A Double Fantasy at Humboldt Symphony and Singers Christmas Concert

Special guests join the annual combined concert of the Humboldt Symphony, University Singers and Humboldt Chorale on Friday and Sunday December 9 and 11 at Fulkerson Recital Hall, in a program that includes a double fantasy. But the emphasis as always is on music for the holiday season.

The first fantasy--Ralph Vaughan Williams’ soaring Fantasia on Christmas Carols--makes full use of the orchestra and singers. Beginning modestly with a single cello and a single voice (baritone soloist Kevin Richards) it expands into richly rendered elements of traditional Christmas melodies. “It’s beautifully strong writing for orchestra and voices,” noted Symphony conductor Paul Cummings, “and a very audience-friendly piece.”

The second fantasy--Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy--also exploits the full potential of orchestra and chorus, but with an addition of solo piano, which originally was played by Beethoven himself. “This is one of the few works in all of music to include chorus, orchestra and piano,” Cummings said. “We’re excited to have Daniela Mineva join us as piano soloist, especially on this piece because Dr. Mineva studied with teachers who trace their lineage back to Beethoven. She brings some real insights as to how Beethoven would have performed this improvisatory piano part.”

Another seasonal work on the program is the Christmas Cantata by American composer Daniel Pinkham. Though written in 1957, it was heavily influenced by early baroque sacred music. “This is Pinkham’s most popular choral work,” Cummings said. In addition to the University Singers and Humboldt Chorale, it features ten members of the Humboldt Bay Brass Band, with HBBB founder Gil Cline playing the trumpet lead.

The Humboldt Symphony alone performs two works for the first half of the concert: the complete Ballet Suite by Jean Baptiste Lully, and the complete Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg, including the familiar melody of “Anitra’s Dance.”

Paul Cummings conducts the Humboldt Symphony, Harley Muilenburg directs the HSU University Singers, and Carol McWhorter Ryder directs the Humboldt Chorale, a community group.

The combined Humboldt Symphony, University Singers and Humboldt Chorale Christmas concert is Friday December 10 and Sunday December 12 at 8 pm 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. Produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Tricity Weekly

Kevin Richards, baritone soloist for Fantasia on Christmas Carols

December 10 & 12: The Program

Humboldt Symphony:

Jean Baptiste Lully - Ballet Suite
arranged by Felix Mottl

Edvard Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite

Intermission

Daniel Pinkham - Christmas Cantata
University Singers, Chorale, Symphony, and members of Humboldt British Brass Band

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on Christmas Carols
University Singers, Chorale, and Symphony
Kevin Richards, baritone

Ludwig van Beethoven - Choral Fantasy, opus 80
University Singers, Chorale, and Symphony
Daniela Mineva, piano

An Ellington Jazz Christmas with HSU Jazz Orchestra

The HSU Jazz Orchestra presents a rare treat, the entire Duke Ellington version of the Nutcracker Suite, along with a composition by an Arcata High grad and a possible world premiere of a rediscovered piece by a jazz pioneer, on Saturday December 11 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Duke Ellington and his composing partner Billy Strayhorn arranged Tchaikovsky’s famous nine-movement Nutcracker Suite for jazz orchestra in 1960. “This was no mere ‘jazzing the classics’ novelty,” said HSU Jazz Orchestra director Dan Aldag. “They treat the original with respect but not reverence. The suite is witty in places and sublimely beautiful in others.”

Also on the program is “Recollection” by Arcata native and Arcata High graduate Nathan Smith, who leads a 10-piece band in New York and has won several composition awards.

Then the Jazz Orchestra plays what Aldag believes may be a world premiere of a long-lost work by the first great jazz composer and pianist, Jelly Roll Morton. A star in the 1920s, Morton attempted a comeback in the late 30s by writing music for the big band format. He put together a band to play it but collapsed the night it was to be performed. One of these compositions, called “Ganjam,” has only recently been published for a large ensemble, “so it’s possible that this will be the first performance of ‘Ganjam’ as Morton wrote it,” Aldag said.

Two nights before the Jazz Orchestra concert, the smaller ensemble called the AM Jazz Band plays arrangements of jazz classics by Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Shavers and Mongo Santamaria, as well as Maria Schneider’s “This ‘n That.”

The AM Jazz Band performs on Thursday December 9 and the HSU Jazz Orchestra plays on Saturday December 11. Both concerts start at 8pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets for each concert are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Dan Aldag directs the AM Jazz Band and HSU Jazz Orchestra, produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, TriCity Weekly

MRT Singers: Fall 2010
‘Tis the Season for the Madrigal Singers and MRT Jazz

Once again the HSU Madrigal Singers in Renaissance costume jumpstart the Christmas spirit, and the smaller ensemble of MRT Singers swing tunes from the jazz era to U2 and Neil Young, in their combined concert on Sunday December 5 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

The Madrigal Singers perform two carols with different aspects of Christmas as their subjects. “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” is the best-known work of contemporary British composer John Gardner. “Wolcum Yole!” is from the often- recorded 1942 chorale work, Ceremony of Carols by famed 20th century English composer Benjamin Britten.

True to their name, the Madrigal Singers begin their program with madrigals popular in Shakespeare’s time. This year the emphasis of the Singers’ selections is young love, in madrigals by three of the eminent composers in this form: “Sweet Come Away My Darling” by Robert Jones, “Though Philomela Lost Her Love” by Thomas Morley and “Fa una canzona” by Orazio Vecchi. They end with a Baroque choral work, “Sing Sing Ye Muses” and a lyric ballad by John Rutter using a poem by Shakespeare, “Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind.”

Then the Mad River Transit Singers take the stage with a rhythm section of Darius Brotman on piano, Charles Welty on bass and John Thomas on drums. MRT specializes in various forms of jazz, blues and gospel singing. Among their tunes are special arrangements of “Wail” by Bud Powell, “Here’s That Rainy Day” by Jimmy Van Heusen, “MLK” by U2 and “After the Gold Rush” by Neil Young.

MRT soloists include Lucas Reichle, Sara Scibetta, Elena Tessler, Jessi Shieman, Gabriel Holeman and Jo Kuzelka. Both ensembles are directed by Harley Muilenburg, HSU Music professor of choral and vocal music.

The shared pre-Christmas concert by HSU Madrigal Singers and Mad River Transit Singers is Sunday December 5 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, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye, Humboldt Beacon.

HSU Madrigal Singers 2010

Madrigal Singers & MRT Singers Concert: The Program

Festive Madrigals:
Sweet Come Away My Darling by Robert Jones
Though Philomela Lost Her Love Thomas Morley
Fa una canzona Orazio Vecchi

Carols:
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day John Gardner
Wolcum Yole! (from Ceremony of Carols) Benjamin Britten

Madrigal Songs
Sing Sing Ye Muses John Blow
Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind John Rutter

The Singers:
Tiffany Guenter, Anna Coleman, Rachael Heller, Aubrey Costa, Jacqui Hernandez, Caitlin Dennning, Selena Johnson, Marg Hart, Cheryl Lincoln, Tina Toomata, Sarah Richmond, Ellen Vilchez, Jessica Bittner, Cole Buxton, Chelsea Rothchild, Edress Nassir, Danielle Van de Wetering, Elliott Pennington, John Pettlon, Joshua Schultz.

