News and Events

UE Opera to Perform "The Magic Flute" This Weekend

Posted: April 16, 2013

Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. April 19 and 20 in UE’s Wheeler Concert Hall. Tickets are $10 for general admission and free to UE students with ID. Tickets may be purchased at the door or reserved by calling the Department of Music at 812-488-2754.

Sung in German (translated for the audience above the stage) with spoken dialogue in English, The Magic Flute features full costumes, sets, lighting, and accompaniment by piano, flute, and cello. The opera tells the story of a prince on a mission to rescue an enslaved princess – with help from a flute that has magical powers.

The 29-member cast of The Magic Flute will perform under the direction of Jon Truitt, associate professor in UE’s Department of Music, who serves as head of the voice area and director of the opera program.

“The Magic Flute is one of the most-performed operas in the world. It’s funny, romantic, and full of adventure and beautiful music, which makes it enjoyable for first-time opera patrons and seasoned fans alike,” said Truitt. “Students began rehearsing last fall, and I’m incredibly proud of the time and effort that they have put into singing and acting these challenging roles.”

The University of Evansville wishes to thank the William E. Schmidt Foundation, Alcoa Foundation, and Friends of UE Music for their generous support of this opera production.

Guitar Fest to Feature Local Musicians, UE Alumnus

Posted: February 18, 2013

The first half of the concert will feature an ensemble of 12 guitarists performing works by composers such as Georges Bizet, Leroy Anderson, and Manuel Penella. The second half will feature Evansville musician Eric Lund performing Latin music by composers including Heitor Villa Lobos, Antonio Lauro, and Federico Moreno Torroba.

Lund, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, began his classical guitar studies at age 14. He came to the University of Evansville to major in music therapy and study classical guitar with Renato Butturi. As a UE student, Lund attended guitar workshops at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where he took master classes with Clare Callahan, Jeffrey Van, Stanley Yates, and Carlos Perez. During his senior year, Lund was a finalist for the Department of Music’s prestigious Gumberts Award, which honors the top performer in the senior class.

After finishing his UE coursework in 2007, Lund completed a music therapy internship at Good Samaritan Home in Minneapolis, then returned to Evansville to accept a position with Integrative Music Therapy, a local private practice. He currently works as a music therapist for individuals with developmental disabilities.  Lund is also a certified Music Together teacher for early childhood music classes, holds a credential in neurologic music therapy, and performs regularly on guitar at events throughout the Tri-State.

For tickets or more information, please call UE’s Department of Music at 812-488-2754.

UE Music to Host Second Annual Swing Dance Fundraiser

Posted: February 4, 2013

The event includes dancing and live music, performed by the UE Jazz Ensemble. Drinks, finger foods, and desserts will be available, as well as a cash bar. The evening also includes a silent auction with items that have been donated by area restaurants and businesses as well as gift baskets made by band members.

Proceeds from the event go toward UEMMA and UE jazz bands to help the groups travel to conferences and festivals, purchaseequipment and music, and host guest speakers and artists on the UE campus.
              
Tickets for the event are $20 and can be purchased by contacting Brittney Smith at 812-204-0339 or bs201@evansville.edu.

February's First Tuesday Concert to Feature "The Music of New York"

Posted: January 29, 2013

February’s First Tuesday concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 5 in Wheeler Concert Hall. Like all events in the First Tuesday Concert Series, it is free and open to the public.

The program features music written in, around, or about New York City. The program will open with the Eykamp String Quartet performing the first movement of Antonin Dvorak’s iconic “American” Quartet.  Flutist Shauna Thompson will perform New York composer Eldin Burton’s Sonatina for Flute and Piano, and Marc Zyla, consortium instructor of horn, will play Leonard Bernstein’s Elegy for Mippy. 

The remainder of the concert includes selections from Broadway favorites, including West Side Story, Candide, and Little Johnny Jones, and UE faculty members Elizabeth Robertson, Anne Fiedler, Jon Truitt, Erzsebet Gaal, Stacey Uthe, Gregory Rike, Richard Williams, Ross Erickson, and Garnet Ungar. 

The First Tuesday Concert Series, in its fifth season, showcases the talent of the University’s music faculty as they perform works from seldom-heard masterpieces to beloved standards.

For more information on this concert or events in the First Tuesday Concert Series, please contact the Department of Music at 812-488-2754. For a full list of concerts, please visit the department’s online concert calendar.

Classical Guitar Society Concert to Feature Daniel Bolshoy of Canada

Posted: January 22, 2013

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, January 25 in Wheeler Concert Hall on the University of Evansville campus. Admission is $15 for the general public, $5 for students, and free for UE students. Tickets are available at the door.

Bolshoy is the head of the guitar division at the University of British Columbia School of Music. He is also the head of the guitar department at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music.

He has performed with international orchestras such as the Mexico City Philharmonic, the Toronto Philharmonia, the Edmonton Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, the New Mexico Symphony, the Vancouver Philharmonic, the Beer Sheva Symphoniette (Israel), and the Manitoba and Ottawa Chamber Orchestras.

