Opera Workshop's Musical Discoveries

 Audiences for this spring’s HSU Opera Workshop concerts on March 28 and 29 will be among the first to experience recently rediscovered music from Portugal, including excerpts from a satirical opera never before heard on the West Coast. 

“Every second spring the Opera Workshop explores a special topic within the genre of dramatic vocal music,” explained director and HSU Music professor Elisabeth Harrington. This year’s concert results from the work of music scholar Dr. Ricardo Bernardes, who has “unearthed and edited selections of Portuguese vocal music and agreed to make them available for our performance.” 

Among his discoveries is an 18th century operatic farce that he found in a Washington archive. He provided his edited excerpts to the Opera Workshop for this work's West Coast premiere. 

Entitled "A Saloia Namorada," it’s about “a country girl in love,” Harrington said. “Themes include patriotism and the perennial ‘neutral ground’ for all operas: love triangles!” 

 This opera by Antonio Leal Moreira (music) and Domingos Caldas Barbosa (libretto) is historically significant as “the only known Portuguese opera from the 18th century that included composed recitative, rather than spoken dialogue. Several of our students have been working on short sections of the recitatives to include between their arias and duets.” 

Chris Parreira and Sean Laughlin review diction
with soprano and native of Portugal Ana Cruz 

Aiding the authenticity is soprano Ana Cruz, who is completing her HSU degree in Vocal Performance. “A native of Portugal, Ana has been the diction coach for the opera class this semester,” Harrington said. 

The concert features music from medieval to modern, including a liturgical piece in Latin ("Dixit Dominus") and an Italian aria ("Aria Alcione"), both also edited by Ricardo Bernardes. “They reflect the deep influence of European style on Portuguese music.” 

 Harrington will be among the 13 singers in the concert. John Chernoff accompanies on harpsichord, with Kinu Manabe on bass. 

 Humboldt County brass player Gregg Moore, who taught music in Portugal for ten years, performs with Ana Cruz on two pieces in the genre called Fado. With origins in the 19th century or earlier, Fado (“fate” or “destiny”) is a popular Portuguese song style, recently added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. 

HSU Opera Workshop performs on Friday and Saturday, March 28 and 29 at 8 p.m. in Gist Hall Theatre on the HSU campus. Tickets are $10, $5 seniors and children, and $3 HSU students, from the HSU Ticket Office (926-3928) or at the door. Produced by the HSU Music Department.

All This Jazz: HSU Battle of the Orchestras

 The Humboldt Symphony plays jazz, the HSU Jazz Orchestra plays classical, and together they play an orchestral work by Duke Ellington: is it blurring musical boundaries or HSU’s orchestra slam? You be the judge at Fulkerson Recital Hall on Saturday March 8. 

 The HSU Symphony under the direction of Kenneth Ayoob performs Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to West Side Story, which melds classical, jazz and popular music elements. A major hit as a stage show, this concert version was adapted from the landmark 1961 film by Maurice Peress, New York Philharmonic assistant conductor to Bernstein.

 “Our part of the concert features pieces with a jazz feel and background,” Ayoob noted. The Symphony gets more specifically jazzy with Calvin Custer’s Salute to the Big Bands, which incorporates melodies made famous by Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Glenn Miller and other 1940s bands, including excerpts from “Pennsylvania 6-5000” and “Sing Sing Sing.”

 “When Ken Ayoob told me that the Symphony was going to encroach on the Jazz Orchestra's territory with this piece,” said Jazz Orchestra conductor Dan Aldag, “I decided to return the favor by programming a piece of classical music arranged for big band.”

 So the Jazz Orchestra will perform a jazz band version of a song by 19th century French composer Leo Delibes, “The Maids of Cadiz.” Though the song was recorded by Benny Goodman and Miles Davis, this 1950 band arrangement by Gil Evans was only recently rediscovered.

The two orchestras combine for the evening’s centerpiece, Duke Ellington’s Harlem, conducted by Aldag. “This is generally acknowledged as one of Ellington's finest extended works,” he said. 

 The Jazz Orchestra gets back to jazz roots with the raucous “Better Git It In Your Soul” by Charles Mingus. 

 The Humboldt Symphony and HSU Jazz Orchestra concert is on Saturday March 8 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $8/$5, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. An HSU Music Department production.

Jazz Orchestra Notes

Notes by Dan Aldag, director of the HSU Jazz Orchestra:

rehearsing "Harlem"

The Jazz Orchestra is playing a program specifically tailored to sharing a concert with the Symphony. Most obviously, we are collaborating with the Symphony on Duke Ellington's Harlem... It has become a frequently performed work by symphony orchestras around the world and is generally acknowledged as one of Ellington's finest extended works.

 The Jazz Orchestra's own set will begin with "I Am" by the young Boston-based composer Omar Thomas. I chose this work because Thomas wrote it in a through-composed style much more like typical symphonic writing than jazz's customary repeating forms.

When Ken Ayoob told me that the Symphony was going to encroach on the Jazz Orchestra's territory and play a "Salute to the Big Bands", I decided to return the favor by programming a piece of classical music arranged for big band. The great jazz arranger Gil Evans adapted Leo Delibes' song "The Maids of Cadiz" for Claude Thornhill's band in 1950 (the same year Ellington composed Harlem), but Thornhill never recorded it. Evans wrote a new arrangement of "Maids" for his first album with Miles Davis, Miles Ahead, and the original arrangement for Thornhill was only recently rediscovered by Ryan Truesdell and recorded by his Gil Evans Project for their Grammy-nominated 2012 CD Centennial.

