Born in Bulgaria, Daniela Mineva began piano lessons at the age of five, with her mother as her first teacher. She studied at the Sofia Music Academy before earning advanced degrees in the U.S., including her Doctorate at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. She has taught at the Eastman School, among other institutions, where she won an award for teaching excellence. She began teaching at HSU as Assistant Professor of Music this fall.
Bin Huang began studying the violin at the age of four in China, and entered the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing at age nine. She came to the U.S., and earned her Bachelor of Music degree at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, and her Masters at the Eastman School of Music. More information is available at her web site.
Together at Fulkerson Hall, Mineva and Bin Huang will play sonatas for violin and piano by 20th century French Impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, late 19th century Belgian Romantic composer Cesar Franck, and late 20th century French composer Olivier Messiaen.
Violinist Bin Huang and pianist Daniela Mineva perform on Friday, October 16 at 8 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now, North Coast Journal.
Renowned concert pianist and new HSU Music faculty member Daniela Mineva makes her Humboldt County debut, hosting a rising star of international standing, violinist Bin Huang.
“We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful artist perform here,” Mineva said of Bin Huang. The opportunity for Bin Huang and Mineva to perform together made this event possible.
Bin Huang comes to Humboldt during her U.S. tour, after concerts in Italy and in the “Ten Most Celebrated Violinists” series in China. She has appeared at Lincoln Center in New York, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Russia, Opera City in Tokyo and China’s National Grand Theater. The Baltimore Sun called her “a talent that leaves a listener flabbergasted.”
Since winning her first international violin competition at the age of 14, Bin Huang has added many other prestigious prizes, and has performed with such top ranked ensembles as the Julliard String Quartet, the Guarneri String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio, as well as major symphony orchestras in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Last year in Canada, she performed the world premiere of Robert Gauldin’s violin concerto, which is dedicated to her.
Her partner in this concert, pianist Daniela Mineva has won numerous international competitions and played major venues in the U.S. and Europe. The New York Times called her a “vibrant and expressive performer who could steal the show in every concert.”
Born in Bulgaria, Daniela Mineva began piano lessons at the age of five, with her mother as her first teacher. She studied at the Sofia Music Academy before earning advanced degrees in the U.S., including her Doctorate at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. She has taught at the Eastman School, among other institutions, where she won an award for teaching excellence. She began teaching at HSU as Assistant Professor of Music this fall.
Bin Huang began studying the violin at the age of four in China, and entered the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing at age nine. She came to the U.S., and earned her Bachelor of Music degree at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, and her Masters at the Eastman School of Music. More information is available at her web site.
Together at Fulkerson Hall, Mineva and Bin Huang will play sonatas for violin and piano by 20th century French Impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, late 19th century Belgian Romantic composer Cesar Franck, and late 20th century French composer Olivier Messiaen.
Violinist Bin Huang and pianist Daniela Mineva perform on Friday, October 16 at 8 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now, North Coast Journal.
The Program
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor by Claude Debussy.
Written in 1917, this was Debussy’s last composition.
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major by Maurice Ravel
Completed in 1927, this was also Ravel’s last chamber music composition, noted for its second movement, titled “Blues.”
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major by Cesar Franck
Composed in 1886 as a wedding gift for a celebrated violinist, this is one of Franck’s best known and most recorded works. Franck was notable for employing a cyclic form( using a central motif to generate principal themes that unify several movements of a single work), which influenced the compositions of Debussy and Ravel.
Fantasie for Violin and Piano by Olivier Messiaen
Only published recently for the first time, Messiaen composed this work in 1933 for his first wife, the violinist and composer Claire Delbos. Messiaen experimented especially with rhythms. He was also an ornithologist who included birdsong in many compositions, and he had a form of synesthesia in which sounds produced colors, correspondences which he developed in several works.
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor by Claude Debussy.
Written in 1917, this was Debussy’s last composition.
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major by Maurice Ravel
Completed in 1927, this was also Ravel’s last chamber music composition, noted for its second movement, titled “Blues.”
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major by Cesar Franck
Composed in 1886 as a wedding gift for a celebrated violinist, this is one of Franck’s best known and most recorded works. Franck was notable for employing a cyclic form( using a central motif to generate principal themes that unify several movements of a single work), which influenced the compositions of Debussy and Ravel.
Fantasie for Violin and Piano by Olivier Messiaen
Only published recently for the first time, Messiaen composed this work in 1933 for his first wife, the violinist and composer Claire Delbos. Messiaen experimented especially with rhythms. He was also an ornithologist who included birdsong in many compositions, and he had a form of synesthesia in which sounds produced colors, correspondences which he developed in several works.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Benefit
HSU Music Department colleagues, North Coast friends and former students honor Deborah Clasquin, the much-beloved pianist and teacher who passed away last March, with a concert to benefit the Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Fund on Saturday, September 26 at 8 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $20 from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Additional donations gratefully accepted.
HSU Music Department colleagues, North Coast friends and former students honor Deborah Clasquin, the much-beloved pianist and teacher who passed away last March, with a concert to benefit the Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Fund on Saturday, September 26 at 8 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $20 from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Additional donations gratefully accepted.
North Coast Musicians Combine in Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Benefit
HSU Music Department colleagues, North Coast friends and former students combine to honor Deborah Clasquin, the much-beloved pianist and teacher who passed away last March, with a concert to benefit the newly established Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Fund, on Saturday, October 26 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus.
“With her extraordinary gift for teaching, and her passion for the arts, Deborah transformed the way people listened to music,” said Brian Post, HSU Music professor and coordinator for the event. “Performers for this concert have chosen their material to reflect Deborah’s love of the arts and passion for good music.”
The concert features Clasquin’s best-known student, pianist Ryan MacEvoy-McCullough of Eureka, who will play “Shibui--A dirge in memory of my mentor, Deborah Clasquin,” composed by another of Clasquin’s students, Dante de Silva.
MacEvoy-McCullough, who now performs internationally, will also play Chopin’s “Nocturne in B major,” one of the last pieces he played for Deborah Clasquin as her student, and one of his own favorites.
Pianist Valerie Reed, also a Clasquin student, will perform a piece by Henri Ribauld with HSU Music professor Paul Cummings on clarinet.
Other HSU Music Department colleagues performing Saturday include Eugene Novotney, playing his own composition on snare drum, Kenneth Ayoob on clarinet and John Chernoff on piano playing a rhapsody by Debussy, and soprano Elisabeth Harrington, Cindy Moyer on violin, David Davis on cello and Daniela Mineva on piano, performing songs by Roger Quilter. Mineva, who joins the HSU faculty this year, also performs her own piano transcription of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun.”
In addition to the classical selections, a jazz quartet combining HSU faculty members Brian Post and Shao Way Wu with North Coast musicians Susie Laraine and Jill Petricca, will play an original piece by Shao Way Wu.
Deborah Clasquin joined the HSU Music Department faculty in 1985. She won many awards for both her performances as a pianist and for her teaching. Locally she appeared with the Eureka Symphony and the Humboldt Symphony. She performed internationally, and even after her diagnosis and treatment for cancer, she performed in Paris. Her last solo performance at HSU was last October. Deborah Clasquin died in March, at the age of 52.
The Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Benefit is Saturday, September 26 at 8 PM. Tickets are $20, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. The HSU Music Department will gratefully accept additional donations to the scholarship fund.
Media: HSU Now, Eureka Times Standard, North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye, KHSU ArtWaves.
HSU Music Department colleagues, North Coast friends and former students combine to honor Deborah Clasquin, the much-beloved pianist and teacher who passed away last March, with a concert to benefit the newly established Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Fund, on Saturday, October 26 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus.
“With her extraordinary gift for teaching, and her passion for the arts, Deborah transformed the way people listened to music,” said Brian Post, HSU Music professor and coordinator for the event. “Performers for this concert have chosen their material to reflect Deborah’s love of the arts and passion for good music.”
The concert features Clasquin’s best-known student, pianist Ryan MacEvoy-McCullough of Eureka, who will play “Shibui--A dirge in memory of my mentor, Deborah Clasquin,” composed by another of Clasquin’s students, Dante de Silva.
MacEvoy-McCullough, who now performs internationally, will also play Chopin’s “Nocturne in B major,” one of the last pieces he played for Deborah Clasquin as her student, and one of his own favorites.
Pianist Valerie Reed, also a Clasquin student, will perform a piece by Henri Ribauld with HSU Music professor Paul Cummings on clarinet.
Other HSU Music Department colleagues performing Saturday include Eugene Novotney, playing his own composition on snare drum, Kenneth Ayoob on clarinet and John Chernoff on piano playing a rhapsody by Debussy, and soprano Elisabeth Harrington, Cindy Moyer on violin, David Davis on cello and Daniela Mineva on piano, performing songs by Roger Quilter. Mineva, who joins the HSU faculty this year, also performs her own piano transcription of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun.”
In addition to the classical selections, a jazz quartet combining HSU faculty members Brian Post and Shao Way Wu with North Coast musicians Susie Laraine and Jill Petricca, will play an original piece by Shao Way Wu.
Deborah Clasquin joined the HSU Music Department faculty in 1985. She won many awards for both her performances as a pianist and for her teaching. Locally she appeared with the Eureka Symphony and the Humboldt Symphony. She performed internationally, and even after her diagnosis and treatment for cancer, she performed in Paris. Her last solo performance at HSU was last October. Deborah Clasquin died in March, at the age of 52.
The Deborah Clasquin Memorial Scholarship Benefit is Saturday, September 26 at 8 PM. Tickets are $20, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. The HSU Music Department will gratefully accept additional donations to the scholarship fund.
Media: HSU Now, Eureka Times Standard, North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye, KHSU ArtWaves.
The Program
Solo de Concours, opus 10 by Henri Rabaud
performed by: Paul Cummings, clarinet; Valerie Reed, piano.
Piano Quartet in C minor, op 60 (Adagio) by Johannes Brahms
performed by: Cindy Moyer, violin; Karen Davy, viola; David Davis, cello; John Chernoff, piano.
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy (Transcription for solo piano by Daniela Mineva)
performed by: Daniela Mineva, piano.
Coconino by Shao Way Wu
performed by: Jill Petricca, flute, saxophone; Susie Laraine, flute, saxophone; Brian Post, piano; Shao Way Wu, bass.
A Minute of News (1990) for Snare Drum by Eugene Novotney
performed by: Eugene Novotoney, snare drum.
Premiere Rhapsody for Clarinet and Piano by Claude Debussy
performed by: Kenneth Ayoob, clarinet; John Chernoff, piano.
Three Pastoral Songs by Roger Quilter
performed by: Elisabeth Harrington, voice; Cindy Moyer, violin; David Davis, cello; Daniela Mineva, piano.
Shibui by Dante de Silva (A dirge in memory of my mentor, Deborah Clasquin)
Nocturne in B major, op. 62 no. 1 by Frederic Chopin
performed by: Ryan MacEvoy McCullough, piano.
Solo de Concours, opus 10 by Henri Rabaud
performed by: Paul Cummings, clarinet; Valerie Reed, piano.
Piano Quartet in C minor, op 60 (Adagio) by Johannes Brahms
performed by: Cindy Moyer, violin; Karen Davy, viola; David Davis, cello; John Chernoff, piano.
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by Claude Debussy (Transcription for solo piano by Daniela Mineva)
performed by: Daniela Mineva, piano.
Coconino by Shao Way Wu
performed by: Jill Petricca, flute, saxophone; Susie Laraine, flute, saxophone; Brian Post, piano; Shao Way Wu, bass.
A Minute of News (1990) for Snare Drum by Eugene Novotney
performed by: Eugene Novotoney, snare drum.
Premiere Rhapsody for Clarinet and Piano by Claude Debussy
performed by: Kenneth Ayoob, clarinet; John Chernoff, piano.
Three Pastoral Songs by Roger Quilter
performed by: Elisabeth Harrington, voice; Cindy Moyer, violin; David Davis, cello; Daniela Mineva, piano.
Shibui by Dante de Silva (A dirge in memory of my mentor, Deborah Clasquin)
Nocturne in B major, op. 62 no. 1 by Frederic Chopin
performed by: Ryan MacEvoy McCullough, piano.
Concert Notes by Brian Post
Members of the HSU Music Department and North Coast music community will be performing on Saturday, September 26 at 8pm, in Fulkerson Recital, to honor Deborah Clasquin with a Memorial Concert benefiting a newly established scholarship in her name. With her extraordinary gift for teaching, and her passion for the arts, Deborah transformed the way people listened to music.
Performers for this concert have chosen their material to reflect Deborah’s love of the arts and passion for good music. One work titled “Shibui--A dirge in memory of my mentor, Deborah Clasquin, “ composed by Dante de Silva, a student of Deborah’s from the late 1990’s, will be performed by Ryan MacEvoy-McCullough, another student of Deborah’s who is now performing internationally.
Written for solo piano, this piece has an austere quality combined with underlying feelings of joy and loss, resulting in a truly poignant musical statement by Mr. de Silva that pays homage to his mentor. Mr. MacEvoy-McCullough will also be performing “Nocturne in B major,” op. 62 no. 1 by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). This was one of the last pieces he played for Deborah as her student. It is also of one his most favorite piano pieces to perform in public.
Other performances will include a piano transcription performed by pianist Daniela Mineva of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun.” This is probably one of Debussy’s most loved and popular pieces and was inspired by the poem Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by Stephane Mallarmé (1842-1898). The transcription was created by Ms. Mineva and will be having its world premiere at this concert.
Eugene Novotney will be performing a piece that he composed titled, “A Minute of News.” This work has been used as the test piece for numerous snare drum competitions, including the Concours International de Caisse Claire - Conservatoire National de Region de Paris 2004 & 2007; Paris, France. The piece is meant to be an alternative to the standard approach of composition for the snare drum. It also acts as a tribute to the fine percussionists of the Afro-Cuban tradition, who are often asked to gain many sounds out of very limited instrumentation.
Clarinetist Dr. Paul Cummings will be performing with pianist Valerie Reed on “Solo de Concours (Contest Solo)” by Henri Ribauld. Written for clarinet and piano this piece has been popular ever since its composition in 1901. It is so entirely in the idiom of the instrument, and is as endearing as any piece of music ever written for the clarinet. It was composed for the graduation and solo competition of the Paris Conservatory, and was used again for the competition in the years 1908, 1915, 1925, and 1937.
Inkling, a local jazz quartet featuring Susie Laraine, flute, Jill Petricca, flute, Shao Way Wu, bass and Brian Post, piano, will perform themes from “Coconino Suite,” composed by Shao Way Wu. This piece offers a somewhat open ended approach for performers to creatively express their reflections of the American archetype: Krazy Kat.
Other works and performers on this special evening will include; Andante from the “Piano Quartet in C minor, op 60”, by Johannes Brahms, “Three Pastoral Songs” by Roger Quilter (1877-1053), and “Premiere Rhapsody for Clarinet and Piano” by Claude Debussy 1862-1918 with performances by Kenneth Ayoob on clarinet, John Chernoff on piano, Karen Davy on viola, Cindy Moyer on violin, Elisabeth Harrington, voice and David Davis on cello.
The concert will be held in Fulkerson Recital Hall on September 26 at 8:00 pm. and tickets are $20. Also, any and all donations towards the scholarship fund will be gladly accepted. Please join the HSU Music Faculty, and members of the North Coast music community in celebrating the life and creative spirit of Deborah Clasquin.
Members of the HSU Music Department and North Coast music community will be performing on Saturday, September 26 at 8pm, in Fulkerson Recital, to honor Deborah Clasquin with a Memorial Concert benefiting a newly established scholarship in her name. With her extraordinary gift for teaching, and her passion for the arts, Deborah transformed the way people listened to music.
Performers for this concert have chosen their material to reflect Deborah’s love of the arts and passion for good music. One work titled “Shibui--A dirge in memory of my mentor, Deborah Clasquin, “ composed by Dante de Silva, a student of Deborah’s from the late 1990’s, will be performed by Ryan MacEvoy-McCullough, another student of Deborah’s who is now performing internationally.
Written for solo piano, this piece has an austere quality combined with underlying feelings of joy and loss, resulting in a truly poignant musical statement by Mr. de Silva that pays homage to his mentor. Mr. MacEvoy-McCullough will also be performing “Nocturne in B major,” op. 62 no. 1 by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). This was one of the last pieces he played for Deborah as her student. It is also of one his most favorite piano pieces to perform in public.
