Spring 2012 Concert Schedule
January
| 19 Thurs. | Modfest Music Library Display |
| The Vassar College Music Library presents a display highlighting Modfest music activities and musicians, curated by Sarah Canino, music librarian. On view through February 4. Open daily. First floor, Skinner Hall of Music |
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| 20 Fri. 9:00pm | Modfest Concert: Vassar jazz combos and the Body Electric Afrofunk Band |
| The ensembles showcase a colorful variety of sub- genres of jazz and rock music. James Osborn, director of the jazz combos, and Luke Leavitt ’12, band leader. Villard Room, Main Building, College Center |
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| 21 Sat. 10:00am-1:00pm | Modfest Music Workshop: Basic instruction in Sibelius Music |
| Notation Software, beginner to low intermediate. Presented by Thomas E. Rudolph, music education technology pioneer. Participants must bring their own laptops but do not need to own Sibelius software. Space is limited. Reservations are required and may be made by contacting adene.s.wilson@gmail.com Kenyon Hall, Room 216 |
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| 21 Sat. 1:30pm-4:30pm | Modfest Music Workshop: Basic instruction in Sibelius Music |
| Notation Software, intermediate to advanced. For description, see 10:00am-1:00pm listing above. Kenyon Hall, Room 216 |
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| 21 Sat. 8:00pm | Modfest Concert: JACK String Quartet |
| One of the most vibrant young groups on the New York new music scene performs hard-core modernism by Xenakis, Scelsi, and Ligeti. | |
| 22 Sun. 4:00pm | Modfest Concert |
| The music of Vassar faculty composers Jonathan Chenette, Peter McCulloch, Harold Meltzer, and Richard Wilson is performed by music faculty members Thomas Sauer and Peter McCulloch, as well as guest artists Paul Appleby, Moran Katz, and others. | |
| 23 Mon. 5:00pm | Modfest Reading & Concert: Alumnae/i Music, Art, and Writing |
| W.K. Rose Fellowship Winners: the work of composer Alexandra Gardner ’90; photographer Serge J-F Levy ’95; and writers Carol Ann Davis ’92 and Andrew Porter ’94. This combined concert, reading, discussion, and presentation of artwork spotlights past winners of The W.K. Rose Fellowship, awarded annually since 1970 to a Vassar graduate in the creative arts. Villard Room, Main Building |
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| 27 Fri. 5:00pm, 6:30pm, 8:00pm | Modfest Cabaret Night |
| A sampling of the Great American Songbook--Gershwin, Kern, Porter, Berlin, Rodgers, Sondheim, and others. Featuring singers from the Vassar College choirs as well as the music department. At the piano will be David Alpher, Vassar music department staff accompanist. This fundraiser is in support of the Vassar College choral ensembles’ Spring 2012 tour to England and France. Performances will begin at 5:00pm, 6:30pm, and 8:00pm. Tickets may be purchased in advance by emailing vassarcollegechoir@gmail.com, or by visiting the College Center North Atrium, Main Building, at lunchtime beginning January 18th. Students: $5 in advance, or $7 at the door; adults: $10 in advance, or $15 at the door. Food and beverages will be provided by the Vassar College choral ensembles. (Please bring your I.D.) Aula, Ely Hall |
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| 28 Sat. 11:00am | Modfest Open Rehearsal |
| Mahagonny Ensemble. Alumnus composer Evan James ’07 coaches the student-run contemporary group in the preparation of his new work, You’re Unreal. Following the rehearsal, there is a lunch with an opportunity to speak with the composer. Please make a lunch reservation by contacting adene.s.wilson@gmail.com. | |
| 28 Sat. 8:00pm | Modfest Concert |
| Orchestral and Chamber Ensembles. The Vassar College Orchestra and Mahagonny Ensemble perform works by Arvo Pärt, Gerald Finzi, and Almeida Prado in addition to You’re Unreal by Evan James ’07. Conducted by Eduardo Navega, director of the Chamber Music Program, Naomi Dubin ’12, and William Healy ’12. | |
| 29 Sun. 3:00pm | Modfest Concert |
| Music faculty member Mary Nessinger, mezzo- soprano, with Akiva Cahn-Lipman, cello, and Judith Gordon, piano, in a presentation of Salvatore Sciarrino’s avant-garde chamber opera Vanitas. |