The Jazz Orchestra will close the program with a piece decidedly different from the refined sounds that will precede it. Charles Mingus's "Better Git It In Your Soul" was inspired by his childhood attendance at "Holy Roller" church services, with congregants shouting and moaning and speaking in tongues. Ending the evening with this will bring the Jazz Orchestra back to jazz's roots in African-American vernacular music.

Ellington's Harlem

According to Duke Ellington in his 1973 autobiography, he wrote Harlem in the summer of 1950 while he was aboard the Isle de France returning from Europe. He writes that it had been commissioned by the NBC Symphony Orchestra “during the time when Maestro Arturo Toscanini was its conductor.”

 Just when or if the NBC Symphony Orchestra ever played Harlem is still in question.  Recently Professor Donald C. Meyer of the Lake Forest College music department found a 1951 New York Times story about a benefit concert in New York in which some 70 members of this orchestra plus the Ellington orchestra together played it, with Ellington conducting. The Ellington orchestra had previously played it in 1951, and recorded it live in Stockholm, Sweden for release in 1955.

 Stanley Slome, former secretary of the Duke Ellington Society Los Angeles chapter, has chronicled various orchestrations and performances in the 1950s, though some mysteries remain. However, the version performed by the Humboldt Symphony and Jazz Orchestra was orchestrated by Luther Henderson and Maurice Peress.

 In his liner notes to a 1989 CD, Peress writes “Duke, a master title-giver, described the work as a concerto grosso for jazz band and symphony orchestra... It is one completely integrated movement, the first part of which is held together by the word "Har-lem" (a minor third), intoned by the growl trumpet. The second half is built out of the street funeral dirge (Duke refers to an Elks Band) which begins as an eight-bar blues for three marvelously interwoven clarinets and builds to a climax combining both thematic ideas.”

 According to Peress, Ellington described Harlem in this way: "...The piece of music goes like this (1) Pronouncing the word "Harlem," itemizing its many facets---from downtown to uptown, true and false; (2) 110th Street, heading north through the Spanish neighborhood; (3) Intersection further uptown--cats shucking and stiffing; (4) Upbeat parade; (5) Jazz spoken in a thousand languages (6) Floor show; (7) Girls out of step, but kicking like crazy; (8) Fanfare for Sunday; (9) On the way to church; (10) Church---we're even represented in Congress by our man of the church; (11) The sermon; (12) Funeral; (13) Counterpoint of tears; (14) Chic chick; (15) Stopping traffic; (16) After church promendade; (17) Agreement a cappella; (18) Civil Rights demandments; (19) March onward and upward; (20) Summary--contributions coda.

East Meets West at HSU with Silk Road Junction 101

 According to two Fortuna musicians, the place that East meets West is Highway 101. On Saturday February 22, East and West will meet musically when their duo, Silk Road Junction 101, performs at Humboldt State’s Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 As Silk Road Junction 101, Sarah McClimon and Rahman Abdur perform an international array of music on both eastern and western instruments. She plays the flute, harmonium and the Japanese string instrument called the koto. He plays the South Asian tabla drums, which he began studying as a child in Bangladesh.

 “We draw on our experiences living in Bangladesh, India, Japan, Hawaii, and California to explore the rhythms and melodies of Asia and the United States,” Sarah explained. “The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that linked Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Highway 101 links three states along the U.S. West Coast. Our music is a junction between these worlds—old and new, East and West.” 

 Their program at HSU features music from Japan, the Middle East, South Asia and the West. Another Fortuna musician, Sherry Hanson, joins them on viola.

 Sarah McClimon grew up in Fortuna, where she studied piano with her mother, Ruth McClimon. She then studied flute at a college in the midwestern U.S. and the koto in Japan. With a PhD in ethnomusicology, she teaches at Fortuna High School and at HSU. 

 Rahman Abdur studied in India and Japan, also earning an ethnomusicology doctorate. He performs with a fusion ensemble (SquarPeg) and with the Scotia Band. 

 Silk Road Junction 101 performs on Saturday February 22 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU. $10/$5 students and seniors, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. This Guest Artists concert is produced by the HSU Music Department.

Media: Tri-City Weekly, Mad River Union, HSU Now

Silk Road Junction 101 at HSU: Program and Notes

Part One: Japan and the Middle East
( Songs in the first part are performed on koto and tabla unless otherwise noted.)

 Kazoe Uta Hensōkyoku (Variations on Counting Song)
Arranged by Kikushiro Masaaki. Koto solo. A Japanese song that celebrates the New Year. This arrangement includes many ornaments, chords, and left hand techniques, demonstrating the range of sounds characteristic of the koto.

 Haru no Sugata (Arrival of Spring)
 composed by Eto Kimio.  Koto solo.This work for koto solo is a little gem that celebrates the coming of spring. There are many special techniques for the left hand including pitch bends, plucking with the left hand, and vibrato.

  Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)
 Traditional Japanese, arranged by Miyagi Michio. Perhaps the most famous Japanese song, Sakura celebrates the fleeting beauty of the delicate cherry blossoms that bloom for a short time in spring. Japanese cherish cherry blossoms and often arrange “cherry viewing” parties called hanami. This arrangement showcases the many techniques and tone colors that the koto can produce.