Mad River Transit


Moanin’ by Lambert Hendricks & Ross
Lucas Reichle, Bass

Wail (Vocalise by Darius Brotman) Bud Powell

MLK U2 arr. Bob Chilcott
Sara Scibetta, Alto

You Can Always Count On Me arr. Dave Barduhn
Elena Tessler, Soprano

Late Night Blues arr. Susan Moninger
Sara Scibetta, Alto & Gabriel Holman, Tenor

Here’s That Rainy Day Jimmy Van Heusen
Jo Kuzelka, Soprano

After the Gold Rush arr. Elliott Shay
Jessi Shieman, Soprano

Full Moon Sharon Broadley
Jo Kuzelka, Soprano

MRT Singers:
Jessi Shieman, Jo Kuzelka, Amy Chanfant, Elena Tessler, Kelsey Guest, Sara Scibetta, Gabriel Holman, James Swarts, Dolan Leckliter, Colin Wagner, Joseph Welnick, Lucas Reichle, Numair Khaled.

Rhythym Section:
Darius Brotman, Piano
Charles Welty, Bass
John Thomas, Drums

A Birthday Party with HSU Calypso Band & Percussion Ensemble

The Humboldt State Calypso Band celebrates its 25th anniversary with a composition appropriately called Birthday Party by Len “Boogsie” Sharp, during its December 4 concert in the Van Duzer theatre. The Calypso Band was founded in the spring of 1986 by Dr. Eugene Novotney, who is still the groups’ leader and director. This is the first of a series of concerts all year celebrating this milestone.

But before the celebration starts, the HSU Percussion Ensemble tackles a major work, Toccata for Percussion Instruments by the Pan-American composer, Carlos Chavez. Dr. Novotney notes the variety of instruments used, from native Mexican claves and maracas to Asian gongs and standard European orchestral instruments such as timpani, snare drums and xylophone. “Musically, Chavez combines exciting rhythmic passages and sudden dynamic changes with slower passages that employ exotic scales and timbres,” Dr. Novotney said. “The result is a piece that is both fascinating and profound.”

The first half of this joint concert ends with the World Percussion Group performing a suite of traditional Mandeng Drumming of West Africa, as well as Afro-Cuban folkloric music with all indigenous instruments.

Then after the break the Calypso Band takes over with Birthday Party and its patented program of high-energy dance music exploring traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil and the United States.

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. 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, Eugene, OR and Seattle, WA.

The joint performance of the Calypso Band, Percussion Ensemble and World Percussion Group is Saturday December 4 at 8 pm 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.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Humboldt Beacon.

Percussion Ensemble & Calypso Band Concert: Director's Notes

Percussion Ensemble
The featured work on the program is TOCCATA for Percussion Instruments, composed in 1942 by the Pan-American composer, Carlos Chavez. Chavez was born and died in Mexico City, and at the age of 29, he was named the director of Mexico’s National Conservatory ands the director of Orchesta Sinfonia de Mexico.

In this piece, Chavez calls for native percussion instruments, such as claves, maracas, bombo, and Indian drums, mixed with standard European instruments, such as timpani, snare drums, field drums, chimes, bells, and xylophone. He also adds Asian gongs into the mix to create a true “mixed-world” instrumentation. Musically, he combines exciting rhythmic passages and sudden dynamic changes with slower passages that employ exotic scales and timbres. The result is a piece that is both fascinating and profound that will certainly be a memorable experience for all in attendance.

The first half of the show will end with the World Percussion Group performing a suite of traditional Mandeng Drumming of West Africa as well as an inspiring arrangement of Afro-Cuban folkloric music presented to the Humboldt audience in its classic form using all indigenous instruments. This is a show that will have something for everyone!

Calypso Band
The second half of the concert will feature the festive dance music of the Humboldt State Calypso Band. The band will feature several high-energy dance compositions from the Caribbean in their set, including the classic panorama composition by Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, BIRTHDAY PARTY. The composition, BIRTHDAY PARTY, has significant meaning for the group, as this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Calypso Band at Humboldt State. The Calypso Band was founded in the spring of 1986 and will be celebrating all year with a series of concerts of which this will be the first.

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, and the United States.

--Dr. Eugene Novotney

A Christmas Festival with the HSU Symphonic Band

At the climax of its December 3 concert, the HSU Symphonic Band reveals again the full if often hidden power of some classic Christmas songs with Leroy Anderson’s vibrant collage called A Christmas Festival.

“When Anderson arranged this in 1950, it was a new idea,” said Symphonic Band director Kenneth Ayoob. “Many composers have set Christmas music for band since then, but none are better than this—the granddaddy of them all.”

This work completes a varied program of suites, dances and a march by an intriguing mix of composers.

Early 20th century English composer Gustav Holst uses English folk songs and dances in his Second Suite for Military Band. Director Ayoob calls it “one of the keystone works of the band literature” and “a joy to play and to hear.” Dutch composer Jan Van der Roost’s Puszta is another suite that uses a folk tradition in four original Gypsy dances.

American composer Caesar Giovonnini focuses his attention on modern urban life in the concert overture Jubilance, which Ayoob describes as “by nature a sunny and optimistic work.” Sinfonia III by Timothy Broege, a contemporary midwestern U.S. composer, adds shadows to light in a tribute to the composer’s late father.

American composer Henry Fillmore is best known for his marches, and “His Honor” remains among his most popular.

The HSU Symphonic Band performs on Friday December 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 Kenneth Ayoob, produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal Christmas Events, Humboldt Beacon.

Symphonic Band Concert: Director's Notes

Music of Holst, Giovonnini, Broege, Anderson, Fillmore and Van der Roost.

Holst’s Second Suite for Military Band, one of the keystone works of the band literature, uses English folk songs and folk dances throughout. It is a joy to play and to hear.

Puszta by Dutch composer Jan Van der Roost is also a suite. Although its four Gypsy Dances are related to the Slavic Folk tradition in the same way that the Second Suite is related to English, all four tunes are original compositions. The character and sounds of the pieces are reminiscent of the Hungarian and Slavic Dances of Brahms and Dvorak.

Sinfonia III by Timothy Broege is a tribute to the composer’s late father. Broege said about this work:"There are in Sinfonia III both light and shadow, both humor and seriousness in an attempt to depict in sound ….. something of the nature of this man who showered so much love upon his wife and four sons and enriched the lives of the many people who knew him.”

Jubilance a concert overture by Caesar Giovonnini reflects the many moods of modern life – our restless, impatient, impulsive energetic existence. Thoughts are never fully brought to completion, new ideas intrude before the previous ones finish. Jubilance is by nature a sunny and optimistic work with soaring melodic lines over kinetic ostinatos.

His Honor by Henry Fillmore is popular with both audiences and performers. The title refers to Mayor Russell Wilson a man who impressed Fillmore with both his executive ability and sense of humor. With its unexpected melodic and rhythmic changes, it remains among his most popular marches.

A Christmas Festival by Leroy Anderson. Anderson was a high school music teacher in Massachusetts who was asked by Arthur Fielder of the Boston Pops to do some arrangements and original light music compositions. When he arranged “A Christmas Festival” in 1950, it was a new idea. Many composers have set Christmas music for band since then, but none are better than this – the Granddaddy of them all.

--Kenneth Ayoob

top: "Remembrance of Things Past" by Morris Graves; photo of Morris Graves.

Free HSU Music Concert Honoring Morris Graves

To help celebrate the centennial year of Humboldt artist Morris Graves, nine HSU Music Department faculty and staff will join in a free afternoon concert on Saturday November 20, in the building that bears his name: the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka.

