DECEMBER 3, 2009 ISSUE
Hayes School of Music This Week
Except for the Appalachian Chorale’s Messiah Sing-Along on Sunday, December 13, this week marks the last School of Music performances until the university returns from a month-long holiday break in January.
Unless otherwise indicated, concerts take place in the Broyhill Music Center on the ASU campus. For more information about any of these performances, call 828-262-3020.
Nancy Bargerstock is the featured violinist in this Thursday’s concert by the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra.Appalachian Symphony Orchestra Thursday
Nancy Bargerstock is the featured violinist during the Thursday, December 3, Appalachian Symphony Orchestra performance, which begins at 8:00 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium. Admission is free. James Allen Anderson directs the orchestra.
Bargerstock is the soloist for Beethoven’s “Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61.”
The orchestra also will perform Respighi’s “Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome).”
Beethoven’s violin concerto is considered among the most important works in the violin concerto repertoire. Written in 1806, the composition has three movements, the first of which begins with four beats of the tympani after the orchestra begins, with the violin soloist joining some four minutes into the composition.
“Pini di Roma,” written in 1924, is considered a masterpiece of the symphonic poem, a composition based on a poem, novel, painting or landscape. In Respighi’s work, he creates a musical setting depicting children at play in a pine grove, a melancholy depiction of a catacomb located near a pine grove, a movement based on an evening setting near a Roman temple, and of an army traveling the Appian Way to the Capitoline Hill in Rome.
Bargerstock is a member of the faculty in Appalachian’s Hayes School of Music, where she teaches string chamber music, pedagogy, literature and orchestral repertoire classes.
Holiday Scholarship Concert Friday
The holiday season will be celebrated this Friday, December 4, with the annual holiday scholarship concert presented by ASU’s Hayes School of Music.
The program begins at 7:30 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium. All seats are reserved and cost $5. Children age 6 and under will be admitted free. Tickets are available now at the Farthing Auditorium box office weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or by calling 828-262-4046. Proceeds will support student scholarships in the Hayes School of Music.
This is the 17th year of the popular concert that highlights the music school’s ensembles, choirs and orchestra. Musical groups will perform from different areas of the auditorium, including the balcony, aisles, in front of the stage curtain and on stage. Stephen M. Hopkins coordinates the concert.
The concert features the University Singers, Chamber Singers, Men’s Glee Club, Treble Choir and Gospel Choir.
Also performing are the school’s Brass Choir, Appalachian Tuba Euphonium Collective, Appalachian Flute Ensemble, Appalachian Brass Ensemble, Appalachian Trumpet Ensemble, Appalachian Guitar Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble I and the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra.
Holiday favorites on the program include “The Christmas Waltz,” “Sleigh Ride,” “The Christmas Song,” “What Child Is This?,” “Carol of the Bells,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Hallelujah” and more.
Student Voice Recital Saturday
Senior music education major Leslie Roberts and senior music performance major Caryn Crozier will perform a joint voice recital in the Recital Hall this Saturday, December 5, at 12:00 p.m. Admission is free.
Student Violin Recital Saturday
Danice-Claud Desir, a graduate performance student, will perform a recital on the violin this Saturday, December 5, at 6:00 p.m. in the Recital Hall. Admission is free.
Student Voice Recital Saturday
Junior elementary education major Aria Hope Johnson will perform a voice recital in the Recital Hall this Saturday, December 5, at 8:00 p.m. Admission is free.
Wind Ensemble and Concert Band Sunday
The Appalachian Wind Ensemble and the Appalachian Concert Band perform this Sunday, December 6. The free performance, directed by John Stanley Ross, begins at 2:00 p.m. in Rosen Concert Hall.
The program includes “Fanfare and Flourishes for a Festive Occasion” by James Curnow, “At Dawn They Slept” by Jay Bocook, “Sabre and Spurs” by John Philip Sousa and “Commando March” by Samuel Barber.
The concert also features the premiere of William G. Harbinson’s “Aisling Gaelich,” based on two traditional Irish tunes. The first is a traditional barn dance that includes a “hornpipe skip” throughout. The second is a lyrical ballad in honor of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the descendant of Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, who had ambitions of ascending to the throne of Britain.
Harbinson is the former dean of ASU’s Hayes School of Music, where he remains a member of the faculty. His works for band appear on the contest/festival literature lists in many states and are performed around the world.
Hayes School of Music faculty member Dr. Christopher Blaha will be the soloist on Eric Ewazen’s “Concerto for Tuba.” Blaha joined the music in fall 2009. He was the principal tuba for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2008 and has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, Columbus Symphony and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.
He also has held instructional positions at Charleston Southern University and Armstrong Atlantic State University, in addition to his activities as a guest artist and clinician.
The program concludes with “Adagio for Wind Orchestra” by Joaquin Rodrigo and “American Salute” by Morton Gould.
Appalachian Gospel Choir Sunday
The Appalachian Gospel Choir presents a program of “Gospel Throwbacks” this Sunday, December 6, at 6:00 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium. Admission is free.
Jason D. Thompson from the Hayes School of Music directs the choir.
Gospel enthusiasts think of throwbacks as the most loved and remembered songs from a previous generation or time, according to information in the program notes.
The repertoire chosen for this concert includes some well-known gospel songs such as “Safe in His Arms,” “Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child,” “Your Majesty” and “Oh I Feel Jesus.”
Pianist Michael Alvarado, bass player Joseph Brown and percussionists Tyron Young, Matthew Faulkenbury, Landon Powell and Kuldeephsinh Chudasama will accompany the choir.
Appalachian Guitar Ensemble Sunday
The Appalachian Guitar Ensemble performs this Sunday, December 6, at 8:00 p.m. in Rosen Concert Hall. Admission is free.
Guests performing with the ensemble are flutist Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham, violinists Chelsea Whittaker and Witold Kosmala and David Hunt on the viola de gamba.
The program includes William Boyce’s “Symphony No. 1,” Alan Hirsh’s “Celtic Suite,” Fernando Sor’s “Variations on a Theme of Mozart, op. 9” and Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Invocación y Danza.”
The guitarists also will perform Marin Marais’s “Sonate a la Maresienne,” Andrew York’s “Pacific Coast Highway,” Leo Brouwer’s “Cuban Landscape with Rumba” and M. D. Leontovych’s “Carol of the Bells.”
Douglas James, a member of the Hayes School of Music faculty, directs the ensemble.
Appalachian Chorale December 7
The Appalachian Chorale celebrates its 34th season with a concert of music by Johannes Brahms on Monday, December 7, at 8:00 p.m. in Rosen Concert Hall.
Music Director Pamela Hopton-Jones will conduct the chorale in performances of “Psalm 13” for women’s chorus and organ, “Rhapsody” for alto solo and men’s chorus, “Fest-und Gedenksprüche” for double chorus, selected “Liebeslieder” waltzes and the “Geistliches Lied” for chorus and organ.
Collaborating artists will be mezzo-soprano Priscilla Porterfield, pianist Rodney Reynerson and chorale Co-director and accompanist Joby Bell. Admission is free.
The Appalachian Chorale was founded in 1975. Membership is open without audition to all interested singers. Rehearsals are held every Monday evening of ASU fall and spring semesters. Inquiries are welcome at 828-262-3020 or at jonespd@appstate.edu.
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