 Mugon Kashū: Gypsy no Uta (Song Without Words: Gypsy Song)
 By Yuize Shin’ichi. In the summer of 1955, kotoist Yuize Shin’ichi took a trip around Europe. During that time, he enjoyed listening to the folk songs of many nations. He used three of them to create the suite “Songs Without Words.” The final movement, “Gypsy Song,” is based on the Israeli folk song, “Zum Gali Gali.”

 Sasurai Warabe Uta Shū (Songs of Wandering)
By Tsutomu Sakamoto. Koto with daf. Sakamoto Tsutomu (1926-1996) was a blind kotoist and prolific composer who represents the postwar period of Japanese traditional music. This work represents a feeling of restless wandering. The scales and musical feeling depicts the Middle East. The left hand creates a tango-like rhythm in the main theme. Rahman accompanies on the Iranian frame drum daf.

 Haru no Umi – Spring Sea, Miyagi Michio (1894-1956)
 Koto and viola duet with Sherry Hanson, viola.  Miyagi Michio was Japan’s most notable koto performer and composer. He was born in late 19th century Japan and spent much of his childhood in Korea. He lost his eyesight at a young age and took up a traditional path for blind people at the time- that of a professional musician. His genius was the ability to blend traditional Japanese and Western classical musical elements, and he was a pioneer in the new koto movement. “Spring Sea” was composed in 1929 for shakuhachi bamboo flute and koto, but it is frequently performed with violin and koto as we will perform it this evening.

 Part Two: South Asia and Beyond
(Songs in the second part will be performed on flute and tabla unless otherwise noted.)

  Raga Bhupali: classical music of North India. A Raga is a framework for improvisation that includes a mood, time of day, scale, melody, patterns for improvisation, and a rhythmic cycle. Raga Bhupali portrays a feeling of devotion. It is best performed in the evening. Every raga begins with a slow section (alap) in free rhythm introducing each note of the raga. Then the tabla joins in, providing the rhythmic accompaniment to the melody. After playing the melody (gat), the flute alternates fragments of the gat with improvisational patterns (tan). After a period of call and response between solo and drum, the melody is played again. Then a series of fast passages set up for the ending. As the music becomes faster and faster, the final pattern (tihai) is played three times before a rousing end.

 Lahora: Tabla improvisational solo accompanied by harmonium.Lahora is a solo tabla improvisational piece. This lahora is based on Tintal, a 16 beat cycle improvisation, accompanied by the flute, showing the myriad tone colors and virtuosic rhythms of the tabla.

  “Bourée angloise” from Flute Partita in A minor by J.S. Bach.
 “Badinerie” from Suite in B Minor for flute by J.S. Bach.
What if Johann Sebastian Bach had a chance to visit India? He certainly would have written something for tabla… Here is an arrangement of two Bach classics for flute and tabla.

  Gram Chara (Remembering My Hometown)
 Lyrics and music by Rabindranath Tagore, translated by Anjan Ganguly. Flute and khol. This is a song written by the famous Bengali poet, composer and writer Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913 for his book of poetry Gitanjali: My king’s road that lies still before my house makes my heart wistful. It stretches its beckoning hand towards me; its silence calls me out of my home; with dumb entreaties it kisses my feet at every step. It leads me on I know not to what abandonment, to what sudden gain or surprises of distress. I know not where its windings end- But my King's road that lies still before my house makes my heart wistful.

Majhi Nao Chairya De (Bangladeshi Boatman’s Song)
 Lyrics by S. M. Hedayet, music by Ahmed Imtiaj Bulbul. Flute and dhol. Oh Boatman, let’s start the boat, raise the sails and as we sail, you may sing as much as you like.

 Ektara Bhajayo na (The Importance of Preserving Tradition)
 Popular song of Bangladesh.  Harmonium and tabla. Ektara is a popular song of Bangladesh that reminds young people to cherish and preserve their traditional culture. It humorously juxtaposes traditional food, clothing and music with imported popular culture. Here is a translation: Don’t play the ektara (one-stringed lute); don’t play the doutara (two stringed lute). Play the conga drums and guitar instead. If you play the one-stringed lute and the two-stringed lute, I will remember that I was once a Bengali. Don’t wear a sari; don’t decorate your feet with henna. Wear pants and a maxi dress instead. If you wear a sari and paint your feet with henna, I will remember that I was once a Bengali. Don’t cook shukto (bitter gourd); don’t make pais (rice pudding). Make Mongolian barbeque and Chinese food instead. If you make bitter gourd and rice pudding, I will remember that I was once a Bengali.

  Purano Sei Diner Kotha (When I think of my Hometown—Bengali)
 Hotaru no Hikari (By the Light of the Fireflies—Japanese);
Auld Lang Syne (English), traditional Scottish Harmonium and tabla.
While “Auld Lang Syne” is very popular in the English-speaking world, its lovely melody has spread around the world. Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) visited English in 1878 and was enchanted by the folk songs of English and Scotland. He adapted the melody and added a Bengali poem about the importance and persistence of memories. The same melody was adapted for use in Japanese schools during Japan’s period of modernization in the second half of the nineteenth century. Inagaki Chikai published “The Light of the Fireflies” in his 1881 book of Children’s School Songs. Bengali: How is it possible to forget the old days of my life? Japanese: Time piles up, reading by the light of fireflies/ And snow by the window/ Years have gone by without notice. /Now the day has dawned on the cedar door/ And it’s time to say “farewell.”

