Department of Music Blog

Reminder: The Graduate Composers Concert takes place tonight, 8 p.m. at Bellefield Hall Auditorium. The concert is free to the public and will feature mostly premieres by Matthew Heap, Matthew Gillespie, Mark Fromm, Kerrith Livengood, James J. Ogburn, and Alec Summer. The program will be performed by members of IonSound Project (pictured above) and other outstanding Pittsburgh musicians.

rehearsals etc. until the end - all events in Bellefield Hall Auditorium

See the details on after the jump. (more…)

dress rehearsals [all events in Bellefield Hall Auditorium]

NB. Ben Harris’s work has been rescheduled to the last concert of April 16^th

Monday March 24 at 7:30 pm
in concert order:
Weber Oberon Overture
Nielsen: Violin Concerto
Mahler Symphony no. 6 mvts 2 and 3

Tuesday March 25
please note this rehearsal begins at 8:30 pm
concert order:
Weber Oberon Overture
Nielsen: Violin Concerto
Mahler Symphony no. 6 mvts 2 and 3

Wednesday, March 26
Sound check at 7:10 pm
concert at 8 pm

ALIA MUSICA Pittsburgh presents…

…a trumpet and a harp… Vivaldi and jazz… double reeds and string quartet… a bass clarinet and a suspended cymbal… an insistent tritone and a woodwind chorale

Sounds interesting? Well, I’m delighted to write here in the Pitt music blog, and to invite everyone to attend this concerts. Alia Musica is an ‘independent’ ensemble, but it actually stemmed from Pitt and still features most of Pitt’s composition grads.

This time we’re featuring James Ogburn’s PhD graduation piece, a monumental piano concerto (i.e. big news since the times of Mozart!). Matt Gillespie will be playing the piano part, and James will conduct the orchestra.

There’s also music by Kerrith Livengood, Mark Fromm, Ivan Jimenez, Chris Ruth, Ayo Ogunranti, Ben Harris, myself…

And for lovers of more tonal music (aren’t we all…), a delightful fresh arrangement by Matt Gillespie: Vivaldi’s concerto RV 576, that I’m convinced it’s one of Vivaldi’s best. But now with vibraphone, clarinet, voice, horn… check it out, it’s really worth it!

The concerts are at Synod Hall (Craig St. off of 5th), at 8pm, on March 27th (Jimenez, Ogunranti, Harris, Ruth, Livengood) and April 1st (Gillespie, Garcia, Fromm, Ogburn). Tickets are $10 or $15 for the full series. You can buy online at www.alia-musica.org/tickets.html

See you there!

Federico Garcia, Artistic Director

On Friday March, 21 the Department of Music presents a colloquium by composer Jeremy Beck and a concert featuring the innovative contemporary music ensemble IonSound Project.

A Colloquium with Composer and Lawyer Jeremy Beck

Composers, Sampling and Copyright: Does “Thou Shalt Not Steal” Infringe on Creativity?
132 Music Building, 4 p.m., free
Reception to follow

From the abstract: A new bright-line rule in copyright law in the Sixth Circuit digital sampling case of Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films (decided in 2004 and re-articulated in June 2005) demonstrates little understanding or knowledge of the history of composition or the methodology of composers.

IonSound Project

Bellefield Hall Auditorium, 8 p.m.
General admission $10, student/senior admission $5 (under 15 free), Pitt students free
Tickets available at the door.

Actor Ben Greenstone joins the IonSound Project for a concert of chamber music and dramatic readings. The program will feature Dennis Tobenski’s Songs of Love and Madness, Erik Satie’s Sports et Divertissements, Jeremy Beck’s September Music, and the premiere of Pittsburgh composer Philip Thompson’s Trouble. The group continues to celebrate the 100th anniversary of composer Olivier Messiaen’s birth with a performance of his Theme and Variations for violin and piano.

Congratulations to Colter Harper who received an award for Outstanding Paper at the University’s 2008 Graduate Student Expo. Harper, who is a PhD candidate (ethnomusicology) and Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship winner, gave a paper titled “The Chitlin Circuit: The Embodiment of Jazz in Physical Space and Social Action.”

Also participating from the Department of Music were Yuko Eguchi (ethnomusicology), Ben Harrison (composition), and Kerrith Livengood (composition and theory).

Please note: the next week is Pitt’s spring break,no rehearsal on the 12^th )

Wind Assignments: Regina Kettering and John Bistline are horn section managers and I would like the horns to consult with them to determine who should play in the works by Ben Harris, Carl Nielsen and Carl Maria von Weber – which are each scored for four horns

Ben Harris: picc ?, flutes: Mirasol, Lane; ob: Hoover, McNally; EH: Steers cl: Steen, Cui; bass cl Shepard; 2 bsns, 4 horns; tpts: Levin, Holmes; tbns: Eberly, Zellers; tuba Sniscak; timpani and 2 percussionists.

Carl Nielsen: flutes; Mirasol, Lane; Hoover, Steers; Gardella, Steen; 4 horns; tpts: Holmes, Perkins, 3 trbns. timp.

Schedule for Wednesday March 19^th 2008

7:30 pm Mahler 6^th - Scherzo and Andante

8:20 pm Nielsen Violin Concerto (includes 4 horns)

9:10 pm Weber Oberon overture (includes 4 horns)

9:20 pm Harris new work

A well-attended Dress rehearsal is essential for this program: Please send advise on which day and time you can make: either Monday March 24 at 8:30 – 10 pm or Tuesday, March 25^th at 8 – 9:30 pm.

The concert is Wednesday March 26^th, soundcheck at 7:10 pm, concert at 8 pm