Haley Cress as Little Eir and James Gadd as Oolarana the village leader in “A King Island Christmas” presented by the Humboldt Chorale.

Celebrate the Holidays with Humboldt Chorale and University Singers

 The holiday program sung by the Humboldt Chorale and the University Singers of Humboldt State on December 11 reflects two aspects of the season.

The University Singers perform the sacred music of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” a choral work in twelve cantata-like sections from the Latin Mass. Its twelve movements have been described as theatrical and rich in contrast: energetic, profound, buoyant, elegant, majestic, heart-rending and joyful.

Participating in this University Singers concert are 67 HSU students. Soloists include soprano Brandy Rose, soprano Elena Tessler, alto Tina Toomata and alto Claire Bent.

The Humboldt Chorale then celebrates family and community in “King Island Christmas” by David Friedman and Deborah Brevoort. Based on true events, it’s the inspiring story of Alaskan villagers who together devise and carry out an audacious plan to rescue a special passenger marooned on a freighter in the stormy sea, and by doing so rescue the island’s Christmas.

The lead characters are played by James Gadd, Cindy Cress, Haley Cress, Rachel Post, Irv Tessler and Bill Ryder. The oratorio provides for more than 50 soloists. The Humboldt Chorale is a choir of 90 singers from the community and the university.

The University Singers

The University Singers and Humboldt Chorale holiday concert is on Sunday December 11 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. University Singers directed by Harley Muilenburg, Humboldt Chorale by Carol Ryder, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye

Director Dan Aldag rehearses the Jazz Orchestra

Jazz Orchestra Swings Through the Decades

From Ellington to Radiohead, the HSU Jazz Orchestra swings through the decades on Saturday December 10 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

The 1940s are represented by Big Band classics, including a landmark Billy Strayhorn tune for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Two pieces from the 1950s celebrate the Swing era, including a Nat King Cole tune featuring vocalist Jo Kuzelka.

From the 1960s comes the hard bop of Herbie Hancock, and from the 1990s a Kenny Wheeler piece that features Justin Bertolini on flugelhorn. Philip Sagastume performs a tenor sax solo on a Radiohead tune from the year 2000: “Everything In Its Right Place.”

After performing his composition “Energy Generation” with his quartet here in September, jazz saxophonist Donny McCaslin left an orchestra arrangement of this tune with HSU professor and Jazz Orchestra leader Dan Aldag. Its performance features Matt Brogdon on tenor sax. The concert rounds out with an original tune by HSU student Aber Miller.

The HSU Jazz Orchestra performs on Saturday December 10 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Dan Aldag, produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye

Jazz Orchestra Director's Notes

The Jazz Orchestra is playing music from a broad variety of genres and time periods, from the 1940s to today. The oldest pieces are "Chelsea Bridge" and "Tippin' On The Q.T." "Chelsea Bridge" was composed in 1941 by Billy Strayhorn for the Duke Ellington Orchestra and is considered to be a huge leap forward in jazz composition because of the sophistication of its harmonic language. Gil Evans, whose music the Jazz Orchestra will be playing in the spring in honor of his centennial, once said, "From the moment I first heard 'Chelsea Bridge', I set out to try to do that. That's all I did--that's all I ever did--try to do what Billy Strayhorn did."

"Tippin' On The Q.T." was written by trumpeter Buck Clayton for the Count Basie Orchestra in the the late 1940s and it was re-recorded by them in the early 1950s, and that is the version the Jazz Orchestra will play.

The two pieces from the 1950s that the band will play are both dedicated to jazz heroes of the Swing Era. John Lewis's "Django", written for his group the Modern Jazz Quartet, was written in memory of the great Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. Lewis utilized the old New Orleans jazz funeral tradition of a slow, mournful dirge meant to mark the deceased's passing, followed by upbeat, swinging music to celebrate his life, and then added to that a return at the end to the dirge to give "Django" a classical music-inspired arch form. The band is playing a new arrangement of "Django" for jazz orchestra by Mike Tomaro.

 Charles Mingus's "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" is dedicated to the great tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who was known for wearing the lid referenced in the title. The Jazz Orchestra is playing the arrangement written by Sy Johnson for the Mingus Big Band, with the addition of the lyrics that Joni Mitchell wrote for the tune for her 1979 collaboration with Mingus. The lyrics are sung by Jo Kuzelka, one of several vocal contributions she will make.

Jo will be featured on "Straighten Up and Fly Right", the old Nat "King" Cole hit in an arrangement done by the legendary Nelson Riddle for one of Linda Ronstadt's '80s albums of standards.

From the 1960s comes the hard bop of Herbie Hancock's "Driftin'", a tune he wrote for his debut album, Takin' Off, in a new arrangement by Dave Mills.

The rest of the Jazz Orchestra's set is music that, while all contemporary, is nonetheless quite diverse. Trumpeter and flugelhornist Kenny Wheeler composed "Gentle Piece" for his landmark 1990 album Music For Large & Small Ensembles. It will feature flugelhornist Justin Bertolini. Beneath its placid surface is a very sophisticated harmonic language.

The rock band Radiohead's influential and sophisticated music has inspired a number of jazz musicians to perform their songs. "Everything In Its Right Place" is a track from 2000 album Kid A that was arranged for jazz orchestra by James Miley and will feature a tenor sax solo from Philllip Sagastume

"Meditation" was written last spring by HSU student Aber Miller for his small jazz group. Its skeletal melody and chord progression was designed to inspire a free and creative performance from the musicians playing it. Nothing was added to the minimal music that Miller wrote for the small group when it brought to the much larger band, so listeners will hear the Jazz Orchestra improvise an arrangement in the performance.

"Energy Generation" is a tune that tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin wrote for his 2011 album Perpetual Motion. After performing here with his quartet in September, McCaslin left a jazz orchestra arrangement of this tune behind with HSU professor and Jazz Orchestra leader Dan Aldag. This performance will feature tenor saxophonist Matt Brogdon.