Bolshoy’s recitals are frequently broadcast on CBC Radio, and he has also appeared in two documentary films for the Bravo! (TV) series The Classical Now and appears on four commercial CD recordings.

He performs solo and chamber music recitals in Canada’s most prestigious venues, including the Glenn Gould Studio, the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts, the National Art Centre, and Vancouver’s Chan Centre.

For more information, please visit www.danielbolshoy.com or contact the Department of Music at 812-488-2754.

Music Ensembles Invited to Perform at Statewide Convention

Posted: January 15, 2013

As part of the IMEA convention, a professional development conference for Indiana music teachers, the Wind Ensemble will present a free, public concert at 10:30 a.m. Friday, January 18 at Fort Wayne’s Grand Wayne Convention Center, Hall C. The University Choir will perform at 2:30 p.m. Friday, January 18 at Fort Wayne’s First Presbyterian Church, and for the high school Indiana All-State Honor Choir that evening.

The performances at the IMEA state convention are part of the University Choir’s and Wind Ensemble’s joint Winter Tour, which includes private performances at Evansville’s North High School, Olney Central College in Olney, Illinois, and East Noble High School in Kendallville, Indiana.

One of four choirs at the University of Evansville, the University Choir has built a reputation for performances of major choral-orchestral masterworks, a cappella music ranging from the Renaissance through the 21st century, part songs, and spirituals. In May 2011, the University Choir joined five other choirs from Indiana, Kentucky, New York, and California to perform Haydn’s Paukenmesse at Carnegie Hall in New York City with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. This milestone performance for the choir was conducted by University of Evansville’s director of choral activities, Dennis Malfatti.

At the IMEA convention, the University Choir’s program will include works by UE faculty member William Hemminger and alumnus Ronald Kauffmann. The choir’s performance at the 2013 IMEA convention is their second IMEA appearance in recent years, having also been invited to perform at the convention in 2010. That same year, the choir had the privilege to perform in a master class with the world-renowned vocal sextet, the King’s Singers.

The University of Evansville Wind Ensemble is composed of UE’s finest brass, woodwind, and percussion performers. The ensemble performs a wide variety of literature from major masterworks for the modern wind band to more intimate chamber literature. The ensemble is also actively involved in commissioning and performing new works. In addition to its campus concerts, the group represents the University both regionally and nationally. Membership is by audition and is open to UE students of any major.

Department of Music to Host Annual Holiday Pops Concert

Posted: November 28, 2012

Holiday Pops brings together ensembles and soloists to perform holiday favorites. The evening includes performances by the University’s choirs, orchestra, and wind and jazz ensembles.

This year’s program features around 190 University of Evansville students and five faculty members performing sacred and secular musical selections, including “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Sleigh Ride,” Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Greensleeves,” and music from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite.” The concert will conclude with an audience sing-along of favorite Christmas carols.

“Every year, it’s a joy to see talented students share their love of music with the Evansville community by performing in the Holiday Pops concert,” said Thomas Josenhans, chair of the Department of Music. “The collaborative efforts of UE students and faculty make this performance a local favorite every holiday season.”

For more information, please contact the Department of Music at 812-488-2754.

November's First Tuesday Concert to Feature "Frankenstein!!"

Posted: October 29, 2012

The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 6 in Wheeler Concert Hall. Like all events in the First Tuesday Concert Series, it is free and open to the public.

The performing ensemble for Frankenstein!! is comprised of UE music faculty and the resident string quartet, the Eykamp String Quartet. The work, a series of children’s rhymes by H.C. Artmann, is performed by a narrator and orchestra and was originally composed in 1971 for an arts ensemble in Vienna. In 1978, Gruber reworked the composition for both full orchestra and chamber ensemble.   ?

“The 33-minute work is unique in that it requires the musicians and narrator to pick up and perform on toy instruments and also to be theatrical,” said Thomas Josenhans, chair of the Department of Music. “The performance of Frankenstein!! is sure to be both enjoyable and memorable.”

Poems in the suite include “Miss Dracula,” “Goldfinger and Bond,” “John Wayne,” “Monster,” “Frankenstein,” and “Superman.” 

For more information on this concert or events in the First Tuesday Concert Series, please contact the Department of Music at 812-488-2754. For a full list of concerts, please visit the department’s online concert calendar.

National Symphony Orchestra Violinist Featured in UE Guest Recital

Posted: October 11, 2012

The concert is free and open to the public, and the program includes works by Debussy, Faure, Bach, and Ysaye. Pianist Jiyoung Oh will accompany Fuller.

Prior to joining the National Symphony Orchestra, Fuller served as the assistant principal second violin of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. He also spent three years as the assistant concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic, enjoying many opportunities to solo with the orchestra there. As a chamber musician, Fuller was the first violinist of the University of Michigan Graduate String Quartet and founding member of the Sonare and Vanderbilt String Quartets. He is currently a member of the IBIS Chamber Music Society and Musica Aperta ensembles in Washington, D.C.

