Friday, March 5, 8:00 pm
Saturday, March 6, 2:00 pm
Saturday, March 6, 8:00 pm
Sunday, March 7, 2:00 pm
Tuesday, March 9, 7:30 pm
Wednesday, March 10, 7:30 pm
Thursday, March 11, 7:30 pm
Friday, March 12, 8:00 pm
Ina and Jack Kay Theatre
The Department of Theatre at the University of Maryland is proud to present The Bluest Eye, directed by Professor Walter Dallas. Based on Toni Morrison's 1970 novel of the same title, this play centers on what it means to be a young African-American girl in the predominantly white society of 1940s Ohio. Learn more about The Bluest Eye in the UM Libraries:
The Clarice Smith Center welcomes The Peabody Trio, who are based at the Peabody Conservatory in Batimore, MD. Melançon, Brofsky, and Knopp are active presences in the chamber music world as vivid interpreters of the classics of the repertoire, advocates for new music, and dedicated teachers and mentors to a generation of young musicians. On the evening of March 5, 2010, they will present a program of old favorites and 20th century innovations:
Saturday, February 20, 2010
8:00 pm - Dekelboum Concert Hall
The UMSO will join forces with the UMWO, as well as guest artists Evelyn Elsing, Linda Mabbs, and Jason Stearns to present a program entitled Soaring Voices. Elsing will perform Prokofiev’s Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125, and the UMSO will feature soprano Linda Mabbs and baritone Jason Stearns in a performance of Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony. The UMWO will open the program a performance of The Sound of Light by faculty composer Robert Gibson.
Friday, February 19, 2010
8:00 PM - Dekelboum Concert Hall
The UMWO will be joined by guest soloist and faculty artist Greg Miller to perform a program entitled The Sound of Light. The program will feature the world premiere of The Sound of Light, a new work by faculty composer and School of Music director Robert Gibson, as well as Kazimierz Machala's Concerto for Horn, Winds and Percussion, and works by Stravinsky and Messiaen:
Recordings of works by School of Music director Robert Gibson
Hornist Greg Miller's debut solo recording, From Bach to Bernstein: Romantic Music for Horn and Piano
Charles Mee's play Hotel Cassiopeia is based on the life of reclusive artist Joseph Cornell, and the assemblage boxes he created from castaway items. Cornell's correspondence and journals are filled with observations and obsessions that reveal his desire to capture through his work the intense feelings of a hidden moment. Find out more about playwright Charles Mee, artist Joseph Cornell, as well as fiction and poetry inspired by Cornell's works:
The Kronos Quartet return to the Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts with longtime collaborator Wu Man to perform A Chinese Home. The first half of this performance will feature works by minimalist composer Terry Riley, including "The Welcoming Baptism of Sweet Daisy Grace," and "One Earth, One People, One Love" from Sun Rings, and "Good Medicine" from Salome: Dances for Peace. The second half of the performance will feature A Chinese Home, a work featuring the Kronos Quartet and Wu Man on pipa, a traditional Chinese instrument similar to the lute. A Chinese Home was inspired by the extraordinary tale of Yin Yu Tang, a 300-year-old house from a southeastern Chinese village that was dismantled piece-by-piece at the turn of the millennium and rebuilt in the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts. Wu Man describes Yin Yu Tang as "the key for us to unlock the past and explore the music of China, not only from the time of this particular house, but across the centuries." Learn more about Riley, Wu Man, the Kronos Quartet, and Yin Yu Tang in the UM Libraries:
Terry Riley - Riley's In C is considered to be the first minimalist composition. Learn more about this innovative composer and his works.
Violinist David Harrington formed the Kronos Quartet after hearing George Crumb's Black Angels on the radio and thinking to himself that it was "something wild, something scary" and "absolutely the right music to play." Black Angels was the first piece the Kronos Quartet ever performed, and since then they have appeared on a multitude of recordings and performed new music all over the world. This list features the Kronos Quartet recordings held by the PAL, as well as books containing scholarly essays on the group.
A list of the recordings held by the PAL that feature Wu Man, as well as information on the pipa, a traditional Chinese instrument similar to the lute.
A link to the Peabody Essex Museum's website for Yin Yu Tang, the 300 year old structure that inspired A Chinese Home.
An excerpt from Good Medicine by Terry Riley.
Wu Man performs Dengyue jiaohui (Lanterns and Moon Competing in Brilliance) on the pipa.