Gershwin Meets Beethoven with the Humboldt Symphony

The Humboldt Symphony performs popular pieces by Gershwin and Beethoven and other works on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, December 9 and 11.

George Gershwin’s symphonic tone poem An American in Paris is his most famous work, after “Rhapsody in Blue.” “You hear the sounds of the Paris streets of the 1920s, even the taxi horns,” said Humboldt Symphony conductor Paul Cummings. “It has elements of jazz, blues and ragtime—popular styles heard in a cabaret but in a symphonic setting. Gershwin was gifted at making this music work for orchestra—and in this piece especially, he did it with his orchestration as well as his composition.”

The Humboldt Symphony performs the version called “An American in Paris Suite” as arranged by John Whitney, which is basically selected from the original.

Gershwin himself described it as “a light, jolly piece, a series of impressions musically expressed...It’s not a Beethoven symphony, you know.” 
Beethoven’s Egmont Overture is not a symphony either, but in compact form it exemplifies the majestic power of his music. “It’s a great example of Beethoven’s mastery of musical form and structure,” said Cummings. “There’s a logical flow to this music that had a major impact on 19th century composers.”

This overture was composed for a play by Goethe, dramatizing the heroic sacrifice of the 16th century Flemish Count of Egmont, who took a stand against oppression and paid for it with his life. Beethoven’s overture was so effective in expressing this theme that it became the unofficial anthem of the 1956 rebellion against Soviet control in Hungary.

“Beethoven uses the entire orchestra to great effect,” Cummings said. “The writing in this overture features the instruments at their best. Woodwinds are especially called upon to be expressive. It’s a very exciting piece.”

The Symphony program also includes the first and second movements of Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, which all the dances from Act II of the play Dance of the Polovtsian Maidens. “There are a variety of moods in this music, depending on the character each dance depicts,” Cummings said.

The Brook Green Suite by Gustav Holst is entirely a string orchestra piece. “All the instruments have independent voice,” Cummings observed, “and there’s some wonderful counterpoint.” Known as Holst’s most accessible work, the Brook Green Suite was the last of his music that Holst heard performed.

Humboldt Symphony performs on Friday December 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday December 11 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Paul Cummings, produced by HSU Music Department.

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

Take Five (or Six) with the AM Jazz Band

For its December 8 concert, the AM Band plays six tunes:"Take Five" by Paul Desmond was made famous by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, while "Dat Dere" by Bobby Timmons was played by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. "Jordu" by Clifford Jordan is best known from the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet.

The band also plays "Jumpin' At The Woodside" by Count Basie and "Song For My Father" by Horace Silver. "Bags' Groove" by Milt Jackson will be played in a head arrangement worked out by the band in rehearsals.

The AM Jazz Band performs on Thursday December 8 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, produced by the HSU Music Department.

With director Harley Muilenberg, the fall 2011 Madrigal Singers
Celebrate the Holidays with the Madrigal Singers

It’s a holiday tradition: Beginning with “Fanfare For Christmas Day,” the HSU Madrigal Singers present their annual holiday program of Renaissance madrigals and songs on Sunday December 4 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

Tunes by Giovanni Gastoldi (“Hearts Lively Beating”), Thomas Ravenscroft (“Toss the Pot”), Henry Purcell (“Two Daughters of an Aged Stream”), Thomas Arne (“Which is the Properest Day to Drink”) and others are rendered in ensembles, duets and solos. Festive music is interspersed with news of the day---the day being 17th century England.

This year’s Madrigal Singers are Cayla Crofts, Aubrey Donen, Jacqui Hernandez, Danielle Murray, Cynthia Romano, Katie Wolter, Tiffany Guenter, Katherine Goodwin, Shany Hard, Rachael Heller, Erika Luna, Eboni Session, Tina Toomata, Victor Guerrero, John Pettlon, Chelsea Rothchild, David Vaughan, Cole Buxton, Tyler Ebright, Edrees Nassir and Elliott Pennington.

The Mad River Transit Singers follow with a rhythmic program of jazz and blues that emphasizes the solo bass as played by Charles Welty, particularly on the tune “Mr. P.C.,” honoring the famous jazz bassist Paul Chambers.

Also included on the program are “Blues for Jezebel,” “Cookin’ at the Continental” and “Chili Con Carne.” Comprising this year’s MRT are Jacqui Hernandez, Jocelyn Kuzelka, Sandy Lindop, Elena Tessler, Arianna Dobbins, Anna Coleman, Claire Bent, Sara Scibetta, Nancy Soriano, Tina Toomata, Steven Eitzen, Charles Welty, Kristofer Lang, Dolan Leckliter and Joseph Welnick. MRT is accompanied by Darius Brotman on piano, Dylan Williams on drums, and Charles Welty on bass.

HSU Madrigal Singers and MRT perform on Sunday December 4 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Harley Muilenburg, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye

Calypso Band Introduces “Pan Army” 

It’s an all-percussion concert in the Van Duzer Theatre on Saturday, December 3, with world rhythms and a U.S. steelband premiere.

The HSU Percussion Ensemble plays Paschal Dances by composer David Gillingham, described by director Eugene Novotney as “haunting and beautiful, and at other times highly rhythmic and brutal. It is a true masterpiece of the contemporary percussion repertoire.” This piece is scored for piano and a dozen percussionists playing a host of instruments, including marimbas, vibraphones, xylophones, chimes, bells, timpani, snare drums, bass drums, tom-toms, cymbals, croatales and tambourines.

The Ensemble also performs works by Amadeo Roldan, Ed Argenziano, David Mac Bride, as well as Novotney’s composition Searching, performed on a quartet of “tube-o-phones,” instruments that Novotney designed and built based on metallophones of the Balinese Gamelan.

The HSU World Percussion Group closes the first half of the show with Samba music played on indigenous instruments from Brazil.

Then the evening belongs to the Calypso Band, featuring the high-energy dance music of the Caribbean Carnival known as Panorama. The main work will be the U.S. steelband premiere of Boogsie Sharpe’s composition Pan Army, as transcribed by Novotney, who played it with Sharpe’s band (the Phase II Pan Groove) for the 2010 spring carnival in Trinidad. Founded in 1986, the Calypso Band is continuing the celebration of its 25th anniversary.