February
| 1 Wed. 3:30pm | Modfest Presentation: Art, Music, and Word |
| Presentation of chamber music, art, and original poetry and prose by students of the music, art, and English departments. Hosted by Jonathan Chenette, dean of the faculty and professor of music. Villard Room, Main Building |
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| 4 Sat. 11:00am | Modfest Open Rehearsal: Mahagonny Ensemble |
| Features new works by student composers Connor Mulhern ’14 and Jeremy Bloom ’12. William Healy ’12, conductor. Following the rehearsal, there is a lunch with an opportunity to speak with the composers. Please make a lunch reservation by contacting adene.s.wilson@gmail.com. Thekla Hall, Skinner Hall of Music |
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| 11 Sat. 4:00pm | Senior Recital: Jacob Finkle, baritone |
| Assisted by David Alpher, piano. Music of Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, and others. | |
| 11 Sat. 8:00pm | Guest Event: The Antioch Chamber Ensemble |
| Joshua Copeland, artistic director. “the city and the sea.” In its fourteenth season, the ensemble of twelve singers presents the world’s greatest choral literature, both sacred and secular. | |
| 16 Thur. 8:00pm | Guest and Music Faculty Recital |
| An evening of chamber music with the celebrated soprano Dominique Labelle and Vassar faculty members Jessica Lee, violin, Sophie Shao, cello, and Todd Crow, piano. Program to feature Shostakovich’s dramatic “7 Romances on Poetry of Alexander Blok” and Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor. | |
| 17 Fri. 12:30pm | Voice Master Class with Dominique Labelle, soprano |
| Featuring students of the music department. | |
| 17 Fri. 8:00pm | Vassar College and Community Wind Ensemble |
| James Osborn, conductor. Program to include Johan deMeij’s Symphony no. 1, The Lord of the Rings. | |
| 18 Sat. 8:00pm | Guest Event: The Avalon String Quartet |
| Described by the Chicago Tribune as “an ensemble that invites you – ears, mind, and spirit –into its music,” the Avalon String Quartet, founded in 1995, has established itself as one of the country’s leading ensembles and came to the fore after participating in Isaac Stern’s Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall in 1997. The quartet, whose members include Blaise Magniére, violin, Marie Wang, violin, Anthony Devroye, viola, and Cheng Hou Lee, cello, will present string quartets by Beethoven, Ravel, and a new 2011 quartet, Aqua, by Vassar faculty member Harold Meltzer. | |
| 19 Sun. 3:00pm | Music Faculty Recital: Thomas Sauer, piano |
| Music of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Roger Sessions, and others. | |
| 25 Sat. 1:30pm | Senior Recital: Naomi Dubin, mezzo-soprano |
| Assisted by Todd Crow, piano. Music by Bach, Handel, Spohr, Duparc, Strauss, Messiaen, and Sondheim. | |
| 25 Sat. 4:00pm | Senior Recital: Elsie Raymer, mezzo-soprano |
| Assisted by Gregg Michalak, piano. Music of Handel, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, Fauré, Debussy, and Poulenc. | |
| 26 Sun. 3:00pm | Vassar College Orchestra |
| Eduardo Navega, conductor. Program to include performances by student winners of the Concerto Competition. |
March
| 23 Fri. 8:00pm | Guest and Music Faculty Recital: Ethos Percussion Group |
| Recently hailed by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as “extraordinary musicians… (who) played with equal subtlety and power,” Ethos Percusion Group, whose members include Michael Lipsey, Eric Phinney, Yousif Sheronick, and Vassar faculty member Trey Files, will present works for percussion influenced by cultures from around the world. The program will include Steve Reich’s classic Drumming Part One and The Guiros Talk, a work written for Ethos by 2011 MacArthur Fellow Dafnis Prieto. | |
| 24 Sat. 1:30pm | Senior Recital: April Cha, organ |
| Music of Sweelinck, Buxtehude, Bach, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Hindemith. Skinner Hall of Music and Chapel |
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| 25 Sun. 3:00pm | Guest and Music Faculty Recital |
