Orchestra to play Rachmaninoff Sunday

The Bloomsburg University-Community Orchestra will holds it's Spring concert this Sunday, April 12, at 2:30 in Haas Center.

It will be director Mark Jelinek's final public performance with the orchestra with the exception of the Symphony Ball. This will be a very special orchestra made up of standing members augmented with orchestra alumni and area musicians.

The program will consist of:

• Smetana: Dance of the Comedians 
• Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 
• Wagner: Die Meistersingers Prelude

Brahms on the program Feb. 6 at BU

The Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico will perform Brahms' First Symphony in C minor Friday, Feb. 6, at 8 pm at Bloomsburg University's Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall.

Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for children and BU students.

Performing for more than 40 years, Orquesta Sinfonica del Estada has moved audiences around the globe with classical and contemporary music from Mexico and Spain. Led by conductor Enrique Batiz, the orchestra has been recognized for having the broadest repertoire of any philharmonic in Mexico.

Their performance at BU is part of their second U.S. tour and will feature the symphonies of Brahms and include piano soloist, Irina Chistiakova, playing Manuel Ponce’s piano concerto, “Romantic.” The orchestra will also perform Alexander Borodin's Polovtsian Dances.

Upcoming BU Celebrity Artist Series productions include:

• Tango Buenos Aires, a journey through dance and music from Argentina – Saturday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m. in the Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Tickets $30. 
• “Jekyll & Hyde,” the dazzling and dark national Broadway tour – Sunday, March 29, 8 p.m. in the Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Tickets: $45. 
• Take 6, six voices combine to form the most awarded a cappella group in history – Thursday, April 2, 8 p.m. in the Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Tickets: $30. 
• Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem, American Spiritual, 150 years of American music in one event – Friday, April 17, 7:30 p.m. in Carver Hall, Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium. Tickets $25. 

For tickets or more information, visit www.bloomu.edu/cas or www.cas.buzz or call the box office at 570-389-4409.

Pianist to perform with Orchestra Sunday

Pianist and BU music professor Charisse Baldoria will perform with the University-Community Orchestra Sunday, April 6, at 2:30 p.m. in Haas Center for the Arts Mitrani Hall. The concert will feature Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in G Minor (an intense and dynamic, piece with lots of runs and a lyrical middle movement) and Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Admission is free and open to the public.

A preview of concerts and shows at BU

Here's the schedule of concerts and plays at BU for the 2013-2014 academic year. Most concerts are free. There's a modest admission charge for most plays. It's early, so there may be adjustments to the schedule down the line.

For myself, I'm particularly interested to see what the Chamber Orchestra does with guitarists Matt Leece and Victoria Hummer and the theatre shows, which seem to include a number of new pieces and a provocative classic by Lillian Hellman. — EGF.  

University-Community Orchestra: Young Person’s Concert, Oct. 1, 10 a.m., Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts. Mark Jelinek, conducting.

Fall Choral Festival: Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, 345 Market St., Bloomsburg. Featuring Women’s Choral Ensemble, Husky Singers and the Concert Choir Alan Baker conducting.

Chamber Orchestra Concert: Oct. 27, 2:30 p.m. Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 N. Market St., Bloomsburg. Featuring Victoria Hummer and Matthew Leece, guitar. Mark Jelinek conducting.

Percussion Ensemble Concert: Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m., Mitrani Hall, Haas Center Gifford Howarth, directing.

Theatre: Avenue Q, by David A. Miller Performed by Bloomsburg Players Nov. 7, 8, 9, 10. Alvina Krause Theatre, 226 Center St, Bloomsburg.

University-Community Orchestra: Nov. 10, 2:30 p.m., Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts. Featuring Todd Hunter, trombone. Mark Jelinek, conducting. A trombone master class will be offered Nov 9. Email mjelinek@bloomu.edu for information.

Wind Ensemble: Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts Stephen Clickard, conducting.