Beginning at 2 pm, the concert includes solo performances by guitarist Nicholas Lambson and pianist Robin Miller. Pianists Daniela Mineva and John Chernoff play a selection by Brahms; Gilbert Cline on trumpet joins Mineva for a sonata by the Italian Baroque composer Pietro Baldassare.

Especially appropriate for performance in an art museum is “Triptych” by contemporary composer Robert Sirota, who created this work in tandem with a painting of the same name by Deborah Patterson. The string quartet of Cindy Moyer (violin), Karen Davy (violin), Sherry Hanson (viola) and David Davis (cello) plays all three movements, which commemorate the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

This free concert is on Saturday, November 20 at 2 pm in the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka. This HSU Music Department event is held in conjunction with the Humboldt Arts Council. A reception for the public follows the concert.

Media: TriCity Weekly, Humboldt Beacon

Morris Graves Concert: The Program

1.Suite Venezolano by Antonio Lauro
I Registro
II Danza Negra
III Cancion
IV Vals
Nicholas Lambson, guitar

2.Triptych by Robert Sirota
Desecration
Lamentation
Prayer

Cindy Moyer, violin
Karen Davy, violin
Sherry Hanson, viola
David Davis, cello

3. Prelude "Ondine" by C. Debussy

Robin Miller, piano

4.Symphony #2 second movement, transcription for four hands by J. Brahms

John Chernoff, Daniela Mineva: piano.

5. Sonata in F #1 for Trumpet and Piano by Pietro Baldassare

Gil Cline: trumpet, Daniela Mineva: piano

Humboldt Bay Brass Band—Plus 50 Vuvuzelas—Honors World Cup and Veterans Day

Humboldt Bay Brass Band concerts are known for adding audience fun to the musical menu. On November 13 in Fulkerson Hall the prime candidate is “Groovuzela,” an original piece that features some 50 vuvuzelas—the instrument that millions around the world learned about during this year’s World Cup.

“What can I say?” said HBBB director Dr. Gilbert Cline. “This is about the only time in a century that a brass instrument has gotten such public attention. So we had to do this.” The piece will feature jazz solos by Branden Lewis and George Epperson, as well as all the vuvuzelas the HSU bookstore could find. “However, it will not be nearly as loud as the World Cup!” Cline promises.

In addition to this World Cup tribute, HBBB honors Veterans Day, with an original arrangement of “American Patrol,” a nineteenth century tune that Glenn Miller turned into a World War II swing hit. The theme continues with “The Liberty Bell” by John Philip Sousa, a battle of the timpanis in the sixteenth century piece “Die Schlacht,” and a somber chorale commemorating December 7, 1941.

After what Cline describes as the “fantastic crescendos” of Rossini’s “Overture to the Barber of Seville,” HBBB plays its major work of the evening, the three-movement “Pageantry” by twentieth century English composer Herbert Howells.

The band also presents another Cline composition, “Four Dot Flourish,” the second work in a series that began with his tribute to San Francisco columnist Herb Caen, “Three Dot Fanfare.” It is included on the Humboldt Bay Brass Band CD, which is on sale at the concert to help defray travel costs to the Northwest Brass Band Festival in Seattle in January.

Another tradition of these concerts is the return of a vintage instrument to active playing. This year it’s an 1895 tuba that once belonged to Humboldt County Supervisor Len Yocum, brought back from its Missouri exile. “I now have a half dozen of these nineteenth century instruments,” Cline said. “When playing them I feel we’re bringing them back to life. How cool is it to play an instrument 115 years old which still sounds great?”

Humboldt Bay Brass plays on Saturday 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 Gilbert Cline and produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Tri-City Weekly, Humboldt Beacon

Get It Wet Quartet: Dan Fair, Charles Welty, Thatcher Holvick-Norton and Branden Lewis.

From Miles to a Space Oddity: Jazz Combos Groove

Three all-star HSU jazz combos perform classics and original tunes in their fall concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Friday November 12.

The Get It Wet Quartet plays “Four” by Miles Davis, the early '60s pop hit "Our Day Will Come" plus a medley of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" and "Haitian Fight Song” by Charles Mingus." The players are Branden Lewis on trumpet, Dan Fair on guitar, Charles Welty on bass and Thatcher Holvick-Norton on drums.

Sam Roberts and His Silky Woots is a quintet of Sky Miller on tenor sax, Ari Davie on trumpet, Aber Miller on piano, Sam Roberts on bass and John Thomas on drums. They feature two tunes by their pianist Miller: "A Little Potato Music" and "Waltz for Mulligan." They also play "So Long Eric" by Charles Mingus, David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and Herbie Hancock's "Driftin'."

The Monday Quintet is Danny Gaon on bassoon and alto sax, Jordan Rykert on guitar, Cody Callahan on piano, Tyler Plass on bass and Avetis Chalaganyan on drums. Their set includes Ray Bryant's "Cubano Chant", Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay" and Kenny Garrett's "Beyond The Wall."

Members of the jazz combos are chosen by audition and each combo develops its own style and repertoire of tunes.

HSU Jazz Combos perform on Friday November 12 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 and produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Humboldt Beacon

It’s Not Over Until Red Riding Hood Sings: Opera Workshop Presents Operatic Fairy Tales


Pinocchio sings Mozart, Jack and the Giant do Gilbert and Sullivan, and the evening’s not over until Little Red Riding Hood sings Offenbach: It’s the HSU Opera Workshop performing four classic fairy tales using music by operatic greats.

“It’s a fun and education romp through the realm of opera and a new angle on familiar fairy tales,” said Opera Workshop director Elisabeth Harrington. “Nothing serious here!”

The show will be performed in Fulkerson Recital Hall twice: at 8 PM on Friday (November 5) but at the child-friendly time of 6 PM on Saturday.

Opera singer and director John Davies put together music from his favorite operas with fairy tale scenes, primarily for children but with a history of delighting audiences of all ages since they were first performed in 1982. The Opera Workshop is doing shorter versions of Three Little Pigs, Pinocchio, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red’s Most Unusual Day.

“The text is all in English, and dialogue has been added to keep the story moving,” Harrington said. “Our singers are having fun with it, adding their own vocal sounds.”

Thirteen students will act out the tales, and sing arias, duets, trios and ensemble numbers. Former HSU Music student Christopher Hatcher directs Pinocchio, student Danielle Van De Wetering directs “Little Red,” and Harrington directs Jack and the Beanstalk and Three Little Pigs. Pianist John Chernoff accompanies throughout.

Opera Workshop members will wear costumes of their own invention but with a mobile set built by HSU Theatre, Film & Dance MFA students Elizabeth Uhazy and Rachel Parti.

Though the fairy tales are familiar to everyone, audience members who know the opera repertoire will find another level of fun not only in the music but the opera parodies. For example, the Big Bad Wolf goes to dinner with the Three Little Pigs in a scene spoofing Mozart’s Don Giovanni. “It’s a wonderful introduction to the world of opera,” Harrington said, “both for the complete novice and the advanced university student.”

After the two weekend performances at HSU, the Opera Workshop will take the show on the road to entertain high school and middle school students in Sacramento and Redding.

HSU Opera Workshop performs on Friday November 5 at 8 pm and a child-friendly 6 pm on Saturday November 6, in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 children/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Opera Workshop is directed by Elisabeth Harrington, and produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Humboldt Beacon.

