HSU Jazz Orchestra with Dan Aldag
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra
The HSU Symphonic Band performs works of four American composers, and the HSU Jazz Orchestra plays tunes by Benny Carter, Charles Mingus, Eureka High and HSU grad Jared Coyle, and HSU student Youn Joo Sim in a joint concert at 8 PM on Saturday, February 24 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. $6 general, $2 students and seniors, HSU students free with ID. Tickets from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
The HSU Symphonic Band performs works of four American composers, and the HSU Jazz Orchestra plays tunes by Benny Carter, Charles Mingus, Eureka High and HSU grad Jared Coyle, and HSU student Youn Joo Sim in a joint concert at 8 PM on Saturday, February 24 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. $6 general, $2 students and seniors, HSU students free with ID. Tickets from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Coming Home with the HSU Jazz Orchestra and Symphonic Band
The HSU Jazz Orchestra will feature compositions by a homegrown talent and a current HSU student in a joint concert with the HSU Symphonic Band on Saturday, February 24 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall.
The Jazz Orchestra will debut the big band arrangement of “Alone in the Fishbowl” by Eureka High School and HSU graduate Jared Coyle. “He wrote this for a band he played in while he was an HSU student, called Mr. Lunch,” Jazz Orchestra director and HSU music teacher Dan Aldag said. Coyle now lives outside Portland, Oregon.
The orchestra will also reprise "Song For Yong Zoo" by HSU senior, Youn Joo Sim. “The Jazz Orchestra plays all of the students’ final projects from the Jazz Arranging class,” Aldag explains, “and two years ago, when we read Youn Joo’s song, it immediately jumped out at everybody as an exceptional piece. We played it the next semester, and we’re reviving it now.” The Orchestra will play it one more time, for Youn Joo’s Senior Recital this spring.
Also back by popular demand—and with another HSU connection—the Jazz Orchestra will play a Charles Mingus tune (“E’s Flat, Ahs Flat Too”) arranged by Tommy Obeso, a long-time member of the orchestra who is student teaching this semester.
The evening gets started with music by four American composers played by the HSU Symphonic Band, directed by HSU Assistant Professor of Music Paul Cummings. “American Salute” by Pulitzer Prize winner Morton Gould is a “classic band and orchestra piece,” Cummings said, based on the American Civil War tune, “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.”
“Third Suite” by contemporary American composer Robert E. Jager features rapid meter changes, and “is fun to play,” Cummings said. On the other hand, “Final Testament” by Fisher Tull is “ a very dramatic and expressive piece. He has a very distinct harmonic style. You can tell a Fisher Tull piece within the first thirty seconds.” “Final Testament” will be conducted by Kenneth Ayoob, HSU Music Department chair and conductor of the Humboldt Symphony.
The Symphonic Band’s final piece is “Scenes From the Louvre” by another Pulitzer-Prize winning American composer, Norman Dello Joio. It was originally written for a TV series about the famous Parisian art museum, and each movement suggests a different section of the Louvre.
Then the Jazz Orchestra takes the stage, with renditions of “Jackson County Jubilee” by jazz great Benny Carter, and “The Jody Grind” by Horace Silver, as arranged by John Clayton, before playing the Jared Coyle and Youn Joo Sim tunes, and the Tommy Obeso arrangement.
This joint concert gets underway at 8 PM on Saturday, February 24 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. $6 general, $2 students and seniors, HSU students free with ID. Tickets from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Eureka Times-Standard, Eureka Reporter.
The HSU Jazz Orchestra will feature compositions by a homegrown talent and a current HSU student in a joint concert with the HSU Symphonic Band on Saturday, February 24 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall.
The Jazz Orchestra will debut the big band arrangement of “Alone in the Fishbowl” by Eureka High School and HSU graduate Jared Coyle. “He wrote this for a band he played in while he was an HSU student, called Mr. Lunch,” Jazz Orchestra director and HSU music teacher Dan Aldag said. Coyle now lives outside Portland, Oregon.
The orchestra will also reprise "Song For Yong Zoo" by HSU senior, Youn Joo Sim. “The Jazz Orchestra plays all of the students’ final projects from the Jazz Arranging class,” Aldag explains, “and two years ago, when we read Youn Joo’s song, it immediately jumped out at everybody as an exceptional piece. We played it the next semester, and we’re reviving it now.” The Orchestra will play it one more time, for Youn Joo’s Senior Recital this spring.
