MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Moore at 847-491-4819 or jkm229@northwestern.edu

January 19, 2005

February 2005 Music Calendar

This February, jazz lovers will have the opportunity to hear the Anthony Molinaro Trio (Feb. 12) featuring 1997 Naumburg International Piano Competition winner Anthony Molinaro, drummer Paul Wertico and bassist Eric Hochberg. Guest pianist Marilyn Nonken, another top young musician, will perform the complete contemporary piano works of one of the leaders of French spectralism, Tristan Murail, who will be in attendance (Feb. 11).

The Northwestern University School of Music will present two acts of Puccini’s opera “Il Trittico” (Feb. 25 to 27). February also will feature contemporary music by the winner of the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition, John Adams (Feb. 25). 

Events listed below will be held on Northwestern’s Evanston campus at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Dr.; Regenstein Recital Hall, 60 Arts Circle Dr.; or Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place, as noted below.

For more information, call the Pick-Staiger Concert Office at (847) 491-5441 or go to the Pick-Staiger Web site at www.northwestern.edu/pick-staiger.

To order tickets by phone, call the Pick-Staiger Ticket Office at (847) 467-4000.

FEBRUARY 2005

Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, “Heroic Beethoven,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The performance includes Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major (“Eroica”) and “Die Ruinen von Athen” (“The Ruins of Athens”) overture, and Zoltán Kodály’s “Dances of Marosszék.” Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Symphonic Band, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Ryan Nelson will conduct the band in their performance of Charles Gounod’s “Petite Symphonie,” Donald Grantham’s Fantasy Variations on Gershwin’s Prelude II for Piano, Vincent Persichetti’s Symphony in B flat and Frank Ticheli’s “Pacific Fanfare.” Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Segovia Classical Guitar Series, Jérémy Jouve, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, Lutkin Hall. French guitarist and 2003 Guitar Foundation of America competition winner Jérémy Jouve will make his Chicago-area debut at Northwestern. Since winning the first prize for guitar at the Conservatoire National Supérieure de Musique de Paris, he has performed as a soloist throughout the world. His program will include works by Franceso de Milano, Dusan Bogdanovic, Isaac Albeniz, Joaquin Rodrigo and William Walton. Single tickets are $16 for the general public; $13 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $5 for students.

Jazz Night III, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Band and jazz combos feature new School of Music faculty member and trombonist Andy Baker in this concert. Baker has appeared with Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. He has demonstrated his versatility as a classical artist with London’s Convent Garden Festival Orchestra and the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra. Don Owens and Daniel J. Farris will conduct. Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Alice Millar Birthday Concert, 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, Alice Millar Chapel. Stephen Alltop will conduct the University’s Symphony Orchestra and the Alice Millar Chapel Choir and soloists in a program of Austro-German romantic tradition masterpieces featuring organist Nathan LeMahieu. The performance includes Felix Mendelssohn’s “Lauda Sion,” Franz Schubert’s Mass No. 4 in C Major and Joseph Rheinberger’s Organ Concerto in No. 2 in G Minor. Admission is a freewill offering.

Gianna Rolandi Opera Master Class, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, Lutkin Hall. Soprano Gianna Rolandi has been featured on both stage and screen. She has performed with Luciano Pavarotti and on the stages of the world’s major opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera. Rolandi is a major force in the training and mentoring of rising stars at the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Evening of Brass, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. This performance, conducted by Gail Williams, includes Edward Elgar’s “The Severn Suite” and J.S. Bach’s Air from Orchestra Suite No. 3. Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Contemporary Music Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Ryan Nelson will conduct this concert of contemporary music from France with French composer Tristan Murail, who is in residence. Clarinetist Russell Dagon will join the ensemble during the performance of Edgard Varése’s “Integrales,” Tristan Murail’s “Couleur de Mer” and Olivier Messiaen’s “Couleurs de la Cité Celeste.” Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Marilyn Nonken, piano, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, Lutkin Hall. Marilyn Nonken has toured throughout the United States and Europe, establishing herself as one of America’s top young musicians. Her Northwestern performance will feature the complete piano music of Tristan Murail, one of the leaders of French spectralism (a compositional technique originating in France in which harmony and form are derived from acoustic principles), who will be in attendance. Highlights include his early and rarely heard “Comme un oeil suspendu et poli par le songe” as well as “Les travaux et les jours,” a new work commissioned by Nonken. Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Kids Fare, “Europe: Harmonies and Hornpipes,” 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Travel to Europe, home of royal courts and timeless traditions, during a program featuring everything from sonatas to Viennese waltzes. Single tickets are $5 for the general public; $4 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3 for students and children.

