UW-Green Bay Music to present ‘wacky’ ensemble performance during April 24 show
UW-Green Bay Music will offer a little something for everyone during its concert Wednesday, April 24, combining a traditional chorale performance with a high school honors band and a one-of-a-kind wind ensemble performance.
Music’s 26th concert of the 2012-13 season will kick off at 7:30 p.m. in the Cofrin Family (main) Hall at the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts on campus, 2420 Nicolet Drive. The UW-Green Bay Chorale, under the direction of Associate Prof. Randall Meder, will begin with traditional selections that include William Byrd’s “Laudibus in sanctis,” Thomas Tomkins’ “Too much I once lamented” and Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden.”
From there, the concert will take a decidedly nontraditional turn as the UW-Green Bay Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Associate Prof. Kevin Collins, takes the stage.
“It’s going to be kind of wacky,” Collins said. “It will be a dramatized performance with the Wind Ensemble. And there will be several elements we don’t often see — including special lighting from (Music Technical Coordinator) David Cook and 3D art works from (Assistant Prof.) Alison Stehlik’s Design Methods class.”
The idea, Collins said, is to bridge a 500-year gap between composer Tielman Susato’s “The Dansyre” and composer Russell Peck’s “Cave” — as reinterpreted in the context of the annual Burning Man Festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Attendees can expect many visual surprises as Ensemble members demonstrate unique talents and play music they’ve memorized — without director Collins on stage. The performance will be at once humorous and serious, exploring and incorporating UW-Green Bay’s campus Common Theme of Creativity, Innovation and Vision.
“There are numerous ways in which we will explore the ethos of the Burning Man Festival,” Collins said, “ — all in a family friendly way.”
Some 120 students from 21 Wisconsin high schools also will be part of the April 24 concert, also presenting a fairly contemporary — though not nearly as eccentric — lineup of pieces. The students, all of whom have received superior ratings at Wisconsin School Music Association district music festivals, will present music from composers Joe Hishaishi, Eric Whitacre and Andrew Boysen Jr. One of the pieces is so new it’s come out only in the past couple of weeks, Collins said.
“The concert has something for everybody,” he said. “It will be different than anything you’ve ever seen. I guarantee it.”
Tickets for the Chorale, Wind Ensemble and State-Bound High School Honors Band concert are $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Order online at www.uwgb.edu/tickets or by calling (920) 465-2400 or (800) 328-tkts. UW-Green Bay is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music.
#13-74
