Director's Notes by Dan Aldag

We're continuing our celebration of the 50th anniversary of 1959, one of the most significant years in jazz's history. 1959 was the year of:

Kind Of Blue--Miles Davis: The album that established modal jazz (very few chord changes) as a viable alternative to the bebop approach of very complex and fast-moving chords. Maybe the best-selling jazz album of all time. enowned for its combination of surface beauty and extraordinary depth.

Giant Steps--John Coltrane: The album that was the apotheosis of the aforementioned bebop approach. The title tune remains today a kind of test piece for jazz improvisors.

The Shape of Jazz To Come--Ornette Coleman: The album that established free jazz (no pre-set, fixed chord progressions.) The beginning of jazz's avant-garde revolution of the 1960s

Time Out--Dave Brubeck: The album that first popularized unusual time signatures in jazz. Up to this point, almost all jazz had been in a meter of 4. This album included tunes in meters of 3, 5 ("Take Five"), 6 and 9 ("Blue Rondo a la Turk").

Portrait In Jazz--Bill Evans: The first album from the Bill Evans Trio, the group most responsible for freeing bass and drums from their timekeeping, accompanimental roles. In the Evans Trio, the piano, bass and drums operated as nearly equal musical partners, with often no one explicitly stating the pulse.

Mingus Ah Um--Charles Mingus: The album where Mingus first put together in a coherent and unified way his many and disparate influences, including blues and gospel, Ellington and the complex counterpoint of cool jazz. This album also introduced several of Mingus's best-known and most-performed compositions, including "Better Git It In Your Soul," "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and "Fables of Faubus."

On this concert, we'll be playing "All Blues" from Kind Of Blue, "Open Letter to Duke" from Mingus Ah Um and "Peri's Scope" from Evans' Portrait In Jazz. Those three were all recorded by small groups and the arrangements we're playing reflect three different approaches to jazz repertory. The "All Blues" arrangement is by the famed bass player Chuck Israels and he has scored for the full band the solos improvised by Miles and pianist Bill Evans on the original recording. I arranged "Open Letter to Duke" by simply expanding the scoring of Mingus's original recording. Mike Tomaro's arrangement of "Peri's Scope" uses only the original melody and harmony as the basis for a unique interpretation of the tune.

Some of the rest of the music we'll be playing shows the influence of the innovative recordings of 1959. "Chased By A Wolf Down a Mountain" by our drummer, Jonathan Kipp, uses unusual time signatures, primarily seven. While it wasn't released until the next year, Miles Davis and Gil Evans began recording Sketches of Spain in 1959 and that album's strong classical influence is apparent in two pieces we'll be playing, "Sky Blue" by Maria Schneider (which features Sky Miller on soprano sax) and "Drift" by Darcy James Argue.

We'll also play music that has no direct connection to 1959, including Duke Ellington's "Rockin' In Rhythm", written in the early 1930s, but this particular arrangement is one the Ellington band began playing in the '50s.

The title of "Déjà Vu" by Tom Fredrickson refers both to Fredrickson's conscious evocation of the big band era and how musical material from early in the composition continues to reoccur throughout the piece. "Blues Walk" is a Clifford Brown composition reconceived with an Afro-Cuban feel by Michael Philip Mossman. John Coltrane's "Lazy Bird" will be played in an arrangement done for the Woody Herman band by Bill Stapleton. Duke Ellington's "All Too Soon" will feature trombonist Talon Nansel and tenor saxophonist Leo Echazábal.

Ching-Ming Cheng, soloist for the Humboldt Symphony

Humboldt Symphony

Among its spring concert selections, Humboldt Symphony plays the famous and formidable Schumann Piano Concerto featuring pianist Ching-Ming Cheng on Friday May 8 at 8 p.m. and Sunday May 10 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Conducted by Paul Cummings; presented by the HSU Department of Music.

The Humboldt Symphony Spring Concert: Super Schumann, Innovative Weber and a Memorial Mahler

“It’s a super-human showpiece for piano, and a tour de force for the orchestra.”

That’s how Humboldt Symphony conductor and HSU Music Department professor Paul Cummings describes the famous and formidable Schumann Piano Concerto, the centerpiece of the Symphony’s spring concert.

Pianist and HSU Music Department faculty member Ching-Ming Cheng will play the “extremely demanding piano part” in this concerto by mid-19th century German composer Robert Schumann. “He wrote it at the height of German Romanticism,” Cummings added, “and it’s about as Romantic as music gets.”

“Just as the Schumann concerto is a showpiece for piano,” Cummings said, “the Weber piece we’re playing is a showpiece for clarinet.” Soloist for the Clarinet Concerto #1 by 19th century German composer Carl Weber is HSU student Jacki Fraser. The Humboldt Symphony performs the first movement, praised for its innovation and daring.

The orchestra also plays two lesser-known works by famous composers: “L’Arlesienne Suite #1” by Georges Bizet (best known for the opera Carmen) and “Blumine” by Gustav Mahler. Of the latter, Cummings said, “It’s a slow, beautiful piece which we are dedicating to the memory of Deborah Clasquin, because she loved Mahler so much.”

The concert concludes on a light, bright note with “Four Scottish Dances” by 20th century British composer Malcolm Arnold. The Humboldt Symphony performs its spring concert on Friday May 8 at 8 p.m. and as a Sunday matinee on May 10 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.

Additional Note

The pieces the Symphony will play by Georges Bizet and Gustav Mahler have an odd element in common: both were originally written to accompany unsuccessful stage plays. Bizet extracted “L’Arlesienne Suite #1” and Mahler recast “Blumine”—but it has an even more complicated history.

Mahler adapted it for his first symphony. It was the basis of the second movement, but after this symphony’s first performances, Mahler eliminated the second movement entirely, and made this a stand-alone work. “The first symphony is played a lot,” Paul Cummings notes, “but this piece is seldom played at all.”

AM Jazz Band

The AM Jazz Band of HSU plays up-tempo tunes by Monk, Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie on Thursday May 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Paul Cummings; presented by the HSU Department of Music.

Sky’s the Limit with the AM Jazz Band

HSU senior, Music Education major and saxophonist Sky Miller directs three of the six selections in the AM Jazz spring concert on Friday, May 7.

“A student director is unusual for us,” said HSU Music professor Paul Cummings, “but we want to give Sky that experience, since this is what he’s preparing to do after graduation.”

Miller will lead the jazz band in “Boogie Express,” a tune by Sonny Nestico (arranger for the Count Basie Band) in an early 20th century shuffle style. “Manteca” is a Latin tune by Dizzy Gillespie, and “Black Butterfly” is a ballad by Duke Ellington, arranged by Benny Carter.

Paul Cummings directs the band in the other three tunes: “Straight, No Chaser” by Thelonious Monk, “Ran Kan Kan” by Tito Puente and “The Mooch” by Duke Ellington. “The Mooch” is another early 20th century tune, which features two trumpets using plunger mutes. “These emulate the sound of the human voice better than other mutes,” Cummings said, “so the effect is a conversation between the two players.”

The AM JAZZ BAND plays on Thursday May 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.
Media: Humboldt State Now.

Madrigal Singers 2009 (click photo to enlarge)

Madrigal and Mad River Transit Singers

HSU Madrigal Singers sing to spring and Mad River Transit vocalize jazz standards of the 30s and 40s on Sunday, May 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Harley Muilenburg; presented by the HSU Department of Music.