Silk Road Junction 101: The Performers

Sarah McClimon, flutist, kotoist and singer, grew up in Fortuna and began studies on piano with her mother, Ruth McClimon. She studied flute with Judy Scott and Jill Petricca. She studied music education at St. Olaf College, and studied flute with Cynthia Stokes, flutist with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. She earned a Bachelor of Music in instrumental music education, magna cum laude, and an MA and PhD in ethnomusicology from University of Hawaii.

 While living in Japan for six years, she learned Japanese music with the support of the Japanese Ministry of Education and the Japan Foundation. At Tokyo University of the Arts (Toyko Geijutsu Daigaku), she studied koto with Dr. Andō Masateru. Sarah has taught at University of Tsukuba, Japan and at Humboldt State University's International English Language Institute. She currently teaches music at Fortuna High School and in the Department of Secondary Education at HSU.

 Rahman Abdur, tabla drums, was born in Bangladesh and began studying tabla at the age of six. In 1988 and 1992, he won national awards for tabla performance. Beginning in 1994 he studied percussion at Rabindra Bharati University in Calcutta, India with the support of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, where he was awarded the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. He studied ethnomusicology in Japan at Tokyo University of the Arts, with a scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Japan, where he earned an MA and PhD in ethnomusicology.

 He has been an active performer of tabla in Bangladesh for national television, and at diverse performance venues in Japan. He performs with fusion ensemble SquarPeg and with the Scotia Band. He currently teaches tabla lessons.

Sherry Hanson joins Silk Road Junction 101 as a special guest this evening. She studied viola at Peabody Conservatory of Music and played with the Sacramento Symphony. She currently teaches music at Fortuna Elementary School District. She gives private violin and viola lessons and performs with the Eureka Symphony.

More information on Silk Road Junction 101 can be found at their website.

Good Vibes at HSU with Vibraphonist Ted Piltzecker

 Renowned jazz vibraphonist and composer Ted Piltzecker comes to Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU for a solo performance on Saturday February 8.

 With three successful solo albums and another with his group Steppe Forward, Piltzecker has won praise for his originality and flair. One jazz magazine described his solo album Standing Alone as “43 minutes [of ] expressive grace.” 

 A former director of the Aspen Music Festival, Piltzecker plays in concerts and festivals around the world. “Ted is not just a great jazz vibraphone player, he is an artist,” said HSU Music professor Eugene Novotney. “He plays with a full sense of the history of his art form, but he always sounds current and fresh. He is an amazing musician!”

Piltzecker will be on campus for several days working with HSU music students, so his concert may feature "special guests." 

 Ted Piltzecker performs on the vibraphone at 8 p.m. on Saturday February 8 in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. $10/$5 students and seniors, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. A Guest Artist concert produced by HSU Music Department.

Ted Piltzecker Biography
From his website:

Vibraphonist/composer, Ted Piltzecker toured internationally with the George Shearing Quintet as well as with his own unique ensembles. He has recorded three albums as a leader. His debut album, Destinations, climbed to number eight in national jazz airplay, and his second release, Unicycle Man on the Equilibrium label (featuring Bob Minter, Harvie S, James Williams, and Dave Meade) remained on the Gavin Jazz Chart for months. The Victory Music Review calls it "a thoughtful recording filled with tasteful flair, the product of confident mature musicians who are committed to the ensemble." Jazz writer and critic, Nat Hentoff praised the album as "a lyrical, thoughtful, relaxing meeting of mutually appreciative improvisers whose time is timeless."

 His most recent recording, Standing Alone, a collection of standards for solo vibraphone has also been critically acclaimed. All About Jazz reports that "He fills the 43-minutes with expressive grace, maintaining interest throughout." Muse calls it "a simultaneously technically impressive and deeply relaxing listening experience."

 The National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts have awarded grants to Ted in both performance and composition. His percussion music is available through Bachovich Music Publications, and his chamber works have been aired on National Public Radio’s "Performance Today" and the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s "Arts National."

 Ted has held faculty positions at the University of Michigan, William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, and the Manhattan School of Music. He is an associate professor at the Purchase Conservatory of Music, State University of New York, and he remains a popular clinician in universities across the country.

 For eight years, Ted directed the jazz program at the Aspen Music Festival where he regularly performed with many of the great names in jazz. (Jimmy Heath, Joe Williams, Clark Terry, Mel Torme, Ernie Watts, Hubert Laws, Slide Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and many more.) Ted has performed in New York area concerts and clubs with guitarists Gene Burtoncini and Vic Juris, bassists Rufus Reid and Todd Coolman, drummers Lewis Nash, Dennis Mackrel, and Clarence Penn, pianists Jim McNeeley, John Hicks, and Bill Charlap, and with saxophonists Chris Potter and Javon Jackson. Jazz USA commented on his recording with the Shearing Quintet featuring John Pizarrelli for Telarc - "The vibes are glassy and glamorous - this is Ted Piltzecker, who always finds the right thing to say."

 Ted appears as a featured soloist in percussion festivals around the world, from Hannover's Deutsches Percussion Symposium and London's Percussive Arts Society (UK) to Brazil's Ritmos da Terra. He performed at Puerto Rico Conservatory, at the Festival in La Patagonia, Argentina, at the Festival Internacional de Percusiones in Monterrey, Mexico, at the Festival de Vibráfono y Marimba for the US Embassy in Lima, Peru, and at the Encontro Internacional de Percussåo in Tatui, Brazil.

