School of Music

Brigham Young University’s School of Music presents its annual OcTUBAfest Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 17-19, in the Madsen Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. with unique nightly performances. All concerts are free.

With preview performances Oct. 19 and 22

The Brigham Young University Philharmonic, Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Band will perform together in the Instrumental Showcase Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall.

Brigham Young University’s Men’s Chorus, Concert Choir, Women’s Chorus and BYU Singers will present their Fall Choral Showcase in the de Jong Concert Hall Thursday and Friday, Sept. 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m.

PHOTO: Claudine Bigelow and her duo partner, Donald Maurice when they first met at the International Viola Congress in Sweden. Read more about Claudine Bigelow here. Brigham Young University School of Music faculty member Claudine Bigelow and guest artist Donald Maurice of the New Zealand School of Music will present a viola recital Saturday, Sept. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall. Admission is free. They will perform selections from Béla Barták’s 44 Duos for Two Violins transcribed for two violas, a repeat of a June 12, 2012 performance in New Zealand when Bigelow was a Fulbright Scholar there. The pair will be recording a CD of Barták’s 44 Duos for the BYU-based Tantara Records. It will include the relevant field recordings made by Barták (some examples will be played in the concert) and a selection of the field transcriptions and photographs that he took during his ethnomusicological journeys. They are working in close collaboration with the Barták Archive in Budapest. Bigelow is head of viola and chamber music studies at the School of Music. Recital appearances have taken her around the United States, Europe and New Zealand. Claudine has played with the viola sections of the National and Utah Symphonies, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra and the National Chamber Orchestra. She served on the executive board of the American Viola Society for six years. In 2005 she hosted the Primrose International Viola Competition and has since served as jury chair, adjudicator and on the advisory board. Maurice is also a member of the New Zealand Piano Quartet and performs regularly as a soloist. He has presented at more than a dozen international viola congresses. In 2001 he was awarded the Silver Alto Clef by the International Viola Society and in 2007 was made an Honorary Life Member of the American Viola Society. For more information, contact Claudine Bigelow at (801) 422-1315, claudine_bigelow@byu.edu. Source: BYU News

The Brigham Young University School of Music is now accepting applications for its 2013-2014 Young Musicians Academy, where two-, three- and four-year-old children and their parents can learn to make music together.

August 22, 2013–Provo, UT–Jaren Hinckley, Associate Professor of Clarinet at the Brigham Young University (BYU) School of Music, performed a half-hour recital at this summer’s International Clarinet Association’s (ICA) ClarinetFest® 2013 in Assisi, Italy. Hinckley was selected to perform after a peer review by the conference committee.

As a freshman at Brigham Young University, Nathan Pacheco attended a fireside and heard Elder Jeffrey R. Holland talk about the importance of pursuing and holding onto dreams – and then never giving up.

An experimental opera filled with young energy, “A Parking Lot for Hyacinths” will make its debut at Brigham Young University Friday and Saturday, Aug. 9-10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Nelke Theatre of the Harris Fine Arts Center.

More than fifty flutists flocked to BYU professor April Clayton’s Salt Lake Flute Forum, which ran from June 26 to 29 at The Waterford School in Sandy. The turnout and interest the forum generated led Clayton to consider the festival’s freshman foray “a resounding success.”

Under his tutelage, the event blossomed into an internationally respected competitionBy David Burger | The Salt Lake Tribune

Robin Hancock, a member of the piano faculty at the Brigham Young University School of Music, will present a recital titled “Classics for Piano and Ballet” with his daughter, dancer Holly Hancock Christensen, Wednesday, July 17, at 5:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall. The family will be assisted in the performance by guest artist Samuel Fulk, a professional dancer at the Utah Regional Ballet Company. Admission is free and the public is welcome. The program will begin with the Chaconne in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, which was transcribed for piano left hand alone by Johannes Brahms. Christensen will perform choreography by using her right foot alone. The performance will continue with “Die ErlkÁ¶nig” by Franz Schubert, “Three Etudes” by Frederic Chopin, “Clair de lune' from Suite Bergamasque No. 3 by Claude Debussy and the pas de deux from “Sleeping Beauty” by Peter Tchaikovsky featuring Christensen and Fulk. The program will conclude with another pas de deux, choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan, used for the balcony and final scene from 'Romeo and Juliet' by Sergei Prokofiev. For more information, contact Robin Hancock, (801) 422-3180, robin_hancock@byu.edu. Source: BYU News

Vocal Point's second week in Nauvoo saw the group even busier than the first. Outreaches in Keokuk, IA; Memphis, MO; and Quincy and Springfield, IL, were all successes as the group performed for enthusiastic crowds. Vocal Point performed at the Keokuk Dam Centennial Anniversary for an especially excited audience. There, the stormy weather stopped just long enough for the group to perform its set. Indeed, not a single show the entire trip was cancelled or relocated due to weather (though a few came close). For the Springfield outreach at the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the museum curator greeted the group and gave his parameters for the performance: 'You can sing whatever you want, for as long as you want. I trust you guys completely.'

The Brigham Young University School of Music will host a special CD Release Concert for composer Steve Lindeman featuring BYU Synthesis directed by Ray Smith with master of ceremonies Steve Williams, host of KUER 90.1 'Night Time Jazz.'

The second week of tour for BYU Synthesis in Brazil was packed with concerts, festivals, and outreach. The group even played in front of a crowd of people that reached as far as the eyes could see in the Rio das Ostras Jazz and Blues Festival.

Two weeks before its official release, BYU professor Steve Lindeman's new big-band album of original compositions, The Day After Yesterday, has already begun to garner critical praise.

Downbeat Magazine listed BYU Synthesis among the Best Student Musicians of 2013. The large jazz ensemble was named the undergraduate college winner in Downbeat Magazine's 36th Annual Student Music Awards.

After participating in multiple jazz festivals all over Europe over the years, BYU's Synthesis has finally travelled south of the equator for a taste of latin jazz in Brazil. The BYU jazz band spent its first week of tour in Brazil participating in performances and workshops in Betim, Contagem, and in the Santa Teresa Jazz Festival on the coast of Brazil.