Also back by popular demand—and with another HSU connection—the Jazz Orchestra will play a Charles Mingus tune (“E’s Flat, Ahs Flat Too”) arranged by Tommy Obeso, a long-time member of the orchestra who is student teaching this semester.
The evening gets started with music by four American composers played by the HSU Symphonic Band, directed by HSU Assistant Professor of Music Paul Cummings. “American Salute” by Pulitzer Prize winner Morton Gould is a “classic band and orchestra piece,” Cummings said, based on the American Civil War tune, “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.”
“Third Suite” by contemporary American composer Robert E. Jager features rapid meter changes, and “is fun to play,” Cummings said. On the other hand, “Final Testament” by Fisher Tull is “ a very dramatic and expressive piece. He has a very distinct harmonic style. You can tell a Fisher Tull piece within the first thirty seconds.” “Final Testament” will be conducted by Kenneth Ayoob, HSU Music Department chair and conductor of the Humboldt Symphony.
The Symphonic Band’s final piece is “Scenes From the Louvre” by another Pulitzer-Prize winning American composer, Norman Dello Joio. It was originally written for a TV series about the famous Parisian art museum, and each movement suggests a different section of the Louvre.
Then the Jazz Orchestra takes the stage, with renditions of “Jackson County Jubilee” by jazz great Benny Carter, and “The Jody Grind” by Horace Silver, as arranged by John Clayton, before playing the Jared Coyle and Youn Joo Sim tunes, and the Tommy Obeso arrangement.
This joint concert gets underway at 8 PM on Saturday, February 24 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. $6 general, $2 students and seniors, HSU students free with ID. Tickets from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Media: Eureka Times-Standard, Eureka Reporter.
Additional notes: Dan Aldag
"Jackson County Jubilee" was written by Benny Carter for a 1960 Count Basie album entitled "Kansas City Suite."
"The Jody Grind" is a funky Horace Silver tune from the '50s in a new arrangement by John Clayton that he wrote for his band in LA, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
Additional Notes: Paul Cummings
“Morton Gould wrote “American Salute” in the 1950s as a piece for orchestra, and he later transcribed it for band. One of its main features is that the bassoon plays the “Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” tune—not many band pieces feature bassoons. We have three this year, so it’s a good time to feature them.”
“Third Suite” by Robert Jager: “The meter keeps changing, from a measure of 3 to 2 back to 3, then 4, for example, not only from movement to movement, but within each one. It’s a challenge for the players, but it’s also fun to play.”
“Final Testament” by Fisher Tull: “His very distinct harmonic style is characterized mainly by modal harmonies. He writes very creatively for percussion.”
“Scenes From the Louvre” by Dello Joio: “ There are five movements to this piece—we’re doing three of them for this concert. We may do the entire five movements next time, in our April concert.”
"Jackson County Jubilee" was written by Benny Carter for a 1960 Count Basie album entitled "Kansas City Suite."
"The Jody Grind" is a funky Horace Silver tune from the '50s in a new arrangement by John Clayton that he wrote for his band in LA, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
Additional Notes: Paul Cummings
“Morton Gould wrote “American Salute” in the 1950s as a piece for orchestra, and he later transcribed it for band. One of its main features is that the bassoon plays the “Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” tune—not many band pieces feature bassoons. We have three this year, so it’s a good time to feature them.”
“Third Suite” by Robert Jager: “The meter keeps changing, from a measure of 3 to 2 back to 3, then 4, for example, not only from movement to movement, but within each one. It’s a challenge for the players, but it’s also fun to play.”
“Final Testament” by Fisher Tull: “His very distinct harmonic style is characterized mainly by modal harmonies. He writes very creatively for percussion.”
“Scenes From the Louvre” by Dello Joio: “ There are five movements to this piece—we’re doing three of them for this concert. We may do the entire five movements next time, in our April concert.”
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Elisabeth Harrington
A Valentine to Nature, Poetry and Passion: “Flowers, Fantasies and Lovesick Fools," a program of 20th century American art songs sung by soprano Elisabeth Harrington, accompanied by pianist John Chernoff, will be presented on Saturday, February 17 at 8 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $8 general, $3 students from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Faculty Artist Series concert.
