SPRING 2019 FEATURES RENOWNED PERFORMERS IN FREE CONCERTS

Pomona College’s Department of Music announces its Spring 2019 concert season with music ranging from work by J.S. Bach to Tuvan throat singing. This semester’s offerings of free concerts include music from a variety of cultures, eras and musical backgrounds—a little something for everyone.

Opening with the 27th Annual Ussachevsky Memorial Festival of Acoustic Music, the festival features guest violinist/composer Mari Kimura. A leading figure in the field of interactive computer music, she is renowned for her mastery of subharmonics. Other festival performers include the Eclipse Quartet, The Smudges, and performances by Sarah Thornblade (violin), Cynthia Fogg (viola), Maggie Parkins (cello), Genevieve Feiwen Lee (piano) and Joti Rockwell (guitar). The festival runs Feb. 1 and 2 with 8 p.m. concerts on both evenings and a Saturday lecture/demonstration by Kimura at 3 p.m. All events will be held in Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building.

On Sunday, Feb. 3rd Harry S. and Madge Rice Thatcher Emeritus Professor of Music and organist William Peterson will perform an All-Bach concert on the Hill Memorial Organ in Bridges Hall of Music at 3 p.m. Peterson has been heard on NPR’s “Pipedreams” and has performed across the U.S. and in France in programs ranging from Bach to the French music of Franck and Widor.

Throat singing and instrumental music from Mongolia and Tuva will be featured on Feb. 6th by award-winning Tamir Hargana. Known for his presentations from Taiwan to Mongolia, Hargana is a specialist in Khoomii–Mongolian throat singing and Morin Khuur–the horse-head fiddle, and will offer an afternoon lecture/performance in Lyman Hall.

“Consistently rewarding” and “a pleasure to hear,” (Houston Chronicle), faculty soprano Melissa Givens offers her first solo campus recital since her fall appointment as assistant professor of music. Givens’ Bridges Hall of Music recital “The Artist at 50,” includes songs chosen upon Givens’ 50th birthday, and is made up of art songs written and/or published in the year each composer celebrated their own 50th, and includes music by Beach, Brahms, Chaminade, Copland, Duke, Gounod, Hagen, Massenet, Price, Satie, Shostakovich and others. Joining Givens at the Feb. 15th recital is Grammy®-nominated faculty pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee.

Other faculty and guest performances include LA Harptette on Feb. 24th, Christine Brandes, soprano and Eric Moe, piano in a program of music from 1828 to 2017 on March 31, a celebration of George Crumb’s 90th birthday with Lee, Givens, Rockwell, Francisco Castillo (oboe) and Alison Bjorkedal (harp) and others on April 7. Then later that month on the 28th pianist Gayle Blankenburg is joined by Mark Menzies (violin/viola/piano) in music from Debussy to today.

In addition to these performances, numerous student ensembles will offer a variety of concerts. Among them are the Pomona College Orchestra with concerto winner Oliver Dubon (tuba) performing Vaughn Williams’ Tuba Concerto, the Pomona College Jazz Ensemble, the Balinese Gamelan and the Pomona College Choir and Orchestra together in works by Bloch and Duruflé.

Also available are lunchtime concerts featuring Pomona College faculty artists on the Friday at Noon Concert series co-sponsored with Scripps College. More information is available at: pomona.edu/academics/departments/music/concert-calendar/friday-noon-concert-series.

The Pomona College Department of Music’s Spring 2019 printed season concert calendar is now available. Thanks to support from alumni and friends of the Music Department, all the department’s offerings are free and open to the public.