News from the College of Musical Arts

CMA Violinists, Mark Minnich and Sally Williams –  aka “Revamped”  - appeared on Roundtable with Jeff Smith on Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 12:00 noon on Channel 13 abc.  They were also featured on the 5:00 pm newscast on Friday, May 4 on Channel 13 abc.  Click here to watch:

http://www.13abc.com/story/16525542/roundtable-with-jeff-smith

http://www.13abc.com/story/18163606/2012/05/07/bgsu-violinist-brought-together-by-the-love-of-music

The Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts will host “An Evening with Marin Alsop,” groundbreaking music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, at 7 p.m. April 23 in Kobacker Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center.

Open to the public, the free event is part of the annual Hansen Musical Arts Series created by Dorothy E. and DuWayne Hansen. Alumni and friends of the College of Musical Arts and BGSU, the Hansens are supporting Alsop’s appearance and residency.

In addition to her presentation that evening, Alsop will conduct the Bowling Green Philharmonia in rehearsal at Kobacker Hall at 1:30 p.m. April 23 and will meet with conducting students and faculty during her visit. She will also be presented an honorary doctorate.

Alsop made history with her appointment as the music director of the Baltimore Symphony, becoming the first woman to head a major American orchestra. Called a “born communicator and effective proselytizer for music” by The New York Times and a “lively entertainer as well as a powerhouse musician” by the San Francisco Chronicle, she began playing piano at 2 and violin at 5, entered Julliard pre-college at 7, decided to become a conductor at 9, and at 16 entered Yale University. In 1991 she made her professional conducting debuts at the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where she continues as a regular guest conductor, along with the New York Philharmonic and the London Symphony.

She became chief conductor of the São Paolo Symphony Orchestra, Brazil’s premiere orchestra, at the start of the 2012 season. Winner of Gramophone’s “Artist of the Year” award, Alsop was the first conductor to be named a MacArthur Fellow. In 2006 she was the only classical musician invited to attend the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A protégée of Leonard Bernstein, Alsop became the artistic director of London’s Southbank Centre’s season-long The Bernstein Project in 2009. She can be heard regularly as a commentator on NPR’s Weekend Edition program, “Marin on Music,” BBC’s Radio 3 and XM Satellite Radio.

In Baltimore, Alsop has been credited with reinvigorating the orchestra and leading a major community outreach effort. In 2008, she and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra unveiled ORCHkids, a major education initiative. The program provides music education, instruments and mentorship to Baltimore’s youth. For adults, Alsop conducts BSO Fantasy Camp, a weeklong immersion program for amateur musicians from across the country, as well as the biannual “Rusty Musicians” program which allows amateur players to have the opportunity to spend an evening playing music with the BSO.

Established in 1996, the Dorothy E. and DuWayne Hansen Musical Arts Series Fund brings significant representatives of the musical arts and creative arts to Bowling Green to share their talent and knowledge with students and community residents. Dorothy Hansen is an alumna of the College of Musical Arts and DuWayne Hansen is a former chair of the college’s music education department.

Previous series guests have included Branford Marsalis, Nancy Giles, Terence Blanchard, Benjamin Zander, Craig Schulman and Bob McGrath.

For more information about “An Evening with Marin Alsop,” contact the college’s office of public events at 419-372-8654.

http://www.sent-trib.com/arts-entertainment/alarm-will-sound-at-bgsu

Sentinel-Tribune profiled the upcoming Christopher O’Riley concert. Click on the link below to read the article.

http://www.sent-trib.com/arts-entertainment/pianist-advocates-for-young-musicians-new-music

Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts presents an Opera Gala as the first musical performance in the newly opened Wolfe Center for the Arts. The program begins at 8 p.m. on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 in the Thomas and Kathleen Donnell Theatre.

The evening will feature solo arias, duets, quartets, quintets and overtures to some of world’s greatest operas including Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and “The Magic Flute,” Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” Bizet’s “Carmen,” Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” and Verdi’s “Rigoletto.”

In a showcase of student and faculty talent, the program features the Bowling Green Philharmonia, University Choral Society, Collegiate Chorale, Men’s and Women’s choruses, and faculty soloists including Christopher Scholl, Doug Wayland, Jane Rodgers, Sean Cooper, Sujin Lee, Ann Corrigan, Ellen Scholl, Lance Ashmore and Jennifer Cooper.

Special commentary and narration will be provided by WGTE-FM Program Manager and Music Director Brad Cresswell. Radio audiences may recognize him as the host of “Afternoon Classics,” “Live from FM 91” and “WGTE in Concert.”

The Wolfe Center for the Arts, a distinctive structure built to advance collaboration across the arts at BGSU, opened its doors in December 2011. Designed by international award-winning architects Snøhetta of Oslo, Norway, the $41 million, 93,000 square-foot building serves as the home for the Department of Theatre and Film and supports instructional and creative activities by the College of Musical Arts and the School of Art.

General admission tickets are $10 and available by calling the college box office at 419-372-8171 or by emailing musictickets@bgsu.edu. Tickets also will be available at the door. Seating is limited. Media sponsorship by WGTE Public Media.