The Calypso Band and Percussion Ensemble perform on Saturday December 3 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 and $3 students and seniors, with free tickets to the first 50 HSU students, from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman, produced by the HSU Music Department.
Media: front page at Humboldt State Now, Tri-City Weekly, Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal

Stephanie Douglass

Guest Conductor and Percussion Solo Highlight Symphonic Band Concert

A military symphony conducted by the new director of the HSU Marching Lumberjacks, a virtuoso percussion solo, an Italian march and a Chorale and Alleluia by a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer: all in one eclectic concert by the HSU Symphonic Band on Friday, December 2.

Stephanie Douglass is the guest conductor for the 18th century “Military Symphony in F” by Francois Joseph Gossec. Douglass, a recent graduate of the HSU Music program, is the new director of the Marching Lumberjacks. “She’s played in the Lumberjacks for years, as well as in our ensembles,” said Symphonic Band conductor and HSU Music professor Paul Cummings. “She was playing clarinet in this piece, so I thought it was a great opportunity to ask her to conduct it. It’s exciting—especially since this is such an interesting composition.”

“It was written for a French military band around the time of the French Revolution, which was also the time of Mozart and Beethoven. It has a very classical feeling because of that. It especially sounds like Mozart. It’s exciting for students to play an original band work from the 18th century.”

A current HSU student, Tyler Hunt, performs a substantial percussion solo for a modern work by Gary Ziek. “He plays a number of pitched instruments—some with a bow,” Cummings said. “Yet it’s a reflective and quiet movement called ‘Meditation.’ Tyler creates some unusual effects with rich overtones—fascinating to listen to.”

Also on the program is an Italian march by D. Delle Cese that translates as “Little English Girl.” “I’m a big fan of European marches,” Cummings said. “They’re much less predictable than American marches, very tuneful, with wonderful contrasts. This one is like an opera overture.”

“Chorale and Alleluia” by Pulitzer Prize-winner Howard Hanson is notable as one of the first modern American pieces written expressly for band by an established composer. “It’s a great piece that builds a web of intricate counterpoint.” As a teacher at the Eastman School of Music, Hanson influenced a generation of American composers. But also notable, Cummings said, is his role in reviving interest in symphonic band. “By the 1950s, there was almost no music being written for band by established composers,” Cummings said. “This 1954 piece was one of the first, and it got other composers interested.”

“Dance Sequence” by contemporary Luxembourg composer Marco Putz is “ high-spirited, very melodic, with quick and lively tempos. It’s not dance music in the strict sense because the meter keeps changing. It’s challenging and fun to play but I wouldn’t want to try dancing to it,” Cummings observed.

The HSU Symphonic Band performs on Friday December 2 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Paul Cummings, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye

December Preview

Symphonic Band plays Pulitzer Prize winner Howard Hanson on Friday December 2 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson.


Calypso Band premieres "Pan Army" and Percussion Ensemble plays on Saturday December 3 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre.


Madrigal Singers perform Renaissance songs of the season and MRT sings jazz and blues on Sunday December 4 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson.


 AM Jazz Band performs on Thursday December 8 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson.


Humboldt Symphony plays Gershwin's An American in Paris on Friday December 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday December 11 at 3 p.m. in Fulkerson.


Jazz Orchestra plays on Saturday December 10 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson.


Humboldt Chorale presents King Island Christmas and the University Singers perform Vivaldi's Gloria on Sunday December 11 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson.

The Wednesday Quartet:Dan Fair, Kris Lang, Steven Workman and Drew McGowan.

From Gypsy Jazz to Modern with HSU Jazz Combos

Four jazz combos offer a variety of styles from modern mainstream to Gypsy Jazz at the Fulkerson Recital Hall on Sunday November 13.

The quintet called High Speed Pursuit Ate My Homework features “unusual timbres and eclectic repertoire,” according to HSU jazz professor Dan Aldag. Sandy Lindop (voice and piano), Branden Lewis (trumpet), Dan Fair (guitar), Mike Cimino (bass) and Tyler Hunt (drums) take their unique approach to a Charles Mingus gospel-drenched blues and a Broadway show tune, among other selections.

The Wednesday Quartet play Gypsy Jazz first popularized by guitarist Django Reinhardt—including a Reinhardt tune. The Quartet is Drew McGowan on violin, Kris Lang and Dan Fair on guitars and Steven Workman on bass.

The Deadly Combo plays Duke Ellington, Chuck Wayne and two original tunes, on trumpet (Justin Bertolini), piano (Joel Bettencourt), bass (Max Jones) and drums (Thatcher Holvick-Norton.)

The Friday Quartet is comprised of veteran players familiar on the local jazz scene: Ari Davie (trumpet), Aber Miller (piano), Tyler Machado (bass) and Gabriel Ben-Shalom (drums.) They play a post-bop Bill Evans tune and several originals.

Four Jazz Combos perform on Sunday 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 Dan Aldag, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, Arcata Eye

Humboldt Bay Brass Band Plays Tribute to Veterans Day

Brass bands and Veterans Day seem to naturally go together, so the Humboldt Bay Brass Band highlights the connection in its concerts on Friday and Saturday, November 11 and 12 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

After an opening set that includes the classic National Emblem march and the “Parade of the Charioteers” from the Academy Award-winning score for Ben-Hur, the Humboldt Bay Brass Band presents its new ensemble, the Fort Humboldt Brass Band, which plays authentic brass band arrangements of Civil War era American tunes during intermission. Carrying on the HBBB tradition of reviving vintage instruments, the group uses a recently acquired soprano “saxhorn” from 1860, and an 1895 E-flat tuba, which hasn’t been heard in Humboldt County since the 1940s.

Then the Veterans Day emphasis begins in earnest, with the HBBB playing the “Mars” section of Gustav Holst’s The Planets, “Let Nothing Ever Grieve Thee” by Johannes Brahms, and American Salute by Morton Gould (based on “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.”)

