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November 20, 2009 The University of Memphis Opera at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music has won first place in its category in the National Opera Association’s Production Competition for the 2008 production of Hansel and Gretel. Each year the NOA selects winners in five categories, based on the production budget and size of the program. The competition is judged by a panel of opera professionals who review videos of the entered productions with no knowledge of which opera companies submitted them. The productions are critiqued on vocal performance, dramatic quality, stage direction, set, lighting and costumes. The production of Hansel and Gretel used rising accounts of homelessness as its basis. In this version, “home” was under a bridge in a decaying urban area. The forest was a deserted bus terminal where the homeless had been herded onto a bus to get rid of them. Hansel and Gretel missed the bus and had to wait in the frightening environment until dawn. The witch, a creature who fed on children to maintain her beauty and youth, lured the children back to a deserted warehouse on the outskirts of town. Faculty member Copeland Woodruff directed the opera and Mark Ensley, director of opera studies, was conductor and music director. The production starred Trisha Phillips as Gretel, Maggie Malone as Hansel and Renée Clair as the witch. Matthew Strampe designed the set and lighting and Michael Montgomery was costume director. The National Opera Association was founded in 1955 to promote a greater appreciation of opera. Its membership extends to the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. Woodruff will accept the award at the NOA’s annual convention and will also give a presentation on the Viewpoints acting method. November 11, 2009 In a production that explores the concept of captivity, the University of Memphis Opera at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music will present a single act from each of three operas December 4 and 6, 2009. The three operas are widely diverse: Act I of Gioacchino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Act II of Jules Massenet’s Manon and Act I of Robert Ward’s The Crucible. Not surprisingly, finding a common theme to tie them into a cohesive production was difficult. According to Stage Director Copeland Woodruff, “The common thread is that the four heroines are all held captive – either by their own machinations or by other people.” A single changeable set creates continuity as the performance progresses. “It’s a closed box that is gradually torn apart so the audience can see inside from different angles, just as they see aspects of each character from different points of view,” he says. The company elected to stage the three acts instead of a single, full opera for several reasons. The concept allows audiences to experience a broad range of opera styles in a single performance. Also, the School of Music had a number of singers capable of performing leading roles this year, and the concept created more of those opportunities. One of those students, Trisha Phillips Huntley, has roles in two of the featured operas and enjoys the challenge of portraying two characters in one performance. “In The Crucible I sing the role of Abigail Williams, the leader of the girls accusing people of witchcraft,” she says. “There is nothing ambiguous about Abigail’s character, but as Manon, I portray a very complex woman whose personality has many subtle layers.” Performances will be Friday, December 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 6 at 3 p.m. in Harris Concert Hall (3775 Central Avenue) on the University of Memphis campus. Tickets are $10 for general admission; $7 for non-U of M students and seniors; and free to U of M students, faculty and staff with ID. To purchase or reserve tickets, please call 901.678.1651 or 901.678.5400. September 9, 2009 Yigit Kolat has been named the 2009 Tennessee Music Teachers Association Composer of the Year. A native of Ankara, Turkey, he received his MM degree from the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music where he studied composition with Kamran Ince and John Baur and piano with Samuel Viviano. Kolat has received a commission of $1,500 to compose a work which will be premiered at the next TMTA conference in June 2010. This composition will be entered in the Music Teachers National Association Composer of the Year Competition. Kolat received his BA and MA from Hacettepe University State Conservatory in Turkey. His music has received several awards, including the First Prize in the Nejat F. Eczacibasi Composition Contest, the most prestigious composition award of his native country. His works have been performed by various groups and artists including the Argento New Music Project of Columbia University, Peter Sheppard-Skaerved and Aaron Shorr of the Royal Academy of Music, the Athelas Ensemble of Denmark and the Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Turkey. Kolat is currently pursuing a DMA in music composition at the University of Washington. September 3, 2009 University of Memphis students are excited at the prospect of learning from some of the greatest musicians of our time including violin sensation Midori and Metropolitan Opera star Dawn Upshaw. Beginning in October, the IRIS Orchestra and the Uof M’s Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music will present the Orchestra’s 2009-2010 guest artists in masterclasses at the School. The masterclasses offer students the opportunity to play for artists who will coach them and make suggestions to improve their performance. The schedule for this year’s collaboration is:
