Bullock Series Concerts

The Dalton Special Artist Series supports performances of unique and select individuals, ensembles, and collaborations with the many other arts organizations in the community. This series presents formal recitals, world music concerts, alumni, and special artists chosen by faculty members to perform for and be guests of the School of Music. Often these guests will present residencies of varying length to further deepen their ties with our students, faculty, and the community at large. Past events have featured the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Meridian Arts Ensemble, Orchid Ensemble, eighth blackbird with Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers, Cantus, dancer Maureen Fleming, WMU alumnae soprano Susan B. Anthony, and Apollo's Fire .

Cleveland Jazz All-Stars
Sunday, September 13, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

This concert marks the emergence of the "Cleveland Jazz All-Stars," the brainchild of trombonist, bandleader, and educator Jiggs Whigham and WMU Director of Jazz Studies Tom Knific. The ensemble unites international jazz artists with Cleveland roots, including clarinetist and saxophonist Ken Peplowski; pianist Shelly Berg, Dean of the Frost School of Music at The University of Miami; and drummer/percussionist Jamey Haddad, who tours with Paul Simon and along with Danilo Perez, who directs the new World Music Institute at the Berklee College of Music.      

Place: Dalton Center Recital Hall
Date: Sunday, September 13, 2009
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: Adults $12, Seniors, $10, Students $5

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Remembering Cellist, Conductor, and Teacher Herbert Butler
Friday, October 9, 2009, 8:15 p.m.

Herbert Butler

Jeff Butler

A recital performance by Kalamazoo native and Houston Symphony Orchestra cellist Jeff Butler recalls the fond memories of his father, WMU School of Music faculty member Herbert Butler. Included on the program is C. Curtis-Smith's Farewell, written as a memorial to friends lost, including his colleague Herbert Butler.

Place: Dalton Center Recital Hall
Date: Friday October 9, 2009
Time: 8:15 p.m.
Tickets: Adults $12, Seniors, $10, Students $5

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By George! The Music of Gershwin
Sunday, October 18, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

The Keyboard Area gathers together to showcase the music of George Gershwin in combinations of solo and 2-piano works such as Rhapsody in Blue, Porgy and Bess, and Cuban Overture. The concert will conclude with a "monster piano" piece utilizing multiple pianos on stage. Come enjoy an afternoon of great music featuring celebrated piano faculty, students, and alumni.

Place: Dalton Center Recital Hall
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2009
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: Adults $12, Seniors, $10, Students $5

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Borsch and Brass
Monday, November 9, 2009, 8:15 p.m.

In October 2009, the Western Brass Quintet will travel to Russia to perform at St. Petersburg's International Conservatoire Week. This evening’s concert will feature a sampling of music included on their Russian tour, such as a work by the late Russian composer Yuri Falik titled Retro Music along with music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Karel Husa. Also on the concert will be works by WMU composers Richard Adams and C. Curtis-Smith, and a new composition by School of Music director David Colson. This concert will be a living souvenir of the quintet's journey to Russia.

"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 Times)

Place: Dalton Center Recital Hall
Date: Monday, November 9, 2009
Time: 8:15 p.m.
Tickets: Adults $12, Seniors, $10, Students $5

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The Madness of Kings
Friday, November 13, 2009, 8:15 p.m.

Renowned tenor John Duykers and Birds on a Wire (WMU New Music Ensemble) perform Eight Songs for a Mad King, a monodrama by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by Randolph Stow based on words of George III. Lasting half an hour, it is scored for male voice with an extraordinary command of extended technique covering more than five octaves, and six instrumentalists. The concert also includes Pierre Jalbert's Visual Abstracts and C. Curtis-Smith's Unisonics in a sure-to-be-legendary performance by the composer at the piano and saxophonist Trent Kynaston.

"Duykers's performance dominated the stage, drawing this audience member into appalled and sympathetic understanding of the king's state as he portrayed it. One could hear the collective gasp of the audience." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Place: Dalton Center Recital Hall
Date: Friday, November 13, 2009
Time: 8:15 p.m.
Tickets: Adults $12, Seniors, $10, Students $5

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Flutist Rhonda Larson and Ventus
Friday, January 15, 2010, 8:15 p.m.

Ventus, Latin for "wind," expresses the essence of Larson's vision and approach to music: "music without label or genre boundaries, with inherent musical qualities of inspiration that celebrate the human spirit." IIt is a merging of the most soulful elements of sacred, classical, jazz, folk, Celtic, and ethnic music derived from ancient folk sources as well as original compositions. Rhonda Larson & Ventus's music is performed with the precision and virtuosity of their individual classical training, and the accessible charisma of world music rhythms and melodies, making their music appealing to audiences of all ages.

"Rhonda's evening of flute music radiated. There was a straightforward positive musicality to what she did and it cheered the listener." (The New York Times)

Place: Dalton Center Recital Hall
Date: Friday, January 15, 2010
Time: 8:15 p.m.       
Tickets: Adults $12, Seniors, $10, Students $5

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Schumann-a-thon

Lori Sims

Joshua Hopkins

Suren Bagratuni

School of Music pianist Lori Sims and friends present three programs of music celebrating the 200th birthday of composer Robert Schumann. Each program will consist of  ½ chamber music and ½ solo piano works. Concerts are on successive Saturdays at 3pm beginning 23 January 2010.

Saturday, January 23, 3 pm
" Schumann-a-thon I"

Saturday, January 30, 3 pm
" Schumann-a-thon II"

Saturday, February6, 3 pm
" Schumann-a-thon III"

Chamber music will include Adagio and Allegro for Horn and Piano; Andante and Variations for 2 Pianos, 4-Hands; Violin Sonata in D minor; and Phantasiestuecke for Cello and Piano. Professor Sims has selected a range of solo works to include Carnaval; Kreisleriana; Davidsbuendlertaenze; and the Abegg Variations.

On Saturday 30 January Sims and baritone Joshua Hopkins will perform Liederkreis, a song cycle for voice and piano composed by Schumann on nine poems by Heinrich Heine. This song cycle was one of the earlier products of Schumann's Liederjahr (Year of Song), referring to his nearly exclusive devotion to song composition from 1840-1841, immediately after his marriage to Clara Wieck. Mr. Hopkins comes to Kalamazoo straight from performances of Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera.

Other collabortive artists include hornist Lin Foulk: pianist Yu-Lien The; violinist Renata Knific; and cellist Suren Bagratuni.

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Ligeti and Laptops
Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 8:15 p.m.

Composer György Ligeti's works are well known in classical music circles, but to the general public, he is best known for the various pieces featured in the Stanley Kubrick films 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut. This evening's concert features Ligeti's Lux Aeterna performed by the University Chorale and Chamber Concerto played by Birds on a Wire (WMU New Music Ensemble).

Place: Dalton Center Recital Hall
Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Time: 8:15 p.m.
Tickets: Adults $12, Seniors, $10, Students $5

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