Pomona College’s Department of Music is thrilled to share a series of free campus concerts with the local community, with exciting performances this year featuring guest artists from Martin Chalifour and Robert deMaine of the Los Angeles Philharmonic to the new early music ensemble Artifex Consort, along with renowned faculty performers and dynamic student ensembles.
“The Music Department is eager to present a wide range of performances this year that show the many ways of creating, understanding and participating in music. As part of our curriculum, our concerts bring together students, faculty, staff, community members and guest artists. Audiences will experience and learn about music from across the globe and throughout history. We hope you enjoy!” says Joti Rockwell, chair of the Music Department.
Celliola and Friends opens the department’s offerings on Sept. 10 with music by faculty composer Tom Flaherty, who is the John P. and Magdalena R. Dexter Professor of Music. Also on the program is music by emeritus faculty member Karl Kohn, along with the music of Frederick Lesemann and Paul Wianko. Celliola members Tom Flaherty, cello; and Cynthia Fogg, viola; are joined by faculty friends Melissa Givens, soprano; Luc Kleiner, baritone; Joti Rockwell, mandola; and Genevieve Feiwen Lee, piano, Everett S. Olive Professor of Music.
On Sept. 17, the department’s Fête musicale returns, uniting a number of music faculty members in a series of chamber and solo performances. This fall’s concert includes music by Adolphus Hailstork, Nina Rota, Steve Swallow, Tōru Takemitsu, Barbara York and others with performances by Rachel Rudich, flute; Francisco Castillo, oboe; Carolyn Beck, bassoon; Kira Blumberg and Cynthia Fogg, viola; Maggie Parkins, cello; Alison Bjorkedal, harp; Jeremy Swem, euphonium; Stephen Klein, tuba; Ken Rosser and Jack Sanders, guitar; and Barb Catlin and Kyungmi Kim, piano.
The Pomona College based Cornucopia Baroque Ensemble, an early music ensemble, with Aki Yamaguchi, oboe and recorder; Alfred Cramer, violin; Carolyn Beck, bassoon; Roger Lebow, cello; Jason Yoshida, theorbo; and Graydon Beeks, harpsichord, share a handful of Baroque sonatas by J.S. Bach, Handel, Telemann and others on Sept. 24.
Also in September–on the 30th–Grammy®-nominated pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee presents the fourth in her series of Beethoven Piano-Violin Sonatas. Joining her for this program consisting of two Beethoven sonatas and Kamran Ince’s Lines is the applauded violinist and Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Concertmaster Martin Chalifour.
On Oct. 20, Lee returns to the Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music stage, this time in Cello and Piano with Robert deMaine, who holds the title of principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The two will perform Cello Concerto (2019) by Flaherty, along with music by Beethoven and deMaine.
Later that weekend on Oct. 22, early music ensemble Artifex Consort makes their Pomona College debut. This relatively new ensemble presents a program on period instruments. The ensemble is comprised of faculty member Malachai Komanoff Bandy, along with Eva Lymenstull and Eric Tinkerhess on bass violas da gamba, and are joined by Ian Pritchard on harpsichord.
Lee continues her Beethoven Piano-Violin Sonata Cycle with the fifth presentation on Oct. 28. For this concert, she teams up with violinist Fritz Gearhard. who is known for his “supple and imaginative” playing (The New York Times). Their program includes the music of William Grant Still along with that of Beethoven.
On Oct. 29, emeritus faculty organist William Peterson presents an organ program on the Hill Memorial organ in Bridges Hall of Music. The concert centers around the music of J.S. Bach and Buxtehude. The distinctly eclectic Hill Memorial organ was built by C. B. Fisk and dedicated in 2002. It is known as Opus 117.
On Nov. 4, music faculty and friends unite to perform Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps, written in 1941 while a prisoner of war in Görlitz, Germany, and the music of Arvo Pärt. Faculty performers are Gary Bovyer, clarinet; Sarah Thornblade, violin; and Gayle Blankenburg, piano; they are joined by cellist Julie Jung.
In addition to these performances, the department’s student ensembles—the Pomona College Orchestra, Pomona College Choir, Pomona College Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Balinese Gamelan and West African Music Ensemble—present concerts offering music by Barber, Dvořák, Grainger, Lauridsen, Liszt, Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov and lesser-known composers from across the globe throughout the semester.
The fall 2023 concert season calendar is now available online and can be picked up in Thatcher Music Building on the campus of Pomona College.