Mad River Transit

Vocal Variety at Fulkerson Hall

Three ensembles present a panoply of vocal music in concert at the Fulkerson Recital Hall on Sunday, May 3.

The jazz vocalists of Mad River Transit sing upbeat and romantic jazz tunes, backed by a rhythm section of piano (Darius Brotman), bass (Robert Amirkhan) and drums (Jonathan Kipps.) Singing solo and in various combinations, MRT performs songs by Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Lionel Hampton, Bobby McFerrin, Hoagy Carmichael, T-Bone Walker and others.

For example, singers Sarah Benzinger and Samuel Kaplan-Good perform “The Nearness of You” by Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington, first made popular in 1938 by the Glenn Miller Band, and recorded by singers from Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan to Rod Stewart, Diana Krall and Norah Jones. Six of the singers will contribute on “Stormy Monday Blues,” T-Bone Walker’s signature tune, recorded by Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull and the Allman Brothers, among many others.

Soloists on the MRT program include Darius Brotman, Bobby Amirkhan, Jessica Malone, Berol Steinberg, Claire Bent, Kaeden Williams, Sarah Benzinger, Samuel Kaplan-Good, Calista LaBolle, Michael Scott, and Nick Tringale.

The first part of the program is performed by the HSU Madrigal Singers and a chamber vocal ensemble led by senior music education major Jamie Banister.

Their selections include three compositions by Thomas Morely, the most prominent composer of secular music in Elizabethan England, as well as madrigals by Shakespeare-era composers William Holborne and Thomas Bateson. “Ah, Pity Me, Beloved” is by Italian late Renaissance composer Luca Marenzio, who provides a transitional link to Baroque music.

Director of the Madrigal Singers and MRT is HSU Music Department professor Harley Muilenburg. Their spring concert begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.

Media: Arcata Eye, Humboldt State Now.

Personnel

Madrigal Singers

Soprano
Kristine Broughton
Tiffany Guenter
Elizabeth Holverson
Jamie Ivory
Amy O'Hanlon
Cally Staats
Bonnie Stewart

Alto
Jessica Breault
Sadie Brennan
Elizabeth Faith Eastwood
Michele Enenstein
Carly Hanssler
Jacqueline Robertson
Kristina Toomata
Brittany Williams

Lords
James Hudson
John Pettlon
Blake Rouzer
Joseph Russavage

Vocal Chamber Singers
Jamie Banister
Julie Gilder
Kalea Hammond
Jamie Obeso
Nick Tringale
Molly Servedia
Emily Skold

MRT Singers
Soprano
Jessica Malone
Sarah Benzinger
Kelly Whitaker
Tenor
Joshua Boronkay
Samuel Kaplan-Good
Bernie Steinberg
Alto
Claire Bent
Calista LaBolle
Kaeden Williams
Baritone/Bass
Bryan Lieser
Michael Scott
Nick Tringale

Rhythm Section
Darius Brotman, Piano
Robert Amirkhan, Bass
Jonathan Kipp, Drums

Percussion Ensemble & Calypso Band

HSU Calypso Band, Percussion Ensemble and World Percussion Group offer a Varese classic, folkloric music of Africa and Latin America, and high energy Caribbean dance music on Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students free with ID. Directed by Dr. Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman; presented by the HSU Department of Music.

Get Ionized with the HSU Calypso Band and Percussion Ensemble

Recently returned from performances at the Northwest Percussion Festival in Oregon, the HSU Percussion Ensemble, HSU World Percussion Group, and the Humboldt State Calypso Band present their combined spring concert on May 2 in the Van Duzer Theatre.

The Percussion Ensemble performs “Ionisation” by 20th century modern experimental composer Edgard Varese. “Ionisation is widely considered the most important composition in the entire percussion ensemble repertoire,” said director Dr. Eugene Novotney. It calls for an array of instruments and sounds, including maracas, guiros, cow bells, bongos, sleigh bells, castanets, a glockenspiel, a lion’s roar, two anvils, and two hand- crank sirens. The Ensemble uses the exact low-pitch fire siren Varese specified in his 1931 score, and an authentic high-pitch combat field siren.

Also during the first half of the combined concert, the HSU Marimba Band plays the folkloric marimba music of Mexico, Guatamala and Africa, and the HSU World Percussion Group conducted by Howard Kaufman performs the folkloric music of Cuba, ending with an exciting rendition of the famous carnival music, Conga de Comparsa.

As always, the second half of the concert belongs to the Humboldt State Calypso Band, one of Humboldt County’s most popular ensembles. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Cuba and the United States, and always includes high-energy dance music.

The combined spring concert of the HSU Percussion Ensemble, World Percussion Group and Calypso Band happens on Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. First 50 HSU students free with ID. Directed by Dr. Eugene Novotney and Howard Kaufman; presented by the HSU Department of Music.

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

Director's Notes

As the centerpiece of this concert, the Humboldt State Percussion Ensemble will be performing an extremely revolutionary work by Edgard Varese entitled Ionization. Written in 1931, Ionisation features 14 performers playing over 47 different instruments. The sound mass and texture fields heard in the piece are both colorful and dense.

As well as a grand piano and all of the standard instruments of the percussion family, Varese also calls for Afro-Cuban instruments such, and exotic instruments such as gongs, sleighbells, castagnetts, a glockenspiel, a lions roar, two anvils, and, perhaps the most unique of all, two hand crank sirens. The low-pitched siren used by the Humboldt State Percussion Ensemble is the exact Sterling type II hand crank fire siren that Varese specified in his 1931 score. The high-pitched siren is an authentic combat field siren issued by the US military and made by the Federal Electric Company in Chicago, Illinois.

Often considered a radical futurist, Varese claims that he was interested in sound for sounds sake alone, and for that reason, considered all sounds as valid. As early as the 1930s, Varese heard the sound of the siren as a result of the modern world, and as such, he used it as a musical instrument in his composition. Many scholars have noted that Varese's ideas and experiments with sound, which predated the invention of the first synthesizer by almost 40 years, had an extensive effect on the development of electronic music. This is certain to be a memorable performance that should not be missed!

Also featured on the first half of the concert, the HSU Marimba Band will present the folkloric marimba music of Mexico, Guatamala, and Africa, and the HSU World Percussion Group will present the folkloric music of Cuba, ending with an exciting rendition of the famous Cuban carnival music, Conga de Comparsa.

The second half of the show will feature the festive dance music of the Humboldt State Calypso Band. One of Humboldt County's favorite ensembles, the Calypso Band will feature several high-energy dance compositions from the Caribbean in their set.

The Humboldt State Calypso Band prides itself in maintaining an accurate and authentic connection to the roots of the steel band movement and the innovative musicians of Trinidad, the island on which this unique percussion phenomenon was born. The band is dedicated to the performance of traditional and contemporary music from the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Cuba and the United States.

In addition to its regular performances at Humboldt State and throughout Northern California, the band has undertaken tours to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Seattle, WA, and has just returned from a standing ovation performance at the Northwest Percussion Festival held at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.

Symphonic Band

HSU Symphonic Band rides The Ghost Train in their spring concert on Friday May 1 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Directed by Kenneth Ayoob; presented by the HSU Department of Music.

