Department of Music Blog

Spring Music

Monday, March 30, 2009
at  8:00 pm
Bellefield Hall Auditorium
free admission

music  by
Béla Bartók, Max Bruch, Frederic Chopin, W.A. Mozart, Maurice Ravel,
Domenico Scarlatti, Eli Tamar, Ralph Vaughan Williams

performed by
Ian Chow - violin, Will Gardella - clarinet, Matt Gillespie - piano, Regina
Kettering - piano, Danielle Rager – violin, Andrej Savol -  piano,
Jennifer Sternick - violin, Roger Zahab - violin, Shuo Zhang – piano, and
the University Handbell Ensemble

I was thinking of having a recital, but as it turns out, most of what I would do if I had one, I’ll already be doing in an event this Thursday! Pitt’s own Colter Harper, Carlos Peña and Geña will be among the performers that evening. I hope you’ll grace us with your presence. Peace, my friends! María Eugenia Nieves Escoriaza aka Geña

Benefit for Bangladesh
Your Inner Vagabond
Thursday, April 2, 2009, 7 p.m.
Admission:
Students $7
Non-students $10
Children under 10: free

Cause: This event is a benefit for improving the quality of education in rural Bangladesh. We are currently working with a school in Sherpur village located approx. 100 miles north of the capital Dhaka. We are raising funds to build a library, provide teacher training, support the students financially and make available other resources for a quality education. Find out more after the jump. (more…)

If you traveled from Slovakia to Ghana to Indonesia you would cover some 12,000 miles and ten time zones. But this spring, Pitt’s Department of Music will bring that journey to the campus in four concerts taking place between March 27 and April 4. It all starts with Pitt’s newest musical endeavor, the Carpathian Music Ensemble directed by Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology Adriana Helbig.

Director Adriana Helbig will lead the Carpathian Ensemble in performances of Gypsy music, Klezmer, Armenian, Moldavian, Ukranian, and Macedonian music in the group’s first formal concert since being founded in the fall of 2008. The concert takes place at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 27 in Frick Fine Arts Auditorium. Tickets are available through ProArts and at the door.

Pitt’s African Music and Dance Ensemble, led by Ghanaian master drummer J.S. Kofi Gbolonyo, will present a unique exploration of African cultures and traditions on Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m. in Bellefield Hall Auditorium. The music department’s ensemble will be joined by Pitt’s African Music and Dance Club and feature guest artists Gordon Nunn and Brett Wiewiora. Tickets are available through ProArts and at the door.

The University Gamelan Ensemble, led by Professor of Ethnomusicology Andrew Weintraub and Indra Ridwan, will complete the world music journey with performances of dance and music of Indonesia. The Gamelan will feature two guest artists — dancer Ening Rumbini and drummer Wahyu Roche. The concerts takes place on Friday, April 3rd and Saturday, April 4th in Bellefield Hall Auditorium. Both events take place at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the door.

Check the Events Calendar for information, and don’t forget to pack extra socks.

132 Music Building, free

Works by Giovanni Bononcini, C.P.E. Bach and Beethoven

Performed by Kathryn Fike, mezzo-soprano & John Moyer, piano*
Wei Zhao, viola (with Roger Zahab, attacking the piano) and
Brian Hu, piano

*faculty artist

Sophomore Kaitlin Mitchell performs Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Pitts Orchestra tonight. Here are her thoughts about her experience with the piece.

I first heard the Schumann Piano Concerto when I was in 8th grade, and have wanted to play it ever since. Practicing the piece on my own the past few months has been quite a challenge, but hearing it with the orchestra during rehearsal has made everything worthwhile. The solo and orchestra parts complement each other so well, and Schumann’s choice of orchestral instruments for each section always sounds perfect. This piece has a lot of conversation between the piano and the orchestra – the same theme can have completely different effects when the piano plays it, and then later when the clarinet does.

The concerto’s movements themselves are also interesting to think about. Schumann originally wrote the first movement as an independent piece, and then later added the last two. I would have never guessed this simply from listening to the music – the movements fit together seamlessly. The first movement in A minor is both beautiful and exciting, and probably my favorite to play. The second movement is rather simple, which makes a nice contrast, and moves straight into the third movement without a pause. The third movement in A Major was the most difficult for me to learn – there are quick eighth note passages almost the entire time. Altogether the concerto is about a half hour long. I had never played anything this lengthy before, and doing so has been a real test of mental endurance. This is the first piece I have ever played with an orchestra, and hopefully it will not be my last. I am very excited for the opportunity to perform with my school’s ensemble, and to have this experience to share the music of one of my favorite composers. –KFM

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic Andrew Druckenbrod takes an in-depth look at Alarm Will Sound’s music-theater event 1969, to be presented this Friday by Music on the Edge and the Warhol at the New Hazlett Theater. Tickets are available through ProArts and at the door. Details of the concert are available here.

You can also read a glowing review of the Duke University premiere of 1969 in Classical Voice of North Carolina.

Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology Adriana Helbig will lead Pitt’s Carpathian Music Ensemble in a performance of Gypsy, Armenian, Moldavian, Ukrainian, Macedonian, and Klezmer music at Lawrenceville’s Your Inner Vagabond on Tuesday, March 17. There’s no cover for the show (and YIV is a BYOB space… FYI). The concert starts at 8 p.m.

And don’t forget to come hear the Carpathian Music Ensemble at Pitt on March 27.

The University of Pittsburgh’ s School of Arts and Sciences will present its annual Grad Expo on Monday, March 16th at the William Pitt Union. The day will feature talks by Department of Music grad students Elizabeth Hoover, Ryan Durkopp, Colter Harper, Benjamin Breuer, James Ogburn, Kerrith Livengood, Karoline Bahrs, and Lisa Bona. A complete schedule for the Grad Expo and a list of topics can be found here. We hope to see you there!