His appearances with orchestras, including the Tucson Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Regina Symphony Orchestras have variously spotlighted Ted as a performer, composer, and conductor. European engagements as a jazz headliner include the esteemed UMO Jazz Orchestra in Helsinki (guest soloist/composer) and several tours of German clubs and concert halls. His diverse performing interests have included tours with the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble of Tokyo, appearances at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York with organist Dorothy Papadakos, and concerts with classical cellists, Yehuda Hanani and Julia Lichten, violinists Calvin Wiersma and Rubén Gonzales, clarinetists Ayako Oshima and Dick Waller, and harpists Nancy Allen and Emily Mitchell.

 Ted is a graduate of the Eastman and Manhattan Schools of Music. He is also a licensed pilot and unicyclist.

Pictured: Ryan McGaughey, Levi Walls, Craig Hull, Gladys Arechiga, Ana Cruz, Sydney Chandler and Justin Santos.  Not pictured: Kevin Amos, Erin Laetz, Neil Bost and Angela Galioto.

HSU Music Students in Annual Honors Recital

 A Bach partita, an Offenbach aria, a composition for marimba and John Cage sonatas are among the musical selections on the program for the 2014 HSU Music student Honors Recital on Friday February 7 in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 The concert features eleven student players, selected by juried performances after fall semester. Faculty chose representatives from each performance area. “It is like a ‘best of’ showcase for the music students enrolled in studio lessons,” HSU Music professor Elisabeth Harrington explained. 

 The 2014 participants are Kevin Amos (marimba), Justin Santos (guitar), Ryan McGaughey (piano), Craig Hull (trombone), Erin Laetz (flute), Gladys Arechiga (alto saxophone), Ana Cruz (soprano), Levi Walls (piano), Sydney Chandler (horn), Angela Galioto (violin) and Neil Bost (vibraphone.) Staff pianist John Chernoff accompanies many of the selections.

 The 2014 Honors Recital is performed on Friday February 8 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall. There is no admission charge. A public reception in honor of the players will be held after the concert.

2014 Honors Recital Program

Time for Marimba (1968) by Minoru Miki (1930-2011)
 Kevin Amos, marimba

 Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006a by Johann Sebastian Bach
 Prelude
 Justin Santos, guitar 

 Sonata No. 9, Op. 68 by Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
 Ryan McGaughey, piano

 Cavatine, Op. 144 by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
 Craig Hull, trombone 
 John Chernoff, piano

 Concerto for Flute by Carl Nielsen
 I. Allegro moderato
Erin Laetz, flute
 John Chernoff, piano

 Sonata, Op. 19 by Paul Creston
 Gladys Arechiga, alto saxophone
 John Chernoff, piano

 “Elle a fui, la tourterelle” from Les contes d’Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
 Ana Cruz, soprano
 John Chernoff, piano

 From Sonatas and Interludes (1946-1948) by  John Cage
 Sonata IX  Second Interlude
 Sonata V
 Levi Walls, piano

 Parable for Solo Horn:  Parable VIII, Op. 120 by Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987)
 Sydney Chandler, horn 

 Tempo di Minuetto by Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
 Angela Galioto, violin
 John Chernoff, piano

 Mourning Dove Sonnet (1983) by Christopher Deanne (b. 1958)
 Neil Bost, Vibraphone

Ceremonies and Carols with University Singers & Humboldt Chorale

 HSU University Singers capture the holiday spirit with Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols and the Humboldt Chorale sings a liturgical work in their shared concert on Sunday December 15 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall. 

 Besides being appropriate for the holidays, performing the seven movements of Ceremony of Carols has two other occasions. “Britten was born in 1913, the same year that HSU was founded,” director Harley Muilenberg points out. “We perform it to celebrate HSU’s 100 years.” 

 That also means that this is Britten’s centennial, so “choirs all over the world are performing Britten’s choral works,” Muilenberg noted. 

 The University Singers also perform two movements from Randall Thompson’s The Testament of Freedom, which was written for another university-related birthday: Thomas Jefferson’s bicentennial in 1943.

 Thompson was teaching at the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson, so the text was taken from Jefferson’s writings. The piece proved so popular that it was transmitted over short wave radio to Allied soldiers in Europe during World War II. It premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1945 on a memorial program for the recently deceased President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

 

Fiona Ryder

The concert also features the Humboldt Chorale, a community choir directed by Carol Ryder. The Chorale performs Magnficat by contemporary composer Imant Raminsh, who was born in Latvia and resides in Canada. This piece won the 1990 Canadian National Choral Award for outstanding choral work.

 The Magnificat or “Song of Mary” is a canticle sung in several Christian church services, related to the Virgin Mary. Various composers have written music to accompany the text, including Monteverdi, Bach and modern composers such as Ralph Vaughn Williams, Arvo Parte as well as Raminsh.

James Gadd

 Soloists for the Humboldt Chorale performance are Fiona Ryder and James Gadd.

 Humboldt State University Singers and Humboldt Chorale perform on Sunday December 15 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU. Tickets from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. $8/$5 seniors and children. HSU students with ID admitted free. Produced by HSU Music Department.