Musical boundary-crossing pianist Christopher O’Riley will give a solo performance as the next artist in Bowling Green State University’s Festival Series. Hosted by the College of Musical Arts, his concert begins at 8 p.m. Feb. 11 in Kobacker Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center.

Since the triumphant release in 2003 of “True Love Waits,” O’Riley’s reimagining of works by such performers as Radiohead, Elliott Smith and Nick Drake have garnered critical accolades and international acclaim, including the only four-star review ever given by Rolling Stone magazine to a classical pianist.

His latest White Tie Classics/Mesa-BlueMoon release, “Out Of My Hands,” includes music of R.E.M., Portishead, Cocteau Twins, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, The Bad Plus, The Smiths and Tears for Fears, as well as material from Radiohead and a newly released song by Elliott Smith.

As host of the popular NPR music program “From the Top,” O’Riley is well known for his eloquent and compelling musings on music and popular culture. His most recent performances stretch the piano beyond the classical repertoire and into the rich, uncharted territory of contemporary and alt-rock. Announcing the program from the stage allows him to share musical discoveries, letting the music flow seamlessly from one genre to another, from the familiar to the fresh.

O’Riley is recognized as one of the leading American pianists of his generation, touring extensively as a recitalist and chamber musician and appearing with major orchestras in the U.S. and abroad. The illustrious group of conductors with whom he has collaborated includes Michael Tilson Thomas, Semyon Bychkov, JoAnn Falletta, Krystof Penderecki, Kurt Mazur, Christopher Hogwood and Leonard Bernstein.

O’Riley’s visit will also include a master class for BGSU piano students and his serving as a judge for the final round of the David D. Dubois Piano Competition for talented high school students.

For tickets, call the College of Musical Arts Box Office at 419-372-8171 or email musictickets@bgsu.edu.

Click to read the recent Sentinal-Tribune article on the concert.

http://www.sent-trib.com/arts-entertainment/roman-circus-comes-to-kobacker

The Toledo Symphony has written their own preview.

http://www.toledosymphony.com/news/2012/01/16/main/music-lovers-to-go-to-the-circus/

The Bowling Green State University Festival Series begins the new year with a “Roman Carnival Spectacular” featuring the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, BGSU’s Wind Symphony, and The Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps. The performance takes place at 8 p.m. Jan. 19 at BGSU’s Kobacker Hall in Moore Musical Arts Center.

The exciting program begins with Toledo Symphony resident conductor Jeffrey Pollock conducting Berlioz’s “Roman Carnival Overture.” Dr. Bruce Moss, a professor of music education and director of band activities at BGSU, then leads the Toledo Symphony and the BGSU Wind Symphony in Corigliano’s wild “Circus Maximus.” The program concludes with Pollock conducting the Toledo Symphony in Respighi’s beautiful “Pines of Rome,” featuring the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps.

Pollock is an international conductor, now in his second year with the Toledo Symphony where he crafts all of the orchestra’s 50-plus community concerts, pops offerings and family events. He has worked with orchestras all across North America and with headliners such as Roberta Flack, Randy Newman and Winona Judd.

In addition to his BGSU position, Moss since 1980 has been music director of the Wheaton Municipal Band in Illinois, a professional summer ensemble regarded as one of the finest of its kind in the nation. It was recently featured in the WGBH-TV Public Broadcasting Service’s American Experience documentary “If You Knew Sousa.” His many years of public school teaching were honored when he served as co-conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with Leonard Slatkin, in a special work featuring his high school students.

Ticket prices range from $12 to $30, with group tickets available. For tickets, call the College of Musical Arts Box Office at 419-372-8171, or email musictickets@bgsu.edu.

The Sentinal-Tribune’s provided readers with an inside look at the Wolfe Center prior to its upcoming opening, scheduled for Friday, December 9th. Click to read the article.

Art will be the focus at Bowling Green State University on Dec. 9 with the gala opening of the Wolfe Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. and the annual Arts X extravaganza from 6-10 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center.

During Arts X, the community can stroll the halls shopping and viewing faculty and student glasswork, jewelry, ceramics, prints, cartoons and more while enjoying art-making demonstrations, music and readings from Prairie Margins and Mid-American Review literary journals. The sounds of happy feet from the Tap Dance Troupe will resound in a first-floor hallway, while on the second floor, contemporary dance and more music and theatre performances will be going on.

Kids are invited to make their own art projects in rooms 130 and 132, led by the Student Art Education Association. Visitors can commemorate the evening with photos of themselves at two locations.

The annual Faculty Art Exhibition is on display in the Dorothy Uber Bryan and Willard Wankelman galleries, and Akiko Jones will demonstrate a Japanese tea ceremony in the Hiroko Nakamoto gallery.

The art continues outside the building, with student film works projected on an exterior wall and the debut of the latest TARTA buses covered in wraps designed by BGSU students.

After viewing a virtual Wolfe Center for the Arts in the Fine Arts Center main lobby, visitors may walk over at 8 p.m. to tour the real thing. Highlights include the open lobby with its grand staircase, the 400-seat Donnell Theatre and the newly restored third-century Antioch mosaics (formerly located in McFall Center) in the lobby outside the new Eva Marie Saint Theatre.