Archive: Arts & Entertainment

The Cornell Department of Music announced its fall semester slate of concerts Monday, and says opportunities are plentiful to hear a variety of musical styles.

Collaboration is a main theme this semester, with Cornell ensembles and guest artists joining forces in new ways. Select highlights include the Momenta Quartet teaming up with the Cornell Gamelan Ensemble to perform new works written by Cornell composers (Nov. 7). Additionally, the Wind Symphony, under the direction of James Spinazzola, will work together with dancers from Cornell's Performing and Media Arts Department and the U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band (Nov. 17), and Spinazzola's new Chamber Winds ensemble presents a semi-staged performance of Mozart's comic opera Bastien und Bastienne (Nov. 29).

There will be numerous new creative projects this fall, particularly related to the Cornell Council for the Arts Biennial Project. Annie Lewandowski's new piece for the Cornell Chimes and whale song is performed Oct. 19, and the Cornell Avant-Garde Ensemble works with Luciano Chessa and intonarumori orchestra on Oct. 20. The Cornell Contemporary Chamber Players welcome a subset of the International Contemporary Ensemble on Dec. 4.

In addition to new works, the department upholds concert traditions, including the Glee Club and Chorus performing for Homecoming (Sept. 22), Family Weekend (Oct. 20), and the Sage Chapel Lessons and Carols services (Dec. 2-3). The Glee Club celebrates its 150th anniversary with a special concert on Nov. 3. The Chorale performs Part I of Handel's Messiah on Nov. 30, and the department continues its lunchtime series of Midday Music concerts, which will include special performances for Halloween (Oct. 31) and Christmas (Dec. 5).

The organ department teams up with the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies for a three-day conference and concert festival Sept. 6-8, and features several additional recitals throughout the semester. There are also many opportunities to hear the jazz program, orchestras, and solo and chamber music concerts this fall.

Concerts the week of August 30 include the following:

Thursday, August 30
Midday Music in Lincoln
Guest musician Darsono Hadiraharjo and Cornell senior lecturer Christopher J. Miller perform Javanese gamelan music.
12:30pm
Lincoln Hall B20

Tuesday, September 4
Romantic Lab: Bach in the 19th Century
8:00pm
Barnes Hall
Pianist Artem Belogurov and cellist Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde present a lecture-recital historically-inspired by 19th century performance practice. The program includes late 19th-century editions of suites of J. S. Bach and Heinrich von Herzogenberg's Sonata No. 2 for cello and piano; the performers will also discuss performance practice and stylistic differences across time.

Romantic Lab is the duo's online video blog dedicated to the study of late 19th and early 20th century performance practice. They examine early recordings of today's standard repertoire in order to learn how different performance techniques developed and answer the question of why music is currently played in certain ways.

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