A Valentine to Nature, Poetry and Passion: “Flowers, Fantasies and Lovesick Fools," a program of 20th century American art songs sung by soprano Elisabeth Harrington, accompanied by pianist John Chernoff, will be presented on Saturday, February 17 at 8 PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $8 general, $3 students from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Faculty Artist Series concert.
“Flowers, Fantasies and Lovesick Fools,” a Valentine to Poetry and Passion in the American Art Song
On Saturday, February 17—Valentine’s Day Weekend--soprano Elisabeth Harrington will perform “Flowers, Fantasies and Lovesick Fools,” a program of art songs by 20th century American composers. “These songs are intimate and personal, filled with images of nature and metaphysical yearnings, as well as themes of life and death, and love--- and more love,” Harrington explains. “It’s the softer side of 20th century American music.”
Art songs are poems set to music, “so that in the end the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” The texts include poems by A.E. Housman, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrettt Browning, e.e. cummings and the Bengali poet, Tagore. Some selections are fanciful (like John Duke’s “Shelling Peas’), and some are funny (Carrie Jacobs Bond’s “Half-Minute Songs”). Harrington concludes the program with what she calls “Poetic Pairs:” songs by two different composers who use the same poem, such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee?” with music by a male composer born in 1913, and a female composer born in 1956.
Elisabeth Harrington became an Assistant Professor of Voice at HSU last semester, so “Flowers, Fantasies and Lovesick Fools” is her Humboldt debut. For her first recital, “ I wanted to do songs in English, so everyone would understand the poetry,” she said, “and I wanted to do art songs, because they get overlooked so often. We hear tons of opera or musical theatre, but the art song is a much smaller genre.”
On Saturday, February 17—Valentine’s Day Weekend--soprano Elisabeth Harrington will perform “Flowers, Fantasies and Lovesick Fools,” a program of art songs by 20th century American composers. “These songs are intimate and personal, filled with images of nature and metaphysical yearnings, as well as themes of life and death, and love--- and more love,” Harrington explains. “It’s the softer side of 20th century American music.”
Art songs are poems set to music, “so that in the end the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” The texts include poems by A.E. Housman, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrettt Browning, e.e. cummings and the Bengali poet, Tagore. Some selections are fanciful (like John Duke’s “Shelling Peas’), and some are funny (Carrie Jacobs Bond’s “Half-Minute Songs”). Harrington concludes the program with what she calls “Poetic Pairs:” songs by two different composers who use the same poem, such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee?” with music by a male composer born in 1913, and a female composer born in 1956.
Elisabeth Harrington became an Assistant Professor of Voice at HSU last semester, so “Flowers, Fantasies and Lovesick Fools” is her Humboldt debut. For her first recital, “ I wanted to do songs in English, so everyone would understand the poetry,” she said, “and I wanted to do art songs, because they get overlooked so often. We hear tons of opera or musical theatre, but the art song is a much smaller genre.”
Because the art song is typically performed by one singer with one instrumental accompanist, pianist John Chernoff was important in Harrington’s plans. “Having someone as intuitive and immediate as John makes him a great partner for performing this kind of repertoire, because he’s absolutely in tune with every nuance the poetry demands,” Harrington said. “It’s a very delicate interplay between singer and accompanist, so I was happy to learn John was available.”
As for the recital being scheduled during Valentine’s Day week, Harrington confessed it’s a coincidence, but believes it’s appropriate. “If you think of love as being a relationship of you and the world, or you and your spiritual self as well as relationships between people, then this program has a Valentine mood. And of course there are traditional love songs, since love is one of our strongest emotions, and the one that inspires poetry and song. It’s also universal—so come on out, all ye lovesick fools!”
As for the recital being scheduled during Valentine’s Day week, Harrington confessed it’s a coincidence, but believes it’s appropriate. “If you think of love as being a relationship of you and the world, or you and your spiritual self as well as relationships between people, then this program has a Valentine mood. And of course there are traditional love songs, since love is one of our strongest emotions, and the one that inspires poetry and song. It’s also universal—so come on out, all ye lovesick fools!”
The Program
To poems by the Bengali poet, Tagore: “When I bring to you colour’d toys,” “The Sleep That Flits” --John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951)
“Carpenter is known for his orchestral works,” Harrington said. “These have a metaphysical quality, and also a fairy tale feeling.”