Other performances will include a piano transcription performed by pianist Daniela Mineva of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun.” This is probably one of Debussy’s most loved and popular pieces and was inspired by the poem Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by Stephane Mallarmé (1842-1898). The transcription was created by Ms. Mineva and will be having its world premiere at this concert.
Eugene Novotney will be performing a piece that he composed titled, “A Minute of News.” This work has been used as the test piece for numerous snare drum competitions, including the Concours International de Caisse Claire - Conservatoire National de Region de Paris 2004 & 2007; Paris, France. The piece is meant to be an alternative to the standard approach of composition for the snare drum. It also acts as a tribute to the fine percussionists of the Afro-Cuban tradition, who are often asked to gain many sounds out of very limited instrumentation.
Clarinetist Dr. Paul Cummings will be performing with pianist Valerie Reed on “Solo de Concours (Contest Solo)” by Henri Ribauld. Written for clarinet and piano this piece has been popular ever since its composition in 1901. It is so entirely in the idiom of the instrument, and is as endearing as any piece of music ever written for the clarinet. It was composed for the graduation and solo competition of the Paris Conservatory, and was used again for the competition in the years 1908, 1915, 1925, and 1937.
Inkling, a local jazz quartet featuring Susie Laraine, flute, Jill Petricca, flute, Shao Way Wu, bass and Brian Post, piano, will perform themes from “Coconino Suite,” composed by Shao Way Wu. This piece offers a somewhat open ended approach for performers to creatively express their reflections of the American archetype: Krazy Kat.
Other works and performers on this special evening will include; Andante from the “Piano Quartet in C minor, op 60”, by Johannes Brahms, “Three Pastoral Songs” by Roger Quilter (1877-1053), and “Premiere Rhapsody for Clarinet and Piano” by Claude Debussy 1862-1918 with performances by Kenneth Ayoob on clarinet, John Chernoff on piano, Karen Davy on viola, Cindy Moyer on violin, Elisabeth Harrington, voice and David Davis on cello.
The concert will be held in Fulkerson Recital Hall on September 26 at 8:00 pm. and tickets are $20. Also, any and all donations towards the scholarship fund will be gladly accepted. Please join the HSU Music Faculty, and members of the North Coast music community in celebrating the life and creative spirit of Deborah Clasquin.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
North Coast Wind Ensemble
North Coast Wind Ensemble plays Bach, Sousa, Wagner and “Elegy for a Young American” on Saturday, June 13 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.
North Coast Wind Ensemble plays Bach, Sousa, Wagner and “Elegy for a Young American” on Saturday, June 13 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.
Marching to Summer with the North Coast Wind Ensemble
The more than 30 players of the North Coast Wind Ensemble usher in summer with an eclectic concert on Saturday, June 13 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall.
On the program are Bach’s “Prelude and Fugue in G,” Hindesmith’s Symphony in Bb, and Richard Wagner’s “Truaersinfonie.”
“If you’re going to be a band, you have to do marches,” said conductor Kenneth Ayoob. This concert will feature one of the American masters: John Philip Sousa, and his “Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.”
Also on the program are William Schuman’s “Chester from New England Triptych,” Fisher Tull’s “Sketches on a Tudor Psalm” and Ronald LoPresti’s “Elegy for a Young American.”
The North Coast Wind Ensemble plays on Saturday, June 13 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.
The more than 30 players of the North Coast Wind Ensemble usher in summer with an eclectic concert on Saturday, June 13 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall.
On the program are Bach’s “Prelude and Fugue in G,” Hindesmith’s Symphony in Bb, and Richard Wagner’s “Truaersinfonie.”
“If you’re going to be a band, you have to do marches,” said conductor Kenneth Ayoob. This concert will feature one of the American masters: John Philip Sousa, and his “Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.”
Also on the program are William Schuman’s “Chester from New England Triptych,” Fisher Tull’s “Sketches on a Tudor Psalm” and Ronald LoPresti’s “Elegy for a Young American.”
The North Coast Wind Ensemble plays on Saturday, June 13 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Darius Brotman
Veteran North Coast jazz pianist Darius Brotman and Berkeley bassist Richard Saunders play an intimate concert of jazz standards and originals on Friday, May 22nd at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. A Guest Artist concert presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Veteran North Coast jazz pianist Darius Brotman and Berkeley bassist Richard Saunders play an intimate concert of jazz standards and originals on Friday, May 22nd at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. A Guest Artist concert presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Darius Brotman’s Evening of “Serious Chamber Jazz”
Veteran North Coast jazz pianist Darius Brotman teams up with Berkeley bassist Richard Saunders for an intimate evening of jazz standards and originals, to benefit the HSU Music Department scholarship program.
Brotman has been playing jazz piano in Humboldt County for over 20 years. He’s also familiar as the host of the KHSU jazz program “Gone Sides,” Tuesdays at 8:30 pm. He is an HSU Music Department accompanist.
Richard Saunders, formerly of Arcata, is a professional bassist. “The communication between the two of us is exceptional,” Brotman said.
Brotman promises a concert of “serious chamber jazz” on Friday, May 22 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Veteran North Coast jazz pianist Darius Brotman teams up with Berkeley bassist Richard Saunders for an intimate evening of jazz standards and originals, to benefit the HSU Music Department scholarship program.
Brotman has been playing jazz piano in Humboldt County for over 20 years. He’s also familiar as the host of the KHSU jazz program “Gone Sides,” Tuesdays at 8:30 pm. He is an HSU Music Department accompanist.
Richard Saunders, formerly of Arcata, is a professional bassist. “The communication between the two of us is exceptional,” Brotman said.
Brotman promises a concert of “serious chamber jazz” on Friday, May 22 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
University Singers & Humboldt Chorale
Many voices combine in classical song for the joint concert of the 64-member University Singers and 75-member Humboldt Chorale on Sunday, May 10 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. University Singers directed by Harley Muilenburg. Humboldt Chorale directed by Carol McWhorter Ryder. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Many voices combine in classical song for the joint concert of the 64-member University Singers and 75-member Humboldt Chorale on Sunday, May 10 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. University Singers directed by Harley Muilenburg. Humboldt Chorale directed by Carol McWhorter Ryder. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Annual Feast of Choral Singing
Lovers of large choral group singing should mark their May calendar for the annual joint concert of the 64-member University Singers and the 75-member Humboldt Chorale on Sunday, May 10 at 8 p.m.
HSU students comprise the University Singers, directed by HSU Music professor Harley Muilenberg, while the Humboldt Chorale is a community-based group with members ranging in age from 13 to 89, directed by Carol McWhorter Ryder.
The University Singers perform the Psalm Cantata, “Not Unto Us O Lord” by Felix Mendelssohn, and selections from the Gypsy Songs by Johannes Brahms. The modern era is represented by “Pie Jesu” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem.
Their part of the program concludes with the rousing Neighbor's Chorus from the Offenbach operetta, La Jolie Parfumeuse. This selection features the piano of John Chernoff, who accompanies the Singers throughout.
Soloists for the University Singers are: Christopher Hatcher, Brandy Rose, Conor Jamison, Cally Staats, Kalea Hammond and Margaret Noe.
The Humboldt Chorale performs two selections from Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore” (the famous Anvil Chorus, and another featuring bass singer Kevin Nakatani) and two from operas by Mozart (the Priest’s Chorus from “Die Zaubeflote” and the Voyager’s Chorus from “Idomeno” featuring soprano Katharine Kinley.)
The Chorale also performs selections from Bizet’s “Carmen” (featuring mezzo-soprano Margaret Noe), Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci,” the Spinning Chorus from Wagner's "Flying Dutchman" and Verdi's Hebrew Chorus.
The concert concludes with the Easter Chorus by late 19th and early 20th century Italian composer Pietro Mascagni from his ground-breaking opera “Cavalleria Rusticana,” featuring soprano Sarah Benzinger. The Humboldt Chorale dedicates this selection to the memory of Deborah Clasquin.
The joint University Singers and Humboldt Chorale spring concert is Sunday, May 10 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
Lovers of large choral group singing should mark their May calendar for the annual joint concert of the 64-member University Singers and the 75-member Humboldt Chorale on Sunday, May 10 at 8 p.m.
HSU students comprise the University Singers, directed by HSU Music professor Harley Muilenberg, while the Humboldt Chorale is a community-based group with members ranging in age from 13 to 89, directed by Carol McWhorter Ryder.
The University Singers perform the Psalm Cantata, “Not Unto Us O Lord” by Felix Mendelssohn, and selections from the Gypsy Songs by Johannes Brahms. The modern era is represented by “Pie Jesu” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem.
Their part of the program concludes with the rousing Neighbor's Chorus from the Offenbach operetta, La Jolie Parfumeuse. This selection features the piano of John Chernoff, who accompanies the Singers throughout.
Soloists for the University Singers are: Christopher Hatcher, Brandy Rose, Conor Jamison, Cally Staats, Kalea Hammond and Margaret Noe.
The Humboldt Chorale performs two selections from Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore” (the famous Anvil Chorus, and another featuring bass singer Kevin Nakatani) and two from operas by Mozart (the Priest’s Chorus from “Die Zaubeflote” and the Voyager’s Chorus from “Idomeno” featuring soprano Katharine Kinley.)
The Chorale also performs selections from Bizet’s “Carmen” (featuring mezzo-soprano Margaret Noe), Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci,” the Spinning Chorus from Wagner's "Flying Dutchman" and Verdi's Hebrew Chorus.
The concert concludes with the Easter Chorus by late 19th and early 20th century Italian composer Pietro Mascagni from his ground-breaking opera “Cavalleria Rusticana,” featuring soprano Sarah Benzinger. The Humboldt Chorale dedicates this selection to the memory of Deborah Clasquin.
The joint University Singers and Humboldt Chorale spring concert is Sunday, May 10 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Jazz Orchestra
HSU Jazz Orchestra celebrates the epoch-making music of 1959 on Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Dan Aldag; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
HSU Jazz Orchestra celebrates the epoch-making music of 1959 on Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Dan Aldag; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Jazz Orchestra Celebrates Epoch-Making Music of 1959
The HSU Jazz Orchestra celebrates the golden anniversary of a golden year in jazz, with both the epoch-making music of 1959 and compositions that carry on its spirit, in its final spring concert on Saturday May 9.
The Orchestra plays tunes from three formative albums released in 1959 that made this what Orchestra director and HSU Music Department professor Dan Aldag calls “one of the most significant years in jazz history.”
“All Blues” is from the Miles Davis release, Kind of Blue, one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time. “Peri’s Scope” is from the first album by the ground-breaking Bill Evans Trio, Portrait In Jazz. Pianist Evans also played on the Miles Davis album, and his improvised solo remains part of the score for “All Blues.”
The Orchestra also performs “Open Letter to Duke” from the 1959 release Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus. Speaking of Duke, two Ellington compositions are also on the program: “All Too Soon” (which features trombonist Talon Nansel and tenor saxophonist Leo Echazábal) and "Rockin' In Rhythm."
Another of 1959’s influential albums was Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which shattered the jazz shackles to the 4/4 beat. HSU Jazz Orchestra drummer Jonathan Kipp pays homage to that innovation with his composition, “Chased By a Wolf Down a Mountain,” which uses unusual time signatures.
While it wasn't released until the next year, Miles Davis and Gil Evans began recording Sketches of Spain in 1959, and that album's strong classical influence is apparent in two pieces on the program: "Sky Blue" by Maria Schneider (which features Sky Miller on soprano sax) and "Drift" by Darcy James Argue.
The Orchestra plays some unrelated tunes, too: “Déjà vu” (an evocation of the Big Band era), the Woody Herman Band arrangement of John Coltrane’s “Lazy Bird,” and “Blues Walk,” a Clifford Brown composition reconceived with an Afro-Cuban feel by Michael Philip Mossman.
The HSU Jazz Orchestra final spring concert is Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
The HSU Jazz Orchestra celebrates the golden anniversary of a golden year in jazz, with both the epoch-making music of 1959 and compositions that carry on its spirit, in its final spring concert on Saturday May 9.
The Orchestra plays tunes from three formative albums released in 1959 that made this what Orchestra director and HSU Music Department professor Dan Aldag calls “one of the most significant years in jazz history.”
“All Blues” is from the Miles Davis release, Kind of Blue, one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time. “Peri’s Scope” is from the first album by the ground-breaking Bill Evans Trio, Portrait In Jazz. Pianist Evans also played on the Miles Davis album, and his improvised solo remains part of the score for “All Blues.”
The Orchestra also performs “Open Letter to Duke” from the 1959 release Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus. Speaking of Duke, two Ellington compositions are also on the program: “All Too Soon” (which features trombonist Talon Nansel and tenor saxophonist Leo Echazábal) and "Rockin' In Rhythm."
Another of 1959’s influential albums was Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which shattered the jazz shackles to the 4/4 beat. HSU Jazz Orchestra drummer Jonathan Kipp pays homage to that innovation with his composition, “Chased By a Wolf Down a Mountain,” which uses unusual time signatures.
While it wasn't released until the next year, Miles Davis and Gil Evans began recording Sketches of Spain in 1959, and that album's strong classical influence is apparent in two pieces on the program: "Sky Blue" by Maria Schneider (which features Sky Miller on soprano sax) and "Drift" by Darcy James Argue.
The Orchestra plays some unrelated tunes, too: “Déjà vu” (an evocation of the Big Band era), the Woody Herman Band arrangement of John Coltrane’s “Lazy Bird,” and “Blues Walk,” a Clifford Brown composition reconceived with an Afro-Cuban feel by Michael Philip Mossman.
The HSU Jazz Orchestra final spring concert is Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
Director's Notes by Dan Aldag
We're continuing our celebration of the 50th anniversary of 1959, one of the most significant years in jazz's history. 1959 was the year of:
Kind Of Blue--Miles Davis: The album that established modal jazz (very few chord changes) as a viable alternative to the bebop approach of very complex and fast-moving chords. Maybe the best-selling jazz album of all time. enowned for its combination of surface beauty and extraordinary depth.
Giant Steps--John Coltrane: The album that was the apotheosis of the aforementioned bebop approach. The title tune remains today a kind of test piece for jazz improvisors.
The Shape of Jazz To Come--Ornette Coleman: The album that established free jazz (no pre-set, fixed chord progressions.) The beginning of jazz's avant-garde revolution of the 1960s
Time Out--Dave Brubeck: The album that first popularized unusual time signatures in jazz. Up to this point, almost all jazz had been in a meter of 4. This album included tunes in meters of 3, 5 ("Take Five"), 6 and 9 ("Blue Rondo a la Turk").
Portrait In Jazz--Bill Evans: The first album from the Bill Evans Trio, the group most responsible for freeing bass and drums from their timekeeping, accompanimental roles. In the Evans Trio, the piano, bass and drums operated as nearly equal musical partners, with often no one explicitly stating the pulse.
Mingus Ah Um--Charles Mingus: The album where Mingus first put together in a coherent and unified way his many and disparate influences, including blues and gospel, Ellington and the complex counterpoint of cool jazz. This album also introduced several of Mingus's best-known and most-performed compositions, including "Better Git It In Your Soul," "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and "Fables of Faubus."
On this concert, we'll be playing "All Blues" from Kind Of Blue, "Open Letter to Duke" from Mingus Ah Um and "Peri's Scope" from Evans' Portrait In Jazz. Those three were all recorded by small groups and the arrangements we're playing reflect three different approaches to jazz repertory. The "All Blues" arrangement is by the famed bass player Chuck Israels and he has scored for the full band the solos improvised by Miles and pianist Bill Evans on the original recording. I arranged "Open Letter to Duke" by simply expanding the scoring of Mingus's original recording. Mike Tomaro's arrangement of "Peri's Scope" uses only the original melody and harmony as the basis for a unique interpretation of the tune.
Some of the rest of the music we'll be playing shows the influence of the innovative recordings of 1959. "Chased By A Wolf Down a Mountain" by our drummer, Jonathan Kipp, uses unusual time signatures, primarily seven. While it wasn't released until the next year, Miles Davis and Gil Evans began recording Sketches of Spain in 1959 and that album's strong classical influence is apparent in two pieces we'll be playing, "Sky Blue" by Maria Schneider (which features Sky Miller on soprano sax) and "Drift" by Darcy James Argue.
We'll also play music that has no direct connection to 1959, including Duke Ellington's "Rockin' In Rhythm", written in the early 1930s, but this particular arrangement is one the Ellington band began playing in the '50s.