IRIS Orchestra concerts featuring these guest artists will be presented at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre (1801 Exeter Road, Germantown). For tickets or information, please call 901-751-7500. Masterclasses will be held at the University of Memphis’ Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music in Harris Concert Hall (3775 Central Avenue). The public is invited to observe the classes at no cost. For more information, please call 901-678-5400. MIDORI Since her debut at the age of 11, with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic, violinist Midori has built an impressive musical career. She has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Midori has collaborated with such musical greats as Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Barenboim, Isaac Stern, Michael Tilson-Thomas and Pinchas Zuckerman. Named a Messenger of Peace by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2007, Midori has created a new model for young artists who seek to balance the joys and demands of a performing career at the highest level with hands-on investment in the power of music to change lives. She has also founded and nurtured Midori and Friends, a nonprofit organization providing educational experiences and concerts for underprivileged and hospitalized children. Midori has an exclusive contract with Sony Classical. Her two most recent recordings are an album of sonatas by J.S.Bach (Unaccompanied No.2) and Béla Bartók (No.1, with pianist Robert McDonald); and The Essential Midori, a 2-CD compilation. JEREMY DENK In 1998 pianist Jeremy Denk won both the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and received a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and many others, and has a wide repertoire. He has participated in many world premières, and made his New York recital début at Alice Tully Hall in April 1997 as the winner of the Juilliard Piano Début Award. He has collaborated with distinguished colleagues, including a long series of performances with Joshua Bell throughout the United States and Europe. Jeremy Denk is a member of the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. He received a double degree in Chemistry and Piano Performance from the Oberlin College and Conservatory, a Master’s degree in music from Indiana University as a pupil of György Sebök; and a Doctorate in piano performance from the Juilliard School, where he worked with Herbert Stessin. His recordings include Tobias Picker’s Second Piano Concerto with the Moscow Philharmonic and works of Schubert, Bartók, and Strauss. DAWN UPSHAW Dawn Upshaw has achieved worldwide celebrity as a singer of opera and concert repertoire ranging from the sacred works of Bach to the freshest sounds of today. In 2007, she was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation, the first vocal artist to be awarded the five-year “genius” prize, and in 2008 she was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Her acclaimed performances on the opera stage comprise the great Mozart roles (Pamina, Ilia, Susanna, Despina) as well as modern works by Stravinsky, Poulenc, and Messiaen. She is an audience favorite at the Metropolitan Opera, where she began her career in 1984 and has since made nearly 300 appearances. A four-time Grammy winner, Dawn Upshaw is featured on more than 50 recordings: the million-selling Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Gorecki; full-length operas including Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Messiaen’s St. Francois d’Assise, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and John Adams’s El Niño; and two volumes of Canteloube’s “Songs of the Auvergne”. Her most recent release on Deutsche Grammophon is Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, the third in a series of acclaimed recordings of Osvaldo Golijov’s music. MICHAEL STERN The IRIS Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Stern, founding Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, has been unanimously heralded for the brilliance of its playing, its varied programming with special emphasis on American contemporary music, and for its acclaimed recordings on the Naxos and Arabesque labels.Mr. Stern is also in his fifth season as Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony, which has been hailed for its remarkable artistic and institutional growth and development since his tenure began. Stern has conducted the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony and the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. His studies have included two summers at the Pierre Monteux Memorial School in Hancock, Main, under the tutelage of Charles Bruck. Michael Stern is a graduate of Harvard University. ELIZABETH HAINEN Elizabeth Hainen has won international attention as one of today's foremost virtuoso harpists. Sought after as a soloist and chamber musician, she has been hailed by critics on both sides of the Atlantic for her high artistry and unique sound. As both soloist and recitalist, Hainen has performed in distinguished concert halls on three continents including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Cultural Foundation of Spain in Madrid, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. and the Tel Aviv Art Museum in Israel. Elizabeth Hainen joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as Principal Harp in June 1994 after serving as