Anthony Molinaro Trio, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Heralded as one of today’s hottest young pianists, Anthony Molinaro is not only a traditional concert pianist, but also a composer and jazz musician. Joining him on drums is School of Music faculty member and seven-time Grammy Award winner Paul Wertico. Chicago music producer and bassist Eric Hochberg will complete the trio. The performance includes works by Molinaro as well as music by George Gershwin, John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Single tickets are $12 for the general public; $8.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $5.50 for students.

Symphonic Wind Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble will be accompanied by pianists Ursula Oppens and Sylvia Wang in their performance of Eugene Bozza’s “Children’s Overture,” Claude Debussy’s “Le cathedral engloutie” (“The Engulfed Cathedral”), Igor Stravinsky’s “Symphonies of Wind Instruments” and John Adams’ “Grand Pianola Music.” Mallory Thompson will conduct. Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Walfrid Kujala, “Four Score and Seven Players,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. School of Music flute professor and retired Chicago Symphony Orchestra flutist Walfrid Kujala celebrates his 80th birthday with faculty colleagues and special guests during a concert of American works. Pianist Martin Amlin, flutist Sherry Kujala, clarinetist Russell Dagon, bassoonist Robert Barris and guitarist Anne Waller will join Kujala. They will perform the premiere of a William Karlins work written especially for Kujala, as well as Martin Amlin’s “Intrada” for two flutes and piano, Amlin’s Sonata for piccolo and piano, Robert Beaser’s “Mountain Songs” for flute and guitar, Katherine Hoover’s “Three Sketches” for piccolo and piano, Walfrid Kujala’s arrangement of “The Compleat Audition tAngler” and Walter Piston’s Trio for flute, clarinet and bassoon. Single tickets are $8.50 for the general public; $7 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $4 for students.

Combofest, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20, Regenstein Recital Hall. Tenor saxophonist Chip McNeill has performed in jazz festivals throughout the world and with a variety of artists. A professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, McNeill will coach, rehearse, lead clinics and perform with Northwestern student jazz combos. Joel Spencer coordinated the festival and Daniel J. Farris will conduct. Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Percussion Ensemble, “Journeys through a Japanese Landscape,” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Marimba player David Skidmore will be featured as the ensemble performs Minoru Miki’s “Marimba Spiritual,” Akira Nishimura’s “Kecak” and works by Toshinori Kondo and Toru Takemitsu. Michael Burritt will conduct. Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

“Suor Angelica” and “Gianni Schicchi,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27. Cahn Auditorium. Rachael Gates and Noel Koran direct the second and third one-acts of Puccini’s three one act operas known collectively as

“Il Trittico.” In “Suor Angelica” a woman serving penance in a convent grieves that she has never been allowed to see her born out of wedlock son. The comedy “Gianni Schicchi” is based on tales from Dante’s “Inferno.” A rich man’s death prompts relatives to try to change his will after he leaves his entire estate to a monastery. Frederick Ockwell will conduct the Northwestern Symphony Orchestra. Single tickets are $12 for the general public; $8.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $5.50 for students.

Music by John Adams, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Contemporary Music Ensemble and pianists Ursula Oppens and Sylvia Wang will perform pieces by contemporary composer John Adams. Named the inaugural winner of the Northwestern University School of Music’s Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition, Adams also has received the Pulitzer Prize, the Grawemeyer Award and numerous other honors. The world’s great orchestras and opera companies have presented his works. Adams brought contemporary history to the opera house with music theater works “Nixon in China” and “The Death of Klinghoffer.” His “On the Transmigration of Souls” was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to commemorate the victims of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks. Single tickets are $8.50 for the general public; $7 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $4 for students.

Jazz Band, 7: 30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. A composer and arranger for the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, Jim McNeely teaches jazz, piano and composition at New York University. McNeely will perform with and conduct the Northwestern University Jazz Band and various combos in a program that includes an original chart he wrote especially for the Jazz Band. Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students.

Women’s Chorus, “Bridge to Africa,” 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, Lutkin Hall. The Northwestern University Women’s Chorus will perform music from the worldwide African Diaspora. The program includes traditional music from African villages, obscure baroque gems from New World composers, music from the Caribbean and spirituals and gospel songs from the southern United States. Martha Swisher will conduct. Single tickets are $6.50 for the general public; $4.50 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $3.50 for students. 

Gail Williams, horn, 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 28, Lutkin Hall. School of Music faculty member and former Chicago Symphony Orchestra hornist Gail Williams is joined by harpsichordist David Schrader, Rembrandt Chamber Players oboist Robert Morgan and Detroit Symphony Orchestra trombonist Randall Hawes. The ensemble will perform Anthony Plog’s “Dialogues” for piano, oboe and horn, Alec Wilder’s Suite for horn and bass trombone and Thomas Adès Sonata da Caccia for harpsichord, oboe and horn. Single tickets are $8.50 for the general public; $7 for senior citizens and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $4 for students.