The title of "Déjà Vu" by Tom Fredrickson refers both to Fredrickson's conscious evocation of the big band era and how musical material from early in the composition continues to reoccur throughout the piece. "Blues Walk" is a Clifford Brown composition reconceived with an Afro-Cuban feel by Michael Philip Mossman. John Coltrane's "Lazy Bird" will be played in an arrangement done for the Woody Herman band by Bill Stapleton. Duke Ellington's "All Too Soon" will feature trombonist Talon Nansel and tenor saxophonist Leo Echazábal.
We're continuing our celebration of the 50th anniversary of 1959, one of the most significant years in jazz's history. 1959 was the year of:
Kind Of Blue--Miles Davis: The album that established modal jazz (very few chord changes) as a viable alternative to the bebop approach of very complex and fast-moving chords. Maybe the best-selling jazz album of all time. enowned for its combination of surface beauty and extraordinary depth.
Giant Steps--John Coltrane: The album that was the apotheosis of the aforementioned bebop approach. The title tune remains today a kind of test piece for jazz improvisors.
The Shape of Jazz To Come--Ornette Coleman: The album that established free jazz (no pre-set, fixed chord progressions.) The beginning of jazz's avant-garde revolution of the 1960s
Time Out--Dave Brubeck: The album that first popularized unusual time signatures in jazz. Up to this point, almost all jazz had been in a meter of 4. This album included tunes in meters of 3, 5 ("Take Five"), 6 and 9 ("Blue Rondo a la Turk").
Portrait In Jazz--Bill Evans: The first album from the Bill Evans Trio, the group most responsible for freeing bass and drums from their timekeeping, accompanimental roles. In the Evans Trio, the piano, bass and drums operated as nearly equal musical partners, with often no one explicitly stating the pulse.
Mingus Ah Um--Charles Mingus: The album where Mingus first put together in a coherent and unified way his many and disparate influences, including blues and gospel, Ellington and the complex counterpoint of cool jazz. This album also introduced several of Mingus's best-known and most-performed compositions, including "Better Git It In Your Soul," "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and "Fables of Faubus."
On this concert, we'll be playing "All Blues" from Kind Of Blue, "Open Letter to Duke" from Mingus Ah Um and "Peri's Scope" from Evans' Portrait In Jazz. Those three were all recorded by small groups and the arrangements we're playing reflect three different approaches to jazz repertory. The "All Blues" arrangement is by the famed bass player Chuck Israels and he has scored for the full band the solos improvised by Miles and pianist Bill Evans on the original recording. I arranged "Open Letter to Duke" by simply expanding the scoring of Mingus's original recording. Mike Tomaro's arrangement of "Peri's Scope" uses only the original melody and harmony as the basis for a unique interpretation of the tune.
Some of the rest of the music we'll be playing shows the influence of the innovative recordings of 1959. "Chased By A Wolf Down a Mountain" by our drummer, Jonathan Kipp, uses unusual time signatures, primarily seven. While it wasn't released until the next year, Miles Davis and Gil Evans began recording Sketches of Spain in 1959 and that album's strong classical influence is apparent in two pieces we'll be playing, "Sky Blue" by Maria Schneider (which features Sky Miller on soprano sax) and "Drift" by Darcy James Argue.
We'll also play music that has no direct connection to 1959, including Duke Ellington's "Rockin' In Rhythm", written in the early 1930s, but this particular arrangement is one the Ellington band began playing in the '50s.
The title of "Déjà Vu" by Tom Fredrickson refers both to Fredrickson's conscious evocation of the big band era and how musical material from early in the composition continues to reoccur throughout the piece. "Blues Walk" is a Clifford Brown composition reconceived with an Afro-Cuban feel by Michael Philip Mossman. John Coltrane's "Lazy Bird" will be played in an arrangement done for the Woody Herman band by Bill Stapleton. Duke Ellington's "All Too Soon" will feature trombonist Talon Nansel and tenor saxophonist Leo Echazábal.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Humboldt Symphony
Among its spring concert selections, Humboldt Symphony plays the famous and formidable Schumann Piano Concerto featuring pianist Ching-Ming Cheng on Friday May 8 at 8 p.m. and Sunday May 10 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Conducted by Paul Cummings; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Among its spring concert selections, Humboldt Symphony plays the famous and formidable Schumann Piano Concerto featuring pianist Ching-Ming Cheng on Friday May 8 at 8 p.m. and Sunday May 10 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Conducted by Paul Cummings; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
The Humboldt Symphony Spring Concert: Super Schumann, Innovative Weber and a Memorial Mahler
“It’s a super-human showpiece for piano, and a tour de force for the orchestra.”
That’s how Humboldt Symphony conductor and HSU Music Department professor Paul Cummings describes the famous and formidable Schumann Piano Concerto, the centerpiece of the Symphony’s spring concert.
Pianist and HSU Music Department faculty member Ching-Ming Cheng will play the “extremely demanding piano part” in this concerto by mid-19th century German composer Robert Schumann. “He wrote it at the height of German Romanticism,” Cummings added, “and it’s about as Romantic as music gets.”
“Just as the Schumann concerto is a showpiece for piano,” Cummings said, “the Weber piece we’re playing is a showpiece for clarinet.” Soloist for the Clarinet Concerto #1 by 19th century German composer Carl Weber is HSU student Jacki Fraser. The Humboldt Symphony performs the first movement, praised for its innovation and daring.
The orchestra also plays two lesser-known works by famous composers: “L’Arlesienne Suite #1” by Georges Bizet (best known for the opera Carmen) and “Blumine” by Gustav Mahler. Of the latter, Cummings said, “It’s a slow, beautiful piece which we are dedicating to the memory of Deborah Clasquin, because she loved Mahler so much.”
The concert concludes on a light, bright note with “Four Scottish Dances” by 20th century British composer Malcolm Arnold. The Humboldt Symphony performs its spring concert on Friday May 8 at 8 p.m. and as a Sunday matinee on May 10 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
“It’s a super-human showpiece for piano, and a tour de force for the orchestra.”
That’s how Humboldt Symphony conductor and HSU Music Department professor Paul Cummings describes the famous and formidable Schumann Piano Concerto, the centerpiece of the Symphony’s spring concert.
Pianist and HSU Music Department faculty member Ching-Ming Cheng will play the “extremely demanding piano part” in this concerto by mid-19th century German composer Robert Schumann. “He wrote it at the height of German Romanticism,” Cummings added, “and it’s about as Romantic as music gets.”
“Just as the Schumann concerto is a showpiece for piano,” Cummings said, “the Weber piece we’re playing is a showpiece for clarinet.” Soloist for the Clarinet Concerto #1 by 19th century German composer Carl Weber is HSU student Jacki Fraser. The Humboldt Symphony performs the first movement, praised for its innovation and daring.
The orchestra also plays two lesser-known works by famous composers: “L’Arlesienne Suite #1” by Georges Bizet (best known for the opera Carmen) and “Blumine” by Gustav Mahler. Of the latter, Cummings said, “It’s a slow, beautiful piece which we are dedicating to the memory of Deborah Clasquin, because she loved Mahler so much.”
The concert concludes on a light, bright note with “Four Scottish Dances” by 20th century British composer Malcolm Arnold. The Humboldt Symphony performs its spring concert on Friday May 8 at 8 p.m. and as a Sunday matinee on May 10 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
Additional Note
The pieces the Symphony will play by Georges Bizet and Gustav Mahler have an odd element in common: both were originally written to accompany unsuccessful stage plays. Bizet extracted “L’Arlesienne Suite #1” and Mahler recast “Blumine”—but it has an even more complicated history.
Mahler adapted it for his first symphony. It was the basis of the second movement, but after this symphony’s first performances, Mahler eliminated the second movement entirely, and made this a stand-alone work. “The first symphony is played a lot,” Paul Cummings notes, “but this piece is seldom played at all.”
The pieces the Symphony will play by Georges Bizet and Gustav Mahler have an odd element in common: both were originally written to accompany unsuccessful stage plays. Bizet extracted “L’Arlesienne Suite #1” and Mahler recast “Blumine”—but it has an even more complicated history.
Mahler adapted it for his first symphony. It was the basis of the second movement, but after this symphony’s first performances, Mahler eliminated the second movement entirely, and made this a stand-alone work. “The first symphony is played a lot,” Paul Cummings notes, “but this piece is seldom played at all.”
Thursday, May 07, 2009
AM Jazz Band
The AM Jazz Band of HSU plays up-tempo tunes by Monk, Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie on Thursday May 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Paul Cummings; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
The AM Jazz Band of HSU plays up-tempo tunes by Monk, Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie on Thursday May 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Paul Cummings; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Sky’s the Limit with the AM Jazz Band
HSU senior, Music Education major and saxophonist Sky Miller directs three of the six selections in the AM Jazz spring concert on Friday, May 7.
“A student director is unusual for us,” said HSU Music professor Paul Cummings, “but we want to give Sky that experience, since this is what he’s preparing to do after graduation.”
Miller will lead the jazz band in “Boogie Express,” a tune by Sonny Nestico (arranger for the Count Basie Band) in an early 20th century shuffle style. “Manteca” is a Latin tune by Dizzy Gillespie, and “Black Butterfly” is a ballad by Duke Ellington, arranged by Benny Carter.
Paul Cummings directs the band in the other three tunes: “Straight, No Chaser” by Thelonious Monk, “Ran Kan Kan” by Tito Puente and “The Mooch” by Duke Ellington. “The Mooch” is another early 20th century tune, which features two trumpets using plunger mutes. “These emulate the sound of the human voice better than other mutes,” Cummings said, “so the effect is a conversation between the two players.”
The AM JAZZ BAND plays on Thursday May 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
HSU senior, Music Education major and saxophonist Sky Miller directs three of the six selections in the AM Jazz spring concert on Friday, May 7.
“A student director is unusual for us,” said HSU Music professor Paul Cummings, “but we want to give Sky that experience, since this is what he’s preparing to do after graduation.”
Miller will lead the jazz band in “Boogie Express,” a tune by Sonny Nestico (arranger for the Count Basie Band) in an early 20th century shuffle style. “Manteca” is a Latin tune by Dizzy Gillespie, and “Black Butterfly” is a ballad by Duke Ellington, arranged by Benny Carter.
Paul Cummings directs the band in the other three tunes: “Straight, No Chaser” by Thelonious Monk, “Ran Kan Kan” by Tito Puente and “The Mooch” by Duke Ellington. “The Mooch” is another early 20th century tune, which features two trumpets using plunger mutes. “These emulate the sound of the human voice better than other mutes,” Cummings said, “so the effect is a conversation between the two players.”
The AM JAZZ BAND plays on Thursday May 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Madrigal and Mad River Transit Singers
HSU Madrigal Singers sing to spring and Mad River Transit vocalize jazz standards of the 30s and 40s on Sunday, May 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Harley Muilenburg; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
HSU Madrigal Singers sing to spring and Mad River Transit vocalize jazz standards of the 30s and 40s on Sunday, May 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Harley Muilenburg; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Vocal Variety at Fulkerson Hall
Three ensembles present a panoply of vocal music in concert at the Fulkerson Recital Hall on Sunday, May 3.
The jazz vocalists of Mad River Transit sing upbeat and romantic jazz tunes, backed by a rhythm section of piano (Darius Brotman), bass (Robert Amirkhan) and drums (Jonathan Kipps.) Singing solo and in various combinations, MRT performs songs by Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Lionel Hampton, Bobby McFerrin, Hoagy Carmichael, T-Bone Walker and others.
For example, singers Sarah Benzinger and Samuel Kaplan-Good perform “The Nearness of You” by Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington, first made popular in 1938 by the Glenn Miller Band, and recorded by singers from Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan to Rod Stewart, Diana Krall and Norah Jones. Six of the singers will contribute on “Stormy Monday Blues,” T-Bone Walker’s signature tune, recorded by Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull and the Allman Brothers, among many others.
Soloists on the MRT program include Darius Brotman, Bobby Amirkhan, Jessica Malone, Berol Steinberg, Claire Bent, Kaeden Williams, Sarah Benzinger, Samuel Kaplan-Good, Calista LaBolle, Michael Scott, and Nick Tringale.
The first part of the program is performed by the HSU Madrigal Singers and a chamber vocal ensemble led by senior music education major Jamie Banister.
Their selections include three compositions by Thomas Morely, the most prominent composer of secular music in Elizabethan England, as well as madrigals by Shakespeare-era composers William Holborne and Thomas Bateson. “Ah, Pity Me, Beloved” is by Italian late Renaissance composer Luca Marenzio, who provides a transitional link to Baroque music.
Director of the Madrigal Singers and MRT is HSU Music Department professor Harley Muilenburg. Their spring concert begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Arcata Eye, Humboldt State Now.
Three ensembles present a panoply of vocal music in concert at the Fulkerson Recital Hall on Sunday, May 3.
The jazz vocalists of Mad River Transit sing upbeat and romantic jazz tunes, backed by a rhythm section of piano (Darius Brotman), bass (Robert Amirkhan) and drums (Jonathan Kipps.) Singing solo and in various combinations, MRT performs songs by Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Lionel Hampton, Bobby McFerrin, Hoagy Carmichael, T-Bone Walker and others.
For example, singers Sarah Benzinger and Samuel Kaplan-Good perform “The Nearness of You” by Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington, first made popular in 1938 by the Glenn Miller Band, and recorded by singers from Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan to Rod Stewart, Diana Krall and Norah Jones. Six of the singers will contribute on “Stormy Monday Blues,” T-Bone Walker’s signature tune, recorded by Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull and the Allman Brothers, among many others.
Soloists on the MRT program include Darius Brotman, Bobby Amirkhan, Jessica Malone, Berol Steinberg, Claire Bent, Kaeden Williams, Sarah Benzinger, Samuel Kaplan-Good, Calista LaBolle, Michael Scott, and Nick Tringale.
The first part of the program is performed by the HSU Madrigal Singers and a chamber vocal ensemble led by senior music education major Jamie Banister.
Their selections include three compositions by Thomas Morely, the most prominent composer of secular music in Elizabethan England, as well as madrigals by Shakespeare-era composers William Holborne and Thomas Bateson. “Ah, Pity Me, Beloved” is by Italian late Renaissance composer Luca Marenzio, who provides a transitional link to Baroque music.
Director of the Madrigal Singers and MRT is HSU Music Department professor Harley Muilenburg. Their spring concert begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Arcata Eye, Humboldt State Now.
Personnel
Madrigal Singers
Soprano
Kristine Broughton
Tiffany Guenter
Elizabeth Holverson
Jamie Ivory
Amy O'Hanlon
Cally Staats
Bonnie Stewart
Alto
Jessica Breault
Sadie Brennan
Elizabeth Faith Eastwood
Michele Enenstein
Carly Hanssler
Jacqueline Robertson
Kristina Toomata
Brittany Williams
Lords
James Hudson
John Pettlon
Blake Rouzer
Joseph Russavage
Vocal Chamber Singers
Jamie Banister
Julie Gilder
Kalea Hammond
Jamie Obeso
Nick Tringale
Molly Servedia
Emily Skold
MRT Singers
Soprano
Jessica Malone
Sarah Benzinger
Kelly Whitaker
Tenor
Joshua Boronkay
Samuel Kaplan-Good
Bernie Steinberg
Alto
Claire Bent
Calista LaBolle
Kaeden Williams
Baritone/Bass
Bryan Lieser
Michael Scott
Nick Tringale
Rhythm Section
Darius Brotman, Piano
Robert Amirkhan, Bass
Jonathan Kipp, Drums
Madrigal Singers
Soprano
Kristine Broughton
Tiffany Guenter
Elizabeth Holverson
Jamie Ivory
Amy O'Hanlon
Cally Staats
Bonnie Stewart
Alto
Jessica Breault
Sadie Brennan
Elizabeth Faith Eastwood
Michele Enenstein
Carly Hanssler
Jacqueline Robertson
Kristina Toomata
Brittany Williams
Lords
James Hudson
John Pettlon
Blake Rouzer
Joseph Russavage
Vocal Chamber Singers
Jamie Banister
Julie Gilder
Kalea Hammond
Jamie Obeso
Nick Tringale
Molly Servedia
Emily Skold
MRT Singers
Soprano
Jessica Malone
Sarah Benzinger
Kelly Whitaker
Tenor
Joshua Boronkay
Samuel Kaplan-Good
Bernie Steinberg
Alto
Claire Bent
Calista LaBolle
Kaeden Williams
Baritone/Bass
Bryan Lieser
Michael Scott
Nick Tringale
Rhythm Section
Darius Brotman, Piano
Robert Amirkhan, Bass
Jonathan Kipp, Drums
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Percussion Ensemble & Calypso Band
HSU Calypso Band, Percussion Ensemble and World Percussion Group offer a Varese classic, folkloric music of Africa and Latin America, and high energy Caribbean dance music on Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students free with ID. Directed by Dr. Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
HSU Calypso Band, Percussion Ensemble and World Percussion Group offer a Varese classic, folkloric music of Africa and Latin America, and high energy Caribbean dance music on Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students free with ID. Directed by Dr. Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Get Ionized with the HSU Calypso Band and Percussion Ensemble
Recently returned from performances at the Northwest Percussion Festival in Oregon, the HSU Percussion Ensemble, HSU World Percussion Group, and the Humboldt State Calypso Band present their combined spring concert on May 2 in the Van Duzer Theatre.