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PERFORMANCE VENUES
Thatcher Music Building – 340 N. College Ave, Claremont, 91711
Bridges Hall of Music – 150 E. 4th St., Claremont 91711
Friday Noon Concerts: Balch Auditorium – Scripps College, 1030 N. Columbia Ave., Claremont 91711
Fall 2023 Concert Schedule
September
Celliola & Friends
3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10 | Bridges Hall of Music
Cynthia Fogg* (viola) & Tom Flaherty* (cello)
Melissa Givens (soprano), Luc Kleiner (baritone), Joti Rockwell (mandola), and Genevieve Feiwen Lee (piano)
Music by Flaherty*, Kohn*, Lesemann and Wianko
Fête musicale
3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17 | Bridges Hall of Music
Rachel Rudich*(flutes), Francisco Castillo* (oboe), Carolyn Beck* (bassoon), Kira Blumberg & Cynthia Fogg* (violas), Maggie Parkins* (cello), Alison Bjorkedal* (harp), Jeremy Swem (euphonium), Stephen Klein* (tuba), Ken Rosser & Jack Sanders (guitars), Barb Catlin* & Kyungmi Kim (pianos)
Barbara York – Dancing with Myself
Adolphus Hailstork – music for bassoon
Tōro Takemitsu – And Then I Knew ’twas Wind
Nino Rota – Quintetto
plus selections by S. Swallow, B. Catlin and B. Powell
Cornucopia Baroque Ensemble
3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24 | Bridges Hall of Music
Aki Yamaguchi (oboe and recorder), Alfred Cramer* (violin), Carolyn Beck* (bassoon), Roger Lebow (cello), Jason Yoshida* (theorbo), Graydon Beeks* (harpsichord)
Baroque sonatas by Bach, Handel, Telemann and others
Beethoven Piano-Violin Sonata Cycle No. IV
8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30 | Bridges Hall of Music
Martin Chalifour (violin)
Genevieve Feiwen Lee* (piano)
Beethoven: Sonata in A Major, op. 12, no. 2
Beethoven: Sonata in A Major, op. 12, no. 47 “Kreutzer”
Kamran Ince: Lines
October
Pomona College Orchestra
8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6 & 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8 | Bridges Hall of Music
Tony Rowe*, conductor
Mozart: Symphony No. 32 in G, K. 318
Barber: First Essay for Orchestra, op. 12
Wagner: Siegfried-Idyll
Liszt: Les Préludes
Cello & Piano
8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 | Bridges Hall of Music
Robert deMaine (cello)
Genevieve Feiwen Lee* (piano)
Flaherty: Cello Concerto (2019) and solo selections
Beethoven: Sonata in A Major, op. 69
deMaine: solo selections
Artifex Consort
3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22 | Bridges Hall of Music
Malachai Komanoff Bandy*, Eva Lymenstull, Eric Tinkerhess, bass violas da gamba;
with Ian Pritchard, harpsichord
Marais: selections from Pièces de viole, Livre IV
Beethoven Piano-Violin Sonata Cycle No. V
8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28 | Bridges Hall of Music
Fritz Gearhard (violin)
Genevieve Feiwen Lee* (piano)
Beethoven: Sonata in E-flat Major, op. 12, no. 3
Beethoven: Sonata in C Major, op. 30, no. 2
William Grant Still: Pastorela
Organ Concert
3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29 | Bridges Hall of Music
William Peterson* (organ)
Music of Buxtehude and J.S. Bach
November
Quatuor pour la fin du temps
8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 4 | Bridges Hall of Music
Gary Bovyer* (clarinet); Sarah Thornblade* (violin); Julie Jung (cello); Gayle Blankenburg* (piano)
Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
and music by Arvo Pärt
Pomona College Band
8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10 & 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 12 | Bridges Hall of Music
Graydon Beeks*, conductor
with Melissa Givens* (soprano) and Francisco Castillo* (oboe)
Music by Europe, Flaherty*, Grainger, Rimsky-Korsakov, Sparke and others
Pomona College Jazz Ensemble
4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 | Lyman Hall
Barb Catlin*, director
Afternoon of jazz favorites
Pomona College Orchestra
8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17 & 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19 | Bridges Hall of Music
Tony Rowe*, conductor
TBD - 2023 PCO concerto competition winner
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, op. 95 “From the New World”
Concerto to be announced
West African Music Ensemble
8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27 | Lyman Hall
Nani Agbeli*, director
Featuring Ghanaian drumming and dance
December
Pomona College Choir
8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1 & 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3 | Bridges Hall of Music
Donna M. Di Grazia*, conductor
Flaherty*: This is the Day
Hailstork: Arise My Beloved
Lauridsen: Lux aeterna
Franz Biebl: Ave Maria
Giri Kusuma, Pomona College Balinese Gamelan Ensemble
8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4 | Bridges Hall of Music
Nyoman Wenten*, music director and Nanik Wenten, dance director
Traditional and contemporary Balinese music and dance
*Pomona College Department of Music faculty