News & Updates
District5, UMD School of Music's Gradute Fellowship Woodwind Quintet, will be performing at Busboys & Poets Hyattsville on Sunday, April 6, 2014. Their performance, Throw Caution to the Wind, features some of the most colorful and virtuosic work for wind quintet, showing what it's like to simply let loose and perform.
Listen below for a playlist of music that inspires them to be fearless and "throw caution to the wind!"
This fall the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center was filled with music, dance, theatre and important ideas in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.
Read selected highlights of the semester's press coverage from newspapers like The Washington Post, public radio stations such as WAMU-FM and student news outlets like The Diamondback. See what the critics said about the fall’s performances from the UMD School of Music, the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and the Clarice Smith Center Visiting Artist Program – and let us know if you agree with them!
This blog post is by Emily Schweich, a sophomore Broadcast Journalism major.
As a member of the UMD Concert Choir, I had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate Benjamin Britten’s centennial with a performance of his War Requiem with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Peabody Children’s Chorus. Two and a half months of long rehearsals culminated in two performances at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and one at the Music Center at Strathmore. I knew that this would be the apex of my musical career so far, but I had no idea how valuable this experience would be.
Performing the War Requiem the week of Veterans Day made me realize the work’s universality; Britten’s message of peace is especially resonant today.
This blog post is by Emily Schweich, a sophomore Broadcast Journalism major.
November 22 marks the centennial of one of the 20th century’s finest composers, Benjamin Britten. While most of his vocal work was written for his lifelong partner, the tenor Sir Peter Pears, Britten wrote a variety of songs for the female voice. School of Music Professor of Voice Linda Mabbs had the opportunity to work with Sir Peter Pears at the Aldeburgh Festival in the United Kingdom and to perform some of these songs for Britten himself shortly before he died. This Thursday, she will perform Britten’s songs for soprano at Linda Mabbs Remembers Britten, a recital to celebrate the legendary composer’s 100th birthday.
That is why our craft is so unique. It’s handed down one person to the next, and the same thing with Britten. His teacher was very influential upon him, and then Peter and Ben were influential on my interpretation and my teaching, and I’m passing that on to my students.
This blog post is Emily Schweich, a sophomore Broadcast Journalism major.
From France to India and Japan to Spain, the audience was musically transported around the globe in Exotic Voices, the latest installment of the “Music in Mind” series held in Gildenhorn Recital Hall on October 20. Featuring faculty artists and School of Music (SOM) alumni, the concert highlighted rare works for voice and chamber ensembles from around the world.
Influenced by the sounds of other lands and by their own musical nationalism, many of the prolific composers featured in the concert were able to create a unique taste of the exotic through their lesser-known chamber music.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the UMD School of Music’s Concert Choir will combine voices to perform Benjamin Britten’s moving anti-war masterpiece, The War Requiem on Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 8PM and Friday, November 15, 2013 at 8PM in the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and Saturday, November 16, 2013 at 8PM at the Music Center at Strathmore.
Innovation and musical exploration are trademarks of the UMD School of Music, so it’s no surprise that two SOM staff members, both alumni of the school, have embodied that concept in the inventive music of Inscape Chamber Orchestra.
Watch the video above to learn more about School of Music's fearless students and the paths they're trailblazing.
Update: Support scholarships for performing arts Terps. Today is Scholarship Day!
The classical music world is exploding with change. Each day, we experience new ways to present classical music, hear emerging composers changing the landscape and witness surprising ways to appreciate this sublime art form. It’s vital that young aspiring performers genuinely understand why classical music is changing so they can apply this insight to their own performance and artistry.
Sarah York has been a student at the University of Maryland School of Music since 2007 and is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Violin Performance. This is Sarah’s first time attending and blogging about the National Orchestral Institute.
Although this is the National Orchestral Institute, and we will be playing a number of monumental full orchestra works under some great conductors in the next month, our first week focused on working in small chamber groups and three unconducted chamber orchestras.
I’ve learned, especially sitting on the last stand of second violins, that every player is responsible for propelling the music forward, and if we wait for others to move, the music loses its momentum.