Theatre: An Evening of 10-Minute Plays,  Student-Directed Projects, Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m., Theatre Lab, University Bookstore Annex.

Jazz Ensemble: Dec. 3, 7 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts Stephen Clickard, conducting.

Guitar Ensemble: Dec. 4, 7 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts Matthew Slotkin, directing.

Carols by Candlelight: Dec. 5 and 6, 7:30 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, 345 Market St., Bloomsburg. Featuring the Concert Choir, Husky Singers, and Women’s Choral Ensemble. (Admission free, but tickets required; pick up at Performing Arts Box Office located in lobby of Haas Center.)

Theatre: An Evening of One-Act Plays, Student-directed projects, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m. Theatre Lab, University Bookstore Annex

SPRING 2014

Spring Music Residency, PROJECT Trio: Feb. 7 to 9.

Theatre: February Festival, 30 Plays in 60 Minutes: Original scripts by the BU Players. Feb. 13-15, 19-20, Alvina Krause Theatre.

Theatre: 24-Hour Plays, Feb. 22, Alvina Krause Theatre.

Theatre: The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman, April 11-15, Alvina Krause Theatre.

Fourth Annual Dance Minors Concert, April 27-28, Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

Honors Recital: Feb. 13, 7 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

Chamber Orchestra: March 9, 2:30 p.m. St. Matthew Lutheran Church 123 N. Market St., Bloomsburg

Jazz Festival: April 4, noon Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

Spring Orchestra Concert: April 6, 2:30 p.m., Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts. Mark Jelinek directing. A piano master class will be offered April 5. Email mjelinek@bloomu.edu for information.

BU Choirs Spring Concert: April 12, 7:30 p.m. First Presbyterian Church 345 Market St., Bloomsburg

Concert Band: April 13, 2:30 pm Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium, Carver Hall

Guitar Ensemble: April 15, 7 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

Percussion Ensemble: April 17, 7:30 p.m. Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts

Orchestra concert to feature violist

I've got a soft spot for the viola — the violin's bigger sister. I think it's got a prettier voice than the violin. It speaks in a register and timbre that seems human. Tuned a fifth lower than a violin, the viola is larger — but not as large as it should be proportionally. So compromises are made, but for me those compromises, limitations perhaps, just add to the charm. That will make next Sunday a special treat. — EGF.

The featured solist for the Bloomsburg University-Community Orchestra spring concert is violist Adam Cordle. The show, conducted by Mark Jelinek, will be Sunday, April 7, at 2:30 p.m. in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall. Here's the program:

• Overture to Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio”
• Carl Stamitz’s Viola Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Opus 1
• Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Opus 17, “The Little Russian” 

Cordle teaches violin and viola and coaches chamber music at BU as well as Mount St. Mary’s University. He has performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall as the first prize winner of the 2011 American Protégé International Competition. He performs regularly as a member of the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes.

Eliesha Nelson's performance of Quincy Porter's works are a nice showcase for the viola. The disc has got a stylish melancholy all of its own.

Sibelius for Sunday

The Bloomsburg University Chamber  Orchestra will perform Sunday, March 10, at 2:30 pm at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 N. Market St.

The program will be:

• Sibelius: Finlandia
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 
• Beethoven: PIano Concerto No. 3

The guest artist is pianist Cathal Breslin. Mark Jelinek directs. And the show is free.

Recital season is upon us

Euphonium. Photo by Hidekazu Okayama

Bloomsburg will be alive with music during the coming week.

The week starts with three student recitals in Carver Hall, Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium.

• Brittany Baselice, clarinet — Sunday, March 3, 2 pm
• Casey Carroll, trumpet — Sunday, March 3, 3:30 pm
• Andrew Grippe, guitar —Tuesday, March 5, 7:30 pm

Bloomsburg faculty member Tracey Schmidt-Jaynes will give a flute recital Wednesday, March 6, at 7 pm in Carver Hall, Kenneth Gross Auditorium. She will be accompanied by Reuben Councill on flute and Ron Stabinsky on piano.