Doug Varone and Dancers will perform a program including Rise (set to John Adams's Fearful Symmetries,) and Varone's newest work entitled Alchemy (set to Daniel Variations by Steve Reich.) The music for Alchemy was inspired by the biblical Book of Daniel, as well as the words of Daniel Pearl, the American Jewish reporter kidnapped and murdered by Islamic extremists in Pakistan in 2002. The links below will help you learn more about Doug Varone and Dancers, as well as the music included in this performance:
Reviews of performances by Doug Varone and Dancers from The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Books featuring interviews with and information about Doug Varone and other prominent choreographers.
A video recording of a version of Gustav Holst's The Planets, featuring the choreography of Doug Varone.
Recordings and scores of works by composer John Adams, including Fearful Symmetries, upon which Doug Varone's Rise is based.
Recordings of works by Steve Reich, as well as information on Daniel Pearl and the Book of Daniel.
An excerpt from Fearful Symmetries, by John Adams, upon which Doug Varone's Rise is based.
The L.A. Theater Works's new production, JFK: The Journey to Justice, chronicles the critical decade of the Civil Rights movement through the experiences of Robert F. Kennedy. The US Attorney General and senator became a crusader in the fight for civil rights in the 1960s, and his relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., became one of the most influential pairings of the 20th century. Learn more about these two historic figures, as well as the history of the Civil Rights movement and the music inspired by and dedicated to this historic time:
Books - Biographies of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as books containing their speeches, and information on the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.
Films of speeches by leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including Malcom X, Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Music - Scores and recordings of pieces inspired by and set to the words of RFK and MLK.
An excerpt from composer Joseph Schwanter's tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., New Morning for the World: Daybreak of Freedom. This piece for orchestra and winds features a narration comprised of excerpts from speeches made by Dr. King.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
8:00 PM - Dekelboum Concert Hall
The University of Maryland Wind Orchestra performs two masterworks for wind ensemble, and will feature string players from the UM Symphony Orchestra on a piece by Edgar Var�se. Find out more about these pieces and their composers in the UM Libraries:
The Maryland Dance Ensemble's fall concert will feature the repertory ensemble in works by faculty and visiting artists. Read more about these works and their themes in the resources listed below:
James Ross, music director
Jasmin Lee, piano
Nicole Aldrich, guest conductor
Friday, December 4, 2009
8:00 pm - Dekelboum Concert Hall
The UMSO presents a night of masterpieces, featuring the UM Concert Choir, and pianist Jasmin Lee, winner of the 2008 UMSO Concerto Competition:
In quoting the funeral march from Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony, Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen laments the destruction of the Munich Opera House and German artistic culture in the wake of WWII. Read more about Strauss's life and the the devastation of the German aesthetic in these library resources.
Edgar Var�se's first work composed after his emigration to the United States in 1915, the composer intended the title Am�riques to symbolize "discoveries - new worlds on earth, in the sky, or in the minds of men." On this list, you will find information on Var�se's life, as well as a score and recordings of this piece.
Written when the composer was just 19 years old, Sergi Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 1 was modeled after Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, and was dedicated to Rachmaninoff's cousin and teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, Alexander Siloti.
Based on a poem by Friedrich Schiller, N�nie, Op. 82, was composed in memory of Johann Brahms's friend and 19th century German classicist painter Anselm Feuerbach. Read more about Brahms, Feuerbach, and N�nie in these library materials.
One of Donizetti's most popular and successful operas, L'elisir d'amore tells the tale of a besotted peasant who turns to a quack doctor for a love potion in the hopes of wooing his beloved. This melodramma giocoso featured a libretto by Felice Romani, based on Eugene Scribe's libretto for Daniel-Francois-Esprit Auber's french opera Le philtre. Find out more about Donizetti and L'elisir d'amore:
Recordings of L'elisir d'amore Scores of the opera Videorecordings of various productions of L'elisir d'amore Books about the opera, including the libretto and themes it features Biographies and scholarly works based on the life and works of composer Gaetano Donizetti
Sunday, November 22, 2009
7:30 pm - Dekelboum Concert Hall
This annual fall concert will showcase two of the School of Music's most select vocal ensembles, the University Chorale and the UM Chamber Singer. These two acclaimed and award winning groups will present works by J.S. Bach, Samuel Barber, and Ralph Vaughan Williams:
Steel Hammer is an event inspired by the stories and music of Appalachia. Composer Julia Wolfe, with the Bang on a Can All Stars and Trio Mediaeval perform works based on the tale of John Henry, and his fabled race against "the machine." Below are lists of recordings by the Bang on a Can All Stars and information on the rich musical history of the Appalachian mountain region:
The American folktale of John Henry and his steel hammer A list of recordings and scholarly studies of the music and culture of Appalachia Recordings by the Bang on a Can All Stars Recordings of works by composer Julia Wolfe
