2007-08 concert season a melodic mix of international styles and sounds
Season will showcase outstanding professional musicians in "Marquee Series."
WALTHAM, Mass. – The internationally acclaimed Lydian String Quartet is “tuning-up” for another exceptional season, delivering sounds from distant lands to the Greater Boston community. In addition, the Brandeis concert season will feature more than two-dozen professional musicians of diverse talents and styles for an ambitious and expanded concert season at Brandeis University.
The quartet, comprised of Daniel Stepner and Judith Eissenberg, violins; Mary Ruth Ray, viola; and Joshua Gordon, violoncello, will continue their new multi-year concert series “Around the World in a String Quartet.” There will also be solo recitals by Gordon and Stepner.
On Oct. 6, Nov. 10, Feb. 2 and April 5 the Brandeis artists in residence will unite for the “Around the World” series, which explores string quartet music in global settings within and beyond the European tradition. This season the quartet will feature works such as Haydn Quartet in G Major, Op. 76 #1 (Austro-Hungary); Astor Piazzolla, “Four, For Tango” (Argentina); Leo Ornstein Quartet #2, Op. 99 (Ukraine); and Chen Yi Fiddle Suite for Huqin and Quartet (China).
On Sept. 9 guest pianist Randall Hodgkinson will join Gordon for a French inspired cello and piano performance. On Jan. 19, Stepner and guest musician Sally Pinkas will perform several pieces including Harold Shapero's Sonata for Violin and Piano.
A highlight of the upcoming Brandeis concert season is the “Marquee Series” of professional concerts representing styles from blues and folk to world music and classic American standards.
"This year's concerts explore a wide spectrum of contemporary music in addition to our classical, jazz, world music, and new music offerings,” said Ray, who is a music professor in addition to her role in the Lydian String Quartet. “We are delighted to present some of the finest professional musicians and vocalists from Greater Boston and beyond. It's our most diverse and ambitious concert season ever, exploring global connections between the music of the past and the present."
The series begins with “An American Songbook” on Sept. 29 with acclaimed Boston singers Nancy Armstrong and Robert Honeysucker, Stepner on the electric violin and Laura Jeppesen with the electric viola da gamba. They will perform music by Gershwin, Porter, Ellington, and Kern and can be heard on the popular CD “Starlight and Sweet Dreams.”
In the second concert on Nov. 2, the Mexican holiday “Day of the Dead” will be celebrated with a performance called “Noche de Muertos: Welcoming Our Ancestors Home.” Boston Music Award-winning Latin-Caribbean group Sol y Canto, who recently performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will honor this tradition with a performance.
Erin McKeown will bring her fresh and funky folk-rock sound to the Slosberg Recital Hall on Nov. 30. The exciting young singer-songwriter has received national attention for her newest release “Sing You Sinners,” featuring contemporary interpretations of the American Songbook.
On Feb. 29 Bob Nieske and the Big Wolf Trio, known as one of Boston’s favorite jazz groups, will perform original jazz compositions, arrangements of standard repertoire and improvisations as separate units. They will also combine to perform Bob Nieske’s “Pitch Blue” suite for two trumpets, cello, bass, piano and drum set and a “Duo Trio” by Tim Ray.
Chris Smither, a blues artist, guitarist and songwriter, will end the series with a performance on March 21. According to NPR, Smither’s voice sounds “like a distillation of the folk and blues heroes he grew up listening to in New Orleans.”
Audience members can also travel “around the world” without the jet-lag during this season’s MusicUnitesUS World Music Concerts. This popular series invites audiences to experience diverse histories and cultures through the universal narrative of music. This season will feature musical performances from Brazil and China.
On Oct. 20 Ologundê will fill the Slosberg Recital Hall with Afro-Brazilian music and dance through a breathtaking show of rituals, martial arts and warrior dances using sticks and machetes. On March 29 Jiebing Chen, erhu (2-string vertical violin), and Yangqin Zhao, yangqin (hammered dulcimer), will offer a program that ranges from the Chinese classical repertory to cross-cultural explorations spanning time and place.
In association with the “MusicUnitesUs” residencies, Brandeis will sponsor films, open classes, and symposia on related topics. For a schedule, visit www.brandeis.edu/MusicUnitesUS/residency.html.