Ride the Ghost Train with the HSU Symphonic Band

The sounds of trains passing in the night aren’t heard anymore in Arcata, but they will be again in Fulkerson Recital Hall on May 1.

The HSU Symphonic Band spring concert features the popular new band composition, “Ghost Train,” by contemporary Los Angeles composer David Whitaker. Recorded more than forty times by bands and orchestras, this piece “depicts the legend of the Ghost Train that comes slowly out of the mist, building speed and careening down the tracks,” according to Kenneth P. Ayoob, conducting the Symphonic Band. “It features percussion, asymmetric meters and the hypnotic sound of the train.”

The program of wind music from English and American composers also includes a march by the “March King,” John Philip Sousa (“The Fairest of the Fair”) and a setting of three “Old American Songs” by Aaron Copland, which features baritone Christopher Hatcher.

The orchestra plays two classics of the British Band style: “Original Suite” by Gordon Jacob, and “Mannin Veen” by Haydn Wood, a tone poem that evokes the music and dance of the Isle of Man. “Be Thou My Vision” by noted composer and percussionist David Gillingham “is a beautiful setting of the hymn coupled with a counter melody of two Irish songs,” Ayoob said.

The Symphonic Band spring concert is Friday May 1 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.

Media: Arcata Eye, Humboldt State Now.

Nicholas Lambson & Elisabeth Harrington

Guitarist Nicholas Lambson plays fiery and rarely heard Spanish classics, joined in song by soprano Elisabeth Harrington, on Saturday, April 25 at 8 pm in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Faculty Artist Series concert.

The Spanish Combination: Guitarist Nicholas Lambson and Soprano Elisabeth Harrington

Think of music from Spain, and you hear the timbres of guitar and voice. So music from Spain, from fiery Flamenco to introspective melodies, will dominate the collaboration of HSU Music Department colleagues, guitarist Nicholas Lambson and soprano Elisabeth Harrington, in concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Saturday, April 25.

Music from Cuba, Vienna, the U.S. and England are also represented, beginning with Lambson’s solo set and the Estudios Sencillos (Simple Studies) of Cuban guitarist/composer Leo Brouwer. Of the 20 etudes in this popular work, Lambson has “chosen five of the more difficult and interesting.” He also plays selections from “Bardic Sounds” by 19th century Romantic composer Johann Kaspar Mertz of Vienna, which “range in style from an almost operatic melodiousness to virtuosic fireworks,” Lambson said.

The featured solo guitar work is by classical Spanish composer Fernando Sor. “I will be performing his massive mature masterwork, the "Fantaisie Elegiaque," which oddly isn't performed or recorded very often,” Lambson said. “This is a substantial work on the death of a close friend of his, and is also a personal work for me.”

Elisabeth Harrington joins Lambson in the second half of the evening. They perform three songs about unrequited love by English early music composer John Dowland, and selections from “Letters from Composers” by 20th century American composer Dominick Argento, featuring personal notes from J. S. Bach, Robert Schumann, Giacomo Puccini, Frederic Chopin and others. “These songs are particularly clever, as the music reflects the tone of each letter, whether loving, mocking, complaining and so on,” Harrington noted.
They return to Spain with three songs by 20th century composer Joaquin Rodrigo. Harrington characterizes them as “wonderful pieces with ample melodic and harmonic variation to hold the listener's interest… They definitely sound Spanish!”

They also combine for five folks songs by famous 20th century Spanish poet and composer Federico Garcia Lorca, which Harrington notes are “accessible, full of Spanish idioms.”

This collaboration is unusual for both artists. ‘I feel very fortunate to work with Elisabeth,” Lambson said. “I am primarily a soloist, so it is always nice to work with other musicians and I am particularly excited about our repertoire selection.”

“It is a rare treat for me to perform with a guitarist-- only the third time in my whole career,” Harrington said. “I am enjoying learning more about the instrument and how to adjust my vocal intensity and color to balance with Nick's sound.”

This Faculty Artists Series concert by guitarist Nicholas Lambson and soprano Elisabeth Harrington begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 25 in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.

Media: Humboldt State Now

Performers Notes

Nicholas Lambson:

I will be playing three diverse solo sets ranging from classical to modern. The Estudios Sencillos (simple studies) are well-known in the guitar repertoire. They are etudes, which are technically biased works, though I find a few of them to be very distinctive musically. I have chosen five of the more difficult and interesting of the popular 20.

Spanish guitarist/composer Fernando Sor lived in Paris for much of his mature career and contributed a wealth of fine works to the classical repertoire. I will be performing his massive mature masterwork, the "Fantaisie Elegiaque" Op.59, which oddly isn't performed or recorded very often. It may be his finest work, though other flashier pieces get performed more often such as his Variations on a Theme of Mozart, Op.9. This is a substantial work on the death of a close friend of his, and is also a personal work for me.

The Bardenklange (Bardic Sounds) of Johann Kaspar Mertz are becoming more and more recognized in the repertoire though they have been around for a century and a half. Mertz was a virtuoso active in Vienna during the Romantic period and may be the finest guitar composer of the era. The works I will be performing range in style from an almost operatic melodiousness to virtuosic fireworks. I will be performing three works: Romanze, Unruhe (restlessness), and Fingal's Hohle (Fingal's cave).

I feel very fortunate to work with Elisabeth on our voice and guitar repertoire. I am primarily a soloist, so it is always nice to work with other musicians and I am particularly excited about our repertoire selection. Some of the works are well-known, and some are relatively obscure. The classical guitar has strong associations with the Spanish idiom, and I think it is fitting that we will be performing works by two Spanish composers, though they are very different. Rodrigo is more modern and a neoclassicist, and he is well-known in the guitar world for his very famous "Concierto de Aranjuez" as well as a number of other fine works. Lorca was a multi-talented author, painter, and musician and the works we will be performing draw on the Flamenco tradition in Spain.

Elisabeth Harrington:

The concert will feature guitarist Nicholas Lambson on solo guitar for half of the evening. I will join him for the other half. The pieces we are performing together are the following four sets, two in English, two in Spanish:1. Three songs by John Dowland (originally scored for voice and lute) Typical early music with word painting in the vocal part, some tricky contrapuntal writing for guitar. They are strophic songs with some repetitions within verses. The stories are about unrequited love.

2. Three songs by Joaquin Rodrigo (the famed twentieth-century Spanish composer who became blind at the age of three, and contributed greatly to popularizing the classical guitar) Wonderful, through-composed pieces with ample melodic and harmonic variation to hold the listener's interest without losing cohesion. They definitely sound Spanish!

3. Five folk songs by Federico Garcia Lorca (accessible, full of "Spanish" idioms; include multiple verses for each melody)

4. Selections from "Letters from Composers" by Dominick Argento (featuring personal notes from J. S. Bach, Robert Schumann, Giacomo Puccini, Frederic Chopin and others, scored for guitar and high voice). These songs are particularly clever, as the music reflects both the tone of each letter, whether loving, mocking, complaining, etc., and includes motives and rhythmic references reflective of the composer's style.

It is a rare treat for me to perform with a guitarist (only the third time in my whole career). I am enjoying learning more about the instrument and how to adjust my vocal intensity and color to balance with Nick's sound.

