music ensembles

data-content-type="article"

by Angela Fischer Brigham Young University’s School of Music presents several free concerts Tuesday through Saturday, Dec. 2-6, in the Harris Fine Arts Center. - The University Orchestra and University Strings will come together for a concert Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall. Conducted by Lev Ivanov and Stephen Fairbanks, the University Orchestra will perform pieces from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, “Sugar Plum Fairy Dance” and “Waltz of the Flowers.” They will also present “Pomp and Circumstance, no. 4” by Edward Elgar and “Radetsky March” by Johann Stauss. University Strings, conducted by Ivanov and James Arbizu, will perform the Symphony for Strings no. 12 by Felix Mendelssohn and two pieces from “Henry V” by William Walton. - The Songwriters’ Showcase will be presented Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall. Conducted by Ron Simpson, the showcase will feature the music of BYU media music majors selected to perform after completing a songwriting program. - The BYU Flute Choirs will perform Thursday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall. The choir of non-flute majors, conducted by Meleece Orm, will present the Overture to “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “Shenandoah” arranged by Mary Jean Simpson and “Tag!” by David L. Wells. Conducted by Marianne Cutchins, the majors flute choir will perform the overture to “The Barber of Seville” by Gioacchino Rossini, “Blue Train” by Ryohei Hirose, “Cassation” by JindŠ™ich Feld and “Sails, Winds and Echoes” by Crawford Gates.” The program will culminate in a combined flute choir holiday piece, “Christmas Fantasy” by Ricky Lombardo. - A Harp Solo and Ensemble music showcase will be presented Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall. Directed by Anamae Anderson, the harpists will perform Variations on a Theme of Paganini by Mikhail Mchedelov, Invention No. 8 by Johann Sebastian Bach and the Concerto in C Major for Flute and Harp by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The program will also feature Christmas classics “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “The Christmas Song” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” For more information, contact Ken Crossley at (801) 422-9348. Source: BYU News

data-content-type="article"

by Ed Blaser In a single summer, Brigham Young University performing groups delivered more than 100 shows and countless workshops to thousands of people worldwide. Each year these groups, from the School of Music and Dance Department, leave Provo to share their love and energy with people around the globe. Living up to the university’s motto, “The world is our campus,” students traveled to nearly every continent, including North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The Chamber Orchestra’s tour of the eastern United States was filled with firsts for many of the student musicians. Not only did they bring their energy and sensational music to more than 7,000 people during their tour, they also learned about the roots of American culture and history. The group traveled to Washington, D.C.; Boston; New York City; and other historically significant cities. They were also afforded the opportunity to perform for a full house at Carnegie Hall, one of the United States’ most famous venues for classical and popular music. Carnegie Hall is known for its beauty, history and acoustics. Playing in the hall built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was a definitely a first for Chamber Orchestra and director Kory Katseanes. During the tour a special outreach performance was arranged at a boys’ home for troubled teens in Rochester, New York. After the remarkable presentation, all who were present experienced feelings of peace, including one prison guard who responded to the show by saying, “This was the most relaxing hour I have had in 20 years!” Living Legends took its production, 'Seasons,' to Chile and delighted more than 18,000 audience members with a captivating storyline and an authentic performance. 'Seasons' incorporated themes from Chile’s own Latin American heritage, as well as the cultural heritage of Native American and Polynesian music and dance. Pablo Penailillo, the single Chilean member of Living Legends, recalled how the audience would stand up and sing along to the cueca, the national dance of Chile, and clap and cheer to la negra, a popular dance that originates in Mexico. Synthesis, the “Big Band” from BYU, was selected to perform at five international jazz festivals in England and Scotland, where visitors found more jazz per square inch than in New Orleans. The group made their way through Birmingham, Marlborough, Wigan, Durham and Edinburgh, and performed ten different times. Everywhere they went, the Synthesis musicians were received enthusiastically. Shows were sold out and others were bursting at the seams. People couldn’t help but tap their feet and nod their heads to the beats that resonated first in their ears and then in the heart., said director Ray Smith. Every measure presented a surprise – a complexity of rhythms and beats strung together in new and innovative ways. Chamber Orchestra, Living Legends and Synthesis originate in the School of Music in the College of Fine Arts and Communications. Meanwhile, the Young Ambassadors went “down under” to various cities on the eastern coast of Australia, as well as Tasmania. Their performance, 'The New American Songbook,' featured popular music from the 1960s through today, with a few Broadway hits mixed in. After a 25-year absence from the country, the Young Ambassadors were pleased to return with the opportunity to perform this show, which even included a few Australian folk songs. A highlight of the tour was the Young Ambassadors’ performance for the legislators in the Queensland State Parliament in Brisbane. The group’s presence was recorded in the minutes of Parliament – a first recognition of its kind for BYU. Mike Reynolds, speaker of Parliament, said afterward that he was impressed with the musical skill of the Ambassadors. Reynolds commented that in a time when academic institutions “have eliminated the academic music programs, BYU has chosen to showcase this important medium.” The Young Ambassadors are produced by the School of Music in cooperation with the Department of Dance. The International Folk Dance Ensemble was privileged to take its dancing to Central Europe and share the stage with some of the continent’s finest performing folk ensembles. The performance was a celebration of cultures. Ed Austin, artistic director, said, “The production is steeped in tradition – a patchwork of mankind’s finest expression– an attempt to preserve fragments of diversity that might otherwise be forgotten.” The U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, April Foley, called the production a “triumph” and extended her appreciation for the “tireless, young ensemble that showcased the cultural heritage of the United States.” Ambassador Foley also presented the group with the Ambassador’s Award for Cultural Diplomacy, which recognizes those who “display exceptional talent and exceptional service to the goal of friendship between America and Hungary.” A special occasion was afforded to the Ballroom Dance Company, which had the opportunity of performing at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Cultural Festival in The People's Republic of China. This event highlighted the diversity and spirit in the arts from around the globe. The occasion to take part in the Olympic festivities was a bright complement to BYU. Tour coordinator Rex Barrington explained, “The opportunity was granted largely because of the impressive reputation BYU performers have established in China over the years.” In the three weeks of their tour they also performed in Hong Kong and eight other cities throughout China, five of which would later host Olympic sporting events. A strong relationship with the Chinese Performing Arts Agency led to a full taping of their performance, with an estimated 480 million people watching on China Central Television this summer. During the tour, dancers were also able to share feelings of peace and comfort after the country experienced a devastating earthquake in central China, which took almost 70,000 lives. Brad Peterson said, “They received us wholeheartedly – their eyes were full of light and appreciation.” The International Folk Dance Ensemble and Ballroom Dance Company both originate in the Department of Dance of the College of Health and Human Performance. Performing Arts Management represents the touring ensembles that originate from the School of Music and the Department of Dance. Source: BYU News

