|
Faculty Artist Series
Young
Concert Artists Series | Dalton
Series
The Faculty Artist Series showcases the School
of Music's own internationally acclaimed faculty artists
in formal recital performances. It is a privilege for this
series to also support annual performances by the Western
Jazz Quartet, the Western
Brass Quintet, the Western
Wind Quintet, and the Merling
Trio. In addition, this series highlights the areas
of specialty within the School of Music in special "collage"
concerts.
Voice
Area Faculty Showcase
Friday October 5, 2007 - 8:15 p.m.
Faculty Artist Series
Ken Prewitt |
Monica Griffin |
Alice Pierce
|
James Bass |
Carl Ratner |
Yu-lien The |
This
season’s first Faculty Artists Series event gives
us the opportunity to formally present our own colleagues
in this rare and highly anticipated event that showcases
the best of their talents. The Voice Area Faculty of
Western Michigan University bring a variety of backgrounds
and talents that span the many genres that encompass the
art of the singing both as soloists and in ensemble. This
unique concert will present a selection of these personalities
and their works all in one rare and special performance.
Their individual accolades are as numerous and diverse
as their specialties, and, needless to say, this concert
will delight lovers of all styles of vocal music.
This season’s event showcases five of the members of our dynamic Voice
Area Faculty in a concert of solos, duos, and ensemble pieces from the finest
vocal and hottest operatic literature. Works include Britten’s “Dover
Beach,” a Sextet from Donizetti’s “Lucia,” Schubert’s “Auf
dem Strom,” Brahms’s “Liebeslieder Walzer,” a duo from
Verdi’s “Don Carlo,” and “Lontano, Lontano” from
Boito’s “Mephistopheles." Voice Area Faculty included in this concert
are Monica Griffin, Alice Pierce, James Bass, Ken Prewitt, Carl Ratner, and Yu-lien
The, piano. We are certain you will be delighted by this exceptional concert.
Dorothy U. Dalton Center
Recital Hall
Friday, October 5, 2007
8:15 p.m.
Back
to top
Renata Artman Knific and Lori
Sims
Music of William Bolcom CD Release -- Works for
violin and piano
Thursday November 29, 2007 - 8:15 p.m.
“The vibrant team of Renata Artman Knific
and Lori Sims play these violin sonatas with rare fervor
and drama. I first heard them in a shattering performance
of the third sonata; they have evinced the same intensity
in their readings of the other three, and I thank them
profoundly for this recording.”
- William Bolcom
William Bolcom |
Renata Knific |
Lori Sims
|
Need we say more? This evening shall present a cutting
edge performance of repertoire by internationally renowned
Michigan composer William
Bolcom by our own internationally
acclaimed faculty members. The composers’ personal
endorsement of their work speaks for itself - and - we
know that you will be thrilled to experience their performance
of these works live. Composer William Bolcom will join
with us to share in the celebration of this CD Release.
A limited number of CD’s of William Bolcom’s
works for violin and piano as recorded by Renata Artmann
Knific and Lori Sims will be available to purchase at this
event. Be the first to own and experience this outstanding
concert.
Violinist Renata Artman Knific's international
career began in London when she joined the English Chamber
Orchestra at the age of 21. Tours of Europe, North and
South America, and Asia followed, with artists such as
Herman Bauman, Barry Tuckwell, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Maurice
Andre, Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern,
Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Murray Perahia. She worked closely
with conductors Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, Edo De
Waart, and Christoph Eschenbach, and recorded dozens of
records for the EMI, Decca, and CBS labels. As violinist
of the Merling Trio, Knific performs 20 to 40 concerts
annually throughout the world, including appearances at
Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall, St. John's, London, and the
Banff Center for the Arts. She has released three CDs with
the trio and premiered many works written for the group.
The Merling Trio was a finalist for the Naumburg Foundation
Chamber Music Award in 1994. She has also appeared in chamber
music festivals and as a soloist throughout Europe, the
United States, and Canada.