Members of the fall 2010 HSU Opera Workshop

Opera Workshop: Program

From Opera Tales by John Davies
(note: not necessarily performance order)

Three Little Pigs
based on scenes from operas by Mozart
with music from Mozart's Don Giovani and Cosi Fan Tutte
Directed by Elisabeth Harrington

Pinocchio
From the story by Carlo Collodi, based on scenes from operas by W.A. Mozart, G. Donizetti, J. Offenbach, and G.B. Pergolesi.
with music from Mozart’s Die Entfuehrung Aus Dem Serail and Offenbach’s: The Tales of Hoffmann.
Directed by Christopher Hatcher

Jack & the Beanstalk
based on scenes from the operettas of Sir Arthur Sullivan
with music from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Princess Ida, The Gondoliers, and H.M.S. Pinafore.
Directed by Elisabeth Harrington

Little Red's Most Unusual Day
An operatic version of the story of Little Red Riding Hood based on scenes from operas by J. Offenbach and G. Rossini
with music from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann and La Vie Parisienne.
Directed by Danielle Van de Wetering.

Treats and a Trick with the Humboldt Symphony

The Humboldt Symphony ushers in Halloween this fall with some spooky music treats and an extra-musical trick. It’s all part of a family-friendly concert on Saturday October 30 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

In the evening’s bag of symphonic music are two works with a Halloween resonance—especially the rousing Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky, as orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Generations have heard major elements of Night on Bald Mountain in movies from The Wizard of Oz to a disco version in Saturday Night Fever, and have seen it illustrated in Walt Disney’s Fantasia and a famous Bugs Bunny cartoon (“What’s Opera, Doc?”) Its association with Halloween was recognized recently as a theme in one of the "Nightmare on Elm Street”movies.

“We get this combination of inspired music orchestrated by one of the best orchestrators who ever lived,” said Humboldt Symphony conductor Paul Cummings. “It’s the best of both worlds.”

Inspired by a short story by Gogol that involves witchcraft, and with a melody originally conceived for an opera called “The Witch”, it depicts (in the composer’s words) “subterranean sounds from supernatural voices” and “spirits of the dark.”

Last on the evening’s program, its performance will include a surprise that relates to the Halloween theme. Symphony conductor Paul Cummings won’t reveal more, except that he hopes it’s something that families in the audience will enjoy.

Before that, the Symphony plays The Peer Gynt Suite #1 by Grieg, a musical depiction of a fantasy involving the hero’s adventures among trolls, including a euphoric dance and a frantic escape.

“Much of the suite is quite famous,” Cummings said. Elements of it have been used in many movies, television shows and even a video game. The “In the Hall of the Mountain King” section has been reinterpreted by pop groups such as the Electric Light Orchestra and Apocalyptica. But the original suite “has some beautiful orchestral music,” Cummings said, “and it features some terrific playing by our HSU students.”

The concert also includes a prelude by Johannes Brahms in a form developed by J.S. Bach, and a baroque ballet suite by Jean-Baptiste de Lully.

The Humboldt Symphony performs an all-family concert on Saturday October 30 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. Symphony conducted by Paul Cummings, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Tri-City Weekly, Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Humboldt Beacon.

Humboldt Symphony: The Program

With comments by conductor Paul Cummings...


1.Balletstucke (Ballet Suite) by Jean-Baptiste de Lully

“Lilly was most active in the 1670s and 1680s, the middle of the Baroque period. He was the chief court composer for Louis XIV, and was known as the dictator of the musical scene for decades, keeping other composers out of the picture. At the time he conducted, he didn’t use a baton but a large staff—like a walking stick—that he pounded on the floor to keep the beat. Unfortunately he hit his own foot and caused an infection that killed him.

This piece is classic dance music of the 17th century in four movements. It’s not exactly in its original form, because the Baroque orchestra was smaller. F. Mottl arranged it for a larger orchestra.”

2. Chorale Prelude: "Oh God, Thou Holiest" by Johannes Brahms.

“This was transcribed for orchestra by Erich Leinsdorf, probably from a composition for organ. It’s a hymn using long, slow notes played by a variety of instruments, while everyone else in the orchestra is embellishing and commenting on the hymn. This is a form developed by J.S. Bach, and in this piece Brahms is expressing his reverence for Bach.”

3. Peer Gynt Suite #1 by Edvard Grieg

“Grieg was a 19th century Norwegian composer, an ardent nationalist who wanted to celebrate the culture of Norway, and bring the great folk music of the culture to the attention of modern audiences. The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen asked him to write incidental music for Peer Gynt, his play about a Norwegian folk hero. He wrote 22 movements for the three hours of the play, but this music is never performed now. Grieg extracted two suites from this music, and we’re playing the first.

As a folk hero, Peer Gynt is kind of a scoundrel who travels around and has adventures, getting in trouble everywhere he goes. This suite follows some of those adventures. The fourth movement is In the Hall of the Mountain King, a very famous piece. Peer is being entertained by a group of trolls who serve the Mountain King. He joins them in a celebration but when he realizes they expect him to marry the King’s daughter, he tries to escape, and the trolls chase him. The music evokes this very well.

Much of the suite is quite famous. There’s some beautifully written orchestral music, and it features terrific playing by our HSU students—many solo passages are beautifully executed.”


4. Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky

“Mussorgsky was also a 19th nationalist, very Russian in character. This piece was conceived as an opera from a story by Gogol. It takes place on St. John’s Eve, which is just before the summer solstice, but has become associated with Halloween.

Mussorgsky wrote a little about what he was imagining when he wrote it, and you can hear it all in the music: ‘subterranean sounds from supernatural voices,’ ‘spirits of the dark,’ the Underworld. There’s vivid writing for the instruments capturing these dark tone colors and effects—you can hear wind blowing fiercely and picture flames and fiery scenes. It’s program music at its height.

The version we’re doing is quite an amazing orchestration by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who literally wrote the book on orchestration that was used in the 19th and 20th centuries. So we get this combination of Mussorgsky’s inspired music orchestrated by one of the greatest orchestrators who ever lived—the best of both worlds.

It’s a well-known piece, and since it is now associated with Halloween, we’re presenting an extra-musical surprise during the performance. Part of the reason is that in the classical music world, we’re pretty conservative in our presentation. We’re downright stuffy. You come in, sit down, be quiet, don’t clap between movements, don’t talk at all—but enjoy yourself. So part of our effort is to lighten up a little, at least for this one piece. We do want to encourage people to come to concerts who might not otherwise come. At the same time, the music can stand on its own. We’re just going to be a little adventurous.”

HSU Student Composers Free Concert

New music by HSU composition students will be performed by faculty, Music Department staff musicians and students in a free concert on Friday October 29.

David Adkins, Sara Scibetta and John Garritano are among the composers participating.

According to composition teacher J. Brian Post, students experiment with both new and traditional approaches in composing, and typically reflect influences from American folk music, jazz, rock & roll, film scores and European art music.

Some of the evening’s music will be electronically produced, and some performed on traditional instruments.

The fall Composers Concert is Friday October 29 at 8 PM in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. There is no admission charge. Composers Concert directed by J. Brian Post, produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye, Humboldt Beacon.

Impress Your Family with the Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra

Just in time for Homecoming and Family Weekend, the HSU Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra share the first (mostly) student concert of the school year on October 16 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall.

The Symphonic Band directed by Dr. Kenneth Ayoob features the dynamic suite adapted for band and brass quintet from Leonard Bernstein’s epic Mass, which Jacqueline Kennedy commissioned for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. The Humboldt Bay Brass Quintet led by Dr. Gilbert Cline joins the Symphonic Band for this striking work. Composer of West Side Story as well as orchestral pieces, Bernstein used multi-cultural and popular influences to energize his music.