The concert concludes with “Hymn for the Fallen” by John Williams, from the film Saving Private Ryan, and “Dona nobis pacem,” the last movement of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B-Minor.  This music was selected, said HBBB director Gilbert Cline, "to allow individuals in the audience to find a personal meaning."

Humboldt Bay Brass Band performs on Friday and Saturday, November 11 and 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 Gilbert Cline, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Humboldt State Now, The Lumberjack, Tri-City Weekly, Humboldt Beacon, North Coast Journal

Sail and Dance with the Humboldt Symphony

Humboldt Symphony sails with the HMS Pinafore in its fall concert on November 4 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall.

The Overture to HMS Pinafore includes some of the most popular tunes in any Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Composer Arthur Sullivan wrote other orchestral music, notes Humboldt Symphony conductor Paul Cummings, but today he is chiefly remembered for his operetta collaborations with W. S. Gilbert. “There’s a beautiful slow section in the middle of this piece,” Cumming said, “but in the overture tradition, it starts fast and ends fast.”

The full orchestra that sails with Pinafore also dances with Brahms and Alexander Borodin. “We’re playing two of Brahms’ Hungarian Dances,” Cummings said. “These are among Brahms’ best known compositions, and the two we’re doing—the fifth and sixth—are the most popular. They’ve been arranged for all kinds of ensembles and instrumentations, but we’re doing Brahms’ original arrangement for orchestra.” Based on folk melodies, these 19th century dances are bright and lively with energizing tempo changes, and are credited with influencing the development of ragtime.

Originally written for an opera, Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances are more varied, depicting various moods of the characters. “We’re doing the second movement,” Cumming said. “It has a series of impressive solo passages for clarinet, oboe and English horn.”

The string section takes command for the other two pieces on the program. “Gabriel Faure’s Pavane has a very popular melody,” Cummings notes. “It’s also been arranged for many instruments, but the full string section with two horns and woodwinds expresses its delicate lyricism in a bigger way. There are also beautiful passages for flute in its low register, which you don’t get to hear often.”

The Brook Green Suite by Gustav Holst is entirely a string orchestra piece. “All the instruments have independent voice,” Cummings observed, “and there’s some wonderful counterpoint.” Known as Holst’s most accessible work, the Brook Green Suite was the last of his music that Holst heard performed.

The Humboldt Symphony performs on Friday November 4 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Conducted by Paul Cummings, produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: TriCity Weekly, Humboldt State Now

Humboldt Symphony: The Program

Arthur Sullivan - Overture to HMS Pinafore
Gabriel Faure - Pavane
Johannes Brahms - Hungarian Dances 5 & 6
Alexander Borodin - Polovtsian Dances
Gustav Holst - Brook Green Suite

Find the magic in Brigadoon, Lerner & Loewe's musical romance: Final Weekend Thursday through Saturday, October 20-22 at 7: 30 p.m., Sundays Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on HSU campus in Arcata.  Why, it's almost like being in love!  $17/$12 general, $12/$10 students & seniors from HSU Box Office (826-3928.) Produced by HSU Departments of Music and Theatre, Film & Dance.

Media Previews: Humboldt State Now, The Lumberjack, Tri-City Weekly, Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Humboldt Beacon, Stage Matters.

Leaving the cynical city (and its cynical musicals) behind, two men from New York drift out of cell phone range into the Scottish highlands, where they discover an enchanted village that lives only for a day every 100 years, called Brigadoon. There they find new love and a different way to live. But can the magic last, and if it’s lost, can it be found again?

Brigadoon was the first big hit for the legendary team of lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, a partnership that later produced My Fair Lady and Camelot.

The music is classic, and the details of the story has been updated to better reflect the original contrast between the values of modern life and an alternative and perhaps better life and community. “We want to show how it connects to young people today, with the pressures they feel,” said co-director Bernadette Cheyne. “We want the audience to feel that this is about them.”

Brigadoon at HSU is co-directed by Bernadette Cheyne and Richard Woods, with musical direction by Elisabeth Harrington. It features a full orchestra playing the lush score that captures the spirit of Scotland, conducted by Paul Cummings. Jeff O’Connor is the choreographer.

The cast features Miles Raymer as Tommy Albright, a troubled young man from 2011 Manhattan, and Brandy Rose as Fiona MacLaren, the woman who wins his heart in Brigadoon. Philip de Roulet plays Charlie, and Jessi Shieman plays Jean, the Brigadoon couple about to be married as the play begins. Camille Morgan plays the playful Meg, Michael Thomas is Jeff, and Fran Wittman is Lundie. (The complete cast and other details of the production can be found at HSU Stage & Screen.)

BRIGADOON: The Golden Age

Every two years the HSU Department of Theatre, Film & Dance and the HSU Department of Music collaborate on a big stage musical. Brigadoon is something of a departure from recent productions that were more contemporary in theme and style. A Broadway hit in 1947 and revived many times since, Brigadoon is considered a classic of the Golden Age of American musical theatre, usually designated as the 1940s to the 1960s—with Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot among the last of the Golden Age shows.

The Golden Age musical presented differently crafted songs in a different way than more recent musicals. The songs are tuneful and self-contained, designed to helplessly stay in the heads of hearers. This show has many, such as “From This Day On,” “Heather on the Hill,” “There But For You Go I,” “Come to Me, Bend to Me,” “Waiting for My Dearie,” the comic “The Love of My Life,” and the classic “Almost Like Being in Love.”

But these songs still embodied dramatic meaning in the play itself. That includes Brigadoon’s best known song. Solo artists from Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland and Nat King Cole to Natalie Cole and James Taylor have recorded “Almost Like Being in Love.” But in the play it is a duet between Tommy (the contemporary New Yorker) and Fiona (the Brigadoon woman.)  It not only advances the dramatic plot--it is a drama in itself.

