Wyoming Arts Council

UW presents New Frontiers: The Contemporary Music Project Oct. 6-9

Featured News | October 2, 2014

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Modern classical music and living composers will be celebrated through concerts and master classes during New Frontiers: The Contemporary Music Project from Monday, Oct. 6, through Thursday, Oct. 9, at the University of Wyoming. All performances are free.

Throughout the week, music will be performed by the New Frontiers artists-in-residence as well as by UW faculty members and students, including the Wyoming Jazz Ensemble directed by Ben Markley; the Collegiate Chorale directed by Nicole Lamartine; the Wind Symphony, conducted by Robert Belser; and compositions by UW composer Anne Guzzo.

This year’s artists-in-residence are composer and Latin Grammy-winner Gabriela Lena Frank, the composer-in-residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; the recording artists Allegresse (flute, oboe and piano); and the string trio Musica Harmonia (violin, viola and cello.).

Identity has always been at the center of Frank’s music. Inspired by the works of Bela Bartok and Alberto Ginastera, Frank is considered a musical anthropologist. She has traveled extensively throughout South America and her pieces reflect and refract her studies of Latin American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own.

To learn more and listen to her music, visit www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/long-bio/gabriela-lena-frank.

Recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces Chamber Music Grant, Allegresse combines the virtuosic talents of three nationally recognized musicians. Allegresse, the French word for joy, depicts the graceful artistry of this inspiring trio. They perform frequently on Kansas Public Radio and, in 2009, they were awarded the University of Kansas General Research Fund to commission a work by Frank.

Dedicated to expanding the repertoire for the flute, oboe and piano trio, Allegresse has commissioned six new pieces. Their new recording, “Fresh Ink,” features three of these new works. For more about the group, visit www.allegresse.org.

Also featured is the string trio Musica Harmonia featuring Joan Griffing, violin; Diane Phoenix-Neal, viola; and Beth Vanderborgh, cello. Musica Harmonia promotes peace and cultural understanding through musical collaboration.

The New Frontiers concert schedule:

Monday, Oct. 6, 7:30 p.m., Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts concert hall — Apprentice concert, UW student composers and performers present music from the last 50 years.

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m., UW Art Museum main gallery — Allegresse concert with Annie Gnojek, flute; Margaret Marco, oboe; and Ellen Bottorff, piano.

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m., Performing Arts concert hall — Micro concert with Frank, includes arias by Guzzo and UW Department of Geology Professor Ron Frost’s geologically inspired opera-in-progress, “Clinker: Between an Opera and a Hard Place.” The concert also includes a verbally fluent flute and piano work by Jason Barabba.

Thursday, Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m., Performing Arts concert hall — Macro concert featuring the Collegiate Chorale, Wind Symphony and Wyoming Jazz Ensemble.

Additionally, Frank will lecture on “Compositional Methods” Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 10 a.m. in Room 128 of the Performing Arts Building; and she will lead a panel discussion Thursday, Oct 9, at 1 p.m. in the Performing Arts concert hall, dealing with “Commissions and Collaborations, making new music come to life.”

New Frontiers is supported by the UW Department of Music, the Douglas B. Reeves Composition Endowment, the UW Biodiversity Institute and the Wyoming Excellence Fund.

For more information about the festival, call the UW Department of Music at (307) 766-5242 or email Guzzo at guzzo@uwyo.edu.

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