In a Myrtle Shade.” by Charles Griffes (1884-1920)
“A composer of Carpenter’s generation, and like him he absorbed compositional elements of French melody composers. They wrote very gentle harmonies.”
Six songs by John Duke (1899-1984)
Loveliest of Trees
I can’t be talkin’ of Love
Shelling Peas
Little Elegy
I Ride The Great Black Horses
I carry your heart
“These six songs are set to poems by six different poets. ‘Shelling Peas’ is a fantasy, and a lot of fun for audiences. ‘I Ride the Great Black Horses’ is quite a ride—it’s a frantic, rhythmic tour de force for both pianist and singer. From the opening piano figure, we’re running at breakneck speed, and you know it’s going to be a journey of heartbreak somehow…‘I carry your heart’ is a poem by e.e. cummings, just an outpouring of love.”
“Half-Minute Songs” by Carrie Jacobs Bond (1862-1946.)
Making the Best of It
First Ask Yourself
To Understand
Doan’ Yo’ Lis’n
How to Find Success
The Pleasure of Giving
Answer the First Rap
A Good Exercise
A Present From Yourself
Now and Then
When They Say the Unkind Things
Keep Awake
“ Each one lasts maybe 20 seconds, and they’re each a little platitude about how to go through life—sort of a Miss Manners of composition. I’ve done these songs before and I just adore them.”
--Intermission—
Sven Lekberg (1899-1984)
The Road to Avrillé, I drank at Every Vine, The Spring and The Fall
“Lekberg was primarily a choral composer who wasn’t known for his solo art song settings, so they’re not done very often, but they’re interesting. They’re very chromatic and romantic. In these three songs, the first and third are very big, very operatic, with lots of dynamic contrast. But between them is a song that’s absolutely minimalist compared to the two that surround it.”
Poetic Pairs:
The Daisies, by Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
The Daisies by Seymour Barab (b. 1921)
How Do I love Thee? Norman Dello Joio(b. 1913)
How Do I Love Thee? Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 6 by Libby Larsen (b. 1950)
Out of the Morning by Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987)
Will There Really Be a Morning? By Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956)
“The last part of the program is what I’m calling ‘Poetic Pairs’—the same text set by two composers. ‘The Daisies’ is set by Samuel Barber and also by Seymour Barab [perhaps best known for his childrens’ operas.] Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee” is interpreted by Norman Dello Joio and a very contemporary female composer, Libby Larsen. ‘Will There Really Be a Morning?” is a contemplative poem by Emily Dickinson, as set by Vincent Persichetti [perhaps best known as a music educator, one of whose students was composer Philip Glass] and also by Ricky Gordon, who is one of the contemporary composers bridging the gap between classical music and musical theatre.”
Elisabeth Harrington
Soprano Elisabeth Harrington is Assistant Professor of Voice at HSU this year. She teaches voice classes and directs the Opera Workshop.
She earned her DMA in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado (Boulder), and taught voice at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She completed the M.M. in Voice Performance at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, her native city.
In addition to her opera and classical music performances (including two seasons with the Aspen Music Festival Opera Theater), she has appeared in musical theatre, and sang and played flute in a blues and bluegrass band.
To poems by the Bengali poet, Tagore: “When I bring to you colour’d toys,” “The Sleep That Flits” --John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951)
“Carpenter is known for his orchestral works,” Harrington said. “These have a metaphysical quality, and also a fairy tale feeling.”
In a Myrtle Shade.” by Charles Griffes (1884-1920)
“A composer of Carpenter’s generation, and like him he absorbed compositional elements of French melody composers. They wrote very gentle harmonies.”
Six songs by John Duke (1899-1984)
Loveliest of Trees
I can’t be talkin’ of Love
Shelling Peas
Little Elegy
I Ride The Great Black Horses
I carry your heart
“These six songs are set to poems by six different poets. ‘Shelling Peas’ is a fantasy, and a lot of fun for audiences. ‘I Ride the Great Black Horses’ is quite a ride—it’s a frantic, rhythmic tour de force for both pianist and singer. From the opening piano figure, we’re running at breakneck speed, and you know it’s going to be a journey of heartbreak somehow…‘I carry your heart’ is a poem by e.e. cummings, just an outpouring of love.”
“Half-Minute Songs” by Carrie Jacobs Bond (1862-1946.)