The song begins with each of them alternating lines. Musical director Elisabeth Harrington describes what’s going on: "Tommy begins with a modern upbeat tempo: ‘What a day this has been/What a rare mood I’m in/ why, it’s almost like being in love,’ and then Fiona slows it down with her Scottish accent, and they trade lines back and forth until they’re singing in harmony. So these two styles of two cultures are blending together, as well as expressing two people falling in love.”

Brigadoon today is one of the lesser known and most highly rated of the Golden Age musicals. Even at the time, Brigadoon was praised (by the New York Drama Critics Circle) for its “altogether original and inventive blending of words, music and dance,” its “thoughtful beauty” that is “the lyric theatre at its best.”

But Brigadoon is not a musical comedy, its original director insists. “This was a play with music,” said Robert Lewis. “It was a play with beautiful music and an interesting story and interesting characters.”

“From forty years hindsight,” said scholar Miles Kreuger in 1992, “this is a show that very classically represents the transition in the development of the musical comedy into the era of the musical play.”

Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner

top photo: Miles Raymer as Tommy, Brandy Rose as Fiona

BRIGADOON: The Music

“The music is beautiful, and so well crafted," said Elisabeth Harrington, Music Director for Brigadoon at HSU. "The vocal music is rich with upbeat Scottish-sounding themes evoking jigs and reels, as well as flowing ballads expressing effusive sentiments of love. There are a lot of references to place, like fragrant heather and the mist. There are so many catchy tunes and memorable songs, including the most famous, “Almost Like Being in Love.”

”The music itself is a major character because it’s used as an emotional anchor throughout the show. Songs become repeated themes for emotions and settings. One of the most memorable themes is that of the title, "Brigadoon," which begins with a simple 1-3-5 progression. This is heard multiple times throughout the score, and sung three times with the full choral ensemble. The tune is hauntingly beautiful, and will most likely remain in the audience’s ears as they leave the show.”

BRIGADOON: Ensemble Singing

Frederick Loewe was not only a composer—he was also a skillful vocal arranger. So it isn’t surprising that Brigadoon is full of intricate ensemble singing as well as famous solos and duets. For the HSU production, Elisabeth Harrington is not only the musical director but the vocal coach. She comments here on that aspect of the show.

“The vocal style is incredibly rangy—there's everything from unison to six and seven part harmonies. It was written at a time when voices were expected to cover a really solid two octave range, and to sing in close, tight harmony and be really precise. The singing demands are big. But the music is gorgeous.”

“The vocal ensemble music is quite extensive, and often the unison singing and lush harmonies are heard in the same song, such as in "Down on MacConnachy Square," and "Jeannie's Packin' Up." In general, the style of singing can be described as "classical" music theater, implying beautifully shaped phrases and a clear, open vocal tone throughout an extensive range for each voice type. One challenge for the singers has been trying to maintain that open tone while bringing in elements of the Scottish dialect, which features some more closed-mouth vowel shapes.”

The mix of available singers required some additional adjustments. “The score assumes you have an even number of male and female singers for the chorus, but we have more female than male. So we’ve had to move some of the women down to tenor who would have been singing alto, at least in certain places. It gets tricky in the more intricate harmonies, when the women are in two parts and the men in four parts.”

 “I’ve singled out a small ensemble of twelve singers who are able to do these tricky things, particularly the a cappella harmonies. But the richness of this music gives all the participants the opportunity to be part of a group that sings in beautiful harmony, and that’s been a joy to watch and see blossom.”


top photo: Camille Morgan as Meg

 

  BRIGADOON Orchestration: Full, Lush, Scottish--But No Bagpipes

Frederick Loewe wrote the much-admired musical score and the songs for Brigadoon. There were a few additions to accommodate choreographer Agnes de Mille’s dances (such as the Sword Dance), arranged from Loewe’s themes by Trude Rittman, described as “Broadway’s leading specialist in that particular craft.”

There were bagpipes in the Broadway production of Brigadoon, but they were used in one scene that was added to the script, and the music was apparently a traditional folk melody. It wasn’t part of Loewe’s score, nor were any bagpipes, as Paul Cummings notes in his comments on the orchestration he will conduct for the HSU production.

“We had the option of using the full orchestration, which probably dates back to the 1950s, or the reduced orchestration—what’s now often called the 'band-stration,' Cummings said. "Basically it eliminates the string section. We chose the full orchestration. Elisabeth and I agreed that having the strings is important, because we want to come as close to the original as possible. A lot of the beauty of the score comes from the string section. Also, we have the space in the Van Duzer Theatre to use 20 musicians in the pit.”

The orchestration calls for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, three trumpets, trombone, French horn and strings. But no bagpipes.

“No, the score is written for standard orchestra. There are bagpipe-like drones and bagpipe-style tunes all through the show, but there are no bagpipes in the original Broadway orchestration. Frederick Loewe managed to depict this Scottish culture through his own original music, without interpolating known folk melodies or using bagpipes and tin whistles. It’s a great show with great music, and I think Loewe really captured the Scottish spirit of it, and that’s what counts. We’re trying to be faithful to what he wrote.”

“Loewe was interesting because he was one of the great Broadway composers who was a specialist in this domain. He wrote mostly for the theatre. Yet he and Lerner are household names even now. This music has stood the test of time.”

Photo above: Fiona Rose Melia as Sword Dancer in Brigadoon at HSU

David Shemer at HSU

   

Director of the Jerusalem Baroque Ensemble David Shemer will visit the Humboldt State University campus on Sunday, October 9 for a series of free events open to the public.

 In his harpsichord recital at 2 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall, Shemer will perform several selections by J.S. Bach. At 3 p.m. he will lecture on Israeli contemporary music, and at 4 p.m. he conducts a Baroque music master class.

David Shemer was born in Riga in Latvia, then part of the Soviet Union. He studied music there until emigrating with his family to Israel in August 1973, two months before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War. He studied music theory, conducting and harpsichord at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. After graduation he was conscripted into the Israeli army, but was able to complete his M.A. in choral and orchestral conducting during his service.

He won a British Council scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music in London, and returned to Israel in 1982 to teach at the Jerusalem Academy. In 1989 he began the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, the first ensemble of its kind in Israeli, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2009.

