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News Release

Last modified: Wednesday, February 17, 2010

IU Jacobs School of Music celebrates ArtsWeek 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 18, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will present more than 70 events during IU's 26th Annual ArtsWeek, adding to the annual winter festival that showcases the wide range of artistic expression on the IU Bloomington campus and in the Bloomington community.

Among the offerings, several Jacobs performances will resonate with this year's ArtsWeek theme of "Arts and the Environment."

Music and Nature: The Composer's Perception: Saturday, Feb. 20, 3 p.m., Sweeney Hall. This concert is funded in part by ArtsWeek.

Composers are often drawn to the natural world as a source of inspiration for their works. They then create sound environments that evocatively depict images of landscapes, the seasons or flora and fauna. This presentation exhibits how a variety of composers have interacted with their environments by showcasing particular topics in the pieces. The works will be heard in live instrumental and vocal performances as well as audio and video recordings. The audience will come away with a good understanding of the role that nature plays in musical aesthetics, as well as a practical ability to recognize musical thunderstorms, birds, rivers and even flowers.

The lecture will be given by Jacobs faculty member Constance Cook Glen, coordinator and lecturer, Music in General Studies. Performers include vocalists Janice Hauxwell-Hammond, Scott Hogsed and Laura Waters; pianist Nariaki Sugiura; and members of the string quartet Studio in Bloom, Gwen Chan, Emily Nehus, Elena Kraineva and Helen Ford. Funded by ArtsWeek 2010.

Chamber Orchestra: Pictures at an Exhibition: Wednesday, Feb. 24, 8 p.m., Auer Hall

Jacobs Principal Guest Conductor Uriel Segal will conduct this program featuring Modest Mussorgsky's famous piano suite in 10 movements, Pictures at an Exhibition. The work depicts a tour of an art collection, with each movement representing a different piece of art, and encourages listeners to explore this imaginary environment. Haydn's Symphony No. 101 in D Major, "The Clock," and Lutoslawski's Jeux vénitiens (Venetian Games) will also be performed.

IU Opera Theater: La Rondine (The Swallow): Friday and Saturday, Feb. 26 and 27, 8 p.m., Musical Arts Center. (This is a new production.)

This story about the mistress of a wealthy man seeking true love takes flight on the soaring strains of some of Giacomo Puccini's most highly regarded music. Will she stay in her gilded cage or, like the swallow, fly away for happiness in a new environment?

See https://www.music.indiana.edu/opera/rondine for more information on this upcoming production.

Faculty Recital: Atar Arad: Sunday, Feb. 28, 4 p.m., Auer Hall

The concert will include the avant-premiere of Listen, a new work by Jacobs Professor of Viola Atar Arad, with movements titled "Thanks," "Unknown Bird" and "Airport" exploring several different musical landscapes. The program will also feature works by Mozart and performances by Jacobs faculty members Bruce Bransby, double bass; Eli Eban, clarinet; Mark Kaplan, violin; and Eric Kim, cello, as well as Jacobs students Yotam Baruch, cello; Leah Kovach, viola; Michelle Lie, violin; and alumnus Chris Lysack, tenor.

Baroque Orchestra: The Four Seasons: Sunday, Feb. 28, 8 p.m., Auer Hall

The Four Seasons is Antonio Vivaldi's best-known work and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music of all time, with the texture of each of the four concertos varied to resemble its respective season. Stanley Richie, Jacobs professor of violin, Early Music, will conduct and will be the violin soloist. Complementing the masterwork will be Jean-Féry Rebel's Les Elémens.

Also presented at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater during this year's ArtsWeek is the Canadian Brass in a program titled "Swing That Music: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong" scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 24, 8 p.m. The virtuosi of the Grammy Award-winning Canadian Brass, including Jacobs faculty hornist Jeff Nelsen, has made the brass quintet a vehicle for serious concert music. The ensemble, which recently celebrated its 40th season, presents works both classical and modern, with jazz, contemporary concert music and popular songs woven in.

Additional Performances: The Jacobs School of Music will present a number of additional major events during ArtsWeek. For a comprehensive listing, see the Jacobs School events calendar at https://music.indiana.edu/events.

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