Second-year DMA composer Hong-Da Chin will be making his Carnegie Hall debut on Friday, November 21, as a performer on Music From China, Premiere Works XXIII, 30th Anniversary & Beyond. A native of Malaysia and a renowned expert on the dizi (Chinese flute), Mr. Chin will perform works by composers Chen Yi, Huang Ruo, Wang Guowei and Zhou Long. The concert will be repeated on Saturday, November 22, at the Freer Gallery in Washington, DC. Mr. Chin is a student of Drs. Mikel Kuehn and Marilyn Shrude.
DMA pianist Michiko Saiki wins awards with her film, “a…i…u…e…o….”
Second-year DMA pianist Michiko Saiki is the winner of several awards with her film, “a…i…u…e…o….” In September the work was competitively selected for viewing at “The Twelfth And The Last Experimental International Film Festival” in Australia. Most recently it was one of 19 out of 263 entries chosen for the “Without Words Festival” in France. Ms. Saiki’s work was created to remind people of the tragic aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in her native country Japan. Ms. Saiki has studied with Drs. Tom Rosenkranz and Laura Melton.
Chamber music ‘rock stars’ take the stage at BGSU
Festival Series audiences will have a chance to experience the virtuosity of world class artists who have the energy of rock stars, when Project Trio takes the stage at 8 p.m. Nov. 22 in Kobacker Hall at Bowling Green State University.
Project Trio consists of Peter Seymour on bass, Greg Pattillo on flute, and Eric Stephenson on cello. Together they are breaking down traditional ideas of chamber music. Blending their classical training with an eclectic taste in musical styles, they make a big impact on audiences of all ages. The genre-defying trio is acclaimed by the press as “packed with musicianship, joy and surprise” and “exciting a new generation of listeners about the joys of classical and jazz music.”
The program will include arrangements of music from Bach to Django Reinhardt to Jethro Tull, along with plenty of Project Trio originals. Selections include Mingus’ “Fables of Faubus,” J.S. Bach/Jethro Tull’s “Bourée,” Beethoven’s 5th Symphony Jam, Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” … now set in Brooklyn, and originals encompassing everything from classical to jazz to rock to hip-hop to salsa.
The Wall Street Journal hailed the trio for their “wide appeal, subversive humor and first-rate playing.” The New York Times has called beatboxing flutist Pattillo “the best in the world at what he does.”
Seymour, Pattillo and Stephenson met at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where they discovered a collective desire to draw new and diverse audiences by performing high energy, top quality music. Using social media to broaden their reach beyond the concert stage and classroom, Project Trio has its own YouTube channel, which has over 80 million views and 96,000 subscribers, making it one of the most watched instrumental ensembles on the Internet.
Highlights of the trio’s 2014-15 season include engagements with the Detroit, Dallas, St. Louis, and Charleston symphonies, the Illinois Philharmonic, and season-opening concerts with the Evansville Philharmonic and WCF Symphony. This season, the group will participate in residencies at Mercyhurst College and Concordia College, as well as performing and leading master classes in schools, universities, festivals and other venues throughout the Germany, Italy and the U.S.
Tickets are $15 for the public and $5 for BGSU students and can be purchased online at bgsu.edu/arts or by calling the Arts Box Office at 419-372-8171.
Alan Smith, cello, receives Ohio String Teachers Association 2013 Private/Studio Teacher of the Year Award
The Ohio String Teachers Association recognized Alan Smith (Prof. of Cello) as the 2013 Private/Studio Teacher of the Year. Dr. Smith was cited for excellence and dedication in string teaching on February 6, 2014 at the annual Ohio String Teachers Association Convention in Columbus, OH.
Recently released recordings feature Thomas Rosenkranz, piano
Associate Professor of Piano, Thomas Rosenkranz was recently featured on three commercial recordings of chamber music on the Bridge Record and New Focus Labels.
Paul Lansky: Textures and Threads (Bridge Records)
Premiere recording of Lansky’s work: textures for two-pianos/ two percussion, with pianist, Michael Sheppard and percussionists, Svet Stoyanov and Gwen Burgett
http://www.bridgerecords.com/products/paul-lansky-textures-and-threads/
Lei Liang: Bamboo Lights (Bridge Records)
Premiere recording of Lakescape for trio, with Tony Arnold, voice and Aiyun Huang, percussion
http://www.bridgerecords.com/products/lei-liang-bamboo-lights/
Nataraja (New Focus Records)
Duo Recording with Conor Nelson, flute. Works by Harvey, Levine, Carter, Dietz and others
http://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/nataraja
Doctoral Student, Jeff Manchur, to present paper in London
Fourth-year DMA pianist Jeff Manchur has been invited to present a paper at the Institute of Musical Research in London, England on November 19th. The event, titled “Re-thinking Music Analysis and Performance”, is jointly hosted by the music research centers at the University of Oxford and University of London. His paper, titled “Ervin Nyiregyhazi and Romantic Piano Performance Traditions: Challenging Objectivity in Contemporary Performance”, is one of only eight chosen to be delivered at the event, with other presenters from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland and Israel. Jeff studies with Associate Professor of Piano, Thomas Rosenkranz.