| Metropolitan Opera Orchestra cellist David Heiss and world-renowned pianist Warren Jones (named as “Collaborative Pianist of the Year” for 2010 by the publication Musical America) join Vassar faculty member Robert Osborne, bass-baritone, in a concert of works for cello and piano, solo piano, and voice, cello, and piano. The program will include songs and arias with cello obbligato by Verdi, Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, and Stravinsky; Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces for cello and piano; and Brahms’ Three Intermezzos, op. 117. | |
| 30 Fri. 8:00pm | The Donald and Kathleen Pearson Memorial Organ Recital |
| A graduate of Indiana University and Northwestern University, Janette Fishell is a recitalist and teacher of international standing. She has performed in many of the world’s greatest concert venues and has been a featured recitalist and lecturer at five national conventions and five regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists (AGO). Dr. Fishell is Professor of Organ and Chair of the Organ Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Her eclectic recital will include works by Bach, Hindemith, Alain, as well as American composer Calvin Hampton’s “Five Dances for Organ.” Chapel |
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| 31 Sat. 1:30pm | Senior Recital: Andrea Sisco, clarinet |
| Assisted by Anna Polonsky, piano. Music of Weber, Lefebvre, and featuring Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. | |
| 31 Sat. 4:00pm | Senior Recital: Alison Goodman, soprano |
| Assisted by James Fitzwilliam, piano. Music of Bach, Wolf, Debussy, Richard Hundley, and featuring the Bach Wedding Cantata, BWV 202, “Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten.” |
April
| 1 Sun. 3:00pm | Vassar College Women’s Chorus |
| Christine R. Howlett, conductor. “Women in Song.” Music by American composers Elizabeth Alexander, Jocelyn Hagen, Michelle Roueché, Eleanor Daley, and others. | |
| 6 Fri. 5:00pm | Senior Recital: Susan Randolph, organ |
| Music of Buxtehude, Bach, Mendelssohn, Franck, and Messiaen. | |
| 7 Sat. 3:00pm | Vassar College Madrigal Singers |
| Drew Minter, conductor. “Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est: Songs on the nature of love.” | |
| 13 Fri. 8:00pm | Vassar College Jazz Ensemble |
| James Osborn, director. | |
| 14 Sat. 4:00pm | Senior Recital: Tiffany Shi, piano |
| Music of Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, and Liszt. | |
| 14 Sat. 8:00pm | Vassar College Choir |
| Christine R. Howlett, conductor. A celebration of a cappella gems from the Choir’s recent tour of England and France, featuring Gorecki’s Totus tuus, Biebl’s Ave Maria, and works by Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, and others. | |
| 21 Sat. 1:30pm | Senior Recital: Lilli Cooper, soprano, Greg Shapiro, tenor, and Greg Sullivan, tenor. |
| Assisted by Richard Mogavero, piano. Music of Mozart, Gershwin, Sondheim, and others. | |
| 21 Sat. 4:00pm | Senior Recital: Gretchen Eng, soprano |
| Assisted by David Alpher, piano. Music of Handel, Liszt, Strauss, Milhaud, and featuring Schubert’s “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen.” | |
| 27 Fri. 8:00pm | Vassar College Orchestra |
| Eduardo Navega, conductor. Featuring performances by student winners of the Concert Competition. | |
| 29 Sun. 3:00pm | Vassar College and Community Wind Ensemble |
| James Osborn, conductor. |
May
| 4 Fri. 8:00pm | Opera Workshop |
| “The Magic of Handel’s Magic Operas.” Drew Minter, director, and Miriam Charney, music director. | |
| 5 Sat. 1:30pm | Senior Recital: Vanora Estridge, piano |
| Music of Haydn, Chopin, Schumann, Debussy, Gershwin, and Piazzolla. | |
| 19 Sat. 3:00pm | Commencement Concert for the Class of 2012 |
| Presented by members of the music faculty. |
All events not otherwise noted take place in Skinner Hall of Music and are free and open to the public. Programs are subject to change. For further information and up-to-date details on all Vassar College Department of Music concerts, please call (845) 437-7294. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact the Office of Campus Activities at (845) 437-5370. Latecomers will be seated at the performers’ discretion. All audience members are to be seated. Food and beverages are not permitted in the Recital Hall. Cell phones and pagers must be silenced during performances.