Ms. Knific is a founding member of the contemporary ensemble,
OPUS 21, and has premiered nearly two dozen works by many
leading composers in recent years. In 2003, Knific released "West
of Everywhere," a crossover recording featuring her
with a variety of jazz greats including Gene Bertoncini,
Sir Roland Hanna, John Abercrombie, Jamey Haddad, and Billy
Hart. Leonarda Records released her premiere recording
of Marga Richter's concerto for piano, violin, cello, and
orchestra entitled "Variations and Interludes on
Themes from Monteverdi and Bach" in 2004 to critical
acclaim. She recently recorded the works for violin and
piano by William Bolcom, at the composer's request, for
MSR Classics Records.
Currently Ms. Knific is Professor of Music and Chair of
the String Area at Western Michigan University. She has
also taught at the Encore School for Strings, the Cleveland
Institute of Music, the Interlochen Arts Academy, and the
Lancut Festival in Poland. Her former students perform
in the Cavani, Pro Arte, and Cypress quartets and in orchestras
throughout the world including the Cleveland, Houston,
Honolulu, and Sao Paulo, Brazil symphonies.
Pianist Lori Sims received the First
Prize Gold Medal at the 1998 Gina Bachauer International
Piano Competition where she also won the prize for the
best performance of a work by Brahms. Other prizes include
first place co-winner of the 1994 Felix Bartholdy-Mendelssohn
Competition in Berlin, winner of the 1993 American Pianists'
Association Competition with outstanding distinction from
the jury. Ms. Sims has performed throughout America,
Europe and China, including the Israel Philharmonic, the
Utah Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Spokane Chamber
Orchestra, the Kalamazoo Symphony and the NordDeutsche-Rundfunks
(NDR) Orchestra. She was the first local artist to be featured
at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival (2000) and
her Alice Tully Hall debut (2000) met with critical acclaim
from Bernard Holland in the New York Times. In 2006 she
made her fourth appearance at the prestigious Gilmore International
Keyboard Festival, where she has been featured as solo-recitalist,
master class artist, and chamber musician.
A native of Colorado, Lori Sims began her studies with
her parents, and as a teen studied with Larry Graham at
the University of Colorado. She received her Bachelor’s
Degree from the Peabody Conservatory as a student of Leon
Fliesher, Master’s Degree from the Yale School of
Music as a student of David Pollack and Claude Frank, and
a “Solistendiplom” from the Hochschule fur
Musik und Theater in Hannover as a student of Arie Vardi.
At the Yale School of Music, she was awarded the Dean's
Prize for most outstanding graduate student at the School
of Music and she was the recipient of a two-year fellowship
from the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD). She
is the John T. Bernhard Professor of Music at Western Michigan
University, where she teaches piano and lectures in accompanying
and keyboard literature. Prior to her appointment at Western,
she was a visiting assistant professor at the University
of Illinois. During the summer, she is an artist-teacher
at the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina and the
Internationale Konzertarbeitswochen in Goslar, Germany.
Dorothy U. Dalton Center
Recital Hall
Thursday, November 29, 2007
8:15 p.m.
Back to top
Western
Wind Quintet - CANCELLED
Tuesday February 5, 2008 - 8:15
p.m.
Faculty Artist Series
 We
cordially invite you to join the Western Wind quintet in
a concert of works loosely based upon that most bacchanalian
of themes of the celebration known as “Fat Tuesday”.
The concert will include the work “Nouvelle Orleans” by
Lalo Schifrin. The music evokes its title…a nostalgic
view of the old and modern city of New Orleans, before
the tragic devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in
2005. The uneven rhythmic gait of the beginning evolves
into long solos for oboe and flute. As the piece gathers
more energy, the final section turns into a swinging romp.
Born in 1932 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lalo Schifrin
studied piano as a boy and graduated from the University
of Buenos Aires. He then went to Paris, where he
studied with Charles Koechlin, attended Messiaen’s
lectures, and played jazz piano in clubs at night. From
Paris he went to New York, where he performed with Dizzy
Gillespie for several years before moving to Hollywood
in 1963. Over the last forty years Schifrin has composed
in a number of genres, though he may be most familiar to
general audiences for his film and television scores. Among
those are The Man from UNCLE, Mission Impossible and Bullitt.
