The University of Chicago Department of Music Announces Its Fall 2009 Season

This October, the University of Chicago Department of Music integrates performances of popular music, classical fare, and new works with reports on ground-breaking research, embodying the mission of the University.

Chicago, IL, October 04, 2009 --(PR.com)-- The fall 2009 season kicks off with two international guest appearances, including the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Symphony Orchestra, which performed a free concert on Thursday, October 1 at 8:00 PM in Mandel Hall as part of their first international tour. The winner of two gold medals in the international band competition (2001 and 2003), the Orchestra is under the direction of the world-renowned director Cao Peng, former Chief Conductor of Shanghai Symphonic Orchestra.

Acclaimed pianist Andreas Klein presents a free piano Master Class in Fulton Recital Hall on Thursday, October 15 at 4:00 PM. New York Times describes the German-born artist as “fascinating … with all the indispensable qualities: touch, tone, temperament, taste - the four T's of pianism." The intimate setting affords listeners an opportunity to personally engage with the globally revered musician.

The season continues with an introduction to the Motet Choir in their only performance this Quarter. Known as the premiere undergraduate choral ensemble at the University of Chicago, the Motet Choir concentrates on a cappella masterworks of all periods, frequently performing music from the Renaissance and Gregorian Chant to Gospel standards. This inaugural program will be followed by a reception on Parents' Weekend, Friday, October 23 beginning at 12:00 PM.

The Visiting Committee Colloquium Series welcomes composer Anne LeBaron to discuss her work 'Sucktion: a woman, a laptop, a vibraphone, a vacuum cleaner: how eight homeless vacuum cleaners and a libretto inspired by Italian Futurism coalesced into a cyborg opera.' The Guggenheim Fellow currently teaches at the California Institute of the Arts. The lecture will take place on Friday, October 23 at 3:30pm in Fulton Recital Hall.

Rockefeller Chapel Choir performs English organist, composer and teacher Herbert Howell’s Gloucester Service on Tuesday, October 27 at 5:00 PM. Howell is well known for using church modes and the pentatonic scale in his works. Gloucester served as an important place for the composer, who was born in Lydney, Gloucestershire, and studied first with Herbert Brewer at Gloucester Cathedral, the church where he met mentor and friend Ralph Vaughan Williams in September 1910. The work will resonate through the rafters at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.

The University Symphony Orchestra’s flies sky high with Cosmic Adventures!, their annual Halloween-themed family-friendly event. Listeners will visit the cosmos as the Orchestra performs Gustav Holst’s The Planets, John Williams’ Star Wars themes and out-of-this- world melodies from Star Trek. The costumed 100-member ensemble will be joined by the University of Chicago Women’s Chorale and the Hyde Park School of Dance. Audiences are encouraged to wear costumes for this astronomical spectacular on Saturday, October 31 at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM.

To conclude October's programming, the Newberry Consort will perform Music from Lincoln’s America with soprano, flute, fortepiano, banjo and an actor. The unusual combination highlights the recent Smithsonian exhibit With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition, which commemorated “the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the nation’s revered sixteenth president. More than a chronological account of the life of Abraham Lincoln, the exhibition reveals Lincoln the man, whose thoughts, words, and actions were deeply affected by personal experiences and pivotal historic events.” Newberry Consort performs on Saturday, October 31 at 8:00 PM in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.

Tickets for individual concerts will available at the door of the concert. Individual concert ticket prices vary per performance.

Visit the University of Chicago Department of Music web site at www.music.uchicago.edu for full concert information, including directions to the concert venues.

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University of Chicago Department of Music
Rashida N. Black
773.702.3427
music.uchicago.edu
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