Northwestern University Music in May

EVANSTON, Ill. --- A vocal master class led by Metropolitan Opera star Matthew Polenzani; four opportunities to experience Carlisle Floyd’s opera “Susannah”; and a University Singers choral program intended to evoke outdoor images of nature in spring are among the May music events on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. 

Presented by the University’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, the upcoming programs will feature an impressive lineup of guest artists, music faculty and student ensembles.

Additional highlights include a May 23 Jazz Small Ensembles program of original compositions by Northwestern jazz studies students and two Memorial Day weekend performances of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony featuring the combined artistry of Northwestern University’s Symphony Orchestra, University Chorale and Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and the Apollo Chorus of Chicago. The May 27 performance of Mahler’s famous work will take place in Evanston at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, and the May 29 program will be held outdoors at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in downtown Chicago’s Millennium Park. 

All ages are welcome to attend a May 24 program that combines astronomy visualizations of Venus, Jupiter and Pluto projected on stage with music by Holst and Strauss. The event is sponsored by Northwestern's Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, (CIERA). Weather permitting, audience members will have the opportunity to join Northwestern astronomers on the Arts Green West for a post-concert telescopic view of the evening sky.

VENUES 

All May programs listed below are open to the public. They will take place on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus at the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts’ Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall, and David and Carol McClintock Choral and Recital Room, 70 Arts Circle Drive; Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive; Regenstein Hall’s Master Class Room, 60 Arts Circle Drive; Alice Millar Chapel, 1870 Sheridan Road, or the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, 201 East Randolph St., in downtown Chicago, as noted.

TICKETS 

The Bienen School Ticket Office is located at the southeast entrance of Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Concert ticket prices are offered at three levels: the first for the general public and the second for full-time students with IDs. Northwestern faculty and staff with a valid Wildcard receive a 15 percent discount off the general public ticket price.

For more information, contact the Bienen School of Music Concert Management Office at 847-491-5441 or visit concertsatbienen.org. To order tickets, call 847-467-4000 or visit concertsatbienen.org.  

SERIES BROCHURES/FURTHER INFORMATION

For series brochures or further information, call 847-491-5441 or email requests to events.music@northwestern.edu. To join the Bienen School’s concerts and events list and receive a monthly events newsletter as well as special discount offers, send your email address to events.music@northwestern.edu.

MAY 2016 MUSIC EVENTS 

• Matthew Polenzani Vocal Master Class, 2 p.m. Sunday, May 1, the Ryan Center’s  Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. Polenzani, a Metropolitan Opera star, will lead the final 2015-16 series Robert M. and Maya L. Tichio Vocal Master Classfor promising Bienen School voice students. Polenzani’s prestigious honors include the 2004 Richard Tucker Award and the Metropolitan Opera’s 2008 Beverly Sills Artist Award. His 2015-16 season highlights include appearances in “Don Giovanni” at Opéra national de Paris, “Werther” in Munich and Vienna, and “Les pêcheurs de perles” and “Roberto Devereux” at the Met. Tickets for his master class are $10 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• Trombone Faculty Chamber Recital, 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 2, at the Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. Active as solo, chamber and orchestral performers around the world, Bienen School trombone faculty members will combine their talents for a rousing program of music by Gabrieli, Bach, Bruckner, Bozza and McKimm. The trombonists will include Professor Michael Mulcahy, Randall Hawes, Christopher P. Davis, Timothy Higgins and R. Douglas Wright. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• Jennifer Gunn Flute Master Class, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, at Regenstein Hall’s Master Class Room.Jennifer Gunn is the principal piccoloist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where she also is involved in the orchestra’s musicNOW contemporary music series. Gunn also is a coach for the Civic Orchestra. Previously, she was assistant principal flute of the Louisville Orchestra and principal flute of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Admission is free.

• Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra: New Orchestral Sounds, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. Jazz faculty member Jarrard Harris will conduct a program featuring new orchestral works by Bienen School jazz students as well as their new orchestrations of jazz classics and Broadway standards. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• Prairie Wind Ensemble Master Class, 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, Regenstein Hall’s Master Class Room. Members of the Prairie Wind Ensemble, based at Illinois Central College, will coach Bienen School chamber music students. Admission is free.

• Keyboard Conversations, “Musical Pictures,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 6, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Pianist Jeffrey Siegel’s program includes works by Sibelius and Rachmaninoff, as well as Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” His Keyboard Conversations series features “concerts with commentary” that provide background on the works played and conclude with a brief Q&A session. Aside from these concerts, Siegel has performed as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and other prestigious ensembles. Tickets are $22 for the general public and $16 for students with valid IDs.