Among Shemer’s accomplishments on the harpsichord is a recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.


At HSU, Shemer will play the following:


J. S. Bach : Partita No. 1, in B flat Major, BWV 825: Praeludium, Allemande, Corrente, Sarabande, Menuet 1, 2, Giga


Inventio in f minor, BWV 780
Sinfonia in f minor, BWV 795
Inventio in G Major, BWV 781
Sinfonia in G Major, BWV 796


Partita No. 2, in c minor, BWV 826: Sinfonia, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Rondeaux, Capriccio

Media: Tri-City Weekly, HSU Now, Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal

Homecoming with the HSU Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra

The HSU Symphonic Band goes upbeat and tuneful while the Jazz Orchestra powers up some jazz masters in their shared Homecoming weekend concert on Saturday, October 1 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

The Symphonic Band plays Satiric Dances by American composer Norman Dello Joio, originally written to accompany a political comedy by Aristophanes. “It’s got a lot of pungent humor,” said Band conductor Paul Cummings. “At times it’s kind of angry clown music.”

“March of the Belgian Paratroopers” by Pierre Leemans is a “widely performed and very tuneful march” in the European tradition. “It’s much more like a symphonic piece than the John Phillip Sousa style of American march,” Cummings said, “but it still has a catchy melody.”

“Ye Banks and Braes O’ Bonny Doon” by Percy Grainger is a slow and sweetly sad tune based on Scottish folk melodies, while the Folk Dances of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich “is a high energy piece expressing joy,” Cummings said. “It has a forward momentum that finishes in a frenzy, so it ends our half of the concert with a flourish.”

Then the Jazz Orchestra gives a big band treatment to classics from the Count Basie, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus and Maynard Ferguson repertoires. “’Goodbye Pork Pie Hat’ is a tribute by Charles Mingus to the great tenor saxophonist Lester Young, known for wearing the lid referenced in the title,” said director Dan Aldag. “It features tenor saxophonist Phillip Sagastume, bassist Charles Welty and vocalist Jo Kuzelka, who will sing the lyrics Joni Mitchell wrote for this tune.”

Other selections include “Down for the Count” by jazz master Frank Foster, “Boplicity” by Miles Davis, “Driftin’” by Herbie Hancock and “Go East Young Man” by Slide Hampton.

HSU Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday October 1 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 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: HSU Now, Arcata Eye, Humboldt Beacon

And on with the show! Participating faculty Daniela Mineva, Cindy Moyer, Virginia Ryder, Eugene Novotney, Elisabeth Harrington, Robin Miller and Gilbert Cline.

HSU Music Faculty in Welcome Concert

With selections from Mozart to Sondheim, and Hindemith to Ellington, members of the HSU Music Department faculty will perform a musical welcome to the new school year on Saturday, September 10 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

“We started this last year and it was a great success,” said faculty organizer and performer Elisabeth Harrington. “It’s an opportunity to present a concert of diverse music that showcases the wide variety of musical interests and talents of our faculty.”

The early evening event features a host of unique small ensembles, from a piano and trumpet duo to a string quintet and singers from a recent theatrical production. Several members of the local musical community will also perform with the HSU faculty players.

Among the scheduled performances: A string quartet of Cindy Moyer, Karen Davy, Sherry Hanson and Carol Jacobson will play a Mozart Quartet.  Brian Post and Shao Way Wu perform a medley of tunes by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.

Elisabeth Harrington will reprise two songs from the recent Ferndale Repertory Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, with co-star Craig Benson and other cast members. Daniela Mineva and Gilbert Cline perform Paul Hindemith’s Sonata, which Cline describes as “one of the tour de force moments of the modern era for trumpet and piano.”

Other faculty players include Eugene Novotney, Howard Kaufman, Virginia Ryder and Robin Miller.

The musical smorgasbord will be followed by a real one, with a reception where audience members can meet the players.

The Welcome Concert begins at the early time of 5 pm on Saturday September 10 in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Reception is 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: Muse, Tri-City Weekly, HSU Now, Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal

Welcome Concert: The Program

1.Little Sunflower  by Freddie Hubbard
Afro-Blue  by Mongo Santamaria

Players:
Eugene Novotney, tenor pan
Howard Kaufman, double tenor pans
Virginia Ryder, double seconds pans
Jonathan Kipp, cello pans
Shao Way Wu, bass
David Peñalosa, congas

2. Ellington / Strayhorn Medley
 Upper Manhattan Medical Group
 Daydream
 Blood Count
 A-Train

Players:
Brian Post, piano
Shao Way Wu, bass

3. Toccata by  Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson

Robin Miller, piano

4. Quartet in G Major, K. 387 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I. Allegro vivace assai

Cindy Moyer, violin
Karen Davy, violin
Sherry Hanson, viola
Carol Jacobson, cello

5. Selections from Sweeney Todd  by Stephen Sondheim
“The Worst Pies in London”
“Have a Little Priest”

Elisabeth Harrington (as Mrs. Lovett), soprano
Craig Benson (as Sweeney Todd), baritone
Robin Miller, piano
Tamaras Abrams, percussion
Introduction by Ginger Gene, Artistic Director of Ferndale Repertory Theatre

6.Quintet in F Minor by César Franck
II. Lento, con molto sentimento

Cindy Moyer, violin
Karen Davy, violin
Sherry Hanson, viola
Carol Jacobson, cello
Daniela Mineva, piano

7. Sonata: 1st movement  by Paul Hindemith
“Mit Kraft” (strength / force / power / vigor)

Gilbert Cline, trumpet
Daniela Mineva, piano

All are invited to a reception in the Music Lobby to meet the artists immediately following the concert.

The Faculty Artists Series features both Humboldt State faculty and prominent guest artists from across the United States. The series continues to raise funds for the Barlow Scholarship,used to attract outstanding young musicians to Humboldt State University.

Strut and Spin with the North Coast Wind Ensemble

Comprised of some of the best wind instrument players from North Coast communities, the North Coast Wind Ensemble directed by HSU professor Kenneth Ayoob emphasizes the music of popular dance in its Fulkerson Recital Hall concert on Saturday, June 11.