Written in 1775 when Mozart was 18 years old, La Finta Giardiniera is an opera buffa in three acts that tells an elaborate tale of disguise, mistaken identity, and confused lovers. To find out more about opera buffa, Mozart, and La Finta Giardiniera, take a look at the following resources:
Friday, November 13, 2009
8:00 pm - Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Recital Hall
Am I Too Loud? is a performance based on the work of collaborative pianist, Gerald Moore. Moore's memoirs, from which the title of this concert is borrowed, provide an in-depth look at the world of the piano accompanist. This performance features collaborations between members of the UMD School of Music faculty, as they perform a variety of chamber works. These UM Library resources will help you find out more about the art of accompanying, the pieces on this program and the poets whose works inspired them, as well as the artists featured in this performance:
Beginning in the mid-1990s, African American fraternities and sororities began practicing a type of dance known as stepping. This style is historically rooted in the call and response tradition, and is closely related to many genres of African dance. Learn more about the history of stepping and about Step Afrika! by checking out these UM Libraries resources:
The University of Maryland Wind Orchestra will present a concert of all-American music by prominent and promising composers. The following UM library resources include scores and recordings of some of the pieces programmed on this concert as well as other pieces by these composers, recordings of guest artist Chris Gekker, and books related to the subjects on which these works are based:
Sinfonia - Ned Rorem: A score and a recording of the Sinfonia, as well as selected diaries, letters, and memoirs by the composer. Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places - Alan Hovhaness: A recording of Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places, as well as recordings of other Hovhaness pieces, book on the composer, and recordings by faculty member, Chris Gekker. Fanfare Ritmico - Jennifer Higdon: This list includes recordings of various Higdon pieces. A Child's Garden of Dreams - David Maslanka: Scores and recordings of various Maslanka pieces, as well as a score of A Child's Garden of Dreams, and a copy of Carl Jung's Man and His Symbols. This book features an account of several nightmares written down by a 10 year old girl, upon which Maslanka based A Child's Garden of Dreams.
The 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Drama winner is set in 1920s Ybor City, Florida, where family members who work in a cigar factory struggle to reconcile the traditions of the past with their desires for the future. Passions erupt and emotions flare as the laborers embrace the unfamiliar ideas presented to them by a new arrival in their midst, who reads Anna Karenina aloud to them as they work, with life-altering consequences. You can learn more about the topics and themes addressed in the The UM Department of Theatre's presentation of Anna in the Tropics by checking out these UM Libraries resources:
Disfarmer examines the contradictions in the life of American photographer and hermit Mike Disfarmer (1884-1959) through the medium of puppet theater. Through portrait photography, Disfarmer captured the essence of the citizens of Heber Springs, Arkansas with a touching simplicity. The following UM library resources include reproductions and critical reception of Mike Disfarmer's works, information about puppetry, and resources relating to UMD's most famous and beloved puppeteer, Jim Henson:
The Adelphi String Quartet, the School of Music's new graduate string quartet-in-residence, features Daniel Sender and Francis Liu, violin, Jonathan Richards, viola, and Elizabeth Meszaros, cello. They will perform the following pieces on their debut performance:
The Klezmatics have helped to bring the 500+ year old Eastern European genre of klezmer music to new popularity in the United States. Their style draws from diverse musical influences including Arab, African, Latin, Balkan, jazz and punk. These UM library resources can help you gain a better understanding of what klezmer is and where it came from.
The following UM Library resources relate to the subject matter and themes presented by the UM Department of Theater in their performance of James Joyce's The Dead:
The following UM Library resources relate to the works performed on October 12nd by the UM Symphony Orchestra. The following materials contain scores and recordings of the pieces performed on this program.
The following UM Library resources relate to the works performed on October 11th by Sara Daneshpour, second prize winner in the 2007 Kapell International Piano Competition.
These materials are available in the International Piano Archives at Maryland and the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. To access the materials in IPAM, please contact Mr. Donald Manildi, IPAM curator, at (301) 405-9224 or godowsky@umd.edu for an appointment. To access the materials in the Paged Collections Room, please ask the staff at the Circulation Desk.
Drawn from the principal players of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Orchestra, this performance at UMD features a string octet. The following lists include recordings by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, as well as scores and recordings of the pieces performed on October 9th:
Four of our region�s most inventive dance companies collaborate to present this multi-faceted exploration of water and our relationship to it. Check out these UM library resources that relate to the material presented in My Ocean is Never Blue:
Explore the influence that folk music exerts on art music by checking out these items located in the UM Performing Arts Library. The following materials relate to the pieces performed on A Wider Circle - The Spirit of Folk Music:
Books on the history of stepping