Making the Best of It
First Ask Yourself
To Understand
Doan’ Yo’ Lis’n
How to Find Success
The Pleasure of Giving
Answer the First Rap
A Good Exercise
A Present From Yourself
Now and Then
When They Say the Unkind Things
Keep Awake
“ Each one lasts maybe 20 seconds, and they’re each a little platitude about how to go through life—sort of a Miss Manners of composition. I’ve done these songs before and I just adore them.”
--Intermission—
Sven Lekberg (1899-1984)
The Road to Avrillé, I drank at Every Vine, The Spring and The Fall
“Lekberg was primarily a choral composer who wasn’t known for his solo art song settings, so they’re not done very often, but they’re interesting. They’re very chromatic and romantic. In these three songs, the first and third are very big, very operatic, with lots of dynamic contrast. But between them is a song that’s absolutely minimalist compared to the two that surround it.”
Poetic Pairs:
The Daisies, by Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
The Daisies by Seymour Barab (b. 1921)
How Do I love Thee? Norman Dello Joio(b. 1913)
How Do I Love Thee? Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 6 by Libby Larsen (b. 1950)
Out of the Morning by Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987)
Will There Really Be a Morning? By Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956)
“The last part of the program is what I’m calling ‘Poetic Pairs’—the same text set by two composers. ‘The Daisies’ is set by Samuel Barber and also by Seymour Barab [perhaps best known for his childrens’ operas.] Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee” is interpreted by Norman Dello Joio and a very contemporary female composer, Libby Larsen. ‘Will There Really Be a Morning?” is a contemplative poem by Emily Dickinson, as set by Vincent Persichetti [perhaps best known as a music educator, one of whose students was composer Philip Glass] and also by Ricky Gordon, who is one of the contemporary composers bridging the gap between classical music and musical theatre.”
Elisabeth Harrington
Soprano Elisabeth Harrington is Assistant Professor of Voice at HSU this year. She teaches voice classes and directs the Opera Workshop.
She earned her DMA in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado (Boulder), and taught voice at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She completed the M.M. in Voice Performance at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, her native city.
In addition to her opera and classical music performances (including two seasons with the Aspen Music Festival Opera Theater), she has appeared in musical theatre, and sang and played flute in a blues and bluegrass band.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Virginia Ryder
Classical Sax: Virginia Ryder performs an evening of classical saxophone music, accompanied by John Chernoff on piano, in an HSU Faculty Artist Series concert on Saturday, February 10 at 8 PM in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Classical Sax: Virginia Ryder performs an evening of classical saxophone music, accompanied by John Chernoff on piano, in an HSU Faculty Artist Series concert on Saturday, February 10 at 8 PM in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.
Rare Pleasures of Classical Sax in Faculty Artist Series Concert at HSU
Say “saxophone” and you might think of jazz artists like John Coltrane and Branford Marsalis, or pop stars like Kenny G., or maybe the Stax sax soul sound, the Big Band sax section of Glenn Miller, or the raunchy sax of 1950s rock & roll. But these are not what Adolphe Sax had in mind when he invented the instrument in 1840.
“He meant it to be a classical instrument,” said Virginia Ryder of the HSU Department of Music. “He thought it would be integrated in orchestras.”
That didn’t happen very much, but with the finesse of woodwinds and the power of brass, the relatively new instrument called the saxophone still found favor with classical music composers.
One of the first was Russian composer Alexander Glazounov (1865-1939) whose “Concerto” will be performed by Virginia Ryder on saxophone and John Chernoff on piano, as part of their upcoming evening of classical saxophone music at HSU’s Fulkerson Recital Hall.
“John requested this one,” Ryder said, “but it’s also been one of my favorites. This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to perform it since I was a student.”
The duo will also perform “Picnic on the Marne” by contemporary American composer Ned Rorem. “He’s known mostly for his songs, and this set of seven pieces are essentially songs without words,” Ryder said. The theme is a couple of friends on a road trip from Paris to the country and back, with interactions described by “stage directions” in the score, including “fast and blatant,” “dangerously slow, muffled in blue, followed by a tense discussion” during which the saxophone is directed to play “hot and free,” and the piano is to be “cold and strict.” “It’s a lot of fun to play,” Ryder added.
Contemporary French composer Claude Bolling is probably best known for his “Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio” with Jean-Pierre Rampal. Like that work, his “Le Papillon” (The Butterfly) for saxophone and piano “goes back and forth from a classical to a jazz feel,” as Ryder describes it. “It plays around with time elements—it’s also a lot of fun.”