The Percussion Ensemble performs “Ionisation” by 20th century modern experimental composer Edgard Varese. “Ionisation is widely considered the most important composition in the entire percussion ensemble repertoire,” said director Dr. Eugene Novotney. It calls for an array of instruments and sounds, including maracas, guiros, cow bells, bongos, sleigh bells, castanets, a glockenspiel, a lion’s roar, two anvils, and two hand- crank sirens. The Ensemble uses the exact low-pitch fire siren Varese specified in his 1931 score, and an authentic high-pitch combat field siren.
Also during the first half of the combined concert, the HSU Marimba Band plays the folkloric marimba music of Mexico, Guatamala and Africa, and the HSU World Percussion Group conducted by Howard Kaufman performs the folkloric music of Cuba, ending with an exciting rendition of the famous carnival music, Conga de Comparsa.
As always, the second half of the concert belongs to the Humboldt State Calypso Band, one of Humboldt County’s most popular ensembles. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Cuba and the United States, and always includes high-energy dance music.
The combined spring concert of the HSU Percussion Ensemble, World Percussion Group and Calypso Band happens on Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students free with ID. Directed by Dr. Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Media: Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now.
Recently returned from performances at the Northwest Percussion Festival in Oregon, the HSU Percussion Ensemble, HSU World Percussion Group, and the Humboldt State Calypso Band present their combined spring concert on May 2 in the Van Duzer Theatre.
The Percussion Ensemble performs “Ionisation” by 20th century modern experimental composer Edgard Varese. “Ionisation is widely considered the most important composition in the entire percussion ensemble repertoire,” said director Dr. Eugene Novotney. It calls for an array of instruments and sounds, including maracas, guiros, cow bells, bongos, sleigh bells, castanets, a glockenspiel, a lion’s roar, two anvils, and two hand- crank sirens. The Ensemble uses the exact low-pitch fire siren Varese specified in his 1931 score, and an authentic high-pitch combat field siren.
Also during the first half of the combined concert, the HSU Marimba Band plays the folkloric marimba music of Mexico, Guatamala and Africa, and the HSU World Percussion Group conducted by Howard Kaufman performs the folkloric music of Cuba, ending with an exciting rendition of the famous carnival music, Conga de Comparsa.
As always, the second half of the concert belongs to the Humboldt State Calypso Band, one of Humboldt County’s most popular ensembles. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Cuba and the United States, and always includes high-energy dance music.
The combined spring concert of the HSU Percussion Ensemble, World Percussion Group and Calypso Band happens on Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students free with ID. Directed by Dr. Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Media: Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Humboldt State Now.
Director's Notes
As the centerpiece of this concert, the Humboldt State Percussion Ensemble will be performing an extremely revolutionary work by Edgard Varese entitled Ionization. Written in 1931, Ionisation features 14 performers playing over 47 different instruments. The sound mass and texture fields heard in the piece are both colorful and dense.
As well as a grand piano and all of the standard instruments of the percussion family, Varese also calls for Afro-Cuban instruments such, and exotic instruments such as gongs, sleighbells, castagnetts, a glockenspiel, a lions roar, two anvils, and, perhaps the most unique of all, two hand crank sirens. The low-pitched siren used by the Humboldt State Percussion Ensemble is the exact Sterling type II hand crank fire siren that Varese specified in his 1931 score. The high-pitched siren is an authentic combat field siren issued by the US military and made by the Federal Electric Company in Chicago, Illinois.
Often considered a radical futurist, Varese claims that he was interested in sound for sounds sake alone, and for that reason, considered all sounds as valid. As early as the 1930s, Varese heard the sound of the siren as a result of the modern world, and as such, he used it as a musical instrument in his composition. Many scholars have noted that Varese's ideas and experiments with sound, which predated the invention of the first synthesizer by almost 40 years, had an extensive effect on the development of electronic music. This is certain to be a memorable performance that should not be missed!
Also featured on the first half of the concert, the HSU Marimba Band will present the folkloric marimba music of Mexico, Guatamala, and Africa, and the HSU World Percussion Group will present the folkloric music of Cuba, ending with an exciting rendition of the famous Cuban carnival music, Conga de Comparsa.
The second half of the show will feature the festive dance music of the Humboldt State Calypso Band. One of Humboldt County's favorite ensembles, the Calypso Band will feature several high-energy dance compositions from the Caribbean in their set.
The Humboldt State Calypso Band prides itself in maintaining an accurate and authentic connection to the roots of the steel band movement and the innovative musicians of Trinidad, the island on which this unique percussion phenomenon was born. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Cuba and the United States.
In addition to its regular performances at Humboldt State and throughout Northern California, the band has undertaken tours to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Seattle, WA, and has just returned from a standing ovation performance at the Northwest Percussion Festival held at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.
As the centerpiece of this concert, the Humboldt State Percussion Ensemble will be performing an extremely revolutionary work by Edgard Varese entitled Ionization. Written in 1931, Ionisation features 14 performers playing over 47 different instruments. The sound mass and texture fields heard in the piece are both colorful and dense.
As well as a grand piano and all of the standard instruments of the percussion family, Varese also calls for Afro-Cuban instruments such, and exotic instruments such as gongs, sleighbells, castagnetts, a glockenspiel, a lions roar, two anvils, and, perhaps the most unique of all, two hand crank sirens. The low-pitched siren used by the Humboldt State Percussion Ensemble is the exact Sterling type II hand crank fire siren that Varese specified in his 1931 score. The high-pitched siren is an authentic combat field siren issued by the US military and made by the Federal Electric Company in Chicago, Illinois.
Often considered a radical futurist, Varese claims that he was interested in sound for sounds sake alone, and for that reason, considered all sounds as valid. As early as the 1930s, Varese heard the sound of the siren as a result of the modern world, and as such, he used it as a musical instrument in his composition. Many scholars have noted that Varese's ideas and experiments with sound, which predated the invention of the first synthesizer by almost 40 years, had an extensive effect on the development of electronic music. This is certain to be a memorable performance that should not be missed!
Also featured on the first half of the concert, the HSU Marimba Band will present the folkloric marimba music of Mexico, Guatamala, and Africa, and the HSU World Percussion Group will present the folkloric music of Cuba, ending with an exciting rendition of the famous Cuban carnival music, Conga de Comparsa.
The second half of the show will feature the festive dance music of the Humboldt State Calypso Band. One of Humboldt County's favorite ensembles, the Calypso Band will feature several high-energy dance compositions from the Caribbean in their set.
The Humboldt State Calypso Band prides itself in maintaining an accurate and authentic connection to the roots of the steel band movement and the innovative musicians of Trinidad, the island on which this unique percussion phenomenon was born. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Cuba and the United States.
In addition to its regular performances at Humboldt State and throughout Northern California, the band has undertaken tours to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Seattle, WA, and has just returned from a standing ovation performance at the Northwest Percussion Festival held at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Symphonic Band
HSU Symphonic Band rides The Ghost Train in their spring concert on Friday May 1 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Kenneth Ayoob; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
HSU Symphonic Band rides The Ghost Train in their spring concert on Friday May 1 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Kenneth Ayoob; presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Ride the Ghost Train with the HSU Symphonic Band
The sounds of trains passing in the night aren’t heard anymore in Arcata, but they will be again in Fulkerson Recital Hall on May 1.
The HSU Symphonic Band spring concert features the popular new band composition, “Ghost Train,” by contemporary Los Angeles composer David Whitaker. Recorded more than forty times by bands and orchestras, this piece “depicts the legend of the Ghost Train that comes slowly out of the mist, building speed and careening down the tracks,” according to Kenneth P. Ayoob, conducting the Symphonic Band. “It features percussion, asymmetric meters and the hypnotic sound of the train.”
The program of wind music from English and American composers also includes a march by the “March King,” John Philip Sousa (“The Fairest of the Fair”) and a setting of three “Old American Songs” by Aaron Copland, which features baritone Christopher Hatcher.
The orchestra plays two classics of the British Band style: “Original Suite” by Gordon Jacob, and “Mannin Veen” by Haydn Wood, a tone poem that evokes the music and dance of the Isle of Man. “Be Thou My Vision” by noted composer and percussionist David Gillingham “is a beautiful setting of the hymn coupled with a counter melody of two Irish songs,” Ayoob said.
The Symphonic Band spring concert is Friday May 1 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Arcata Eye, Humboldt State Now.
The sounds of trains passing in the night aren’t heard anymore in Arcata, but they will be again in Fulkerson Recital Hall on May 1.
The HSU Symphonic Band spring concert features the popular new band composition, “Ghost Train,” by contemporary Los Angeles composer David Whitaker. Recorded more than forty times by bands and orchestras, this piece “depicts the legend of the Ghost Train that comes slowly out of the mist, building speed and careening down the tracks,” according to Kenneth P. Ayoob, conducting the Symphonic Band. “It features percussion, asymmetric meters and the hypnotic sound of the train.”
The program of wind music from English and American composers also includes a march by the “March King,” John Philip Sousa (“The Fairest of the Fair”) and a setting of three “Old American Songs” by Aaron Copland, which features baritone Christopher Hatcher.
The orchestra plays two classics of the British Band style: “Original Suite” by Gordon Jacob, and “Mannin Veen” by Haydn Wood, a tone poem that evokes the music and dance of the Isle of Man. “Be Thou My Vision” by noted composer and percussionist David Gillingham “is a beautiful setting of the hymn coupled with a counter melody of two Irish songs,” Ayoob said.
The Symphonic Band spring concert is Friday May 1 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Arcata Eye, Humboldt State Now.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Nicholas Lambson & Elisabeth Harrington
Guitarist Nicholas Lambson plays fiery and rarely heard Spanish classics, joined in song by soprano Elisabeth Harrington, on Saturday, April 25 at 8 pm in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Faculty Artist Series concert.
Guitarist Nicholas Lambson plays fiery and rarely heard Spanish classics, joined in song by soprano Elisabeth Harrington, on Saturday, April 25 at 8 pm in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Faculty Artist Series concert.
The Spanish Combination: Guitarist Nicholas Lambson and Soprano Elisabeth Harrington
Think of music from Spain, and you hear the timbres of guitar and voice. So music from Spain, from fiery Flamenco to introspective melodies, will dominate the collaboration of HSU Music Department colleagues, guitarist Nicholas Lambson and soprano Elisabeth Harrington, in concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Saturday, April 25.
Music from Cuba, Vienna, the U.S. and England are also represented, beginning with Lambson’s solo set and the Estudios Sencillos (Simple Studies) of Cuban guitarist/composer Leo Brouwer. Of the 20 etudes in this popular work, Lambson has “chosen five of the more difficult and interesting.” He also plays selections from “Bardic Sounds” by 19th century Romantic composer Johann Kaspar Mertz of Vienna, which “range in style from an almost operatic melodiousness to virtuosic fireworks,” Lambson said.
The featured solo guitar work is by classical Spanish composer Fernando Sor. “I will be performing his massive mature masterwork, the "Fantaisie Elegiaque," which oddly isn't performed or recorded very often,” Lambson said. “This is a substantial work on the death of a close friend of his, and is also a personal work for me.”
Elisabeth Harrington joins Lambson in the second half of the evening. They perform three songs about unrequited love by English early music composer John Dowland, and selections from “Letters from Composers” by 20th century American composer Dominick Argento, featuring personal notes from J. S. Bach, Robert Schumann, Giacomo Puccini, Frederic Chopin and others. “These songs are particularly clever, as the music reflects the tone of each letter, whether loving, mocking, complaining and so on,” Harrington noted.
They return to Spain with three songs by 20th century composer Joaquin Rodrigo. Harrington characterizes them as “wonderful pieces with ample melodic and harmonic variation to hold the listener's interest… They definitely sound Spanish!”
They also combine for five folks songs by famous 20th century Spanish poet and composer Federico Garcia Lorca, which Harrington notes are “accessible, full of Spanish idioms.”
This collaboration is unusual for both artists. ‘I feel very fortunate to work with Elisabeth,” Lambson said. “I am primarily a soloist, so it is always nice to work with other musicians and I am particularly excited about our repertoire selection.”
“It is a rare treat for me to perform with a guitarist-- only the third time in my whole career,” Harrington said. “I am enjoying learning more about the instrument and how to adjust my vocal intensity and color to balance with Nick's sound.”
This Faculty Artists Series concert by guitarist Nicholas Lambson and soprano Elisabeth Harrington begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 25 in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now
Think of music from Spain, and you hear the timbres of guitar and voice. So music from Spain, from fiery Flamenco to introspective melodies, will dominate the collaboration of HSU Music Department colleagues, guitarist Nicholas Lambson and soprano Elisabeth Harrington, in concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Saturday, April 25.
Music from Cuba, Vienna, the U.S. and England are also represented, beginning with Lambson’s solo set and the Estudios Sencillos (Simple Studies) of Cuban guitarist/composer Leo Brouwer. Of the 20 etudes in this popular work, Lambson has “chosen five of the more difficult and interesting.” He also plays selections from “Bardic Sounds” by 19th century Romantic composer Johann Kaspar Mertz of Vienna, which “range in style from an almost operatic melodiousness to virtuosic fireworks,” Lambson said.
The featured solo guitar work is by classical Spanish composer Fernando Sor. “I will be performing his massive mature masterwork, the "Fantaisie Elegiaque," which oddly isn't performed or recorded very often,” Lambson said. “This is a substantial work on the death of a close friend of his, and is also a personal work for me.”
Elisabeth Harrington joins Lambson in the second half of the evening. They perform three songs about unrequited love by English early music composer John Dowland, and selections from “Letters from Composers” by 20th century American composer Dominick Argento, featuring personal notes from J. S. Bach, Robert Schumann, Giacomo Puccini, Frederic Chopin and others. “These songs are particularly clever, as the music reflects the tone of each letter, whether loving, mocking, complaining and so on,” Harrington noted.
They return to Spain with three songs by 20th century composer Joaquin Rodrigo. Harrington characterizes them as “wonderful pieces with ample melodic and harmonic variation to hold the listener's interest… They definitely sound Spanish!”
They also combine for five folks songs by famous 20th century Spanish poet and composer Federico Garcia Lorca, which Harrington notes are “accessible, full of Spanish idioms.”
This collaboration is unusual for both artists. ‘I feel very fortunate to work with Elisabeth,” Lambson said. “I am primarily a soloist, so it is always nice to work with other musicians and I am particularly excited about our repertoire selection.”
“It is a rare treat for me to perform with a guitarist-- only the third time in my whole career,” Harrington said. “I am enjoying learning more about the instrument and how to adjust my vocal intensity and color to balance with Nick's sound.”
This Faculty Artists Series concert by guitarist Nicholas Lambson and soprano Elisabeth Harrington begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 25 in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now
Performers Notes
Nicholas Lambson:
I will be playing three diverse solo sets ranging from classical to modern. The Estudios Sencillos (simple studies) are well-known in the guitar repertoire. They are etudes, which are technically biased works, though I find a few of them to be very distinctive musically. I have chosen five of the more difficult and interesting of the popular 20.
Spanish guitarist/composer Fernando Sor lived in Paris for much of his mature career and contributed a wealth of fine works to the classical repertoire. I will be performing his massive mature masterwork, the "Fantaisie Elegiaque" Op.59, which oddly isn't performed or recorded very often. It may be his finest work, though other flashier pieces get performed more often such as his Variations on a Theme of Mozart, Op.9. This is a substantial work on the death of a close friend of his, and is also a personal work for me.
The Bardenklange (Bardic Sounds) of Johann Kaspar Mertz are becoming more and more recognized in the repertoire though they have been around for a century and a half. Mertz was a virtuoso active in Vienna during the Romantic period and may be the finest guitar composer of the era. The works I will be performing range in style from an almost operatic melodiousness to virtuosic fireworks. I will be performing three works: Romanze, Unruhe (restlessness), and Fingal's Hohle (Fingal's cave).
