David Gerard Mathews (PhD 2011, comp/theory) was recently awarded an Artist Opportunity Grant from the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council to study the onde Martenot in Montreal with ondist Geneviève Grenier. We asked David to tells us about how he became interested in this unique instrument and how his time of study will help him achieve his creative goals.
If you are looking for new sounds to put on your iPod, look no further! Members of the Department of Music released four new CDs this spring, and they reflect the intellectual and cultural diversity that characterizes Music at Pitt.
The Men’s Glee released Lux: a Collection of Sacred Songs and Spirituals with songs recorded at First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh (where the Glee Club performs regularly) and at the University of Bologna, Italy during the group’s 2010 tour. Contact the Glee Club for information about how to purchase Lux.
The HEAR/NOW Festival of New Sound will unfold over two days, on April 13 and 14, and many Department of Music alumni, students, and faculty will contribute. Federico Garcia (PhD 2006) has played a leading role in organizing the festival in partnership with the Kelly Strayhorn Theater and Alia Musica Pittsburgh, the composer performer collective Garcia helped found.
The debut of the Fela Sowande Singers, led by music department alum Oyebade Dosunmu, will take place at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Tuesday night, April 10 at 8 p.m. The singers will perform a concert of sacred music by Nigerian composers. Along with Dosunmu, the concert will feature Richard Teaster (director of Pitt’s Glee Club and vocal instructor) and Ayo Oluranti (a doctoral candidate in composition and theory).
Congratulations to Pitt graduate composer Jonghee Kang who has been selected as a participant in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's 8th Annual Student Reading. The reading session takes place on Saturday March 31st at Heinz Hall at 10 p.m. The PSO will read Kang's work Will You Take Me Home (When the Spring Wind Blows)? along with music by composers from Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne, and West Virginia Universities.
JACK Quartet performed a sold-out concert at the Warhol on Saturday night with a program that included the world premiere of music department faculty member Amy Williams' Richter Textures, a work written for JACK through a commission from the Fromm Foundation. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette classical music critic Andrew Druckenbord was there and had this to say about Williams' new work:
Eric Moe is one of six winners of the 2012 Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award. The Pitt Chronicle reports that,
In his letter to Moe, the chancellor wrote, “With more than 80 works to your credit, your music is widely performed by the most accomplished soloists and ensembles in the U.S. and internationally. Your diverse output includes works for large orchestras, chamber music, solo instrumental, vocal and choral, electroacoustic, and multimedia compositions. Your colleagues laud your accomplishments, calling you ‘one of the most consistently impressive and compelling musicians working today’ and ‘one of the most accomplished and successful composers of his generation.’”
PhD student Bomi Jang’s composition, Three Little Pieces for Piano, was performed as part of a solo piano recital by Pablo Amorós at The XVIII Ciclo de Music Contemporanea de Malaga on January, 16, 2012 (Malaga, Spain). The concert also included music of CMU composer Leonardo Balada and was featured in Modernicolas, a Spanish arts magazine.
David Hidek (BA 2008) may be the only person we know who has heard his orchestral music played by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and seen his hip hop video splashed over the jumbotron at PNC Park. In March of 2010, while completing his master’s degree in composition at Duquesne University, Hidek’s orchestral composition was chosen for the annual Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra student readings.
The Department of Music doesn't have any scheduled events this weekend, but that doesn't mean members of the Department aren't busy.
If you're are in the New York City area on Friday, September 30, you can hear the premiere of Eric Moe's new percussion piece Danger: Giant Frogs as part of a performance from Talujon Percussion. The concert takes place at Roulette at 8 p.m.
Here in Pittsburgh on Saturday, October 1, Adriana Helbig has been the driving force behind a concert by the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus that takes place at 7 p.m. in Bellefield Hall Auditorium. The concert benefits the Ukrainian Language Studies program at Pitt. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featured an excellent preview and history of the group on Wednesday.