School of Music News

Composer/SOM Graduate Student Eric Brook to have original work performed at Grace University Lutheran Church on Friday, May 9

2008-05-09T15:00:22Z

Grace University Lutheran Church will present the work of SOM Composer/Graduate student Eric Brook on Friday, May 9 at Grace University Lutheran Church at 7:30 pm. Brook recently completed an eight-month residency at the church. For more information on the final concert of his composer residency, visit the Grace University Lutheran Church website. To read a related feature article on Brook’s composer residency, visit The Minnesota Daily web site.

University Opera Theatre students presenting "Opera on Tap" are featured in the Minnesota Daily

2008-05-03T00:55:26Z

University Opera Theatre students, Katherine Crawford and Brandon Miller, are featured in the Minnesota Daily for their work in the guerilla opera series Opera on Tap. Visit the Minnesota Daily website to read their story. Don't miss Opera on Tap on Monday, May 5 at 7 pm at the 400 Bar (400 Cedar Ave. South) in Minneapolis. This event is free and open to the public.

Doug Geers discusses electronic music in the Minnesota Daily

2008-05-03T00:38:32Z

Read about and watch Doug Geers discuss electronic music in The Minnesota Daily . To view the story and for a link to a related feature video, visit the Minnesota Daily website. Don't miss the Electronic Music Project Showcase on Sunday, May 4 from 5-8 pm in Ferguson Hall, Room 215. This event is free and open to the public.

"'Kentucky': Erasing and Reinscribing Race and Geography in Post-WWII Country and Bluegrass Music"

2008-05-02T15:33:26Z

Don't miss the Theory/Musicology/Ethnomusicology Colloquium Series lecture, 'Kentucky': Erasing and Reinscribing Race and Geography in Post-WWII Country and Bluegrass Music, with professors Sumanth Gopinath and Anna Schultz on Friday, May 2 at 2:30 pm in Ferguson Hall, Room 280. Reception to follow. This event is free and open to the public.

University Theatre Opera announces its 2008/2009 Season

2008-04-23T15:11:17Z

The University Opera Theatre will present The Rape of Lucretia, by Benjamin Britten in the fall of 2008 and Jenufa, by Leoš Janacek (in English) in the spring. Auditions for both operas are scheduled for Friday, April 25 from 7-10 pm and on Saturday, April 26th from 10:30 am-1:30 pm in Room 99. Contact David Walsh for more details.

Canceled: 4/27/08 Faculty Chamber Concert: Timothy Lovelace, Mark Bjork, and Thomas Rosenberg

2008-04-18T14:47:44Z

The Faculty Chamber Concert featuring Timothy Lovelace, Mark Bjork, and Thomas Rosenberg on Sunday, April 27 at 7 pm has been canceled.

Theory/Musicology/Ethnomusicology Colloquium, "Words of Steel: Pete Seeger and the US Navy Steel Band" with Andrew Martin

2008-04-17T18:13:34Z

Don't miss the upcoming Theory/Musicology/Ethnomusicology Colloquium, "Words of Steel: Pete Seeger and the US Navy Steel Band" with Andrew Martin (Inver Hills Community College) on Friday, April 18 at 2:30 pm in Ferguson Hall Room 280. Reception to follow. This event is free and open to the public.

]]> Andrew Martin is Assistant Professor of Music at Inver Hills Community College, Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota and is a PhD Candidate in Ethnomusicology/Musicology at the University of Minnesota. His research areas focus on intersections between American and Trinidadian Steel Pan music and American Popular Music. Martin has presented lectures and numerous conference papers on both topics throughout the United States, and was a guest Lecturer at the University of Trinidad and Tobago during the January 2008 carnival season.

Hear David Walsh featured KFAI Radio on April 10 at 7 pm on Art Matters

2008-04-10T21:00:46Z

Hear University Opera Theatre Director/Producer David Walsh on Arts Matters in conversation with host Marya Morstad on KFAI Radio (90.3 FM Minneapolis/106.7 FM St. Paul) at 7 pm on Thursday, April 10. Walsh discusses University Opera Theatre and their current production of The Coronation of Poppea, running from April 10 through April 13. Listen to the program online at KFAI's website.

Listen to David Walsh and University Opera Theatre on MPR

2008-04-09T00:09:01Z

Hear Director/Producer David Walsh in conversation with host Alison Young and listen to the cast of The Coronation of Poppea perform short musical segments on Minnesota Public Radio Classical (99.5 FM) starting on Wednesday morning, April 9 through Saturday, April 12. To read the feature and to listen to the story in its entirety visit their website and click on "Listen to feature audio".

See Doug Geers in a live webcast of the Sonic Divergence Festival on April 5 at 7:20 pm CST

2008-04-04T22:40:05Z

"Sweep," Doug Geers' concerto for violin with percussion and laptop orchestra, will be premiered this Saturday night, April 5, on the opening concert of the Sonic Divergence Festival at Northwestern University's Pick Satiger Concert Hall. The concerto will be played by violinist Maja Cerar, percussionist Cameron Britt, and the Princeton University Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk). The fifteen laptop performers will play their instruments using Nintendo Wii wireless video game controllers.