                          December 2013 University Singers (click photo to enlarge)

 Humboldt Symphony Plays The Nutcracker Suite   

 In its only concert this December, the Humboldt Symphony performs a holiday favorite, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite on Sunday December 15 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall.

 Leading the program is Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture that conductor Paul Cummings calls “a masterwork—one of the great overtures in the symphonic repertoire. It’s perhaps the hardest piece the Humboldt Symphony has played in the last 5 years or so. But it’s also very rewarding music to play and to hear.” 

 In its fall concert the Humboldt Symphony played four movements of Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances. In this concert, the orchestra plays all seven dances. “What’s interesting about hearing the whole piece is that as these brief movements progress, Bartok gradually adds more wind instruments to what begins as mostly a string orchestra piece,” Cumming said. “This is fun music, lively and usually with quick tempos. They have nothing of the complexity of Bartok’s more famous works.”

 The Symphony also performs a portion of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Building around a Shaker melody called “Simple Gifts,” Copland’s Pulitzer Prize-winning music was originally intended to accompany a ballet by Martha Graham in 1944. It has since become best known in this form, as an orchestral suite. In this version, Humboldt Symphony returns to the original 13 instruments.

 Performing on Appalachian Spring are two HSU Music faculty members: Cindy Moyer plays violin, and Karen Davy plays viola. “We’re excited about doing this piece,” Cummings said. “It’s a great work, very challenging, and even to do just a portion of it is an ambitious undertaking." 

 At first, Tchaikovsky’s music for The Nutcracker ballet was more highly praised than the ballet itself when it premiered in 1892. This 20 minute suite he created for concerts was also a great success. In more recent decades however the ballet has become wildly popular at Christmastime. 

 Now, said Cummings, part of the appeal of the orchestral suite is imagining the images from the well-known ballet. “The magical qualities of toys coming alive after dark—it appeals to the imagination of children and adults.” But the suite itself is also appreciated for its “wonderful orchestration” of this familiar music.

 The Humboldt Symphony performs on Sunday December 15 at 3 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU. Tickets from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. $8/$5 seniors and children. HSU students with ID admitted free. Conducted by Paul Cummings, produced by the HSU Music Department.

Humboldt Symphony Concert Notes

Notes edited from interviews with conductor Paul Cummings:

Academic Festival Overture by Johannes Brahms

 This is one of the great overtures in the symphonic repertoire—a definite masterwork by one of our greatest German composers of the 19th century.

 Brahms was a recluse if not a hermit, and he eschewed any sort of ceremony. He did not enjoy attention, much less any sort of pomp and circumstance. But when the University of Breslau gave him an honorary doctorate, he very reluctantly accepted it. He wasn’t any sort of orator, so instead of making a speech, he composed a piece for the occasion to express his thanks.

 The title, which Brahms hated, came from his music publisher. The publisher thought it was a catchy title but it also reflected the content, since Brahms quotes a handful of pre-existing tunes that students sang, into the overture, which gave the overture academic and festive qualities. I’ll point out the student tunes before we play the entire piece—we’ll perform extracts for the audience.

 Right after Brahms wrote this piece, he wrote The Tragic Overture. These are the only two full symphonic overtures he wrote in his life. This a great piece of music and quite difficult to play. It’s perhaps the hardest piece the Humboldt Symphony has played in the last 5 years or so. But it’s also very rewarding music to play and to hear.

 Romanian Folk Dances by Bela Bartok 

 Last time we performed four movements of this piece. This time we’re doing all seven. They’re all short—one or two minutes. What’s interesting about hearing the whole piece is that as the movements progress, Bartok gradually adds more wind instruments to what begins as mostly a string orchestra piece. It’s a good opportunity to highlight our more advanced wind players.

 Bartok was a collector and curator of folk music from Eastern Europe. Much of the music he renders in orchestral settings was familiar to him as a child. They’re all dances so it’s fun music, lively and usually with quick tempos. They have nothing of the complexity of Bartok’s more familiar works. These are simple folk tunes he set for small orchestra.

 Appalachian Spring Suite by Aaron Copland 

 Appalachian Spring was a ballet written for Martha Graham. It was originally written for 13 instruments—a chamber orchestra. Later Copland expanded it for full orchestra, and that’s how it is usually done. However, we’re doing portions of the suite for the original 13 instruments. It’s a concert version for 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, bass, flute, clarinet, bassoon and piano.

 Written in 1943 and first performed in 1944, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1945. The action of the ballet involves a pioneer celebration in springtime around a newly-built farmhouse in Pennsylvania in the early part of the 19th century.

 We’re excited about doing this piece—it’s a great work, very challenging, and even to do just a portion of it is an ambitious undertaking. We also feature two faculty players: Cindy Moyer plays violin, and Karen Davy plays viola.

 The Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

 This is the concert version of Tchaikovsky’s music to the well-known ballet. This is a wonderful orchestration that uses instruments such as the celeste, glockenspiel and piccolo to wonderful effect. It’s one of the best examples of program music because almost everyone who hears the piece associates it with images from the ballet—the magical qualities of toys coming alive after dark and taking on a life of their own.

 It appeals to the imagination not only of children who are always stirred by the images of the toys, but also of adults who can picture what’s happening in the ballet as they listen to the music—in the dance of the flowers, for instance.

 I’ve played this piece but this is my first time conducting it, so it’s exciting. The students are familiar with it, so it’s fun to play something you’ve heard your entire life, even if only on the p.a. system in Toys R Us.