I feel very fortunate to work with Elisabeth on our voice and guitar repertoire. I am primarily a soloist, so it is always nice to work with other musicians and I am particularly excited about our repertoire selection. Some of the works are well-known, and some are relatively obscure. The classical guitar has strong associations with the Spanish idiom, and I think it is fitting that we will be performing works by two Spanish composers, though they are very different. Rodrigo is more modern and a neoclassicist, and he is well-known in the guitar world for his very famous "Concierto de Aranjuez" as well as a number of other fine works. Lorca was a multi-talented author, painter, and musician and the works we will be performing draw on the Flamenco tradition in Spain.
Elisabeth Harrington:
The concert will feature guitarist Nicholas Lambson on solo guitar for half of the evening. I will join him for the other half. The pieces we are performing together are the following four sets, two in English, two in Spanish:1. Three songs by John Dowland (originally scored for voice and lute) Typical early music with word painting in the vocal part, some tricky contrapuntal writing for guitar. They are strophic songs with some repetitions within verses. The stories are about unrequited love.
2. Three songs by Joaquin Rodrigo (the famed twentieth-century Spanish composer who became blind at the age of three, and contributed greatly to popularizing the classical guitar) Wonderful, through-composed pieces with ample melodic and harmonic variation to hold the listener's interest without losing cohesion. They definitely sound Spanish!
3. Five folk songs by Federico Garcia Lorca (accessible, full of "Spanish" idioms; include multiple verses for each melody)
4. Selections from "Letters from Composers" by Dominick Argento (featuring personal notes from J. S. Bach, Robert Schumann, Giacomo Puccini, Frederic Chopin and others, scored for guitar and high voice). These songs are particularly clever, as the music reflects both the tone of each letter, whether loving, mocking, complaining, etc., and includes motives and rhythmic references reflective of the composer's style.
It is a rare treat for me to perform with a guitarist (only the third time in my whole career). I am enjoying learning more about the instrument and how to adjust my vocal intensity and color to balance with Nick's sound.
Nicholas Lambson:
I will be playing three diverse solo sets ranging from classical to modern. The Estudios Sencillos (simple studies) are well-known in the guitar repertoire. They are etudes, which are technically biased works, though I find a few of them to be very distinctive musically. I have chosen five of the more difficult and interesting of the popular 20.
Spanish guitarist/composer Fernando Sor lived in Paris for much of his mature career and contributed a wealth of fine works to the classical repertoire. I will be performing his massive mature masterwork, the "Fantaisie Elegiaque" Op.59, which oddly isn't performed or recorded very often. It may be his finest work, though other flashier pieces get performed more often such as his Variations on a Theme of Mozart, Op.9. This is a substantial work on the death of a close friend of his, and is also a personal work for me.
The Bardenklange (Bardic Sounds) of Johann Kaspar Mertz are becoming more and more recognized in the repertoire though they have been around for a century and a half. Mertz was a virtuoso active in Vienna during the Romantic period and may be the finest guitar composer of the era. The works I will be performing range in style from an almost operatic melodiousness to virtuosic fireworks. I will be performing three works: Romanze, Unruhe (restlessness), and Fingal's Hohle (Fingal's cave).
I feel very fortunate to work with Elisabeth on our voice and guitar repertoire. I am primarily a soloist, so it is always nice to work with other musicians and I am particularly excited about our repertoire selection. Some of the works are well-known, and some are relatively obscure. The classical guitar has strong associations with the Spanish idiom, and I think it is fitting that we will be performing works by two Spanish composers, though they are very different. Rodrigo is more modern and a neoclassicist, and he is well-known in the guitar world for his very famous "Concierto de Aranjuez" as well as a number of other fine works. Lorca was a multi-talented author, painter, and musician and the works we will be performing draw on the Flamenco tradition in Spain.
Elisabeth Harrington:
The concert will feature guitarist Nicholas Lambson on solo guitar for half of the evening. I will join him for the other half. The pieces we are performing together are the following four sets, two in English, two in Spanish:1. Three songs by John Dowland (originally scored for voice and lute) Typical early music with word painting in the vocal part, some tricky contrapuntal writing for guitar. They are strophic songs with some repetitions within verses. The stories are about unrequited love.
2. Three songs by Joaquin Rodrigo (the famed twentieth-century Spanish composer who became blind at the age of three, and contributed greatly to popularizing the classical guitar) Wonderful, through-composed pieces with ample melodic and harmonic variation to hold the listener's interest without losing cohesion. They definitely sound Spanish!
3. Five folk songs by Federico Garcia Lorca (accessible, full of "Spanish" idioms; include multiple verses for each melody)
4. Selections from "Letters from Composers" by Dominick Argento (featuring personal notes from J. S. Bach, Robert Schumann, Giacomo Puccini, Frederic Chopin and others, scored for guitar and high voice). These songs are particularly clever, as the music reflects both the tone of each letter, whether loving, mocking, complaining, etc., and includes motives and rhythmic references reflective of the composer's style.
It is a rare treat for me to perform with a guitarist (only the third time in my whole career). I am enjoying learning more about the instrument and how to adjust my vocal intensity and color to balance with Nick's sound.
Friday, April 24, 2009
John Brecher
Cellist and HSU faculty emeritus John Brecher plays Beethoven and the Shostakovich Cello Sonata on Friday, April 24 at 8 pm in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Guest Artist concert.
Cellist and HSU faculty emeritus John Brecher plays Beethoven and the Shostakovich Cello Sonata on Friday, April 24 at 8 pm in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Guest Artist concert.
John Brecher Returns for Beethoven and Shostakovich
Cellist and HSU faculty emeritus John Brecher returns to HSU to play two complete works by Beethoven and Shostakovich in a Guest Artist concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Friday, April 24.
Brecher and pianist John Chernoff will play Ludwig von Beethoven’s last cello sonata, #5 in D, written in 1815, at the beginning of what reviewer Harry Downey calls Beethoven’s “last, great period of creativity.” It is the only one of Beethoven’s five cello sonatas to include a traditional slow movement, which Downey writes is “a truly intense and soul-searching Adagio that leads to the complex fugue of the Finale.”
They will also play the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Dimitri Shostakovich, a modern Russian composer. An early work, this sonata in four movements was composed in 1934 just before Soviet authorities began censoring his music. It was written quickly, during a period of emotional turmoil in the composer’s personal life. Reviewer Hubert Culot describes it as “a big romantic piece” that “brims with long, passionate melodies.”
John Brecher is a former conductor of the Humboldt Symphony, soloist with the Eureka Symphony and a founder of the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop. He has performed major works in the classical repertoire in various European cities. He taught in the HSU Music Department from 1969 to 1973, and from 1990 until his retirement.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 24 in in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now
Cellist and HSU faculty emeritus John Brecher returns to HSU to play two complete works by Beethoven and Shostakovich in a Guest Artist concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Friday, April 24.
Brecher and pianist John Chernoff will play Ludwig von Beethoven’s last cello sonata, #5 in D, written in 1815, at the beginning of what reviewer Harry Downey calls Beethoven’s “last, great period of creativity.” It is the only one of Beethoven’s five cello sonatas to include a traditional slow movement, which Downey writes is “a truly intense and soul-searching Adagio that leads to the complex fugue of the Finale.”
They will also play the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Dimitri Shostakovich, a modern Russian composer. An early work, this sonata in four movements was composed in 1934 just before Soviet authorities began censoring his music. It was written quickly, during a period of emotional turmoil in the composer’s personal life. Reviewer Hubert Culot describes it as “a big romantic piece” that “brims with long, passionate melodies.”
John Brecher is a former conductor of the Humboldt Symphony, soloist with the Eureka Symphony and a founder of the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop. He has performed major works in the classical repertoire in various European cities. He taught in the HSU Music Department from 1969 to 1973, and from 1990 until his retirement.
The concert begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 24 in in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now
Friday, April 17, 2009
Opera Workshop
It’s opera with emphasis on the comic, as the HSU Opera Workshop performs Puccini, Donizetti, Gilbert & Sullivan and a children’s opera by Malcolm Fox on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Elisabeth Harrington, director. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.
It’s opera with emphasis on the comic, as the HSU Opera Workshop performs Puccini, Donizetti, Gilbert & Sullivan and a children’s opera by Malcolm Fox on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Elisabeth Harrington, director. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Opera Workshop Goes to the Circus
Continuing their emphasis on the comic from their March concert, the students of the HSU Opera Workshop perform a new program on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.
The concert starts off with scenes from four different operas, directed by HSU Music professor Elisabeth Harrington.
“Sour Angelica” is part of a one act opera by Giacomo Puccini, set in a convent and featuring an exclusively female cast.
After Puccini, why not Donizetti? But this time, it’s two male singers in a comic duet from the opera “Don Pasquale.”
A duet and dance routine from Kurt Weill’s “Street Scene” is followed by the opening scene of “Ruddigore,” an outlandish comedy by Gilbert and Sullivan.
Pianist John Chernoff is the accompanist for these four scenes.
The children’s opera, “Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing” by Malcolm Fox comprises the second half of the concert. “We did two scenes from this opera in the fall, and now we’re doing the whole show,” Elisabeth Harrington said. “It’s a comic, kid-friendly piece about a serpent who is frustrated with his job of slithering in the circus. He decides to become a singer, and leaves the circus to pursue his dream of finding his voice.”
Recent HSU graduate Kirsten Randrup will direct the children’s opera, with student Jonathan Webster accompanying on piano.
The HSU Opera Workshop performs on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Continuing their emphasis on the comic from their March concert, the students of the HSU Opera Workshop perform a new program on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.
The concert starts off with scenes from four different operas, directed by HSU Music professor Elisabeth Harrington.
“Sour Angelica” is part of a one act opera by Giacomo Puccini, set in a convent and featuring an exclusively female cast.
After Puccini, why not Donizetti? But this time, it’s two male singers in a comic duet from the opera “Don Pasquale.”
A duet and dance routine from Kurt Weill’s “Street Scene” is followed by the opening scene of “Ruddigore,” an outlandish comedy by Gilbert and Sullivan.
Pianist John Chernoff is the accompanist for these four scenes.
The children’s opera, “Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing” by Malcolm Fox comprises the second half of the concert. “We did two scenes from this opera in the fall, and now we’re doing the whole show,” Elisabeth Harrington said. “It’s a comic, kid-friendly piece about a serpent who is frustrated with his job of slithering in the circus. He decides to become a singer, and leaves the circus to pursue his dream of finding his voice.”
Recent HSU graduate Kirsten Randrup will direct the children’s opera, with student Jonathan Webster accompanying on piano.
The HSU Opera Workshop performs on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Humboldt Bay Brass Band
Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays Copland, Downie, Dusty Springfield and more in its only spring concert on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Presented by the HSU Department of Music; directed by Gil Cline.
Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays Copland, Downie, Dusty Springfield and more in its only spring concert on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Presented by the HSU Department of Music; directed by Gil Cline.
From Copland to Dusty Springfield: An Eclectic Humboldt Bay Brass Band Concert
A Londonderry Aire, a Kentucky Sunrise, a contemporary tribute to an old master, the most famous fanfare in America, and a Dusty Springfield tune—comprise just some of the eclectic program for the Humboldt Bay Brass Band spring concert on Saturday, April 11.
The program begins with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, a familiar, stirring and emblematic work which is probably the best known fanfare in America, and was widely heard as recently as President Obama’s Inaugural celebration.
The featured work is Purcell Variations by noted brass band composer Kenneth Downie. “This piece is a major work for brass band,” said Gil Cline, conductor of the Humboldt Bay Brass Band. “It’s a roller coaster of a composition, traversing melodies and harmonies, and glued together by contemporary rhythms.” Though it does not mimic the Baroque style of composer Henry Purcell, it was written for the 300th anniversary of his death.
Also featured are Sonata Octavi Toni by late 16th century Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli, and The Hunt by noted British band composer Kenneth Alford. The famed Irish anthem Londonderry Aire (it’s the tune to “Danny Boy”) contrasts with the very American Kentucky Sunrise, composed by Karl King, originally for the Barnum and Bailey Circus Band. Trombonist George Epperson solos for the 1966 Dusty Springfield hit, “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.”
The concert’s second half features music of HSU's Trumpet Consort, playing copies of 1667 natural trumpets. A week later, they'll be at Stanford University to play a concert from Hoover Tower.
Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays its only spring concert on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Gil Cline, conductor. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Media: Eureka Times-Standard.
A Londonderry Aire, a Kentucky Sunrise, a contemporary tribute to an old master, the most famous fanfare in America, and a Dusty Springfield tune—comprise just some of the eclectic program for the Humboldt Bay Brass Band spring concert on Saturday, April 11.
The program begins with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, a familiar, stirring and emblematic work which is probably the best known fanfare in America, and was widely heard as recently as President Obama’s Inaugural celebration.
The featured work is Purcell Variations by noted brass band composer Kenneth Downie. “This piece is a major work for brass band,” said Gil Cline, conductor of the Humboldt Bay Brass Band. “It’s a roller coaster of a composition, traversing melodies and harmonies, and glued together by contemporary rhythms.” Though it does not mimic the Baroque style of composer Henry Purcell, it was written for the 300th anniversary of his death.
Also featured are Sonata Octavi Toni by late 16th century Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli, and The Hunt by noted British band composer Kenneth Alford. The famed Irish anthem Londonderry Aire (it’s the tune to “Danny Boy”) contrasts with the very American Kentucky Sunrise, composed by Karl King, originally for the Barnum and Bailey Circus Band. Trombonist George Epperson solos for the 1966 Dusty Springfield hit, “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.”
The concert’s second half features music of HSU's Trumpet Consort, playing copies of 1667 natural trumpets. A week later, they'll be at Stanford University to play a concert from Hoover Tower.
Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays its only spring concert on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Gil Cline, conductor. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Media: Eureka Times-Standard.
Conductor's Notes
Kenneth Downie ....... Purcell Variations
Composed to commemorate the tercentenary of Purcell's death, this piece is based on the hymn tune 'Westminster Abbey' and offers variety, vitality and technical movements. This piece is a bona fide Tour de Force! It's a major work for brass band, in that it is organized into fivemovements and has a duration of almost 14 minutes.
Although it was not commissioned as a "contest piece" it has already been used for that purpose in the Brass Band world, including England. There, and elsewhere in the UK, bands aspire to win a national championship, beginning in regions and leading to the nationals each fall at Royal Albert Hall in London.
Purcell Variations, a contemporary work -- not baroque music like the namesake, is a roller-coaster of a composition, traversing melodies and harmonies, and glued together by contemporary rhythms in a way which challenges any brass band, and treats any audience.
Kenneth Downie is a composer of brass band music. He was born in Glasgow and educated at Greenock High School, the Royal Manchester College of Music .... His published compositions, now numbering over 50, span a period of 30 years and are mainly for brass band or choir.
Giovanni Gabrieli ..... Sonata Octavi Toni
Beautiful double choir, divided left and right, music of San Marco Cathedral, Venice, 1597.
Kenneth Alford ........... The Hunt
Begins with a posthorn, a hunting horn, solo and is a real horse race through the woods. By the noted British composer of many other works for band.
Karl King ....... Kentucky Sunrise
Very American ... 1919 ... Written for the Barnum and Bailey Circus Band.Dedicated to Rhoda Royal, horse trainer ... named for show horse Kentucky Sunrise in B&B Circus. As a former euphonium player, King made sure that the low brass players shared the best melodies.
Dusty Springfield ..... You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
Yeah, the 1960s hit! Here with trombone solo by George Epperson.
Kenneth Downie ....... Purcell Variations
Composed to commemorate the tercentenary of Purcell's death, this piece is based on the hymn tune 'Westminster Abbey' and offers variety, vitality and technical movements. This piece is a bona fide Tour de Force! It's a major work for brass band, in that it is organized into fivemovements and has a duration of almost 14 minutes.
Although it was not commissioned as a "contest piece" it has already been used for that purpose in the Brass Band world, including England. There, and elsewhere in the UK, bands aspire to win a national championship, beginning in regions and leading to the nationals each fall at Royal Albert Hall in London.
Purcell Variations, a contemporary work -- not baroque music like the namesake, is a roller-coaster of a composition, traversing melodies and harmonies, and glued together by contemporary rhythms in a way which challenges any brass band, and treats any audience.
Kenneth Downie is a composer of brass band music. He was born in Glasgow and educated at Greenock High School, the Royal Manchester College of Music .... His published compositions, now numbering over 50, span a period of 30 years and are mainly for brass band or choir.