Principal Harp of the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. She has performed, toured and recorded with many other orchestras, including the Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Indianapolis and New York Philharmonic Orchestras. Hainen is an active advocate of the expansion of her instrument’s repertoire and has given several world première performances. Her most recent recording is Music for Solo Harp. She teaches on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Esther Boyer College of Music at Temple University. JENNIFER KOH Violinist Jennifer Koh is committed to exploring connections between the pieces she plays and searching for similarities of voice between different composers. Her programs often present rare and revealing juxtapositions, offering works by composers as divergent as Mozart and Ligeti, Schubert and Saariaho. Since the 1994-95 season, when she won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Concert Artists Guild Competition and the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ms. Koh has been heard with leading orchestras and conductors around the world including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony and Montreal Symphony. She has also appeared with the Czech Philharmonic, the BBC London Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Iceland Symphony, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Lahti Symphony, Moscow Radio Symphony, the Brandenburg Ensemble and the Singapore Symphony. In addition to receiving a performance diploma in music from the Oberlin Conservatory, Ms. Koh also holds a Bachelor's degree in English literature from Oberlin, and maintains a continuing interest in writing and literature. THE IRIS ORCHESTRA The IRIS Orchestra was founded in September of 2000 by conductor Michael Stern at the invitation of Albert Pertalion, former executive director of the Germantown Performing Arts Centre. Over the past nine years it has earned wide acclaim for its unique vision, range of programming, and commercial recordings. Their first CD, the music of Stephen Hartke, earned a place on the "Year's Ten Best" in 2002 by The New York Times. The IRIS Orchestra continues to be led by Michael Stern, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. The membership comprises musicians from all over the United States. Alumni have assumed leadership positions in some of the foremost orchestras worldwide including the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam) and the San Francisco Symphony. In past years the IRIS Orchestra has presented a remarkable array of soloists including violinists Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell and Gil Shaham; pianists Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman and Garrick Ohlsson; and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The list of commissioned composers is equally distinguished, including Stephen Hartke, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, William Bolcom, Ned Rorem, Jonathan Leshnoff, Huang Ruo and Adam Schoenberg. August 26, 2009 Astral Project, New Orleans’ premier contemporary jazz group, will play in concert at the University of Memphis on September 16. The performance, presented by the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, will showcase the ensemble of four, considered by many to be the brightest, most energetic jazz musicians in the Crescent City. According to the Chicago Tribune, “Like New Orleans itself, Astral Project blends a thousand influences into an alluring identity all its own.” Now in its 30th year, the group rejects any clear-cut concept of what jazz should be. Instead, they have adopted an open approach to the ideas each member brings to the group. Their music, described as lean, tough and rhythmically unyielding, has captivated audiences from the Monterey Jazz Festival to Berlin’s Jazzfest. The group, which includes Tony Degradi on saxophone, John Vidacovich on drums, James Singleton on bass and Steve Masakowski on guitar, recently celebrated the release of its seventh CD, Blue Streak. The recording highlights their superb solos, tight ensemble passages and almost telepathic interplay. Covering a wide range of emotions, the 11 original compositions demonstrate the group’s astonishing versatility and eclecticism. Astral Project will appear in Harris Concert Hall (3775 Central Avenue) on the U of M campus on Wednesday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m. General admission is $10; non-U of M students and seniors $7; free to U of M students, faculty and staff with ID. For more information, visit http://memphis.edu/music/calendar.php or call the box office at 901.678.1651 or 901.678.5400. August 24, 2009 The University of Memphis Scheidt School of Music will kick off its 2009-2010 season with the first in a four-part George Crumb Retrospective in the U of M’s Harris Concert Hall on Thursday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m.; admission is free. The first concert in the series celebrating Crumb’s 80th birthday presents Kevin Richmond, U of M assistant professor and area coordinator of piano, performing Makrokosmos for solo piano. Milena Albrecht, cello; Daniel Gilbert, violin; Charles Lewis, flute; and Carina Washington, clarinet, are featured musicians, performing chamber works from the 1960s and 70s, including Eleven Echoes of Autumn and Vox Balaenae. Crumb is an American composer of modern and avant-garde music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres and extended technique. His reputation as a composer of compellingly beautiful scores has made him one of the most frequently performed composers in today’s musical world. In 2001, Crumb won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition for Star-Child. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Echoes of Time and the River in 1968. Crumb’s music often juxtaposes contrasting musical styles. The references range from music of the western art-music tradition, to hymns and folk music, to non-Western music. Many of Crumb’s works include programmatic, symbolic, mystical and theatrical elements, which are often reflected in his meticulously notated scores. Crumb received his Bachelor’s degree from Mason College of Music in Charleston, West Virginia in 1950. He studied under Boris Blacher at the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin (1954-55) and received his Master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied under Eugene Weigel. He received his D.M.A. in 1959 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where he studied with Ross Lee Finney. In 1965, after teaching at a college in Virginia and the University of Colorado, Crumb took a position at the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught for more than 30 years, becoming Annenberg Professor of the Humanities in 1983. The schedule for the remaining three concerts in the series (also in Harris Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m.) is: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 Kristian Klefstad, piano FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16 October 21, 2008 Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck Friday, November 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 23 at 3:00 p.m. This is a modern production, using rising accounts of homelessness as a more immediate representation for the situation in the tale. The “home” is under a bridge or in an urban, run-down open area. The family has lost its home and standing in the community and is fighting to stay alive by mending socks and fashioning novelty brooms (with patriotic banners) from stolen goods. The forest in fairy tales is often a metaphor for adolescence, where the children must encounter scary trials becoming adults after surviving them. In this production, the forest an urban, deserted bus terminal, late at night. The homeless have been herded off on a bus to get rid of them and clean up the area. Hansel and Gretel miss the bus and must wait in the frightening environment until dawn. The witch is a creature who must feed on children to maintain her beauty and youth. She is a predator who lures the children back to a deserted, half-destroyed warehouse on the outskirts of town. She medicates them to keep them docile and pliable to her desires and needs.
September 19, 2008 The United States premiere of Pergolesi's Home Service will be presented by The Chamber Opera of Memphis in cooperation with the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music on Thursday, October 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Harris Concert Hall (3775 Central Ave.). Admission is free. What happens to a tiny little opera company in times like these, when the arts are no longer so generously funded? In Bent Lorentzen's opera Pergolesi's Home Service, Impresario Umberto Pergolesi has created a mobile opera company that will perform pint sized productions in your own home: Norma in your roof garden, Tosca in your dining room, La Traviata in your bedroom or even Wagner's The Flying Dutchman in your bathroom. Pergolesi's Home Service is a sophisticated new version of the Baroque Opera La Serva Padrona. Composer Bent Lorentzen, one of the outstanding figures in contemporary Danish music, will attend the premiere. Lorentzen's music resists categorization into conventional slots. He has flirted with various styles, but their impact has not deprived his music of its personality and individuality of expression. He often collaborates with Michael Leinert who co-wrote the libretto for Pergolesi. School of Music faculty member Susan Owen-Leinert wrote the English translation of the work. German stage director Michael Leinert will direct the production. Susan Owen-Leinert is cast as Theater Director Umberto Pergolesi. April Hamilton, a graduate student at the School of Music, performs as Serpina, an opera singer. Moira Logan, Associate Dean and Director of Research and Graduate Studies for the College of Communication and Fine Arts, takes the versatile role of Vespone, an actress and mime. School of Music professor John Mueller plays the virtuosic trombone part. Mark Ensley, Director of Opera Studies at the School of Music and Music Director of The Chamber Opera of Memphis conducts from the keyboard. The Chamber Opera of Memphis, founded by Susan-Owen Leinert and Michael Leinert, was created to establish a forum for contemporary and experimental music theater. Their 2007-2008 production of Peter Maxwell Davies' The Medium was performed at the School of Music, at the Hamburger Kammeroper and the Robert Schumann Hochschule Duesseldorf in Germany, where they received great reviews and public response. September 8, 2008 For the second year, the IRIS Orchestra will join the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis in presenting the orchestra's guest artists in masterclasses at the school. In addition, the orchestra's conductor, Michael Stern, will be featured in a masterclass. The artists who will be featured in this year's collaboration are:
The masterclasses will be held at the University of Memphis' Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music in Harris Concert Hall (3775 Central Avenue, Memphis) except Mary Wilson which is scheduled in Music Building Room 113. These classes are free and open to the public. For more information, please call 901-678-5400. June 18, 2008 The University Singers, representing the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis, have been invited to participate the 45th International Competition of Choral Singing at the Castle of Porcia, Spittal an der Drau, Carinthia, Austria. The annual festival will be held July 3 – 6 and will include 12 choirs from Europe and abroad. Since 1964, more than 400 groups from around the globe have participated in the competition. Each year, between 60 and 80 choirs apply for participation, but few are chosen to compete. During festival performances, each chorus is encouraged to draw upon its individual heritage so audiences have a sense of a musical journey through the world's musical cultures. The ensemble has also been invited to perform in featured gala concerts in Graz, Austria during the 5th World Choir Games, the Chorolympiade. There will be numerous seminars, workshops, and concerts in conjunction with the July 9 - 19 competition. Participants from more than 70 nations will compete for diplomas and medals in 28 categories. The Chorolympiade began in the year 2000 in the capital of Upper Austria, Linz. Since then the games have been celebrated in the Republic of Korea, Germany, and China. APRIL 7, 2008 In the Grand Finale Concert of this year's Academy, participating singers will perform in Harris Concert Hall at 7:30 on May 31, 2008. The concert will include scenes, arias, duets and art songs by Keiser, Purcell, Beethoven, von Weber, Mozart, Spohr, Verdi and Puccini. Featured scenes will include the “Mad Scene" from Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet, the finale of Act I from Richard Wagner's Die Walküre and the final scene of Richard Strauss' Salome. Admission is free, a reception following the concert takes place at the U of M Holiday Inn. Twenty-one singers will attend the 2008 Academy, representing 12 U.S. states, Canada and Italy. Their curriculum will focus on preparing them to audition in European opera houses. APRIL 7, 2008 Key Facts
The Opera
Conductor's Quote
March 14, 2008 BlueT.O.M. (Tigers of Memphis) Records is excited to announce the release of the label's second compilation album entitled “Volume II: School's In Session" on Tuesday, April 1, 2008. BlueT.O.M. Records is the University of Memphis' first official, independent student-run record label, operated and maintained by the Record Company Operations class of the Music Industry Program at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. “The label gives students the chance to gain real world experience as executives of their own record company as well as afford them the opportunity to interact as professionals within the Memphis music community," says Tonya Butler, entertainment attorney, Assistant Professor of Music Business and BlueT.O.M.'s faculty advisor. BlueT.O.M.'s second album has something for everyone with genres ranging from Rock, Rap, Jazz, R&B, Blues, Country, Indie pop, and more. The coming album includes music from current students and alumni, as well as up-and-coming artists from Memphis and the Mid-South. Each track on the album is an original composition and most were recorded, mixed, and mastered in the city of Memphis, either by local engineers or UofM Recording Technology students. “Volume II: School's In Session" will be available via internet distribution and at BlueTOM's exclusive retailer Spin Street Music, located at 3484 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38111, at the corner of Poplar and Highland (901-327-8730). University and local TOMS (Tigers of Memphis), will celebrate the occasion with a gala Release Party featuring in-store performances, and autograph signings, Tuesday, April 1, 2008 from 5-7 at the Spin Street performance stage in the rear of the store. Admission is free and everyone is welcome to partake in the festivities. “BlueT.O.M. works the same as any other independent label. Students are responsible for finding the artists, creating marketing, publicity and promotions plans, placing songs on radio, and finding interview and appearance opportunities for the artists" says Butler. “The difference with BlueT.O.M. is that all of the work is done by students who want to learn from the experience and make their contribution to Memphis Music". BlueT.O.M. artists are available for interviews and live performances. For more information please contact the label at: bluetomrecords@gmail.com. Also visit our myspace pages at: www.myspace.com/bluetom2 or www.myspace.com/bluetigersofmemphisrecords. Thank you for your support. GO TIGERS! MARCH 3, 2008 The Kronos Quartet will be co-presented by the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, the Germantown Performing Arts Center and Concerts International. The ensemble combines a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. Their work has been awarded a Grammy for “Best Chamber Music Performance" and "2003 Musicians of the Year" from Musical America.
Kamran Ince's Ambient Music Project, which premiered last spring in Istanbul, is a collection of very personal compositions that blur the line between popular and serious music. Dr. Ince is a professor at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music and wrote the work during his sabbatical last year.
The Contemporary Chamber Players present U of M student compositions.
