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April 18, 2005
Seven shows remain in student ensemble series

BY Sally corbett

Each semester, a wave of a dozen instrumental concerts by the Department of Music’s faculty-led student ensembles is presented free for all to enjoy in the Schwartz Center’s Emerson Concert Hall. The majority of the performances take place toward semester’s end, many featuring world premiere works and guest soloists.

The next Emory Jazz Ensembles performance (April 19) will include touring and recording artist Mundell Lowe on guitar. Organized by Director of Jazz Studies Gary Motley, the evening will include performances by various Emory Jazz Combos and the Emory Big Band. Fifteen works to be performed include compositions by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer, Rodgers and Hart, Chick Corea, Gershwin, Thelonious Monk, Dizzie Gillespie, and Duke Ellington. Lowe has performed with jazz and classical music greats including Billie Holiday, and Andre Previn. He has composed for film and television programs ranging from comedies to news programs.

On April 22, the Emory Symphony Orchestra led by Director of Orchestral Studies Richard Prior will join forces with the choirs of Emory’s distinguished choral program in a performance of Schubert’s “Mass in G”; in keeping with the featured repertoire, the orchestra will play Schubert’s “Unfinished” symphony in B minor. To close the program, the 250-voice chorus and orchestra will perform Prior’s “hymn for nations united” that sets a poem by W.H. Auden. This work was the featured commission for the Association for Music in International Schools 2001 Festival and premiered at The Hague, Netherlands, with more 200 students from 23 countries from around the world.

Under the leadership of Scott Stewart, director of wind studies, the Emory Wind Ensemble has had eight premieres and commissions since 2000. Last week’s final concert of the season (April 13) was titled “Something Old, Something New,” continuing the group’s trend of support for new music. The performance featured Americana and Latin-influenced music, including the Symphonic Dance No. 3 “Fiesta” by J. Clifton Williams and the exciting “Mambo Furioso” (in memory of jazz great Tito Puente) by Brant Karrick. The ensemble also presented the world premiere of Libby Larsen’s “De Toda la Eternidad” for chamber winds and soprano. Bonnie Pomret, who originally commissioned the voice/piano version for the opening of the Schwartz Center, sang the solo. Laura Gordy joined the chamber winds on piano in this five-part song cycle of poetry by Spanish poet Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz.

The remaining ensemble concert schedule includes:

• Emory Jazz Ensembles, Gary Motley, director, with Mundell Lowe, guitar, Tuesday, April 19, 8 p.m.

• Emory Symphony Orchestra, Richard Prior, conductor, and University Chorus, Eric Nelson, conductor,
“A Choral-Orchestral Celebration!” Friday, April 22, 8 p.m.

• Emory Percussion Ensemble, Michael Cebulski, director, Sunday, April 24, 4 p.m.

• Emory Brass Ensemble, Michael Moore, conductor, Sunday, April 24, 8 p.m.

• Emory Chamber Ensembles, Richard Prior, director, Tuesday, April 26, 8 p.m.

• Emory Guitar Ensemble, Brian Luckett, director, Thursday, April 28, 8 p.m.

• Emory Early Music Ensemble, Jody Miller, conductor, “Music of Germany, Poland and Russia,”
Sunday, May 1, 6 p.m.

All concerts are free and held in Emerson Concert Hall. For more information, call
404-727-5050.

 

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