A live webcast of this concert will be broadcast from the Pick Staiger Hall website. Visit www.pickstaiger.org or the Northwestern University School of Music website between 7:20 and 7:30 p.m. CST for a link to the broadcast. You will need the latest version of Real Player. For further information about using Real Player, visit their website

]]> The concert will also feature works by Dan Trueman, Curtis Bahn/Tomie Hahn, Perry Cook, Seth Cluett, and John Fontein. "Sweep" will be the first work after intermission.

Immanuel Davis featured on MPR Classical

2008-03-29T15:36:11Z

Hear Immanuel Davis featured on Minnesota Public Radio Classical (99.5 FM, KSJN) in conversation with host Alison Young. To read the story and to listen to the audio online, visit the MPR website. For information on Davis' Sunday, March 30th Flute Recital, visit the campus events website.

Mark Russell Smith Featured on Morning Edition

2008-03-20T15:13:22Z

Hear Mark Russell Smith and Jerry Luckhardt interviewed on MPR (91.1 FM, KNOW) on Morning Edition. To read the story and to listen to the audio online, visit the MPR website.

Fifth Annual Concert of Balkan Contemporary Music BALKANICUS: Music from Albania, Bulgaria and Romania

2008-03-19T21:03:53Z

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall
Free and open to the public

Noriko Kawai, piano; John De Haan, voice; Nickolai Kolarov, cello; Rudolph Kremer, violin; and graduate students and members of the School of Music New Music Ensemble perform the works of Thomas Simaku (Albania), Ivan Spassov (Bulgaria), Simeon Pironkov (Bulgaria), Roumen Balyozov (Bulgaria), and Sorin Lerescu (Romania).

]]> The program includes “The Flight of the Eagle for Piano” (2001) by Thomas Simaku, Albania; “Confrontation for Violin and Cello (Instrumental Theatre)” (1976) by Ivan Spassov, Bulgaria; “Fantasia for Baritone, Cello and Piano on Heinrich Heine's poetry” (1997) by Simeon Pironkov, Bulgaria; “(DIS)CONTINUUM for instrumental ensemble and tape” (2003) by Sorin Lerescu, Romania; and “EXACT MUSIC for nine instruments” (2007) by Roumen Baliozov, Bulgaria.

This chamber concert series, created by Bulgarian cellist Nickolai Kolarov in 2003, showcases New Music from the Balkans and familiarizes the American audience with international composers of different generations and styles who all carry the “Spiritus Balkanicus.”

Bach and his Bible

2008-03-14T16:01:59Z

The Musicology and Theory Divisions are pleased to invite you to join us this Friday, March 14 at 2:30 in Rm. 280 in Ferguson Hall for a very exciting colloquium. Dr. Thomas Rossin, the founder and conductor of the Exultate choir, which is performing Bach's B-Minor Mass around the Twin Cities several times this month, will be exhibiting and speaking about J.S. Bach's personal Bible, its marginalia, etc, which was the topic of his doctoral dissertation.

]]> On exhibit will be the following items, some of which are exceedingly rare:
1. 2 volumes of the Bible once owned by Bach
2. Information kiosks with panels about Bach, his music, and his Bible
3. An original page from the 1611 first edition of the King James Bible
4. A theological book printed in Leipzig in 1740 (while Bach was living there)
5. Ceremonial coins minted on the 300th birthday of Bach & Handel
6. Copies of autograph scores of two motets of Bach
7. Rossin's dissertation about the Bach Bible
8. Some items from the U of M rare book collection.
9. A handout explaining about Bach's library, the discovery of the Bible, it's importance, etc.

Alex Lubet and Iris Shiraishi at Dreamland Arts

2008-03-07T14:34:22Z

Music for Japanese Instruments and Guitar
featuring Alex Lubet (theory/composition) and Iris Shiraishi
Fri, Mar 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Dreamland Arts, 677 Hamline Ave. N.
St. Paul, MN 55104
651-645-5506
http://www.dreamlandarts.com/events/detail.php?eventId=98
Pay what you can at the door, please reserve seats.

]]> An evening of original compositions written and performed by Iris Shiraishi and Alex Lubet. The program consists of Iris's 'Hamakaze', for fue (Japanese flute), percussion, and guitar, Alex's 'By the Rivers of Babylon' (guitar) and collaboratively written works: 'Hatikvah' (percussion and guitar) and 'Fantasy on Der Heyser Bulgar'(taiko, fue, and guitar). 45 minutes

Iris Shiraishi is well-known for her work with Mu Daiko, the Twini Cities' taiko group. Alex Lubet led the Blended Cultures Orchestra in the 90's and teaches popular music at the U of M.