Blurring Boundaries with HSU Jazz Orchestra

 HSU Jazz Orchestra blurs musical boundaries from country to Cuban pop, plus big band jazz classics on Saturday December 14 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

 “I didn’t set out to do this,” said director Dan Aldag, “but I realized that the theme of this concert is ‘Blurring Boundaries.’ We’re playing arrangements of a ‘60s pop tune, a country song from the ‘50s, an obscure funk tune first recorded by James Brown, a Cuban pop song from 1912, an ‘80s French pop song and a couple of Tin Pan Alley standards.”

 Jazz purists also get a taste with classics from the Duke Ellington and Count Basie bands, including music meant to be heard by just one person: the Queen of England. A contemporary touch is added with a brand new piece by young jazz composer Omar Thomas.

 The Jazz Orchestra concert features vocals by Jo Kuzelka, and solos by pianist Alex Espe, clarinetist Nick Durant, trombonist Josh Foster and guitarist Kris Lang. Recent HSU grad Dan Fair contributes two arrangements, including a version of “They All Laughed,” a tune the Gershwins wrote for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. 

 The HSU Jazz Orchestra performs on Saturday December 14 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU. Tickets from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. $8/$5 seniors & children. HSU students admitted free. Concert produced by HSU Music Department.

Jazz Orchestra Concert Notes

by Jazz Orchestra director Dan Aldag:

I didn't set out to do this, but I realized that the theme of the Jazz Orchestra concert is "Blurring Boundaries." We're playing arrangements of a '60s pop tune, a country song from the '50s, an obscure funk tune first recorded by James Brown, a Cuban pop song from 1912, an '80s French pop song and a couple of Tin Pan Alley standards.

 "Wichita Lineman" was composed by the great pop songwriter Jimmy Webb and made famous by Glen Campbell. The arrangement we're playing was written by John Hollenbeck for his recent album Songs I Like A Lot, and shows the influence of minimalism. Our performance will feature vocals by Jo Kuzelka and the band's guitarist, Kris Lang.

 "I Can't Stop Loving You" was written and recorded by country singer Don Gibson in the late '50s, and then became an even bigger hit for Ray Charles when he recorded it on his album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music in 1962. The version we're playing was arranged by Quincy Jones for the Count Basie album This Time By Basie.

 "The Chicken" was written by Pee Wee Ellis, saxophonist and music director for James Brown in the mid-1960s. It was recorded as an instrumental by Brown's band and released as the B-side of a single. It was rescued from obscurity by the groundbreaking electric bassist Jaco Pastorius. Our version further blurs the boundaries by incorporating Afro-Cuban percussion.

 "La Comparsa" was written by the great Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona when he was only 17. Lecuona is sometimes compared to George Gershwin, because both had success in both pop and classical music and both successfully incorporated elements of their native land's music in their classical compositions. Our arrangement was written by Oded Lev-Ari for clarinetist Anat Cohen's album Noir. We will feature Jo Kuzelka and clarinetist Nick Durant.

 "Le Cimitiere Des Elephants" was a French pop hit in the 1980s. The gypsy jazz guitarist Reinhardt adapted it for that idiom, and his version inspired recent HSU grad Dan Fair to arrange it for the Jazz Orchestra.

 Dan also arranged "They All Laughed", a George and Ira Gershwin tune, for our vocalist Jo Kuzelka.

The other Tin Pan Alley song we're playing is Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke's "Polka Dots and Moonbeams". Bill Holman arranged it for trombonist Carl Fontana to play it with the Stan Kenton band. We'll be featuring Josh Foster on it.
 The only "pure" jazz we're playing are classics from the libraries of the two greatest big bands, Duke Ellington's and Count Basie's, and a brand new piece by the young jazz composer Omar Thomas.

 After meeting Queen Elizabeth II during a European tour in the late '50s, Ellington and his partner Billy Strayhorn wrote The Queen's Suite. The Ellington band recorded it, Ellington had a single copy pressed, sent it to the queen, and ordered that it never be released to the public. After Ellington's death, his son Mercer thankfully had it released, because it's fantastic. We're playing the first movement of the suite, "Sunset and the Mockingbird", and will feature pianist Alex Espe and clarinetist Nick Durant.

 Benny Carter was one of the great musicians of the 20th century, excelling as an alto saxophonist, trumpeter and composer and arranger. He wrote several albums for Count Basie, and "The Swizzle" comes from The Legend.

 Omar Thomas is a young Boston-based composer who has just recently released his first album, and we'll play the title track, "I Am."

HSU Large Ensembles in Centennial Concert 

 The first of two concerts celebrating Humboldt State’s centennial presents the large ensembles of the HSU Music Department performing new and historic works on Friday December 13 in the Van Duzer Theatre.

 Ensembles performing include Humboldt Symphony, Symphonic Band, Humboldt Bay Brass Band, Jazz Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, University Singers, Humboldt Chorale and Guitar Ensemble. They celebrate and reference not only HSU’s 100 years, but a century of music performed by HSU ensembles.

 Highlights of the concert include a combined performance of Randall Thompson’s The Testament of Freedom by the Humboldt Symphony, the University Singers and Humboldt Chorale.  The 1943 work incorporates Thomas Jefferson’s words, and became a patriotic favorite during and after World War II. The Symphony will also play excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite.

