For a full listing of upcoming events, please visit our website at http://arts.unl.edu.
Jan. 14: Lecture by Composer Laurence Sherr, sponsored by the Harris Center for Jewish Studies. 7 p.m. Westbrook Recital Hall Rm. 119. Free. The title of Sherr's lecture is "Suppressed Music and Art During the Nazi Era."
Jan. 15: Lecture by Composer Laurence Sherr titled "Music at Auschwitz: Aid to Survival or Dehumanizing Degradation?" 3:30-4:20 p.m. Kimball Recital Hall.
Jan. 15: Karen Becker, cello; 7:30 p.m. Kimball Recital Hall. This event will also be webcast. Visit http://music.unl.edu the evening of the event for the link. Featuring Guest Pianist Jay Mauchley and Composer Laurence Sherr. The program includes Strauss' "Sonata for Cello and Piano" and the world premiere of Sherr's "Sonata for Cello and Piano: Mir Zaynen Do," based on music written in the Vilna Ghetto and in a concentration camp during World War II. The recital will include the composer talking about the sonata and Associate Professor of Voice Kate Butler will sing three of the songs in Yiddish that inspired Sherr to write this piece. Mauchley is Professor Emeritus of Piano at the University of Idaho. Sherr, who will be at the recital and in classes, is Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Music at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta.
Jan. 17: Midwest Cup Show Choir Invitational. All day. Lied Center for Performing Arts. The Midwest Cup Show Choir Invitational is a full day of spectacular vocals and intense choreography. The Midwest Cup provides an opportunity for some of the finest show choirs in the region to showcase their performances and compete against one another for the grand championship at the end of the evening.
Jan. 20: William McMullen, oboe. 7:30 p.m. Kimball Recital Hall. This event will also be webcast. Visit http://music.unl.edu the evening of the event for the link. McMullen will be performing four works for solo oboe and for oboe and piano. The first work is a transcription of a violin sonata by W. A. Mozart, KV 454, in B flat Major. Although it was composed with the violin and piano in mind, obviously, it has become all the rage lately for oboists to perform it as well. The second work is by the Polish composer, Witold Lutoslawski, titled "Epitaph" for oboe and piano. It was composed in 1979 in memory of a Scottish composer, Alan Richardson, who had passed away the year before. It consists of five simple refrains each followed by five aleatoric passages. He will also perform the "Six Etudes" for solo oboe by the French composer and oboist Gilles Silvestrini. Each one of the etudes is inspired by an impressionistic painting by artists such as Monet, Pissaro, Renoir, Boudin and Manet. Projection of each of the paintings will accompany the performance. The final work is by little known British composer Ivor R. Foster, titled "Sonatina" for oboe and piano. It was written in the 1960's for the premiere British oboist of the mid 20th century, Leon Goossens.
Jan. 21: Faculty Trio: Diane Barger, clarinet; Mark Clinton, piano; and Jeff McCray, bassoon. 7:30 p.m. Kimball Recital Hall. This event will also be webcast. Visit http://music.unl.edu the evening of the event for the link. This recital program features two “bookends” of works originally composed for clarinet, bassoon, and piano (Hurlstone’s Variations in G minor and Douglas’s Trio #2) and two compositions written for clarinet, piano, and a string instrument (viola – Bruch’s Acht Stücke, op. 83; and cello – Muczynski’s Fantasy Trio, op. 26). While the Bruch and Muczynski trios certainly are masterworks in the repertoire in their original instrumentation, they also lend themselves well to the tonal characteristics of the bassoon and offer depth in the literature for this particular instrumental ensemble of clarinet – bassoon – piano. From one of the earliest works of an unschooled composer (Hurlstone), to the masterpieces of Bruch and Muczynski, concluding with the commissioned work of a seasoned 21st Century composer (Douglas), we hope this performance showcases the depth of literature available for this unique instrumental combination.
Jan. 21-Feb. 6: Faculty and Staff Exhibition. Eisentrager-Howard Gallery in Richards Hall. A First Friday closing reception will be held on Friday, Feb. 6, time to be announced. See the work in all mediums by our Department of Art and Art History studio arts faculty and staff.
Jan. 25: Winter Festival Performance. 3 p.m. Kimball Recital Hall. The Winter Festival is a unique concert band and chamber ensemble festival for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. The final concert is free and open to the public.
Jan. 26: Festival of American Song. 7:30 p.m. Kimball Recital Hall. Tickets: $5 general and $3 for students and senior citizens.
Jan. 29: Faculty Artist Hans Sturm, bass, with Tom Larson. 7:30 p.m. Westbrook Rm. 119. This event will also be webcast. Visit http://music.unl.edu the evening of the event for the link. Sturm's faculty recital will feature UNL faculty jazz pianist and composer, Tom Larson. They will perform the music of Dr. Joan Wildman, Professor Emeritus of Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Originally from a ranch outside of Spalding, Nebraska, an hour north of Grand Island, Wildman received her doctorate from the University of Oregon and taught at the University of Maine and Central Michigan before arriving as the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin in 1977. She has led her own trio since the early 1970’s and highlights of her career include several recordings as a leader and concerts performing with avant garde composer and multi-instrumentalist Roscoe Mitchell, with vocal legend Mel Tormé with symphony orchestras, and subbing for an ailing Duke Ellington during one of his final tours. Sturm performed regularly as a member of the Joan Wildman Trio from 1982 until 2005. The majority of music performed by the Sturm-Larson Duo originates from one of Wildman’s most prolific periods in the early to mid 1980’s.