As a student, Fuller was awarded a three-year orchestral fellowship to attend the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado. He was one of only two to receive the honor for the 2001 summer season. He received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Music degree in violin performance and chamber music from the University of Michigan. Fuller has won numerous awards and competitions including the ASTA competition and both the University of Wisconsin Concerto Competition and the University of Michigan Concerto Competition. He is honored to play on the “ex Powell” Omobono Stradivari violin, generously loaned to him by the John C. Schroeder trust for musical excellence.

Pianist Jiyoung Oh is a member of the faculty at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. Oh received her Doctorate in Musical Arts from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a Chancellor’s Fellow and her Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the U.S. and Canada, and participated in summer festivals including the Aspen School of Music and the International Holland Music Sessions in Bergen. This past year, she was an interim piano faculty member at James Madison University where she taught piano and doctoral piano seminars. Prior to that, she taught at Lewis and Clark College and Indiana University. She was also a former adjudicator at the Virginia Music Teacher's Association State Competition. Oh is also a freelance pianist in the greater D.C. area.

Classical Guitar Concert to Feature UE Alumni Quartet

Posted: October 3, 2012

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 13 in Wheeler Concert Hall. Admission is $15 for the general public, $5 for students, and free for UE students.

The concert, co-sponsored by the Classical Guitar Society of Evansville and the University of Evansville, will feature Duane Corn ’90, Steve Dumbacher ’92, Tim Robinson ’91, and Troy Wright ’85 performing works by composers such as J.S. Bach, Gilbert Biberian, Jeffrey Van, and Luigi Boccherini.

Corn graduated from UE with a Bachelor of Music degree in performance as well as a Bachelor of Music Education degree. Upon completion of his studies at UE, Corn earned a master’s degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Corn, now living in Lexington, Kentucky, is an active performer and teacher who has completed the Suzuki Guitar School teacher training for books 1, 2, and 3.

Dumbacher began his study of classical guitar at the University of Cincinnati CCM. After graduating from the University of Evansville, he went on to receive a master’s degree in performance from the University of Minnesota. Dumbacher now resides in Chicago and has performed throughout the United States. He works in the entertainment industry producing concerts and corporate shows globally.

Robinson grew up in a family of music educators and performers in Asheville, North Carolina, and Lexington, Kentucky. In 1991, he received UE’s prestigious Gumberts Award, presented each year to the most outstanding senior music major. Robinson went on to study in the Master of Music program at the University of Cincinnati CCM. He currently lives in Las Vegas and works in performing arts management.

Wright is a 1985 graduate of the University of Evansville, where he studied trumpet with James Bursen and guitar with Renato Butturi. He also received a master’s degree in classical guitar performance at the University of Cincinnati CCM. Wright is the guitar instructor at the Musical Arts Center in Cincinnati, where he has been teaching since 1995.

October's First Tuesday Concert at UE to Celebrate Evansville's Bicentennial

Posted: September 25, 2012

In recognition of the University’s contributions to the city’s cultural life, the program will feature works composed specifically for UE’s Department of Music. The University Choir, Jazz Ensemble, and Wind Ensemble will perform works by Ronald Kauffmann, Josh Stallings, and John Corigliano, and the concert will also include the world premiere of a new work by University Symphony Orchestra director Brian St. John.

The concert will open with Jubilate Deo by Ronald Kauffmann, commissioned by the Friends of UE Music to honor Shirley Shepherd. Shepherd, an alumnus of Evansville College, taught vocal music in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation for 41 years. Kauffmann, a former student of Shepherd’s, graduated from UE in 1971. He majored in voice and minored in both trombone and piano.

The Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Timothy Zifer, will perform Bells of November. The composer, UE student Josh Stallings, is a theatre design and technology major with associated studies in music, and is completing a Jazz Studies Certificate. Bells of November was composed in 2010 and was inspired by the Olmsted Hall chimes. The work was presented at the 2011 Elmhurst Jazz Festival where it received an honorable mention award.

The highlight of the concert will be the University Symphony Orchestra’s world premiere of Brian St. John’s Dominion Overture. Written specifically for this event, the piece describes aspects of the settlement of Evansville, musically depicting clearing of land, construction of residences, and an emerging community arising next to the Ohio River. St. John has composed numerous works including a piano concerto, a bass concertino, a double concerto for mandolin, mandola, and string orchestra, and seven ballets.

The program will conclude with the Wind Ensemble’s performance of John Corigliano’s Gazebo Dances, directed by Kenneth Steinsultz. Corigliano has emerged in recent decades as one of America’s prominent composers. Among his best-known works are his opera Ghosts of Versailles and his Oscar-winning score to the movie The Red Violin. He has received numerous prestigious awards including a Pulitzer Prize, the Grawemeyer Award, and three Grammys. Gazebo Dances was premiered in 1973 by the University of Evansville Wind Ensemble under the direction of Robert Bailey.

First Tuesday Concerts, presented the first Tuesday of each month, showcase the talent of the University of Evansville music faculty (and occasionally students) as they perform works from seldom-heard masterpieces to beloved standards.

For more information, please contact the University of Evansville Department of Music at 812-488-2754 or visit the department’s concert calendar.