Giovanni Gabrieli ..... Sonata Octavi Toni
Beautiful double choir, divided left and right, music of San Marco Cathedral, Venice, 1597.
Kenneth Alford ........... The Hunt
Begins with a posthorn, a hunting horn, solo and is a real horse race through the woods. By the noted British composer of many other works for band.
Karl King ....... Kentucky Sunrise
Very American ... 1919 ... Written for the Barnum and Bailey Circus Band.Dedicated to Rhoda Royal, horse trainer ... named for show horse Kentucky Sunrise in B&B Circus. As a former euphonium player, King made sure that the low brass players shared the best melodies.
Dusty Springfield ..... You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
Yeah, the 1960s hit! Here with trombone solo by George Epperson.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Composers Concert
New music by faculty and student composers on Saturday, April 4 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.
New music by faculty and student composers on Saturday, April 4 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.
Composers Concert Includes Deborah Clasquin Memorial
A program of new compositions by HSU Department of Music faculty and students, presents an “eclectic array of styles and compositional techniques for ambient synth music, dancers, piano, voice and various chamber groups,” according to Dr. Brian Post, HSU professor of Music Theory and Composition. It will be performed on Saturday, April 4 in Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU.
One of the featured compositions is “Light at the End of the Tunnel,” which Dr. Post wrote in memory of Deborah Clasquin, noted pianist and revered teacher at HSU, who passed away on March 10. The piece will be played by Post and students who studied with Clasquin, “while reflecting on life, death and their memories of some one who was very dear to them,” Post said.
The program also features an electronic piece by Cynthia McCloud. “She created her own music composition system that utilizes numerology and is designed to influence the energy centers of the human body,” Post said. “ This piece will also have dancers interpreting the piece through movement.”
Another Post composition, “Rails of Safety,” will be performed by students in the composition program “using parts of Fulkerson Recital Hall and kitchen utensils brought from their homes for instruments,” in homage to early 20th century American avant-garde composers. “It is also designed to foster the return of improvisation to a formal music venue,” Dr. Post said.
Other works on the program are performed by acoustic chamber groups, solo piano and solo voice. The Composers Concert is presented on Saturday, April 4 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye, Humboldt State Now.
A program of new compositions by HSU Department of Music faculty and students, presents an “eclectic array of styles and compositional techniques for ambient synth music, dancers, piano, voice and various chamber groups,” according to Dr. Brian Post, HSU professor of Music Theory and Composition. It will be performed on Saturday, April 4 in Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU.
One of the featured compositions is “Light at the End of the Tunnel,” which Dr. Post wrote in memory of Deborah Clasquin, noted pianist and revered teacher at HSU, who passed away on March 10. The piece will be played by Post and students who studied with Clasquin, “while reflecting on life, death and their memories of some one who was very dear to them,” Post said.
The program also features an electronic piece by Cynthia McCloud. “She created her own music composition system that utilizes numerology and is designed to influence the energy centers of the human body,” Post said. “ This piece will also have dancers interpreting the piece through movement.”
Another Post composition, “Rails of Safety,” will be performed by students in the composition program “using parts of Fulkerson Recital Hall and kitchen utensils brought from their homes for instruments,” in homage to early 20th century American avant-garde composers. “It is also designed to foster the return of improvisation to a formal music venue,” Dr. Post said.
Other works on the program are performed by acoustic chamber groups, solo piano and solo voice. The Composers Concert is presented on Saturday, April 4 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye, Humboldt State Now.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Duo Fuoco
Duo Fuoco plays fiery tangos and other contemporary and modern music for flute and guitar on Friday, April 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Presented by HSU Department of Music.
Duo Fuoco plays fiery tangos and other contemporary and modern music for flute and guitar on Friday, April 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Presented by HSU Department of Music.
Duo Fuoco: Fiery, Light and Now Half-Humboldt
“Duo Fuoco” means “two fires,” and in its concert on Friday, April 3 at Fulkerson Recital Hall, Duo Fuoco plays some fiery music for guitar and flute.
Though based in San Francisco, Duo Fuoco is now one-half Humboldt. While guitarist Jacob Kramer is still in the Bay Area, Laura Snodgrass is teaching flute in the HSU Department of Music.
Duo Fuoco’s recent appearances won praise from the San Francisco Examiner (“rhythmically punchy, spicy performance”) and the San Francisco Classical Voice (“An engaging, exciting performance by a promising new force in classical music.”)
Their April 3 program features the fiery tangos of 20th century Argentine composer Astor Piazolla, in his History of the Tango. It suggests how tango would be played in a 1900 bordello, a 1930 café and a 1960 nightclub.
They will also perform Adelita and Lagrima by 20th century Spanish guitarist Francisco Tarrega and Prelude #2 by Heitor Villa-Lobos, considered Brazil’s most significant 20th century composer.
But fiery isn’t the only mood. They play "Deep Blue" by contemporary composer Libby Larsen, who has described it as “quiet and lyrical.” Duo Fuoco follows it with Larsen’s “Salt Peanuts,” based on a 1945 jazz tune by Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Clark. The program also includes selections from three modern French composers: Claude Debussy (his 1913 flute composition, Syrinx), Edgard Varese (his 1936 Density 21.5, also originally for flute) and Jacques Ibert (who also directed the Paris Opera-Comique.)
Duo Fuoco guitarist Kramer studied with San Francisco guitarist and composer Dusan Bogdanovic, and for this concert the Duo will perform the prelude to Bogdanovic’s recent ballet, “The Crow.”
In addition to teaching at HSU, Laura Snodgrass has performed with the Eureka Symphony as well as the Contemporary Chamber Orchestra and Monterey Symphony. She has won awards from the National Music Teacher’s Association, National Woodwind Concerto Competition, and National Public Radio Young Artists Competition.
Duo Fuoco performs on Friday, April 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
“Duo Fuoco” means “two fires,” and in its concert on Friday, April 3 at Fulkerson Recital Hall, Duo Fuoco plays some fiery music for guitar and flute.
Though based in San Francisco, Duo Fuoco is now one-half Humboldt. While guitarist Jacob Kramer is still in the Bay Area, Laura Snodgrass is teaching flute in the HSU Department of Music.
Duo Fuoco’s recent appearances won praise from the San Francisco Examiner (“rhythmically punchy, spicy performance”) and the San Francisco Classical Voice (“An engaging, exciting performance by a promising new force in classical music.”)
Their April 3 program features the fiery tangos of 20th century Argentine composer Astor Piazolla, in his History of the Tango. It suggests how tango would be played in a 1900 bordello, a 1930 café and a 1960 nightclub.
They will also perform Adelita and Lagrima by 20th century Spanish guitarist Francisco Tarrega and Prelude #2 by Heitor Villa-Lobos, considered Brazil’s most significant 20th century composer.
But fiery isn’t the only mood. They play "Deep Blue" by contemporary composer Libby Larsen, who has described it as “quiet and lyrical.” Duo Fuoco follows it with Larsen’s “Salt Peanuts,” based on a 1945 jazz tune by Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Clark. The program also includes selections from three modern French composers: Claude Debussy (his 1913 flute composition, Syrinx), Edgard Varese (his 1936 Density 21.5, also originally for flute) and Jacques Ibert (who also directed the Paris Opera-Comique.)
Duo Fuoco guitarist Kramer studied with San Francisco guitarist and composer Dusan Bogdanovic, and for this concert the Duo will perform the prelude to Bogdanovic’s recent ballet, “The Crow.”
In addition to teaching at HSU, Laura Snodgrass has performed with the Eureka Symphony as well as the Contemporary Chamber Orchestra and Monterey Symphony. She has won awards from the National Music Teacher’s Association, National Woodwind Concerto Competition, and National Public Radio Young Artists Competition.
Duo Fuoco performs on Friday, April 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Jazz Combos
HSU Jazz Combos perform on Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
HSU Jazz Combos perform on Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
North Coast Wind Ensemble
North Coast Wind Ensemble continues its inaugural season with a Barber march, Ives’ American Variations and a tribute to Paris on Sunday March 22 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.
North Coast Wind Ensemble continues its inaugural season with a Barber march, Ives’ American Variations and a tribute to Paris on Sunday March 22 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.
Modern Adventures with the new North Coast Wind Ensemble
The North Coast Wind Ensemble continues its inaugural season on Sunday, March 22 at Fulkerson Recital Hall with an ambitious and adventurous program that includes a tribute to Paris, Variations on America, some Gregorian chant and a little ragtime. And of course, a march.
But even the march—a standard part of the program for a large wind ensemble—is a little unusual, since it was authored by modern American composer, Samuel Barber. “Barber is best known for his sweeping symphonic essays and beautiful art songs,” observed Kenneth Ayoob, the ensemble’s conductor. “But he also composed ‘Commando March’ for our armed forces. It contains his familiar harmonies and lush melody in the context of a traditional march.”
The adventure continues with two compositions that combine several styles. Variations on America by another American modernist, Charles Ives, varies a single melody, including rendering it as a tango. Sinfonia V by contemporary American composer Timothy Broege is an eclectic mix of sounds that includes Renaissance motets, Gregorian chant and ragtime.
Paris Sketches is a tribute to the City of Light and the many composers it inspired, by contemporary British composer, Martin Ellerby.
The program also includes a song for winds by Richard Strauss, and one of the world’s most performed compositions—O Magnum Mysterium by contemporary California composer Morten Lauridesen, in a wind ensemble arrangement that captures the original feeling of “a quiet song of profound joy,” according to Ayoob.
The North Coast Wind Ensemble is comprised of 33 instrumentalists from local communities. Its first concert was in January.
This second North Coast Wind Ensemble performance begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday March 22 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
The North Coast Wind Ensemble continues its inaugural season on Sunday, March 22 at Fulkerson Recital Hall with an ambitious and adventurous program that includes a tribute to Paris, Variations on America, some Gregorian chant and a little ragtime. And of course, a march.
But even the march—a standard part of the program for a large wind ensemble—is a little unusual, since it was authored by modern American composer, Samuel Barber. “Barber is best known for his sweeping symphonic essays and beautiful art songs,” observed Kenneth Ayoob, the ensemble’s conductor. “But he also composed ‘Commando March’ for our armed forces. It contains his familiar harmonies and lush melody in the context of a traditional march.”
The adventure continues with two compositions that combine several styles. Variations on America by another American modernist, Charles Ives, varies a single melody, including rendering it as a tango. Sinfonia V by contemporary American composer Timothy Broege is an eclectic mix of sounds that includes Renaissance motets, Gregorian chant and ragtime.
Paris Sketches is a tribute to the City of Light and the many composers it inspired, by contemporary British composer, Martin Ellerby.
The program also includes a song for winds by Richard Strauss, and one of the world’s most performed compositions—O Magnum Mysterium by contemporary California composer Morten Lauridesen, in a wind ensemble arrangement that captures the original feeling of “a quiet song of profound joy,” according to Ayoob.
The North Coast Wind Ensemble is comprised of 33 instrumentalists from local communities. Its first concert was in January.
This second North Coast Wind Ensemble performance begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday March 22 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.
Media: Humboldt State Now.
Program Notes
by Kenneth Ayoob, Conductor
Charles Ives’ Variations on America was written for organ and transcribed for band. The familiar tune is put through a number of changes – a tango, hearing the melody in two keys simultaneously and with both trumpet and woodwind obligatos.
Samuel Barber is best known for his sweeping symphonic essays and beautiful art songs. He also composed a march – Commando March for our armed forces. It contains the familiar harmonies and lush melody in a the context of a traditional march.
Timothy Broege’s Sinfonia V is an eclectic mix of sounds including Renaissance motets, Gregorian Chant (the band sings in this segment), a rag and a bit of improvisation.
Richard Strauss is known for his tone poems and operas, but was also a composer of art songs. Allerseelen is an arrangement of one of his most beautiful songs for winds.
Paris Sketches by British composer, Martin Ellerby, is a tribute to the City of Lights and presents characterizations of various parts of the cities and the many composers who have been inspired by Paris.
Morten Lauridsen’s choral setting of O Magnum Mysterium has become one of the world’s most performed compositions. Lauriden writes, “For centuries composers have been inspired by the beautiful “ Magnum” text with its depiction of the newborn king amongst the lowly animals and shepherds.” This work has been arranged for winds by H. Robert Reynolds and captured the original setting of a quiet song of profound joy.
by Kenneth Ayoob, Conductor
Charles Ives’ Variations on America was written for organ and transcribed for band. The familiar tune is put through a number of changes – a tango, hearing the melody in two keys simultaneously and with both trumpet and woodwind obligatos.
Samuel Barber is best known for his sweeping symphonic essays and beautiful art songs. He also composed a march – Commando March for our armed forces. It contains the familiar harmonies and lush melody in a the context of a traditional march.
Timothy Broege’s Sinfonia V is an eclectic mix of sounds including Renaissance motets, Gregorian Chant (the band sings in this segment), a rag and a bit of improvisation.
Richard Strauss is known for his tone poems and operas, but was also a composer of art songs. Allerseelen is an arrangement of one of his most beautiful songs for winds.
Paris Sketches by British composer, Martin Ellerby, is a tribute to the City of Lights and presents characterizations of various parts of the cities and the many composers who have been inspired by Paris.
Morten Lauridsen’s choral setting of O Magnum Mysterium has become one of the world’s most performed compositions. Lauriden writes, “For centuries composers have been inspired by the beautiful “ Magnum” text with its depiction of the newborn king amongst the lowly animals and shepherds.” This work has been arranged for winds by H. Robert Reynolds and captured the original setting of a quiet song of profound joy.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Deborah Clasquin, Humboldt State Professor of Music and acclaimed pianist, died on March 10 at Mad River Hospital in Arcata. Services were held today. She will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her, and by the North Coast music community. Her last solo performance at HSU was in October. Here is the biography she supplied for this event:
Deborah Clasquin enjoys an active career as a recitalist, as well as orchestral soloist, and has appeared in concert in Paris, Moscow, Kiev, Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco and throughout Northern California. Numerous prizes and awards have marked her performing career, as well as being broadcast by National Public Radio’s Performance Today. Clasquin has recently appeared as soloist with the Eureka Symphony Orchestra and the Brockport Symphony performing Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto.
Deborah studied with world-renowned Presidential Medal winning chamber musician Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio while earning a doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University. Her undergraduate degree came from Smith College, followed by a masters degree from the New England Conservatory of Music.
As a Professor of Music on the faculty at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California Deborah is also devoted to teaching piano. Her students have been heard on NPR’s “From The Top” and won numerous competitions, including a Gold Medal in the 2003 Magin International Piano Competition in Paris, France and enjoy active careers as performers and teachers."
Deborah studied with world-renowned Presidential Medal winning chamber musician Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio while earning a doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University. Her undergraduate degree came from Smith College, followed by a masters degree from the New England Conservatory of Music.
As a Professor of Music on the faculty at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California Deborah is also devoted to teaching piano. Her students have been heard on NPR’s “From The Top” and won numerous competitions, including a Gold Medal in the 2003 Magin International Piano Competition in Paris, France and enjoy active careers as performers and teachers."
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Community Chamber Music
The North Coast Community Chamber Music series continues with the Meadowood Quartet, Quartet Arioso and the Hidden Valley Chamber Players performing Mendelssohn, Beethoven and other composers on Saturday, March 14 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Coordinated by Val Phillips. A production of the HSU Department of Music.
The North Coast Community Chamber Music series continues with the Meadowood Quartet, Quartet Arioso and the Hidden Valley Chamber Players performing Mendelssohn, Beethoven and other composers on Saturday, March 14 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Coordinated by Val Phillips. A production of the HSU Department of Music.
Community Chamber Music Concert Celebrates Mendelssohn, Plays Beethoven’s Early Hit
After four previous successful concerts since 2007, the Community Chamber Music series continues with the Meadowood Quartet, Quartet Arioso and the Hidden Valley Chamber Players performing Mendelssohn, Beethoven and other composers on Saturday, March 14 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU.
Each concert in the series features a combination of independent ensembles. The players come from various North Coast communities, with several also performing for the Eureka Symphony.
"Our players are ‘101 Flyers,’” said Val Phillips, coordinator for the series and HSU Music professor emeritus. “ They meet in someone’s home every week to play, just as chamber music groups did in Mozart’s time.”
For this concert, the Eureka-based Meadowood Quartet celebrates the bicentennial of early 19th century German composer Felix Mendelssohn’s birth by performing his Quartet No. 3 in D. “Mendelssohn was a prolific and influential composer who wrote for many instrumental and choral combinations,” Val Phillips commented. “He was masterful in his writing for string instruments. His quartets are remarkable for their elegant expressiveness and scintillating figuration.”