John Brecher and John Chernoff

John Brecher

Cellist and HSU faculty emeritus John Brecher plays Beethoven and the Shostakovich Cello Sonata on Friday, April 24 at 8 pm in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Department of Music Guest Artist concert.

John Brecher Returns for Beethoven and Shostakovich

Cellist and HSU faculty emeritus John Brecher returns to HSU to play two complete works by Beethoven and Shostakovich in a Guest Artist concert at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Friday, April 24.

Brecher and pianist John Chernoff will play Ludwig von Beethoven’s last cello sonata, #5 in D, written in 1815, at the beginning of what reviewer Harry Downey calls Beethoven’s “last, great period of creativity.” It is the only one of Beethoven’s five cello sonatas to include a traditional slow movement, which Downey writes is “a truly intense and soul-searching Adagio that leads to the complex fugue of the Finale.”

They will also play the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Dimitri Shostakovich, a modern Russian composer. An early work, this sonata in four movements was composed in 1934 just before Soviet authorities began censoring his music. It was written quickly, during a period of emotional turmoil in the composer’s personal life. Reviewer Hubert Culot describes it as “a big romantic piece” that “brims with long, passionate melodies.”

John Brecher is a former conductor of the Humboldt Symphony, soloist with the Eureka Symphony and a founder of the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop. He has performed major works in the classical repertoire in various European cities. He taught in the HSU Music Department from 1969 to 1973, and from 1990 until his retirement.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 24 in in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.

Media: Humboldt State Now

Opera Workshop

It’s opera with emphasis on the comic, as the HSU Opera Workshop performs Puccini, Donizetti, Gilbert & Sullivan and a children’s opera by Malcolm Fox on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Elisabeth Harrington, director. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.

Opera Workshop Goes to the Circus

Continuing their emphasis on the comic from their March concert, the students of the HSU Opera Workshop perform a new program on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

The concert starts off with scenes from four different operas, directed by HSU Music professor Elisabeth Harrington.

“Sour Angelica” is part of a one act opera by Giacomo Puccini, set in a convent and featuring an exclusively female cast.

After Puccini, why not Donizetti? But this time, it’s two male singers in a comic duet from the opera “Don Pasquale.”

A duet and dance routine from Kurt Weill’s “Street Scene” is followed by the opening scene of “Ruddigore,” an outlandish comedy by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Pianist John Chernoff is the accompanist for these four scenes.

The children’s opera, “Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing” by Malcolm Fox comprises the second half of the concert. “We did two scenes from this opera in the fall, and now we’re doing the whole show,” Elisabeth Harrington said. “It’s a comic, kid-friendly piece about a serpent who is frustrated with his job of slithering in the circus. He decides to become a singer, and leaves the circus to pursue his dream of finding his voice.”

Recent HSU graduate Kirsten Randrup will direct the children’s opera, with student Jonathan Webster accompanying on piano.

The HSU Opera Workshop performs on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.

Humboldt Bay Brass Band

Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays Copland, Downie, Dusty Springfield and more in its only spring concert on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Presented by the HSU Department of Music; directed by Gil Cline.

From Copland to Dusty Springfield: An Eclectic Humboldt Bay Brass Band Concert

A Londonderry Aire, a Kentucky Sunrise, a contemporary tribute to an old master, the most famous fanfare in America, and a Dusty Springfield tune—comprise just some of the eclectic program for the Humboldt Bay Brass Band spring concert on Saturday, April 11.

The program begins with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, a familiar, stirring and emblematic work which is probably the best known fanfare in America, and was widely heard as recently as President Obama’s Inaugural celebration.

The featured work is Purcell Variations by noted brass band composer Kenneth Downie. “This piece is a major work for brass band,” said Gil Cline, conductor of the Humboldt Bay Brass Band. “It’s a roller coaster of a composition, traversing melodies and harmonies, and glued together by contemporary rhythms.” Though it does not mimic the Baroque style of composer Henry Purcell, it was written for the 300th anniversary of his death.

Also featured are Sonata Octavi Toni by late 16th century Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli, and The Hunt by noted British band composer Kenneth Alford. The famed Irish anthem Londonderry Aire (it’s the tune to “Danny Boy”) contrasts with the very American Kentucky Sunrise, composed by Karl King, originally for the Barnum and Bailey Circus Band. Trombonist George Epperson solos for the 1966 Dusty Springfield hit, “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.”

The concert’s second half features music of HSU's Trumpet Consort, playing copies of 1667 natural trumpets. A week later, they'll be at Stanford University to play a concert from Hoover Tower.

Humboldt Bay Brass Band plays its only spring concert on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Gil Cline, conductor. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.

Media: Eureka Times-Standard.

Conductor's Notes

Kenneth Downie ....... Purcell Variations
Composed to commemorate the tercentenary of Purcell's death, this piece is based on the hymn tune 'Westminster Abbey' and offers variety, vitality and technical movements. This piece is a bona fide Tour de Force! It's a major work for brass band, in that it is organized into fivemovements and has a duration of almost 14 minutes.

Although it was not commissioned as a "contest piece" it has already been used for that purpose in the Brass Band world, including England. There, and elsewhere in the UK, bands aspire to win a national championship, beginning in regions and leading to the nationals each fall at Royal Albert Hall in London.

Purcell Variations, a contemporary work -- not baroque music like the namesake, is a roller-coaster of a composition, traversing melodies and harmonies, and glued together by contemporary rhythms in a way which challenges any brass band, and treats any audience.

Kenneth Downie is a composer of brass band music. He was born in Glasgow and educated at Greenock High School, the Royal Manchester College of Music .... His published compositions, now numbering over 50, span a period of 30 years and are mainly for brass band or choir.

Giovanni Gabrieli ..... Sonata Octavi Toni
Beautiful double choir, divided left and right, music of San Marco Cathedral, Venice, 1597.

Kenneth Alford ........... The Hunt
Begins with a posthorn, a hunting horn, solo and is a real horse race through the woods. By the noted British composer of many other works for band.

Karl King ....... Kentucky Sunrise
Very American ... 1919 ... Written for the Barnum and Bailey Circus Band.Dedicated to Rhoda Royal, horse trainer ... named for show horse Kentucky Sunrise in B&B Circus. As a former euphonium player, King made sure that the low brass players shared the best melodies.

Dusty Springfield ..... You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
Yeah, the 1960s hit! Here with trombone solo by George Epperson.

Composers Concert

New music by faculty and student composers on Saturday, April 4 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Presented by the HSU Department of Music.

Composers Concert Includes Deborah Clasquin Memorial

A program of new compositions by HSU Department of Music faculty and students, presents an “eclectic array of styles and compositional techniques for ambient synth music, dancers, piano, voice and various chamber groups,” according to Dr. Brian Post, HSU professor of Music Theory and Composition. It will be performed on Saturday, April 4 in Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU.

One of the featured compositions is “Light at the End of the Tunnel,” which Dr. Post wrote in memory of Deborah Clasquin, noted pianist and revered teacher at HSU, who passed away on March 10. The piece will be played by Post and students who studied with Clasquin, “while reflecting on life, death and their memories of some one who was very dear to them,” Post said.

The program also features an electronic piece by Cynthia McCloud. “She created her own music composition system that utilizes numerology and is designed to influence the energy centers of the human body,” Post said. “ This piece will also have dancers interpreting the piece through movement.”

