Pomona College’s Department of Music announces its Spring 2018 season featuring an array of music from a wide range of genres, eras and musical backgrounds. Special performances and guests will join Pomona College’s performance faculty and student ensembles on the schedule.
Opening the season are guests Christine Brandes (soprano), known for her radiant voice and superb musicianship and award-winning Eric Moe, (composer/pianist) on Saturday, January 27 in a recital of music by Debussy, Schubert, Moe and others at 8 p.m. in Bridges Hall of Music, 150 E. Fourth St., Claremont.
In February, the annual Ussachevsky Memorial Festival of Electro Acoustic Music returns for its 26th year with two concerts and a lecture/demonstration by special guest composer Zeena Parkins. Performing works by Parkins and others are the Eclipse Quartet, Ko Umezaki (shakuhachi), Aron Kallay and Genevieve Feiwen Lee (pianos), Rachel Rudich (flute) and Cynthia Fogg (viola) in this two-day event in Lyman Hall on February 2 and 3.
The following month brings Grammy award-winning organist Paul Jacob, hailed as “one of the great living virtuosos” by the Washington Post, to Bridges Hall of Music on Sunday, March 25 at 3 p.m. Known for his ability to transfix audiences with imaginative interpretations and charismatic stage presence, his program, to be performed on the Hill Memorial Organ (Fisk Op. 117) will include music by J.S. Bach and Liszt.
In addition to these special programs, the spring season offers two recitals featuring the faculty performers. The first, a Special Concert for Family Weekend on Friday, February 16 at 8 p.m. offers performances by Gary Bovyer (clarinet), Carolyn Beck (bassoon), Sarah Thornblade (violin), Maggie Parkins (cello), Genevieve Feiwen Lee (piano), Jack Sanders (guitar), Jason Yoshida (theorbo), Joti Rockwell (mandolin) and others. The second, a Chamber Music Recital on Sunday, March 4 at 3 p.m. brings Connie Deeter (bass), Rachel Rudich (flute), Kenneth Foerch (saxophone), Francisco Castillo (oboe), Carolyn Beck (bassoon), Phillip Keen (trombone), Stephen Klein (tuba), Mary Dropkin (harp), Jennie Jung, Gayle Blankenburg & Phillip Young (pianos) and others together for a variety of chamber selections.
In addition to these performances numerous student ensembles and faculty members will present a variety of concerts, and solo and chamber recitals. Among them are College Organist William Peterson on Sunday, February 11 at 3 p.m.; Cornucopia Baroque Ensemble with Alfred Cramer and Lyndsey Strand-Polyak (baroque violins), Aki Nishiguchi (baroque oboe), Carolyn Beck (baroque bassoon), Roger Lebow (baroque cello), Jason Yoshida (theorbo) and Graydon Beeks (harpsichord) on Sunday, April 8 at 3 p.m.; and the Pomona College Choir and Orchestra in a joint concert on Friday, April 13 at 8 p.m. and repeated on Sunday, April 15 at 3 p.m. with guest soloists Hayden Eberhart (soprano) and Scott Graff (baritone) in Poulenc’s Gloria and Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem.
The Music Department’s Spring 2018 Season Concert Calendar is available online at www.pomona.edu/music-calendar or can be picked up in the Music Department located in Thatcher Music Building, 150 N. College Ave, Claremont, on the campus of Pomona College. All the department’s offerings are free and open to the public.
Spring 2018 Schedule
January 2018
- Christine Brandes, soprano and Eric Moe, piano
8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Music by Debussy, Moe, Schoenberg, Schubert and White
February 2018
- Ussachevsky Festival of Electro Acoustic Music
Tom Flaherty*, director – Named for Vladimir Ussachevsky (Pomona College ’35).
