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eighth blackbird

The Chicago-based sextet eighth blackbird combines the finesse of a string quartet with the energy of a rock band and the boldness of a storefront theatre company.

In their concert at the Center, this audacious band of musicians will perform Steve Reich’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet, with students from the UMD School of Music forming a second sextet.

This tour of eighth blackbird is made possible by a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Wu Man, solo pipa

Recognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and as a leading ambassador of Chinese music, Chinese-born musician Wu Man creates and fosters projects that give this ancient instrument a new role in today’s musical world.

She has introduced the pipa — the traditional, four-stringed Chinese lute — to new audiences around the world and has commissioned and premiered more than a hundred new works.

Writing and Celebrating in the African American Tradition

Join us for a conversation about Christmas and holiday traditions in communities of the African Diaspora.

This Creative Dialogue is held in conjunction with the presentation of “Christmas Gift!”, an original Nolan Williams, Jr./NEWorks production featuring new and traditional yuletide music and dramatic readings.

This family- and community-oriented event draws its inspiration from the first compilation of African American Christmas themed literature, Christmas Gif': An Anthology of Christmas Poems, Songs, and Stories, which was published in 1963.

Winter Big Band Showcase

In this annual event, director Chris Vadala brings together three ensembles in innovative interpretations of classic and contemporary jazz works, including movements from Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite and other holiday favorites.

Windscape Quintet

An ever-evolving group of musical individualists, Windscape is an “unquintet” whose innovative programs and presentations take listeners on a musical and historical world tour.

They will perform Bach/Kay Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor; Ginastera/Kay Danzas argentinas; and Dvořák/Jolley Quintet in E-flat Major, op. 51.

The UMD School of Music graduate wind quintet SIREN will join Windscape in performing Émile Bernard’s Divertissement for Double Wind Quintet.

UMD Wind Orchestra: of a rare and special type

Two sound worlds collide in a program that pairs Mozart’s Serenade in B-flat (“Gran Partita”) K. 361 and Varese’s Octandre, Intégrales, Deserts, Hyperprism and Density 21.5.

During Orpheus’s 2011-2012 residency in the UMD School of Music, Orpheus members engaged in coaching sessions, rehearsals and masterclasses, providing students the opportunity to experience the Orpheus conductor-less ensemble performance process.

Orpheus members will join the student performers in bringing these very different works before the audience.

UMD Wind Orchestra: Something Old. And New.

In the first of two concerts celebrating American composer Joseph Schwantner’s 70th birthday, UMWO performs the composer’s recent work for wind orchestra, Recoil.

The fourth and final work from a series of pieces Schwantner composed over 29 years, Recoil exploits the vast tone colors of an expanded percussion section and amplified piano.

The program is rounded out with bold, contemporary fanfares that borrow elements of Renaissance and Medieval music.

UMD Wind Orchestra: Poetry of Joseph Schwantner

Known for his dramatic and unique style, Joseph Schwantner is one of the most prominent American composers today.

Each movement of his trilogy was conceived as an independent piece through three commissions across 29 years.

Schwantner says, “While each work is self-contained, I always envisioned the possibility that they could be combined to form a larger and more expansive three-movement formal design.”

UMWO fulfills the composer’s vision in honor of his 70th birthday, performing the premiere of all three works together, as part of a whole.

UMD Wind Orchestra: Music from Bach's iPod

If Bach were alive, what music would he put on his iPod? UMWO suggests works by Pergolesi, Kirchner, Britten and Dahl.

Conductor Michael Votta says, “Much like Bach’s compositions, the music on this program tends to take a simple idea and elaborate it.”

The playful theme of Kirchner’s Concerto for Violin, Cello, Ten Winds and Percussion builds through exchanges between solo violin and cello, transforming across two movements.

UMD Wind Orchestra: Gabrieli's Garden

UMWO uses unique staging to envelop the listener in the intricate textures of the opening piece, Gabrieli's Canzonas and Sonatas.

With John Adams's cartoon-influenced Chamber Symphony, Strauss's youthful, jaunting Serenade and Rands's ritualistic Ceremonial to follow, this is not your garden-variety wind orchestra concert.

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