Another Post composition, “Rails of Safety,” will be performed by students in the composition program “using parts of Fulkerson Recital Hall and kitchen utensils brought from their homes for instruments,” in homage to early 20th century American avant-garde composers. “It is also designed to foster the return of improvisation to a formal music venue,” Dr. Post said.

Other works on the program are performed by acoustic chamber groups, solo piano and solo voice. The Composers Concert is presented on Saturday, April 4 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.

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

Duo Fuoco

Duo Fuoco plays fiery tangos and other contemporary and modern music for flute and guitar on Friday, April 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Presented by HSU Department of Music.

Duo Fuoco: Fiery, Light and Now Half-Humboldt

“Duo Fuoco” means “two fires,” and in its concert on Friday, April 3 at Fulkerson Recital Hall, Duo Fuoco plays some fiery music for guitar and flute.

Though based in San Francisco, Duo Fuoco is now one-half Humboldt. While guitarist Jacob Kramer is still in the Bay Area, Laura Snodgrass is teaching flute in the HSU Department of Music.

Duo Fuoco’s recent appearances won praise from the San Francisco Examiner (“rhythmically punchy, spicy performance”) and the San Francisco Classical Voice (“An engaging, exciting performance by a promising new force in classical music.”)

Their April 3 program features the fiery tangos of 20th century Argentine composer Astor Piazolla, in his History of the Tango. It suggests how tango would be played in a 1900 bordello, a 1930 café and a 1960 nightclub.

They will also perform Adelita and Lagrima by 20th century Spanish guitarist Francisco Tarrega and Prelude #2 by Heitor Villa-Lobos, considered Brazil’s most significant 20th century composer.

But fiery isn’t the only mood. They play "Deep Blue" by contemporary composer Libby Larsen, who has described it as “quiet and lyrical.” Duo Fuoco follows it with Larsen’s “Salt Peanuts,” based on a 1945 jazz tune by Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Clark. The program also includes selections from three modern French composers: Claude Debussy (his 1913 flute composition, Syrinx), Edgard Varese (his 1936 Density 21.5, also originally for flute) and Jacques Ibert (who also directed the Paris Opera-Comique.)

Duo Fuoco guitarist Kramer studied with San Francisco guitarist and composer Dusan Bogdanovic, and for this concert the Duo will perform the prelude to Bogdanovic’s recent ballet, “The Crow.”

In addition to teaching at HSU, Laura Snodgrass has performed with the Eureka Symphony as well as the Contemporary Chamber Orchestra and Monterey Symphony. She has won awards from the National Music Teacher’s Association, National Woodwind Concerto Competition, and National Public Radio Young Artists Competition.

Duo Fuoco performs on Friday, April 3 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door.

Media: Humboldt State Now.

Jazz Combos

HSU Jazz Combos perform on Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.

North Coast Wind Ensemble

North Coast Wind Ensemble continues its inaugural season with a Barber march, Ives’ American Variations and a tribute to Paris on Sunday March 22 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.

Modern Adventures with the new North Coast Wind Ensemble

The North Coast Wind Ensemble continues its inaugural season on Sunday, March 22 at Fulkerson Recital Hall with an ambitious and adventurous program that includes a tribute to Paris, Variations on America, some Gregorian chant and a little ragtime. And of course, a march.

But even the march—a standard part of the program for a large wind ensemble—is a little unusual, since it was authored by modern American composer, Samuel Barber. “Barber is best known for his sweeping symphonic essays and beautiful art songs,” observed Kenneth Ayoob, the ensemble’s conductor. “But he also composed ‘Commando March’ for our armed forces. It contains his familiar harmonies and lush melody in the context of a traditional march.”

The adventure continues with two compositions that combine several styles. Variations on America by another American modernist, Charles Ives, varies a single melody, including rendering it as a tango. Sinfonia V by contemporary American composer Timothy Broege is an eclectic mix of sounds that includes Renaissance motets, Gregorian chant and ragtime.

Paris Sketches is a tribute to the City of Light and the many composers it inspired, by contemporary British composer, Martin Ellerby.

The program also includes a song for winds by Richard Strauss, and one of the world’s most performed compositions—O Magnum Mysterium by contemporary California composer Morten Lauridesen, in a wind ensemble arrangement that captures the original feeling of “a quiet song of profound joy,” according to Ayoob.

The North Coast Wind Ensemble is comprised of 33 instrumentalists from local communities. Its first concert was in January.

This second North Coast Wind Ensemble performance begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday March 22 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office (826-3928) or at the door. Kenneth Ayoob, conductor.

Media: Humboldt State Now.

Program Notes
by Kenneth Ayoob, Conductor

Charles Ives’ Variations on America was written for organ and transcribed for band. The familiar tune is put through a number of changes – a tango, hearing the melody in two keys simultaneously and with both trumpet and woodwind obligatos.

Samuel Barber is best known for his sweeping symphonic essays and beautiful art songs. He also composed a march – Commando March for our armed forces. It contains the familiar harmonies and lush melody in a the context of a traditional march.

Timothy Broege’s Sinfonia V is an eclectic mix of sounds including Renaissance motets, Gregorian Chant (the band sings in this segment), a rag and a bit of improvisation.

Richard Strauss is known for his tone poems and operas, but was also a composer of art songs. Allerseelen is an arrangement of one of his most beautiful songs for winds.

Paris Sketches by British composer, Martin Ellerby, is a tribute to the City of Lights and presents characterizations of various parts of the cities and the many composers who have been inspired by Paris.

Morten Lauridsen’s choral setting of O Magnum Mysterium has become one of the world’s most performed compositions. Lauriden writes, “For centuries composers have been inspired by the beautiful “ Magnum” text with its depiction of the newborn king amongst the lowly animals and shepherds.” This work has been arranged for winds by H. Robert Reynolds and captured the original setting of a quiet song of profound joy.

Deborah Clasquin, Humboldt State Professor of Music and acclaimed pianist, died on March 10 at Mad River Hospital in Arcata. Services were held today. She will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her, and by the North Coast music community. Her last solo performance at HSU was in October. Here is the biography she supplied for this event:

Deborah Clasquin enjoys an active career as a recitalist, as well as orchestral soloist, and has appeared in concert in Paris, Moscow, Kiev, Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco and throughout Northern California. Numerous prizes and awards have marked her performing career, as well as being broadcast by National Public Radio’s Performance Today. Clasquin has recently appeared as soloist with the Eureka Symphony Orchestra and the Brockport Symphony performing Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto.

Deborah studied with world-renowned Presidential Medal winning chamber musician Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio while earning a doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University. Her undergraduate degree came from Smith College, followed by a masters degree from the New England Conservatory of Music.

As a Professor of Music on the faculty at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California Deborah is also devoted to teaching piano. Her students have been heard on NPR’s “From The Top” and won numerous competitions, including a Gold Medal in the 2003 Magin International Piano Competition in Paris, France and enjoy active careers as performers and teachers."

Other memorials to Deborah Clasquin: Humboldt State Now, Eureka Times-Standard, Stage Matters.

Hidden Valley Chamber Players. Click photo to enlarge.

Community Chamber Music

The North Coast Community Chamber Music series continues with the Meadowood Quartet, Quartet Arioso and the Hidden Valley Chamber Players performing Mendelssohn, Beethoven and other composers on Saturday, March 14 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Coordinated by Val Phillips. A production of the HSU Department of Music.