Also on the Band’s program is the popular Undertow by the very young contemporary composer John Mackey (he just turned 21.) “It’s an exciting overture,” said Dr. Ayoob. “It has an infectious bass line and a compelling melody.” Mackey’s music has been hailed by the New York Times as “a terse, powerful explosion of transformative energy.”

Then in what Dr. Ayoob calls a “spectacular and brilliant composition” ideally suited to the Symphonic Band, there’s music to accompany a marching army in an excerpt from a work by French composer Hector Berlioz.

The Band’s final piece is Variations on a Korean Folk Song, a short but important work by American composer John Barnes Chance, based on melodies he heard while serving in the U.S. Army in Korea. There are five variations with different tempos and moods, with a powerful ending.

Then after the break the Jazz Orchestra directed by Dan Aldag takes the audience on a couple of train rides—on a fast New York subway in “GG Train” by Charles Mingus, and a more leisurely romp through the South on Duke Ellington’s “Happy-Go-Lucky-Local.”

The Orchestra also plays one of Ellington’s best-known melodies, “Mood Indigo,” but in a new arrangement by contemporary composer and jazz bassist John Clayton—one of three tunes by jazz greats with new arrangements. The others are Charlie Parker’s bebop classic “Anthropology” as arranged by Seattle saxophonist Mark Taylor, and Jimmy Heath’s “Gingerbread Boy,” with an arrangement reminiscent of New Orleans jazz by saxophonist Mike Tomaro.

The Jazz Orchestra completes its set and the evening with some actual old school New Orleans jazz: Jelly Roll Morton’s “Black Bottom Stomp.”

The HSU Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra perform on Saturday October 16 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, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye.

Finding Home: An Eclectic Evening with Soprano Elisabeth Harrington and Friends

With HSU faculty and graduates collaborating—including one of her own former students—soprano and HSU Music professor Elisabeth Harrington sings an eclectic program of opera, art songs, musical theatre and jazz, in concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Saturday October 9.

Harrington’s former student is baritone Christopher Hatcher, and their music together suggests the range of this evening’s program. They perform selections the 19th century comic opera Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti, with Jonathan Webster—another recent HSU graduate--on piano. They combine earlier on a piece by innovative 20th century French composer Gabriel Fauré: his “Pavane,” with a haunting melody that’s been recorded many times on a variety of instruments, with and without the vocal part. HSU Music faculty member Laura Snodgrass joins them on flute, with Jonathan Webster again on piano.

Harrington begins the evening with one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s earliest published works, written when he was 17. Exsultate, jubilate has been described as his first masterpiece. Harrington sings the final “Alleluia” section, which a Mozart biographer called "a jewel of a piece with its high spirits and its wit.” HSU faculty members Gil Gline and Robin Miller join in, on trumpet and piano.

With HSU staff pianist John Chernoff accompanying, Harrington sings Les adieux de l’hôtesse arabe, a song with a Middle Eastern flavor by Georges Bizet, and ( joined by Laura Snodgrass) Trois Chants de Noël for Soprano, Flute and Piano by 20th century Swiss composer Frank Martin.

Harrington sings three songs by Ricky Ian Gordon, an eclectic contemporary American composer of musical theatre and song cycles. Gordon is known for creating music for the words of modern poets, and Harrington’s selections include “Heaven” (with lyrics by Langston Hughes) and “Wild Swan” (text by Edna St. Vincent Millay.) She also sings Gordon’s signature song, “Finding Home” from his 1999 show, Dream True. Pianist John Chernoff accompanies.

With HSU faculty member Robin Miller on piano, Harrington ends the evening with a song that combines opera and jazz: “The Girl in 14 G” by Jeanine Tesori, from the Kristen Chenowith album, Let Yourself Go.

Elisabeth Harrington and friends perform on Saturday October 9 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. A Faculty Artists concert produced by HSU Department of Music.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye Online, Humboldt Beacon, Tri-City Weekly.

Elisabeth Harrington & Friends: The Program

Elisabeth Harrington, soprano
Christopher Hatcher, baritone
Laura Snodgrass, flute
Gil Cline, trumpet
John Chernoff, piano
Robin Miller, piano
Jonathan Webster, piano

Alleluia from Exsultate, Jubilate by W. A. Mozart
(1756-1791)

Gil Cline, trumpet in B-flat
Robin Miller, piano


Les adieux de l’hôtesse arabe by Georges Bizet
(1838-1875)

from Les Pêcheurs de perles
“Me voilà seule dans la nuit…Comme autrefois”

John Chernoff, piano


Trois Chants de Noel for Soprano, Flute and Piano by Frank Martin (1890-1974):
Les Cadeaux
Image de Noël
Les Bergers

Laura Snodgrass, flute
John Chernoff, piano


Pavane Opus 50 Gabriel Fauré
(1845-1924)

Laura Snodgrass, flute
Christpher Hatcher, baritone
Jonathan Webster, piano

~intermission~

from Act I of Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti
(1797-1848)
Recitative: “Quel guardo il cavaliere” Aria: “So anch’io la virtù magica
Recitative: “E il dottor no si vede!…”
Duet: “Pronta io son”

Christopher Hatcher, baritone
Jonathan Webster, piano


By Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956):
Wild Swans
Heaven
Finding Home

John Chernoff, piano


Jeanine Tesori: "The Girl in 14G"
from Kristin Chenowith – Let Yourself Go

Robin Miller, piano

Legendary Pianist Natalya Antonova in Class and All-Chopin Concert at HSU

Natalya Antonova is the definition of a living legend, as a pianist and as a teacher. She is coming to Humboldt State University in both of these roles, culminating in an all-Chopin concert on Saturday evening, October 2. For local audiences and students “it’s an incredible opportunity,” said pianist and HSU Music professor Daniela Mineva.

As a performer, Antonova is “a superb stylist and extraordinary technician,” Mineva said. “Her gloriously artistic playing seduces with sensitivity and powerful interpretations. Many of her peers refer to her piano recitals as life-changing events.”

Natalya Antonova began studying piano at the age of four at the Leningrad Conservatory, where she would later become the youngest professor since the school’s founding in 1862. She has performed throughout the world, participating in many international festivals, and has given hundreds of master classes and lectures, from the Moscow Academy of Music and the Paris Conservatory to the New England Conservatory and Taiwan University.

"She represents the best of the famous Russian School of Piano Playing," Mineva said, referring to a set of approaches and techniques originally developed in the 19th century, which also honors individuality.

At HSU her solo concert will honor the 200th anniversary year of Frederic Chopin’s birth, providing a diverse sampling of his work beginning with his first published piece, the Rondo in C Minor. “Chopin banished the ordinary from his music, and opened the door to an emotional ambiguity that continues to intrigue listeners,” writes NPR’s Ted Libbey. “Every piece he produced was a pearl.”

Antonova will play Chopin’s Scherzo #1 in B Minor and his Fantasy in F Minor. In the concert’s second half, she performs 10 of the 24 Preludes Chopin composed in the 1830s as a series of short pieces, each in one of the 24 musical keys. She concludes with a two movement work, Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante, originally published as a work for piano and orchestra.

Currently a professor at the Eastman School of Music, Antonova is also a legendary teacher, with many successful international pianists among her former students. In addition to her performance, she will teach a Piano Master Class in Fulkerson Hall at HSU at noon on October 1, free to HSU students and the community. “As a teacher,” said Daniela Mineva, “Ms. Antonova is simply magical.”