The Meadowood Quartet is Betty Bliss (Redway) and Marilyn Page (Arcata) on violin, Stephan Vaughan (Eureka) on viola and Eric Jones (McKinleyville) on cello. Bliss, Page and Vaughan also play in the Eureka Symphony.
Quartet Arioso, based in Fortuna, will play Quartet in G by 16th century Italian composer Tommaso Giordani and Seven Pieces by contemporary English composer John Kember. Performers Judy Scott (flute), Sherry Hanson (violin) and Ruth McClimon (piano) all live in Fortuna, while Patty Larson (cello) makes the trip from McKinleyville. Hanson teaches at Fortuna Middle School, McClimon teaches piano, while Larson works for the Arcata Children’s Center and Scott volunteers in Fortuna community centers as a musician.
The largest group on the program is the Bayside-based Hidden Valley Chamber Players, who will perform Beethoven’s Septet, one of his early hits. “It was immediately popular in Vienna,” Val Phillips said. “It was a substantial step in Beethoven’s rise to fame as a composer.”
This composition will be played using its original combination of instruments, with Allen Lesser (Fortuna) on violin, Aryay Kalaki (Bayside) on viola, Helen Ann Reid (Eureka) on cello, Shao Way Wu (Arcata) on bass, Virginia Ryder (McKinleyville) on clarinet, Val Philips (McKinleyville) on horn, and Justin Sousa (Fortuna) on bassoon. Reid, Ryder, Philips and Sousa also play in the Eureka Symphony.
The fifth Community Chamber Music performance is Saturday, March 14 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. The concert is produced by the HSU Department of Music.
Media: North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye, Eureka Times Standard, Humboldt State Now.
After four previous successful concerts since 2007, the Community Chamber Music series continues with the Meadowood Quartet, Quartet Arioso and the Hidden Valley Chamber Players performing Mendelssohn, Beethoven and other composers on Saturday, March 14 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU.
Each concert in the series features a combination of independent ensembles. The players come from various North Coast communities, with several also performing for the Eureka Symphony.
"Our players are ‘101 Flyers,’” said Val Phillips, coordinator for the series and HSU Music professor emeritus. “ They meet in someone’s home every week to play, just as chamber music groups did in Mozart’s time.”
For this concert, the Eureka-based Meadowood Quartet celebrates the bicentennial of early 19th century German composer Felix Mendelssohn’s birth by performing his Quartet No. 3 in D. “Mendelssohn was a prolific and influential composer who wrote for many instrumental and choral combinations,” Val Phillips commented. “He was masterful in his writing for string instruments. His quartets are remarkable for their elegant expressiveness and scintillating figuration.”
The Meadowood Quartet is Betty Bliss (Redway) and Marilyn Page (Arcata) on violin, Stephan Vaughan (Eureka) on viola and Eric Jones (McKinleyville) on cello. Bliss, Page and Vaughan also play in the Eureka Symphony.
Quartet Arioso, based in Fortuna, will play Quartet in G by 16th century Italian composer Tommaso Giordani and Seven Pieces by contemporary English composer John Kember. Performers Judy Scott (flute), Sherry Hanson (violin) and Ruth McClimon (piano) all live in Fortuna, while Patty Larson (cello) makes the trip from McKinleyville. Hanson teaches at Fortuna Middle School, McClimon teaches piano, while Larson works for the Arcata Children’s Center and Scott volunteers in Fortuna community centers as a musician.
The largest group on the program is the Bayside-based Hidden Valley Chamber Players, who will perform Beethoven’s Septet, one of his early hits. “It was immediately popular in Vienna,” Val Phillips said. “It was a substantial step in Beethoven’s rise to fame as a composer.”
This composition will be played using its original combination of instruments, with Allen Lesser (Fortuna) on violin, Aryay Kalaki (Bayside) on viola, Helen Ann Reid (Eureka) on cello, Shao Way Wu (Arcata) on bass, Virginia Ryder (McKinleyville) on clarinet, Val Philips (McKinleyville) on horn, and Justin Sousa (Fortuna) on bassoon. Reid, Ryder, Philips and Sousa also play in the Eureka Symphony.
The fifth Community Chamber Music performance is Saturday, March 14 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. The concert is produced by the HSU Department of Music.
Media: North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye, Eureka Times Standard, Humboldt State Now.
Notes and Personnel
Notes by Val Phillips
The fifth concert in an ongoing series of chamber music performances by North Coast chamber music ensembles will feature music of Felix Mendelssohn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Tommaso Giordani, and contemporary British composer John Kember.
2009 marks the bicentennial year for Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), a prolific and influential composer who wrote for the many instrumental and choral combinations which existed in the Germany of his time, and was particularly masterful in his writing for string instruments. His seven quartets, two quintets and octet, all masterworks of string literature, are remarkable for their elegant expressiveness and scintillating figuration. Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 3 in D, composed in 1838, will be presented by the Meadowood Quartet, which rehearses in Eureka.
Quartet Arioso, based for a number of years in Fortuna, will present Tommaso Giordani’s Quartet in G, and John Kember’s Seven Pieces. Tommaso Giordani (1740-1816), a member of a noted Neapolitan family of opera performers who found great fame in the London in the 1760’s, lived in Dublin for many years. He was was a noted composer and teacher who wrote with distinction for voice and also for instrumental combinations.
John Kember, born in 1935, is a resident of London, where he is well-known as a teacher, conductor, and composer of vocal and instrumental music of wide popular appeal.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet, op. 20 for four strings and three winds, was published in 1802, and immediately achieved such popularity in Vienna that versions for other combinations of instruments came into existence, including Beethoven’s own trio arrangement, his opus 38 for clarinet, cello and piano. The Septet was a substantial step in Beethoven’s rise to fame as a composer. It was emulated by later 19th century composers such as Schubert, Kreuzer and Berwald, who composed similar large works for string and wind combinations. The Septet will be performed by the Hidden Valley Chamber Players, who rehearse in Bayside.
The HSU Music Department is the sponsor for this community chamber concert series, which is coordinated by Val Phillips, emeritus professor of music at HSU.
Personnel
Quartet Arioso
Judy Scott, Flute. Fortuna: volunteer musician, community centers in Fortuna
Sherry Hanson, violin. Fortuna; teacher at Fortuna Middle School.
Patty Larson, cello. Mckinleyville, Arcata Children’s Center staff member.
Ruth McClimon, piano. Fortuna; studio piano teacher.
Meadowood Quartet
Betty Bliss, violin. Redway: retired, Eureka Symphony.
Marilyn Page, violin. Arcata; Music teacher, Fieldbrook School - Eureka Symphony
Stephan Vaughan, viola. Eureka; studio violin and viola teacher - Eureka Symphony
Eric Jones, cello. McKinleyville, Transportation driver
Hidden Valley Chamber Players
Allen Lesser, violin; Fortuna, Henderson Center business owner
Aryay Kalaki, viola. Bayside, Retired.
Helen Ann Reid, ‘cello. Eureka; Staff, Gottschalks,’ Eureka Symphony.
Shao Way Wu, bass. Arcata, performer, instructor HSU Music Dept.
Virginia Ryder, clarinet. McKinleyville, Instructor, HSU Music Dept., Eureka Symphony.
Val Phillips, horn. Mckinleyville, HSU Emeritus faculty/administrator, Eureka Symphony.
Justin Sousa, bassoon. Fortuna; Surveyor, Eureka Symphony.
Notes by Val Phillips
The fifth concert in an ongoing series of chamber music performances by North Coast chamber music ensembles will feature music of Felix Mendelssohn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Tommaso Giordani, and contemporary British composer John Kember.
2009 marks the bicentennial year for Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), a prolific and influential composer who wrote for the many instrumental and choral combinations which existed in the Germany of his time, and was particularly masterful in his writing for string instruments. His seven quartets, two quintets and octet, all masterworks of string literature, are remarkable for their elegant expressiveness and scintillating figuration. Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 3 in D, composed in 1838, will be presented by the Meadowood Quartet, which rehearses in Eureka.
Quartet Arioso, based for a number of years in Fortuna, will present Tommaso Giordani’s Quartet in G, and John Kember’s Seven Pieces. Tommaso Giordani (1740-1816), a member of a noted Neapolitan family of opera performers who found great fame in the London in the 1760’s, lived in Dublin for many years. He was was a noted composer and teacher who wrote with distinction for voice and also for instrumental combinations.
John Kember, born in 1935, is a resident of London, where he is well-known as a teacher, conductor, and composer of vocal and instrumental music of wide popular appeal.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet, op. 20 for four strings and three winds, was published in 1802, and immediately achieved such popularity in Vienna that versions for other combinations of instruments came into existence, including Beethoven’s own trio arrangement, his opus 38 for clarinet, cello and piano. The Septet was a substantial step in Beethoven’s rise to fame as a composer. It was emulated by later 19th century composers such as Schubert, Kreuzer and Berwald, who composed similar large works for string and wind combinations. The Septet will be performed by the Hidden Valley Chamber Players, who rehearse in Bayside.
The HSU Music Department is the sponsor for this community chamber concert series, which is coordinated by Val Phillips, emeritus professor of music at HSU.
Personnel
Quartet Arioso
Judy Scott, Flute. Fortuna: volunteer musician, community centers in Fortuna
Sherry Hanson, violin. Fortuna; teacher at Fortuna Middle School.
Patty Larson, cello. Mckinleyville, Arcata Children’s Center staff member.
Ruth McClimon, piano. Fortuna; studio piano teacher.
Meadowood Quartet
Betty Bliss, violin. Redway: retired, Eureka Symphony.
Marilyn Page, violin. Arcata; Music teacher, Fieldbrook School - Eureka Symphony
Stephan Vaughan, viola. Eureka; studio violin and viola teacher - Eureka Symphony
Eric Jones, cello. McKinleyville, Transportation driver
Hidden Valley Chamber Players
Allen Lesser, violin; Fortuna, Henderson Center business owner
Aryay Kalaki, viola. Bayside, Retired.
Helen Ann Reid, ‘cello. Eureka; Staff, Gottschalks,’ Eureka Symphony.
Shao Way Wu, bass. Arcata, performer, instructor HSU Music Dept.
Virginia Ryder, clarinet. McKinleyville, Instructor, HSU Music Dept., Eureka Symphony.
Val Phillips, horn. Mckinleyville, HSU Emeritus faculty/administrator, Eureka Symphony.
Justin Sousa, bassoon. Fortuna; Surveyor, Eureka Symphony.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Humboldt Symphony & Opera Workshop
Song and laughs as the Humboldt Symphony backs the HSU Opera Workshop in Haydn’s comic opera, La Canterina and the finale of the Strauss operetta Die Fledermaus on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. HSU Opera Workshop directed by Elisabeth Harrington. Humboldt Symphony conducted by Paul Cummings. An HSU Department of Music production.
Song and laughs as the Humboldt Symphony backs the HSU Opera Workshop in Haydn’s comic opera, La Canterina and the finale of the Strauss operetta Die Fledermaus on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. HSU Opera Workshop directed by Elisabeth Harrington. Humboldt Symphony conducted by Paul Cummings. An HSU Department of Music production.
Song and Laughs with the Opera Workshop and Humboldt Symphony
Call it comic opera or “opera buffo,” the bottom line is that it’s fun. “Fainting, hiding behind chairs but still singing loud enough for the audience to hear, exaggerated dramatic situations and far-fetched resolutions,” is how HSU Opera Workshop director Elisabeth Harrington describes the comic opera to be performed by Workshop singers with the Humboldt Symphony on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7.
It’s called La Canterina (translated as “The Songstress” or “The Diva”) by Joseph Haydn, a tale of a romantic misunderstanding. “The comic style is very entertaining and appealing, even to non-opera loving audiences.” Harrington added. “We’ll perform the opera mostly in English but with many Italian phrases included, to capture the flavor and style of the language.”
Lead singers in La Canterina are Sarah Benzinger (as Gasparina, a popular opera singer); Katherine Kinley (Apollonia, Gasparina’s assistant and pal); Lindsey Tewksbury (Don Ettore, a teenage boy in love with Gasparina, a role often sung by a female) and Chris Hatcher (Don Pelagio, Gasparina's singing teacher, who is also inlove with Gasparina).
La Canterina is also a chamber opera, requiring a small number of singers. Such is not the case with the other work on the program, the Act II finale of Die Fledermaus by Johann Straus II, which will include all 22 singers of the Opera Workshop. “This is a fun party scene featuring both solo and ensemble singing,” Harrington said. This version of the work even includes dancing.
Nor will the instrumental accompaniment be small—for either work. The Humboldt Symphony, directed by Paul Cummings, collaborates on both. “The addition of the orchestra makes the whole performance go up a notch in sophistication,” Harrington said. “Both groups of students gain the benefit of working together. The collaboration is great between faculty too!”
The combined performance of the HSU Opera Workshop and the Humboldt Symphony begins at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7, in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now, North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye.
Call it comic opera or “opera buffo,” the bottom line is that it’s fun. “Fainting, hiding behind chairs but still singing loud enough for the audience to hear, exaggerated dramatic situations and far-fetched resolutions,” is how HSU Opera Workshop director Elisabeth Harrington describes the comic opera to be performed by Workshop singers with the Humboldt Symphony on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7.
It’s called La Canterina (translated as “The Songstress” or “The Diva”) by Joseph Haydn, a tale of a romantic misunderstanding. “The comic style is very entertaining and appealing, even to non-opera loving audiences.” Harrington added. “We’ll perform the opera mostly in English but with many Italian phrases included, to capture the flavor and style of the language.”
Lead singers in La Canterina are Sarah Benzinger (as Gasparina, a popular opera singer); Katherine Kinley (Apollonia, Gasparina’s assistant and pal); Lindsey Tewksbury (Don Ettore, a teenage boy in love with Gasparina, a role often sung by a female) and Chris Hatcher (Don Pelagio, Gasparina's singing teacher, who is also inlove with Gasparina).
La Canterina is also a chamber opera, requiring a small number of singers. Such is not the case with the other work on the program, the Act II finale of Die Fledermaus by Johann Straus II, which will include all 22 singers of the Opera Workshop. “This is a fun party scene featuring both solo and ensemble singing,” Harrington said. This version of the work even includes dancing.
Nor will the instrumental accompaniment be small—for either work. The Humboldt Symphony, directed by Paul Cummings, collaborates on both. “The addition of the orchestra makes the whole performance go up a notch in sophistication,” Harrington said. “Both groups of students gain the benefit of working together. The collaboration is great between faculty too!”
The combined performance of the HSU Opera Workshop and the Humboldt Symphony begins at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7, in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now, North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra
Re-live the Obama Inaugural (sort of) when the HSU Symphonic Band plays Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,”and return to the golden jazz year of 1959 with the Jazz Orchestra in their joint concert on Saturday, February 21 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Symphonic Band directed by Kenneth Ayoob, Jazz Orchestra directed by Dan Aldag. Production of the HSU Department of Music.
Re-live the Obama Inaugural (sort of) when the HSU Symphonic Band plays Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,”and return to the golden jazz year of 1959 with the Jazz Orchestra in their joint concert on Saturday, February 21 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Symphonic Band directed by Kenneth Ayoob, Jazz Orchestra directed by Dan Aldag. Production of the HSU Department of Music.
Historic Sounds in Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra Joint Concert
In their joint concert on Saturday, February 21, the HSU Symphonic Band and HSU Jazz Orchestra pay tribute to history.
Under the direction of Kenneth P. Ayoob, the Symphonic Band will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth by performing Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” This work was part of the pre-Inaugural concert for President Barack Obama. Narrating the text derived from Lincoln’s letters and speeches is Bernadette Cheyne, chair of the HSU Theatre, Film and Dance department.
In its half of the evening, the Jazz Orchestra celebrates an historic moment of another kind: the 50th anniversary of 1959, which director Dan Aldag calls “one of the most significant years in jazz's history.” Albums released that year include classics by jazz greats Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus and Bill Evans.
In this first concert of the spring semester, the Jazz Orchestra will play selections from the Mingus album ("Open Letter to Duke") and from “Portrait in Jazz” by the Bill Evans Trio ("Peri's Scope".) In its second performance in May, the Orchestra will feature more music from 1959.
In addition to the Lincoln tribute, the Symphonic Band will perform “Original Suite” by 19th century English composer Gordon Jacob, “Intermezzo” by Monte Tubb, Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Oregon; and “Vesuvius” by Frank Ticheli, Professor of Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. This last work, Ayoob said, “portrays the last days of Pompeii before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius with a combination of driving rhythms, brilliant colors, and a lovely dance-like interlude.”