Meadowood Quartet

Community Chamber Music Concert Celebrates Mendelssohn, Plays Beethoven’s Early Hit

After four previous successful concerts since 2007, the Community Chamber Music series continues with the Meadowood Quartet, Quartet Arioso and the Hidden Valley Chamber Players performing Mendelssohn, Beethoven and other composers on Saturday, March 14 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU.

Each concert in the series features a combination of independent ensembles. The players come from various North Coast communities, with several also performing for the Eureka Symphony.

"Our players are ‘101 Flyers,’” said Val Phillips, coordinator for the series and HSU Music professor emeritus. “ They meet in someone’s home every week to play, just as chamber music groups did in Mozart’s time.”

For this concert, the Eureka-based Meadowood Quartet celebrates the bicentennial of early 19th century German composer Felix Mendelssohn’s birth by performing his Quartet No. 3 in D. “Mendelssohn was a prolific and influential composer who wrote for many instrumental and choral combinations,” Val Phillips commented. “He was masterful in his writing for string instruments. His quartets are remarkable for their elegant expressiveness and scintillating figuration.”

The Meadowood Quartet is Betty Bliss (Redway) and Marilyn Page (Arcata) on violin, Stephan Vaughan (Eureka) on viola and Eric Jones (McKinleyville) on cello. Bliss, Page and Vaughan also play in the Eureka Symphony.

Quartet Arioso, based in Fortuna, will play Quartet in G by 16th century Italian composer Tommaso Giordani and Seven Pieces by contemporary English composer John Kember. Performers Judy Scott (flute), Sherry Hanson (violin) and Ruth McClimon (piano) all live in Fortuna, while Patty Larson (cello) makes the trip from McKinleyville. Hanson teaches at Fortuna Middle School, McClimon teaches piano, while Larson works for the Arcata Children’s Center and Scott volunteers in Fortuna community centers as a musician.

The largest group on the program is the Bayside-based Hidden Valley Chamber Players, who will perform Beethoven’s Septet, one of his early hits. “It was immediately popular in Vienna,” Val Phillips said. “It was a substantial step in Beethoven’s rise to fame as a composer.”

This composition will be played using its original combination of instruments, with Allen Lesser (Fortuna) on violin, Aryay Kalaki (Bayside) on viola, Helen Ann Reid (Eureka) on cello, Shao Way Wu (Arcata) on bass, Virginia Ryder (McKinleyville) on clarinet, Val Philips (McKinleyville) on horn, and Justin Sousa (Fortuna) on bassoon. Reid, Ryder, Philips and Sousa also play in the Eureka Symphony.

The fifth Community Chamber Music performance is Saturday, March 14 at 8 pm in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. The concert is produced by the HSU Department of Music.

Media: North Coast Journal, Arcata Eye, Eureka Times Standard, Humboldt State Now.

Notes and Personnel

Notes by Val Phillips

The fifth concert in an ongoing series of chamber music performances by North Coast chamber music ensembles will feature music of Felix Mendelssohn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Tommaso Giordani, and contemporary British composer John Kember.

2009 marks the bicentennial year for Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), a prolific and influential composer who wrote for the many instrumental and choral combinations which existed in the Germany of his time, and was particularly masterful in his writing for string instruments. His seven quartets, two quintets and octet, all masterworks of string literature, are remarkable for their elegant expressiveness and scintillating figuration. Mendelssohn’s Quartet No. 3 in D, composed in 1838, will be presented by the Meadowood Quartet, which rehearses in Eureka.

Quartet Arioso, based for a number of years in Fortuna, will present Tommaso Giordani’s Quartet in G, and John Kember’s Seven Pieces. Tommaso Giordani (1740-1816), a member of a noted Neapolitan family of opera performers who found great fame in the London in the 1760’s, lived in Dublin for many years. He was was a noted composer and teacher who wrote with distinction for voice and also for instrumental combinations.

John Kember, born in 1935, is a resident of London, where he is well-known as a teacher, conductor, and composer of vocal and instrumental music of wide popular appeal.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet, op. 20 for four strings and three winds, was published in 1802, and immediately achieved such popularity in Vienna that versions for other combinations of instruments came into existence, including Beethoven’s own trio arrangement, his opus 38 for clarinet, cello and piano. The Septet was a substantial step in Beethoven’s rise to fame as a composer. It was emulated by later 19th century composers such as Schubert, Kreuzer and Berwald, who composed similar large works for string and wind combinations. The Septet will be performed by the Hidden Valley Chamber Players, who rehearse in Bayside.

The HSU Music Department is the sponsor for this community chamber concert series, which is coordinated by Val Phillips, emeritus professor of music at HSU.


Personnel

Quartet Arioso

Judy Scott, Flute. Fortuna: volunteer musician, community centers in Fortuna

Sherry Hanson, violin. Fortuna; teacher at Fortuna Middle School.

Patty Larson, cello. Mckinleyville, Arcata Children’s Center staff member.

Ruth McClimon, piano. Fortuna; studio piano teacher.

Meadowood Quartet

Betty Bliss, violin. Redway: retired, Eureka Symphony.

Marilyn Page, violin. Arcata; Music teacher, Fieldbrook School - Eureka Symphony

Stephan Vaughan, viola. Eureka; studio violin and viola teacher - Eureka Symphony

Eric Jones, cello. McKinleyville, Transportation driver

Hidden Valley Chamber Players

Allen Lesser, violin; Fortuna, Henderson Center business owner
Aryay Kalaki, viola. Bayside, Retired.
Helen Ann Reid, ‘cello. Eureka; Staff, Gottschalks,’ Eureka Symphony.
Shao Way Wu, bass. Arcata, performer, instructor HSU Music Dept.
Virginia Ryder, clarinet. McKinleyville, Instructor, HSU Music Dept., Eureka Symphony.
Val Phillips, horn. Mckinleyville, HSU Emeritus faculty/administrator, Eureka Symphony.
Justin Sousa, bassoon. Fortuna; Surveyor, Eureka Symphony.

HSU Opera Workshop laugh it up in Die Fledermaus. Not pictured: the Humboldt Symphony. Click photo to enlarge.

Humboldt Symphony & Opera Workshop

Song and laughs as the Humboldt Symphony backs the HSU Opera Workshop in Haydn’s comic opera, La Canterina and the finale of the Strauss operetta Die Fledermaus on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. HSU Opera Workshop directed by Elisabeth Harrington. Humboldt Symphony conducted by Paul Cummings. An HSU Department of Music production.

Christopher Hatcher and Sarah Benzinger in La Canterina.

Song and Laughs with the Opera Workshop and Humboldt Symphony

Call it comic opera or “opera buffo,” the bottom line is that it’s fun. “Fainting, hiding behind chairs but still singing loud enough for the audience to hear, exaggerated dramatic situations and far-fetched resolutions,” is how HSU Opera Workshop director Elisabeth Harrington describes the comic opera to be performed by Workshop singers with the Humboldt Symphony on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7.

It’s called La Canterina (translated as “The Songstress” or “The Diva”) by Joseph Haydn, a tale of a romantic misunderstanding. “The comic style is very entertaining and appealing, even to non-opera loving audiences.” Harrington added. “We’ll perform the opera mostly in English but with many Italian phrases included, to capture the flavor and style of the language.”