• Thaviu-Isaak Endowed Piano Scholarship Competition, 3 p.m. Saturday, May 7, Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. This annual competition features Northwestern piano students nominated by Bienen School piano faculty. Honoring the school’s late professors Samuel Thaviu and Donald Isaak, the scholarship is the Northwestern piano program’s most prestigious honor. Admission is free. 

• Samuel and Elinor Thaviu Endowed Scholarship Competition in String Performance, 2 p.m. Sunday, May 8, Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. Exceptionally talented Northwestern string students perform in this prestigious competition honoring the late Samuel Thaviu, longtime Bienen School violin professor. Admission is free.

• Percussion Ensemble, 3 p.m. Sunday, May 8, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The Bienen School’s She-e Wu, associate professor of percussion, will direct an afternoon program of eclectic rhythms. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs. 

• Flute faculty recital by John Thorne, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8, Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. Previously associate principal flute of the Houston, San Antonio, Florida West Coast and New World symphonies, John Thorne appears regularly with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and is principal flutist of the Chicago Philharmonic. As a member of the Grand Teton Music Festival, he performs both orchestral and chamber music concerts. With CSO piccolo player Jennifer Gunn and pianist Kay Kim, a regular CSO and Chicago Chamber Musicians collaborator, he will perform Franck’s Sonata in A Major as well as music of Blavet and Debussy. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• University Singers: Afternoon on a Hill, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14, Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall.University Singers will present a program evoking outdoor images of nature in spring. Listeners will encounter Charles Stanford’s “The Blue Bird” and Britten’s “Five Flower Songs,” Eric Barnum’s “Afternoon on a Hill” and Barber’s “Under the Willow Tree.” Bienen School alumnus Ned Rorem’s “While all things were in quiet stillness” and Gerald Finzi’s “Thou didst delight my eyes” also will be performed. Conducted by Bienen School faculty member Albert Pinsonneault and Kevin Vondrak, graduate assistant conductor, the concert will include works by Dominick Argento, Kevin Memley and Leland Sateren. Charles Foster will be the featured pianist. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• Chamber Music Honors Recital, noon, Sunday, May 15, Ryan Center’s David and Carol McClintock Choral and Recital Room. Top student chamber music ensembles will perform a variety of repertoire. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• Concert Band, 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Bienen School faculty member Daniel J. Farris, director of athletic bands, will conduct students from across Northwestern University’s Evanston campus in a concert of band standards. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• Women’s Chorus, 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15, Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. Tyrone B. Clinton will conduct the chorus in a variety of music for treble voices. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs. 

• Alice Millar Spring Festival Concert: Music of Bach and Monteverdi, 5 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at Alice Millar Chapel. Few cantatas of Bach match the ebullience of “Christen, ätzet diesen Tag.” The soaring vocal lines and majestic instrumental statements, featuring one of Bach’s largest cantata orchestrations, combine to thrilling effect. As a complement, Monteverdi’s “Missa in illo tempore” showcases its composer’s contrapuntal mastery and expressive genius. The early music concert will be conducted by Bienen School faculty member Stephen Alltop, director of music for Alice Millar Chapel. The program will feature the Alice Millar Chapel Choir and soloists, the Baroque Music Ensemble and organist Eric Budzynski. Admission is free (an offering will be accepted). 

• Skyline Piano Artist Series: Cheng-Chow Trio, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15, Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. The Cheng-Chow Trio will conclude the 2015-16 inaugural season of the Bienen School’s Skyline Piano Artist Series with a program of music for four to six hands at one or two pianos. The trio is comprised of Bienen School faculty member Alan Chow, associate professor of piano, and Oberlin Conservatory faculty members Angela Cheng and Alvin Chow. All three pianists perform worldwide as recitalists and concerto soloists and have won numerous international awards. Tickets are $30 for the general public and $10 for students with valid IDs.

• Spring Opera, Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19; 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 20; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 21; and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 22, Cahn Auditorium. The Bienen School’s spring opera is set in New Hope Valley, Tennessee, where Susannah -- a pretty and well-mannered young woman of humble origins -- is faced with jealousy and hostility from her church community in this story of religious hypocrisy and innocence lost. “Susannah” will be directed by the Bienen School’s Artist-in-Residence Michael M. Ehrman, director of opera, and guest conducted by John DeMain, the Grammy and Tony Award-winning music director of Wisconsin’s Madison Symphony Orchestra. The opera will be performed in English. Tickets are $18 for the general public and $8 for students with valid IDs.