In addition to these professional concerts, Brandeis student ensembles will perform nearly two-dozen concerts this season. This year’s highlights include several performances by the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra on Nov. 17, March 16 and April 12. Under the direction of Neal Hampton, the orchestra is dedicated to bringing inspiring performances of the great orchestral literature, both past and present, to a new generation of musicians and audiences.
Location and Tickets
Concerts at Brandeis are held in the Slosberg Music Center and Spingold Theater Center located on the Brandeis University campus at 415 South St. in Waltham, Mass. Subscriptions or single tickets for events throughout the concert season are available by calling 781-736-3400. Tickets are also available at the daytime box office in the Spingold Theater Center and at the Slosberg box office one hour before events begin. For more ticket information click here.
Brandeis 2007-08 Concert Season
Joshua Gordon and Randall Hodgkinson
Sunday, Sept. 9
Slosberg Recital Hall, 3 p.m.
An American Songbook
Saturday, Sept. 29
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8:00 p.m.
Lydian String Quartet: Around the World in a String Quartet
Saturday, October 6
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m. lecture, 8 p.m. concert
Leonard Bernstein Scholarship Trio (LBS) in Concert
October 13
Slosberg Recital Hall, 3:00 p.m.
Afro-Brazilian Music & Dance: Ologundêv
Saturday, Oct. 20
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Musicfest '07
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m.
Sol y Canto
Noche de Muertos: Welcoming Our Ancestors Home
Friday, Nov. 2
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7:30 p.m.
Brandeis University Chorus and Chamber Choir
Saturday, Nov. 3
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Brandeis Wind Ensemble
Wednesday, Nov. 7
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Lydian String Quartet: Around the World in a String Quartet
Saturday, Nov. 10
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m. lecture, 8 p.m. concert
Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra
Saturday, Nov. 17
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Brandeis Jazz Ensemble
Sunday, Nov. 18
Slosberg Recital Hall, 3 p.m.
Erin McKeown
Friday, Nov. 30
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
New works by Brandeis Grad Students
Saturday, Dec. 1
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Brandeis University Chamber Choir
Sunday, Dec. 2
Slosberg Recital Hall, 4 p.m.
Improvisation Ensemble
Monday, Dec. 3
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Chamber Music MUS116
Tuesday, Dec. 4
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m.
Messiah Sing
Thursday, Dec. 6
Shapiro Atrium, 5 p.m.
Brandeis Early Music Ensemble
Saturday, Dec. 8
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Leonard Bernstein Ensembles Showcase
Leonard Bernstein Scholarship groups will perform
Sunday, Dec. 9
Slosberg Recital Hall, 3 p.m.
Dan Stepner with Sally Pinkas
Saturday, Jan. 19
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Lydian String Quartet: Around the World in a String Quartet
Saturday, Feb. 2
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m. lecture, 8 p.m. concert
Brandeis University Chorus and Chamber Choir
Saturday, Feb. 9
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
New works by Brandeis Grad Students
Sunday, Feb. 10
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m.
Bob Nieske and the Big Wolf Trio
Friday, Feb. 29
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Evan Hirsch: Forward and Back
Saturday, March 1
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Art of the Song: Showcasing Brandeis Vocal Students
Saturday, March 8
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
New works by Brandeis Grad Students
Saturday, March 15
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra
Sunday, March 16
Slosberg Recital Hall. 7 p.m.
Chris Smither
Friday, March 21
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Irving Fine Memorial Concert
Saturday, March 22,
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Chinese Inventions: Jiebing Chen and Yangqin Zhao
Saturday, March 29
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Lydian String Quartet: Around the World in a String Quartet
Saturday, April 5
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m. lecture, 8 p.m. concert
Brandeis Wind Ensemble
Sunday, April 6
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m.
Brandeis Early Music Ensemble
Sunday, April 6
Slosberg Recital Hall, 3 p.m.
Brandeis University Chorus and Chamber Choir
Wednesday, April 9
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m.
BEAMS Half Marathon
Friday, April 11
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra
Saturday, April 12
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Brandeis Jazz Ensemble
Sunday, April 13
Slosberg Recital Hall, 4 p.m.
Improvisation Ensemble
Monday, April 14
Slosberg Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Chamber Music MUS116
Tuesday, April 15
Slosberg Recital Hall, 7 p.m.