Lead singers in La Canterina are Sarah Benzinger (as Gasparina, a popular opera singer); Katherine Kinley (Apollonia, Gasparina’s assistant and pal); Lindsey Tewksbury (Don Ettore, a teenage boy in love with Gasparina, a role often sung by a female) and Chris Hatcher (Don Pelagio, Gasparina's singing teacher, who is also inlove with Gasparina).

La Canterina is also a chamber opera, requiring a small number of singers. Such is not the case with the other work on the program, the Act II finale of Die Fledermaus by Johann Straus II, which will include all 22 singers of the Opera Workshop. “This is a fun party scene featuring both solo and ensemble singing,” Harrington said. This version of the work even includes dancing.

Nor will the instrumental accompaniment be small—for either work. The Humboldt Symphony, directed by Paul Cummings, collaborates on both. “The addition of the orchestra makes the whole performance go up a notch in sophistication,” Harrington said. “Both groups of students gain the benefit of working together. The collaboration is great between faculty too!”

The combined performance of the HSU Opera Workshop and the Humboldt Symphony begins at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7, in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.

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

Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra

Re-live the Obama Inaugural (sort of) when the HSU Symphonic Band plays Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,”and return to the golden jazz year of 1959 with the Jazz Orchestra in their joint concert on Saturday, February 21 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID. Symphonic Band directed by Kenneth Ayoob, Jazz Orchestra directed by Dan Aldag. Production of the HSU Department of Music.

Historic Sounds in Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra Joint Concert

In their joint concert on Saturday, February 21, the HSU Symphonic Band and HSU Jazz Orchestra pay tribute to history.

Under the direction of Kenneth P. Ayoob, the Symphonic Band will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth by performing Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” This work was part of the pre-Inaugural concert for President Barack Obama. Narrating the text derived from Lincoln’s letters and speeches is Bernadette Cheyne, chair of the HSU Theatre, Film and Dance department.

In its half of the evening, the Jazz Orchestra celebrates an historic moment of another kind: the 50th anniversary of 1959, which director Dan Aldag calls “one of the most significant years in jazz's history.” Albums released that year include classics by jazz greats Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus and Bill Evans.

In this first concert of the spring semester, the Jazz Orchestra will play selections from the Mingus album ("Open Letter to Duke") and from “Portrait in Jazz” by the Bill Evans Trio ("Peri's Scope".) In its second performance in May, the Orchestra will feature more music from 1959.

In addition to the Lincoln tribute, the Symphonic Band will perform “Original Suite” by 19th century English composer Gordon Jacob, “Intermezzo” by Monte Tubb, Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Oregon; and “Vesuvius” by Frank Ticheli, Professor of Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. This last work, Ayoob said, “portrays the last days of Pompeii before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius with a combination of driving rhythms, brilliant colors, and a lovely dance-like interlude.”

The Jazz Orchestra plays Duke Ellington’s “Rockin’ In Rhythm” and an original piece by the Orchestra’s drummer, Jonathan Kipp, called “Chased By A Wolf Down a Mountain.” Concluding their program is “Déjà Vu" by Tom Frederickson. “The title refers both to Frederickson's conscious evocation of the big band era,” Aldag said, “and how, in the latter part of the piece, he brings back musical material from earlier in the composition.”

The HSU Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra joint concert on Saturday, February 21 begins at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.

Media: HSU Now.

Jazz Orchestra Program Notes: Dan Aldag on Fabulous 1959

This semester, we're going to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of 1959, one of the most significant years in jazz's history, and some of that music will be part of our program on the 21st. 1959 was the year of:

Kind Of Blue--Miles Davis
The album that established modal jazz (very few chord changes) as a viable alternative to the bebop approach of very complex and fast-moving chords. Maybe the best-selling jazz album of all time. Renowned for its combination of surface beauty and extraordinary depth.

Giant Steps--John Coltrane
The album that was the apotheosis of the aforementioned bebop approach. The title tune remains today a kind of test piece for jazz improvisors.

The Shape of Jazz To Come--Ornette Coleman
The album that established free jazz (no pre-set, fixed chord progressions.) The beginning of jazz's avant-garde revolution of the 1960s.

Time Out--Dave Brubeck
The album that first popularized unusual time signatures in jazz. Up to this point, almost all jazz had been in a meter of 4. This album included tunes in meters of 3, 5 ("Take Five"), 6 and 9 ("Blue Rondo a la Turk")

Portrait In Jazz--Bill Evans
The first album from the Bill Evans Trio, the group most responsible for freeing bass and drums from their timekeeping, accompanimental roles. In the Evans Trio, the piano, bass and drums operated as nearly equal musical partners, with often no one explicitly stating the pulse.

Mingus Ah Um--Charles Mingus
The album where Mingus first put together in a coherent and unified way his many and disparate influences, including blues and gospel, Ellington and the complex counterpoint of cool jazz. This album also introduced several of Mingus's best-known and most-performed compositions, including "Better Git It In Your Soul," "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" and "Fables of Faubus."

On this concert, we'll be playing tunes from the latter two albums, Mingus's "Open Letter to Duke" and Evans's "Peri's Scope". In May, we'll feature more music from 1959.

Symphonic Band Program Notes by Kenneth Ayoob

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the band will perform Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait with Bernadette Cheyne as narrator with a text derived from Lincoln’s letters and speeches. This powerful work was performed recently as part of the pre-inaugural concert for President Obama.

Original Suite by Gordon Jacob is in a similar style to the Suites by Holst and features folk-like melodies and a warm blend of the colors of the wind band.

Intermezzo by Monte Tubb, Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Oregon, combines elements of light and darkness taking a simple but haunting melody through a series of rhythmic and harmonic changes.

Vesuvius, by Frank Ticheli, Professor of Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, portrays the last days of Pompeii before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius with a combination of driving rhythms, brilliant colors, and a lovely dance-like interlude.

Antoniy Kakamakov

Prize-winning classical guitarist Antoniy Kakamakov plays Bach, Mertz and Antonio Jose on Friday, February 13 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. A Guest Artist concert.

Classical Guitar, The Next Generation

Young guitarist Antoniy Kakamakov is on a roll. After winning prizes for his playing in San Francisco and Portland, in 2008 he won the Wesley Day Solo Classical Guitar Recording Competition, which is designed to launch one particularly talented student from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on a professional career.

The award includes a recording and a concert tour, including his appearance at Humboldt State University on February 13. He’s already released his CD, titled Inqueito.

But Kakamakov was no stranger to prizes before this. He began studying guitar in his native Bulgaria at age 10, and won first prize in the junior division of the International Classical Guitar Festival and Competition in Romania. Scholarships followed, and he earned his bachelor’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory, where he is working on his Master’s.

At HSU, Kakamakov will play the Chaconne from the 2nd Violin Partita by Johann Sebastian Bach, a work made popular for guitar by Andres Segovia.

Other works on the program include the Fantasia Hongroise by 19th century Hungarian guitarist and composer Johann Kaspar Mertz, and the Sonata, the most famous work by 20th century Spanish composer Antonio Jose.

Guitarist Antoniy Kakamakov performs in a Guest Artist concert on Friday, February 13 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8 general, $3 students/seniors from the HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.