The Imagine New Music Festival is presented annually by the Scheidt School of Music. Students, composers and performers from around the world attend the Festival to study and celebrate the best in contemporary composition. For more information on the Imagine New Music Festival, call 901.678.5400 or 901.678.1651. For tickets to the Kronos Quartet Concert, call GPAC at 901.751.7500 FEBRUARY 5, 2008 Mr.Wedmann will hold master classes (open to the public) on February 12th and 14th, 3:00 – 6:00 pm in Harris Concert Hall. Wedmann is a member of the faculty at the Folkwang Musikhochschule in Essen, Germany, where he teaches applied instruction in the interpretation of Art Song and Opera for singers. Mr. Wedmann's reputation as a fine collborative pianist for singers has made him one of the most sought after young collaborative pianists in Germany. His engagements include a concert of Lieder and Arias in Nicosia, Cyprus with Ms. Owen-Leinert, and many concerts in Europe, China and, Japan. FEBRUARY 5, 2008 Last year's program is covered in a 4-page feature article in the January, 2008 issue of Classical Singer. The article, as well as complete information on the Academy, can be found at operasongacademy.memphis.edu. FEBRUARY 5, 2008 The University of Memphis Opera presents Jules Massenet's Werther
Jules Massenet's Werther has been wrapping audiences in the rich mantle of music and drama since 1892. Based on Goethe's best-selling The Sorrows of Young Werther, the opera tells the story of the poet Werther's love for a woman who is engaged to another man. As his hope of winning her dies, so too does his will to live. The production is conducted by Mark Ensley and stage directed by Ted Christopher.
Community Music School to Host Multicultural Celebration The Community Music School at The University of Memphis will host a Multicultural Celebration on Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 7:00 PM in the Michael D. Rose Theatre. Stunning performances with vivid international costumes will include Greek festive dances, Middle Eastern folk dances, Indian folk dances, Gospel choir songs, African drumming, Latin salsa music and more. This event is for the whole family and admission is free. Acoustic Designer Russ Berger to Speak at University of Memphis On October 2nd, Russ Berger, a leading authority in architecture, acoustics and interiors, will speak to music industry students from the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis. He will address the technical aspects of creating environments and buildings for professional recording studios, creative production spaces and how his design principles can be employed by the "do it yourself" home studio owner. President of Russ Berger Design Group in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area, he brings experience in the studio as a musician and engineer to all aspects and phases of facility design. The event is schedules for 11:05 in room 102 of the Music Building at the U of M. Berger has designed over 2,500 projects including the audio production studios of National Public Radio headquarters in Washington , D.C. The 152,000 square foot technical facility includes nine primary control rooms and studios for news and performance, eight feed/transfer rooms, production master control, and numerous editing and support areas. There are also auxiliary technical spaces for telecommunications, engineering services, a satellite depot, computer information services, numerous equipment rooms, and a roof-mounted satellite antenna plant. Other notable clients include Sony Music, NFL Films, Paragon Studios and Whitney Houston. The Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio has awarded Berger the Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC)Award eight times. He is president-elect of the National Council of Acoustical Consultants, a member of the Acoustical Society of America, the Audio Engineering Society of America, the Society of Professional Audio Recording Services, the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The Music Industry Division at the U of M is one of a small number of comprehensive music industry programs fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. Created in 1981, the division is structured to prepare marketable professionals for successful work in the field. Its students have won national competitions sponsored by Downbeat magazine, the Audio Engineering Society and the prestigious NARAS Collegiate Grammy Music Scholarship Competition. Randal Rushing to perform Schubert's Winterreise Randal Rushing, tenor, and John David Peterson, pianist, will perform Franz Schubert's monumental song cycle, Winterreise (Winter Journey), on Monday October 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the University of Memphis Harris Concert Hall (3775 Central Avenue). The work is a cycle of poems written by Wilhelm Müller and set to music by Schubert. An extraordinary sense of despair pervades this account of a man rejected by his lover. He wanders lost through a winter night, searching for any trace of meaning or purpose in his loneliness. With each step along the icy landscape, he moves toward a choice between reclaiming life or continuing his terrible journey to its certain end. The songs are so agonizing and personal, Schubert described them as the most unbearably cruel he had ever written. Dr. Randal Rushing, professor of voice at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, is a gifted soloist of the concert and opera stage at home and abroad. He made his Lincoln Center debut in Handel's Messiah at Avery Fisher Hall and has performed numerous times at Carnegie Hall. He has also performed extensively throughout Germany, Switzerland, Central America, the Czech Republic, and