Featured is Robert Bennett Russell’s Suite of Old American Dances which romps through early 20th century styles, beginning with the strutting cakewalk and continuing through the Western One Step and the Wallflower Waltz to the syncopated Rag. Though Russell is best known as a Broadway and Hollywood arranger for George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, this suite has been called “a crown jewel of the band repertoire.”

The theme continues with four dances by Malcolm Arnold inspired by Scottish folk music, and Shepherd’s Hey by Percy Grainger, based on a merry old English folk dance. The Ensemble also plays Grainger’s Irish Tune From County Derry, with the famous melody of “Danny Boy.”

Reaching back to the Renaissance, the program includes a work by Dutch composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: a series of variations based on a dance tune played at the wedding ball of the Grand Duke Ferdinando of Tuscany, titled Ballo del Graduca.

The concert begins with Overture for Winds written by Felix Mendelssohn when he was 15 years old and fascinated by summer outdoor band concerts. With this piece, one scholar wrote, “Felix Mendelssohn contributed to the wind band repertoire one of the most notable works to come out of the nineteenth century.”

The North Coast Wind Ensemble performs this final concert of its third season on Saturday June 11 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5/$2 from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Kenneth Ayoob, produced by HSU Music Department.

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

North Coast Wind Ensemble: the Program

Overture for Winds, Op. 24 (1824) Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)


Suite of Old American Dances (1949) Robert Russell Bennett (1894- 1981)
Cakewalk
Schottische
Western One Step
Wallflower Waltz
Rag

Irish Tune From County Derry (1909) Percy Grainger (1882-1961)

Shepherd’s Hey (1918) Percy Grainger

Ballo del granduca (1589) Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)

Four Scottish Dances (1957) Malcolm Arnold (1921- 2006)

                                       photo by David Fung

Ryan’s Return to HSU: Ryan MacEvoy McCullough in Benefit Concert


Fresh from playing Rhapsody in Blue with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and being named the University of Southern California Thorton School of Music’s outstanding graduate of 2011, North Coast favorite son Ryan MacEvoy McCullough returns to HSU for a solo piano concert on Friday, May 27.

“It's my first solo concert at HSU in several years,” he said, “and I'm really excited to be playing at home.”

With an audience likely to include people who have known him since childhood or as an HSU student, McCullough looks forward to displaying his progress as a pianist. “I've worked very hard these six years I've been living outside Humboldt, so even if playing at home represents the lowest pressure professionally, it means the most to me personally.”

In addition to works by Beethoven, Debussy and Franz Lizst, his concert will include a piano sonata by another HSU graduate and his good friend, Dante De Silva. It is subtitled “Arcata,” because it is the composer’s response to moving there from southern California. “He wrote a large chunk of this piece while renting the downstairs living space at my mom’s house in Bayside,” McCullough noted. At HSU both Ryan and Dante were students of pianist and professor Deborah Clasquin.

As the concert finale, pianist and HSU professor Daniela Mineva will join McCullough for a two-piano piece by contemporary composer John Adams called Hallelujah Junction. “It's a fantastically joyous piece,” McCullough said, “and a great way to end what I think is going to be a fun and interesting program.”

Proceeds from this Fulkerson Recital Hall concert will go towards bringing other guest pianists to HSU. This past year the piano program hosted celebrated artists Natalya Antonova, Pamela Mia Paul and Fang Zhang. Additional contributions are also gratefully accepted.

Ryan MacEvoy McCullough performs a rare local solo piano concert on Friday May 27 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $10/$5 from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Produced by HSU Music Department.


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



                                                 photo by David Fung


Artist's Commentary

As sometimes happens, this program assumed a unique theme, which always pleases me. The theme of this recital is different kinds of travel.

The program begins with a work by the 19th century piano virtuoso Franz Liszt: his Sonetto 123 del Petrarca (or the 123rd sonnet after Petrarch), transcribed for piano from a song for baritone and piano he had written in the 1830s. It was included in a set of works called the Years of Pilgrimage, which was essentially a travelogue of his life as a touring performer. This piece was specifically included in the set about Italy, which is probably the most well known of the three (each "book" is about a different place).

Next is a work by Claude Debussy-- Estampes, a set of three "prints" (literally, "stamps") was written in 1905. This work is also a sort of travelogue, though more an imagined kind. Debussy never really travelled outside France.  He never even made it to Spain, yet the second movement from this set is probably the most famous example of Spanish music written at that time. The first movement is about Southeast Asia, so you can imagine how much of a stretch that would have been for this isolated Frenchman. Travel here is approached more as an abstract idea, without any obvious emotional connection to the composer's own life.

Concluding the first half of the program is Dante De Silva's Piano Sonata no. 1, appropriately subtitled "Arcata." Dante is a good friend of mine.  He wrote a large chunk of this piece in 2007 while renting the downstairs living space at my mom's house in Bayside. As a stark contrast to the emotional abstractness of the Debussy, this piece is intensely personal, and was almost a cathartic outpouring for the composer's feelings leading up to his move to Arcata. He had just gotten engaged to his girlfriend of 7 years, and had never lived apart from her, but was suddenly offered this temporary job teaching at HSU that he couldn't refuse. So the piece is in three stages: the first movement depicts the anxiety and anticipation of leaving for something new, unknown, and potentially life-changing. The second movement expresses a feeling of loneliness and isolation in the new place, and then the third movement depicts the return home and all its clangorous excitement (incidentally, the third movement is meant to sound like calypso music, which is of course a big part of cultural life in Arcata).

I start the second half with Beethoven's piano sonata no. 28 in A major, op. 101. This work doesn't fit into the travel theme explicitly, but more in a musical sense. Late in his life, Beethoven became interested in Eastern philosophy, and became acquainted with Buddhism and Hinduism. His later works became more cyclic. This piece is a good example of this, sort of like a snake eating its own tail, the opening movement returning at the end to make you feel like the journey you've been through has changed you for the better. Basically, I programmed this piece because it's amazing and I love playing it.

