All posts by Tony Cleeton

Pro Musica hosts 4th annual Celebrity Server Night

Pro Musica will host its 4th annual “Celebrity Server Night” from  5-7:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 25, in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom of the Bowen-Thompson Student Union at Bowling Green State University.

The annual event raises additional monies for travel grants and scholarships for students at the College of Musical Arts at BGSU.

The program will include a Hors d’oeuvres hour; wine tasting with Norm Heineman of Bowling Green and owner of Bowling Green Beverage Inc. (17744 N. Dixie Hwy); performances by students from the college; a silent auction, and a meal served by a local celebrity.

This year 25 individuals from the Bowling Green community and University have volunteered to be “celebrity servers.”

Dinner is $40 per person. For online reservations visit the online store or call the Office of the Dean at 419-372-2188. Reservations will be accepted until October 15.

Those who wish to donate items for the silent auction should also contact the Office of the Dean.

Pro Musica is a “one-of-a-kind” organization as all monies generated are offered to students, at the College of Musical Arts at BGSU, in the form of travel grants and scholarships. Every donated dollar is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law and goes directly back to students.

For over 30 years Pro Musica, funded by over 300 dedicated alumni, friends, parents and members of the Bowling Green community, has sponsored a wide variety of musical events and provided financial support to music students for educational travel projects. In addition, the organization provides funding for scholarships and various awards at the college.

McGill Brothers to give classical performance at BGSU

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Hearing classical musicians Anthony and Demarre McGill in performance, it is hard to conceive that they were born and raised on Chicago’s tough South Side. The brothers have both achieved stellar levels of success in the world of classical music, Anthony on clarinet and Demarre on flute.

The two will share their art and expertise with audiences and students at Bowling Green State University as artists in residence for this year’s Dorothy and DuWayne Hansen Musical Arts Series. The McGill Brothers will present a free recital at 8 p.m. Sept. 29 in the Thomas B. and Kathleen M.Donnell Theatre at the Wolfe Center for the Arts.

Just named principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, Anthony McGill served as principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, with whom he has also appeared as soloist. Also at Carnegie Hall, he has appeared as a soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra and the New York String Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, including appearances at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the University of Chicago Presents, and festival appearances at Tanglewood, Marlboro, Mainly Mozart and Santa Fe. He has collaborated with Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Mitsuko Uchida and Lang Lang, and on Jan. 20, 2009, performed with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and Gabriela Montero at the inauguration of President Barack Obama. He has appeared on “Performance Today,” Minnesota Public Radio’s “St. Paul Sunday Morning” and “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” In 2013, with his brother Demarre, he appeared on “NBC Nightly News,” the “Steve Harvey Show” and on MSNBC with Melissa Harris-Perry.

Winner of a 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Demarre McGill has performed concertos with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Baltimore Symphony and Milwaukee Symphony, among others. He is currently principal flutist of the Seattle Symphony, and has held the same position with the San Diego Symphony, the Florida Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. An active chamber musician, he is a member of the Florida-based Ritz Chamber Players and has been a member of Chamber Music Society Two, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s program for emerging young artists. He has been featured on a PBS “Live From Lincoln Center” broadcast and has participated in the Music from Angel Fire, Santa Fe, Kingston, Cape Cod, Music@Menlo, Bay Chamber Concerts, Mainly Mozart, La Jolla and Marlboro music festivals and has performed on the Ravinia Festival’s “Rising Star” series and the A&E Network series “The Gifted Ones,” and was a special guest on “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” In addition to his performance schedule, he is the co-founder and artistic director of Art of Élan, a chamber music organization in San Diego that aims to expose new audiences to classical music.

In addition to their recital appearance, both Anthony and Demarre McGill will give master classes and host a special talk and question-and-answer session. See more details on their residency.

The Hansen Musical Arts Series Fund was established in 1996 to bring significant representatives of the musical arts to share their talents with BGSU students and members of the Bowling Green community. Past Hansen Series guests have included Marin Alsop, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, and Bill McGlaughlin.

Live Streaming at the CMA

 

kobacker

The College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University now has the ability to live stream events in its largest performance venue, Kobacker Hall.  Large ensembles such as The Bowling Green Philharmonia, University Bands and University Choir performances can be heard online, as they are being performed live.

Mark Bunce, Director of Recording Services, has been instrumental in the implementation. “The new Kobacker video streaming system consists of three spectacular broadcast-quality cameras, all controlled by a live, remote-controlled switcher. This switcher allows one person to control all aspects of the cameras, cross-fade between them and facilitate the feed to the internet. “ 

The College of Musical Arts has been live streaming its Faculty Artist Series performances in Bryan Recital Hall for many years. “I am gratified that the world will also be able to hear our terrific large ensembles “ says College of Musical Arts Dean Jeffery Showell.

To visit the live streaming page and to check out a full schedule of concerts that will be streamed live to your computer or phone, please visit here.

David Mirarchi, Freshman ’14, featured in The Scranton Times Tribune

Noted teen’s next gig: Talented college freshman, Eynon resident well on road to career as jazz saxophonist

“Back in late July, some of the region’s best jazz musicians converged at Scranton High School to bring the legendary Johnny Richards composition “Cuban Fire!” to life.

The vast majority of players in conductor Pat Marcinko Jr.’s 26-piece Upper Valley Winds Latin Jazz Orchestra had decades of accumulated chops. But there was some easy-to-spot youth in the saxophonists’ station that night, in the form of Eynon resident David Mirarchi.

Mr. Mirarchi is just 18, and only a few months out of Valley View High School. But, on that night, he played with the panache and dexterity of an old pro.”

read more on The Times-Tribune