Natalya Antonova performs an all-Chopin concert on Saturday October 2 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. A Guest Artist Series concert produced by the HSU Department of Music.

Media: lead story at Humboldt State Now; Tri-City Weekly, Arcata Eye, Humboldt Beacon, North Coast Journal.

Natalya Antonova: The Program


Dedicated to the 200th year anniversary of Chopin

First part:

Rondo c-minor op 1

Scherzo #1 b-minor op 20

Fantasy f-minor op 49

Second part:

10 preludes op 28

Andante Spianato and Grand Brilliant Polonaise op 22

New Trio Plays New Trio: Vipisa’s Debut with World Premiere

It’s a new trio premiering new music. But of course, there’s a backstory.

“We played together last fall,” explained violinist and HSU Music professor Cindy Moyer, referring to her colleagues, Virginia Ryder on saxophone and clarinet, and pianist John Chernoff. “We were having so much fun that we decided to make it a permanent group.”

Hence the Vipisa Trio. But who—or where, or what—is Vipisa? An obscure but important historical figure? The hidden birthplace of a musical genius? A corporate sponsor? Their favorite toothpaste?

“We made it up,” Moyer confessed. “It’s the first letters of ‘VIolin,’ ‘PIano’ and ‘SAxophone.’”

Fittingly enough for their first official concert, the Vipisa Trio will perform a World Premiere, of the Trio of Piano, Violin, and Alto Saxophone by contemporary jazz and rock artist and composer David Morgan, of the David Morgan Trio.

In fact, the music is so fresh that the composer was sending it “hot off the presses” directly to Vipisa. Of the five movements, “the first two have been performed many times, and we performed the third last fall,” Moyer said. “But our performance on the 25th will be the World Premiere of the complete piece.”

Pianist David Morgan has written for film and television as well as for several jazz albums with his David Morgan Trio. His most recent release, “Ordinary Glory,” is a rock/pop album which he also produced. “Part of our fun was discovering his music, and working with him,” Moyers said.

The David Morgan work comprises the second half of the concert. Before intermission, the trio plays Dance Suite for Violin, Alto Saxophone and Piano by contemporary American composer and pianist Walter S. Hartley. Composing since 1949, Hartley is known for works that feature the saxophone. “Hartley’s music is very contrapuntal,” Moyer said. “Each instrument has different melodies that are passed around the group.”

Also in the first half, Vipisa performs the Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano by 20th century Armenian-born composer Aram Khachaturian. With Shostakovich and Prokofiev, Khachaturian was among the trio of major composers of the Soviet Union alternatingly condemned and honored by the government. He composed this work in 1932. “It’s very rhapsodic,” Moyer said, “with hints of Khachaturian’s native Armenian folk music.”

The Vipisa Trio debuts on Saturday September 25 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. This is a Faculty Artists Series concert produced by the HSU Department of Music.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye.

The Vipisa Trio: The Program

Cindy Moyer, violin
Virginia Ryder, saxophone and clarinet
John Chernoff, piano


Dance Suite for Violin, Alto Saxophone, and Piano by Walter S. Hartley
Polonaise brillante: Allegretto (Valse Lente
Polka Fantasque

Trio for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano by Aram Khachaturian
Andante con dolore, con molto espressione
Allegro
Moderato

I N T E R M I S S I O N

Trio of Piano, Violin, and Alto Saxophone* David Morgan
Tango: Allegro (Consolation
Towers
Belo Horizonte
The Secret of the Golden Flower


*world premiere

Daniela Mineva in First HSU Solo Concert

For her first solo concert since joining the HSU Music faculty, pianist Daniela Mineva will lead the audience on a journey through different styles from different places, on September 18 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

The first stop is an 18th century piano sonata by Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn. Haydn’s contributions to the sonata form were among many innovations by this friend of Mozart and teacher of Beethoven. Mineva plays a section of one of his earliest, the Sonata in G.

The next stop is 19th century Poland and two pieces by Frederic Chopin, the Nocturne in F minor and a piano Etude. “This is the year of Chopin,” Mineva notes—the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1810.

Then to France for pieces by 20th century composers Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen. “They are very similar in how they see the world in pictures,” Mineva said. She will play her own reduction for solo piano of one of Debussy’s most famous works, “Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faune,” and three Preludes by Messiaen, each depicting a feature of the landscape.

The second half of Mineva’s concert features a piece about a Persian Princess and one of the world’s most famous storytellers: Scheherazade. It’s a section from “Masques” by the 20th century Polish composer Karol Szymanowski, which is considered a “skill-testing challenge to pianists,” according to a contemporary Polish music scholar.

The journey ends back in France with “Choral and Variations” by contemporary composer Henri Dutilleux, which Mineva calls “a jazzy audience-pleaser.”

Before joining the HSU Music faculty, Daniela Mineva taught at the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded an excellence in teaching prize in 2007. Among her accomplishments as a pianist are an award from the Jean Francaix piano competition in Paris and a “Highest Artistic Level of Performance” award for a solo recital at a festival in Italy, both also in 2007. She played in several group concerts at HSU last year, notably with HSU Music violinist Cindy Moyer, and guest artists, violinist Bin Huang and pianist Caleb Harris.

Pianist Daniela Mineva performs her first HSU solo concert on Saturday September 18 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye.

Daniela Mineva: The Program

J. Haydn -Sonata in G major H:XVI-40
Allegretto inocente
Presto

F. Chopin- Nocturne in f minor, op.55, #1
Etude, op.25, #12

C. Debussy- "Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faune", reduction for solo piano D. Mineva

O. Messiaen- Three Preludes
The Dove
Ecstasy Song the background of sad landscape
Reflection in the wind

C. Szymanowski- "Scheherazade" from Masques, op. 34

H. Duttileux- Choral and Variations

[click photo to enlarge]
HSU Music Faculty Play Welcome Concert

Performing solo or more often in duos, trios, a quartet and a quintet, no fewer than eighteen HSU Music Department faculty and staff players take the stage to start the school year with a musical bang, in a Welcoming Concert and reception beginning at 5 pm on Saturday, September 11 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Faculty artists perform throughout the year, but according to professor and performer Elisabeth Harrington, this is an unusual opportunity to experience “the diverse talents of our music faculty in one concert. It’s a way of saying, ‘welcome back to the school year—we are your HSU Music Department and we have a lot of fabulous music to share with you!’”

That diversity is expressed not only in the range of instruments and combinations but in musical styles, from 19th century classics to contemporary composers.

Harrington will sing two selections from contemporary composer Ricky Ian Gordon, accompanied by pianist John Chernoff. Pianist Daniela Mineva plays two pieces by Chopin. Percussionist Eugene Novotney performs one of his own compositions.

The dynamic duos of Paul Cummings on clarinet and John Chernoff on piano perform pieces by 19th century German composer Paul Hindemith, followed by guitarist Nicholas Lambson and flutist Laura Snodgrass playing several Romanian Dances by Bela Bartok.

Short pieces by German Romantic composer Max Bruch will be performed by the trio of Kenneth Ayoob on clarinet, Karen Davy on viola and Robin Miller on piano. A string quartet (Cindy Moyer and Karen Davy on violin, Sherry Hanson on viola, David Davis on cello) play two sections of a piece by contemporary composer Robert Sirota that commemorates the tragic events of 9/11/2001 in New York City.

The Humboldt Bay Brass Quintet (which in this case includes bassist Shao Way Wu and pianist Daniela Mineva as well as Matthew Morgan on horn, and Gilbert Cline and Frederic Belanger on trumpets) performs a piece by contemporary composer Michael Cunningham.