Media: Humboldt State Now

Concert Notes

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is the most important and prolific composer of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Being a master of counterpoint he brought the Baroque era to its heights. His mature style was an infusion of the predominant European styles and trends. Bach’s most important instrumental works come from the six year period 1717-1723 in Cothen, where he was the conductor of the court orchestra. The most daring work he composed during this period was the Chaconne from the 2nd Violin Partita BWV 1004.

A Chaconne is a continuous theme and variations on a short subject (usually four bars). Bach replaced the gigue, which was usually the concluding movement with this Chaconne, which was a trend practiced in France. This work of genius is one of the highest achievements in the musical world, “no other composer has ever composed such a gigantic masterpiece… it is a triumph of spirit over matter.” Philipp Spitta, Bach scholar.

Segovia shook the world when he pronounced that he will incorporate Bach’s Chaconne in his repertoire. He wanted to show that the guitar could sustain such a monumental work without taking away from its spirit. This was one of his greatest achievements to the guitar. It influenced his followers to arrange a majority of Bach’s cello and violin music, which boosted the instrument’s status. The purists have ceased their initial horrific reactions and arrangements of the Chaconne appear for any instrument (piano, guitar, orchestra and even marimba), which could execute its rich harmony. The Chaconne in D minor stands on its own and is usually performed by itself.

“The Chaconne is the most wonderful, unfathomable pieces of music. On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.” Johannes Brahms

Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856) was born in Bratislava, Slovakia. His contemporaries were Coste and Regondi. This is a dreadful period for the guitar’s history since the instrument’s fame had faded away. Regondi and Coste’s compositions have been almost neglected by modern players since they lack variety in their overall sound. On the other hand Mertz’s compositions are real jewels in the guitar’s nineteenth century repertoire. It reminds us of Liszt’s writings for the piano.

Fantasia Hongroise Op.65-No1 was played by Mertz in the Makaroff competition, but what got him the first prize over Coste was his Concertino. This Fantasy is one of the most effective and loved pieces from the 19th Century guitar repertoire. It incorporates unexpected harmonic surprises and mood changes. The key change from A major to F in the lugubre section reminds us of the Schubertian usage of third relationships. The Allegro Vivace is purely a Hungarian Czardas in its sound, incorporating the short long relationships between the notes. It is virtuosic and challenges the performer’s skills and accurate execution of the Hungarian stylistic demands.

Antonio Jose Martinez Palacios (1902-1936) was born in Burgos, Spain. His love of folk music from his native region influenced most of his work. In 1932, he was awarded the National Music Prize for his collections of Burgosian folk songs.

Jose’s Sonata para guitarra was written in 1933 for Regino Sanz de la Maza, but lay forgotten until 1989, when Angelo Gilardino was informed of an unpublished manuscript by Jose that had been unplayed for some 50 years. The Sonata bears the influence of Ravel, Debussy and Franck as much as that of Spanish folk song.

Ravel apparently referred to Jose as potentially the greatest Spanish composer of the 20th century, but Jose’s life would reach a tragic, early end. Early in the Spanish Civil War he was arrested in Burgos by Falangists, driven to nearby Estepar and shot. He was being accused of being a republican spy, Jewish sympathizer and of inciting the people to revolt. Jose met the same fate as poet Federico Garcia Lorca and international outcry over Lorca’s assassination prompted authorities to bury any trace of the slaughtered composer. Perhaps this in addition to Jose’s decision to drop his surnames accounts for half of century of obscurity.

trombonist Phil Samms of the North Coast Wind Ensemble

North Coast Wind Ensemble

The brand new North Coast Wind Ensemble of 33 local all-star players debuts with classic and modern wind masterworks, marches and favorite tunes, on Sunday, January 25 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office(826-3928) or at the door. Benefit for the HSU Music Department scholarship fund; Ken Ayoob, conductor.

Ken Ayoob, conductor of the North Coast Wind Ensemble

Birth of a Wind Ensemble

“It’s something that wind players in Humboldt County have been talking about for ten years,” Ken Ayoob recalls. But a real wind ensemble demands thirty or more players. It just didn’t seem possible.

Now it's more than possible--it's happening. On Sunday, January 25, the North Coast Wind Ensemble, featuring 33 local community instrumentalists—university and high school music teachers, HSU Music graduates and players for the Eureka Symphony—presents its first concert in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

“It’s a great group, and we’re having a lot of fun,” Ayoob said. “These are all accomplished musicians, and it’s a crackerjack ensemble. Audiences haven’t heard anything like this here before.”

The enterprise got started when clarinetist and former HSU Music student Heather Benson called Ayoob, also a clarinetist and her former HSU teacher. She wanted to explore the ensemble idea, and asked him to lend his name as potential conductor. He agreed, they traded names of possible players, and Benson started calling. Those who responded enthusiastically also suggested other names, and after an organizational meeting, rehearsals began.

The debut program is designed to show what a wind ensemble can do. “We want to showcase all the various moods and dynamics and sounds you can get from a wind ensemble,” Ayoob said. “A lot of people haven’t had the opportunity to hear that.”

This first evening features a masterwork of the wind literature (Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger), a prominent contemporary piece (Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli) and familiar melodies (such as selections from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.)

“And if you’re going to be a band, you have to do marches,” Ayoob said. Other selections include Reflections by California composer Roger Nixon, which features principal flautist Jill Petricca, and Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide.

Apart from the quality of the musicians, what makes this ensemble different is that there is one player to a part. “That makes for a real clarity—very clear textures and timbres, clean intonation and a lot of individual responsibilities,” Ayoob said. “Also it’s often more fun for the players when there’s just one to a part.”

“One of my hopes is that our audience will include high school and middle school and even college students who play wind instruments, so they can hear what this sounds like.”

As for the future of the new North Coast Wind Ensemble, Sunday’s audience may witness the beginning of what Ayoob hopes “will be a longstanding institution.” The concert begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday, January 25 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. $5 general, $2 students and seniors from HSU ticket office(826-3928) or at the door. Benefit for the HSU Music Department scholarship fund; Ken Ayoob, conductor.

Players:

For its first concert, the North Coast Wind Ensemble will be: Jill Petricca, April Sousa, Liz Souza (flute); Virginia Ryder, Susan Sisk (oboe); Heather Benson, Paul Cummings, Erin Dunning, Jamie Parisi, Gwen Gastineau-Ayoob (clarinet); Jeremy Cotton, Chris Larsen, Bruce McCay, Matt Machen (saxophone); Aaron Lopez, Justin Sousa (bassoon); Ronite Gluck, Matthew Morgan, Val Phillips, Mike Thompson (horn); Burt Codispoti, John Ferreira, Oshi Jager, Jennifer Reiske (trumpet); Scott Machen, Toshi Naguchi, Phil Samms (trombone;) George Ritscher (euphonium); Fred Tempas (tuba); Andrea Benson, Ken Burton, Rebekah Zdunich, Jonathan Kipp (percussion.)

The Program:

Pieces to be performed include: Overture to Candide by Leonard Bernstein, Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger, Selections from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, In Storm and Sunshine by J.C. Heed, October by Eric Whitacre, Reflections by Roger Nixon (featuring principal flautist Jill Petricca) and Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli.

Media: Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Eureka Times-Standard Northern Lights, Humboldt State Now.