In its second collaboration with new partner The Phillips Collection, the UMD School of Music Symphony Orchestra performs Derek Bermel’s Migration Series, joined onstage by UMD’s Jazz Band, Chamber Singers and Wind Orchestra. The performance is inspired by paintings from The Phillips Collection’s Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence, depicting the mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North between the World Wars.
A renowned pianist once said, “Bach’s Goldberg Variations caused me misery but I still can’t get enough.” This concert of themes and variations will satisfy with works by Revueltas and Brouwer, whose Canción de gesta is an homage to anti-Batista Cuban revolutionaries.
PROGRAM:
The ancient Roman tale of the violation of the virtuous Lucretia by the vicious Tarquinius receives a haunting treatment as two modern observers, one male and one female, attempt to interpret the events even as they unfold. The pair seeks to find spiritual meaning and redemption in a hellish act of violence.
Britten composed The Rape of Lucretia in 1946, in a world still reeling from the horrors of World War II. The opera continues to resonate today as we face a rising surge of violence throughout the world.
Considered lighthearted but not lightweight, Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony is paired with Debussy’s beloved Impressionist piece, La Mer. In honor of the 100th anniversary of Dutilleux’s birthday, his cello concerto Tout un monde lointain, written for Rostropovich, will be performed by faculty artist Eric Kutz.
Eric Kutz is the recipient of The Barbara K. Steppel Memorial Faculty Fellowship in Cello.
The Maryland Opera Studio pairs two radically different tellings of the Orpheus myth — Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers — in their fully produced Spring opera. In Gluck’s version, Orpheus, the greatest musician the world has ever known, receives permission from the gods to venture into Hades and bring his beloved Eurydice back from death, but with a cruel stipulation that leads to tragedy.
Love and lust are the ultimate Hallmark emotions, right? According to Bento Bonchev, they’re saccharine marketing gimmicks designed to sell flowers and candy to those gullible enough to believe. But Bento’s world is turned upside down when an astounding discovery forces him to rethink his dogma. Set in the not-so-distant future where love is thought to be a myth, this Russian absurdist satire offers a truly novel take on an age-old question of the heart.
“Bizarre, intriguing and endlessly original.” — Examiner.com
When Queenie and Burrs set out to throw the party to end all parties, their motives aren’t exactly pure. Each intent on driving the other wild with jealousy, the night escalates into a deadly game of one upmanship. With a jazz-steeped score by the Tony and Grammy-nominated Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family, Big Fish), this firecracker of a musical holds nothing back.
A “tale of one night in hell … [with] revivalist gospel, jittery jazz, operatic quartets of conflicting loves and smooth-as-rayon pop ballads.” — The New York Times
Born in Ethiopia, raised in Brooklyn and rooted in San Francisco, Meklit Hadero’s uniquely eclectic sound, a joyful blend of jazz, hip-hop, folk, indie rock and more, is imbued with poetry and a haunting grace. A proudly collaborative musical in-betweener, Meklit celebrates the newness of life and the hyphens that bring us together. As a cultural activist, this TED senior fellow and co-founder of the Nile Project (presented at The Clarice in 2015), breathes a fresh, urgent and worldly spirit into jazz.
Quinteto Latino blends the vibrant colors and vigorous rhythms of Latin American music with the sumptuous voices of the wind quintet: flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon. Whether exploring new twists on traditional folk songs or premiering works by living composers, these five musicians perform with impeccable artistry and infectious energy – educating, enriching and entertaining listeners of all ages and backgrounds.
UMWO musicians explore musical images of darkness and color through the works of contemporary composers. Les Couleurs Fauves (“Vivid Colors”) is a product of Karel Husa’s fascination with brilliant colors in music, nature and art while Rochberg’s Black Sounds is a dark score, originally written as film music for an erotic murder mystery. Kukla’s Folksongs for Winds includes traditional tunes from around the world. UMD faculty member Lee Hinkle also joins UMWO for a performance of the rarely-heard Steven Stucky Percussion Concerto.