• Contemporary Music Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 20, Ryan Center’s Shirley Welsh Ryan Opera Theater. The Contemporary Music Ensemble will perform Timo Andres’ “Checkered Shade,” the world premiere of Nicholas Cline’s “water-witching,” Louis Andriessen’s “Workers Union” and Simon Steen-Andersen’s “Chambered Music.” The program will be conducted by Bienen School faculty members Alan Pierson and Benjamin Bolter, and graduate conducting student Vincent Povázsay. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• Chamber Music Ensembles, 3 p.m. Saturday, May 21, Ryan Center’s David and Carol McClintock Choral and Recital Room. Top student chamber music ensembles will perform a variety of repertoire. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• Guitar Ensemble concert, 3 p.m. Sunday, May 22, Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. Bienen School guitar faculty member Anne Waller will direct a program of music written and arranged for guitar. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• Symphonic Wind Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 22, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble welcomes 30 distinguished brass and percussion alumni to perform the first half of the evening concert. The program also features arrangements and compositions by Northwestern alumni Timothy Higgins, Brett William Dietz and Michael Martin. Bienen School faculty member Mallory Thompson, director of bands, will conduct the Wind Ensemble and the alumni brass ensemble in a program featuring Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Michael Martin’s arrangement of Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture,” Brett William Dietz’s “Pandora's Box” and the world premiere of Martin’s “Lontano:” Symphony for Wind Ensemble and more. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid IDs.

• Jazz Small Ensembles: Composition 803 -- Student Originals, 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 23, Ryan Center’s Shirley Welsh Ryan Opera Theater. Northwestern jazz students will showcase their original music for small groups. Spanning styles from traditional to contemporary, the night is dedicated to fresh, new sounds. The program will be conducted by the Bienen School’s Victor Goines, professor and director of jazz studies, and music performance faculty member Joe Clark. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• Evening of Brass: Solar System Symphony, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 24, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Bienen School faculty member Gail Williams will direct a program that will combine astronomy and music and take audience members on a tour across the solar system, from the volcanoes of Venus and the many moons of Jupiter to the icy plains of Pluto. Astronomy visualizations will be displayed onstage as the Bienen School’s Brass Ensemble performs music from Holst’s “The Planets,” Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra” and other works. The concert will include the world premiere of Timothy Higgins’ Sinfonietta. After the show, (weather permitting), audience members will have the opportunity to join Northwestern astronomers on the Arts Green West for a view through a telescope. All ages are welcome. This program is sponsored by Northwestern's Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, (CIERA) and created by physics and astronomy graduate student Kyle Kremer. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs. 

• Saxophone Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, Ryan Center’s Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall. Bienen School faculty member Taimur Sullivan, associate professor of saxophone, will direct a program featuring the Northwestern University Saxophone Ensemble and Saxophone Quartet. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs.

• Philharmonia, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 26, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The program will feature Walton’s “The Wise Virgins: Suite,” Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, and Britten’s “The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra” (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell). Narrated by the Bienen School’s Bernard J. Dobroski, professor of music education, the program will be conducted by Bienen School faculty member Robert G. Hasty, and graduate conducting student Vincent L. Povázsay. Andrew Hudson will be the featured clarinet soloist. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students with valid IDs. 

• Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 27, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 29, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in downtown Chicago. Three Bienen School ensembles -- the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, University Chorale and Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble will join forces with the Apollo Chorus of Chicago for two performances of Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”). This exploration of the afterlife and resurrection established Mahler’s compositional style and launched his fame. Soprano Jessica Rivera has appeared in critically acclaimed premieres of John Adams’ “A Flowering Tree” and “Doctor Atomic.” Mezzo-soprano Renée Tatum has appeared in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” at the Metropolitan Opera and Houston Grand Opera and joined an international cast in Japan as Flora in Verdi’s “La traviata.” The Bienen School’s Victor Yampolsky, professor of conducting and ensembles, will conduct and Stephen Alltop will direct the Apollo Chorus. Alltop also is the director of Northwestern’s Alice Millar Chapel Choir and conductor of the Baroque Music Ensemble. Admission is free. 

• Kids Fare, “Phabulous Philharmonia,” 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 28, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The Northwestern University Philharmonia will present a family program of orchestral music that combines strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Recommended for children ages 3 to 8, the hourlong concert includes Britten’s “The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for children. 

• Student Composers’ Concert, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, Regenstein Master Class Room. The evening concert will feature original student compositions. Admission is free. 

For more information, call the Bienen School of Music Concert Management Office at 847- 491-5441 or visit concertsatbienen.org or Northwestern’s new Arts Circle website at www.artscircle.northwestern.edu. To order tickets, call the Bienen School Ticket Office at 847-467-4000 or visit concertsatbienen.org.