On Thursday, March 7, one of the elite brass soloists of the world, euphonium player Adam Frey is will give a recital with BU professor Charisse Baldoria on the piano. The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. in Gross Auditorium, Carver Hall. More information on this one at bloomuliberalarts.blogspot.com.

And the Bloomsburg Chamber Orchestra will perform Sunday, March 10, at 2:30 pm at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 Market St. That performance will feature noted pianist Cathal Breslin.

Sunday with Satie

Bloomsburg University’s Chamber Orchestra will perform Erik Satie's Gymnopedies Sunday, Oxt. 28, at 2:30 p.m. in St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 N. Market St., Bloomsburg.

Well, they'll also perform Bach/Cailliet's Fugues in G Minor "Little Lamb," Telemann's Don Quixote Suite, Jacob's Concerto for Horn and Bach/Stokowski's Ein' Fest Burg. But the Gymnopedies are a favorite of mine ... so very simple and elegant.  — EGF.

The featured soloist will be Christiana Smith on horn. Admission, naturally, is free.

The Gymnopedies were written in the late 19th century, but for all their simplicity, they (and Satie in general) have cast a long shadow. Wikipedia's entry on Satie helpfully points out some of the very unexpected places where his works have turned up, including this track by Lana Del Rey ... at the very end.

***

The Italian film, Bread and Tulips, will be shown Thursday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. in Bloomsburg University’s McCormick Center, room 2303, as part of the Gender Studies Minor Foreign Film Series. The film tells the story of a middle-aged mother who hitchhikes to Venice where she falls in love with a lonely Icelandic poet and rediscovers joy for life. Admission is free.

***

BU’s Haunted Husky Hollow will be open from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 25 and 26, at the Quest woods. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted for Trick or Treat for UNICEF. Contact George Kinzel in Residence Life, gkinzel@bloomu.edu, for information.

***

 An exhibit of drawings, paintings and installations by artist Sky Kim will open Tuesday, Oct. 30, with a reception from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and gallery talks at 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. in Bloomsburg University’s Haas Gallery of Art. The exhibit will remain on display and open to the public free of charge through Nov. 27. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. 

Albinoni's Adagio: Sunday, March 4

You've seen this movie before. Or one just like it.

A very slow bass line played on an organ.

The man and the woman stand at the train station.  He must leave to go half a continent away. 

Cue violins. Strung with the nerves of your heart stretched over the bridge, wound round the ebony pegs and turned to an open G. 

They kiss, they part, he boards the train. 

 Suddenly, the music fades. A solo violin comes to the fore ... strange scalar runs. Confusion.  

The trains pulls away from the station.  

The organ, the violins, come back, stronger, tauter than ever.  

The mans stands on the platform behind the woman. He's decided to stay.

And you've heard the music. Tomaso Albinoni's Adagio in G minor. A great chestnut of classical music, almost a cliché. Except that it isn't.

For one thing, its source is a bit of a mystery. For another, cliché or not, it's beautiful. More about the mystery just a little later.

And so here's an interesting opportunity:

The Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra will perform it live on Sunday, March 4, at 2:30 p.m. in St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 Market St., Bloomsburg.

St. Matthew Church has, by the way ... a real pipe organ (above).

The performance is free and open to the public.

Directed by Mark Jelinek, professor of music, this 47-student orchestra will perform, in addition to the adagio, Stokowski and Bach’s Passcaglia and Fugue in C minor, Gabrieli and Welker’s Sonata Pian’ e Forte, Gluck’s Overture to “Iphigenia in Aulis,” Quantz’s Concerto for Flute in G; Morricone (yeah, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly composer) and Longfield’s “The Mission: Gabriel’s Oboe” and Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat.