The Jazz Orchestra plays Duke Ellington’s “Rockin’ In Rhythm” and an original piece by the Orchestra’s drummer, Jonathan Kipp, called “Chased By A Wolf Down a Mountain.” Concluding their program is “Déjà Vu" by Tom Frederickson. “The title refers both to Frederickson's conscious evocation of the big band era,” Aldag said, “and how, in the latter part of the piece, he brings back musical material from earlier in the composition.”
The HSU Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra joint concert on Saturday, February 21 begins at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: HSU Now.
In their joint concert on Saturday, February 21, the HSU Symphonic Band and HSU Jazz Orchestra pay tribute to history.
Under the direction of Kenneth P. Ayoob, the Symphonic Band will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth by performing Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” This work was part of the pre-Inaugural concert for President Barack Obama. Narrating the text derived from Lincoln’s letters and speeches is Bernadette Cheyne, chair of the HSU Theatre, Film and Dance department.
In its half of the evening, the Jazz Orchestra celebrates an historic moment of another kind: the 50th anniversary of 1959, which director Dan Aldag calls “one of the most significant years in jazz's history.” Albums released that year include classics by jazz greats Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus and Bill Evans.
In this first concert of the spring semester, the Jazz Orchestra will play selections from the Mingus album ("Open Letter to Duke") and from “Portrait in Jazz” by the Bill Evans Trio ("Peri's Scope".) In its second performance in May, the Orchestra will feature more music from 1959.
In addition to the Lincoln tribute, the Symphonic Band will perform “Original Suite” by 19th century English composer Gordon Jacob, “Intermezzo” by Monte Tubb, Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Oregon; and “Vesuvius” by Frank Ticheli, Professor of Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. This last work, Ayoob said, “portrays the last days of Pompeii before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius with a combination of driving rhythms, brilliant colors, and a lovely dance-like interlude.”
The Jazz Orchestra plays Duke Ellington’s “Rockin’ In Rhythm” and an original piece by the Orchestra’s drummer, Jonathan Kipp, called “Chased By A Wolf Down a Mountain.” Concluding their program is “Déjà Vu" by Tom Frederickson. “The title refers both to Frederickson's conscious evocation of the big band era,” Aldag said, “and how, in the latter part of the piece, he brings back musical material from earlier in the composition.”
The HSU Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra joint concert on Saturday, February 21 begins at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: HSU Now.
Jazz Orchestra Program Notes: Dan Aldag on Fabulous 1959
This semester, we're going to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of 1959, one of the most significant years in jazz's history, and some of that music will be part of our program on the 21st. 1959 was the year of:
Kind Of Blue--Miles Davis
The album that established modal jazz (very few chord changes) as a viable alternative to the bebop approach of very complex and fast-moving chords. Maybe the best-selling jazz album of all time. Renowned for its combination of surface beauty and extraordinary depth.
Giant Steps--John Coltrane
The album that was the apotheosis of the aforementioned bebop approach. The title tune remains today a kind of test piece for jazz improvisors.
The Shape of Jazz To Come--Ornette Coleman
The album that established free jazz (no pre-set, fixed chord progressions.) The beginning of jazz's avant-garde revolution of the 1960s.
Time Out--Dave Brubeck
The album that first popularized unusual time signatures in jazz. Up to this point, almost all jazz had been in a meter of 4. This album included tunes in meters of 3, 5 ("Take Five"), 6 and 9 ("Blue Rondo a la Turk")
Portrait In Jazz--Bill Evans
The first album from the Bill Evans Trio, the group most responsible for freeing bass and drums from their timekeeping, accompanimental roles. In the Evans Trio, the piano, bass and drums operated as nearly equal musical partners, with often no one explicitly stating the pulse.
Mingus Ah Um--Charles Mingus
The album where Mingus first put together in a coherent and unified way his many and disparate influences, including blues and gospel, Ellington and the complex counterpoint of cool jazz. This album also introduced several of Mingus's best-known and most-performed compositions, including "Better Git It In Your Soul," "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and "Fables of Faubus."
On this concert, we'll be playing tunes from the latter two albums, Mingus's "Open Letter to Duke" and Evans's "Peri's Scope". In May, we'll feature more music from 1959.
This semester, we're going to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of 1959, one of the most significant years in jazz's history, and some of that music will be part of our program on the 21st. 1959 was the year of:
Kind Of Blue--Miles Davis
The album that established modal jazz (very few chord changes) as a viable alternative to the bebop approach of very complex and fast-moving chords. Maybe the best-selling jazz album of all time. Renowned for its combination of surface beauty and extraordinary depth.
Giant Steps--John Coltrane
The album that was the apotheosis of the aforementioned bebop approach. The title tune remains today a kind of test piece for jazz improvisors.
The Shape of Jazz To Come--Ornette Coleman
The album that established free jazz (no pre-set, fixed chord progressions.) The beginning of jazz's avant-garde revolution of the 1960s.
Time Out--Dave Brubeck
The album that first popularized unusual time signatures in jazz. Up to this point, almost all jazz had been in a meter of 4. This album included tunes in meters of 3, 5 ("Take Five"), 6 and 9 ("Blue Rondo a la Turk")
Portrait In Jazz--Bill Evans
The first album from the Bill Evans Trio, the group most responsible for freeing bass and drums from their timekeeping, accompanimental roles. In the Evans Trio, the piano, bass and drums operated as nearly equal musical partners, with often no one explicitly stating the pulse.
Mingus Ah Um--Charles Mingus
The album where Mingus first put together in a coherent and unified way his many and disparate influences, including blues and gospel, Ellington and the complex counterpoint of cool jazz. This album also introduced several of Mingus's best-known and most-performed compositions, including "Better Git It In Your Soul," "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and "Fables of Faubus."
On this concert, we'll be playing tunes from the latter two albums, Mingus's "Open Letter to Duke" and Evans's "Peri's Scope". In May, we'll feature more music from 1959.
Symphonic Band Program Notes by Kenneth Ayoob
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the band will perform Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait with Bernadette Cheyne as narrator with a text derived from Lincoln’s letters and speeches. This powerful work was performed recently as part of the pre-inaugural concert for President Obama.
Original Suite by Gordon Jacob is in a similar style to the Suites by Holst and features folk-like melodies and a warm blend of the colors of the wind band.
Intermezzo by Monte Tubb, Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Oregon, combines elements of light and darkness taking a simple but haunting melody through a series of rhythmic and harmonic changes.
Vesuvius, by Frank Ticheli, Professor of Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, portrays the last days of Pompeii before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius with a combination of driving rhythms, brilliant colors, and a lovely dance-like interlude.
In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the band will perform Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait with Bernadette Cheyne as narrator with a text derived from Lincoln’s letters and speeches. This powerful work was performed recently as part of the pre-inaugural concert for President Obama.
Original Suite by Gordon Jacob is in a similar style to the Suites by Holst and features folk-like melodies and a warm blend of the colors of the wind band.
Intermezzo by Monte Tubb, Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Oregon, combines elements of light and darkness taking a simple but haunting melody through a series of rhythmic and harmonic changes.
Vesuvius, by Frank Ticheli, Professor of Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, portrays the last days of Pompeii before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius with a combination of driving rhythms, brilliant colors, and a lovely dance-like interlude.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Antoniy Kakamakov
Prize-winning classical guitarist Antoniy Kakamakov plays Bach, Mertz and Antonio Jose on Friday, February 13 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. A Guest Artist concert.
Prize-winning classical guitarist Antoniy Kakamakov plays Bach, Mertz and Antonio Jose on Friday, February 13 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. A Guest Artist concert.
Classical Guitar, The Next Generation
Young guitarist Antoniy Kakamakov is on a roll. After winning prizes for his playing in San Francisco and Portland, in 2008 he won the Wesley Day Solo Classical Guitar Recording Competition, which is designed to launch one particularly talented student from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on a professional career.
The award includes a recording and a concert tour, including his appearance at Humboldt State University on February 13. He’s already released his CD, titled Inqueito.
But Kakamakov was no stranger to prizes before this. He began studying guitar in his native Bulgaria at age 10, and won first prize in the junior division of the International Classical Guitar Festival and Competition in Romania. Scholarships followed, and he earned his bachelor’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory, where he is working on his Master’s.
At HSU, Kakamakov will play the Chaconne from the 2nd Violin Partita by Johann Sebastian Bach, a work made popular for guitar by Andres Segovia.
Other works on the program include the Fantasia Hongroise by 19th century Hungarian guitarist and composer Johann Kaspar Mertz, and the Sonata, the most famous work by 20th century Spanish composer Antonio Jose.
Guitarist Antoniy Kakamakov performs in a Guest Artist concert on Friday, February 13 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now
Young guitarist Antoniy Kakamakov is on a roll. After winning prizes for his playing in San Francisco and Portland, in 2008 he won the Wesley Day Solo Classical Guitar Recording Competition, which is designed to launch one particularly talented student from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on a professional career.
The award includes a recording and a concert tour, including his appearance at Humboldt State University on February 13. He’s already released his CD, titled Inqueito.
But Kakamakov was no stranger to prizes before this. He began studying guitar in his native Bulgaria at age 10, and won first prize in the junior division of the International Classical Guitar Festival and Competition in Romania. Scholarships followed, and he earned his bachelor’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory, where he is working on his Master’s.
At HSU, Kakamakov will play the Chaconne from the 2nd Violin Partita by Johann Sebastian Bach, a work made popular for guitar by Andres Segovia.
Other works on the program include the Fantasia Hongroise by 19th century Hungarian guitarist and composer Johann Kaspar Mertz, and the Sonata, the most famous work by 20th century Spanish composer Antonio Jose.
Guitarist Antoniy Kakamakov performs in a Guest Artist concert on Friday, February 13 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Humboldt State Now
Concert Notes
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is the most important and prolific composer of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Being a master of counterpoint he brought the Baroque era to its heights. His mature style was an infusion of the predominant European styles and trends. Bach’s most important instrumental works come from the six year period 1717-1723 in Cothen, where he was the conductor of the court orchestra. The most daring work he composed during this period was the Chaconne from the 2nd Violin Partita BWV 1004.
A Chaconne is a continuous theme and variations on a short subject (usually four bars). Bach replaced the gigue, which was usually the concluding movement with this Chaconne, which was a trend practiced in France. This work of genius is one of the highest achievements in the musical world, “no other composer has ever composed such a gigantic masterpiece… it is a triumph of spirit over matter.” Philipp Spitta, Bach scholar.
Segovia shook the world when he pronounced that he will incorporate Bach’s Chaconne in his repertoire. He wanted to show that the guitar could sustain such a monumental work without taking away from its spirit. This was one of his greatest achievements to the guitar. It influenced his followers to arrange a majority of Bach’s cello and violin music, which boosted the instrument’s status. The purists have ceased their initial horrific reactions and arrangements of the Chaconne appear for any instrument (piano, guitar, orchestra and even marimba), which could execute its rich harmony. The Chaconne in D minor stands on its own and is usually performed by itself.
“The Chaconne is the most wonderful, unfathomable pieces of music. On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.” Johannes Brahms
Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856) was born in Bratislava, Slovakia. His contemporaries were Coste and Regondi. This is a dreadful period for the guitar’s history since the instrument’s fame had faded away. Regondi and Coste’s compositions have been almost neglected by modern players since they lack variety in their overall sound. On the other hand Mertz’s compositions are real jewels in the guitar’s nineteenth century repertoire. It reminds us of Liszt’s writings for the piano.
Fantasia Hongroise Op.65-No1 was played by Mertz in the Makaroff competition, but what got him the first prize over Coste was his Concertino. This Fantasy is one of the most effective and loved pieces from the 19th Century guitar repertoire. It incorporates unexpected harmonic surprises and mood changes. The key change from A major to F in the lugubre section reminds us of the Schubertian usage of third relationships. The Allegro Vivace is purely a Hungarian Czardas in its sound, incorporating the short long relationships between the notes. It is virtuosic and challenges the performer’s skills and accurate execution of the Hungarian stylistic demands.
Antonio Jose Martinez Palacios (1902-1936) was born in Burgos, Spain. His love of folk music from his native region influenced most of his work. In 1932, he was awarded the National Music Prize for his collections of Burgosian folk songs.
Jose’s Sonata para guitarra was written in 1933 for Regino Sanz de la Maza, but lay forgotten until 1989, when Angelo Gilardino was informed of an unpublished manuscript by Jose that had been unplayed for some 50 years. The Sonata bears the influence of Ravel, Debussy and Franck as much as that of Spanish folk song.
Ravel apparently referred to Jose as potentially the greatest Spanish composer of the 20th century, but Jose’s life would reach a tragic, early end. Early in the Spanish Civil War he was arrested in Burgos by Falangists, driven to nearby Estepar and shot. He was being accused of being a republican spy, Jewish sympathizer and of inciting the people to revolt. Jose met the same fate as poet Federico Garcia Lorca and international outcry over Lorca’s assassination prompted authorities to bury any trace of the slaughtered composer. Perhaps this in addition to Jose’s decision to drop his surnames accounts for half of century of obscurity.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is the most important and prolific composer of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Being a master of counterpoint he brought the Baroque era to its heights. His mature style was an infusion of the predominant European styles and trends. Bach’s most important instrumental works come from the six year period 1717-1723 in Cothen, where he was the conductor of the court orchestra. The most daring work he composed during this period was the Chaconne from the 2nd Violin Partita BWV 1004.
A Chaconne is a continuous theme and variations on a short subject (usually four bars). Bach replaced the gigue, which was usually the concluding movement with this Chaconne, which was a trend practiced in France. This work of genius is one of the highest achievements in the musical world, “no other composer has ever composed such a gigantic masterpiece… it is a triumph of spirit over matter.” Philipp Spitta, Bach scholar.
Segovia shook the world when he pronounced that he will incorporate Bach’s Chaconne in his repertoire. He wanted to show that the guitar could sustain such a monumental work without taking away from its spirit. This was one of his greatest achievements to the guitar. It influenced his followers to arrange a majority of Bach’s cello and violin music, which boosted the instrument’s status. The purists have ceased their initial horrific reactions and arrangements of the Chaconne appear for any instrument (piano, guitar, orchestra and even marimba), which could execute its rich harmony. The Chaconne in D minor stands on its own and is usually performed by itself.
“The Chaconne is the most wonderful, unfathomable pieces of music. On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.” Johannes Brahms
Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856) was born in Bratislava, Slovakia. His contemporaries were Coste and Regondi. This is a dreadful period for the guitar’s history since the instrument’s fame had faded away. Regondi and Coste’s compositions have been almost neglected by modern players since they lack variety in their overall sound. On the other hand Mertz’s compositions are real jewels in the guitar’s nineteenth century repertoire. It reminds us of Liszt’s writings for the piano.
Fantasia Hongroise Op.65-No1 was played by Mertz in the Makaroff competition, but what got him the first prize over Coste was his Concertino. This Fantasy is one of the most effective and loved pieces from the 19th Century guitar repertoire. It incorporates unexpected harmonic surprises and mood changes. The key change from A major to F in the lugubre section reminds us of the Schubertian usage of third relationships. The Allegro Vivace is purely a Hungarian Czardas in its sound, incorporating the short long relationships between the notes. It is virtuosic and challenges the performer’s skills and accurate execution of the Hungarian stylistic demands.
Antonio Jose Martinez Palacios (1902-1936) was born in Burgos, Spain. His love of folk music from his native region influenced most of his work. In 1932, he was awarded the National Music Prize for his collections of Burgosian folk songs.
Jose’s Sonata para guitarra was written in 1933 for Regino Sanz de la Maza, but lay forgotten until 1989, when Angelo Gilardino was informed of an unpublished manuscript by Jose that had been unplayed for some 50 years. The Sonata bears the influence of Ravel, Debussy and Franck as much as that of Spanish folk song.
Ravel apparently referred to Jose as potentially the greatest Spanish composer of the 20th century, but Jose’s life would reach a tragic, early end. Early in the Spanish Civil War he was arrested in Burgos by Falangists, driven to nearby Estepar and shot. He was being accused of being a republican spy, Jewish sympathizer and of inciting the people to revolt. Jose met the same fate as poet Federico Garcia Lorca and international outcry over Lorca’s assassination prompted authorities to bury any trace of the slaughtered composer. Perhaps this in addition to Jose’s decision to drop his surnames accounts for half of century of obscurity.
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