Last on the program is John Adams' Hallelujah Junction for two pianos, written in 1998. Daniela Mineva joins me on this piece. It is literally named after a place, a small truck stop on the Nevada-California border, and the title is a double pun. The word "hallelujah" becomes the motivic material for the piece ("le-luuuu-jah, le-luuuu-jah"), and is used in full later on, Messiah-style ("hal-le-LUUU-jah.") "Junction" can also refer to the fact that the two pianos are always slightly offset, so they sound like echoes of each other, constantly intersecting. It's a fantastically joyous piece and a great way to end what I think is going to be a fun and interesting program.

The Program

Sonetto 123 del Petrarca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Franz Liszt

Estampes (1905) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claude Debussy
I. Pagodes

II. La soirée dans Grenade

III. Jardin sous la pluie

Piano Sonata no. 1 “Arcata” (2007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Dante De Silva
I. Moderato ritmico

II. Largo – Poco animato

III. Toccata agitato

– intermission –

Piano Sonata no. 28 in A major, op. 101 . . . . . Ludwig Van Beethoven
I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung
Allegretto ma non troppo

II. Lebhaft. Marschmassig
Vivace alla Marcia

III. Langsam und sehnsuchtvoll
Adagio, ma non troppo, con affetto

IV. Geschwinde, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit
Allegro

Hallelujah Junction (1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  John Adams
with Daniela Mineva, piano



photo by Terry McNeill


Born in Boston and raised in northern California, pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough is beginning to develop a diverse career as soloist, collaborator, and proponent of new music. In a recent performance of Chopin, “his virtuosity was evident and understated, his playing projected a warmth... that conjured the humanity of Artur Rubinstein.” (Eli Newberger, The Boston Musical Intelligencer) Later, in a performance of contemporary music, his playing was described in the New York Times as having “found a perfect balance between the gently shimmering and the more brittle, extroverted strands... and left you eager to hear the rest.”

He has appeared as concerto soloist with numerous orchestras throughout the United States, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, World Festival Orchestra, Colburn Conservatory Orchestra, San Francisco State University Orchestra, Eureka Symphony, Inland Valley Symphony, and Coachella Valley Symphony. In addition to concerto engagements, he has also performed in collaboration with contemporary music ensemble eighth blackbird and the Mark Morris Dance Group.

He is the laureate of top prizes at the Milosz Magin competition in Paris, the World Piano Competition, Virginia Waring Piano Competition, and Bronislaw Kaper Awards in Los Angeles. He has performed at such festivals as the Music Academy of the West, Montecito Chamber Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, and Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, and has presented solo and chamber recitals at the 92nd St. Y in New York, UNESCO Hall in Paris, Zipper and Walt Disney Concert Halls in Los Angeles, and the Eli Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

An avid interpreter of new music, he has collaborated with composers John Harbison, Andrew McPherson and Dante De Silva, and has most recently entered into a commissioning project for a brand new solo piano work by the American composer James Primosch. In 2008, Mr. McCullough released a CD of solo piano music by 20th century Polish-French composer Miłosz Magin on the Polish label Acte Prealable. This recording was praised in the Polish music journal Ruch Muzyczny as displaying “exceptional skill and precision combined with intelligence and sense of design... [slowing] for parts of reflection and very evocative Polish reverie.”

Mr. McCullough holds degrees from Humboldt State University, the Colburn Conservatory, and the University of Southern California, where he has just been named the Thornton School of Music's outstanding graduate of 2011. His primary teachers have been Dr. Deborah Clasquin and John Perry.



Humboldt Chorale soloists Katherine Kinley and James Gadd

  
 It Might As Well Be Spring with University Singers and Humboldt Chorale


HSU University Singers and the Humboldt Chorale perform choral classics from settings for Latin Masses to famous opera and musical choruses in their shared spring concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Sunday night, May 8.

“The Latin texts for the Mass are concise: The Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei only take about three minutes to recite,” notes HSU University Singers director and HSU Music professor Harley Muilenburg. “Yet the greatest composers in Western music have provided the most extraordinary settings, so much so that the history of music could not be properly told without mention of the great Masses.”


University Singers soloist Molly Severida


The University Singers present three settings of the central text, the Sanctus. Soprano Molly Severida sings the Sanctus by 19th century French composer Charles Gounod from his famous Mass for St. Cecilia. Severida is joined by tenor Colin Wagner, alto Tina Toomata and bass Theodore Higbee in a contrasting contemporary Sanctus by Canadian composer John Burge, from his Mass dedicated to Amnesty International. The Singers perform the Sanctus from 19th century composer Gabriel Faure’s Requiem, his most celebrated work.

Tenors Chelsea Rothchild and Chase La Rue, soprano Cara Crofts, alto Sara Scibetta and bass Elliott Pennington are featured in a sacred motet by Baroque composer Il Padre Giovanni Baptisma. Scibetta is soloist for Josephine Poelintiz’s “City Called Heaven,” and soprano Kalea Hammond is featured in “The Lone Wild Bird,” a Presbyterian hymn arranged for the University Singers by Harley Muilenberg. The Singers finish with a Nova Scotia folk song and a traditional Scottish/Irish ballad featuring a flute solo by Caitlin Denning.

The Humboldt Chorale, a community group with singers of all ages, is conducted by Carol Ryder. Among their selections of opera choruses are The Brindisi from Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata, with soloists James Gadd and Katherine Kinley, and Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, with soloist Cindy Cress. Other pieces include choruses from Rossini’s William Tell and Verdi’s Nabucco.

The Chorale then performs choruses from musical theatre and film, including from “The Rhythm of Life” in the Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields musical Sweet Charity, the Rodgers and Hammerstein tune “It Might As Well Be Spring” from the movie State Fair, and a sultry “Summertime” from George Gershwin’s classic Porgy and Bess.


HSU University Singers and the Humboldt Chorale perform on Sunday May 8 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; concert produced by HSU Music Department.

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