What Ryder describes as the “dark cloud” or serious moment in this generally “ light-hearted program” is “Elegie et Rondeau” by Czech-born, naturalized American contemporary composer Karel Husa, whose “String Quartet #3” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969. “This is a very powerful piece, with a lot of the same emotions of his most-played work, “Music for Prague 1968.”
The program ends with “Tiamat,” composed by a former HSU student and current member of the HSU Music faculty, Dante DeSilva. “It’s a work for unaccompanied saxophone that uses ‘extended techniques’ that go beyond the usual saxophone techniques to include multiphonics, which is sounding more than one tone at a time,” Ryder said.
Virginia Ryder has performed extensively on saxophone and oboe through the U.S. in orchestras including the Boston Symphony, Denver Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony. She is a current member of the Eureka Symphony, Symphony of the Redwoods in Mendocino County and the Mendocino Music Festival Orchestra. She’s also performed with Manhattan Transfer, George Burns and Bill Cosby. She teaches studio oboe, bassoon, saxophone, class woodwinds and chamber music at HSU.
Say “saxophone” and you might think of jazz artists like John Coltrane and Branford Marsalis, or pop stars like Kenny G., or maybe the Stax sax soul sound, the Big Band sax section of Glenn Miller, or the raunchy sax of 1950s rock & roll. But these are not what Adolphe Sax had in mind when he invented the instrument in 1840.
“He meant it to be a classical instrument,” said Virginia Ryder of the HSU Department of Music. “He thought it would be integrated in orchestras.”
That didn’t happen very much, but with the finesse of woodwinds and the power of brass, the relatively new instrument called the saxophone still found favor with classical music composers.
One of the first was Russian composer Alexander Glazounov (1865-1939) whose “Concerto” will be performed by Virginia Ryder on saxophone and John Chernoff on piano, as part of their upcoming evening of classical saxophone music at HSU’s Fulkerson Recital Hall.
“John requested this one,” Ryder said, “but it’s also been one of my favorites. This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to perform it since I was a student.”
The duo will also perform “Picnic on the Marne” by contemporary American composer Ned Rorem. “He’s known mostly for his songs, and this set of seven pieces are essentially songs without words,” Ryder said. The theme is a couple of friends on a road trip from Paris to the country and back, with interactions described by “stage directions” in the score, including “fast and blatant,” “dangerously slow, muffled in blue, followed by a tense discussion” during which the saxophone is directed to play “hot and free,” and the piano is to be “cold and strict.” “It’s a lot of fun to play,” Ryder added.
Contemporary French composer Claude Bolling is probably best known for his “Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio” with Jean-Pierre Rampal. Like that work, his “Le Papillon” (The Butterfly) for saxophone and piano “goes back and forth from a classical to a jazz feel,” as Ryder describes it. “It plays around with time elements—it’s also a lot of fun.”
What Ryder describes as the “dark cloud” or serious moment in this generally “ light-hearted program” is “Elegie et Rondeau” by Czech-born, naturalized American contemporary composer Karel Husa, whose “String Quartet #3” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969. “This is a very powerful piece, with a lot of the same emotions of his most-played work, “Music for Prague 1968.”
The program ends with “Tiamat,” composed by a former HSU student and current member of the HSU Music faculty, Dante DeSilva. “It’s a work for unaccompanied saxophone that uses ‘extended techniques’ that go beyond the usual saxophone techniques to include multiphonics, which is sounding more than one tone at a time,” Ryder said.
Virginia Ryder has performed extensively on saxophone and oboe through the U.S. in orchestras including the Boston Symphony, Denver Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony. She is a current member of the Eureka Symphony, Symphony of the Redwoods in Mendocino County and the Mendocino Music Festival Orchestra. She’s also performed with Manhattan Transfer, George Burns and Bill Cosby. She teaches studio oboe, bassoon, saxophone, class woodwinds and chamber music at HSU.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Guest Artist: Eric Cabalo
Guitarist and director of classical guitar studies at Sonoma State University Eric Cabalo will perform a program of South American solo guitar music on Saturday, February 3 at 8PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $8 general, $3 students/seniors. Tickets from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. A free Guitar Master Class with Cabalo will be offered on Sunday at 11 AM. This guest artist appearance is produced by the HSU Department of Music.
