Conductor David Neely makes his debut as the UMD Symphony Orchestra's (UMSO) new music director with Antonín Dvořák's cheerful Symphony No. 8. The concert will also feature Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral, a cathartic and uplifting work the American composer wrote in memory of her younger brother, and Overture No. 3 from Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera, Leonore, later known as Fidelio.
Led by Michael Votta, Jr., the UMD Wind Orchestra (UMWO) kicks off its season with Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Joseph Schwantner’s The Awakening Hour, Herbert Haufrecht’s Symphony for Brass and Timpani, Michael Weinstein’s Serenade for 12 Instruments and Verne Reynolds’ Scenes Revisited.
Imani Winds (USA): A Woman’s Perspective
Corpora Caelestia: A Movement Opera by Heidi McFall
Corpora Caelestia: A Movement Opera is a music and dance collaborative performance featuring a live organ, voice and movement by an ensemble of women. This sacred and minimalistic piece explores the contrast between the boundaries of the physical body and a freeness of spirit. The breathy, effortful quality of the organ captures a feeling of longing as the soul tries to break free from physical restriction.
Black Madonna and Miss America by Ronya-Lee Anderson
Faculty member and Washington National Opera Principal Bassoonist Joseph Grimmer continues his exploration of contemporary bassoon music in this second installment of his recital series. Grimmer will be accompanied by guest artist Sophia Kim Cook on piano.
Program:
Olav Berg: Vertigo
Jean Françaix: Bassoon Concerto
William Winstead: Enigma
Pierre Max Dubois: Sonatine-Tango
Under what circumstances can a society skew their morality for comfort and personal gain? Set in the fictitious town of Güllen, experience the story of a woman’s revenge on a community that cast her out when she was pregnant and impoverished. This allegorical dark comedy features a village of citizens—set into motion as a mob of dancing birds, whose sweeping murmurations turn ferocious. The play arcs from absurdist to barbarous in order to question what happens when civil ethics, personal morality, patriarchal rule, justice and democracy go amok.
Abigail Washburn, banjo and Wu Fei, guzheng (USA, China)
Fifth House Ensemble's flutist and executive director discusses how her experiences growing up in a multicultural, multilingual family developed her skills as a cultural chameleon. Her current work leverages her capacity to create connections and common language to generate projects that engage international partners, source collaborators from wildly diverse disciplines and result in genre-defying artistic experiences.
Sarah Frisof and Rita Sloan are joined by fellow School of Music faculty Mark Hill, Gregory Miller, Robert DiLutis and Joseph Grimmer for a concert of unusual French chamber music for flute, piano and winds in various configurations. The performers will present duos, trios and a sextet from Poulenc's Paris of the 1930s to the 21st century's Techno-Parade by Guillaume Connesson.
UPDATE: This event has been cancelled, click here for more information.
Trio Solisti (USA)