2018 guest composer/performer: Zeena Parkins- 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, 2018 – Concert
Eclipse Quartet (Sara Parkins and Sarah Thornblade*, violins; Zach Dellinger, viola; Maggie Parkins*, cello), Ko Umezaki, shakuhachi
Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
Music by Flaherty*, Missy Mazzoli, Parkins and others - 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018 – Lecture/Demo
“Source of Uncertainty” with Zeena Parkins
Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building - 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018 – Concert
Rachel Rudich*, flute; Genevieve Feiwen Lee* and Aron Kallay*, pianos; Cynthia Fogg*, viola; Zeena Parkins, harp
Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
Music by Eve Beglarian, David Biedenbender, Ian Dicke, Parkins, and Kaija Saariaho
- 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, 2018 – Concert
- Violin & Piano
Jonathan Wright, violin and Stephan Moss, piano
8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Music by Beethoven, Brahms and Lekeu - William Peterson, Pomona College Organist
3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Music by J.S. Bach, Flaherty, Kohn, Tournemire and others - Special Concert for Family Weekend
Robert Frear, trumpet; Gary Bovyer*, clarinet; Carolyn Beck*, bassoon; Sarah Thornblade* and Sara Parkins, violins; Maggie Parkins*, cello; Genevieve Feiwen Lee*, piano; Jack Sanders*, guitar; Jason Yoshida*, theorbo; Joti Rockwell*, mandolin
8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Music by Martinů, Muhly, Randall-Myers, Vivaldi and more - Pomona College Orchestra
Eric Lindholm*, conductor; Briana Grether (PO ’18) soprano, winner of the 2017 Concerto Competition
8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, 2018; 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Music by Barber, Saint-Georges and Beethoven - Mariachi Los Broncos de Pomona
Jessie M. Vallejo, director
8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Mexican musical genres from ranchera to huapango
March 2018
- Chamber Music with Music Faculty
3 p.m. Sunday, March 4, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Members of the Pomona College Music Department faculty come together to offer a special program with music by Bach, Bedard, Brahms, Burgos, Douglas, Rota, Stevens, von Weber and others - Pomona College Jazz Combos
Barb Catlin*, director
4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, 2018, Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
An afternoon of jazz favorites - Paul Jacobs, guest organist
3 p.m. Sunday, March 25, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Music by J.S. Bach and Liszt
April 2018
- Cornucopia Baroque Ensemble
Alfred Cramer* and Lyndsey Strand-Polyak, baroque violins; Aki Nishiguchi, baroque oboe; Carolyn Beck*, baroque bassoon; Roger Lebow, baroque cello; Jason Yoshida*, theorbo; Graydon Beeks*, harpsichord
3 p.m. Sunday, April 8, 2018, Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
Music from the London of Purcell and Handel. - Pomona College Choir and Orchestra
Soloists Hayden Eberhart, soprano and Scott Graff*, baritone; Eric Lindholm*, conductor
8 p.m. Friday, April 13, 2018; 3 p.m. Sunday, April 15, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Poulenc: Gloria
Vaughan Williams: Dona nobis pacem - Pomona College Afro-Cuban Music Ensemble
Joe Addington*, director
8:15 p.m. Monday, April 23, 2018, Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building
Featuring rhythms from the traditions of the region - Pomona College Glee Club
Donna M. Di Grazia*, conductor
8 p.m. Thursday, April 26, 2018; 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Choral music from across the centuries - Pomona College Jazz Band
Barb Catlin*, conductor
8 p.m. Friday, April 27, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Music by contemporary Jazz composer Maria Schneider and others - Pomona College Band
Graydon Beeks*, conductor; Stephen Klein*, tuba
11 a.m. Saturday, April 28, 2018; 8 p.m. Sunday, April 29, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Music by Brand, Kohn, Loucks, Sparke and others - Giri Kusuma
Nyoman Wenten*, music director; Nanik Wenten, dance director
8 p.m. Monday, April 30, 2018, Bridges Hall of Music
Traditional and contemporary Balinese music and dance with guests
* Pomona College Department of Music faculty members
All events are FREE and open to the public; No tickets or reservations.
Does not include Friday Noon Concert Series - the performance schedule is available here.