Guitarist and director of classical guitar studies at Sonoma State University Eric Cabalo will perform a program of South American solo guitar music on Saturday, February 3 at 8PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $8 general, $3 students/seniors. Tickets from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. A free Guitar Master Class with Cabalo will be offered on Sunday at 11 AM. This guest artist appearance is produced by the HSU Department of Music.
Eric Cabalo Performs Latin Guitar Classics
“We don’t get many professional classical guitarists coming through here, “said Nick Lambson, who teaches guitar at Humboldt State. “That’s one reason this recital by Eric Cabalo is a special event.”
Eric Cabalo will perform a program of South American solo guitar music on Saturday, February 3 at 8PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata.
Cabalo performs primarily in the Bay Area, as a soloist, chamber musician, and as half of the Cabalo/Green Duo, with guitarist Stuart Green. He has recently released his first CD, titled Evocacíon.
Cabalo is director of classical guitar studies at Sonoma State University, and is the founder/director of 12th Fret Guitar Studios, a guitar program providing classical guitar instruction for children and adults.
At HSU, Cabalo will perform a program of South American solo guitar classics, including compositions by Jose Luis Merlin, Jorge Cardosa, “3 Venezuelan Waltzes” by Antonio Lauro, and five preludes by Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Admission for the February 3 concert is $8 general, $3 students/seniors. Tickets are available from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. This guest artist appearance is produced by the HSU Department of Music.
Cabalo will also teach a Master Class on Sunday at 11 AM. Call HSU Music Department at 826-3531 for more information.
Eric Cabalo’s web page is http://www.ericcabalo.com.
“We don’t get many professional classical guitarists coming through here, “said Nick Lambson, who teaches guitar at Humboldt State. “That’s one reason this recital by Eric Cabalo is a special event.”
Eric Cabalo will perform a program of South American solo guitar music on Saturday, February 3 at 8PM in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata.
Cabalo performs primarily in the Bay Area, as a soloist, chamber musician, and as half of the Cabalo/Green Duo, with guitarist Stuart Green. He has recently released his first CD, titled Evocacíon.
Cabalo is director of classical guitar studies at Sonoma State University, and is the founder/director of 12th Fret Guitar Studios, a guitar program providing classical guitar instruction for children and adults.
At HSU, Cabalo will perform a program of South American solo guitar classics, including compositions by Jose Luis Merlin, Jorge Cardosa, “3 Venezuelan Waltzes” by Antonio Lauro, and five preludes by Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Admission for the February 3 concert is $8 general, $3 students/seniors. Tickets are available from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. This guest artist appearance is produced by the HSU Department of Music.
Cabalo will also teach a Master Class on Sunday at 11 AM. Call HSU Music Department at 826-3531 for more information.
Eric Cabalo’s web page is http://www.ericcabalo.com.
Program
Eric Cabalo, guitar
Saturday, February, 3rd 2007
Suite del Recuerdo …………………..Jose Luis Merlin (b.1952)
Evocacion
Zamba
Chacacera
Carnavalito
Evocacion
Joropo
Milonga …. Jorge Cardosa (b.1949)
3 Venezuelan Waltzes…….Antonio Lauro (1917-1986)
Andreina
Natalia
Yacumbu
Choro No. 1……………….…Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
INTERMISSION
Verano Porteno …………….Astor Piazzolla
(1921-1992)
Prelude #1 in Em……………Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Prelude #2 in E Prelude #3 in Am
Prelude #4 in Em
Prelude #5 in D
Dansa Brasiliera ……………………..Jorge Morel (b.1931)
Eric Cabalo, guitar
Saturday, February, 3rd 2007
Suite del Recuerdo …………………..Jose Luis Merlin (b.1952)
Evocacion
Zamba
Chacacera
Carnavalito
Evocacion
Joropo
Milonga …. Jorge Cardosa (b.1949)
3 Venezuelan Waltzes…….Antonio Lauro (1917-1986)
Andreina
Natalia
Yacumbu
Choro No. 1……………….…Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
INTERMISSION
Verano Porteno …………….Astor Piazzolla
(1921-1992)
Prelude #1 in Em……………Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Prelude #2 in E Prelude #3 in Am
Prelude #4 in Em
Prelude #5 in D
Dansa Brasiliera ……………………..Jorge Morel (b.1931)
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