The concert will be followed by a reception, open to all concertgoers.

“We love what we do, teaching and creating music,” Elisabeth Harrington said. “And we want to share it. So come and enjoy a great concert, and meet the artists afterwards.”

The Welcome Concert begins at 5 pm on Saturday September 11 in Fulkerson Recital Hall, with the reception immediately afterwards. Tickets are $8/$3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music production.

Media: HSU Now, Arcata Eye.

Welcome Concert: The Program

Sonate by Paul Hindemith
I Massig bewegt (1895-1963)
IV Kleines Rondo, gemachlich
P. Cummings, clarinet
J. Chernoff, piano

Romanian Folk Dances (1915) (6 mins.) Bela Bartok

1. Jocul cu bâta (or Joc cu bâtă) – Dance With Stick - Stick Game
2. Brâul – Waistband Dance- Peasant Costume
3. Pe Loc – Stamping Dance - Standing Still
4. Buciumeana - Horn Dance
5. Poarga Românească – Romanian Polka
6. Mărunţel – Quick Dance

Nicholas Lambson, guitar
Laura Snodgrass, flute

Nocturne in f minor, op.50 by Frederic Chopin
Etude, op.25, # 12-
Daniela Mineva, piano


Wild Swans, Finding Home by Ricky Ian Gordon
Elisabeth Harrington, soprano
John Chernoff, piano


Selections from 8 Pieces op 83 by Max Bruch
I. Andante
V. Rumanian Melody
IV Allegro Agitato

Ken Ayoob, clarinet
Karen Davy, viola
Robin Miller, piano

--Intermssion--

Cross (1977) by Eugene Novotney

Eugene Novotney, percussion


Triptych by Robert Sirota
II. Lamentation
III. Prayer

Cindy Moyer, violin
Karen Davy, violin
Sherry Hanson, viola
David Davis, cello


Epitaph (1964) by Michael Cunningham

Humboldt Bay Brass Quintet
Gilbert Cline & Frédéric Bélanger, trumpets
Matthew Morgan, horn
Toshi Noguchi, trombone
Wu Shao Way, bass
Daniela Minieva, piano

Welcome to 2010-11!

HSU Department of Music faculty will be officially welcoming members of the campus community, new and returning, with--what else?--music!

A concert on Saturday, September 11 at 5pm features HSU Music faculty players and a reception immediately afterwards.

Photo and details will be posted here soon. As usual, HSU Music is your source for information on upcoming HSU Music Department performances.

Alyssa Bowlby

Soprano Alyssa Bowlby sings and talks about heroines in music from Verdi and Mozart to Lerner & Loewe in a Guest Artist Series recital on Thursday May 13 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music production.

Songs of Heroines by Guest Artist Alyssa Bowlby

In a program that highlights musical “Heroines,” soprano Alyssa Bowlby will describe as well as sing each of her selections from Mozart, Verdi, Beethoven and others, in an HSU Guest Artist recital at Fulkerson Hall on Thursday, May 13.

Her examples come from three operas by Verdi (including La Traviata) and two by Mozart (The Magic Flute and Abduction from the Seraglio.) She finds more heroines in Puccini’s La Boheme, Beethoven’s Fidelio, the Doll’s Song from Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman, as well in works by Schubert and Massenet.

Not all the examples are from grand opera. Bowlby also performs a song from Candide, the operetta by Leonard Bernstein first performed in 1956, and “ I Could Have Danced All Night” from the Lerner and Loewe musical, My Fair Lady. She will talk for a few minutes about each selection and how it relates to her theme.

Alyssa Bowlby is based in New York City, where she appears frequently with the Mimesis Ensemble. She has sung with Project Opera of Manhattan, Brooklyn Repertory Opera, the Garden State Opera, and Empire Opera of New York.

After being hailed by a Houston newspaper as “delightfully charming and touching” in her role of Musetta in the Houston Opera in the Heights production of La Boheme, she was invited to perform in five more operas there in the next three years. Later this year she will play Abigail Williams in the English language opera of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, with the Empire Opera.

Alyssa Bowlby earned her BA and Phil Beta Kappa key at Haverford College, and her Masters from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. The Baltimore Sun called her singing “fearless” and “intense.” In 2007 she sang and was interviewed on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

For her Humboldt State recital, she will be accompanied by HSU pianist John Chernoff.

Soprano Alyssa Bowlby appears in a Guest Artist Series recital on Thursday May 13 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets: $8/$3 students and seniors from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music production.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye

University Singers & Humboldt Chorale

HSU University Singers and Humboldt Chorale concert features music inspired by poetry of Robert Frost, James Agee and Ogden Nash, on Sunday night, May 9 at 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 Ryder. Produced by HSU Music Department.

2010 University Singers. Click photo to enlarge.

Something Like A Star: Poems That Inspire Song

Poems by Robert Frost, Ogden Nash and others are the inspiration for vocal works sung by the HSU University Singers and the community-based Humboldt Chorale in their joint concert on Sunday night, May 9 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

American choral composer Randall Thompson set seven poems by Robert Frost to music for the bicentennial of Amherst, Massachusetts, where Frost had lived. The University Singers will perform the seventh of these, “Choose Something Like A Star,” with its final lines: “So when at times the mob is swayed/To carry praise or blame too far,/We may choose something like a star/To stay our minds on and be staid.”

After a choral arrangement of “Tatkovina,” a traditional Macedonian folk song (with violin accompaniment by Amanda Lake), and the finale from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Gondoliers,” the University Singers perform a longer work, “Carmina Burana” by German composer Carl Orff. A 20th century piece, it is a scenic oratorio derived from a large group of medieval poems discovered in the early 19th century.

In its half of the concert, the Humboldt Chorale performs two pieces directly based on 20th century American poems. As part of his 2005 “Nocturnes,” choral composer Morten Lauridsen wrote music for a poem by 20th century American writer James Agee that begins: “Sure on this shining night/Of star made shadows round,/Kindness must watch for me/This side the ground.” Lauridsen received the Medal of Freedom in 2007.

The most famous 20th century American writer of light verse, Ogden Nash wrote a number of witty--and silly—poems about animals. Contemporary American composer Eric Whitacre set some of them to music. The result is “Animal Crackers,” also performed by the Humboldt Chorale.

The Chorale’s featured work is “Fancies” by English choral composer John Ritter, a set of songs meant to suggest the fleeting fancies that might occur to a poet on an idyllic summer night.

HSU students comprise the University Singers, directed by HSU Music professor Harley Muilenburg, while the Humboldt Chorale is a community-based group, directed by Carol McWhorter Ryder. John Chernoff provides piano accompaniment for the Singers, and Larry Pitts for the Chorale.

The HSU University Singers and Humboldt Chorale perform on Sunday night, May 9 at 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. Produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye

Humboldt Symphony

The Humboldt Symphony celebrates Cinco de Mayo with Latin and Latin-influenced music plus a virtuoso trumpet concerto on Friday night May 7 at 8 pm and Sunday afternoon May 9 at 3 pm 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, produced by HSU Music Department.

Humboldt Symphony soloist Branden Lewis

A Symphonic Cinco de Mayo at HSU

The Humboldt Symphony celebrates Cinco de Mayo with a popular piece by a contemporary Mexican composer and other Latin and Latin influenced orchestral works, on Friday night May 7 and Sunday afternoon May 9 at Fulkerson Recital Hall. This annual spring concert also features trumpeter Branden Lewis, the student winner of this year’s Concerto Aria competition.