Soloists will be Ashley Miller, flute; Alan Hack, organ; Karena McCarty, oboe; and Christiana Smith, horn.

About the mystery of the Albinoni Adagio: Albinoni lived from 1671 to 1751, the Italian baroque. I'm no musicologist ... but it's hard to get past the romanticism of the piece and place it in the 1700s. In fact, it just might be a twentieth-century piece. Italian critic, musicologist and composer Remo Giazotto (1910-1998) claimed to have found a fragment of a manuscript of Albinoni's work ... and constructed the Adagio in G minor from that manuscript. Who is the true composer?

In truth, does it matter?

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, —that is all. Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know 

— John Keats

PS: Try this on for a strange version, by of all people, The Doors.

— EGF

In which the viola gets its due ...

Alas, the viola, always playing second fiddle (so to speak) to its smaller sister, the violin. This writer however, really likes the sound the viola ... a little more Alison Moyet and a little less Kate Bush.

Here's a great example of what a viola can do. This weekend, the viola gets its due in the Bloomsburg University-Community Orchestra concert Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2:30 p.m., in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall.

Violinist Flavia Pisco and violist Renata Ribeiro will be featured. On the program: Delius’ Florida Suite and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. And it's a cheap date. Admission is free.

 — E.G. Foster

Miscellanae

Measuring time, artfully: Bloomsburg University’s Percussion Ensemble will perform Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Haas Center for Arts, Mitrani Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

Art behind bars: Phyllis Kornfeld, author of “Cellblock Visions: Prison Art in America,” will give a talk Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. in Bloomsburg University’s McCormick Center, room 1303. She will discuss American prison art, which encompasses a wide variety of genres, often limited to basic materials allowed in prison cells.

Celebrate e.e. cummings: Well-known actor Anthony Zerbe will perform “It’s All Done with Mirrors” on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 8 p.m. in Bloomsburg University’s Carver Hall, Kenneth S. Gross Auditorium. The show is part of BU’s Celebrity Artist Series. Tickets are $29.50 for adults and $16.50 for children. The performance is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Box office: (570) 389-4409.

Violin, viola matchup: The Bloomsburg University-Community Orchestra will perform Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2:30 p.m., in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall, featuring Flavia Pisco, violin, and Renata Ribeiro, viola. The program includes Delius’ Florida Suite and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. Admission is free.

Sunday with Verdi, Elgar and Mozart

Bloomsburg University's Chamber Orchestra will give a concert Sunday, Oct. 30, at 2:30 p.m. at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 123 N. Market St., Bloomsburg.
The concert, free and open to the public, will include Nabucco Overture from Giuseppe Verdi’s third opera, which is based on a Biblical story and includes romantic and political plots. The orchestra also will perform Edward Elgar’s Serenade for Strings in E Minor, a piece dedicated to the philosopher W.H. Whinfield, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Concerto in C for Flute, Harp and Orchestra, which spotlights the talent of the harpists.
Soloists are flutist Kristen Jelinek, from Bloomsburg and harpist Andrea Wittchen, from Bethlehem, Pa.
For information, contact BU’s music, theatre and dance department at (570) 389-4284.

Soup and a concert

Have a bowl of soup and see a show on Sunday, April 3.

The annual Empty Bowls Banquet runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Kehr Ballroom at BU. Tickets are $10 for adults, free to children under 5, and $5 for students. Area restaurants donate gourmet soups, which are served in handcrafted bowls (by Deb and Dave Stabley) that you take with you. Proceeds benefit the Bloomsburg Food Cupboard.

The BU University-Community Orchestra will perform Holst's "The Planets" at 2:30 p.m. in Haas Center for the Arts. Admission is free and with a fair amount of musical drama and a 50-minute run-time, "The Planets" can be a family friendly show.

Bit of trivia: Prog-rock monsters King Crimson cribbed (adapted) Holst's "Mars" in a piece called "The Devil's Triangle" on their album In the Wake of Poseidon.