data-content-type="article"

by Todd Hollingshead The hit television show 'Dancing with the Stars' has been around only a few years, but a new study by a Brigham Young University researcher shows that a different type of dancing with the stars happening in the late 1920s may have shaped jazz music as we know it. In an article appearing in the current issue of the Journal of the American Musicological Society, music professor Brian Harker shows that a partnership with a jittering, jiving, dancing duo may have heavily influenced the rhythms of Louis Armstrong, widely recognized as one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time. Harker's article provides evidence that Armstrong's jazz trumpeting actually took on a more free flowing, innovative and flexible style due to his performing duets with the dancers. 'The dancing seems to have pushed jazz in a new direction,' said Harker, who notes that dance's role in the development of early jazz music has not been well understood. Between the summer of 1926 and the summer of 1927, Armstrong entered into a partnership at Chicago's Sunset Café with a husband-and-wife dance team called Brown and McGraw. Armstrong played his trumpet onstage with the dancers, playing rehearsed--though not written--solos that closely matched their steps, movements or facial expressions. 'This couple introduced rhythmic dance movements to Armstrong, which opened up the way to more complicated dance steps,' Harker said. 'And the rhythm of those steps may have changed the way Armstrong performed himself.' During the time of their musical collaboration, Armstrong retuned his approach to rhythm. Whereas previously he tended to rely on more or less fixed rhythms, his recordings in late 1926 and 1927 reveal a style that is free and flexible. This rhythm became the foundation for the new jazz language that emerged in the Swing Era. 'For Harker to be able to piece together what the eccentric dance of the time was like and how it influenced a major player at a turning point in jazz history is truly remarkable,' said Kate van Orden, editor for theJournal of the American Musicological Society and professor of music at the University of California-Berkeley. 'It's masterful work in every respect - its methodological conception, archival research, music analysis and presentation.' Harker uncovered this little known partnership between Armstrong and Brown and McGraw during a research sabbatical in New York City in 2005 and 2006. While digging through an interview with a trumpet player named Doc Cheatham, Harker found references to this partnership. From there, Harker went on a treasure hunt and found additional sources from newspapers, clippings in Armstrong's scrapbooks, census records and a 1926 court case between Brown and McGraw and a club in which they performed. Harker also tracked down a living nephew of the dancing couple who provided additional personal information. Harker learned that Armstrong not only accompanied the duo, but he also worked out solos based on their dancing. 'Big Butter and Egg Man' is one such solo that may have been influenced in this way. A quote from Armstrong on the collaboration is cited in the paper: 'There was the team of Brown and McGraw -- they did a jazz dance that just wouldn't quit. I'd blow for their act, and every step they made, I put the notes to it.' Harker said this finding led to the discovery of other examples of jazz trumpet soloists not only working with dancers, but also getting on stages and performing along with them. It took the BYU researcher two years to harmonize the research and write the paper. It includes the first scholarly writings about Brown and McGraw, a duo that faded out when they couldn't translate their act to movies and radio. This is not the first time Harker has researched Armstrong. The music history and theory professor, who also plays the jazz trumpet, first started studying Armstrong while working on his Ph.D. dissertation. He won the 1999 Irving Lowens Award for his article, ''Telling a Story': Louis Armstrong and Coherence in Early Jazz,' published by Current Musicology. Source: BYU News

data-content-type="article"