“Danzón No. 2 by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez is the highlight of our program,” said Humboldt Symphony conductor Paul Cummings. “It has the Mexican culture written all over it, in terms of themes, rhythms, instrumentation and the overall style of the music.”

This piece became famous recently when conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela played it in its concerts around the world, including in the U.S. “It became wildly popular,” Cummings said, “and one of Dudamel’s signature pieces.” Dudamel is now music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Three other works on the Symphony program are notable not only for their Latin connection, but as orchestral works that began as compositions for piano.

French composer Emmanuel Chabrier wrote Habanera, his homage to the Spain he knew from his travels, originally for piano in 1885, and transcribed it for orchestra three years later. The Russian-born, American modernist master Igor Stravinsky (who knew and admired Chabrier’s work) composed Tango for piano in 1941, and adapted it for orchestra in 1953. Audiences at this concert can judge the differences for themselves, because pianist Emily Loeffler will play the piano version before the Symphony plays the orchestral version.

The third such piece is Souvenir de Porto Rico by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, adapted for orchestra by Thor Johnson. “Gottschalk was a 19th century American composer, and we don’t have many of those,” Cummings said, “at least whose music is still being performed.” Born in New Orleans and steeped in the music of that city, Gottschalk incorporated rhythms and styles that later came to be associated with jazz and ragtime. “He wrote very syncopated melodies—he was very much a pioneer of styles that are uniquely American.”

Gottschalk lived for a time in Puerto Rico and traveled widely in the Caribbean. “This piece is his reminiscence,” Cummings said, “and these syncopated rhythms and wide use of percussion have a definite Latin flavor.”

Not part of the Cinco de Mayo theme but definitely part of the spring concert event, the winner of this year’s HSU Concerto Aria competition, trumpeter Branden Lewis, plays the first movement of the Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra by 20th century French composer Henri Tomasi. “Though there’s a fairly equal dialogue between the soloist and the ensemble,” Cummings said, “this is certainly a virtuoso piece for the trumpet.”

In the Concerto Aria competition, held in November, students select and play a piece with piano accompaniment that they propose to perform with orchestra or band. A panel of judges consisting of Music Department faculty and local professionals chose Branden Lewis for this year’s award.

The Humboldt Symphony spring concert is performed twice: on Friday night, May 7 at 8 pm, and on the following Sunday afternoon, May 9, at 3 pm. Both take place 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, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: TriCity Weekly, Humboldt State Now, Humboldt Beacon, Arcata Eye

AM Jazz Band/ HSU Jazz Orchestra

HSU’s AM Jazz Band plays Coltrane, Ellington and more on Thursday May 6 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall. HSU Jazz Orchestra celebrates the 100th birthday of jazz immortal Mary Lou Williams with the first public performance of one of her compositions, and plays a tune by Arcata native son Nathan Smith on Saturday May 8 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Ticket prices for each concert 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, produced by HSU Music Department.

Jazz Orchestra in Birthday Tribute to a Jazz Immortal

On her 100th birthday—Saturday May 8-- HSU Jazz Orchestra celebrates jazz immortal Mary Lou Williams, with the first public performance of her arrangement of one of her songs. The concert also features a song by a North Coast favorite son.

Together with jazz classics from the AM Jazz Band on Thursday, this is the final HSU jazz concert of the school year. Both concerts are in Fulkerson Recital Hall, beginning at 8.

Born on May 8, 1910, Mary Lou Williams played jazz piano in Pittsburgh beginning as a child, and went on the road to perform, write and arrange in the twenties and thirties. Her stellar career continued until her death in 1981. “Mary Lou Williams is perpetually contemporary,” wrote Duke Ellington in his autobiography. “Her writing and performing have always been a little ahead throughout her career. Her music retains, and maintains, a standard of quality that is timeless. She is like soul on soul."

A highlight of the Jazz Orchestra birthday concert is the world premiere public performance of the arrangement she wrote for the Duke Ellington band of her song "Ogeechee River Lullaby." It features local jazz vocalist Bill Allison.

The Jazz Orchestra will also play Williams’ first known composition, "Mess-a-Stomp," recorded in 1929, as well as several of her tunes from the 1930s (“Mary’s Idea,” “Big Jim Blues,” “Walkin’ and Swingin’”).

From her 1940s output, the Jazz Orchestra selects some seldom heard pieces, like "In The Land Of Oo-Bla-Dee" (which also features singer Bill Allison), as well as a section of her signature Zodiac Suite: “Scorpio.”

After withdrawing from performance in the 1950s to concentrate on charity work, Mary Lou Williams made a triumphant return in the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, and never looked back. The Jazz Orchestra will play several of her late 1960s compositions, including “Aries Mood” and “New Musical Express.” “With their sometimes startling dissonances,” said orchestra director and HSU Music professor Dan Aldag, “these works show that Williams had kept up with the many changes in jazz.”

The Jazz Orchestra will play other works in addition to Mary Lou Williams' music, including “Recollection,” by Arcata favorite son, Nathan Smith. Smith graduated from Arcata High, earned music degrees in Florida and at the Eastman School of Music, and has won several awards for his compositions. In addition to leading a 10-piece band in New York, he transcribes older jazz compositions from recordings, and recreates scores for new performances. “In a nice piece of symmetry,” Dan Aldag notes, “his most recent transcribing work has been of some of Mary Lou Williams’ music.”

A few nights before the Jazz Orchestra concert, the AM Jazz Band performs other jazz classics, including tunes by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard and Tito Puente. Philip Sagastume is featured on tenor sax on "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" by Duke Ellington.

The AM Jazz Band performs on Thursday, May 6, and the Jazz Orchestra on Saturday, May 9. Both concerts are in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at 8 pm, and prices are the same for each: $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Both ensembles are directed by Dan Aldag, and the concerts are produced by HSU Music Department.

Mary Lou Williams in the 1930s

Media for concert: TriCity Weekly, Humboldt State Now, Humboldt Beacon, North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye

Madrigal and Mad River Transit Singers

Love songs and three kinds of blues are the themes for the annual Madrigal Singers and Mad River Transit spring concert on Sunday May 2 at 8 pm 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, produced by HSU Music Department.

2010 Madrigal Singers

A Madrigal Comedy and Three Kinds of Blues

A classic evening of Renaissance love songs leads naturally into a modern set of three kinds of blues, in the annual spring concert of the HSU Madrigal Singers and the Mad River Transit jazz group, on Sunday May 2 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

In the golden age of the English madrigal it was called a Madrigal Comedy: a concert of songs about love. The HSU Madrigal Singers performs songs of love’s season of spring, courtship, and love’s complications, before songs celebrating the culminating event that defines Shakespearian comedy: the wedding.

The songwriters include the traditional John Dowland, Thomas Morley and Robert Jones, and Henry Purcell’s “In These Delightful Pleasant Groves,” but also a movement from “Five Hebrew Love Songs” by contemporary composer Eric Whitacre.

The Mad River Transit jazz singers update these themes with blues tunes by John Coltrane, “Toots” Thielemans, Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen. Soloists include Claire Bent, Sara Scibetta, Calista Labolle and Brandy Rose.

MRT singers are backed by the rhythm section of Darius Brotman on piano, Sam Reynolds on bass and Jonathan Kipp on drums.

The HSU Madrigal Singers and MRT perform on Sunday May 2 at 8 pm 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, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Arcata Eye, Humboldt State Now, Humboldt Beacon.