the United States. Dr. John David Peterson, Professor of Organ and Musicology at the Scheidt School, is co-editor of the acclaimed Concordia edition of J.S. Bach's Orgelbüchlein and has performed the complete solo organ works of Bach in a 15-recital series. An accomplished pianist as well as an organist, he is active as a vocal accompanist and chamber pianist. The recital is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 901-678-5400 U of M Soloists and Choir to Perform with David Loebel, Music Director of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the final program of the Bach at Idlewild series at The Idlewild Presbyterian Church, 1750 Union Avenue, on Sunday, April 29 at 4:00 p.m The program will feature the core players of the MSO, and the University of Memphis Concert Choir, directed by Lawrence Edwards. Included on the program will be Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, the choral motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (Sing to the Lord a New Song), the organ Prelude and Fugue in G Minor (performed by Idlewild Music Director Ted Gibboney), and the Cantata No. 34, O ewiges Feuer, o Urspring der Liebe (O Eternal Fire, O Source of Love). The closing work's highly jubilant music will feature the trumpet section of the MSO and vocal soloists Renee Clair, Jonathan Steadman, and Marcus King from the University of Memphis. Bach at Idlewild has been a three-concert series co-sponsored by The Idlewild Presbyterian Church, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Rhodes College, and the University of Memphis. It has proven to be a wonderful opportunity for some of the city's finest musicians to collaborate in performing from the Bach's church cantatas, which were written for specific church services, and seek to express and represent scriptural and hymnic texts in interesting and often profound ways. The programs include excursions in Bach's instrumental music, and this final program includes the first of his intricate motets. The presentation of this music in the Neo-Gothic nave at Idlewild allows the music to be imagined in its original context as religious art. Admission to the concert is $10. Tickets may be reserved by calling the Idlewild office (901-726-4681) or can be purchased at the door. For more information, call 726-4681. AMERICAN IDOL LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE For the second time, a member of the University of Memphis pop group Sound Fuzion is in the running to be the next American Idol Cheryl Humphrey, a music major at the University's Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, made it to the “Hollywood Round" which will be broadcast on the Fox Network on Tuesday, Feb. 13 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and Wednesday, Feb. 14 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). Also on the February 14th program, the 12 female finalists will be announced. Cheryl is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, and is pursuing degrees in recording technology and jazz performance. She joins former Sound Fuzion member Lashundra “Trenyce" Cobbins who was an Idol finalist in 2003. According to Sound Fuzion director Dr. Lawrence Edwards, “I'm not at all surprised that we have our second American Idol singer. Cheryl is extremely talented both as a singer and as a composer. She's versatile and committed to her art. We are extremely proud of her accomplishments." The selection of a second member of Sound Fuzion to advance in the competition raises the question: Just what is going on with this group? The ensemble of vocalists and instrumentalists represents the University at many functions, performs as part of the School of Music's annual concert season, has appeared with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and even toured China last year. According to director Edwards, “Sound Fuzion is unique among university ensembles across the country. This highly selective group specializes in American popular music in all its varied forms. Because of the musical diversity of the group, it attracts some of the most talented musicians from around the country. Sound Fuzion gives these students an excellent opportunity to fine tune their musical and stage performing skills." MARESTA RETURNS TO U OF M TO DIRECT Giovanna Maresta, assistant director at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy returns to the U.S. for the University of Memphis Opera production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. The opera is scheduled for December 1 and 2, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. (Central) in Harris Concert Hall (3775 Central Avenue). Maresta's second engagement at the U of M follows her production of Don Giovanni in April 2006. Maresta specializes in opera buffa or comic opera, and is a master of the Italian genre. According to Mark Ensley, conductor for the production and Director of Opera Activities at the School, “When you are performing an Italian opera, it is priceless to have a native speaker coaching the recitative. Having worked with Giovanna will give our students an edge when they go into professional opera." He adds, “The production looks terrific at this point, and to make it even more beautiful, our costumes are coming from Milan." After studies at the University of Milanand the Paolo Grassi School, Giovanna Maresta began her career working as assistant stage director with Lamberto Puggelli at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. Since 1988, she has staged scores of productions at Teatro alla Scala. In addition, she has worked in venues throughout Italy, Europe and Japan. For tickets and information, please call 901.678.5400 or visit music.memphis.edu. UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS'S