He has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, six Oscars
and received the Film Music Society’s Career Achievement
Award in 2000. He is an active pianist and composer. Schifrin
wrote La Nouvelle Orleans, for woodwind quintet, in 1987.
The WESTERN WIND QUINTET originated in 1966 at Western
Michigan University as a resident faculty ensemble in the
School of Music. In addition to on-campus concerts, the
quintet is active throughout the Midwest presenting frequent
recitals and clinics. They have performed at Carnegie Hall,
where the New York press praised the quintet’s commitment
to the music and their innovative programming. They have
also accepted invitations to perform at the Music Educators
National Conference, College Music Society Annual Conference,
Midwestern Music Conference, National Flute Association
Convention, International Horn Symposium, and International
Double Reed Society Conference. University appearances
have included concerts at Ball State University, Ohio State
University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison,
Central Michigan University, Bowling Green State University,
the University of Michigan, the University of Notre Dame,
the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, the University
of Texas–Austin, Texas Christian University, the
University of North Texas, and the University of Oklahoma.
The members of the quintet are active as soloists, chamber
musicians, and orchestral musicians, having held positions
in chamber ensembles and orchestras throughout the United
States and Canada. Individual performances have taken them
around the world, with concerts in Spain, Italy, Austria,
Russia, Australia, New Zealand, China, Columbia, the Dominican
Republic, Mexico, and Brazil. The collective performance
experience of the individual members creates a chamber
ensemble of precision, blend, and consummate musicianship.
The group is noted for its innovative programming, mixing
classics of the repertoire with compositions that expand
the boundaries of traditional chamber music. Past programs
include “Tropical Winds,” a recital of music
by Latin American composers, “An American (Quintet)
in Paris,” featuring French masterpieces for wind
quintet, and their Carnegie Hall program, “Music
of the Americas.” The quintet is also committed to
training young musicians, and has done numerous residencies
throughout the country, working with students ranging from
middle school to university graduate level. Whether performing
a formal recital or an educational school concert, the
enthusiasm and skill demonstrated by the Western Wind Quintet
is undeniable. Christine Michelle Smith, Flute; Michael
Miller, Oboe; Bradley Wong, Clarinet; Margaret Hamilton,
Horn; Wendy Rose, Bassoon.
Dorothy U. Dalton Center
Recital Hall
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
8:15 p.m.
Back
to top
Western
Brass Quintet
Sunday February 24, 2008 - 3:00 p.m.
Faculty Artist Series
Smooth phrasing and clear tones are the hallmark of performances
by The Western Brass Quintet the resident faculty ensemble
in the School of Music at Western Michigan University. A
class act, their performances span the expressive capabilities
of their genre from the most powerful and brash, to the
most delicate and intimately musical moments. For performances
that are as emotionally moving as they are intellectually
stimulating, you will find none better than the Western
Brass Quintet.
Founded in 1966, the Quintet has performed around the
world including concert tours in Thailand, China, Sweden,
Germany, as well as concerts in prestigious American venues
such as the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Following
their concerts at Carnegie Hall, the New York Times review
raved that "The Western Brass Quintet gave unremitting
evidence of their individual talents and ensemble training;
chords were precisely weighted and registered, instrumental
blends were sensitively arranged, and there was rarely
a tentatively attacked or released note." The New
York Concert Review describes them as "exhibiting
a remarkable flair for the Renaissance style, ...with remarkable
facility and technique."
Following their recent performance at the 2005 International
Trumpet Guild Conference in Bangkok, the published review
asserted that "the Western Brass Quintet is not just
another ‘academic’ brass chamber ensemble;
their performance was equal to that of any ‘professional’ brass
quintet. This is a superb group." One of Michigan's
true artistic treasures, the Western Brass Quintet, now
in their 41st season, continues to pursue a legacy of excellence.
Scott Thornburg and Stephen Jones, trumpets; Lin Foulk,
horn; Dan Mattson, trombone; Deanna Swoboda, tuba.
Dorothy U. Dalton Center
Recital Hall
Sunday, February 24, 2008
3:00 p.m.
Back
to top
< Go
Back
|