 The Humboldt Bay Brass plays Centennial Flourish, "Sempre Pro Veritas" (Always for Truth),” a new piece by its director Gilbert Cline, and a work combining two marches from the early 20th century by local musicians Bert Pasco and Frank Flowers.

 The program ends with the HSU Alma Mater, newly arranged by HSU music composition professor Brian Post. It is performed by the Symphonic Band and the two vocal ensembles, and conducted by music professor Kenneth Ayoob, currently Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

 A second Centennial Concert is planned for the spring semester, featuring small ensembles.

 The Centennial Concert featuring HSU large ensembles is performed on Friday December 13 at 8 p.m. in the Van Duzer Theatre at HSU. Tickets from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. $8/$5 seniors and children. HSU students with ID admitted free. Concert is produced by HSU Music Department.

Killer Joe on Green Dolphin Street: AM Jazz Band 

 The AM Jazz Band plays a Miles Davis hit, and tunes by Lester Young, Cannonball Adderley and Freddie Hubbard on Thursday December 12 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

 Tickets from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. $8/$5 seniors & children. HSU students with ID admitted free. AM Jazz Band directed by Dan Aldag, concert produced by HSU Music Department.

 Here’s the concert program:

 “Sack Of Woe” by Cannonball Adderley, arranged by Mike Kamuf: hard bop, written for Adderley's quintet.

 “Lester Leaps In” by Lester Young, arranged by Rich Sigler: swing tune written for a small group from Count Basie's band.

 “Tiny Capers” by Clifford Brown, arranged by Carl Strommen: written for the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet.

 “On Green Dolphin Street” by Bronislaw Kaper, arranged by Victor Lopez: theme song from a late '40s film that became a jazz standard after being recorded by Miles Davis.

 “Killer Joe” by Benny Golson, arranged by Lisa DeSpain: written for the Jazztet.

 ”Little Sunflower” by Freddie Hubbard, arranged by Mike Kamuf: a modal tune first recorded on the Hubbard album of the same name.

Madrigal Singers & MRT Give Voice to Winter Holidays

 HSU’s 22-member Madrigal Singers perform their annual winter holiday concert in period costume, with the Mad River Transit jazz singers on Sunday December 8 in Fulkerson Recital Hall.

It’s a North Coast musical tradition to welcome the season with old English madrigals by classic composers like John Dowland and Henry Purcell. The Madrigal Singers also perform Martin Shaw’s “Fanfare For Christmas Day,” Thomas Campion’s “Now Winter Nights Enlarge” and provide instructions on “Which is the Properest Day to Drink,” plus news of the day from the year 1600.

 Mad River Transit takes over for the second half with jazz singing in a variety of tempos, including swing, be-bop and blues. With a rhythm section backing, the 18 singers in various combinations perform songs by composers ranging from Neil Young to Muddy Waters. Staff accompanist John Chernoff doffs his Renaissance robes to play some solo jazz piano.

 Directed by Harley Muilenburg, Madrigal and MRT singers perform on Sunday December 8 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU. Tickets are $8/$5, free to HSU students with ID from HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Produced by HSU Music Department.

Media: Mad River Union, Humboldt State Now

Madrigal Singers: The Program

The Madrigal Singers will present madrigals, part songs, solos, and duets along with the news of the day, the day being the time of Shakespeare in merry old England. Madrigals by Weelkes, Morley, Vecchi, Campion Lawes, Dowland, Henry Purcell, and Eric Whitacre will be sung, and News of 1600 England will compliment the Madrigal performance.  Directed by Harley Muilenberg.

  Madrigal Singers Fanfare For Christmas Day by Martin Shaw
 In These Delightful Pleasant Groves by  Henry Purcell
 Since Robin Hood by Thomas Weelkes
 Fa Una Canzona Orazio by Vecchi
 Toss the Pot by Thomas Ravenscroft
 Which is the Properest Day to Drink
 Shepherd, Shepherd by Henry Purcell
 Mary Now Winter Nights Enlarge by Thomas Campion
 Beauty and Love by Henry Lawes
 Nymphs and Shepherds by Henry Purcell
 The Peaceful Western Wind by Thomas Campion
 Flow my Tears by John Dowland
The Willow Song- Time of Elisabeth I
Can She Excuse my Wrongs arr. Harley Muilenburg
 A Secret Love or Two by Thomas Campion
 Come Again Sweet Love by John Dowland
Change Then for Lo She Changeth by William Holborne Abbey
What If a Day--Time of Elizabeth
 Florian’s Song by Benjamin Godard
And Would You See my Mistress Face by  Philip Rosseter
 Strike The Viol by Henry Purcell
Me, Me, and None But Me by John Dowland
 If Music Be the Food of Love by Henry Purcell
 Kala Kalla (from 5 Hebrew Songs) by  Eric Whitacre
 Sir Christmas by William Mathias

December 2013 Madrigal Singers (not in order pictured): Ana Ceja,  Erin Corrigan,  Jessica Golden,  Tiffany Casparis,  Robyn Strong,  Erika Luna, Stevy Marquez,   Kristin Mack,  Rosemary Torres,  Abbey Teitelbaum, Elisabeth Gent, Ray Alvarez, Dylan Kinser, John Pettlon, Edrees Nassir,  Kenneth Bridges,     Clint Rebik, Victor Guerrero,  Jeremy Rodda, Kyle McInnis, Christian Rosales, Aubrey Ross. Click photo to enlarge.