IMAGINE II ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL TOUTS OUT THE FRESHEST SOUNDS IN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC This week, Nov. 2-4, the University of Memphis and the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music proudly welcome the third annual Imagine II Electro-Acoustic Music Festival, a celebration of all things new and cutting edge in contemporary music. An electronic music adjunct to the university's longstanding Imagine Festival, Imagine II is the pet project of founder/director Mark Snyder, a U of M doctoral student in composition now based in Stafford, Virginia. Composers from around the world will take part in this year's Imagine II event, says Snyder. “It's going to be the most exciting, action-packed and cohesive festival to date," he says. “There will be tons of diversity, yet all pieces will connect really well like an album. You're going to go up, down, feel happy, sad, get angry, laugh." The festival kicks off Thursday Nov. 2, at Jay Etkin Gallery, 409 S. Main in downtown Memphis, with nine works largely for fixed electronic and/or digital media as well as video. Imagine II then moves to Harris Concert Hall, 3775 Central Avenue, for the final two nights. Friday, Nov. 3, will offer six works performed by the Contemporary Chamber Players under director Kamran Ince plus a work for strings performed by the Graduate String Quartet, while on Saturday, Nov. 4, an additional nine works will be spotlighted, including pieces for piano and saxophone. Acclaimed contemporary composer Russell Pinkston – Professor of Music Composition and Director of Electronic Music Studios at The University of Texas at Austin – will be the event's featured composer. Other composers include Maurice Wright, who has written commissioned works for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Emerson String Quartet; Anna Rubin, who combines computer-generated music with Baroque instruments; and Michael Pounds, who will offer a selection which fuses the sounds of a wedding with that of a toy piano. Among those Memphis-affiliated composers taking part are Snyder himself, fellow U of M doctoral candidate Scott L. Hines, and LeMoyne-Owen College jazz studies professor Dave Lisik. All events begin at 7:30 p.m. central and are free and open to the public. Call 678-5400 for more information. U of M Music Industry Student Places Second in International Recording Competition Recent University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music graduate Alan Burcham placed second in the Rock and Pop category of the Student Recording Competition at this year's Audio Engineering Society (AES) International Convention in San Francisco, CA. Burcham, who earned a Bachelor of Music degree in the School's Music Industry Division, received a $500 coupon from audio equipment manu-facturer and AES sponsor Millenia Music and Media for his recording of A Song for Solomon by the Memphis group, The Silent Parade. The University of Memphis, in its second year with an official student section of the AES, participated in student recording competitions with schools from across the globe including McGill University (Canada), Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tonmeister Institute (Germany), The Banff Centre (Canada), Indiana University, University of Harford, Gdansk University of Technology, University of Miami, and the University for Music, (Austria). The Audio Engineering Society is the only professional society devoted exclusively to audio technology. Each year professionals from around the world attend the annual conference to participate in workshops, tutorials, and standards meetings lead by industry authorities. This year the University of Memphis was represented by ten students, AES faculty advisor Professor Jonathan Frazer and Music Industry Division Head, Professor Jeff Cline. INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED CLASSICAL GUITARIST DELIGHTS On October 18, the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis in tandem with the University of Memphis Classical Guitar Society welcomes acclaimed classical guitarist Carlos Pérez in recital. The performance is at 7:30 p.m. (Central) in Harris Concert Hall (3775 Central Avenue.) Called “a master guitarist with true star quality" and “a genius of transcription" by Classical Guitar magazine, Chilean virtuoso Pérez is a rising star in the classical guitar world. He has been awarded top honors in numerous international guitar competitions including Venezuela's Alirio Díaz in 1996, France's René Bartoli in 1997, Belgium's Printemps de la Guitare in 1998, Forum Gitarre in Austria and Fundacion Guerrero in Spain (both in 2000), and, most recently, the 2006 Joaquin Rodrigo Competition in Madrid. He has also performed both solo and with orchestras in more than 20 countries throughout Europe as well as North and South America. His most recent of four recordings is “Hechizos", a disc of contemporary Latin American music for the guitar featuring the title work by Chilean composer Mauricio Arenas, a piece that won first prize in the composition arm of the 2003Andrés Segovia International Guitar Competition. Pérez's solo recital at U of M will span the centuries in works ranging from the Renaissance and Baroque lute mastery of John Dowland and Bach respectively to Spanish and South American chestnuts by Pujol and Barrios to the aforementioned award-winning modernity of Hechizos. In addition to his concert, Pérez will offer a master class on October 19 from 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m., also in Harris Concert Hall. Both events are free and open to the public. Call 678-5400 for more information. |
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